Summary: Rachel Davis leaves Boston to join her husband in Virginia City.  By accident, she and Adam meet and become acquainted.  When she learns her husband was an outlaw and is dead, she insists on his innocence and appeals to Adam for his help in taking her to a mountain cabin where her husband was last known to be.
Rating and Reader Alerts: G
Words:  25,400

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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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Disclaimer: This story is fiction and a product of my imagination.  The Cartwright characters were created by David Dortort and I claim no right to their characterization.  All other characters are my own and any resemblance to any person, whether living or dead, is coincidental.

 

Search for Innocence

PROLOGUE:

Born and reared in Boston, Massachusetts, Rachel Maxwell, the only child of shipping magnate, Arthur Jamison Maxwell, gave her whole life to attending tea parties, balls, concerts and theater plays, but when she met and fell in love with Cole Davis, she lost interest in all those things and gave her whole life to him when she was twenty-two, and he was twenty-five.

Rachel was comely to look upon with her flawless ivory skin and shiny ebony tresses which she wore in curls free and long down her back and over her shoulders.  Her eyes were a soft gray color and she had black eyelashes, long and full.  Her nose and mouth were shaped prettily and her smile could charm even the most unpleasant person.  Her voice was soft and quiet, and her spirit, carefree and determined, but not flighty or questionable.

For two and a half years after their marriage, she and Cole lived in Boston while he worked for her father’s shipping business, but he longed for his OWN business.  A DIFFERENT kind of business.  He wanted a ranch out west.  A ranch where he could raise cattle and horses and, when he and Rachel had children, he could rear them on that ranch.  So with their savings in his pocket, he left Boston and headed out to seek his dream.  Before he left, he promised Rachel he would send for her when he found his dream and then they could live out their lives in the reality of that dream.  She watched the stage, carrying her husband, disappear on the horizon before she stepped into her carriage and beckoned her driver to take her home.

******

Six months later, she received a telegram from her husband telling her he had found what he had dreamed of owning and asked her to join him, but he needed ten thousand dollars immediately to close a deal to buy cattle and horses and requested that she speak to her father about loaning them the necessary money, and if he agreed, to wire that amount to a bank in a place called Virginia City, Nevada.  He would meet her there in April 12.  Impatient at having to wait to join her husband, Rachel made the decision to go to that unheard of place by arriving early.

Her arrival in Virginia City, Nevada, the spring of 1860, would be the beginning of a changed life for her forever.

******

Rachel stepped lively out of the mercantile in Virginia City with an armload of packages and collided with a passer-by.

“Oh!  I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed as her packages tumbled out of her arms and landed at both their feet.

“My fault.  I wasn’t watching where I was going,” the man in black said in a deep voice while he looked into her unusual color eyes.

She smiled at him and bent down to retrieve her packages.  He bent down at the same time while he said, “Here. . .let me help you with those.”  Their heads bumped together causing their hats to fall off and Rachel laughed and apologized again.

“I’m such a clumsy-bum today,” she giggled while both of them picked up packages and hats, then stood up.  He handed her the packages and she gave him a pretty smile.  “Thank you, Mr. . . . .”

“Cartwright.  Adam Cartwright,” he replied as he handed her the last package. 

Rachel nodded her head at him.  “My name’s Rachel.  Rachel Davis, and thank you again, Mr. Cartwright.  Now if I could just have my hat, I’ll be on my way,” she said as she gestured with her eyes to the small blue hat in his hands.

His eyes also traveled down to his hands and he grinned slightly, then said, “That depends.”

Rachel cocked her head to one side and looked at him questioningly.  “On whether YOU give ME, MY hat,” he added with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes as he looked at his hat sandwiched between two packages.

Rachel looked down and around the packages in her arms and when her eyes landed on a black object sticking out from under one, her mouth came open and her eyes widened and she looked up at him.  “Oh dear,” she answered meekly.  “It seems as though I’ve managed to flatten your hat.  With all the shuffling around of packages, it’s rather mashed,” she said and looked up at him again.

After placing Rachel’s hat on the top package, he placed one hand against the packages and pulled out his hat with his other hand.  When he managed to pull it out completely, Rachael looked at the hat, then tucked her bottom lip behind her teeth and looked up at Adam.  “Oh dear,” she said while they both looked at the large black object in Adam’s hands that used to resemble a hat with a crown, but now was a large black flat disc.  “Oh dear,” she repeated as Adam ran his fist around the inside of his hat in an effort to mould the crown back to its original shape.

“I believe it’s quite ruined, Mr. Cartwright,” she said as she watched him sculpt and mould his hat.

“My name is Adam, and don’t worry about the hat.  I’ve had to do this before,” he answered as he flattened the brim between his hands and adjusted the hatband.

“Let me buy you another one. . . It’s the least I can do,” Rachel replied.

“No need.  See,” he said, holding it up in front of her.  “Good as new,” he added and placed the hat on his head.

“Are you sure?  I’d be more than happy to buy you a new one.”

“No. . .Really, it’s quite alright.  Where are you headed?  I’ll be glad to carry some of these packages for you.”

“The hotel, but I think I can manage,” she replied with a smile.  “Well. . .thank you again, Mr. Cartwright,” she said and looked up at him and turned away.

Adam touched his hat brim and nodded his head at her.  “Miss Davis,” he said as she walked away.  He watched her until she reached the end of the walk and noticed a cowboy step in front of her.  She sidestepped him in order to go around him, but he stepped in front of her, preventing her from passing.  Rachel looked up at him and stepped to the side, the cowboy followed suit.  Adam started slowly down the walkway towards them.

The second time Rachel sidestepped the cowboy, he took hold of her arm, which caused her packages to fall to the ground.  She began struggling against him, but he held her tighter and began to laugh.

“Let her go,” both the cowboy and Rachel heard, and looked in the direction from which the words had come.

Adam stood a few feet behind Rachel and looked the cowboy in the eyes.  “I won’t tell you again,” Adam said in a determined tone of voice with a look on his face and a set jaw to match.  He had already removed the leather guard strap from around the hammer of his gun and his hand rested on it.  He looked relaxed, but was on guard.  The cowboy continued to hold onto Rachel’s arm while he and Adam stared at each other.  Then the cowboy pushed Rachel aside and stood with his feet apart and his hand hovering above his gun.

“Don’t try it, boy.  I don’t want to shoot you,” Adam said to him without changing his stance.

Rachel stood with her back pressed up against the side of the building, her eyes wide with fright, as she looked back and forth between the young cowboy and Adam as they faced each other.

“You think you’re so smart, sticking your nose in where it don’t belong,” the cowboy said to Adam.  “I’m calling you, mister.”

“Don’t, boy.  How old are you?”

“Twenty-two. . .but what’s that got to do with. . .”

“I want you to live to be twenty-three, so you best leave your gun in your holster.”

“Shut up!  Now, DRAW!” the boy yelled angrily.

Rachel pressed the back of her hand to her mouth and a gasp escaped from her throat while she tried flattening herself even flatter against the side of the mercantile.  Her eyes darted from Adam to the cowboy several times.  By this time a crowd appeared in every doorway of every store in the vicinity as they watched the two men facing each other, each one with their gun hand poised and ready to draw.

For a split second, Adam’s eyes darted to look at Rachel, who looked like a frightened little girl.  His eyes darted back to the cowboy and he spoke again.  “Don’t try it,” he said in an almost pleading voice.  The young cowboy moved for his gun and Adam drew his quickly and shot the boy’s weapon out of his hand just as Roy Coffee stepped out of his office across the street.  Rachel screamed and hid her face against the wall.

The young cowboy held his bleeding hand and grimaced and groaned in pain as Roy walked up beside Adam.

“I told him not to draw, Roy,” Adam said in a calm, collected voice while he holstered his gun.

“I know.  I saw it from the doorway,” Roy replied as he took hold of the young man’s arm and picked up his gun.  “Ya oughta thank Adam here, fer not killin’ ya, boy.  He coulda ya know,” Roy said to him and gave him a nudge forward.  “Go on, boy, go see the Doc about your hand, then I want ya out a-town, ya hear?”

The boy nodded as he made his way towards Doctor Martin’s office, and Roy made his way back to his office.

Adam took hold of Rachel’s shaking shoulders and turned her around.  “You dropped your packages again,” he said to her.

Her eyes still wide, she looked at him and said, “How can you be so calm?!  You act as if this sort of thing happens all the time!”

“Only when I come to town,” he joked.

“How. . .how can you joke about something like that, Mr. Cartwright!  He might have killed you if he had been faster!”

Adam had been crouched down picking up her packages while she talked to him.  “True,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone while he stood up.  “Come on. . .I’ll carry these to the hotel for you,” he added, and started across the street.

Rachel bent down and picked up her hat and ran to catch up to him and fell in step beside him.  “I just can’t believe you’re so calm!  If someone had just tried to kill ME, I’d be shaking in my shoes.  What’s the matter with me…I AM shaking.  Surely that doesn’t happen ALL the time!”

“You haven’t been here very long have you.”

“Only a couple days.”

“Not like Boston is it.  That IS where you’re from isn’t it?” he said to her while they walked.

She looked up at him quickly.  “Yes, I am, but how did you know?  I don’t remember telling you where I was from.”

“I recognized your accent.  I lived in Boston three years while I attended college, so I know the accent well.”

“You’re right, though, this place is NOTHING like Boston.  The Wild West certainly lives up to its reputation,” she said with a shake of her head as they entered the hotel lobby.  “I’m in Room twenty-four,” she said while they climbed the staircase.

“So, Miss Davis, what brings you to our fine city?” Adam said to her while they walked down the hall to her room.

“This place is neither ‘fine’ nor a ‘city’. . .and it’s MRS. Davis.  I came out here to meet my husband,” she said as she unlocked her hotel room door and stepped inside.  “Just put them on the bed,” she said to Adam as she gestured with her hand from the packages to the bed.

“You’re married,” Adam replied in a surprised tone in the form of a statement more than a question, as he placed the packages on Rachel’s bed.  He had not thought her to be married for he saw no ring on her left hand.

“Yes.  I’m meeting Cole…he’s my husband…here in two days, then he’s taking me to see the ranch he bought,” she said as she flitted around the room.

A spark of recognition crossed his handsome face when he heard her call her husband’s name, but he let it go for the time being.

“Let me buy you lunch, Mr. Cartwright, for rescuing me from that rowdy.”

“Name’s Adam…and there’s no need to buy me lunch.”

“Oh, please, Adam, that’s the least I can do to express my gratitude to you.”

“I’m not really that hungry.  How about just a cup of coffee?”

“Just coffee?”

“Just coffee.”

“Well. . .alright.  Shall we go downstairs to the dining room then?” Rachel said as she walked towards the door. Adam followed her out and while she locked the door and as they walked down the hall and stairs to the dining room, she chattered on and on about how wild the west was.

After they had seated themselves and placed their order, Adam looked at Rachel and with a serious tone in his voice, he said, “You said upstairs that your husband was going to meet you here in two days.”

Rachel nodded.  “Yes.  I haven’t seen him in six months.  Are you married, Adam?”

“No.  No, I’m not.”

“Then you can’t possibly know how, very anxious I am for those two days to pass,” she said with a smile.

“Mrs. Davis. . .”

“Rachel. . .please call me Rachel.”

“Rachel. . .exactly what does your husband look like?”

“He’s tall. . .light hair. . .blue eyes. . .neatly trimmed moustache…trim build.  Why do you ask?”

“I just wanted to know if it’s the same Cole Davis or if by some odd chance there could be TWO Cole Davis’s.”

“TWO?  What do you mean TWO?”

“When was the last time you heard from your husband?”

“A month ago,” she answered, then noticed that Adam’s eyes clouded and he dropped his eyes for a second then looked at her.  “Why do you ask, and why do you have that look on your face?” she asked him.

He looked her square in the eyes.  “Rachel. . .your husband is dead.”

Shocked by what he said, she slumped back against her chair and drew in her breath sharply.  “I don’t believe you.”

“I’m afraid it’s true.”

“But. . .he. . .how is it possible?  What happened to him?  And HOW do you know?”

“Sometimes when men come out here from the East, it isn’t what they expect.  They find their money running out before they find what they’re looking for and they find ways to replace the money they ran out of.”

“Just what are you saying, Adam.  Tell me what you know about my husband.  And don’t sugar-coat it for me.  I don’t like people to beat around the bush trying to tell me something.  Just tell me straight out.”

“Alright.  Cole Davis shot and killed a teller when he was trying to rob a bank in Carson City.  He was shot and killed when he tried to kill one of the customers. . .three weeks ago.”

******

Rachel’s head lolled from side to side and her eyelids fluttered several times before she opened them fully and looked around her.  She saw a man with white hair bending over her and beside him was Adam Cartwright.  “Welcome back,” Adam said to her and smiled.

“Wh-what. . .hap-happened?” she questioned groggily.

“You fainted,” Dr. Martin said to her.

She closed her eyes and placed the back of her hand across her eyes.  “Tell me it isn’t true, Adam. . .about Cole.”

He placed a comforting hand on her arm, and his voice was gentle.  “For your sake, I wish it wasn’t.  I’m sorry, Rachel.”

She began to cry and covered her mouth with her fingers.  “But he wasn’t like that.  Cole wasn’t like that.  He was good and honest.  I don’t believe he was like that,” she contended while she cried.

“You said yourself you hadn’t seen him in six months.  The West sometimes changes men. . .even honest men in a very short time,” Adam replied.

Rachel’s eyes popped open and she removed her hand from her mouth.  “Maybe so. . .but NOT Cole!” she scolded him and started to sit up, but Doctor Martin placed his hands on her shoulders and nudged her back down on the settee in the hotel lobby where Adam carried her after she fainted.

“Here now. . .you just rest a minute and then you can go up to your room,” he said to her and patted her arms.

“Could I have a drink of water, please,” she said.

“I’ll get it,” Adam offered and moved towards the dining room.  He soon returned with a glassful and handed it to Rachel.  “Here you go,” he said.

After drinking her fill, she handed the glass back to Adam and let out a weary sigh.  She turned her head towards Adam and asked, “If he was shot and killed in Carson City. . .how do you know about him?”

Adam stared at her for a few seconds then said, “Why don’t you let me walk you up to your room.  We can talk more about it tomorrow.”

“No.  I want to know NOW, Adam,” she said adamantly.  “How do you know?”

“Because I was there.”

“But how did you know it was Cole?” she pressed him.

Doctor Martin told her to send for him again if needed, then he left.  Adam took hold of her arm and helped her to stand up.  “No more questions until tomorrow.  I’m taking you up to your room and we’ll talk tomorrow,” he said as he led her up the staircase.  “You take it easy the rest of the day and get a good night’s sleep tonight and we’ll talk tomorrow.  I’ll tell you everything I know then,” he said as he opened the door to her room.

She stepped inside and turned around to face him.  “You won’t sugar-coat it for me, will you?  I want you to tell me everything. . .straight out.”

