Synopsis: Virginia City is going through a depression period when a silver ledge is reportedly heading right through the Ponderosa. Ben is adamant about not wanting his land tore up, but Adam believes a compromise is necessary not only for the sake of the town, but for the sake of the family. Adam proves himself right but at what cost?
Rating: G
Words: 11,300
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THE SILVER CURSE
Frank and Lloyd staggered out of the mine, coughing and gasping. They had just blown what they all agreed would be their last hole. Their claim was petering but to them, and especially Jed, giving up was akin to leaping off a hard-running horse and leaving the foot in the stirrup. They waited while Jed stayed behind to poke through the rubble, fearing to say what they all knew was the truth until they saw Jed’s face as he finally crawled out. He had no silver ore in his hands, no hope in his face.
“Well, that’s it, in my mind.” Frank got the canteen off his horse and swallowed hard. “Now what? We go back to California?”
“I got nothing to go back to,” Lloyd said, coughing. Frank gave him the canteen and he swallowed fast and sloppy. His head throbbed from whacking it on a low hanging beam. He couldn’t duck as low as Frank and Jed, who were short and narrow in build. Being a tall and heavy miner was a headache Lloyd had learned to live with. But no more, not after today.
Frank shook his head. “Still can’t believe a vein could peter out like that.”
“How about you, Jed?” Lloyd was afraid Jed was going to suggest they try again. He knew how Jed felt about giving up.
“Jed?” Frank nudged him. “You agree we reached the end of it with this one?”
Jed squinted up at the sun, beaded sweat drying on his face. “I shoulda took up Ben Cartwright’s offer years back when he asked me to stay on. When this silver boom hit, I reckoned to make it the faster way. Well, fellas, here it is 1864, October – Nevada’s almost a state! – and I’m facing the end of it. Nope. I ain’t done yet. I want to get back in that saddle.” He nodded toward the empty mine. “Quitting ain’t the way.”
Frank and Lloyd exchanged glances. “Ya think the granite dust got to him back there?” Frank asked.
Jed spread his rough gnarled hands as though to let the last of the sand run through and got to his feet. “Since I done made up my mind all those years ago to gamble, I’m not gonna stop now. You fellas with me?”
“What fat you frying here, Jed?” Lloyd asked, as he and Frank stood.
“Another cave I know of that just happens to be on the track of that vein we were following before it petered out.”
“Around here?”
“There’s no such place, Jed,” Frank agreed.
“Sure is. On the Ponderosa.”
Ben sat in the office of Clyde Harrowsmith, assistant to the president of the Bank of Virginia City, feeling glum.
“Sorry, Ben, but that’s just the way it is right now. The silver boom is starting to play out. If we don’t get another strike soon in at least one of the mines, you may just have to go to our branch in San Francisco for that loan.”
Ben knew money was getting tight in Virginia City, but he had never had trouble getting his money out before. For the first time he regretted that most of his wealth was in property and not cash, or silver like some who have taken their vast fortunes and moved on. He quickly dispersed that notion. He’d never be anywhere but the Ponderosa.
“You have to forgive me, Clyde, I’m hot and tired, we just got off a long cattle drive and anxious to get home. I just deposited a large enough sum in your bank from the sale of my stock! And now you say you can’t afford to back what I need for new breeding stock?”
“I understand your frustration, Ben. I do. But I’m looking at trying to help a bunch of miners who got a long cold winter ahead of them. I know half of what you just put in will be taken back out next week to pay off your drovers and what not. My suggestion to you is to pay off what you owe and find yourself a smaller herd, get your mind off that quality young hide in Utah. You gotta make some minor adjustments, that’s all. We all do.”
“Minor adjustments. That’s all.” Ben grunted. “The Ponderosa has always stood for quality and now you’re telling me—.”
“I’m telling you nothing you don’t already know, Ben.” Clyde got to his feet. “Now I have another appointment in a short while and I’d like to catch a bite to eat.”
Ben stood. “Clyde, we were your first depositors when this bank opened last spring and you’ve always given us a fair shake. So I can believe you when you tell me funds are low.” He went to the door. “But I don’t have to like it. And if I have to go to Sacramento or Carson City for my banking, you’re not going to like it either.”
Ben shut the door quietly behind him. He stood outside on the walk staring out across the city at the hills of the Ponderosa. He worked hard, struggled all his life, and so did his sons to make their life what it was. He wasn’t getting any younger and now he was expected to keep struggling because of something as intangible as the next silver strike!
Two drunks came out of the saloon down the street and walked into the back of Ben.
“Ah, if it isn’t Mr. Cartwright,” one of them said sloppily into his face as he turned. “We were in your way? Scuse us, we’re just a couple of poor mining slobs.”
Ben stepped back as they passed. “You fellows wouldn’t be so bad off if you didn’t spend your money on rotgut whiskey.”
One stopped and whirled around, throwing a fist at Ben. Ben stopped the fist with his palm and laid the man flat with only half a punch. The other drunk staggered and fell on his own next to his buddy.
Ben stepped over them. “Hard work might keep you on your feet.”
“You can be high and mighty, but you don’t know.” The one who had stumbled on his own got to his knees. “Our brother was killed today when the charge he set off on the lowest level opened a hot spring.” He fell back again and closed his eyes. “Never want to see…that kind of dying. Specially…not kin.”
Ben backed away. Most things he heard about mining were horrible, he didn’t need to hear more. He was glad his own sons didn’t more than dally with mining. Adam came close to disaster and lost a friend in a cave-in, and has invested in several. His other two sons preferred poker games. Ben turned when he heard Hoss coming down the walk.
“Horses got shod and rubbed down. Think they oughta stay to the livery another hour, so let’s go get me that beer.” Hoss steered Ben toward the International. “Have a ruckus back there, Pa?”
Ben looked over to where the miners were slowly pulling themselves to their feet. He shook his head. “No. Hoss, let’s go to the Silver Dollar.”
“Pa? But you ain’t never—.”
“This time I am.”
Two men tumbled out of the Silver Dollar, wrestling and punching each other, dust flying and a hollering team of excited men coaxing them on.
“Joseph!” Ben yelled when he recognized his son as one of the scrappers. “Get up off the ground!”
“Oh, let him be, Pa,” Adam said, standing just inside the saloon. “You know how he is when someone starts bad mouthing the south. He just can’t get used to Nevada going Union.” Adam looked down at the fighting. “Come on, Jake, take him!”
“All right, Adam, enough of that!” Ben said as Adam chuckled. Ben kicked sand in Jake’s face, stopping the fight as Jake sputtered and jumped to his feet. Ben grabbed Joe and threw him inside as Adam helped Jake brush off.
“Isn’t there enough grief in Virginia City without you stirring up more of it?” Ben said as they sat at a table.
“But Pa, Jake’s got the notion that all southern sympathizers should be shut out of Nevada!”
Ben put up a hand to still his youngest as Adam and Hoss sat down. “Now we all know what a big mouth Jake has. There are more than enough Southerners living here, it’s only going union and into statehood early because of Lincoln’s need for silver. You shouldn’t look on it as a personal attack.”
