Synopsis: Ben and Adam have a confrontation that changes their lives forever.
Rating: G
Words: 2,900

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A Thief in the Night

“Adam?”

Adam cursed as he straightened up. “Damnit, I thought you were in bed.”

Ben’s eyebrow lifted at the language but his attention was soon returned to the satchel that his eldest son held next to the open safe.

“What are you doing? It’s two o’clock in the morning. You can get the money out tomorrow for your trip to San Francisco.”

“I wanted to be gone before everyone was up. I wanted an early start.”

Ben took a tentative step forward. His intuition was telling him that something was amiss here. Adam saw the look of uncertainty in his eyes and laughed.

“Oh, hell, I’m tired of acting.” He looked at his father with amusement glittering in his hazel eyes. The moonlight edged in through the drawn curtain at the window behind Ben’s desk.

Shadows stretched out the length of the great room. He leaned back against the desk with his easy grace and casually folded his arms.

Ben had always admired that grace. He had a grace of his own, but it wasn’t Adam’s pantherish style. Little Joe came the closest in the family with his willowy quickness, but no one could match the way Adam moved. He wondered why these thoughts should cross his mind at this strange hour but he didn’t understand a great many of the emotions swirling around in him right now as he looked at Adam’s amused face. The amusement did not seem kind.

“Adam?”

A sigh escaped his son. Adam’s eyes had grown cold, the rich amber now obsidian.

“Did you think I was going to remain your quiet, dutiful son by your side the rest of my life? Keep submerging myself with responsibility for this ranch? I’ve known crushing responsibility practically since the day I was born. I was cold, tired and hungry for the first five years of my life when we came West. I had to act like a ‘little man’ then. And when Hoss was born, I had to take care of him. Same for Little Joe. I had to help out with the ranch and never got the time to be a child.”

Ben’s mouth opened in shock, then closed in shame. It was true that responsibility had been laid early at Adam’s doorstep, but he had not been given a choice. He had been forced to put that responsibility on his young son’s small shoulders. Guilt washed over him like the moonlight streaming in through the dining room window. He looked at Adam’s hard expression.

“Son, I…”

Adam lifted an admonishing palm. “I don’t want to hear it.” He stared at his father. “Did you really think that I was going to live my life buried out here in the wilderness? I could feel my brain rotting from disuse for years. I got a lifeline thrown to me in the form of college in Boston, and I finally had a chance to feed my mind as well as my stomach for four glorious years.”

Stung, Ben asked, “Why didn’t you stay there?”

“Oh, I thought about it. Then I realized that would still be on your terms. You’re very controlling, old man, even a continent away. If I wanted real independence, I’d have to come home first. I realized that it would take me years to earn the kind of money back there that I could get here in much less time. So I came home, the Dutiful Son, and resumed my place as your right-hand man.” His lip curled. “Often no better than a hired hand. And fighting me every step of the way when I tried to use my intellectual skills and knowledge from college.” A cool expression settled over the handsome face. “But I realized that your stubbornness could work to my advantage.” He leaned forward, eyes flashing. “Though I paid a price. Do you realize just how frustrating it was to sit here, night after night, listening to my two brothers playing those damned checker games hour after hour and you pontificating from your chair by the fireplace? Thank the stars I had a good supply of books to keep me distracted!”

“Adam…” Ben’s voice was weak from shock.

Adam leaned back against the desk again. “You taught me well, old man. I learned early in life that what I want is all that matters. You had a dream to go out West and build a great ranch, but that meant dragging a young child along for the hardships. We could have stayed in Boston and I could have enjoyed a life of the intellect instead of breaking my back to clear land and herd cattle and take care of two brothers. You didn’t care how your dream would affect me.” His lips curved into a mocking smile. “Well, at least Joe will get a taste of what it was like to grow up like I did.”

“What?” Confusion fogged Ben’s mind.

“He’s a lazy, cantankerous whelp but he’s a charmer, I’ll give him that. He’s had it too soft, though. That’ll change.” A flash of regret crossed Adam’s face. “I will miss Hoss some. He could be dumber than a red brick but now I think about it he was the smartest one of us all. Part of him knew what I really wanted. He can’t articulate it but he knows just the same.” A shrug of the elegant shoulders. “Ah, well. Can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.” He looked at Ben again with that sardonic amusement. “Count yourself lucky, old man. Do you know how many times I came close to taking one of those shotguns and just tearing through the house like Rhett Twilight avenging his brother Willie? It would have been so easy. I would have had the entire ranch to myself, not to mention all our mining holdings. But it was more of a challenge to plot and plan and to see if you noticed if the books were cooked. You didn’t.” A cruel smile twisted Adam’s mouth. “It was easy. You trusted me completely.” He shifted his hip on the desk. “Of course, I’d been building up that trust for a lifetime. People got to know me as Reliable, Dependable Adam. The Good Son. The Dutiful Son. The Dependable Big Brother. The Reliable Second-in-Command.” He shrugged. “It kept things interesting.”

