Summary:  The latest in the Home is the Sailor Series
Rating:  PT   Words:  134,000

Home is the Sailor Series:  The saga of the Cartwrights continues after the conclusion of the Captain Cartwright series. This story is a sequel to There will Always Be Rainbows, where Hoss and Hester adopt a little boy. It also ties up the story of Thomas and Margaret O’Connell, the birth parents of the child.  And as Ben said at that time “This could all end in tears…….”

Home is the Sailor
The Iron Horsemen
There will Always be Rainbows
The Pledge
No Greater Love
Kismet
The Gap…
A New Direction – Changes
Equinox
The Cattle Station
Love Thyself Least

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Love Thyself Least…

Chapter 1

 

 

Children’s laughter is one of the richest languages in the world. It is universal. Every nation and tribe and race listens to that music and feels a lift to the heart. They can understand it at any age, and interpret it to mean the same thing.

 

The family were settled under the big tree in the meadow with the lake just a few yards away. Food was spread out on several table cloths although perhaps one bed sheet would have sufficed. Several men were lounging around, women were busy over seeing the meal, the cutlery, the plates and cups. Children ran around like mad chickens let loose from a coop, screaming and laughing and giggling.

 

Every child was dressed casually, the little boys just wore their dungarees, bare shoulders and skin being gently kissed by the suns rays. It was early summer but still very warm. The little girls were in light linen shifts, too short perhaps, showing off their thin legs. None of the children wore shoes or boots, just enjoyed the feel of grass and warm soil beneath their feet, tickling their toes.

 

Ben Cartwright sat on a rock, a familiar rock. He has eased his butt on that rock countless times over the years. His family had had their various romances under this tree, and their subsequent picnics. He marvelled,as many a grand parent has done and will do, at the way the members of the family grew over time. He stroked his chin with his forefinger and watched the children, he watched them with a feeling within him that he could not describe. Love is a hard emotion to describe, he never attempted to. It was just there, locked within himself; but he was often over whelmed by the feeling when he watched the grand children that he never expected to have seeing as his sons were always so fickle in their getting married.

 

His eyes roamed back to the gathering of adults…Hester with her bright tawny hair standing with her eyes fixed on a far off place as though she were in another world, the plate of cakes in one hand slowly lowering, the cakes in danger of falling one after the other until Olivia laughingly called to her and broke the spell. Olivia, Ben sighed, life was not always easy for Olivia he reminded himself, and watched her again, more closely.

 

She must have become aware of his scrutiny for she turned her face towards him, the smile that illuminated her features beamed at him and she called his name, beckoned him to join them. And then Mary Ann turned and laughed, called his name until the children caught it up and began to run towards him, like a little flock of birds, chirping “Granpa Granpa”

He roused himself and got to his feet. Hope, the smallest of the girls, was easy to catch hold of and swing up into his arms, he hugged her close. Of course he had no favourites …

 

As he walked towards the group gathered around the table cloth he remembered the first time he had ever been here. The tree was huge even then, but the wagon had lumbered along beneath its branches and the two little boys had clambered down and ran through the grasses yelling and shouting just as their own sons were doing now.

 

“Will we stay here, Pa?” the little boy with the blue eyes and white blond hair had said, because whenever they stopped anywhere he would always ask, he always wanted to ‘stay put’ some place.

 

Ben had clambered down from the wagon seat and stood there, feet planted apart, hands on hips and stared around him. He had looked at the other boy, lean and brown and black haired, could have been mistaken for an Indian any day. He had nodded at him “What do you think, son?”

 

The boy had looked about him thoughtfully and then nodded “Sure, Pa. Sure – it’s Eden isn’t it?”

 

Eden! Ben thought back now and shook his head just slightly, well, this Eden had turned up its fair share of snakes that was for sure. But what years they had had here, all of them…he was still engrossed in his memories, of the two little boys running through the meadow, grasses and wild flowers bending before them, when he reached the ‘table’

 

“Who else is coming?” he pretended to be amazed at the amount of food as he allowed Hope to slide down from his arms “Enough here to feed an army.”

 

“Ann and Candy and the children -” Hester said as she settled gracefully down beside her husband and leaned against his long legs.

 

Ben nodded and smiled over at Hoss. Blue eyes twinkled just as they had done years ago, but the blond curls were long gone, and a few more pounds in weight had added themselves to his girth. Nothing stays the same, Ben thought, no matter how much one would wish they would….after all, at what point in life would one want it to stop, before or after Little Joe had been born?

 

He managed to get down on the grass, no point in mentioning how hard it was for an old man to sit that long way down, and of course there was the getting up again that now crept into his mind. The family clearly thought he was immortal. To them Ben Cartwright was not an old man creaking with arthritis and goodness knows what else, of course he would spring up onto his feet as easily as the rest of them..oh dear, if only they knew!

 

Of course he remembered one afternoon bringing Marie here, his third wife, the one he thought would live into old age with him. He was quite sure that this was where Joe was conceived, all those years ago. 1842 wasn’t it? Ah he shook his head and brushed the memory to one side….

 

There had been changes recently. Some had surprised and some had not – after all life was full of change as Ben had accepted long ago. Hiram Woods had retired from practising Law. Ben had argued with him to stay, to keep the law firm functioning but Hiram had had enough, as he had told Ben and others he was getting out while there was still some life in the town. The population was dwindling, it was on a downward trend and nothing was going to change it, the days of prosperity were over, Ben had felt as though another string to his life had been snipped in half. Hiram had been ten years younger than himself, why retire, plenty of life in the old dog yet! But that was not the way Hiram had seen it, and to further compound the deed he not only retired but left town altogether and returned to some town in Philadelphia. His daughter and her family were nearby, and he preferred to be with them now as old age loomed ever closer.

 

Grant Tombs had qualified and stepped smartly into the breach left by Hiram. But he was a young man, and although he had the support of the law firm that Hiram had long ago established it had been a hefty responsibility upon shoulders so young. He and his wife Amy left the apartment above the Ladies Emporium and moved into the big house that had belonged to Mr and Mrs Orawitz, for the old man had also moved on – not to Chicago, but to a resting place near his wife and daughter in the Virginia City cemetery.

 

Adam nudged his father as he sat down beside him, shoulder to shoulder. He smiled when Ben turned to look at him and nodded

 

“Pa, this little get together is meant to be a happy occasion, so why is it that I get the feeling that you don’t quite go along with that idea? You look as though you are attending a wake -”

 

The older man shrugged, forced a smile “I was just thinking of all the changes recently – “

 

“Life is full of changes, Pa.”

 

“I know but some are harder to accept than others” he paused and shrugged “Anyway this is not the time or place to talk about them” he looked again at the group gathered around the tree and smiled “Just sometimes …”

 

Whatever he was going to say was lost by a hearty Halloo-ing from Candy as he brought his wagon trundling across the grass. Shouts of children and the greetings from everyone else brought any further discussion to an end. Adam got to his feet and joined his brothers in welcoming the other man, Hoss swinging the children from the back of the wagon one by one – Rose, David and then Samuel. Ann Canaday gave everyone a bright smile and took her husbands hand to descend from the wagon, declaring as she did so that she had made a cake which seemed to fall upon deaf ears as no one said a word to acknowledge the fact

 

Ben raised a hand in greeting, and forced his mind to switch off from his reminiscences. Nathaniel ran up to him and fairly leapt into his lap and wrapped his arms around the old man’s neck, moments to treasure as Ben knew only too well.