Adam raised his right hand as if he were taking an oath.  “Everything. . .straight out,” he promised.

She nodded, then closed the door behind her.  When she heard Adam walk away from her door, she broke down and sobbed and ran and threw herself across her bed.

******

Slivers of moonlight faintly illuminated Rachel’s hotel room.  She tried sleeping but her mind and heart were much too full.  She tossed aside the sheet spread over her and crossed the room to the window and pulled aside the curtain and peered out.  Except for an occasional sound of a dog barking, Virginia City’s main street was quiet.

She thought of the home she and Cole had shared back in Boston and remembered the night sounds there.  Out here, though, the sounds of silence seemed much louder and had a sad, mournful sound compared to the lively, happy-go-lucky sounds of silence in the city.  Suddenly she felt a cold chill run down the length of her spine and she shuddered and moved away from the window.  Although the weather seemed warm, Rachel felt very cold.  Very cold and very alone.  She climbed back into bed and pulled the quilt up to her chin, then turned over and buried her face in her pillow and cried herself into a  fitful sleep.

******

The sun had already been up for hours before Rachel pulled herself out of bed.  After a long night with almost no sleep, she didn’t bother to get up early.  Hearing Adam’s words again that her husband was dead. . .three weeks dead. . .she began to cry all over again.

Dressed in only her nightgown, she sat in the big overstuffed chair beside her bed with her shawl spread over her and her head leaned back against the chair.  When she heard a light rapping on her door, she looked in that direction and willed whoever it was to go away.

“Rachel. . .it’s Adam Cartwright,” she heard him say through the door.  “Are you awake yet?” he added.

She pulled herself out of the chair, wrapped her shawl around her shoulders, walked to the door, clicked the lock and opened the door.  “Hello Adam,” she said sadly.

“Good morning.  If you feel like eating, I’ll take you out for breakfast. . .although it’s closer to lunch.  I came up earlier, but you didn’t answer my knock.  I guess you were still sleeping.”

“I didn’t sleep much last night and I don’t really think I could eat anything right now.”

“Well, come down anyway. . .we’ll just talk.”

She looked up at him with sad eyes and their color seemed to have deepened to a darker gray since yesterday.  She nodded, then said, “It’ll take me a few minutes to dress.”  Her sad voice matched her expression.

“I’ll wait for you in the dining room then,” he replied.  She looked at him again with those sad eyes, then closed the door.

******

When Adam and Rachel were seated and had their coffee placed in front of them, Adam waited until she was ready to talk.  He watched her as she sat with both hands cupped around the coffee cup just staring down into it.  He knew she was lost in the land of disbelief and heartache, so having compassion for her, he reached over and placed one hand around hers.

She raised her eyes and looked into his and saw compassion and concern.  It was then she spoke.

“I guess I’m not very good company am I,” she said.

“It’s understandable.”

She looked at him a few seconds before she spoke again.  “Adam. . .I KNOW my husband.  He wouldn’t have been involved with anything against the law.  He wasn’t like that.”

“I won’t argue with you about what you believe about your husband, but I saw the wanted poster with his picture and name on it and I came face to face with him in the Carson City Bank.”

“I still can’t believe it was Cole, but I believe YOU too.  I can’t believe BOTH ways. . .how am I ever going to be convinced.”

“There’s always evidence.  I witnessed the bank robbery, because I was inside the bank at the time.  I heard the Sheriff outside call out his name telling him to surrender, and when he wouldn’t, he turned around and was going to shoot one of the customers. . .that’s when he was shot and killed.  Sheriff Coffee has a Wanted Poster on him if you want to see it.”

Rachel shook her head.  “No.  I don’t want to see it, but I know I must.  Will you go with me?”

“If you want me to.”

She managed a tiny smile and nodded.  She pushed away from the table and stood up.  Adam did the same, then took her elbow and they made their way across the street to the Sheriff’s Office.

Before Adam had a chance to open the office door, Rachel grabbed his arm.  “Adam…I’m afraid.  I’m afraid to see what you’re telling me is true.”

“Everyone has to face the truth, Rachel, whether or not they’re afraid of it.  By not facing it, won’t make it any less untrue.”

“I know.  Will you stay right beside me?”

“I’ll stay beside you,” he reassured her.

Rachel took in a nervous breath and nodded, clinging to his arm.  Adam pushed open the door to Roy’s office and they stepped inside.

Sitting behind his desk doing paperwork, Roy looked up when his door opened and he removed his glasses from his face and stood up.  “Howdy there, Adam,” he said.  “Ma’am,” he said, acknowledging Rachel.

“Roy, this is Rachel Davis.  Sheriff Coffee,” Adam said as they walked over and he made the introductions.

“How do you do, Sheriff,” Rachel replied, dipping her head in greeting.

“Miz. Davis,” Roy answered.  “Is this a social call, Adam, er do ya need somp’thin else?”

“Rachel is Cole Davis’ widow, and she wants to see the Wanted Poster you have on him.”

“His WIDDA?!” Roy asked, surprised.  “Ya sure don’t look like ya oughta be married tuh an hombre like that.  He was wanted fer a string a-robberies clear acrost the territory,” he added with a shake of his head at her.

Adam glanced at Rachel and saw pain written all over her face, then he turned to Roy.  “Could we see the poster on him, Roy?”

“I think I still got it ‘round here sum whar’s.  ain’t got ‘round tuh gittin’ rid a-all the ones that’s been took care of,” Roy said as he sat down and rummaged through one of the drawers on his desk.

Rachel, clinging tightly to Adam’s arm, looked around Roy’s office while he searched for the poster.  She thought if she grasped his arm any tighter, the circulation in it might stop, but she also thought if she lessened her grip, she might lose control of her emotions.  As long as she clung to Adam she gleaned a certain amount of strength and courage to face what she had to face.

“Yeah. . .here we are,” Roy said as he pulled out a sheet of paper and held it out to them.

Not wanting to look right at the poster, Rachel turned her head slightly until her face was against Adam’s shirt sleeve.  Adam reached out and took the poster from Roy.  “Is this your husband?” he said to Rachel.

She gripped his arm tighter and forced  herself to look at the face drawn on the poster Adam held in front of her.  She read the poster from top to bottom:

“WANTED:

Cole Davis
Bank Robbery
Stagecoach Robbery
$5,000 REWARD”

She looked at the face of the man on the poster.  She closed her eyes and put her face against Adam’s sleeve again.  “That’s him.  That’s my husband,” she said in a small voice.

Adam handed the poster back to Roy and put his free arm around Rachel and seated her in a chair and crouched down beside her.  “You gonna be alright?” he asked her.

“I still can’t believe it.  Wh-where is my husband buried?” she asked in a hoarse voice.

“Boot Heel Cemetery in Carson,” Roy answered.

“He didn’t even have a proper funeral,” she said in a monotone voice.

“He was a murderer, Miz. Davis.  Thet’s whar all murderers who ain’t got no family gits buried.”

“No family?  What am I?  Am I not his family?”

“Outlaws don’t make it a habit a-carin’ fer family,” Roy replied.

Rachel slowly turned her eyes to look at Roy for a few seconds then turned her gaze to stare past him.  “For whatever Cole was, he was my husband and I loved him.  I want to see his grave. . .will you tell me how to get there?”

“I’ll take you,” Adam said to her.

“You don’t have to do that, Adam.  You’ve been so kind already,” she replied numbly.

“I want to take you.”

Rachel nodded, and Adam helped her to her feet and led her outside.  They made their way to the Livery where Adam stabled Sport and rented a horse and buggy for the trip to Carson City.
******

Adam stood behind Rachel as she stood in front of Cole Davis’ grave.  She ran her hand over the lop-sided scrawling of his name burned into the rough, splintered wooden cross that marked his place in Boot Heel Cemetery.

“He’s just another outlaw buried with a hundred others in Boot Heel.  He was my husband and he deserves a better marker than this,” Rachel said as tears dripped from her eyes.  “You said you were in the bank that day, Adam.”

Adam took a couple steps closer to her.  “Yes, I was.  I had a business transaction with the bank president when Cole Davis entered the bank.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“He came in, locked the door and ordered all the men to drop their guns then herded everyone in the center of the bank, except for one teller who he ordered to go in the vault and bring him all the money inside it.  The teller did like he was told, but when he came out of the vault, he pulled a gun on Davis and your husband shot and killed him.  Everyone in the bank dropped to the floor.  The Sheriff called out to him and told him the Bank was surrounded and to give himself up.  He started for the door then turned around and faced the customers on the floor.  He aimed his gun at one of them…that’s when he was shot and killed.”

Rachel laid her hand on top of the crude grave marker and was silent for a few minutes while she stared at the mound of earth and crude cross.  “Was he given every opportunity to surrender?” she asked a bit later.

“EVERY opportunity.  The Sheriff asked him twice to throw his gun out.”

“What about the person who shot him?  Couldn’t they have just wounded him?  Why did they have to kill him?”

“Your husband didn’t leave much choice, Rachel.  He had his gun trained on a young woman.  It was either HIM or an innocent woman.  There was hardly time to aim, let alone wait for your husband to pull the trigger.  The man diverted Cole Davis’ attention from the woman to himself by making a try for his gun.  Cole shot at him but missed, the man was able to get to his own gun and fire.  The man who shot your husband had no choice.”

“He must have been a good shot. . .the man who killed my husband, I mean. . .to pull a trigger and kill him without even aiming.”

“It isn’t an easy thing to have to shoot a man, even in self-defense, and it’s even harder to KILL him, especially when that man was asked to put down his gun.”

Rachel looked up at Adam and stared into his eyes.  “I saw with that rowdy cowboy how fast and how good you are with a gun, Adam.  You were in the bank…It was YOU, wasn’t it.  YOU shot Cole.”

Adam held her gaze for a few seconds, then nodded.  “Yes.  He gave me no choice, Rachel.  I couldn’t let him shoot that woman.”

Rachel’s eyes traveled back to the wooden cross.  “No, of course you couldn’t,” she said, her voice had no trace of malice or blame.  “I’m going back to Boston as soon as I can…If I order a decent headstone, will you make sure it gets erected?”

“Yes.”

Rachel turned and as she passed Adam, she said, “I’m ready to go back to Virginia City.”

Adam followed her back to the buggy and helped her in, then stepped in and seated himself beside her and turned the horses towards Virginia City.

******

Adam pulled up in front of the hotel and walked Rachel up to her room.

“Tomorrow is Sunday. . .why don’t you let me pick you up for church, then we’ll go for a ride afterwards,” Adam said to her while they paused outside her door.

“I don’t know.  I plan to leave on the next stage to Boston.”

“That won’t be until Monday.  We’ll do this. . .I’ll drive by the hotel before church and if I see you on the porch, I’ll stop. ..if not, I’ll keep going.  How’s that?”

Rachel nodded, then turned to go in her room but stopped and turned back to face Adam.
“Adam. . .I want you to know that I don’t hold you a grudge for shooting Cole.”

“Thank you for that, Rachel.  You were so quiet on the trip back, I thought maybe you DID.”

“No.  But I still can’t believe he turned outlaw.  It just wasn’t in him to be like that.”

“Rachel. . .sometimes when a man is desperate, he’ll do ANYTHING.  Each time it gets easier until there’s no going back, only forward to continue what he’s doing.”

“But NOT Cole.  I’m as sure of HIM not turning outlaw as I am of YOU being incapable of turning outlaw.  I just don’t believe it happened.”

“But I was there. . .I saw him.”

“I know that’s what you SAID, but there’s something wrong.  Cole didn’t HAVE to rob a bank or a stagecoach or anything else, because my father wired him ten-thousand dollars a week before he was supposed to have robbed the Carson City Bank, and he could have more if he needed it, all he had to do was to get in contact with me and I would have Father wire him more, Cole knew that.  Why would Cole have to rob a bank in one place when he had ten-thousand dollars waiting for him in another place and have access to any amount of money my father had?”

Adam’s features pinched.  “Did you check at the bank to see if he claimed it?”

“No.  I didn’t think about it.  I had no reason to suspect anything like this.  All I thought about was meeting Cole and going to our ranch and living happily ever after together for the rest of our lives.”

Adam’s brows remained furrowed.  “It DOESN’T seem likely that a fella would need to rob a bank when he had ten-thousand dollars waiting for him, but you’ll have to wait until Monday when the bank is open to check to see if that money was picked up.”

Rachel sighed deeply.  “I’m very tired, Adam,” she said and stepped into her room and turned to face him.

“I hope I’ll see you in the morning for church.”

“I’ll think about it, but don’t expect me to be there.  Good-bye, Adam.”

“Bye, Rachel,” he answered and waited to leave until she closed the door.

******

Staring intently into the fire, Adam sat on the low table in front of the fireplace with one foot propped on the hearth.

“I haven’t seen you THAT deep in thought, Adam, since you were trying to think of a way to get out of Abigail Jones’ proposal to you,” Joe said with a laugh.

Adam looked over at his youngest brother, who was sitting on one corner of the table, playing checkers with Hoss, who also laughed at the memory.  Adam gave him a no-nonsense look then said, “Very funny.  What I have on my mind is NOTHING like that.”

“Well what is it that has you so deep in thought?” Ben asked from his chair at the corner of the fireplace.  Adam turned and faced him.  “You remember that incident three weeks ago at the Carson City Bank with Cole Davis?”

“Yes, I sure do,” Ben said, nodding his head.  “How could I forget. . .my oldest son almost got his head shot off trying to be a hero.”

“You would have done the same thing,” Adam responded back to him.

“Mm-Hm, probably. . .but why are you thinking about that?”

“Well, yesterday I met Cole Davis’ wife.  And I spent today with her telling her all about her outlaw husband and taking her to see his grave.”

“His wife?  Outlaws usually don’t have wives.  They’re not that responsible.”

“Well why did she come to Virginia City if his grave is in Carson City?  Looks to me like she would go THERE to claim whatever belongings he had,” Joe commented.

“She probably would have, but she didn’t know he was dead until I told her.  He had written to her a month ago telling her he would meet her in Virginia City. . .that’s why she came here.”

“Well how is it that YOU told her about her husband?  Looks to me like that would have been Roy’s place,” Ben responded.

“It’s a long story,” Adam said, then proceeded to tell them of his initial encounter with Rachel Davis and ending with inviting her to attend church with him the next morning.

“It DOES seem kind of odd for a man to rob a bank when he had money in another bank in another town,” Ben admitted.

“Is kind a-crazy, ain’t it,” Hoss commented.

“Yes, and I’m very curious to know if that money is still in the bank.  If it is. . .I’m wondering why he didn’t claim it.  And if he DID claim it. . .I’m wondering why he had to rob a bank,” Adam said with a puzzled look on his face.

“Is sorta confusin’,” Hoss replied.

“Yeah,” Joe responded.

“I want to help Rachel all I can, but. . .no use straining my brain about it anymore tonight. . .I’m going to bed,” Adam said as he stood to his feet and headed for the staircase.

“So when do we get to meet her, Adam?” Joe questioned with great interest.