“Hey, Joe, maybe you should switch sides,” Adam said, grinning.
“Forget it, I’m not gonna be a Yankee hardnose like you,” Joe mumbled.
Adam laughed. “That’s what I like about you, Joe. Courage of your convictions, even when they’re wrong.”
Joe leaped to his feet. “All right, now suppose I take you down the way I did Jake!”
“You gonna throw sand in my face?” Adam laughed, and as Joe threw a fist, blocked him by holding up his hands. “All right, settle down, I’ll stop funnin’.” He glanced at Ben, who paid no attention to their argument. “Just for the record, Jake was only funnin’ too. You got to stop taking these things so serious, Joe. War’s over, at least for Nevada.” He nodded at Joe to look over at Ben and nudged Hoss. Ben seemed intent on the miners who sat sullen, stooped and quiet at the next table.
Ben sipped his beer in heavy silence until he noticed the boys staring at him. He grunted, trying to smile. “Been a long drive, eh?”
Hoss and Joe exchanged glances.
“We make out all right at the bank, Pa?” Adam frowned, fearing the answer.
“Haven’t sat down to calculate yet,” Ben answered.
“Pa,” Hoss leaned forward. “Didn’t you tell us you were gonna get us enough to have some hands pick up that new stock over in Utah? What happened at the bank?”
“Yeah, Pa,” Joe said. “You’re looking kinda pale.”
“Boys,” Ben said, leaning back. “For the first time since Virginia City sprung up, for the first time since we started putting all our faith in banks and spreading our operations in different directions, for the first time I can remember, we don’t have enough cash to work with. And the bank doesn’t have enough reserves to loan us.”
“Pa, you can’t be serious,” Adam folded his arms across his chest. “Because of some mines shutting down? If it’s temporary like they say, why are the bank people so worried?”
“Doesn’t matter how temporary, just matters how things look now. And our wealth is more in property and not enough cash in hand. For now anyway we’ll forget about that stock and concentrate on our timber contracts.”
“Pa, won’t that bring us up short next spring when we don’t have enough of a herd to move? You know we have to be careful of inbreeding.” Joe’s face fell as low as his brothers when he voiced what everyone was thinking.
“Not only that, Joe,” Adam said, running his finger around the rim of his beer glass. “It means we may cut down more timber than we wanted to. Pa, we have to be careful this doesn’t lead to any long-term problems. They could be refinancing to hit lower into the mines at any time. I hear Bill Sharon is working on offering a new kind of loan, and keeping word from getting out so President Lincoln doesn’t get nervous. There could be another silver strike before long, bring everyone’s confidence back.”
“Right, Adam, but I wouldn’t stake my hat on it.” Hoss stood.
“Where you going?” Joe looked up at his brother, about the size of a mountain from where Joe was sitting.
“Outside. Get some fresh air, my breath’s choking up on me in here.”
Joe watched him go but Ben and Adam paid no attention. He glanced at Ben and then Adam, and then got to his feet. “I’ll keep him company.”
After they were gone Adam fixed a steady eye on Ben. “Well? What are you thinking we should do next, Pa?”
“I don’t know. Adam, for once I just don’t know.”
Out on the walk outside the Silver Dollar Hoss breathed in deep, patting his chest a few times. Joe came up and stood next to him.
There was a definite undertone of despair in the streets of Virginia City, though to a stranger it would seem nothing was amiss. Joe and Hoss could see it, in the number of miners now walking about in the daytime when they should be down earning money for their families, in their faces staring at the dusty streets as though looking for silver in every step, and even in the merchants who came out of their shops to look for customers. The ruckus of excitement, of the opening of another vein, or the discovery of a better way of mining were ghostly images in the high wind. Two new constructions had shut down even before the roughing in was finished.
“Joe? What you reckon’s gonna happen?”
“To us? Or to the town?”
“To the town. Pa’s bounced back before. But the silver lode, well, you know it’s gonna be played out sooner or later. Nevada’s gonna be a state and have nothing left to offer. So far it’s only a couple of mines that have got people worried, but if it stays bad like this we could have a real mess here.”
“Yeah,” Joe stepped off the walk down into the street, sending a cloud of dust up around his knees. “Even an end to this drought won’t help the miners any.” Hoss followed. “See old man Crater over there?” Joe said, pointing. “Times were you never saw him in the daytime. He’s got 2 sons and 2 daughters and if he doesn’t go back in the mines, he’s moving on.”
“Yup,” Hoss said, nodding. “Just wondered if you was thinking the same thing as me.”
“Hey, hey Hoss, look over there.” Joe hit Hoss’s arm and pointed again. “There’s Frank and Jed and they’re looking mighty mysterious over something.”
Old Crater came up behind Jed and peered over his shoulder. Frank whirled around suddenly and snake punched his gut. Crater doubled over and fell to his knees. Frank and Jed hurried off down the walk and into the Bucket of Blood Saloon as Hoss and Joe ran over to help Crater back to his feet.
“You okay, old fella?”
Crater could only gasp and cough as he shook his head at Hoss.
“Come on, Hoss, let’s take him in the Bucket and buy him a beer.”
At this Crater nodded vigorously.
Hoss and Joe seated Crater at a table. Once they got a beer in front of him Crater found his voice.
“They struck it! Danged if them two fellers didn’t strike a new lode! They done it!” he said as loud as he could manage.
“By golly,” Hoss said, slugging Joe’s arm. “Did you hear that, little brother? Another silver strike! Well, I’ll be dadburned. Didn’t ole Adam just say so, though?”
Joe noticed Jed glancing over at them. He leaned to Crater. “Did you see where they struck it? Where’s the claim?”
“Wouldn’t let me see that much. Don’t think they want to share, them two.”
“As long as it’s their claim, don’t reckon they have to,” Hoss lifted his beer. “To a new bonanza for Virginia City.”
“Yeah, don’t worry, Crater. They’ll be needing help to work it before long and you can hire out, even buy yourself some shares.”
“But they won’t say which direction it’s running, that’s how I got my gut sore, just asking was all. We could get new claims worked up if we knew that much.”
“Reckon he’s right, Joe.”
“Yeah,” Joe looked back but Jed and Frank were gone. “Well, come on, after we finish our beer, we can tell Pa and Adam a little piece of good news, anyway.”
Ben and Adam had decided to take their banking to Carson City, which was having a little more prosperity now that it was becoming the new state capitol. They were just finishing their second beer when they heard the YAHOO! from outside.
Adam finished Ben’s beer and they ran outside. Down the walk in front of the Assay Office, Charlie O’Hurley, who hadn’t seen the inside of a mine in weeks, was jumping up and down. As Ben went to Charlie, Adam caught sight of Jed Parkee and somebody named Frank riding west out of town at a fast pace, with Jed giving Charlie a quick glance over his shoulder.
“Simmer down, simmer down, Charlie, what is it?”