 

Chatter and laughter, children ran and played, tumbled into the grass and wild flowers, chased one another and shrieked before turning to run and chase again. Good moments, good days …forget the fact that the town was haemorrhaging its population, friends were disappearing, focus on the positives, that the Ponderosa continued to thrive, and that there was a new generation growing upon it.

 

Nathaniel ran off, joined by his cousins Daniel and Erik, who were now joined by Samuel … Sofia and Rosie. Hannah and Constance had settled down in a patch of grass making floral chains from the wild flowers, placing the fragile crowns upon one another’s heads, minutes later Hope came and drifted towards them and settled down beside her sister to make a crown of her own.

 

Hester stood up and surveyed the banquet spread out about the tablecloths and smiled contentedly. Of the three Cartwright wives she was the one who enjoyed these occasions the most. She was the one who prompted and motivated them, she was the nester, the organiser and now she sighed with relief and nodded approval. She loved seeing a gathering of the family, and over the years had enjoyed seeing how the family had grown.

 

She looked over at the girls chattering together just as their mothers did when gathered around a quilt making sewing bee, and she smiled again, the smile lighting up her blue eyes as she picked out Hannah’s near black hair adorned now with its crown of wild flowers, and there was Hope with her blonde hair, and dark eyes. Hesters eyes roamed towards the trees where the boys were running, chasing one another, making a noise as only boys could…and she picked out her Erik immediately with his copper gold red hair, laughing along with everyone as happy as the day was long.

 

Her gaze now swept towards the men who were lounging around, Adam seated beneath the tree upon which he was leaning, Candy nearby listening intently to something that Joe was saying and Hoss looking over at the children with that gentle loving look on his face that was seen whenever he gazed upon a new born calf, or foal, or …his children. Hester’s heart softened yet more, she clapped her hands together, time to eat….

 

There were so many blessings to enjoy.

 

Chapter 2

 

Candy settled under the tree beside Adam, stretched out his long legs and nodded in that familiar way men have of greeting one another and indicating the need to talk. Adam swallowed the food he had just bitten into and nodded back

 

“How did you get on, Candy? Everything go smoothly?”

Joe came along and joined them, finding a comfortable rock upon which to perch. Hoss was too busy eating and teasing the children to come on over and join them but Ben strolled up, and leaned against the tree, prepared to listen and put in his two cents worth should he feel a need to do so.

“It went as smooth as silk.” Candy said once he was confident he had his audience, “Got the cattle loaded onto the trucks no bother. They had grazed well before hand, that meadow is the best I’ve seen in a long time but the cattle looked sleek and content and got into the cattle wagons as calm as could be. Mrs Malahide came by during one loading -” he bit into a man size sandwich and chewed leaving his audience to do likewise, Ann came by and handed out something to drink.

 

After swilling his mouth and swallowing Candy continued “She said her cattle would be loaded up for transport the following day, which had been agreed with you…” he looked at Adam who nodded, but kept his eyes to the far distance where the river gleamed under a benevolent sky.

 

“How is she, Mrs Malahide I mean?” Joe asked leaning forward a little to indicate he had more interest in the subject than his brother had shown

 

“Like the cattle, sleek and content. Reckon the baby should be a few months yet…Amos Kline was there, said to pass on his regards to all of you.”

 

They paused again, biting, chewing and swallowing. Ben leaned forward “Did you get all the cattle …”

 

“Yep all of them…loaded up and sent off like so many fat parcels. Pete and Jake will attend to all the paperwork and such when they reach Yuma and are off loaded. Sure beats a cattle drive that’s for sure, not so much dust and stink for a start…and just a week from start to finish. Derwent and Luke were taking their herd in this week.”

 

The Cartwright brothers nodded as though satisfied with the whole matter, Ben observed the sky for a moment as though trying to work out what to say next but it was Adam who spoke first, asking Candy if he had gone to the site of the cattle station.

 

“I did.” Candy nodded and frowned “A sore sorry place for sure. I saw the Marshall and he told me they had exhumed all the bodies now. That crazy guy -” he shook his head as though still amazed at the whole thing, “When the Marshall showed me that journal and how the killer had sketched in the locations of all the bodies, and some of their names…not all of them, sad to say….” he paused as though he did not wish to venture any further on the subject. Then he shrugged “You planning on rebuilding the station there?”

 

Adam glanced over at his father then shrugged “Not decided yet…”

 

“It would be good to have a cattle station thereabouts though, “ Candy said quietly, “Close to the meadow, and to the railway holdings..”

 

The three Cartwrights nodded as though they did not need reminding of the positives involved in such a decision. Silence descended as though each man there decided to concentrate on eating .

 

Hester poured out more of the cordial for the children, scolded Erik gently about his behaviour and then turned to Ann “Did you enjoy your week away in the cabin then?”

 

“It;s perfect, we all enjoyed it more than you will ever know.” she sighed and gazed fondly upon her children, Rosie, David and Samuel. “It’s different from being alone without Candy for weeks on end while he went on a cattle drive, I hated that…” she gave a very slight shrug of the shoulders knowing that each woman there would share her feelings on that score. “It’s been some time since we ever had time away from home just to …well…do different things together knowing that Candy was not so far away.”

 

Hester nodded, smiled and patted her cousin on the hand as though there was no need for words, they all understood. Olivia turned towards them now “How is David settling in to school?”

 

The smile faded from Ann’s face, she shook her head “Well, he was as happy as could be having that week away from school, it’s going to be a fight and a half to get him back on Monday.”

 

“He doesn’t like it then?” Olivia said with a commiserating look on her face, after all, she had fought Sofia almost every day for what seemed years of their lives, she had every sympathy for her friend as she contemplated the mornings ahead.

 

“He hates everything there is about it…he’s just a kid who enjoys being free, outside, not cooped up in a school room.” Ann frowned, furrows zig-zagged across her brow, “It’s going to be an on going battle every day of our lives now, and after I’ve managed to get him on the wagon and off to school I spend the day worrying about how he has managed, if he has survived. I hate to think of him as the kid who spends the day bawling in the corner of the school yard …”

 

“I’ll make sure Reuben keeps an eye on him…” Olivia said in an attempt to calm her friend down, just in case Ann was about to burst into tears herself…

 

“Rosie tries …but she is in a world of her own most days…and she has her own friends.” in other words Rosie could not be bothered to look out for her little brother, ah well, families!

 

Mary Ann chose to say nothing at all, she was already preparing Daniel for school, having been a school teacher herself she was starting to ‘break her son in’ as gently as possible as school days drew ever closer.

………………………..

 

Miss Tyndale paused in the act of pushing open the library door. She had enjoyed strolling from her house to the library on a quiet Sunday afternoon for there was little traffic and few people out on the street. Church had been pleasant enough, the sermon not too long and the songs the ones she particularly favoured. But now… she turned her head and glanced around until her eyes found the cause of her discontent. The squeaking squealing sound of a protesting wheel on a wagon that was lumbering at a leisurely pace down the centre of C Street.