“I’ll introduce you to her tomorrow in church…IF she comes,” Adam replied, then made his way up to his room.

“Wonder what she looks like,” Joe said when Adam had gone upstairs.

“Is’at all you ever think ‘bout, little brother. . .whut sum gal looks like?” Hoss said to him.

“Is there anything ELSE to think about, big brother?” Joe responded with a  mischievous grin.

The three of them laughed, then made their way upstairs.

******

Rachel stood on the porch of the hotel, she made the decision to attend church and go riding with Adam afterwards.  She hoped that the diversion would help take her mind off her grief.  She didn’t own a black mourning dress, so she wore the darkest one she had, a forest green with a simple white collar.  She never thought she would become a widow.  Widows were supposed to be old, not one HER age with their whole life ahead of them.  She was still young enough to have children and when she and Cole had their ranch, they wanted to raise a dozen children.  “All boys,” Cole had said.  “So we don’t have to hire ranch hands,” he said also.  She smiled when she remembered him saying that before he left to go out West.  He smiled his funny little smile, then took her in his arms and kissed her.  Then he was gone.  He was gone now too. . .FOREVER.  Tears made a path down her cheeks as she thought of the last time he held and kissed her and the last time they were together as husband and wife.  Those times were gone forever.  She ached inside for her husband.

“We’re going to be late,” she heard a deep voice say.

She blinked her eyes to snap herself out of her trance.  “What?” she said, looking about her for the rude person who interrupted her private thoughts about her and her husband.

“I said we’ll be late if we don’t hurry,” Adam said, when her eyes stopped on him.

“Oh, Adam.  It’s you.  Yes. . .I’m coming,” she said and quickly made her way down to the buggy.  He held her hand while she stepped in and sat down beside him.

“Glad you decided to come,” he said when she was settled in the seat.  “You were lost in thought a moment ago.”

“I was with my husband,” she said in an emotional filled tone of voice as she turned her sad eyes on Adam.  He held her gaze for a few seconds, nodded his head knowingly then looked away and urged the horses towards the church.

Mary Ann Roberts, a pretty green-eyed auburn haired woman, stood near the entrance of the church waiting for Adam to arrive, as she did every Sunday.  She had her sights set on him when they were in school together and vowed to herself that someday she would marry him.  When he went away to college, she left Virginia City also.  She traveled back and forth between San Francisco and Virginia City since leaving the first time and each time she came back to Virginia City, she always looked Adam up to make sure he was still a single man.  To her relief, he always was.  This time, she promised herself she would stay in Virginia City until she wangled a marriage proposal out of the man in black.  She was so busy thinking about him she didn’t notice he walked near her until he said hello to her and moved on.

“Oh, Adam!” she said in surprise, then noticed Rachel.  “Is this a long lost cousin I don’t know about?” she said of Rachel as her eyes looked the pretty black haired woman up and down.

“Uh, no. . .this is Rachel Davis.  Rachel. . .Mary Ann Roberts,” Adam said, making the introductions.

“How do you do, Miss Roberts,” Rachel said, though she didn’t smile.

“Miss Davis,” Mary Ann said in return.

“It’s MRS. Davis,” Rachel corrected her.

“MRS?!” Mary Ann said in a surprised tone.  “Well now. . .aren’t YOU playing the dangerous game.  You chided me for doing the same thing,” she said, directing her remark to Adam.  “Being a bit of a hypocrite aren’t you, Adam?  And in church no less,” she added tsk-tsking him.

“Never mind, Mary Ann,” he said to her and ushered Rachel inside the church.  Mary Ann followed, but was stopped by Jenna White, her eyes wide with wonder.  “Who is that with Adam Cartwright?” she asked Mary Ann.

Mary Ann looked past her and watched Adam and Rachel find their places beside Ben, Joe and Hoss and saw them shake hands with her.  “Well?” Jenna urged.  “Who is she?”

“He said her name was Rachel Davis.  MRS. . .Rachel Davis,” Mary Ann said with a sharp tongue, all the while keeping her narrowed eyes on Adam and his companion.

Jenna’s eyes became even wider while she continued looking at Adam and Rachel“MRS?  You mean she’s…MARRIED?!” Jenna exclaimed in a hoarse whisper to Mary Ann.

Mary Ann looked at Jenna with a sour look on her face.  “Isn’t that what MRS. usually means, dopey,” she said and gave Jenna a push forward, then found their places. . .right behind Adam and Rachel, and the three other Cartwright’s.

Rachel listened intently to the minister’s message on what it means to be a true friend.  The more she listened to the qualities a friend should have, she realized that the man next to her possessed those qualities.  Although she knew physical qualities had nothing to do with being a good friend, she looked over at him and studied his face from the side.  Strong set jaw. . .firm chin.  “Means he’s stubborn,” she thought to herself.  Adam felt her staring at him and turned his head to look at her.  She smiled at him and he smiled back because that was the first smile she had given since learning of her husband’s demise.  Adam patted her hand, reassuring her of his friendship and she squeezed his hand in return and both turned their attention back to the minister’s words.

Mary Ann, on the other hand, seethed with jealousy at the exchange of affection between Adam and Rachel.  She heard nary a word of the minister’s message after that.  After the minister’s last Amen, Mary Ann made a bee-line for the church doors and was the first one out.  Still angry with what she considered to be Adam’s blatant public display of affection with a MARRIED woman, Mary Ann paced quickly back and forth outside near Adam’s buggy.

Adam and Rachel exited the church, followed by Adam’s father and brothers.  They stood around talking to each other for a few moments, then Adam and Rachel made their way towards Adam’s buggy.  When Mary Ann saw him and Rachel approach, she stopped pacing, squared her shoulders, crossed her arms in a defiant attitude and waited.

Adam saw her and in a hushed voice to Rachel, said, “This might be unpleasant, so don’t say anything to her and I’ll explain everything later.”

Rachel responded with a nod of her head.  Adam walked past Mary Ann and helped Rachel into the buggy, then walked back around to the other side.  Mary Ann planted herself firmly in front of him and raised her chin defiantly at him.  Her green eyes flashed and her lips were tight against her teeth.  “Well, Mr. Say-One-Thing-And-Do-Another. . .after you raked ME over the coals about my relationship with a married man, how do you justify your liaison with a married woman?!” Mary Ann asked, her words coming hot and heavy out of her mouth.

“There’s nothing to explain, Mary Ann.  Now why don’t you go on home,” he said and took a step towards the buggy opening.  Mary Ann stepped in front of him and held his arms.  “It isn’t right for YOU to sit in judgement of ME and then YOU turn right around and do what you judge ME for!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about, Mary Ann.”

“Did you get her husband’s approval first, or did you just snatch her out from under his nose?!” she said as she waved her open fist in front of him then snapped it closed as she spoke the word snatch.

 “Go home, Mary Ann,” he responded calmly.

Mary Ann stood looking defiantly at him, but because of the look on his face, Mary Ann knew better than to pursue the situation.  She jutted her chin out at him and lifting her skirt with one hand, flicked it at him as she turned and walked away angrily.

He shook his head at her, then stepped in the buggy.  Rachel faced away from him, but  he knew she was crying.  “I’m sorry about that.  Mary Ann tends to say what she thinks.  I know it’s futile to tell you to not let what she said bother you, because I can see that it did.  I’m sorry.”

Rachel turned her head to look at him, tears slid down her face as she said, “It’s alright, Adam.  It wasn’t your fault.  A jealous woman knows that sometimes hurtful words cause more pain than a physical altercation.”

“She has no cause to be jealous.   She thinks she wants to own me.”

Rachel dried her eyes and blew her nose in her handkerchief.  “Now. . .what about that ride you promised me.”

“Sure you feel up to it after that session with Mary Ann?”

“After that session, I NEED it.”

“Alright.  I know the perfect place to go,” Adam said and clicked his tongue at the horses to start them moving forward out of town.

******

Rachel was quiet during the ride and Adam let her be.  He learned a long time ago to not force a woman to talk when she chooses not to.

He guided the buggy to a grassy knoll and stopped.  When the buggy stopped, Rachel spoke.  “It’s beautiful here.  I like to imagine that Cole found a place like this for US.”

“This is my favorite place to come when I want to be alone or when I feel lonely,” Adam said while he gazed out over Lake Tahoe.  Though it was a warm day, the wind blew across the lake causing Rachel to shudder slightly.  “Are you cold?” he asked her.

“No.  Not really.  Everything is just so overwhelming.  Three days ago, I considered myself to be a happily married woman, now I’m a widow who finds out her husband has been dead for three weeks, AND he was an outlaw.  And to top all THAT…I’m out joy-riding with the man who killed him.”  She stepped out of the buggy and walked to the edge of the bank and wrapped her arms around herself.

Adam stayed in the buggy for a full minute before he got out and walked up beside her.  “Please don’t misunderstand me, Adam. . .I know what I said a moment ago about joy-riding with you must’ve sounded like I blame you for Cole’s death. . .I told you yesterday I don’t. . .it’s just that. . .”

“You don’t have to explain anything,  I understand.”

“Do you?  Cole and I were married for only two and a half years, but during that time he never raised his voice to me, let alone his hand.  His voice was always kind and gentle…His touch, tender.  When I came down with influenza a little over a year after we were married, he stayed right by my bedside every minute, holding my hand and talking softly to me.  Even though I was so sick and couldn’t respond, I knew he was there and he was suffering as much as I was, because he loved me and didn’t want to lose me.  Because of that influenza, our child was born dead.  I saw Cole hold the body of our small son so gently you would have thought the baby was made of glass.  I saw him weep and mourn for that baby when the doctor wrapped him and placed him in the arms of the undertaker.  I was too weak to ride to the cemetery, so Cole carried me all the way. . .for six blocks down the street to the church yard he carried me, so we could be together for our child’s burial.  Then he carried me the six blocks back home.”  Rachel paused and turned to face Adam.  “Now tell me, Adam. . .does that sound like a thief and a killer to YOU?”

“No. . .but I know what this part of the country can do to a man.   I remember as a small boy, traveling with my father and baby brother. . .we had stopped one night to make camp and two men stumbled in.  Their clothes were dirty and torn, their lips, dry, cracked and bleeding from traveling in the hot, blistering sun with no water or food.  My father fed them until they were full. . .he gave them all the water they could hold and even gave them one of our canteens to take with them.  He gave them a change of clothes and a blanket to use for the night and we went to bed.  The next morning, the men were gone and so was our keg of water and most of our food.  We had one canteen of water for a man, a seven year old boy and a year old baby, and miles of desert left to cross.  They also took our horses and left their broken down nags to pull our wagon.”

“After the kindness your father showed them they did THAT to you?!”

“They were desperate men trying to survive in a land void of survival.  When a man gets desperate, he’ll do anything to survive. . .and it doesn’t matter to him who he hurts or where he is at the time.  Desperate men act the same everywhere.  They do what they have to do just to make sure they live just a little bit longer.  That’s not a justification of their actions. . .just a fact.”

“But not all men turn desperate when they come out here. . .do they, Adam?”

“No, not all. . .But more often than not they do.”

“Well I’m going to believe that Cole was one of those who DIDN’T.”

“Well how do you explain the price on his head and him identified as a killer?”

Rachel waited a few seconds before she answered him.  “I can’t.  But I’m going to try to prove he wasn’t like that.”

“How are you going to do that?  Turn back time and have someone else placed in that bank and a different face on the Wanted Posters?”

“Don’t patronize me, Adam.  I’m going to prove it to you.  I don’t know HOW. . .but I’m going to prove it.”  Rachel gave him a determined look, then turned towards the buggy.  “Please take me back to the hotel,” she added as she walked away from him.

He followed her to the buggy and helped her in, then sat down beside her and drove back towards town.

******

It was barely past ten o’clock on Monday morning when a knock sounded at the Cartwright’s door.  Adam went to answer it and saw Rachel Davis standing on the other side of the door.  She was dressed in a black riding skirt, light blue blouse, black vest and black boots.  Her hat hung on her back by its cord and her hair hung loose and free over her shoulders.  She clutched an envelope in her hand.

“Oh Adam. . .I’m glad you’re home!”

“I was just getting ready to go to the corral.  We’ve got a horse I’m working to break.”

“But I must talk with you!  I went to the bank first thing this morning to see if that money Father wired Cole was still there it was which means he didn’t claim it and then Mr. Caldwell the banker gave me this letter and after I read it I asked him for directions to your house and he gave them to me and here I am and Oh, Adam. . .read this!” she said, saying everything in one long excited and breathy sentence and pushing the letter she carried into Adam’s hands.

“Alright, but come on in,” he said and stepped aside and allowed her to enter.  Ben, Joe and Hoss joined them at the front door.

Adam removed the letter and unfolded it and read the contents:

“My darling Rachel:

By the time you get this, I could be dead, or if I’m lucky. . .still alive.  I am being held prisoner in a cabin in the mountains.  The only reason you are reading this now is because they brought me to the bank to get the money your father wired me and I left this note secretly with the banker to give to you when you came.  They don’t know I’m writing this so must hurry.  Here is map to cabin.  Will find proof hidden.”

While Adam read the letter, Ben said to Rachel, “Mrs. Davis, how nice to see you again.  Can I offer you something. . .coffee or tea?”

“Oh no thank you, Mr. Cartwright.  It was nice of you to offer though.  I came to steal Adam for awhile,” she said, still excited and pacing back and forth nervously while Adam read the letter.

“Oh?” Ben said curiously.

“Yes,” she answered, then turned to Adam after he finished reading Cole’s letter, and looking at the map.

“Well?” Rachel questioned anxiously, her eyes shining.

“Well what?”

“That letter proves Cole wasn’t an outlaw.”

“It doesn’t prove that.  He could have written this to make you THINK he was being held prisoner to get the blame off himself.   Ten witnesses at that bank holdup in Carson City is proof to show that he WAS an outlaw.  Besides, if someone is being held prisoner, their captors don’t provide them with a pencil and paper so they can write pleas for help.  I’m afraid you’ll have to face the fact, Rachel. . .your husband was an outlaw and a killer,” Adam said to her while he folded the letter.

Rachel lost her happy countenance and snatched the letter and map out of Adam’s hand.  “Well I don’t believe it!  Cole always carried a small pencil and paper with him.  ALWAYS!  And I’m going to PROVE he was innocent!” she said and hurriedly walked towards the door.

“Wait.  What are you going to do?” Adam said as he reached out and touched her arm stopping her.

“I’m going to follow THIS map to THAT cabin in the mountains and find the proof Cole talked about,” she replied and started walking away again.

He grabbed her this time, stopping her again.  “Whoa. . .now hold on a minute.  You can’t go roaming around up there alone,” Adam said to her.

“Then come with me,” she said back to him.

“I’m telling you it’s a lost cause, Rachel.  You won’t find any proof because there won’t be any.”

“Well, I’m GOING!”

Ben, Joe and Hoss remained silent and watched and listened in amusement at the disagreement between Adam and Rachel and each ventured a private guess as to who would win.