Charlie had to hold on to his britches, he was leaping so hard. He’d used the rope from his pants for his mule, and the front of his shirt was flapping for lack of buttons.
“A new strike! I her’d it, I her’d it inside! Jed’s found hisself a new vein of silver!”
“Well, Charlie, that’s wonderful news, wonderful!” Ben shook his hand vigorously. “Which mine was he working for, the Gould and Curry, the Yellow Jacket?”
“No, Ben, he had his own little mine just south of the big ones, but that one’s done played out, weeks ago.”
“Then he’s dug deeper and found more, that’s great.”
“That ain’t where he found it. It’s at an old cave, right near your Ponderosa.”
“It’s WHAT?!”
Adam remembered the look on Jed’s face when he rode off. The look wasn’t meant for Charlie, but for Pa.
“Right on the edge of your land, Ben, some old cave nobody’s bothered with, Jed done opened it up and worked it and he struck it! Silver ore and lots of it! YAHOO!” Charlie ran off down the street, anxious to pass the word.
“Pa,” Adam said quietly. “Remember that old cave Hoss and Joe found, Joe went inside and Hoss tried to follow but got stuck?”
“Oh, you mean the…” Ben pounded his fist against his temple. “Crimson Cave, Joe named it after the color of Hoss’s face. Why?”
“Could be the cave Jed’s been working.”
“But that’s on our land, Adam, not near it…come to think, there is no other cave that could be considered near. That I ever saw, anyhow.”
“Think we ought to check it out?”
“Yeah, let’s do just that.”
Adam and Ben were headed toward the livery when they heard Hoss and Joe coming up behind them.
“Hey, Pa, Adam, what’s the rush?” Hoss hollered.
“Got a problem come up.”
“Wait, Pa,” Joe said, grinning from ear to ear. “We just heard something that could take care of all our worries. What would you say to a new silver strike?”
Adam and Ben exchanged stony glances. Joe’s grin fell as he realized that wasn’t going to cheer them up, not one bit.
“Get your horses, boys, we’ve got a problem come up. Your good news can wait.”
Jed and Frank spelled Lloyd, he was guarding the mine and clearing the muck and was more than happy to cut out for awhile for some grub and a beer.
“You were right, Jed,” Frank said as they alighted. “News runs like brushfire.”
“Those Cartwrights made good time on their drive. I wasn’t expecting to see them in town today.”
“So what do we do now? Just hand everything over to them, seeing as how it’s on their property?” Frank’s face soured considerably at the prospect.
“We worked it. If it weren’t for us, that silver would have stayed buried and nobody would be getting it. Must be some way to get discovery rights on someone else’s land.”
“But Jed, it’s Cartwright land—.”
“Hang the Cartwrights!” Jed paused a moment. “Only reason I thought to come here at all was because the way our vein was running when it petered out. We can’t have that held against us, and I don’t aim to let no one’s invisible lines stop us neither.”
“And now it’s looking like the vein is running right through Ponderosa land, instead of off it like you was hoping.” Frank scratched his head. “We gotta cut into more Ponderosa land instead of away from it. Damnation.”
“Ben Cartwright will never allow mining on his precious land.” A slow smile crept across his face. “But maybe we can strike up a deal.”
“A deal?”
“What kind of deal, Jed?” Ben’s voice boomed from behind them.
Jed and Frank whirled around to face the four Cartwrights staring down at them, still mounted. They were an imposing lot when all together and frowning, Jed realized suddenly, something he didn’t notice even while working for them for a number of years. The youngest, Joe, every muscle ready to leap into action in any split second, and the big one, Hoss, as ornery as a grizzly when crossed, the eldest in black, Adam, as cool as a winter’s night and eyes so shrewd not even a twitch made by another was missed. But the old man, that Ben Cartwright, who had been around the world, they say, and bested the best of them, was the one to reckon with. Jed knew it would not be easy – but then, Ben Cartwright does have his weaknesses. Three of them.
Frank cleared his throat, getting Jed to step forward.
“Guess I figured you’d find us here sooner or later.”
“Yes,” Ben nodded, “that is something that should have occurred to you, Jed. Tell me now why in blazes you even began this foolishness?”
“Why, Ben? Can you sit up there on your high horse and ask me why?”
Ben exchanged an unnerving glance with Adam.
“Life is never so harsh that a good man will take what doesn’t belong to him,” Adam said, pulling his gun. “We used to think of you as a good man.”
“I want you off my land, Jed, now,” Ben said. “And you’ll go to town, you and your friend here, and announce you’ve made a mistake.”
Frank pulled Jed aside, whispering frantically. Adam sat up straighter, holding a steady aim of his gun.
Ben put a hand on Adam’s arm. “Jed!” Jed turned back. “Are you going to go up against us?”
Jed paused, then took a step forward, spreading his hands wide. “Nothing worth doing comes easy, Ben, we both know that. You aim to sit on all this silver I worked out – and gold, Ben! There’s traces of gold as well!” But Ben’s expression didn’t change. “I reckon I can’t stop you. But the word is out, and I can’t stop that neither. So if you’ve a mind to shoot me, you go ahead. But I figure you won’t, Ben. You might sound mean, but you’ve mellowed over the years. You’ll see soon enough that I have a right to that silver.”
Without another glance back he and Frank mounted their horses and rode off.
Joe looked across at Ben, who was staring at the mine. “Want me to trail them, Pa, see what they’re up to?”
At first it seemed Ben didn’t hear him. Finally he nodded. “Go with him, Hoss. And both of you watch yourselves. Word will get out now that I’m closing off a vein. There won’t be anyone who likes it much.”
Hoss and Joe rode off. Adam pursed his lips and then with the air of someone who wants the quickest way out of trouble, he smiled at Ben.
“Why don’t we just mine it ourselves, and sell the shares to the town?”
Ben grimaced and shook his head. “For years, I’ve been hoping against this sort of thing. Adam, once opened there could be no end to it. No end.”
“And you’re worried about your ranch turning into ruins like Sutter’s in Sacramento Valley. But Pa, that couldn’t happen to you, because you know better.”
“Greed and hatred can happen to anyone, son. Come on, let’s go have a look inside.”
“You’re right, Pa, it looks bad, a ledge of silver, and traces of coarse gold,” Adam said when they crawled back out. “I sure don’t like the direction of that bridal chamber.” His eyes shut briefly in pain.
“They’ve even chuted it! Small as it is!” Ben straightened up with a grunt. He saw the ‘Caution, staked claim’ sign hammered to a tree and tore it down. “The vein, Adam, the way it’s running, could go right under our house.”
“Odds are against that long a vein.” Adam turned back to fasten a hard stare at the mine opening. “What can we do to stop a whole town, if they want that silver?”
“There’s the law.” Ben took the reins of his horse and mounted. “Adam, ride to Carson City and enlist the aid of the sheriff there. Also, send a wire to that New Yorker, James Nye, I hear tell until Nevada gets its own governor he’s the one to talk to. See if there’s anything he can do. I’m going back to Virginia City to fill Roy in, and see if we can’t do a little deputizing.”