 

She stood watching its approach for a moment or two before shrugging the offending feature away and stepping into her sanctum. Every Sunday she came to dust and rearrange the books that had become disarranged during the week. New issues that had arrived in boxes demanded her attention and there was nothing she enjoyed more than delving into them and bringing out, one by one, the pristine new books. She would caress each one as a mother would the soft cheek of her baby, and then she would lift it to her nose and sniff, inhaling the heavenly odour of paper and ink … only a true Bibliophile could ever understand how intoxicating that would be!

 

There were not so many books to be sorted out, and the new ones were put into place carefully. Then she selected one in particular and with a brief look at the clock hurried to her office. A slant of sun glanced through the window bringing a brightness to the very tidy room and here she placed the book down upon the desk, and began to prepare herself some coffee.

She had completely forgotten about the irritation of a squealing wheel…..

………………..

 

Ethan Burns stepped out of the Sheriff’s Office and paused on the pavement, a sheaf of Wanted posters across one arm and a hammer in the other. A Deputy’s duties could be as mundane one day as it could be enthralling the next. He checked a pocket to make sure he had enough pins and began to stroll to the first section of wall to be graced with a crude print out of one Lucas Wylde wanted for murder – reward $500. He wondered as he tapped it into place if anyone would recognise the man from this drawing. In his opinion it was hardly likely.

 

The squeal of a wagon wheel intruded upon his thoughts and just as Miss Tyndale had done, he turned to see where the noise came from, and to wonder if the wheel would stay on the wagon long enough to reach its destination.

 

The wagon passed him with enough time for him to observe the man seated on the wagon seat, a rough looking middle aged man who looked somewhat familiar. Ethan frowned and watched as the wagon trundled by and now he could see the back of the wagon, and noticed the dog, sitting upright as though the view of Virginia City’s main street was the best thing it had seen since the last time they had trundled down it.

The wagon went at a leisurely pace and all the time the man scoured the houses with a sharp eye as he passed by them, houses, saloons, businesses and stores..and finally he found the one he wanted and pulled the horse to a halt.

 

Rileys Undertakers….Chapel of rest … funerals…

 

He observed it carefully for a moment, noticed how the paint was peeling here and there, but the windows shone clean and brightly. The dog came and thrust her nose into his hand, demanding some attention which he gave her before telling her to “Stay.”

 

The door opened quickly, as though someone was waiting for him to knock which was indeed the case for Davy Riley had heard the squeaking wheel and out of curiosity had looked down from his window to watch the wagon toil along the road. Unlike Ethan he had recognised the man and the dog immediately and by the time the knock came upon the door he was there ready to open it

 

“You came…” his voice squeaked as badly as the wheel had, and he felt embarrassed by that, but even so perhaps he could be forgiven due to the pleasure, the excitement that coursed through his thin body like electricity

 

“Said I would…” the man pulled off his hat as coming along the hallway could be seen the formidable bulk of Mrs Riley who had been less agile than her son in opening the door.

 

She glanced at the man, then at the wagon and assuming he was bringing a body along told him to take it round the back, her husband would deal with it later. Davy gave a little shout of laughter

 

“Ma, this is George…my friend, George.”

 

Mrs Riley gave Davy’s friend George a sharp look, but the excitement in her boys voice was not ignored so she nodded, smiled “Well, in that case, you had best come in Mr George….”

 

“Can Maisie come in too, Ma….” he turned to George “You did bring Maisie, didn’t you?”

“I did…and one other jest like I promised.”

 

“One other what…?” Mrs Riley enquired and turned to look at the wagon where not one, but two dogs, were now looking over at them, tongues lolling, eyes bright. Maisie, seeing and recognising Davy, gave a sharp bark of delight which tailed off into a whine of longing to get out and at him, give him a fuss and a lick and let him know he had been missed.

 

Mrs Riley had not always been married to the undertaker, she had had a life of her own years earlier and had been raised on a farm in New York . Yes, and she had had a dog of her own, one of her own choosing from a litter whelped from her own fathers dog. She had loved it as much as it had loved her, and one of the hardest things she had done in her life was to have left it behind on the farm upon her marriage. She blinked back moist eyes at the sight of the dogs, tried to blink away the memories, but they wouldn’t disappear so quickly and so she nodded

 

“Come in…” and to Davy’s surprise and delight she turned to George and told him “Bring the dogs, I’ll get them some fresh water.”

 

George paused a moment, his hand still resting on the boys shoulder. Memories of what Davy had told him about Mr Riley floated into his mind and although Mrs Riley was looking friendly enough, in fact had a rather dreamy far away expression on her face, George was loath to bring trouble to the house. He glanced over his shoulder, before turning back to Davy

 

“Mighty kind, fact is I have to get this wheel seen to…”

 

“I’ll take you to the blacksmiths, he’s real good at mending wheels…” Davy’s voice had that annoying squeak in it again and it made George sigh, friendship so eagerly sought indicated a child that was lonely for attention or so it seemed to him

 

“It’s Sunday, he won’t be able to do the work today.” Mrs Riley said, wiping her hands now on a clean apron that was tied around her ample waist “But you can go leave the wagon there and ..”

 

“And come back here.” Davy turned to his mother “He can, can’t he, Ma?”

 

Mrs Riley paused a moment, perhaps a moment too long because George began to walk back to the wagon, with Davy hurrying after him. Maisie jumped out of the wagon and was leaping up around the boy, skipping on her back legs, tongue out licking hands and face as she could reach them.

 

“Come back …I’ll get a room ready for you to stay over…” Mrs Riley said and nodded as though that set the seal on the words spoken.

Chapter 3

 

Hoss wiped across his mouth and licked his lips. He had enjoyed every morsel of food and heaved in a deep breath of contentment. He looked thoughtfully at the remainder of a cake, one of his favourites and decided that if no one took it then he would have it for later. In the meantime he slipped his hand into his pocket and withdrew his harmonica.

 

“Uncle Hoss, you never did teach me how….” Reuben’s voice held more than a hint of reproach as memories of a long forgotten harmonica and a promise from his Uncle reared its ugly head.

 

Olivia grimaced and ducked her head away, knowing full well that the harmonica that her son had been given to ‘practise on’ had long disappeared never to see the light of day again. Hoss gave a melodramatic sigh

 

“Wal, if’n I recall rightly I did give you one to practise on, but you never brung it along so’s I thought you had forgotten all about it.” he placed the harmonica to his lips and blew, the sounds were not exactly melodic but there was enough to create attention for the children ran over to him and he laughed

“Fancy yourself a regular Pied Piper, huh?” Joe chuckled and leaned down to pick up Constance before she tripped over her own feet.

 

“Who?” Hoss asked innocently and rolled his eyes in mock humour.

 

Erik came and lunged at his father, throwing himself onto the broad back and folding his arms tightly around his neck, and then Nathaniel jumped forward to fall across the man’s chest so that immediately there was a tangle of arms and legs.

 

“Mind the table ….” someone yelled as Hoss’ big foot lunged out and caught onto the table cloth that had been so neatly laid out

 

“The cake…” another shouted and another “Oh, the glass ..the lemonade….”