“And I told you, you CAN’T go up there alone.  Those mountains are full of mountain lions, wolves, and all kinds of outlaws hide out there.  Besides, it’s a three hour ride up there. . .AND a three hour ride BACK,” he responded, hoping to discourage her.

“I don’t care.  I came to you because I consider you a friend who would help me.  Will you come with me, Adam?”

“I told you it’s no use.  I don’t believe he’s like you say.”

“Well I do.  Now are you coming with me, or are you going to stay here and go on about your business and WONDER if I’m being eaten by a mountain lion or a wolf. . .or at the merciless mercy of one of those outlaws.”

Adam’s eyes traveled from his father to his brothers then settled on Rachel, but he gave her no answer.

“Fine!  I can read and follow a map!  I’ll go by myself!” she exclaimed and stomped out the door, but Adam was right behind her and reached out and grabbed her by both shoulders and turned her around.  “Now wait. . .you can’t go up there by yourself!” he said to her.

“Then come with me!”

Adam closed his eyes, breathed out in exasperation, then opened his eyes and looked at Rachel. “I know I’m going to regret this…”

“Oh, Adam, that’s wonderful!  Thank you!  Thank you!” she said and grabbed him around the neck, but turned loose of him just as quickly, and said, “I’ll wait for you out here.”  She turned and ran to the buggy and stood beside it, a big smile on her face.

Adam watched her, then turned around and saw his father and brothers standing in the doorway looking at him with smug expressions on their faces.  Adam spread his palms upright.  “Well I HAVE to go with her.  She can’t go galavanting around those mountains by herself can she!” he said with an exaggerated wave of his hand and arm towards the mountains.

“Oh, I agree completely.  What was it Lady Macbeth said, Adam. . .Thus thou must do?” Ben said, his eyebrows raised in obvious amusement.

Adam gave him a “Yeah Whatever” look and said, “She also said. . .Thou’rt mad to say it.”

“You’re doing the right thing, Adam,” Joe added with amusement in his tone, and a grin to match.

“Nuthin’ else ya could a-done, older brother,” Hoss offered, his expression mimicking Joe’s.

Adam moved only his eyes as he looked at each one of them and said, “Oh get out of my way, I have to tell Hop Sing to fix us a lunch.”  He pushed past them and the three of them heard him muttering something about every time he lets himself get talked into something, it’s always detrimental to HIS well-being.  They laughed out loud as he disappeared into the kitchen.

******

Rachel stood on one foot, then the other while she waited for Adam.  She was so excited she could hardly stand still.  She had traveled clear across country to join her husband only to learn that he’d turned outlaw and was dead.  Of course she never believed it for one minute and she and Adam were going to prove it, and all they had to do was follow a map to the mountains and search the cabin for proof.  If Cole said it was there. . .it was there, because he had never lied to her before and she could trust him.  Even though she knew Adam Cartwright only a short time, she felt as if they had known each other longer.  There had been a special connection between them from their first meeting. . .sort of like kindred spirits if you will.

Her thoughts were interrupted by several pairs of approaching footsteps and she looked in the direction of the house and saw Adam, followed by his father and brothers.  Adam carried a burlap sack.  She presumed it to be food, by the looks of the bulges in the bag.

“Ready?” she asked him excitedly and stepped into the buggy.

“Not really, but you didn’t exactly give me a choice in the matter,” Adam said in an irksome tone.  “And we can’t take THAT,” he said gesturing to the buggy.  “Do you know how to ride a horse?”

“Of course I know how.  My father owned  a stables and I rode in Society Horse Shows all the time while I was growing up.”

“Wal, a trip up tuh the mountains ain’t ‘xactly no high-falooten s’iety horse show,” Hoss interjected.

“Not in the smallest measurement,” Adam added in a voice he desperately hoped would discourage her from making the trip.

“Oh don’t worry about me, I can handle it,” Rachel said in an enthusiastic voice, stepping out of the buggy.

Adam looked at her, shook his head, and gave an exasperated sigh.

“Look Adam, you don’t have to go, if you don’t want to.  You can stay here. . .” Rachel said, stepping back towards the buggy.

His head began to bob up and down.  “And wonder whether or not you’re some mountain lion’s dinner,” he concluded.  “I just know I’m going to regret making this trip,” he grumbled, while he tightened the saddle cinch on Sport’s saddle.  Sport had been saddled and tethered there earlier, when Adam planned to go to the corral and before Rachel came.  “But I’m going along to make sure you come back in one piece,  not because I believe you’re going to find any proof of your husband’s innocence, mind you,” he said then turned to Joe.  “Joe, would you saddle Champion for her?”

“He’s a pretty big horse, Adam,” Joe stated.

“Going where we’re going she’ll NEED a strong horse.”

“I’ll go saddle him,” Joe replied and sprinted towards the barn.

“And bring that old coat of mine with you!” he called to Joe then turned to Rachel.  “I don’t suppose you brought one.”

“I was so excited when I read Cole’s letter, I didn’t think of it.”

“And you’re STILL not thinking. . .planning a trip up to those mountains…” he said, shaking his head while he retied his bedroll in place behind his saddle.

“I already told you don’t have to go with me,” she said to him.

“I know what you TOLD me. . .but I’m going. . .unwilling. . .but necessary,” he grumbled and complained.

“Ya want one a-us tuh go ‘long with ya, Adam?” Hoss offered.

He shook his head.  “No. . .TWO people out on a wild-goose chase is enough.  Besides, we should be back before dark,” he said, standing beside Sport with his hand on the pommel of his saddle.

Joe returned with Rachel’s mount and had Adam’s old coat tied on to the back of the saddle.  “That’s MY new bed roll, so be sure it comes back. . .all in one piece,” Joe said, then grinned at Rachel.

“I’m sure Adam will take care of EVERYTHING,” Rachel said, giving Adam an endearing smile as Joe helped her mount the horse.

Adam closed his eyes and wagged his head from side to side.  “Why do I get the feeling that I’m heading out on a head-hunt. . .MINE. . .to make sure it stays connected to my body.”

Laughter erupted from his father and brothers and Rachel joined in also.  “Well, if you weren’t such a nice guy, Adam,” she said.

“Gullible you mean,” he answered.  “Well. . .let’s get going.  The sooner we get there, the sooner we’ll get back,” he added and mounted his horse.

“Take care going up there and back, Adam.  This time of year there can be mud slides or a sudden spring storm,” Ben advised

“We’ll be careful,” he replied, then with a wave of his hand, he and Rachel rounded the corner of the barn.

“Now, let’s get to those chores,” Ben said to his two other sons, but he could hear them grumbling as he walked back to the house and he chuckled at them.

******

Adam and Rachel had been riding for a solid hour when he saw that she was beginning to lag behind, so he slowed his pace and waited for her to catch up to him.  “Let’s stop and rest, shall we,” he said to her.

“Oh, I thought you’d never say that,” she breathed out in a sigh of welcome relief.

“All you have to do is tell me any time you want to stop and we’ll stop,” he said while he dismounted and walked over to her horse and helped her down.  She took slow steps as she walked away.

“Riding out here is a lot different than riding in a Society Horse Show in Boston,” she commented as she rubbed her backside.

“Indeed,” he replied and chuckled at her.  After drinking from his canteen, he turned to Rachel.  “Could I see that map again?”

“Oh sure,” Rachel replied and pulled the envelope out of the pocket of her split-skirt and handed it to him.

Adam studied the map carefully and looked around at the terrain while Rachel walked the kinks out of her legs to get the feeling back in them.  “Figure out where the cabin is?” she asked when she stood beside him.

“Up there,” he said as he pointed to his left to show the direction they would travel in.

“Way up there?!” she exclaimed and pointed.  “But it’s straight up the side of that mountain!  Surely we’re not going THAT way!”

“We’re going THAT way,” Adam admitted.  “We’ll have to cross the Truckee River to get to a short cut to the cabin.”  He folded the map and stuffed it in his trousers pocket.  “Let’s get mounted up.  We still have a long ways to go before we get to the river’s crossing.”

Rachel threw her arms down at her sides and frowned at him.  “Go NOW?  Do we have to go RIGHT now?”

“We have to go right now,” he answered and handed her the reins to her horse, then helped her mount up.  Rachel groaned when she settled in the saddle.

Adam chuckled at her.  “I promise we’ll stop longer next time.  We can eat then so it’ll give you a little longer break from riding,” he said as he lifted himself in his saddle.

“By the time we get where we’re going I’m going to have one great big blister on my. . .well, I’m going to have one big blister,” Rachel said as she prodded her horse forward.

“Probably,” Adam said, then he laughed as he moved in front of her.

******

They traveled over rough and rocky terrain and up hills and down.  They were getting into higher country now and it was much cooler at the higher elevation.  At one point in their traveling, they stopped just long enough to put on their coats.  When their last button was buttoned and collars turned up around their necks, Adam gave the signal for them to start again.

During one climb, Adam took the reins to Rachel’s horse while she held onto the pommel of her saddle while he led her horse up the steep incline.  When they reached the top of that particular hill, they stopped and Adam unsaddled their horses to give them a rest also.  Rachel spread out Joe’s bedroll and lay down with a moan and groan.  “I have never been so tired in all my life,” she said when she settled.  “A person has to have a body of iron to do this very often.”

“It’s all what you’re used to,” Adam answered as he pulled food items out of the burlap sack.

“You don’t seem tired at ALL,” Rachel said to him.

“I do a lot of riding. . .I’m used to it.”

“Well give me a nice soft buggy seat anytime,” she said as she took the sandwich Adam handed her.  “I know you don’t believe we’re going to find anything at that cabin, Adam, but I appreciate you coming with me.  It really means a lot to me,” she said after she had eaten half of her lunch.

“No I don’t believe we’ll find anything, but I came along because I believe YOU believe we’ll find something, and to protect you from mountain lions, wolves or any human riffraff  that may be roaming around up here.”

“We haven’t seen any.”

“YET.  But I expect it’s just a matter of time.”  Adam looked up at the darkening sky and said, “Speaking of time. . .we probably should be thinking about going on.  I don’t like the looks of those clouds building up over there.”

“As long as we just THINK about going on.  I’m still numb from sitting in that ‘leather chair’ for so long.”

“Well, numb or not, we better get going,” he said and went to saddle both horses.

“Well if you don’t mind, I’ll wait right here until we HAVE to go,” Rachel said from her lying down position on the bedroll.

Adam shook his head at her then walked towards the horses.  “What was it she said back at the ranch about being able to handle it?” He stopped walking and turned around to look at her.  “Yeah. . .right,” he said, then laughed and continued on his way.

After Adam finished saddling their horses and walked back to where Rachel was, he found her sound asleep.  “Rachel,” he called out to her.  When she remained asleep he crouched down beside her and shook and patted her arm.  “Rachel.  Wake up.  We’ve got to get going.  Come on,” he said as he shook her awake.

She groaned sleepily and rubbed her eyes with the backs of her hands.  “Just a little longer.  Please?”

“Rachel, we can’t.  I think a storm is coming and we have to get across that river before that happens,” he said, shaking her to keep her awake.

“Ohhh,” she moaned, then sat up,  stretched and yawned.  Adam took her arm and pulled her up to a standing position, then bent down and rolled up the bedroll and walked towards the horses with it.  Rachel followed slowly and reached the horses as Adam finished tying the bedroll behind Rachel’s saddle.  “Up you go,” he said as he boosted her up in the saddle, handed her the reins then mounted his own horse.

“How much further?” she asked him.

“Once we get across the river. . .about five miles.”

“Well how far is it to the river?”

“About two.”

“Seven more miles,” she groaned out the words.  “This is rougher than I thought it would be.  I thought we’d be able to ride right up the mountain, right to the cabin.  I didn’t think we’d have all these rocks, gullies and now a river to travel in, around and through.”

Adam leaned across his saddle and gave her a condescending look.  “Well just what did you think mountains were made of?”

“Well rock of course, but not like this.  When I clear Cole’s reputation, I’m going back to Boston. . .where it’s civilized.  Where we have streets and sidewalks that lead us to EXACTLY where we want to go,” she said as she moved her horse past Adam.

He liked Rachel Davis and it pricked his heart a tiny bit when she mentioned going back to Boston.  He urged Sport forward and caught up to her and they plodded along towards the Truckee River.

The further north they rode, the colder it became and the wind started to pick up.  A slight rumbling of a spring storm sounded in the distance and Adam and Rachel stepped up their travel speed in order to reach the river before the storm reached them.  Adam was not looking forward to getting caught in a mountain spring storm, whether it was snow OR rain.

Reaching the edge of the water, Adam stood up in the stirrups and surveyed the terrain they would be crossing.  “I think if we cross right here, the current won’t be as strong, and it isn’t very deep,” he said, pointing in front of him.  “You ready?” he added, looking over at her.

“I don’t know about this, Adam.  I’ve never crossed running water before.”

“I have.  Just stay close and follow exactly where I go and you won’t have any trouble.”

“I’m scared, Adam,” she said, her eyes wide as she looked at where she was expected to go.

“We can turn around and go back down if you want to.”

Rachel swallowed and looked at the swift rushing water in the river, then looked over at Adam.  “No, I have to prove Cole’s innocence.”

“It isn’t enough for you to just BELIEVE he was innocent?”

“No it really isn’t.  I need to prove it to YOU.”

“What difference does it make whether or not I believe it?”

Rachel furrowed her brow thoughtfully.  “I don’t know. . .it just does.  It matters a great deal.”  She took a deep breath, then let it out and swallowed hard.  “I’m ready.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure,” she nodded bravely.

“Alright.  Stay right behind me and make sure your horse follows exactly. . .step for step.  If you veer off, you’ll end up in water up to your neck.”

“I-I understand,” she replied in a shaky voice while her stomach did a hundred flip-flops all at once.

“Well. . .here we go,” Adam said and prodded Sport down into the water.  It ran swiftly around the horse’s legs and the animal picked his legs up high with each step forward.  Rachel prodded her horse into the water right behind Sport.  Adam was constantly looking ahead to the path in front of him, and looking back over his shoulder to make sure Rachel was still on course.

They were almost half way across the river when Rachel’s horse balked and refused to move forward.  She kicked his flanks harder and pulled on the reins to make him move, but he continued to balk and began to whinny and snort.  The rumbling of the storm grew louder and Rachel’s horse was becoming skittish at the noise.  When Adam heard Champion whinny and snort he stopped Sport and turned around in his saddle to look back at Rachel.  He saw her predicament and called out to her.  “Don’t kick him!  And ease up on the reins!  Let HIM do the leading!”

She nodded and did as he suggested.  Soon Champion settled down and fell in step again behind Sport.  Rachel kept the reins loose and relaxed and made a conscious effort NOT to kick Champion in order to make him move forward.  Secretly though, she wished Adam would just get out of the way and let her put Champion into a run in order to cross the stream quicker.  Her heart beat as though it was trying its best to beat right through her chest cavity.  The roaring of the swishing water was almost deafening and she knew it would be no use trying to call out to Adam.  She thought it was taking them forever to cross and the sooner they did, the better she would like it.  Her thoughts were going in all directions about all the events that had transpired since she arrived in Virginia City.  It seemed like one long nightmare.  The only good thing in the nightmare was meeting Adam Cartwright and having him as a friend.