Ben felt frozen to the spot. His dark eyes were wide with pain.

“You can come back from this little setback. It’s true that I embezzled quite a bit of money, but you’re still smart as a whip. You’ll make it back. When I made a deal with Jeb Drummond to get the Ponderosa, everything went so well, including the ‘kidnapping’, but then he got out of control. Damn, if that Billy boy had only obeyed orders! Ah, well. I knew that I could drain the money out of the Ponderosa instead. More of a challenge, you know? Drummond was wily as a fox but he let his temper get the best of him.”

Ben thought, This can’t be true! It can’t be! Dear God, what is happening to me? My son, my son!

“You’re smart, old man, but I’m smarter. I was able to fool you and my brothers for a long, long time. Though as I said, I think Hoss had a feeling.” Adam shrugged. “Anyway, it’s a moot point. I grew tired of the game. And it’s time for me to move on.”

He finished cleaning out the safe and snapped the satchel shut. His smile was easy and mocking as he looked up, then it faded as he saw the shotgun pointed at his heart. For a fleeting second, Ben saw the craftiness in his son’s eyes, then they softened as a gentle smile curved his lips.

“Do you really want to take me in, Pa? What will that do to Hoss and Little Joe? I’ll have to serve a long sentence in prison.”

Ben’s hand wavered and he began to lower the gun, then brought it back up as Adam took a step toward the door. “I have to turn you in,” he rasped.

“Why? Because of the Cartwright name?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Is it?” Adam’s eyes glittered in the moonlight. “That’s all you ever cared about, wasn’t it, old man? The good Cartwright name? Our reputation?”

“You know that isn’t true!” Ben’s hand was shaking but he kept the gun leveled at his son.

“Isn’t it?” Adam’s tone was conversational as he relaxed with the satchel over his shoulder. “You were always concerned with what others thought. That’s why you’d get upset if I stayed in town occasionally and drank and gambled or visited a whorehouse. You were afraid what people might say about your eldest son. You didn’t care that I’d been breaking my back and refereeing between hard-headed cowhands or fighting that spoiled whelp of yours or struggling with dumb cattle all day. You just cared that I might put a stain on that spotless reputation of yours.” The smile reappeared. “Though I don’t know how you expected to keep a spotless reputation after you married that New Orleans whore.”

Outrage showed in Ben’s eyes, but flickered and died as his heart grew heavy. He kept the gun steady but it took every ounce of his strength.

“Well, you’d better shoot me in the back, old man, because I’m walking out of here. I’d rather die than spend a goodly portion of the years I have left in prison.”

“You would walk out of here like a thief in the night, taking my heart with you?” Ben asked with no voice at all.

“In a heartbeat.”

Adam began walking for the door, his grace still easy and communicating his confidence, yet he risked a glance behind him. Triumph flashed through his eyes as he saw the lowered shotgun.

“A little warning: I had to cut some deals to have the bank records match what I was doing. I had to sell some of our mining stocks and timber rights to a gentleman who was very eager to get them. I’d recommend going to the bank in Placerville as soon as possible. I hear that John J. Harrison is declaring the branch there insolvent tomorrow. All the operating capital for the Ponderosa is there.” Adam smiled and tipped his hat. “Goodbye. I’m finally free.”

With a jaunty step, Adam opened the front door and stepped through, closing it softly behind him.

The moonlight streamed in, illuminating the defeated posture of Ben Cartwright, his silver hair highlighted as his face was shadowed.

*****

“Pa! Pa! What is it?”

Ben was gasping, his heart racing in his chest. He turned wild eyes to his son, who was looking at him in concern. With a strangled cry he put his arms around Adam and pulled him in a crushing hug. Adam’s arms slid around him and he stroked his father’s back.

“It’s all right, Pa. It was just a nightmare. It’s okay. Everything’s fine.”

“My son, my son!”

After Ben’s sobs subsided, Adam gently separated them but he held on to his father’s arms and Ben clutched desperately at him. Moonlight illuminated Adam’s dark hair and eyes.

“It’s really okay, Pa.” He added softly, “Killing Eden had to be done. He would have killed you trying to get away.”

Ben nodded wordlessly. Ye gods, what a nightmare! He was still shaking.

“I’m…I’m sorry I woke you, son.”