 

Rosie sighed and after a brief glance at the chaos turned away. She touched Sofia by the arm and nodded, and without speaking the two little girls left the ‘table’ to stroll away to where there was a gentle incline of a bank, covered now in grasses and wild flowers…

 

There was little distance between their ages although Rosie always acted as though she were that much older for she was taller than Sofia and of a more serious nature. In many ways she resembled her father, and his more sober personality had influenced his daughter so that she also saw life in a like manner. Sofia was more skittish, heart on sleeve, emotional…and Rosie therefore succeeded in being the one who made the decisions which Sofia followed. Not that Sofia was always willing to do so, there were occasions when she would say to her mother “Rosie is so bossy, she just bosses me all the time…”

 

But for now Sofia was content to be bossed, and sat beside the other girl feeling pleasantly full of good food and enjoying the sun on her face. She leaned forward and picked some of the flowers. Rosie lay back, hands folded behind her head and stared up at a lazy white cloud that floated slowly across the blue expanse of sky

 

“Are you still upset about that Mr Orawitz?”

 

Sofia paused in picking a blue violet, she blinked and frowned, then gave a slight shrug

 

“I didn’t think he would die…he said he would go away some time but Tilly said that he had plans to go to Chicago.”

 

She sighed now and thought of the old man, then resumed her plunder of wild flowers.

 

“He was old,” Rosie said with a matter of fact tone of voice “People die when they are old.”

 

“Oh, do they?” Sofia said quietly and glanced hurriedly over at her grandfather who was laughing at something someone had said. “Grandpa’s old…..”

 

Rosie frowned, realised her faux pas and grappled with how to get out of the mire she had created.

 

“He’s not that old yet, “ she said airily and frowned “I didn’t know that Tillie knew him too….”

 

“Oh yes, he was very fond of Tillie, she would come with cake and home bakes and even some stews sometimes. She cried you know….when he died.”

 

And so she had too, not that Sofia had seen her cry, but Mr Orawitz’s housekeeper had told her what a ‘carry on’ there was when Tilly had been told about the old man’s death. Sofia had cried too, but she was honest enough to ask herself if it was more to do with not being able to play that beautiful piano again or because she had lost her old friend. She thought about the piano now and sighed, it was just not fair, that Mrs Tombs had it now, with the old house, and the precious garden that had belonged to Mrs Orawitz and which Miss Hathaway had been carefully nurturing back to life.

 

She looked quickly at her friend reclining in the grass beside her and then across to the group of people who had been laughing just moments ago. Uncle Hoss had stood up as though to shake the two little boys off him but they had clung on tight. and were shrieking with excitement as Hoss turned this way and that to loosen their hold on him. She looked quickly over at her father who was smiling as he produced his guitar and then sat down beside Olivia, the instrument in his lap.

 

“Did you like being in the cabin in the woods?” she asked now, returning her attention to picking at the flowers.

 

“Oh yes….” Rosie drew the words out in a long sigh “What a lovely place, I felt it was such a special place. We went swimming in the river, and walks in the woodland ….it was … perfect.”

 

“Did your Pa go fishing?”

“Of course, caught the biggest fish ..” Rosie smiled and her words slipped through her lips so that they ‘smiled’ too, Sofia could tell just how much that week had meant to the other girl.

They were quiet for a while, Rosie sat up and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapped her arms around them. They could hear now the sound of the guitar and the harmonica blending in together and somehow becoming harmonious.

 

“We saw the place where the cattle station had been burned down. It was horrible there…a man said they had had to dig up where they had put the timber because there was a grave there as well. There was a lady came and she talked to Ma and Pa for a long time…she looked very pretty. She said we could go to her house for a meal some time but we never did.”

 

Sophia allowed her mind to wander as her friend prattled on. She knew the ‘pretty lady’ as she had met her during the few days Grandfather had taken them to the cabin to spend time with Pa and Ma. Pa had been hurt (she didn’t whisper in her mind ‘again’ that was too painful an acknowledgement) and while they had been there sharing time with him during his recovery the woman, Mrs Malahide, had visited them in her very superior buggy with red wheels and gold trim. Reuben had been captivated by it and wanted to know (later, when the lady had gone) why they did not have one. “Has she more money than us, Pa?” he had asked rather peevishly.

 

She listened to Rosie’s voice as it rose and fell in the telling of her story. But her thoughts lingered on the changes in her life, of Mr Orawitz, and of the changes at school. David and some other children had started to attend and were so small and young. She felt sorry for them but not sorry enough to go and take care of the little boy. She could not recall back to when she was little like that, and she could not recall any one taking care of her either. Now there was Lilith, but even that had changed because Lilith was growing up, the few years difference in their ages was a grand divide. Sofia did not realise that in a few years it would not matter at all. For now though, it did…Lilith was a student, she loved study, and she had the desire to go to college and become a Doctor.

 

So Lilith no longer sat on the steps of the school during break time, nor teach Sofia the finer points of sign language. Now she had books under her arm, books on her lap, books under her nose…and Sofia no longer fitted into the grand scheme of things.

 

Sofia sighed and began to carefully weave the little wild flowers into a bouquet for Mother. She paused once to lift her head and listen to her father singing, and then the children joining in with the chorus..squeaky high pitched voices, hitting the highs terribly, not managing the lows…but it was pleasant, it was how it should be with families together.

 

Hoss’ harmonica hit the notes perfectly and the guitar thrummed in perfect tune, Joe sang and only once did Daniel put his hand over his father’s mouth and shake his head telling his dear Pa not to sing…which made everyone laugh, after all, how often had they wished they could have done that !

 

“I heard Ma and Pa talking one night when we were in the cabin….” Rosie had rolled over onto her stomach and gathered up her posy of wild flowers into a bunch, “It was after the lady had been …and they were talking about the cattle station.”

 

“Oh. Why? It’s all burned down now, I saw it…” Sofia frowned, remembering the buggy ride with her Mother and Reuben, Nathaniel bouncing in the back being a nuisance.

 

“The lady – what’s her name again?”

 

“Mrs Malahide.”

 

“Oh yes, her…..” Rosie frowned and lowered her voice as though some bird would overhear and repeat what she said to anyone “She thought your Pa would get the cattle station built again, but in a different place.”

 

Sofia shrugged, she didn’t hear anything about that kind of thing because Adam and Olivia were so careful about what they discussed in front of the children.

 

“They didn’t know I could hear. The window was open slightly and they were sitting on the verandah. I think Pa said if your Pa asked him to, then he would consider moving there…”

 

“Moving there? Moving where?” Sofia was so startled by this bit of news that she dropped all her flowers into her lap and did not know what dismayed her more, having to collect them all up again into a tidy bunch or what she had just heard Rosie say..

 

“Oh Sofia, I’m telling you arn’t I? If the cattle station gets built again Pa said he would not mind moving there .I suppose to look after the cattle and everything because of that meadow ..oh, something like that anyway…” and with those words she jumped to her feet, scattering her posy of flowers everywhere and leaving Sofia looking from those poor abandoned blooms to her own, already wilting, already looking forlorn and forgotten.

 

“Wait for me….”

 

Her voice trickled thinly across the swaying grasses, her feet created little dust devils as she ran to catch up her friend … and then Olivia was looking at her, smiling, and beckoning her to join with the ladies so that she had no choice but to sit with them and watch as Rosie snuggled in close to her father and smiled up at him looking as sweet as one could imagine an angel

 

…………….