He chose that moment to look back over his shoulder at her.  He gave her a reassuring nod of his head and she gave him the bravest smile she could conjure up.  Though she smiled, he could tell by the look in her eyes, she was frightened about crossing the rushing water.

A few more feet of traveling and Adam turned around in his saddle again and gave her a thumbs up to let her know they were almost across.  Soon, Sport reached the other bank and climbed it quickly as though HE was also relieved to have crossed over safely.

When Rachel saw that she was about to reach land, her smile widened.  Adam watched as she and Champion came nearer.  Suddenly, he heard a loud crack like something being broken and looked downstream then upstream.  A large white cap of ice was hurling downstream heading straight in the path towards Rachel and Champion.  He thought it best to not call out to her, it would only alarm her and she might make Champion spooked, then they’d both be carried downstream.

His eyes darted back and forth between Champion, Rachel and the ice cap.  All were heading towards their destination. . .Champion and Rachel towards shore, and the ice cap towards Champion and Rachel.  “Come on,” Adam whispered out loud, through clenched teeth.  “Come on,” he repeated, though only his ears heard his pleas.

Champion touched his front hooves on the land and gave a hop to put his back hooves on land, but slipped and stepped back into the water.  Rachel became alarmed and Adam dismounted quickly.  Out of the corner of her eye she saw the ice cap several yards away and knew if it struck them, she would be knocked off and maybe drowned.  Her face showed horror as she tried frantically to get Champion to move forward.  Adam saw the danger she was in and remounted Sport and took his rope, and with a strong, hard throw, lassoed Champion and made Sport back up, dragging Champion up and onto land, seconds before the ice cap floated by.

It all seemed to happen in the same split second. . .Champion reared and pawed the air and Rachel let go of the reins and fell from the saddle, hitting the ground with a thud and a groan, gasping and groaning for breath, then silence and no movement.

“NO!  RACHEL!” Adam exclaimed and dismounted quickly.  After gaining control of Champion to keep him from stomping Rachel, he crouched down beside her and placed an arm under her shoulders and lifted her up.

“I. . .can’t. . .breathe!” she gasped in halting, breathless words while at the same time trying to gulp in air.  “I. . .can’t. . .breathe!”

Adam laid her back against him and spoke calmly to her.  “Just relax.  You had the wind knocked out of you.  Just relax against me and don’t try so hard to breathe.  It’s easier if you don’t try to force air into your lungs.  Let it come back on its own.”

She gasped a few more times, then closed her eyes and slumped back against Adam’s chest, allowing him to hold her upright, while she concentrated on controlling her gasping, letting her breath come back on its own.

Adam kept talking calmly to her to settle her nerves and once she became completely relaxed and her nerves calmed, her breathing became normal, and she sat up on her own power.

“Feeling better?’ he asked her.  “Are you hurt anywhere?”

“I feel MUCH better.  And I think I hurt only my pride.  I’m so embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed?  Why?”

“Well. . .I bragged that I rode in horse shows all my life and I get out here and fall flat on my. . .” Her eyebrows arched.  “Face.  That’s why.”

“Well I dare say your society horse shows didn’t have you crossing swift running water with floating ice caps.”

“No they didn’t, and those society horse show horses are trained to obey every command.  EVERY command, or they’re taken out of circulation,” Rachel laughed.

“Ranch horses are trained differently than horse show horses.”

“Yes. . .I’m finding that out. . .the hard way,” she laughed again, and started to stand up.

“You sure you feel like standing?’ he said, helping her up.

“Yeah, I think so.” She stepped away from him to make sure she could walk on her own and found she could.  She walked over to Champion and stroked his nose.  “You didn’t like that any more than I did, did you, boy,” she said and patted his neck.  Champion bobbed his head and snorted.

“We still have a couple miles to go.  We can walk them if you’re not ready to get back up on him yet.”

“One thing my father always told me all the time I was growing up. . .whether I fell down and scraped my elbow or fell off a horse. . .he said, ‘Rachel. . .you have to get up on your own, because you won’t always have someone around to help you up’,” she said as she put her foot in the stirrup and lifted herself up into the saddle.

“You’ve got more grit than any woman I know,” Adam said with admiration.

“I’ll take that as a compliment, Sir,” she said with a smile and a nod of her head.

“It was meant as one.”

Rachel lost her smile and her eyes suddenly felt moist.  “It really isn’t grit that urges me on, Adam.  It’s NEED.  I need to prove. . .to EVERYONE. . .that Cole wasn’t an outlaw.  It isn’t enough that only I know it.  Anything that Cole did was a reflection on ME too.  I want to KNOW, inside myself, that I couldn’t have been so wrong about a man that I loved and gave myself to for two and a half years.  I have to know that.”

“I know you do.  And I respect that.  I want you to know that I’ll do whatever I can to help you prove it.”

Rachel looked at him with a surprised look.  “So you’ve changed your reason for coming along with me from PROTECTING me to helping me PROVE Cole’s innocence?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Will you tell me what changed your mind?”

“Well. . .all during this trip I was thinking about something. . .the money your father wired your husband wasn’t picked up by him.  Right?”  Rachel nodded.  “So, WHY wasn’t it?  His note said they…whoever THEY were…brought him to the bank to get it.  The money was there, so why didn’t he take it with him?”

“So YOU have doubts of your own that Cole could be an outlaw and killer!  Oh, Adam. . .that’s wonderful!  I. . .”

He lifted a palm up in front of her to stop her.  “I didn’t say I had DOUBTS. . .but I DO have QUESTIONS.”

“That’s good enough for me!  Come on. . let’s go find that cabin AND that proof!” Rachel said and urged Champion forward at a fast pace.

“Rachel!” Adam called out to her.  She halted her horse suddenly and turned around to look at him with a question in her expression.

He looked at her and pointed in the opposite direction she was going.  “Uh. . .the cabin is. . .THAT way,” he said with a playful grin on his face.

She trotted Champion back to where Adam was and looked at him sheepishly.  “I knew that.  I was just seeing if you knew the way.”

“Uh huh.  I grew up around here. . .remember.  We better get moving before that storm decides to come this way,” he said looking towards the thunderheads that continued to build in the western sky.

“Lead the way,” Rachel said to him.  He moved in front of her and they began the trip down the path leading to the cabin that Cole indicated on the map.

Up ahead of them and across a clearing, they could see the cabin.  Rachel pulled rein on her horse and Adam looked back at her.  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I’m suddenly afraid.  Afraid of what we’ll find,” she said in a shaky voice.

“But I thought you WANTED to find proof.”

“No, it isn’t that.  I’m afraid we’ll find Cole’s body in that cabin.”

“But he’s already in Boot Heel in Carson City.”

“His NAME is on the grave marker, but COLE isn’t buried there.”

“You say that, but you can’t KNOW it.”

“Yes I do.  Something inside me tells me that we’re going to find Cole in that cabin and he’s going to be dead.  I just know it,” she said, dismounting.

“You want me to go on ahead and check it out,” he said, though not as a question.

“Yes.  I don’t think I could. . .I don’t think I would be able to handle it if we found him.  Can you understand?”

“I understand.  I’ll go check it out.  Here. . .take my rifle just in case,” he said, pulling it out of the scabbard and handing the gun to her.  “If there’s any sign of trouble, pull the trigger quickly three times, and I’ll be right here.”

“Adam. . .if you DO find a body in that cabin, look in his left boot.  If you find a wedding ring tied on a pink ribbon tied to the inside of his boot strap. . .you know you’ve found my husband’s body.  Will you put my ring in his shirt pocket next to his heart then bury him, then come back and get me?”

“Yes, Rachel, I will.”

“Thank you,” she said in such a solemn voice, Adam didn’t want to leave her alone.  “I don’t feel right leaving you this far away.”

“I’ll be alright.  Besides, I need some time alone to grieve for my husband.”

“How do you know I’ll find him in there?”

She turned her sad eyes up to him.  “Some things you just KNOW.”  She smiled weakly then turned and walked away and found a large rock and sat down on it, pulling the coat around her and placed Adam’s rifle across her lap and looked out and down into the valley from whence they had come.

Adam looked at her for a few seconds, then moved Sport forward, towards the cabin in the mountains.

******

When he was a few yards away from the cabin, Adam halted Sport and looked around the surroundings, removing the hammer guard from his gun at the same time.  Believing all to be peaceful and no one around to make a surprise attack, he urged Sport forward and stopped him directly in front of the cabin door, then dismounted.  He looked around cautiously again and glanced back towards where Rachel was.  She was still sitting atop the boulder looking out in front of her.

Adam tethered Sport to a post sticking out of the ground that looked like at one time it had been part of a complete railing, then inched his way towards the cabin door, his hand resting on his gun.  He stepped up to the door.  The rusty hinges squeaked loudly as he slowly pushed the door wide open with his foot.  Stepping into the darkened cabin from the light of the outdoors, it took his eyes a few seconds to adjust to the darkness, after which time he stepped further into the room and his eyes traveled around the room.  When they reached the darkest part of the cabin, he squinted his eyes to peer into it.  On the cot, in the corner of the cabin, under a blanket, lay the still form of a body.  He walked slowly over to it and removed the blanket from off the face.  Because of the freezing temperatures in the mountains, the body had been perfectly preserved.  Adam’s expression was a combination of astonishment and confusion.  Mostly confusion because  the face he was looking at was the one on the Cole Davis Wanted Poster, and was the same face of the man he shot and killed in the Carson City Bank, and who was buried in Boot Heel.

******

Rachel continued to sit on the boulder staring out over the valley below her.  Her mind whirled with all the memories of her and Cole and the realization that she may never see him again, tore at her heart.  If one could rate a marriage as perfect, then that’s the kind of marriage they had. . .perfect.  They had told each other on many occasions that the other was the one they had dreamed about marrying.

As she dug deep into her heart and mind for every memory of him, hot tears slithered down her cheeks and seem to freeze in place a few seconds before they dropped onto her hands like tiny droplets of ice.  Because of the mountain elevation and wind blowing, she was very cold sitting on top of that rock, but she thought if she moved at all, the spell of her memories of Cole would be broken and she would lose this moment for eternity.

Even though her tears continued to flow, freeze and fall, she smiled slightly when an image of Cole’s face appeared in her mind.  She could see his funny little smile she loved so and his blue eyes twinkling with merriment.  She remembered how it felt to run her fingers through his light colored hair.  She could taste his kiss and felt the tickle of his moustache when he nuzzled her face and neck with it.  She felt his arms around her as he held her close and remembered the sweetness of their love.

She was brought out of her travel back in time when she heard slow deliberate footsteps behind her.  She recognized them and without turning around, she said, “You found Cole, didn’t you Adam.”

“Yes.  I found him.”

“And you buried him.”

“I buried him.”

“Will you take me to him?”

“Yes, I will, but first there’s something you should see.  I found the ring like you said, but I also found this letter…still clutched in his hand.  It’s addressed to you.”

Rachel turned around slowly and looked at him, then went to stand beside him.  Adam took the rifle from her the same time he handed her the letter.  Rachel walked a short distance away then stopped to read the letter:

“My sweet Rachel:

I hope one day someone finds this letter and gives it to you.  The outlaws are gone now and they think I am dead.  I made myself live a little longer so I could write you this farewell letter.  When I came out here, I had two reasons: to buy a ranch and find my brother, Carl.  I told you I had a brother, but what I DIDN’T tell you was that he was an outlaw and my TWIN.  I hoped to find him and convince him to give up his ways.  I found him, but he used us being twins to his advantage.  He even grew a moustache so we would look identical and he used my name whenever he did a “job” as he always called it.  Afterwards, he would come back here, shave off his moustache and dye his hair black, so he wouldn’t be recognized wherever he went.  Then when his moustache grew out enough again, he did another “job”…it kept going like that.  I made the mistake of telling him about the money your father was wiring to me.  They took me to town to withdraw it.   After I came out of the bank I told them it wasn’t there yet.  I managed to slip the banker the first note and map.  It was only by some miracle he didn’t mistake me for Carl.  I wish now he had, that would have been easy to prove.  Two days later I tried to escape but they beat me mercilessly and left me here to die.  The last time I saw Carl, he was on his way to do another “job” at the Carson City Bank.  I told him I hoped he would meet up with someone faster with a gun.  He laughed and told me there was no chance of that happening.  I hope he is wrong.  I love you, Rachel, with all my heart.  Maybe some day you’ll meet a man worthy of you.  All my love, Cole”

After Rachel finished reading Cole’s letter, she walked back to Adam and handed him the letter, then as if in a daze, she walked back to the rock she had been sitting on and sat down, once again staring down into the valley below, tears flowing like icy droplets down her cheeks.

After Adam read the letter, he walked over to Rachel and sat down beside her and placed a comforting arm around her shoulders.  Slowly, Rachel melted against him and buried her face against his chest.  Her body shook with bereavement and anguish and Adam put his other arm around her and let her vent her grief while she sobbed softly against him.  He spoke no words of comfort because he believed words of ANY kind would be of NO comfort to her at the moment.  She was going to have to work through her grief her own way and he respected that.  She needed his strength right now and he wanted to give it to her.  So he did.

After her tears stopped falling and she felt completely drained of all emotions, she sat up and turned her head towards Adam.  A mournful look clouded her face, but no tears fell.  “Take me to Cole’s grave,” she said to him.

Adam nodded then said, “I don’t want to minimize your grieving time with your husband, but we’ll have to go back soon so we can cross that river before the storm comes or we’ll have to go back the long way and that means traveling in the dark.  And with all the cliffs to fall off up here. . .” he added with a shake of his head.

“I understand,” Rachel replied in an emotionless voice.

Adam helped her mount her horse, then mounted his and led the way to the place of Cole Davis’ grave.

******

Adam stood back aways with his hat in his hands while Rachel knelt by the mound of rocks that covered the body of her dead husband and looked at the crude marker Adam fashioned out of two sticks lashed together with a strip of leather he found.  She placed her hand on top of the cross and said, “He still doesn’t have a proper marker, does he.  But at least he didn’t die an outlaw.  He died a hero.  That’s what he was to me, Adam….a hero.  Cole’s gravesite is more honorable than Carl’s.  MUCH more honorable.”

“Rachel….I don’t mean to hurry you…”

“I know…and I’m ready now.”  She ran her hand over the marker and the mound of rocks and touched her fingertips to her lips and placed them on the mound.  “Goodbye, my darling.  I’ll always love you.”  Her eyes scanned the mound one more time, then she stood to her feet and walked back to Adam.  “I knew he had a brother, but I didn’t know they were twins.  I suppose the reason Cole never talked about Carl was because he was ashamed that his twin brother was an outlaw.  It must have been very hard for him to know that.  How can TWINS be complete OPPOSITES.  Before I go back to Boston, I have to get Cole’s name off that wretched marker and have Carl’s name put on it.  I’m glad Carl met up with someone faster with a gun that day in the bank, Adam.  I’m glad it was YOU.”  With that said, she mounted her horse and Adam did the same.  “Thank you, Adam, for coming with me and now for taking me back down.”