“All right, but first go along the west ridge and send McNally back. We need to keep a guard here.”
“Good idea, son. Hyah!” Ben spurred his horse into a quick sprint, leaving Adam behind in a cloud of dust and gravel.
Adam held his horse until Ben was gone, and then pulled it to a pinion pine and tied it. He turned back to the cave, where it sat mocking him in its smug corner of the ragged and rocky foothill. He looked behind him, it was off the traveled road a bit; still, Jed did work for them so he had opportunity to find it and remember its location. The opening had been much smaller then, not much more than a bellycrawl opening, but now it was opened enough to get through on his knees, and to almost stand once inside. They put a lot of work into it and couldn’t have been at it much before the Cartwrights returned from that cattle drive.
He took his canteen off his horse, it was almost empty. He drink what he needed, rinsing and spitting to clear out the mine taste that had settled in his mouth. He emptied the rest in his hat and let his horse have its fill.
“Sorry I can’t uncinch you, boy, but we should be leaving again shortly.” He patted the horse, who looked up and snorted before dipping back into the water.
Adam tossed what little bit was left in the hat and hung it on the saddle horn. He wished he could go back to the ranch house for at least a clean change of clothes, but there was no help for it now. When he tied up those two ends in Carson City he’d get himself a bath, a shave and get this shirt cleaned anyhow. He sat down, leaning against a rock where he could see the trail fairly clear.
Pa thought the law would be the answer in this. But Adam wasn’t so sure. Men in desperate times did desperate things, and right now he had the feeling that those men outnumbered the law, in Virginia City anyway.
It didn’t matter to any of them, not one bit, how hard Pa worked for the Ponderosa, how many times his back broke building what he has, didn’t matter that he and his brothers were raised to give to the land 10 times over before getting anything back. But no matter how much love and devotion they put into the Ponderosa, If it stood in the way of greed and avariciousness, it would be torn down like it was nothing more than useless tree piling.
Adam told someone once that building the west was a challenge worth giving your life for. Now he wondered about that wisdom, and what grief might lie ahead. It could turn out to be nothing, could all blow over without a single hand lifted or gun fired.
He could only hope for now, which was a pretty helpless feeling.
He saw movement down the trail and stood.
“What do you think they’re talking about, Joe?” Hoss shifted in his saddle as he and Joe stayed far enough behind Frank and Jed, skirting the ridges instead of using the road to Virginia City to stay out of sight. Frank and Jed stopped when they met two more riders.
“I don’t know,” Joe sniffed and rubbed his nose. “Could be something. But it’s probably nothing.”
“Yeah. Seems to me if they’re just told to git they ain’t had time enough yet to plan nothing.”
“Unless they had it planned earlier. You can never tell. Quiet up and let’s watch what happens.”
The four fellows didn’t seem disturbed or anxious, not glancing around as though guilty or afraid. It seemed they’d just met with someone to pass the time of day. Then the riders moved on, each pair going in the same direction as before, at the same pace, the two strangers coming towards them. Hoss and Joe backed up a little farther up the ridge and watched them go by.
“Know who they are?” Joe asked under his breath.
“Nope. I think I seen that littler one before but not to get his name.”
“Don’t sit like gunfighters, neither of them, nor judging by the pieces they carry,” Joe added.
“Whelp, let’s leave them be and get back to the other two.”
Joe and Hoss followed Jed and Frank to the Assay Office, were found out by those they were following and made no more secret of it. They needed to hear what those two who had been found out would say about it. They alighted next to the others’ horses and tied them, entering the Assay Office shortly after them. Jed and Frank glanced at Hoss and Joe but made no claim to caring one way or another.
“Think they’re gonna pull something, Hoss?” Joe watched as they walked up to the assay counter where the weights and scales were ready to tell a man how much richer he’d become.
“I ‘spect so.”
“If you’d get a smaller horse, they wouldn’t notice us so quick.”
“Hah!”
“Ginpey,” Jed said to the man behind the counter. “I figure you kin spread the word. There won’t be no more silver coming out of that vein we hit.”
“What?” Ginpey, small, stout and gray-haired, came out from behind the counter. “You can’t be serious. Dead ended again?”
“Nope.”
“Everybody in town’s counting on that strike. You gotta keep mining it, find the direction it’s going.”
“Can’t.”
“Well, I…” Ginpey saw Hoss and Joe. He turned back to Jed. “If you aren’t the most arbitrary—.”
Jed held up a timeworn, mine shaky hand. “Not me, Ginpey. You think I don’t want the silver, don’t want to see this town prospering? Just found out today it’s not a free claim.”
“Oh. Sorry to hear that.” Ginpey relaxed, uncrossing his arms from his expensive double-breasted suit coat. “Who’d you jump? For the town’s sake it doesn’t matter who works it—.”
“The Cartwrights.”
Ginpey turned his suddenly narrow beady eyes on Hoss and Joe. They gave each other a sick grin and walked back outside.
Joe and Hoss found Ben’s buckskin tied in front of Roy’s office. He and Roy were deep in conversation when they walked in. By Ben’s sullen eyes and Roy’s drooped mustache the talking wasn’t going so good.
“Hoss! Joe!” Ben sprang to his feet. “Thought you were following Jed.”
“They went to the Assay Office, Pa,” Hoss said, his big face settled in lines. “Ginpey’s gonna spread the word that we done shut down a silver strike.”
Ben frowned, rubbing his eyes.
Roy put a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “It’s like I said, Ben, if the whole town gets in an uproar over this, there’s not gonna be a whole lot I can do. Not and live to tell about it, anyhow.”
“Boys, I was telling Roy here that I sent Adam over to Carson City.”
“Talking to the sheriff there, and wiring Governor Nye is fine, but Ben, you got to face facts. Right now, here today, the people are unhappy. You’ve already got a big spread, you’re a rich man. To sit on a massive silver strike—.”
“A curse, you mean!” Ben’s voice rumbled through the office. “Roy, you know what happens to land when men get greedy and start digging. Adam and I saw the vein, Roy, it could run right under our house!”
“You saw it, Pa? When?”
Ben looked at Joe as though it was a stupid question. “Oh, you and Hoss had already left. Adam and I crawled all the way in and found a bit of candle to light. Adam stayed there to wait for McNally.”
He didn’t notice Joe and Hoss exchange a puzzled look. Something bothered them about that, but neither of them could quite figure out what.
“Roy, all I’m asking is that you back up my legal rights, that’s all I’m asking.”
“That much I’ll do, Ben. But I can’t say it’ll be enough. Not a’tall.” Roy watched them leave with worry in his tired eyes.
Outside Ben stopped. “Well, only thing we can do right now is go on back home. It’s been weeks since we left on the cattle drive, and I’m feeling mighty ripe.”
“There’s reason for that, Pa,” Joe said, laughing as he backed away.
As Hoss laughed, Ben mocked anger at his son’s impertinence and slapped Hoss’s back as they went for their horses.