 

Mr Bellshaw was an affable man, big and broad as befits a blacksmith. He had shaken Georges hand and promised to deal with the wagon first thing the next morning. As it was Sabbath, he had explained, it was not proper to do the work that afternoon.

 

“Where you staying?” he asked while looking over the wagon and the two dogs looking over him.

“Er – well -”

 

“He’s staying with us….George is my friend and so is Maisie and her pup…well, the pup’s going to be mine, isn’t she, George?”

 

“He. It’s a he, a him.” George said quietly and looked at Bellshaw who had pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows.

 

“I don’t mind if it’s a he, so long as he’s mine.” Davy replied and went to the back of the wagon, jumped up and sat with the two animals who welcomed him with all the warmth and excitement two dogs could to a little eager boy.

 

“Well,” Bellshaw scratched the back of his head, “You heard about Riley…”

 

“Some…” George replied with his eyes on the boy and the dogs.

 

“He doesn’t like company…and he doesn’t like dogs….”

 

“I heard tell he was not so very keen on little boys either…”

 

Bellshaw nodded “True enough although things seem to have improved lately from what my boy tells me…he’s great pals with young Davy there…”

 

“Good to hear…”

 

“I heard – rumours though – that the new Deputy keeps an eye, if you know what I mean…”

 

George remembered the young Deputy and nodded, a point in his favour then and he approved of that whole heartedly.

 

“Look if you find you need a bed for the night you’ll be welcome here…and should you wish to sell a dog, I could be needing one.”

 

“I promised the boy, Davy, that …”

 

“Promises don’t count where Riley’s concerned.”

 

“In that case, I thank you and shall bear it in mind.”

 

They nodded together and shook hands. The deal was struck.

 

Davy was convinced that George would be staying within the Riley household, so was not surprised when the man was given a warm welcome by Mrs Riley. The dogs were fussed over although George did say that the puppy maybe should stay in the barn …it had yet to be house trained which had been difficult as the animal had never been in a house before.

 

Mr Riley had been grumpy and impolite in a moderate way, not as cutting or as rude as he could have been, not as hostile as to order the man and the dogs out of his house.

 

Somehow Mrs Riley had proven that gravity did not only affect the course of planets, but also the inner workings of men.

Chapter 4

 

It was sad to have the day slowly fading away. The music and singing had ended and while the children ran for their last burst of energy and freedom, the ladies began to gather up the remains of the meal, chatting together as they did so.

 

The men dallied around knowing that they would be shoo’d off if they even offered to help. Hoss ambled up to where Adam was sitting beneath the big old tree, and carefully lowered himself down beside his brother

 

“Seems Candy was impressed with the cattle run this year…said they would fetch a good price at market.”

 

“Mmm, should do, haven’t exactly run off too much fat have they?”

 

Hoss nodded and picked up a blade of grass, crushed it between his fingers and inhaled the smell. It was sweet and fresh, a reminder of things growing He looked up and away for a moment to watch the children at play and then turned back to look at his brother who seemed to have dozed off.

 

“How’s the arm now?” he asked after a few moments to confirm if Adam were asleep or not.

“Better than it was…”

 

“He was some kind of crazy, wasn’t he?”

 

“Just about the worse I can recall…” Adam frowned “And we’ve known quite a few…”

Hoss nodded and leaned against the rough trunk of the tree, again he looked over to the children

 

“Time sure goes fast. Seems to go faster when you have kids…”

 

Adam didn’t reply to that but turned his head to watch the children…”We got ourselves quite a good number between us, don’t you reckon?”

 

He smiled slightly as he watched Nathaniel take a tumble and roll a little in the grass, Hope running up to him and Samuel coming to check on them both then running off again. Erik and Daniel were chasing one another, shrieking as they ran, while Hannah and Sofia were strolling arm in arm with one another, talking earnestly. Reuben was leaning against a tree listening to Rosie and David. He smiled again, and for a moment just sat with his hands dangling between his legs, watching the children

 

“Candy wanted to know about the cattle station…wanted to know when and where it was going to be built.” Hoss looked over to where Candy was carrying a wicker basket to the back of his rig, laden with Ann’s contributions, plates and cups and so forth. Adam nodded again,

 

“Guess so…”

 

“Pa doesn’t seem too bothered, darn hard work getting him to stand still long enough to talk about it. I reckon what happened with the Malahides just about cooled him off the whole idea….”

 

Adam wrinkled his nose and shrugged “To be honest, Hoss, I don’t think Pa was really very sold on the idea in the first place. He dragged his feet on every decision about it that we needed from him..” he pursed his lips slightly and frowned, his brow furrowing in familiar lines of concern, lines Hoss was well familiar with by now “We’ll have to pin him down to discuss it, be good to get the herd moved to that meadow and the whole thing established as soon as possible.”

 

“Well it’s profitable, and the lands best ever, can’t see no reason for getting it started before the month is out.” Hoss frowned again, his blue eyes looked thoughtfully at his brother “You got any idea where to build the darn thing now?”

 

“Had a good look around during my – er – recuperation.” Adam gave a slight grin and then turned to look towards his father “There are several good sites to consider.”

 

“Well then?”

“Well then what?”

 

“Why not get it started… sooner the better…”

“So you said before..” Adam once again looked at his father, “The thing is -”

 

Yeah, the thing is?”

 

Adam rubbed the back of his neck, gave another slight shrug “I spent a while in England on one of my little trips abroad…”

 

“In that boat of yours….” Hoss grinned

 

Adam nodded, refusing to rise to the bait and make some snappy response to the tease in Hoss’ voice “Well, I was looking at a map of what they call the west country, and Laurence Willoughby came up from behind me and pointed to a county called Dorset and .he said “That county is the same size as you claim your Ponderosa ..1000 square miles.” to which I, of course, replied, “The Ponderosa IS 1000 square miles” and he laughed and just said how Dorset’s 1000 square miles has villages, farms, roadways etc whereas the Ponderosa just has cows, trees and rocks.

 

“So what’s the point you’re driving at….”

 

“Just that 1000 square miles is a lot of land for one family…”

 

“Well, when the children grow up and marry and have children of their own..I mean, they’ll all have their own acres.” Hoss paused and sighed, looked down at the ground and nodded “I recall the time we cut up the Ponderosa into littl packages…remember? I had my acres and you had yours and Joe..he had his…and what happens, we get married and live on top of each other. shucks, I ain’t even moved from where I grew up.”

 

They lapsed into silence for a moment, then Hoss looked over at Ben who was strolling along with Reuben by his side, deep in conversation.

 

“We had a talk like this once before…” Hoss eventually murmured looking rather anxiously at his brother.

 

“We’ve fought to keep all that land, shed blood over it…but look what a surprise that meadow was when we came across it…there must be other places like that on this land…places we have not even ridden over yet.”

 

“Pa reckons he has…” Hoss said quietly but to that Adam shook his head doubtfully.

“We’ve always been land rich but not always as rich as folk assume.” Adam said quietly and frowned “Now that the mines are almost played out and closed down..”

 

“Sutro’s sold his tunnel…for millions of dollars…”

 

Adam chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and then glanced again over his shoulder at his father “Pa’s like a kid with his toys, likes to keep ’em close where he can see them, hold onto them..I think the thought of having the cattle so far away on that meadow nearer Carson City makes him nervous.”