“It’s all right.” Amusement twinkled in the expressive eyes. “Good thing that Hoss and Little Joe are so bushed from work today. They’re still dead to the world.”

Ben laid back against the pillow, trying to calm his pounding heart. Adam still looked concerned and Ben said, “I’m all right now, Adam. Go on back to bed, son.”

“All right, Pa.” Adam started to leave, then turned back. “You sure?”

Ben nodded. Adam walked toward the doorway.

Ben closed his eyes and tried to relax enough for sleep. He didn’t see Adam pause and turn around, his eyes glittering in the moonlight.

He had been interrupted downstairs at the safe by his father’s cries. Since it would take awhile for Ben to fall asleep, he would have to try again tomorrow night. He smiled as he shut the door quietly.

*****

Surprise!

Okay, since this is my first twist ending, I’ll cut you some slack. For those who like the twisted, *Twilight Zone*-style ending, consider this the end. For those who like sappy and happy endings, read on:

*****

Ben sat up in bed, his cry half-strangled, his heart threatening to race out of his chest. Drenched in sweat, he shuddered as the dream, no, nightmare played out before his mind’s eye again. He leapt out of bed and pulled on his robe, jamming his feet into slippers. He slipped out of his room and hurried across the hall, quietly opening the door to Adam’s bedroom.

He nearly fainted with relief as he saw his eldest son sound asleep in his bed. He crept forward, the moonlight shining on Adam’s bed and illuminating his innocent son.

He wanted to wail and howl, crying out his relief and joy, but he silently stood by the bed, a shaking hand reaching out and lightly touching silky black hair. He padded away from the bed toward the window and looked out at the peaceful night scene: the cleared space at the back of the house, the woods only a few dozen feet away…

The nightmare had shaken him not once but twice. The second horror had been worse than the first. The nightmare-within-a-nightmare had shaken him to his very core.

As he gazed out on the familiar but soothing scenery before him, listening to his beloved son’s breathing, he reasoned that he had conjured such a nightmare because of the killing of his Katherine’s son Eden.

Katherine had been completely fooled by Eden. He was no good, selfish and manipulative and a killer to boot. It was not surprising that she had been fooled. She had been the boy’s mother. And he had been possessed of a certain charm, able to fool some people, but most saw through him, including Charles, his father. It had nearly killed Katherine to realize what Eden really was, and she had drawn a shotgun on him, but couldn’t shoot him. Ben had been forced to do that as Eden had tried to get away.

He rested his head on his hand which in turn rested against the windowpane. Why had he dreamed such a dream? Because he’d had to kill Eden? The love he’d held for Katherine couldn’t erase what he’d done, and their plans for marriage had been buried along with Eden. He didn’t blame her. If the situation had been reversed, he would have done the same.

But why dream that Adam had turned out like Eden? Did he really fear that his son, or any of his sons, were playing a game with him? That the nightmare Adam had made some points that had hit too close to home?

He lifted his head and glanced over at Adam. No, that couldn’t be it. What he really feared was that he knew that no matter how good or loving a parent was to a child, that child could turn out to be a bad seed. That had always been a fear of his when his children had been born, and was probably one of the reasons for his firm discipline. Yet he’d been lucky. All of his children had turned out to be fine young men he could be proud of and love without the terrible price paid by a parent like Katherine.

“Pa?”

The sleepy voice startled him and he said softly, “Shh, Adam, it’s all right. Go back to sleep.”

Adam yawned, still almost asleep. He listened to his father’s voice and obeyed, rolling back over onto his side. Ben picked up the blanket and tucked it around the broad shoulders. He whispered, “My son, my son,” and lightly kissed the dark hair, a tear glistening down his cheek, and left the room with gratitude in his heart.

Adam was no Eden.

Okay, you’ve had your freebie. 🙂

How did I come up with a story like this, you ask? Well, I’d just seen “MY SON, MY SON” and it got me to thinking (dangerous, yes, I know): what if a son of Ben’s had turned out to be a bad seed like Eden? At first I thought Little Joe would perfectly fill the bill: he was young, could play the brooding James Dean type, had a hot head. But, nah, that was too easy. Hoss? Another good choice, as who would suspect, but he just didn’t fit this story. No, it was Adam, with his cool reserve and keen intelligence that fit.

This story can be considered an alternate universe (ending at the twist) or a nightmare-within-a-nightmare (with the alternate ending). Your choice as to which suits you (both may).

Did I surprise you? I know that ‘our’ Adam could never be like this, but what of another Adam in some other time and place? Well, I know that if you have opinions, you’ll let me know them. 🙂

*Adah* (*The Magnificent*)

December 30, 2000