It wasn’t McNally. Adam didn’t recognize the man, so it couldn’t be one of the hands. At first the man didn’t speak, but sat on his horse and stared open faced at the mine. Adam mentally felt for his gun at his side, though he made no move.
“Looking for someone?”
The man shook his head, forced a bleak grin and stepped down from his saddle. “I’m sorry, I’m Lloyd Beck, I was mining til they ran out of work for me. I was wondering, I mean, I heard you Cartwrights got yourselves a mine—.”
“News travels fast.”
“…so I was wondering if you’d need a little help.” Lloyd took a few steps to the left to get a better look at the mine’s opening, and Adam turned with him.
“I wouldn’t worry, you’ll be going back down into the Comstock any time.”
“Any time doesn’t feed my little ones today.”
Adam looked at the man’s belt, he had a gun but carried no bullets. “Guess not.”
Adam saw Lloyd nod – not at him but somewhere behind him. He turned to look but not in time to react as a gun butt was brought down on his head. He felt his knees weaken and fought the blackness but collapsed against his will.
The two men stood over Adam out cold on the ground.
“Tie him up, Tom. We keep him in the shack, and first thing tomorrow, after they’ve sweated a little over his whereabouts, you ride on over to the Cartwrights.”
Adam came to shortly before dawn with a throbbing head, but he’d had worse. That Lloyd fellow was sleeping within kicking distance, so Adam kicked his arm.
“Hey.”
Lloyd grunted and turned over, showing Adam his dirty and worn backside.
“Come on, get up!” He kicked harder, using the heel of his boot between the shoulderblades.
“Uh? Huh?” Lloyd sat up.
“Aren’t you supposed to be watching me? Here I’m awake and you’re still sleeping.”
“Oh, sorry.” Lloyd scratched his chest and stretched. “Where’s Tom? Oh, he musta left already. Yup, your family should be getting the news about now.”
“What news? You plan to trade me for the mine?”
“Yeah.” Lloyd yawned loudly.
“Hmmm. You gonna untie me now?” Adam fidgeted in the hardback chair.
“Ha, you’re kidding, right?”
“This is no joke. Don’t you think it’s a little inhumane to keep a man tied up so he can’t go outside for some relief?”
“Relief? Oh!” Lloyd frowned. “Never thought of that.”
“I’ll bet you never. Now untie me, I’ll only be a minute.”
“You must expect I’m too slow for ya.” Lloyd shook his head, plainly disturbed by this dilemma.
“Now I know you’re not a bad fellow, you’re just caught in a bad situation. Believe me, I understand. Why, if I had my way, I’d let the whole town have the silver.”
“Oh, you would not, you—.”
“All right, tell you what, untie me but you can escort me outside yourself, watch me every second. Though I don’t usually like company….”
“All right!” Lloyd jumped to his feet. “But I’ll be watching you every second, so don’t try anything funny.”
Holding his gun in one hand Lloyd fumbled with his other hand to get the rope untied. As soon as it was loosened Adam’s right arm shot up and knocked the gun to the floor. In the split second while Lloyd was too stunned to react, Adam whirled around and delivered a solid punch to his jaw. Lloyd staggered backward but came back with his own fists ready. Adam dodged the first swing but caught the second just above the jaw and saw black for a moment. He fell to his knees but as Lloyd’s hands came down to grab his neck, Adam got hold of his wrists and pushed against him as Lloyd struggled to get away, pulling Adam to his feet. Adam loosened one wrist and drew back to deliver a gut punch but Lloyd brought his hand down on the back of Adam’s neck, knocking him flat. Adam rolled and got his hands on Lloyd’s gun.
“All right,” Adam said, breathing hard. “Fun’s over.” He got up and found his gun and belt. “You’re pretty good. You seemed a little soft but you’re no pushover. A little too humane for your own good, perhaps.” He walked to the door. “If you don’t mind, I’ll be taking your gun with me for a bit. You can find it ahead on the trail.” He put his hat on and tipped it at Lloyd. “And ah, tell your friends I’ll remember this.”
As soon as Adam stepped out the door, Lloyd followed. Jed was gonna be furious if he lets this one get away.
At the breakfast table Ben was feeling out of sorts. He stared at Adam’s empty chair, wondering why he needed to stay overnight in Carson City. Didn’t he know Ben would be anxious to hear what he found out? He didn’t realize someone had knocked on the door until Hop Sing led McNally into the room.
“McNally! I forgot I was having you come in after your shift. What do you have to report?” McNally sat in Adam’s chair, and Ben tensed again. “Any trouble?”
“No sir, didn’t see no sign of nobody. But what didn’t set right all night was that when I got there last night, weren’t no sign of Adam.”
“What? He left the mine before you got there?” Ben had a sudden sinking feeling.
“Well, I guess so, because he wasn’t there.”
“Arnold’s at the mine now?”
McNally nodded, filling his mouth with grits.
“Doesn’t sound like Adam, Pa,” Joe said. “He wouldn’t just leave.”
“Hey Joe, remember those two fellas we saw talking to Jed? You reckon they gave Adam a speck of trouble?”
“What fellows? What are you two saying you didn’t say before?”
There was another knock at the door. After a moment Hop Sing came out again, muttering under his breath. Ben rose to his feet, he was as unused to this much company at breakfast as Hop Sing was.
“You want to see Mr. Cartlight, you wait til he done bleakfast.”
“I’m not waiting,” Tom said, pushing his way past the Chinaman.
“It’s all right, Hop Sing.” Ben’s voice boomed from the dining room. Ben and Tom met halfway. Ben didn’t recognize the lanky, nervous man, but he didn’t like him.
“Well?” Ben asked finally. “You come to my door and push your way in, so state your name and your business.”
“Ah…” Tom looked around the house, he had never been in anything so grand. Hoss, Joe and McNally came and stood next to Ben, making Tom step backward. “It’s about the mine. We want it back.”
“Oh, you do, eh.” Ben folded his arms across his chest. “I’m not selling the land. You are welcome to move the mine.”
“You don’t understand. You’ll give us the mine. I’m Tom and Lloyd, he’s part owner too, and Jed and Frank, well, we have your son. And won’t give him back until you give up the mine.”
Ben’s usual gut reaction climbed in his throat, to grab his guns and go after his boy, but he choked it down. He knew Jed, these were simple town folk, and blazing guns was not the answer.
“Did you hear that,” he said to Hoss and Joe, who were staring in amazement at his calm. “I don’t know how many times we’ve been through this.” Tom fidgeted, puzzled. “Just let him go, Tom. There are other ways of settling this. We’ll take it to court, challenge your claim, find a compromise—.”
“No, uh-uh, no sir, give us the claim or your son is dead.” Tom backed away, grabbed the partly open door and flew outside. In a flash he was on his horse and riding away.
Ben quietly shut the door. Everyone waited for him to say something, to act. Adam’s life has been threatened. Finally he motioned to the table. “Come on, let’s finish our breakfast.”
“But Pa, aren’t we going to—.” Joe stood, ready to ride.