 

Hoss nodded, his face thoughtful “Guess we should tackle him about it, get him to make a decision. I don’t want to do anything against his wishes but …”

 

“No more do I, Hoss….but if we want this cattle station to be built then we need to get some decision from him, one way or another”

 

“Then twist his arm to see it our way…”

 

“As usual…” Adam grinned and nodded towards his father who was now joined by Joe and Candy, with Reuben strolling away to join the other children.

 

…………………

 

Miss Tyndale was thinking, as she viewed the clock on the wall, that it was about time to close the library when there came a gentle tap on the door. Gentle though it was it still made her jump. She was so used to having this solitary time in the building where she could just enjoy the smells and the delights of being surrounded by books, having coffee and reading

 

Gathering herself together and making sure her hair was tidily tucked into her bonnet she made her way to the door and opened it. She purposely looked from the person standing there to the sign on the door which announced in dark lettering “CLOSED”

 

George Had whisked off his hat as soon as he had seen the shadowy figure approaching through the glass of the door. He smiled, and his eyes smiled, so that Miss Tyndale felt a measure of reassurance…only a small measure though.

 

“I’m sorry to intrude, I know it is a Sunday but ….”

 

“We are closed…as you can see…” she pointed with one slim finger to the notice and he nodded, looking as humble as a man could look who was aware of stepping into a swarm of bees and f not careful where he put his foot, or in this case, how he opened his mouth he was more than likely to get stung.

 

“I will be leaving early tomorrow, probably before you open…” he cleared his throat, “When I passed through last time I collected a book from you…and thought I should return it as I’m here and you’re – er – kinda open.”

 

He produced from his jacket pocket a leather bound book, thick and with gilt edged pages. He handed it to her, “You no doubt don’t recall me coming…”

 

She looked down, and sighed, true to form she recognised the book before the man, and so she nodded, the book now resting between her hands.

 

“Kenilworth by Sir Walter Scott…published in 1821…one of his greatest historical novels.” she sighed and shook her head “One of my favourites ….”

 

“I was wondering..if it isn’t too much of an imposition if I could borrow another to take along with me…I promise I will return it…”

 

Miss Tyndale said nothing, she looked at the flyleaf where the library has pasted its rules and charges for late returns. Her brow concentrated into a slight frown “Well, seems this book is long overdue, Mr …”

 

“Georgeson….”

 

“Mr Georgeson….you owe the library quite a sum…”

 

“I travel and there’s no accounting for when I’ll get back but I do always return the books I borrow.”

 

“Yes, but there is a fee, Mr Georgeson…How can I be expected to loan out a book again when you owe such a sum.” she stared at the book, not at him, and he could clearly see that this matter was worrying this little lady so he put his hand into his pocket and withdrew a knotted handkerchief which he carefully untied exposing as he did so a certain amount of coins and notes

 

“Here you are, dear lady….I think that covers the cost of this loan, and perhaps goes towards the loan of another…and I’ll make up the difference when I come back later in the summer.”

 

Miss Tyndale took the money and then looked up at him. Then she nodded and stepped aside

 

“You had better come on in then, and pick out which you would like to read next…”

 

He thanked her by dipping his head politely and following her into the library, passing shelves upon shelves of books…..his eyes roved from one wall to another, so many books…

 

For a moment she stood there, prim and neat, hands folded within her skirts, watching him as he ‘browsed’ from shelf to shelf, until she cleared her throat and said “Perhaps you would like some coffee?”

 

He smiled then, selected a book – Waverley – again by Sir Walter Scott. But he shook his head with a slight air of reluctance on his face.

“Thanks but no, I have to get back to the Rileys…they’re waiting supper for me…”

She smiled and nodded as if she understood perfectly, after all, once a book has been selected who ever thinks of the librarian …which she told herself, is how it should be after all!!

 

Chapter 5

 

Monday dawned and like many Mondays following an especially pleasant Sunday it brought with it sore heads and moans about school, about having to do chores, about the long trek into town. Olivia and Hester both kept their moans to themselves and collapsed happily into a comfortable chair as soon as the door closed upon their departing children…leaving them with time to moan to themselves and to the children or child left behind.

 

Adam Cartwright swung himself from the saddle and walked slowly to the rail where he tethered the reins of his horse. For a moment he paused and looked around him. It was going to be a warm day, the sun had just risen to send shafts of light to bounce down upon the roof shingles and windows. He sighed and drew in a deep lungful of air, which he slowly expelled as he turned in the direction of the house.

 

Ben would be anticipating what was to come this morning. He had not wanted to discuss anything yesterday so had the evening to store up ammunition for any arguments this morning. It seemed andclear to ‘his boys’ that he was not as enthusiastic about the cattle station as they were…Adam wondered if making cattle trials easier seemed like cheating to the older man, life was not life unless one fought every inch for what one had, swallowed lungfuls of excrement and dust behind a herd of cattle for days on end.

 

He removed his hat as he stepped onto the porch and pushed open the door. Joe was already there, drinking coffee while Hop Sing danced attendance upon him. Hoss was in a chair pushed away from the table while he discussed serious business with Erik, his youngest, with the result that the child scampered away with Hoss’ harmonica in his hands blowing discordant notes that jangled in everyone’s heads.

Ben came downstairs and paused at the half landing. He closed his eyes for a moment and listened to their voices, even Hop Sings voice mingled in with the three other men and Ben gave a slight smile. It could have been a discussion around the morning table from twenty years ago, the voices hardly had changed. He drank in the memory for a second longer before making his way back downstairs to the main room and strolled slowly over to where the others sat. Hop Sing raised the coffee pot and said he would make fresh hot coffee, then scampered away.

 

Did he really scamper away, probably not, but the atmosphere in the room was tense and Ben knew that his friend had good instincts when it came to self preservation. He nodded to Joe and Adam and sat down.

 

“Well, say what you are here to say…” he looked at each one of them, black eyes sharp as a gimlet piercing into theirs, and seeing the defiance in some slowly fade. Adam held his eyes though, it was almost as though he were facing some antagonist on the main street in town, pistols ready, ah but those days were long gone were they not? Ben roped in the random thought and looked back at his eldest son, “What’s on your mind, Adam.”

 

“You know what is on my mind…” Adam pulled out a chair and sat down, scowled at his brothers one by one, and then looked at his father “We need to get your approval of the new site for the cattle station..if there is ever going to be one built “

 

“You have some doubts about that?”

 

“Yes, at present.”

 

“Why so?”

 

“Because you won’t give us a moment of your time to discuss it …we need to move timber, and tackle, get it onto the site as soon as possible so that we can get building. Candy is moving the rest of the herd to the meadow -”

 

 

“Mmm, so he said….”

 

“And then he can move them to the loading trucks for transport to the markets…”

 

Ben nodded “It isn’t cheap this business -” he now pulled out a chair and sat down, just as Hop Sing arrived and set down the coffee pot onto the table, in the background Erik was howling because Hester had taken the harmonica from him, Hoss was drumming his fingers on the table. “Did you take into account the cost of transporting the cattle …did you think of the cost of the rebuild? The timber alone was expensive enough first time round, and remember while we work on our own project other contacts are being neglected..”