“Well, don’t thank me yet, we’re still on top of this mountain,” he said, then led the way back towards the river.

******

The wind started to pick up a little more, so they pulled their coats around them tighter as they rode.  About a mile into their journey towards the river, icy raindrops stung the exposed parts of their skin.

Adam stepped up Sport’s speed towards the river and Rachel followed suit.  Upon reaching the spot where they had previously crossed, Adam found that the water level had risen considerably.  He halted Sport at the edge and Rachel rode up alongside him.  “The water’s rising, so when we cross we’ll have to go a little bit faster than before if we’re going to get across,” he said to her, while trying to dodge the ice pellets from getting into his eyes.  His hat was already pulled low over his eyes, as was Rachel’s, in order to protect their eyes.  “Stay close and follow fast,” he said to her and he urged Sport down into the water.  When he had gone about two feet, he looked over his shoulder at Rachel.  She was still in the same spot on land and made no effort to prod Champion forward.  “Come on!” he called to her and waved her forward.

Rachel shook her head.  “I can’t!  I’m afraid!  The water’s higher now!  I can’t!”

“Yes you can!  But you have to come NOW!”

“I can’t, Adam…I can’t!”

Adam grumbled out loud and turned Sport and went back on land.  “We can make it, Rachel, but we’ve got to go NOW!”

“I’m sorry, Adam.  I just can’t.  Can’t we go the long way?  I’d rather do that.”

“We can, but I don’t really want to, but I guess there’s no use in arguing about it….is there.”

“I’m sorry I’m so much trouble.  Just leave me here and go on.”

“Leave you here….that’s crazy talk.  We’ve got a long way to go, so…let’s go.”

They turned their horses in a westerly direction to go around the river, only thing was, they were riding right into the storm.

About a half mile into their travels, the storm began to descend upon them, pelting them with icy drops of rain and a cold, harsh wind whipping at their clothes.  Rachel managed to take off the coat she was wearing and drape it over her head, but the wind was strong and the rain beating down on her, ripped it from her hand and blew it down the mountain.

Adam stopped and took hold of the reins to her horse.  “We’re going back to the cabin to wait it out!” he shouted at her, above the roar of the wind.

Rachel fought him for the reins to her horse.  “No!  Just leave me here!  I don’t care now what happens to me!”

“Well I care!  So…hang on!” he added as he now controlled her horse’s reins, and put Sport into a gallop, pulling Champion along behind.  Hunched over Champion’s back, Rachel held onto the horse’s mane for dear life while they ran quick as the wind back towards the cabin.

Upon reaching the cabin, Adam dismounted quickly, but Rachel stayed in the saddle.  While the sky seemed to be dumping buckets of water on them, Adam ran around to Rachel and began to pull her off her horse, but she jerked herself out of his grip and stayed firmly planted in the saddle.  “I don’t want to go in there!” she said loudly, barely able to be heard above the sound of the wind and falling rain.  “That’s where Cole died!  I can’t go in there!”

“Rachel, you can’t stay out here!  Now come on!” he said and reached up and took hold of her and pulled her down out of the saddle.  She jerked free from his hold again and looked at him through her tears and the pouring rain.  “I’m going back to the river!  I don’t care if it pulls me under or not!  Cole’s dead!  I don’t care if I live anymore!” she said and started to mount up.

Adam grabbed hold of her again and shook her shoulders.  “I let you drag me all the way up here so you could clear your husband’s name!  Well you HAVE!  Now you’re just going to let it all end here?!  You have strength of mind, you have courage, you’re still young and pretty, and you have your whole life ahead of you!  You can get married again, Rachel!  ANY man would be proud to have you as his wife, but if you want to throw your life away and have it count for naught, then GO AHEAD!” he screamed at her in order to be heard above the howling wind and roaring thunder, and through the torrent of rain descending on them.  He turned and ran to the cabin, threw open the door, went inside and closed the door quickly behind him.

Adam took off his soaking wet coat and hat and hung them on a nail on the cupboard located in one corner of the cabin.  He found some matches and lit a lantern, then looked for another blanket.  He used one blanket to wrap Cole’s body in before he buried him.

His quest for a dry blanket was successful because he found one in the cupboard, he removed it and went to stand beside the closed door.  Very soon, the hinges squeaked as the door was pushed open slowly and Rachel stepped inside and closed it behind her.  She leaned her back against the door and the water poured off her clothing, and gathered in a small pool of water at her feet.  Her hair was plastered flat against her head, and to her face, but she didn’t bother to wipe it back. Her hat hung by its cord in front of her.  Adam held out the blanket to her.

“You knew I would come in,” she said to him in a bland voice.

“Only hoped,” he replied in a quiet voice, while he continued to hold the blanket out to her.

She began shaking and shivering, so Adam took hold of her hands and placed the blanket in them.  “Here….you better get out of those wet clothes.”

Rachel cautiously took the blanket from him, then turned her eyes up to look through her hair into his eyes.  “Well, it’s either wrap up in this nice dry blanket or stay in those dripping wet clothes and catch pneumonia,” he said in response to her look of bewilderment.  “You can change over in that corner,” he said, pointing to the darkest shadows in the cabin.  “I’ll see if I can get a fire started in this relic of a stove,” he added and turned his back to her while he opened the door to the wood stove and peered inside.  She wiped her hair out of her face and quietly made her way to the dark corner and began removing her clothing all the while keeping her eyes glued on Adam, making sure he didn’t turn around while she was undressing.  He didn’t.

Shortly, Rachel stood beside him with her wet clothes in her hands and the blanket wrapped around her, exposing only her head.  “It feels good,” she said of the heat already radiating from the stove.

“I’m surprised it’ll even HOLD heat,” Adam said as he took her clothes and draped them on the back of a chair in front of the stove to dry.  “Most of the firebricks are gone from inside,” he added.  “I just hope it gets hot enough to warm it up in here tonight.  At least there’s plenty of wood in the wood box so I can keep feeding it.”

“Tonight?!” Rachel said surprised.  “You mean we’re not leaving when it stops raining?!   We have to stay in here ALL night?  Together?”

Adam raked his thumb back and forth across his forehead.  “We do unless YOU want to sleep outside in the rain under a lean-to with the cold wind blowing on you.  I don’t.  Besides. . .I told you…we can’t travel down this mountain in the dark, so we’ll HAVE to stay here all night.”

“Oh.”  Rachel looked about the room and drew the blanket around her just a little tighter.  “Well, you must be cold in YOUR wet clothes too,” she said to him.

“I’ll be alright.  Besides, there’s only ONE blanket and I don’t think you want to share it right now,” he said with a mischievous grin and gleam in his eye.

“No,” she said with a  laugh in her voice.

“Sit here and warm up,” Adam said pulling the only other chair in front of the stove.  “I’ll see if I can find some food around here.  I should have had Hop Sing double up on the food.”

“Let ME look.  YOU sit in front of the stove so your clothes will dry faster,” she said as she looked up at him.  “Go on. . .sit down,” she reiterated, and gestured with her head towards the chair, then stepped over to the cupboard in the corner, a corner of the the blanket dragging behind her.  Adam did as Rachel requested and held out his hands in front of the stove, then rubbed them together briskly.

“Aha!  We’re in luck!” Rachel sounded out.  “We can either dine formally on canned beans. . .or we can dine INformally on. . .canned beans. . .or we can be very casual and open a can of. . .beans,” she said in a light-hearted manner.  “Your choice,” she added and smiled.

Adam closed one eye and pursed his lips as though he was really thinking about the various wonderful choices of culinary delights Rachel presented him with.  “I think I’d like to dine. . formally,” he answered.

“Good choice, Mr. Cartwright,” she replied and brought two cans of beans to the table.  She adjusted the blanket around her and went back over to the cupboard and rummaged through the drawers.  She found two candles and two forks, one fork had a tine missing, but was still usable.

She set the candles in the middle of the table and said, “Dining formally requires eating by candlelight, does it not?”

“I believe you’re right,” Adam said and took another match, struck it and lit the candles.  In the meantime, Rachel opened the stove lid and held the forks in the fire to sterilize them.  Adam took his knife and opened the cans of beans and bent back the lids.  He placed the chair he had been sitting in, on one side of the table closest to the stove for Rachel to sit in, then found an empty crate to use for a chair for himself.

Rachel felt Adam’s shirt back with her hand.  “YOU sit in the chair and dry the back of your clothes.  I’ll sit on the crate.”

“I’m fine,” he protested and moved towards the crate.

“Ah-ah. . .sit in the chair,” Rachel said in a commanding tone as she cocked her head sideways and looked at him and pointed to the chair.  “We’re dining formally remember.  You sit where I place you,” she added, then smiled.

A smile appeared at one corner of his mouth, then he sat down where requested.  As the crate was lower than a normal chair seat, Rachel laughed out loud when she sat down on it.  “I feel like a little child sitting at a big table,” she said.  She picked up her can of beans and placed it in the hand with which she held onto the blanket and held onto them both while she ate.

A while later, Adam noticed she had grown quiet and was staring down into her can of beans and stabbing at them slightly with her fork.  “Why so quiet?” he asked her when he looked over at her.

“You remind me of Cole.  You’re kind and compassionate like he was and when I needed a talking-to, he gave it to me…just like you did earlier.  Then when I came to my senses and did what he asked of me, he was there waiting with compassion…just like you were.”  They held each other’s gaze for several seconds, then Rachel spoke again.  “Have you ever known loneliness, Adam?  I mean. . .REAL loneliness?  The loneliness that comes when you give your heart and yourself to someone and then suddenly they’re not there anymore.  Have you ever known that kind of loneliness?”

“I don’t know the kind of loneliness that comes when you lose someone you’ve been married to, because I’ve never been married, but have I known loneliness?  Yes.”

“Does the pain ever go away?”

“I don’t think it goes away completely, but good memories help to ease the pain, and you go on with your life.  My mother died a few hours after I was born and when I was five years old, my father married a very wonderful woman. . . .her name was Inger.  She was Swedish and I remember she used to sing to me and stroke my hair every night until I fell asleep.  Then when my brother was about three months old, Inger was killed by an Indian arrow.  I had grown accustomed to hearing her sing and stroke my hair, then when she died. . .I was lonely for her.  When I was eleven my father married again. . .a French woman. . .Marie.  I didn’t get along with her very well at first and by the time I could love her, she was killed in a freak accident.  I felt lonely again, but I had a second brother who needed me to be strong, so I buried my loneliness inside myself and put all my effort into being a good older brother.”

“Did you succeed?” Rachel asked, while she listened intently to his story with one elbow on the table and her chin resting in the palm of her hand.

He grinned slightly at her question.  “I’d like to think so, but my brothers will probably disagree with you and tell you I’m bossy.”

“Are you?”

“Of course not.   I call it. . .being protective.”

“Tell me about. . .Mary Ann Rogers. . .”

“Roberts,” he corrected her.

“Mary Ann Roberts then. . .tell me about her.”

“What’s there to tell.  We grew up together.  After graduation, we went our separate ways. . .I went to college. . .she went to San Francisco’s Barbary Coast.”

“From the way you said it, it doesn’t sound like a very good place to be.”

“It ISN’T.  Especially for women.  It’s a foul part of San Francisco.”

“So you’re not serious about her?”

Adam looked like he had just bit into a sour pickle when she said that, then looked at her.  “Hardly,” he said in a definite tone.

“Well she has her sights on YOU, you know.”

“I know.”

“Have you ever been in love with anyone?”

Adam looked at  her  for  a  few   seconds,  then  looked  down.   “Yes. . .there   was   one. . .Regina Darien.  She was brought up Quaker, and. . .we believed differently about some things. . .”

“And both of you were too stubborn to compromise what you believed,” Rachel cut in, intertwining her fingers and placing her folded hands on the table.  “So you went your separate ways,” she concluded.

“So we went our separate ways,” Adam said at the same time he stood up and turned to the stove and opened the lid to add more wood.

“Did you regret not going after her?” Rachel asked in a softer tone.

Adam stood very still.  “Very much,” he said quietly.

“Was there anyone else you cared about after you let Regina slip through your fingers?”

He looked over at her and gave her an annoyed look, then turned back to the stove.  “Laura Dayton.  We were even engaged,” he said while he continued to add wood to the stove.

“WERE engaged?  What happened?”

“I broke it off when I discovered she was in love with my cousin instead of me.  But I think I was more in love with the idea of being married, more than I was with Laura,” he said as he put the lid back in place on the stove, then stood, unmoving in front of it with his hands poked in his back pockets.

Rachel could tell that those times had been painful memories for him, so she stood up and gathered her clothes off the chair back.  “I think my clothes are dry now.  I. . .guess I’ll change back into them.”

He nodded but remained in front of the stove as if he were lost in thought.  Rachel went to the dark corner again to change and she watched as Adam kept his back to her while he continued to stand in front of the stove. When she finished dressing, Rachel walked back over to him and stood beside him and smiled up at him.

 “How lovely you look in your uniformly wrinkled attire,” he said in a teasing fashion.

“And how HANDSOME you are in your rain spotted black,” she responded as she rubbed the corner of his shirt collar between her thumb and forefinger.  “What time do you think it’s getting to be?” she asked.

“Good question,” he replied, removing his hands from his back pockets and walking to the small window and peering out after he wiped the grime off it.  “I really can’t tell with this storm still going full force, but it isn’t late enough to go to bed yet.”

While he talked, Rachel rummaged around in the cupboard and found a checkerboard and checkers and brought them out.  “Can you teach me to play this game?” she said to Adam, holding up the game pieces.

He turned and looked at what she was talking about.  “Haven’t you ever played checkers before?” he responded as he smiled and walked over to her.

“No.  Never,” she said, shaking her head.  “High Society girls from Boston never played such games.  Not even chess.  It wasn’t considered a proper form of entertainment for refined young ladies.  But I’m not in Boston, so. . .”  She held out the game to him.  “Can you teach me?” she said with a big smile on her lovely face.

Adam took the checkerboard and checkers from her and said, “Can I teach you. . .You, Rachel Davis, are about to play against the Checker Champion of Virginia City.”  Then he turned one of the chairs around and straddled it, with the back of the chair facing him.

“You don’t intimidate ME one little bit, because I’ll give you a run for your money, Adam Cartwright,” she said with a laugh as she did the same with her chair while Adam set up the checkerboard and placed the pieces on the correct spaces.

Adam explained the game carefully to her as they played.  They also talked and laughed about a sundry of topics.  After several games and the last game won, Rachel said, “How about another game?  I think I’m getting the hang of it. . .although I wonder if you’re just LETTING me win.”