Hoss grabbed Joe’s arm and pulled him back down. “Pa said finish eating, so that’s what we’re doing.”
For the rest of the breakfast not a word was exchanged. The chewing seemed louder than usual, the clinks of silver and sips of coffee grating on Ben’s ears. He tried to avoid glancing at Adam’s chair where McNally was sitting, but couldn’t help himself. He knew if it came down to it he’d have to give up the mine for Adam’s life, even if it meant the destruction of his land. He could live with that, not with the death of his son. But there had to be a better way. These were not bad men, they were just desperate and he understood it. But Hell’s fire, they had to understand what it could do to him to have all his Ponderosa marred with digging and cutting and blasting and all that confounded noise of the stamping machines…
But perhaps the Ponderosa was too big. Perhaps he could sell a portion to the town and let them come no further with the vein.
Mentally he shook that thought away. He had three sons who would eventually build their own ranches. They were going to need every acre. But not at the cost of one of their lives. Which meant he was no closer to a decision now than he was five minutes ago.
Everyone looked up as the door flew open.
Ben held his breath and jumped up. “Adam?”
“Yeah, it’s me, Pa.” Adam strode into the dining room. He was grinning, but there was something in his eyes, something Ben didn’t recognize. When Adam saw McNally in his chair he put a hand on his shoulder. “Hope you saved some for me.”
“Are you all right, boy?” Ben grasped Adam’s shoulders for reassurance.
“I’m fine. Hungry and really really wanting a bath.”
“Well, sit down. Hop Sing!”
“No, I’m going to clean up first. Have Hop Sing bring up some water. And Pa,” Adam stopped him as he turned away. “Stick around while I eat, we have to talk.” He went to the stairs. “I ah…didn’t like what I had to do to get away, Pa. There’s an ugly mess out there and we have to settle it.”
Ben watched Adam climb the stairs. The idea appeared in the back of his mind that Adam didn’t seem to be who he was just the day before.
“Pa,” Adam spooned a heavy helping of grits into his bowl. “This threat is only the beginning. They mean to cause us big trouble.”
Ben had looked up from his papers when he heard Adam call. He was relieved Adam was ready to talk but didn’t like the tone in his voice, the one he used when he was about to lecture his own father.
Hoss walked in the front door and grabbed his gun belt. “Pa, me and Joe are headed out to the south range with the supplies.” Ben didn’t answer. “Pa, you all right?”
“Just be careful out there, Hoss,” Adam called from the dining table.
Hoss poked his head in at his brother. “You think they’re going to try something else, Adam?”
“Hoss, right now I wouldn’t put anything past any of them in Virginia City.”
“Hmm. Right,” was Ben’s muttered response. “Watch yourself, boys.”
Hoss looked at Ben, then shrugged and went out.
“I have to tell you this, Adam,” Ben said slowly. “When that fella came to give his demands, the mine or your life, my first instinct was to call his bluff.”
Adam stopped chewing, then swallowed and laughed. “Good call, Pa.”
“You’re not angry?” he asked with raised eyebrows.
“Our friends and neighbors are living under a fallen rock right now. They’re in pain, but they’re not killers. Although the way Lloyd came after me, he had me fooled for a minute.” Adam winced in brief pain. “He followed me after I left, I didn’t think he would. He found the gun I had thrown aside on the trail and…I had to shoot him. Only winged him, but it was bad enough.”
“Well,” Ben looked down at the papers in his hand. They were no longer important so he put them down. “Times like this tell us out who our friends really are. And…” he paused. “How strong we are.”
“I don’t think this is a time for a show of strength against the town.”
“You WHAT! What better time could there be!!?
“Now just simmer down and listen. I still believe what the Comstock mines need is to go down a little deeper, stretch out a little more and there’ll be more than enough silver. What’s needed is some financial backing and the Crimson Cave is just that.”
“Adam, you’re not suggesting we let them tear our land apart!”
Adam pushed away from the table. “The sacrifice of a few for the good of many.”
Ben strode to his son and turned him so they were eye to eye. “Don’t use that holier than thou tone with me!”
“The point I’m making is—.”
“I know the point you’re making. I’m well aware that turning the silver over to the town is an option. But it’s not one I’m willing to consider.”
“You have to consider it, don’t you see that?” Adam felt his own temper rising.
“I’d just as soon throw gunpowder in that cave and blast it shut!”
“Fine, blast it shut! At the same time destroy our relations with everyone in Virginia City!” Adam ran his hands through his hair, his head pounding. He walked away from his father, needing to be anywhere but home at the moment. “I’m going to keep Hoss and Joe out of trouble.” After strapping on his gun he looked up. “Sometimes we have to make small allowances to keep out of big trouble.” He slammed the door behind him, making the clock chime softly out of turn.
“Small allowances. Tearing our land apart? We’ll hold off until the Comstock strikes or Sharon comes through. We’ve got to.” Ben pounded the back of the chair a few times, then decided on a plan of his own and got moving.
Adam was too late. Hoss and Joe had already split up to check separate sections of the herd. Hoss found the path he was following blocked by a handful of miners, some already past mining years, 35 maybe, and hunched over, and all of them with that look of old hunger in their eyes. He stayed up on his horse.
“You fellers mind moving aside?”
“Yeah,” Jed stepped forward. “Yeah, we mind.”
“Jed, you leading this bunch? Now you know Pa, he wants to help, he’ll do what he can for any of ya. But you gotta give him time. Jed, you know it takes him some time when the problem is deep.”
“Sure, I know your pa. And I know he loves this precious Ponderosa so much it doesn’t matter what happens to the rest of us. Or to you, either!”
Hoss remembered thinking that himself when Pa told them to sit back down to breakfast with Adam missing. “Now Jed, it is his—.”
Jed reached down and grabbed a handful of the dusty granite soil. “It’s just dirt, that’s all it is! Here for you and me to live off, and anything the land is willing to give, we take, not hide like some buried treasure while we all starve.”
It was logic, but it was flawed. “At any price?” They were making him mad now, he felt his gut and his muscles tighten. He probably couldn’t whip them all, but he could give them a good show. Seven of them, he counted. He reckoned five was the most he handled at once in the past.
“At any price,” Jed answered. The men all took a step forward.
“Tell you what I’ll do, Jed, I’ll tell Pa how it is for you and—.”
“Grab him!”
Hoss and his horse tried to jump forward but seven was too many. He was pulled off his horse, falling to the ground like a sack of flour. Three men jumped on him but he kicked with his legs and flailed wildly with his fists until he had laid everyone near him flat and scrambled to his feet. Two others jumped on his back but he pulled them off by the scruff of their necks and tossed them over his shoulders.
A punch from the side to his ribs caught him off guard and then two others grabbed his arms from behind but he jerked one arm away and delivered each one a punch so solid it knocked them through the air and out cold. The other five regrouped and all sprang on him at once. He got off a couple of punches before his arms were pinned successfully behind him. There was nothing more he could do but take it, and hoped they knew when to quit.