“No they ain’t” Hoss declared quickly, “Mac’s keeping everything running smoothly, all contracts are being worked on to date.”

“Hows that?” Ben snapped sharply with a glare at Hoss which caused the other man to go a trifle red around the collar.

 

“McManus always keep stock in hand for us and there is a huge pile of timber that just needs reloading from the old site to the new one…wherever that is to be….”

 

Ben shrugged and poured out more coffee, filling all the cups there and then leaning back in his chair

 

“I’m not meaning to be difficult..” he said slowly, ladling in some sugar and trying to ignore the way Joe’s eyes darted over to his brothers, the lift of those mobile eyebrows “I’m just saying that perhaps we are being just too ambitious in taking on this change from the old method…

“True enough, I see your point of view, Pa,” Adam said in conciliatory tones and then before Ben could capitalise on that continued “But when better and quicker methods come along, a good business man takes advantage to make the most of it. We had this discussion before Pa, when we first suggested the cattle station….why hammer on about it now when we could just get t he thing started and finished in a a few weeks.”

 

“Why are you all so fired up to get this started anyway..” Ben snapped back, “Sure I went along with it but since what happened with the Malahides I have had second thoughts, came back and got down to doing some proper research on it all…pricing things up….”

A silence settled upon them all…pricing things up sounded ominous, but it was Joe who tentatively asked his father what exactly was the problem, what had pricing

things up done to change Ben’s mind…”Are we going broke, Pa?”

He said with with a certain pinch of levity. Certainly in the past there had been times when they struggled financially, times when it seemed they would lose the Ponderosa to some scam or other, but they had always managed to find what was needed, there was always something somewhere. Ben’s silence before answering grated on their nerves somewhat, Joe spilled sugar onto the table instead of getting it into his cup and Hoss bit his bottom lip and lowered his brow while Adam was doing swift some calculations of his own in his head.

“Look, “ Ben stabbed t he table with his forefinger, “I’m not saying it is not a good idea just that I -”

 

“-prefer doing it the old way.” Adam muttered and got a daggers drawn look from his father as a result. “Well, that’s the truth of it, isn’t it?”

 

“Maybe so,” Ben replied with a nod of the head, “Maybe…” he paused and rubbed the back of his neck with one calloused hand, while staring at the far wall “Taking a herd costs money, I know that…but so does this new method and the only ones that seem to benefit are the railway companies. You pay their fees for transportation, for hiring the trucks…and you have to pay our men to go with the cattle …”

 

“It saves time, it saves lives, it saves money because the cattle are still fat when they get to market.”Adam intoned, his voice just several decibels louder than usual. “I don’t understand your objection Pa….that land is lying fallow, unused, either we use it or sell it…because as it is then there’s little point in having it.”

 

Silence again and in the other room Hop Sing looked at Hester who shook her head and decided now was the time to take Erik and Hope to visit their cousins, Daniel and Constance. The soft thud of the closing door sounded like a cannon going off.

 

“Why can’t you just wait until I die before you go changing things …” Ben said in a soft low tone of voice and stared into his coffee cup, “I doubt if …”

 

“Pa, that’s not fair.” Hoss said in a voice that slightly trembled, the thought of his father dying was one that haunted him, something he dreaded and refused to think about, and now here was the man himself hinting at dying “You ain’t no where near dying…”

 

“Pretty lame, Pa, not worthy of you.” Joe tut-tutted, and rattled his spoon against the cup

Ben shrugged and now rubbed his brow, before picking up his cup and draining the contents, he then set down the cup in its saucer and poured in some more coffee.

“Look – I thought it was a good idea at the time, but are you three any closer to deciding who was going to manage the station? One of the three of you? Or are you going to hire a site manager?”

 

“Pa, is there something more than these arguments that you are trying to tell us,” Adam asked, leaning forward and remembering that not so long ago his father had come close to death, and had suffered memory loss and other changes that had scared them all but now…was there something from that time that had re-emerged.

 

Ben picked up the cup and sipped the coffee, sighed then set the cup back down

 

“Changes like this – worry me. That’s all.”

 

“You don’t think we’re all old enough now to have worked out whether or not the changes are worth it.” Adam asked, more gently now.

 

Ben sighed. Perhaps that was what this was, a last minute panic, wanting to hold onto how things were because that was his way of doing things, and it had worked for years, why not let it continue to work ..it would, it could…his way of doing things. But the fact was that they were men, middle aged men, and had gone along with the old ways all these years…now his hand rubbed along his jawline, felt the stubble beneath his fingers.

 

No one said a word. Adam was thinking that a ship load of mutinous seamen were easier to deal with than this old man, Hoss was worried that his father had been told he was in imminent danger of dropping dead any moment and Joe was wondering if this was the time they all dreaded, the time when the Ponderosa was to be declared bankrupt and he imagined all the land being sold off bit by bit and he and his family having to find somewhere to rent in Virginia City

 

Ben rose to his feet and sighed “Lets see what plots of land you have set your sights on then…check out what’s the most favourable for this project of yours.”

They followed him to the study area, where the big map still took pride of place on the wall. Adam noted the project was theirs, not Ben’s, and wondered when it was that Ben would finally crack and accept it all ..it made him all the more determined to make the project work, a success story. The Ponderosa was full of success stories, why could this not be one of them

……….

Portia Lee Whitmore opened the screen door to the street and looked down at the man standing on the stoop. He was not whom she was expecting and a more observant man would have noticed the slight blush to her beautifully smooth ebony coloured cheek. She smiled, dimples in her cheeks, dark eyes bright and alert as they observed the man standing awaiting her attention.

 

He moved, quickly, as though someone had jerked a string behind him, and he pulled out a gilt edged card and produced it for her to see. He removed his hat and held it against his chest while she read (he presumed she could read) the words written in elegant calligraphy on the card

 

Cyrus H Cotter

Bespoke Tailor

Suits for all occasions

Your request is my pleasure

 

“What can I do for you, Mr Cotter?” she held the card gingerly, between thumb and forefinger as though it might explode or just fly away of its own accord if she loosened her grip

 

“Dear lady, I just arrived this morning …and I am hoping to spend a few days in this wondrous city of yours and hoped to prevail upon you to provide me with a room…bed and board…so to speak.”

 

He was a short man, almost as round as he was tall, ruddy cheeked, with blue eyes twinkling at her through the pouches of flesh that creased the eye sockets. His smile revealed good teeth, white and well preserved. He was, despite his girth, a man who obviously took care of his appearance. His shoes shone and his suit was, indeed, immaculate. Portia stepped aside and then back a few paces into the hallway to allow him room to get through the door.

 

“I do have a room available, and on the ground floor -” she dimpled a smile at him, no way would she want him collapsing half way up the stairs to the upper landing, “That is if you are interested.”

 

“Indeed, Ma’am, that would be perfect. If you could show the way, and tell me your premises rules..I take it you are the proprietor?”

 

Portia nodded and smiled again, there was little point in taking offence, it was a question asked often times before after all. She led the way to the room at the back of the house, while he followed along carrying a large canvas travelling bag. He stepped into the room and glanced around him, walked to the window and looked out. He nodded and turned to her, beaming

“Dear lady, it is perfect. It will only be for the week…or perhaps more…depending how successful my – er – business is….you understand.”