“Now would I do that?”

Rachel leaned across the table and looked at him and arched her eyebrows.  “Yes.  So how about it?  One more game. . .and don’t give this one to me on purpose,” she said, leaning back.

While she talked Adam rubbed the back of his neck and worked his shoulders around.  “Your neck hurt?” she asked him.

“Just a little stiff,” he admitted.

“I can fix that,” she said and stood up and went to stand behind him.  “Whenever Cole would come home from work with a stiff neck, I would help loosen it up for him.  Now just relax,” she said placing her hand on his head and pushing  down gently.  He lowered his head and relaxed his shoulders while Rachel massaged his neck.  “Unbutton your shirt,” she said to him.

His head came up quickly and he said, “I beg your pardon?”

“Unbutton your shirt so I can rub your shoulders.  I have a technique that works every time.”

As Adam unbuttoned his shirt, Rachel pulled it off his shoulders.  She rubbed her hands together briskly then placed them on one shoulder at a time, gently working the muscles in his neck and each shoulder.  She did this procedure several times until he raised his head and moved it from side to side.  “That feels great,” he said and turned to look at her with amazement.  “Thanks.”  With her hands resting on his bare shoulders, she held his gaze for a few heartbeats and realized the warm flesh of his shoulders under her hands felt TOO good to her and suddenly removed her hands and said, “You’re welcome.”  Her voice was soft and whispered.  She moved quickly away from him and stood with her back to him while he buttoned his shirt and stood up.

“I suppose it’s late enough now that we can be thinking about going to bed,” Adam said as he moved the chairs out from in front of the stove.  Rachel turned around quickly when he said that and looked wide-eyed at him while he moved the table out from in front of the stove also.  “We’ll have to sleep on the floor in front of the stove so we’ll stay warm,” Adam said as he spread the blanket down on the floor.

“There?” she questioned as her breathing and heart rate increased nervously while she pointed down at the floor in front of the stove.

Adam stopped and looked at her.  “It’s going to be cold tonight and this IS the warmest spot in here.”

Rachel swallowed hard and then licked her dry lips.  “But. . . TOGETHER?!”

“I was hoping you would know by now that you can trust me.  I won’t take advantage of you, Rachel.”

“Of course.  I know that,” she said quickly and trying to sound convincing and moved towards the blanket and sat down on it.  Adam rolled up his now dry jacket and placed it on Rachel’s side so she could use it for a pillow, then he filled the wood stove to the brim and turned down the draft so it would burn slowly but still provide heat through the night.  “I sure am wishing for our bedrolls right now,” Adam said as he sat down on the other side of the blanket and removed his boots while he listened to the still depressing rain hitting on the roof.  Lying on his side with his back to Rachel, he bended his arm and placed it under his head.  “Not the most comfortable, but beats the hard stony ground I’ve had to sleep on more than once,” he said.

Still in a sitting position, Rachel looked over at him.  “Adam?”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For the dinner party, the conversation and teaching me how to play checkers,” she replied.

“You’re welcome,” he said with a chuckle.

“And for one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“For believing in me and being the gentleman that you are,” she said and leaned over him and kissed his cheek.  She detected a faint trace of the shaving balm he had used earlier that morning and that scent mingled with the rain scent in his clothing made him smell quite manly.  She  pulled away, and lay down on the other edge of the blanket, her back to him.

When Rachel pulled back, he felt the softness of her hair as it brushed against his face.  “You’re welcome,” he said quietly.  “Goodnight,” he added.

“Goodnight, Adam,” she said with a smile on her lips, though tears formed in her eyes.  She blinked them away, then closed them and willed sleep to come.  She heard Adam sigh and knew he was having as much trouble getting to sleep as she was.  She hoped he wasn’t having trouble sleeping because of the kiss she placed on his cheek, and she hoped it hadn’t been an improper thing to do.  “Improper?!” she thought.  Here they were, stranded together. . .just the two of them. . .sharing the same blanket side by side, and only the two of them would know what would transpire between them this night.  AND, by their own admission, they were both lonely.  Slowly, they both turned over and looked into each other’s eyes.

******

Rachel slowly opened her eyes and looked around at her surroundings.  She was covered with the other half of the blanket and knew that Adam had spread it over her, because he was not beside her.  She looked around the room and upon not seeing him, she threw the blanket off her and sat up.  She stretched to get the kinks out of her stiff body from sleeping on the hard floor.  Being chilled, she placed Adam’s coat around her shoulders and pulled on her boots and went to the door and stepped outside into the brisk mountain air.   Though the sun was shining brilliantly, it was very cool.  She saw Adam busy with his knife and she walked up to him.  “So YOU’RE the early bird I heard singing,” she said to him as she stopped beside him.

He chuckled and without stopping what he was doing, he said, “Good morning, sleepyhead.  Are you hungry?”

“I’m famished.  Where’d you find that?” she asked craning her neck to get a better view of what he was working on.

“Well, we needed something for breakfast, so I did a little hunting earlier this morning.  Do you like rabbit?”

“I’ve never had it before.  Beans last night for dinner. . .rabbit this morning for breakfast. . .people sure do eat strange things out west,” she said, shaking her head.

“Beans and rabbit aren’t strange things to eat,” he said while he continued to work on skinning the animal.

“It is when you have beans for dinner and rabbit for breakfast,” she said with a laugh.  “I sure would like to have a bath right now,” she added as she touched her hand to her hair, then rubbed a palm over her face.

“Well, there’s a nice, COLD creek in back of the cabin,” he said.

“I’m sure COLD is right.  I’ll just wait until we get back to town thank you.  In the meantime, I’ll put some more wood in the stove so we can cook our breakfast,” she said and removed Adam’s coat from her shoulders and draped it around his, then squeezed his arm and turned around and went back to the cabin to stoke the stove.

“I couldn’t find a skillet, so I thought we could lay the rabbit on this grate over the open lid” she said to Adam when he walked inside with the skinned rabbit.  “Will that work?” she asked.

“It should,” he replied and placed the rabbit on the grate over the open fire.

“I couldn’t find any salt or pepper either,” she said.

“Well, I know it won’t taste like it does when Hop Sing makes it, but you do with what you’ve got,” he said as he let his coat fall off his shoulders and drop onto the chair.  “Mind pouring some water over my hands so I can get all this stuff off,” he said of the blood and remnants that stuck to his hands after skinning the rabbit.

Rachel picked up the canteen, uncorked it and turned it upside down over Adam’s hands as he held them above the pan in the sink.  The canteen was empty.  “Looks like we’re out,” she commented.

“I’ll just go to the creek out back then.  I might as well fill the canteen while I’m at it.”

Rachel placed the strap over Adam’s shoulder and opened the door for him then closed it behind him and went back over to the stove to turn the rabbit over.

Very soon, she heard the door squeak as it was opened.  “That was fast,” she said.  “I wish this rabbit would cook just as fast, I’m. . .” she said while she turned around then stood frozen to her spot, and she let out a loud gasp.  For it was not Adam she was talking to, but a stranger.  He was a tall, robust man with dirty clothes, and sweat stained hat.  He wore a long heavy coat with a large, fur collar.   Around his waist he wore a hunting knife and sheath, and a gun and holster.  His face was full of several days stubble and when he smiled, his teeth were yellowed and badly decayed.  His brown hair was shaggy and greasy.  He stared hungrily at Rachel while he drank her in with an evil look in his brown eyes.

Rachel’s stomach churned at the sight of him.  “Wh-who are y-you?” she said in a shaky voice and frightened look on her face.

“Well now if you ain’t just the purtiest little female I ever saw with that shiny black hair.  Yer skin’s too white fer ya tuh be an injun squaw.  Even if ya was. . .don’t matter tuh me.  I likes ANY kind a-woman.  Special them thet’s purty,” he said to her.  “I don’t usual come this way when I go huntin’, but I shore am glad I DID.  Yes, MA’AM. . .I shore am glad.  Ya jest never know what ya’ll find when ya go huntin’,” he added with a sinister look in his eyes.  He dropped the knapsack he was carrying and started advancing towards her.  Rachel swallowed hard and she began breathing heavily.

Being that the man was between her and the door and she couldn’t make it past him, and not knowing how far away the creek behind the cabin was, in her fright, she let out the loudest scream she could muster up, and hoped it was loud enough to reach Adam’s ears.

Having just finished washing his hands, Adam had begun to fill the canteen when he heard a scream coming from behind him.  Recognizing it as Rachel’s voice, he dropped the canteen and ran the distance back to the cabin.  Still hearing her screams while he ran and intent on knowing her dilemma, he didn’t notice the third horse in the yard and he burst through the door.  He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw a strange man pawing all over Rachel.

“Take your hands off her!” Adam shouted at the same time he drew his gun.  At the sound of Adam’s voice, the man pulled her in front of him, whirled around to face Adam, and held his hunting knife to Rachel’s throat.  Her eyes were wide and her body heaved with fright.

“This yore woman?” the man said to Adam.

Adam’s eyes traveled to Rachel’s then back to the man.  “Yes,” he answered. 

“Then drop the gun or she won’t be in no shape tuh give ya any young’uns,” the man said to Adam.

Adam threw down his gun and it landed on the floor with a thud.  “Who are you and what do you want?” he asked as he stared hard at the intruder.

“Don’t matter who I am and I b’lieve it was purty plain what I wanted when ya busted in here on us.  But I can wait.  Right now, I’m more hungry than anythin’ else so get over there and dish up whatever it is ya got cookin’ on that stove,” he said to Rachel and gave her a shove that sent her sprawling on the floor.  She landed with a grunt and turned an angry face up to the man.  “No!  I won’t!” she shouted at him.

Adam started to go to her, but the man pulled his gun.  “Just stay where you are,” he said to Adam.  “She ain’t hurt.”  Adam looked at her and said, “Go do like he says.”

“No!  I won’t feed him our food!” Rachel retorted with a hateful look at the man while she was still on the floor.

“I said get over there and get me somethin’ tuh eat!” the man growled at her and gave her a mean look.

“No!” she shouted again as she stood up angrily.

“Go on, Rachel. . .do like he says,” Adam said calmly to her.

“But Adam. . .” she began to protest.

He gave her a look of warning, but said nothing.

“Alright. . .but only because YOU asked me. . .not HIM!” she said, turning her angry eyes to the man.

“Woman, I don’t care WHO asked ya, long as ya feed me.”

Rachel made her way over to the stove to check on the meat while the stranger turned to Adam.  “Over there,” he said, gesturing with his gun to a spot away from the door and the middle of the room.  “Down,” the man ordered with a gesture of his gun to indicate Adam was to sit on the floor.  The man picked up his knapsack and Adam’s gun as he followed Adam to the place he ordered him.  Adam sat down on the floor and the man pulled out a length of rope.

“It’s cooked, but there aren’t any plates to eat off of,” Rachel said.

“Don’t need no plate.  Just lay it on the table,” the dirty man said while he tied Adam’s hands behind his back, then tied his feet together.

Rachel stuck one of the forks in the rabbit and picked it up off the grate and slapped the meat on the table.  “I hope you choke on it,” she said angrily.

Having secured Adam’s hands and feet, the man walked over to the table where the food was and sat down, placing both his gun and Adam’s gun on the table in front of him.  Rachel made her way around to the other side of the table and started to go to Adam.

“Uh-uh, woman. . .you come and set with ME,” the man said to her.

“No.  I won’t,” she said in defiance.

The man stabbed the meat with his knife and left it in it and stood up.  “Get over here. . .NOW!”

“Do what he says,” Adam spoke up.

“I don’t want NEAR him!” Rachel exclaimed.

“Rachel. . .”

“Adam, I don’t understand why you want to cooperate with him! He’s nothing but an. . .”

“Go. . .sit. . .down,” he said to her through clenched teeth, ordering her.

The man’s harsh features split into a sadistic grin and he sat down and pulled his knife out of the rabbit and cut off a slice then brandished the knife at her.  “Better listen to yore man, woman.”

Rachel looked at Adam, then moved to the other side of the table.  “Well. . .don’t stand there. . .get yer chair and set down,” the man said with his mouth full of food.  Some of it fell out and he picked it up and stuffed it back in his mouth.

“You’re disgusting!  I won’t. . .” she began and glanced at Adam  then pulled the other chair over and sat down hard in it.

“Now that’s better.  See how nice and friendly I am when ya do like I want.  One thing ya don’t want tuh do, woman, is rile me ‘cause I get real mean.”  He pulled off another piece of meat and stuffed it in his mouth and chewed with his mouth wide open, smacking his lips.

While the man ate, Adam was concentrating on getting the ropes loose from his wrists.  He twisted and turned his hands, but whenever the man looked over at him, he immediately stopped and didn’t start up again until the man looked away.

“Woman, get me some water,” the man ordered.

“My name is not WOMAN. . .it’s Rachel,” she said with disdain in her tone.

“Get me some water. . .WOMAN,” he said again and set cold, mean eyes on her.

“There isn’t any,” she said back to him with a defiant tilt of her chin.

“Then go get some,” he ordered, saying the words slowly so as to leave no doubt that he meant for her to obey.

“The canteen is still at the creek,” Adam spoke up.

“Go get it,” the man said, looking at Rachel with those same cold, mean eyes.

Rachel hesitated a few seconds then stood up.

“Uh. . .could she bring me a bite of that rabbit first,” Adam said.

“Sure why not. . .I’m easy tuh git along with,” the man said and pulled off a bit of the meat and handed it to Rachel.  “Feed him,” he added.

Rachel jerked the meat out of his hand and walked over to Adam and knelt down in front of him.  “Are you alright?” she said in a concerned tone.  He nodded.  “He eats and acts like an animal!” she added with a shudder.  “How can you even want to cooperate with him!”

“Because I’m trying to keep us both alive, that’s why.  And you’ve got to get away from here.  When you go for the water, take my horse. . .he’s saddled. . .and get as far away as you can,” Adam whispered to her.

“I won’t leave you here with him,” she whispered back as she fed Adam the slice of meat.

He pushed the bit of meat between his teeth and cheek and said,  “I have a better chance of escaping if I don’t have to constantly watch him and worry about what he’ll do to you.  I know what men like him are capable of doing to a woman, Rachel.  Now do what I say and don’t argue with me.  Get as far away from here as you can get.”

“Woman!  Go get my water!” the man bellowed from across the room.

Rachel stood up and looked at the man, then at Adam and crossed the room to the door.

“Woman!”

Rachel stopped with her hand on the door latch and looked over at him.  “What now!” she resounded in utter disdain for the man.

“If ya don’t come back in five minutes with that water, yer man’ll be dead in SIX,” the gruff man said to her with a sinister look in his eyes and a grin to match, while he continued to pull meat off the rabbit bones and stuff it in his mouth.

Rachel jerked her head around to look at Adam.  Their eyes locked and they sent a  silent message to each other.  His was for her to run and keep running and hers was that she wouldn’t leave him.