Joe was talking to a couple of drovers about a stampede that near happened a couple hours earlier, and how they averted it only because the herd was now so much smaller, when Claude from the south end came riding up. Adam had gone off looking for Hoss, after warning him again to be careful. Joe only snickered that he was the one who wasn’t careful first.
“Joe! Got a message from your brother!”
“Hoss?”
“That’s right. Says he’s gone to town, and you’re to join him there as soon as you’re done here.”
“Oh yeah?” Joe frowned. “We didn’t have any plans to go to town today. Tell you this himself?”
“Nope, fellow coming from town met up with him, I haven’t even seen him today. The last name is Simpson, I believe.”
Joe remembered the Simpson family, pretty decent folks mostly, but then, they all were until the silver became a curse on the Ponderosa. Ever since Tom showed up demanding the cave as ransom for Adam, Joe felt his senses heighten in every direction, and now he sensed trouble.
He thought it over, feeling if he went he’d be walking into a trap. “You see Adam on your way over here?”
“Nope. Want me to find him?”
“Yeah, if you could. Tell him I went to town after Hoss. And if he finds Hoss first, for both of them to come to town after me.” It could be a trap, all right, but they could be using Hoss as the bait, so he didn’t have much choice. He’d have to go to town, but he’d go with guns blazing if he had to, to get his brother back.
Adam was halfway to the herd when he saw Hoss coming up the crest of a hill, slumped over the saddle. He ran his horse up to him and jumped down.
“Hoss!” He was beat up pretty bad.
“I’m all right, Adam,” he whispered, barely able to swallow. “Just…get me home…”
Adam eased water down his throat and wet his bandana to wipe Hoss’s face. “Sure you can hang on?”
Hoss nodded and Adam remounted, with the reins of Hoss’s horse in one hand. He rode back to the house as quick as he dared through the narrow rocky trails, keeping an eye on Hoss. He didn’t have to ask who did this.
It was then that he made the decision to go against Pa’s wishes, on his own.
After seeing to it Hoss was all right and making sure Hop Sing could stay with him, Adam went back out on the trail. It took him the rest of the morning to find four men who knew mining or were willing to learn. Adam gathered all the equipment he could, second rate mostly, but it would do until they got out enough silver to show the town their intentions. Adam showed what he remembered from his days back when he helped a friend out, and that German Deidesheimer. He remembered enough, and stayed to work with them long enough to bring that first bucket of quality ore back to town.
He marvelled over the size of the vein, but at the same time felt the horror Pa was going through. Pa will have to understand why his eldest felt this necessary. One look at Hoss and he would see what Adam saw, how desperation can lead to murder.
Even when it’s unintentional.
He only hoped Joe could avoid any trouble until Adam could accomplish what was necessary to bring this whole thing to grinding halt.
Joe rode into town, his nerves tingling in anticipation. He hadn’t been in a good ruckus in some time, and found he was looking forward to one. Pa was right in keeping townspeople from the cave. They had no right to something that was his, no matter how much the town needed the silver.
His ride took him right down C Street, but he found no sign of Hoss, and no one staring him down. Everything seemed peaceful. If it was a trap, it was a well laid one.
He stopped Cochise in front of the Silver Dollar and alighted, searching for signs of anything he didn’t like. He tied the holster strap to his leg as he walked into the saloon.
“Hi Charlie, nice to see you. Give me a cold one, will you?”
“We’ll try, Joe.” He turned and cranked out a brew.
“You seen my brother Hoss in town? We got split up.”
“Nope, ain’t seen Hoss. You might try the livery.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that next.” He swallowed a big mouthful and then ran the back of his sleeve over his mouth before turning.
Cheri, one of the gals, was seated at a table alone and crooked a finger at him. There were six other men in the saloon but Cheri seemed glad to see him. He smiled willingly and strolled over to her.
“Well, Miss Cheri, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you at work this time of day.”
“It’s actually my day off, Little Joe, but for some reason I just felt like being here. Do you think it’s because I had the feeling I’d see you?”
Joe pulled out a chair and sat across from her. “Now, Miss Cheri, you’ve seen me lots of times. Is there something more special about me today than yesterday?”
Cheri slid over to the chair right next to Joe and put a hand on his leg. “Is that what silver does to you, Joe, makes you suspicious? Can’t a girl hide a fondness for someone for only so long until it all bubbles to the surface and boils over?”
She leaned into him and kissed his cheek, her lips lingering on his skin.
“Miss…Cheri…” he turned, and their lips met briefly before Joe pulled away. “I prefer to be alone with a girl.” He tried to get to his feet but Cheri grabbed his hand and pulled him back down.
“Joe! I gotta tell you something!” Charlie called from behind the bar.
Joe turned to him but Cheri turned him back. “He can wait. You want privacy? How does my room in the back sound?” Her hand squeezed further up on his leg.
He grinned sheepishly. “You know, you’re one convincing kind of woman.” He started to get to his feet with her, but heard Charlie drop a glass behind him, shattering it.
This started a nervous flame in his gut, spreading out to his muscles.
“You know, Cheri, I think I better take you up on this some other time.” He pulled her hand off his arm and backed up. “I gotta find my brother, he could be…in trouble.” He dashed out of the saloon, leaving Charlie to shake his head and frown at Cheri.
Lloyd came out from the back room where Cheri had been headed. “You let him get away, gal?”
“Sorry, Lloyd. He just wasn’t buying.”
“I told you to offer it free!” She shrugged. “Well, never mind. Lucky we had a backup plan.”
At the sound of the gunshot Charlie dropped another glass.
Ben rode into town from the opposite direction, not going far enough to see Joe’s horse at the saloon, but stopping at the Assay Office. He pulled out the chunk of silver he had chiseled out of the mine and went inside.
He waited patiently for Ginpey to break down the specimen and analyze it.
“What do you think? Should I offer stock to the town?”
“Ben, that’s good quality ore. The townspeople will be indebted to you. What made you change your mind? We were all placing big odds that you’d remain stubborn to the end.”
“Guess I just got to thinking. The sacrifice of a few for the good of many.”
“Think this’ll make Frank and Jed happy? They believe they have a right to that mine.”
“Then let them prove it in court. As a matter of fact, I thought to allow them a good share of the mine at half the purchase price.”
“That oughta make them satisfied. Let me write you out a certificate and if you brought your deed of ownership you can go right from the bank to the printer for those shares. And Ben…” he added as Ben turned away. “Go see Jed as soon as you can.”
“Oh, I plan to, Ginpey.”
Ben stood on the walk, feeling bad about deceiving that fine man that way. The shares of stock will be worthless, because he had no intention of working the claim, but was only buying time. Another week perhaps and tempers will cool. In the meantime he could take his sons on a well-deserved trip to San Francisco…
Just before reaching the bank he heard the gunshot. Curiosity took him down the street more than anything. First thing he noticed was Joe’s horse, and alarm rose in his chest. A crowd had gathered around the fallen man, and it took only another moment for him to know who it was that was shot down.
“Joe!” Ben pushed people away and crouched down beside his son. The bullet had entered below his left rib and was bleeding badly. Carefully Ben picked his son up and walked as quickly as he dared to Dr. Martin’s, leaving the townspeople wordless behind him.
Dr. Martin finished cleaning his hands and went back to Ben sitting beside his unconscious son. “A 31 caliber, Ben, could have been worse. He’ll be all right.”
“Thanks, Paul,” he sighed heavily, his voice shaking. “I’ve been a fool. How could I believe I could hold off a town?” He took Joe’s still cool hand in his.
“You were just protecting your land, Ben, as you’ve always done.”
“As I’ve always done. No, Paul, this time I called their bluff. This time I risked my sons because I thought I could outsmart them. These people were our friends, Paul. We were on good terms with everyone.”
“That’s true, Ben, and in my opinion,” Paul looked back down at Joe, “if they wanted to do your son serious damage they could have.” He put a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “They’re trying to scare you.”
“Well, they’ve succeeded. Do you know why I was in town today? I brought a piece of silver to town to get Ginpey to verify the mine so I could sell shares. But they were going to be worthless – I had no intention on backing up the shares.”
“And now?”
“I guess I have no choice anymore.”
Joe stirred and squeezed Ben’s hand back. “Pa?”
“It’s all right, son, I’m here. You’re gonna be fine.”
“Pa, this doesn’t change things,” he whispered.
“What?”
“It’s our land, Pa, and we can…do what we want…” he drifted away again.
Ben smiled weakly, and squeezed Joe’s hand. “You’re right, Joe, we can. Paul, you’ll stay with him, won’t you?” When Paul nodded, Ben walked slowly outside. It had to be done. He only hoped it could be done with as little further pain as possible.
His first thought was to ride out of town, but then he saw Jed coming out of the bank. Ginpey had given Ben good advice that Ben now meant to take.
“Jed,” they strode to meet each other, “I can’t prove that you shot my boy, but I can believe it. I should beat you senseless but that would get us nowhere. I’ve got a proposition for you.”
Jed’s venomous glare didn’t change. Before Ben could get any further Jed lashed out and punched Ben in the jaw, not hard enough to knock the big Cartwright flat but hard enough to sting. “Not rich enough, are you, Ben? You gotta have it all, gotta have the whole world. I just came from the bank where I learned something interesting. You couldn’t get a loan. Our discovering that silver on your land came in mighty handy, didn’t it? Planning to mine it and keep it all to yourself.”
Jed ran from Ben and jumped on top a wagon parked down the street. He made hollering noises to get people’s attention, as Ben stood helpless.
“Guess what, folks? Our good friend Ben Cartwright was about to do us all in. He brought one small chunk of silver to the assayer and said he was gonna sell stock. Well, guess what? He had no intention of backing up that stock. Go on, admit it, Ben, that stock was gonna be worthless to us! He needed that money for himself, just ask Clyde over to the bank!”
Ben drew himself up as people looked his way but how could he not admit that part of it, at least, was true?
“You got it all wrong, Jed!”
Ben looked down the street and saw Adam with Charlie O’Hurley. They were both still mounted and each held a bucket of ore.
“We are working the mines and every share we sell will be valuable. And Jed, you’ll get your shares at a discount, you and your partners.” Adam and Charlie got down out of the saddles and walked toward them with the buckets of ore.
“You’re lying,” Jed said evenly.
“No, he ain’t lying, Jed,” Charlie jumped in. “He’s hired me on as mine foreman and to witness the issuing of the stock. Come on, we’re going to the Assay Office.”
Jed stood, mouth gaping, as the townsfolk followed Adam and Charlie.
Ben stood next to Jed. “Well, aren’t you going to go see for yourself?” He wasn’t sure why he was surprised. He and Adam did think alike, when the time made it necessary.
Jed looked down at his feet and laughed ruefully. He turned red in the face and offered his hand to Ben, without meeting his eyes. He then turned and headed to the Assay Office himself.
Ben went back to Dr. Martin’s and found Hoss sitting next to Joe.
“Hoss! What happened to you? Oh, I don’t suppose you have to explain it.” He rubbed his big son’s shoulder, feeling the glisten of a tear. “I’m sorry, son.”
“It’s best forgotten, Pa. Dr. Martin says I’ll heal, and so will the town. Pa, what Adam did was not—.”
“Oh yes, it was.” Ben turned from Hoss and took Joe’s hand. Joe was awake and more alert. “How are you feeling?”
“I think I’ll live, Pa. If that’s all right.”
Ben laughed. “Well, I guess so.”
Hoss and Joe looked up at the presence in the doorway and Ben turned. Adam was standing alone, his face shadowed.
Ben looked back down at Joe, face as unreadable as his eldest son’s.
Adam felt the tension, felt his Pa’s hurt. He strode into the room nonetheless, feeling every footstep, and stood behind Ben. He put a hand on his shoulder.
“Pa, I had to do it. When I saw Hoss all beat up…”
“I know,” Ben replied. “I learned myself seeing Joe lying in the street. I think I must be getting a little too old to learn quick enough anymore.”
“You’re not slow, Pa. But this silver strike hit too close, reminding you of what happened long ago. It was too hard for you to let go.”
“Pa,” Hoss said, “none of us can blame you for trying to call their bluff this time. I don’t think they ever meant more than just to scare us a little.” Hoss talked convincing, even though he winced through puffy eyes and mouth.
Ben put his arm around Hoss’s shoulders. “But I never should have let it get this far. The compromise is the right solution, Adam. I thought of it myself but, like you said…”
“I know, Pa.” Adam squeezed his shoulder briefly. “Well, Joe, I see you got yourself into another grand mess.”
“Yeah, Adam, but at least with me they thought to use a woman. Guess everyone knows it’s the only way I can be fooled.”
“Ah-ha. Do you think you can heal fast so you can help us work that mine?”
“Oh,” Joe groaned, “I doubt it. I’m feeling so poorly it’ll be six, seven months before I’m healed up.”
They all laughed.
Ginpey stuck his head in the doorway. “Excuse me, but how is the young one?”
“Oh, he’ll live, until he’s healed and his brothers tar and feather him,” Ben said, laughing. “What you got there?”
“It’s a document that Jed and all the others had drawn up and signed. It says they’re willing to accept however far you intend to mine your claim. No further trouble.”
Ben looked at the paper. “Boys, I think we just found our friends.”
Charlie O’Hurley stood outside the door. “The Gould and Curry just announced they’re going down with deeper shafts!”
Ginpey excused himself and ran outside, as all four Cartwrights stared at the commotion out the doctor’s window.
“Well, I’ll be dadburned,” Hoss finally said. “Adam, you were right all along.”
“Hoss, how many times have I told you never lose faith in your brother’s wisdom?”
“Oh, many times, Adam, many, many, many, many….”
Adam laughed and everyone joined in, but even as he enjoyed the family, Adam knew that things could never be the same again between him and Pa.
He wasn’t just a Cartwright son anymore.