“Ya got LESS than five minutes now, woman,” the man said, breaking into their private messaging.  Rachel looked at the man, licked her lips and swallowed hard, then with one last look at Adam, she tore open the door and rushed out.

“What’s your name, mister,” Adam questioned him.

“Ever hear of Jack Scorsee?” he said with his mouth full.

“Jack Scorsee?” Adam said with recognition in his tone of voice and on his face.

The man laughed a growling laugh.  “I can tell by the look on yer face ya heard  a-me.”

“I’ve heard of you,” Adam said in  a low voice and groaned within himself because he had indeed heard of Jack Scorsee and all the gruesome stories about the torture tactics he used on people who made him angry.  He had heard what Scorsee did to one man who made him angry.  Scorsee made the man lie down on the ground and Scorsee took a hammer and spike and drove the spike into the man’s earlobe, nailing him to the ground.  The only way for the man to get free was to cut his ear off with the knife Jack Scorsee left for him.  The stories he heard of what Scorsee did to women were too horrendous to even think about, but the thing that he remembered most about those women was that after Jack Scorsee got through with them, they all committed suicide because they couldn’t live with the vile things that were done to them.  Adam’s stomach churned with contempt when he thought of what Scorsee would do to Rachel and what she would do to herself afterwards.  At least if she got away, she would be spared all the atrocities Scorsee would inflict on her.  He, Adam, would do all he could to escape while at the same time try to keep from riling Scorsee in order to escape the torment the man would probably put him through too.  He hoped and prayed Rachel was long gone by this time.  While he mentally plotted his escape, the door opened and Rachel stepped inside with the canteen of water.  Her eyes met Adam’s then he closed his eyes and lowered his head in letdown.  He groaned within himself, because she chose to go against his request.  Now he must work out a plan to not only save HIS life, but HERS also.

“It’s about time you came back with that water. . .a man could die a-thirst.  Bring it over here,” Jack Scorsee ordered.

Rachel kept her gaze on Adam and she knew he was disappointed in her for not following his request, because he wouldn’t look at her after he raised his head.

“Are ya sleepin’ over there!  Bring me that water!” Scorsee bellowed out, causing Rachel to turn her attention in his direction.  She walked over to the table and held out the canteen to him which he took with one hand and when she drew her hand back, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her part way across the table to where she was lying on her back.

She grimaced at the tight hold he had on her and groaned when her body thumped on the tabletop.  At the same time, Adam quickly maneuvered himself up on his knees and could only watch as Scorsee leaned over Rachel and covered her mouth with his, giving her an aggressive sloppy kiss while she pushed against him with her hands and kicked her feet, groaning and whimpering in fright and disgust.  Adam knew if he tried to do or say anything, Scorsee might do more to Rachel than just kiss her.

When Scorsee finished kissing her, he bellowed out a loud laugh and thrust Rachel’s arm across her and she fell to the floor crying and spitting and trying to wipe away his kiss with the back of her hand.  Rachel made her way over to Adam and knelt down beside him and pressed herself against him as though she was trying to meld her body into his.  As long as she was near Adam, she felt safe.

“You should have left like I told you,” he whispered to her in a scolding tone.

“He’s horrible!  He’s horrible!” she said, burying her face in Adam’s chest, her body shaking in fright.

“I know.  And it’ll only get worse for you.”

“What are we going to do, Adam?” she asked turning her frightened eyes up to him.

“The main thing is to not get him riled up.  Do everything he asks you to do and don’t talk back to him.”

“He doesn’t ASK.  He ORDERS.”

“Then do everything he ORDERS you to do, and cooperate with him.  Maybe that’ll buy us some time and I can figure out how to get us out of this mess.”

“I’m really scared, Adam,” she said in a small, frightened voice.

“I know.  We’ll get out of this,” he said, trying to give her reassurance, but more than that, he tried to convince HIMSELF that he believed what he said.

“Woman. . .get over here!” Scorsee bellowed loudly.

Rachel looked up at Adam, then stood up and walked timidly over to Jack and stood in front of him.  Scorsee scooted back in his chair and stuck out his feet.  “Take my boots off,” he ordered.

Rachel looked at him with wide eyes and her face showed bewilderment.  She glanced at Adam and he shrugged his shoulders indicating she should oblige the man.  Frowning disgustedly, she bent down slowly and took hold of one well-worn boot and pulled on it until it came off.  His sock was filthy and the stench made her wrinkle her nose and hold her head sideways so the smell didn’t go straight into her nostrils.  She removed the other boot and was just as repulsed with that sock odor as she was with the other one.  She dropped the boot, then stood up and started to turn away.

“Not so fast, woman.”

Rachel stopped and looked at him.  “Now take my socks off,” he said with a grin, showing his yellowed decayed teeth.

“If you think I’m going to touch those dir–,” she stopped and glanced at Adam then remembered what he said about not talking back.  She took a deep breath, then let it out and knelt down in front of the man and with her forefingers and thumbs she took hold of each sock and peeled them off his feet.  His feet were caked with dirt and she ventured a guess that he hadn’t washed them in his entire life, socks included.

“Ahck!” Rachel grimaced at the sight and smell of his feet.  She wiped her hands on her skirt as if to wipe away any germs she may have picked up from touching his socks.  Jack Scorsee laughed.

Adam worked feverishly to loosen the ropes that were binding and cutting into the flesh of his wrists.

Jack Scorsee reached in his knapsack and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and uncorked it.

Adam immediately groaned within himself because he was afraid Jack Scorsee would become violent if or when he became drunk.

Scorsee reached down and grabbed Rachel by her wrist and hauled her up and plopped her on his lap.  Adam’s attempts to loosen his ropes became even more feverish at that point.

“How about me an’ you havin’ a little drink together, woman,” Scorsee said as he took a long drink, then held it in front of her.

Rachel moved her head away.  “I don’t drink,” she replied, her stomach ready to revolt because of his foul breath and body odor.

“Either YOU drink it yerself, or I’ll pour it down ya,” he said to her.

“No.  Please.  I can’t.”

He pulled her close to him with a jerk and said, “I told you to drink it.  Now don’t rile me.  Drink it.”

Adam could feel the ropes beginning to loosen though he also felt blood trickling down his fingers where his wrists had become raw from the constant twisting and turning of the ropes.

“Drink!” Scorsee ordered her.

With tears running down her face, she took the bottle from him and wiped the palm of her hand across the mouth of the bottle then put it to her lips and tipped it up.  The whiskey was hot and it stung her lips and throat and she coughed and gagged when she swallowed it.  She could feel it burning her esophagus as it went down.  Jack Scorsee laughed and took the bottle back from her, then pulled several long swigs of it himself.  He handed it back to her and made her drink a second and then a third time.  Then while she was coughing and gagging, he pushed her up to a standing position, then stood up himself, keeping a tight hold on her all the while.  He tipped the bottle to his lips again and emptied the contents, then tossed the bottle on the floor, smashing it  into several large pieces.

Adam continued to work at removing his binds while keeping his eyes trained on Scorsee.  Secretely he was glad Jack Scorsee was occupied with Rachel, so he didn’t pay much attention to his movements.  Adam inched his way over to the broken bottle and was able to pick up one of the pieces of broken glass.

Jack Scorsee put his hands on Rachel’s shoulders and drew her to him for another kiss.  One hand moved over the buttons of her vest, and she began to protest and tried to wrench free from him.  “Don’t fight me, woman, or I’ll hurt ya.”

Rachel’s breathing came in loud, rapid breaths as she pleaded and cried.  “No, please stop.  Please.”  He just laughed and continued to unbutton her vest, then removed it.

Adam was finally able to cut through the ropes that were securing his hands and he wrenched them free with a tug and brought his arms around in front of him to work on untying his feet, keeping his eyes on them all the while he worked on the knots. Scorsee’s back was to him, so he couldn’t see Rachel, but he could hear her mournful pleas for Scorsee to stop.

Scorsee had unbuttoned four buttons of Rachel’s blouse when he felt cold steel at the base of his skull.  “Let go of her, or I’ll pull this trigger,” Adam said to him.  Adam had been able to free himself and get his gun from the table without Scorsee noticing.

Scorsee let go with a string of vulgar and profane phrases, but continued to grip Rachel’s arms.  When Jack Scorsee heard the hammer being clicked back, he opened his hands immediately releasing his grip of Rachel, then gave her a push away from him sending her to the floor.  He turned swiftly, swinging at Adam’s head.  Adam ducked and came up and cracked Scorsee on the side of the head with the barrel of his gun, knocking him out and sending him in a heap on the floor.

Adam went immediately to Rachel, who was cowering in the corner and crying with her face buried in her hands.  He crouched down beside her and placed his arm around her. Without looking over at him, she pulled away and screamed for him to get away from her.  “Rachel. . .it’s me, Adam.  It’s alright.”

When she heard his voice, she took her hands away from her face and looked at him.  “Oh, Adam!” she exclaimed and reached her arms around his neck and buried her face and cried.  “He was going to. . .right in front of you.  He was going to. . .” she said in a quavering voice.

“I know, but it’s over now,” he said in a comforting voice while he held her.  He let her cry against him for several minutes and when she had gained control of her emotions and dried her eyes, he handed her vest to her and said, “Go on over there and pull yourself together.  I’ll get some rope and tie Scorsee up, then we’ll take him to the Sheriff.”

While Rachel was busy in the corner putting herself back together, Adam had gone to his saddle for his rope and returned.  He bent down and tied Scorsee’s hands behind his back while Rachel watched from across the room.

Scorsee had begun to come around and Adam grabbed hold of his arm and hauled him to his feet.  “Stand up,” Adam ordered.  “We’re taking you to the Sheriff.”

“You’ll never get me there alive,” Scorsee said in a belligerent tone of voice.

“Well now that’ll be up to YOU,” Adam said to him.  “This way,” he added and opened the cabin door and gestured for Scorsee to go out.

“What about my boots and socks?” he growled.

“Rachel, take care of the man’s boots and socks,” Adam said to her.

“WHAT?!  If you think I’m going to put those things back on him. . .”

“I didn’t say that.  I said. . .take care of them.”

“The only way I’d take care of those awful things is to burn. . .”  Immediately enlightened, a big smile spread across her face and she picked up each boot and sock one at a time by holding onto it with a fork.  She opened the door to the stove and dropped each item into the fire that was still burning inside.  When that was done, she threw the fork down on the table and brushed her hands together indicating that the job was accomplished.  Now it was her and Adam’s turn to laugh at Scorsee.  And they did, as Adam led him outside to his horse, pushed him up into his saddle, and tied the other end of the rope around Scorsee’s waist and anchored it to the pommel of his saddle.  Adam saddled Rachel’s horse for her and helped her mount up, then Adam mounted his horse and they made their way towards Virginia City with their barefoot prisoner in tow.

******

Rachel set her bag down and stepped up to the depot window and pushed some bills towards the ticket agent.  “One way ticket to Boston, please,” she said to the silver-haired man on the other side of the window.

Taking the ticket from the agent, she dropped it in her handbag, and until she turned in that direction, she didn’t notice a man in black leaning his back against the building with his arms folded across his chest.  “You’re really leaving,” he said and stepped up to her.

“I said I would.  My family is back there and all my friends.”

“Not ALL your friends,” he replied.

“I know,” she said, holding his gaze for several heartbeats.  After which she said, “Adam, you’re such an elegant man. . .you don’t belong in a place like this.”

A smile graced his lips.  “Well now, I’ve been called a lot of things, but never elegant.”

“You know what I mean.  You belong in Boston, Adam,” she said and looked into his eyes, her eyes darting back and forth between his searching them.  “Come with me,” she added, almost in a whisper.

“Rachel. . .I don’t belong THERE any more than YOU belong HERE.”

Her shoulders sagged a little, then she replied, “And so we go our separate ways.”

“You asked me to come to Boston with you. . .Can I change YOUR mind about leaving?”

She dropped her head and looked down at her hands that were busy toying with the strings on her purse, then she turned her sad eyes up to him.  “I’ll never forget you, Adam.  You helped me to clear Cole’s name even when you didn’t believe he was innocent,” she said, then her eyes became soft.  “That night in the cabin. . .I’ll never forget you.”

“That didn’t answer my question. . but then again, no answer is necessary.  That night in the cabin. . .I won’t forget you either.  You’re very special. . .WOMAN.”  He grinned when he said that and chucked her playfully under her chin.  She laughed.

“Load up!” the driver called from atop the stage.  Rachel took a deep breath and looked up at Adam again.  “Well. . .looks like this is it,” she said.  “I loved Cole, but he’s dead and I’m still living.  I never planned for you to capture my heart, Adam Cartwright, but you did, and I love you.”

“Rachel. . .”

She pressed her fingertips against his lips.  “Sh-h-h.  Don’t say anything.  Let me believe you love me too.”

“You coming, Miss?” the driver said to Rachel.

“I guess it’s time.  Let’s don’t say good-bye. . .that’s too final.  Let’s just say. . .Until next we meet.  If you ever come to Boston. . .please come to see me,” she added.

“It’s a promise,” he replied.

“Thank you. . .for everything.”  Rachel looked into his eyes then leaned up and kissed him full on the mouth and he returned the kiss.  “Until next we meet,” she whispered, her eyes becoming misty, then she turned and stepped into the coach with Adam’s help.  As the coach pulled forward, Adam watched as Rachel waved to him from the window until they were out of sight of each other.

Adam then felt the presence of someone standing beside him.  He looked over and saw it was his father.  “I heard your conversation with Rachel,” Ben said to him.

“Did you?”

“Mm-hmm.  I gathered something special happened between the two of you.  Did it?”

Adam looked over at his father and gave him a reticent look. 

“Well. . .did it?” Ben pressed.

“Yes…something VERY special happened between me and Rachel that night.”  Adam noticed a look of wonder and question on his father’s face, and his eyes widened slightly, as he looked at his eldest son.   “After we settled down for sleep, we revealed the deepest part of our hearts to each other.  We developed a bond between us.  What did you think I meant?”  Adam added at the look on his father’s face that changed suddenly from concern to relief.

“Oh. . .well. . .I wasn’t worried that you’d done anything like. . .THAT,” he said, his voice sounding as sheepish as his expression.

“You weren’t, huh,” Adam said with an expression on his face that revealed he was thoroughly enjoying his father’s obvious embarrassment.

“No.  No, of course not,” Ben laughed nervously and draped his arm across Adam’s shoulders.  “What kind of a father do you think I am that would doubt my own son’s integrity,” he said with that same nervous laugh.

“You’re the kind of father I hope to be some day. . .AFTER I get married,” Adam said in a teasing tone.

“That’s right, Adam. . .marriage FIRST…But you know all that.”

“Yes, Pa.  I know all that.”

“Then let’s go home.  I’m sure your brothers will be quite happy to see you.”

“You mean they’ll be quite happy to have me doing my own chores again.”

Father and son laughed with each other as they mounted their horses and rode in the direction of home.

THE END
January 2003NOTE: Shakespearean quotes are from “Macbeth”.