 

She nodded, she did not want to know his business, she never asked anyone why they were in town, it was not her concern, what one did not know one could not later divulge, she had learned that from a very early age. She told him the rates for the room, time for the meals, what she allowed in the rooms and what not…no liquor, no smoking, no ladies…he nodded and said nothing all the time a kindly gentle smile on his moon shaped face.

 

It was Mr Cotter who closed the door when she left him. With a sigh he lifted his bag onto the bed and began to rummage around his belongings and place them in drawers, in the wardrobe and then he took out a book, and a pen, and began to slowly write down the events of his day in laborious beautiful calligraphy

Chapter 6

 

The three horsemen weaved their way through the traffic on Main Street, avoiding anyone or anything with a death wish, with the skill of practise. A wagon with a man and dog seemed determined to take up the centre of the road causing everything else to swerve around it. Adam noticed the man give a nod to the head towards Deputy Burns who appeared to acknowledge him with a touch of his finger to his hat. Then the man raised a hand in salute to Miss Tyndale as she made her way to the library but she did not acknowledge it except with a slight reddening of the cheeks. Perhaps she thought had she done so she would be accused of a mild flirtation ..

 

Adam rode on, the wagon disappeared from their view, Deputy Burns entered the sheriff’s office.

They dismounted outside the Bank and with brief nods of the head in the direction of the Bucket of Blood confirmed that they would be meeting later for a cool beer, and a discussion about the days events. Hoss headed towards the hardware store, a list in his hands and a furrow on his brow. Joe made his way to the M. D’s surgery and Adam stepped up to the plate glass doors of the First National Bank of Virginia City.

A lot had changed since Mr Weems had resigned from being the Banks’ Manager. He had been an efficient enough man in charge of a bank but had his weaknesses, being petty minded over details, and never around when – by chance – he was in a saloon and it was his turn to pay for the drinks. He always disappeared just in time, putting down his empty glass, thanking them all and finding pressing business to attend to. The new Manager always paid his dues, a gregarious man and very efficient.

 

Jeremiah T. Randall called out ‘Come’ when Adam tapped on the door of his office, and when he saw who had stepped into his inner sanctum he rose from behind a huge desk to welcome him, hand extended and a broad smile on his face. Randall was a man who lacked good looks, he was balding, had grey/blue eyes and a moustache neatly trimmed every morning over a generous mouth. What he lacked in looks he made up for charm, bonhomie, a general ease of manner that made everyone comfortable in his presence. He was always well dressed , groomed one could say, and now as he looked at Adam and waved him to a chair, he bestowed upon him a smile of good humour and friendship.

 

“Monday mornings do not usually present me with a Cartwright..so..what can I do for you, Adam.”

 

Adam turned his eyes from the man to the window, the legend First National Bank was painted in gold letters on the glass so he was reading the words mirror image. After a second or two he drew in his breath and asked quite pointedly if Randall could let him have a summary of the Ponderosa accounts.

 

The Bank Manager nodded, rang a bell and asked a woman to locate the necessary files. As she left the room he then leaned back, steepled his fingers and frowned

 

“You’re worried about your accounts, Adam? I can assure you they are very healthy…or is it to make sure you can afford this latest project of yours?”

 

Adam gave a slight smile, inclined his head “I want to make sure we can cover ourselves …”

 

Randall stood up as the door reopened and he stepped forward himself to take the folders from the woman, thanked her and returned to the desk. He laid each folder down upon the highly polished surface and then spread them out, like a gambler would spread out the cards to show his hand.

 

“All present and correct. It will take a little time to go through everything, can I get a coffee for you, it’s about time …” he rang the bell again and the same woman popped in, nodded at the request for coffee and disappeared. Adam was beginning to get the impression of a very efficiently run Swiss clock with all the comings and goings perfectly timed and co-ordinated. An opinion confirmed when she reappeared minutes later with a tray laden with steaming cups of coffee.

 

Randall left him alone in the office respecting his privacy and also knowing that it was always better to look through accounts in silence. Apart from the subdued sounds from beyond the office Adam was quite alone, drank the coffee and thoroughly checked through each and every folder.

Doctor James Colby glanced up as the door opened and Joe Cartwright stepped inside. The two men exchanged smiles, nods of the head “Good morning, Joe, if you don’t mind my saying so but you look in remarkably good health.”

 

“I am…so far as I know anyway.”

 

“How is Mary Ann, the children?” a slight shadow of concern slipped over the Doctors face, he never liked to admit to it but he still had a soft corner of his heart for Mary Ann, tucked away with fond memories of their time together in Calico so many years previously

“They’re all well. How is Alyssia and the children?”

 

“All well.” James sat down and invited Joe to do the same “So – is this a social visit? Or would you prefer to see John Martin? Jimmy perhaps?”

 

Joe chuckled, it always struck him as funny that the three doctors all had names beginning with J, he sometimes had this insane desire to suggest they formed a music trio and called it The Three Jays. He suppressed the urge to mention it now and cleared his throat

 

“Has my Pa been here lately, for a check up you know…make sure his hearts beating right and he is not generally falling to pieces..”

 

James frowned “Are you worried about his health just now? Any indication that we should concerned/”

 

“He hasn’t been in for – or – any consultation then?

“One moment…..” James rose to his feet and walked to the filing cabinet, opened a drawer and began rummaging about until he found a folder which he extracted and brought to the desk. He sat down with it in his hand and looked over at Joe, “I’ve not seen him, Joe but he may have seen one of the others…if he has then the notes will be here….”

 

The clock on the wall ticked very loudly as Joe waited for James to look through the folder. He sat there with one leg crossed over the other and his hat dangling from his knee. He kept his eyes on James, waiting for the least shadow to cross his face which would indicate any concerns. Finally James closed the folder and smiled. Joe could see how the Doctor was beginning to age, there were wrinkles forming on his face, pouches beneath the eyes, another temptation was to say “Doctor, heal thyself….” but he knew that was unfair, the three men were under a lot of stress, the demands on their time was literally twenty four hours in the day and none of them ever cried of from the needs of their patients.

 

True the hospital dealt with many and was a blessing for the population but these Doctors were the link between the out lying homesteaders and ranchers, the barrier between sickness and death. He appreciated each and every one of them

 

“Well, Joe…” James folded his hands neatly over the folder “Your father is in good health..”

 

“For a man of his age…” Joe added curtly.

 

“For a man of his age.” James repeated, nodding his head as he did so then he smiled “Actually your father is in better condition that your brother Adam..I doubt if he, Adam that is, realises just how seriously those injuries could have impacted on his over all health. How is he by the way?”

“He’s alright, want me to suggest he comes see you? He’s in town today….”

 

“He’ll have to make an appointment.” James grinned “We’re really busy…anyway, with regards to your father, physically, he is very well.”

 

“Mentally? I mean after that time he got shot, and lost his memory …”

 

“How is his memory? Last time I saw him he seemed very sharp…no hesitation about anything.”

 

“He seems…..” Joe swallowed, would it be disloyal to say anything just because Ben was being his usual stubborn self. He stood up, retrieved his hat before it had fallen to the floor, “He seems well, just not liking change…”

 

“Ah that cattle station….still getting it built are you? He did mention it to me a few weeks ago when I last saw him, thought it was a waste of time and money. The old ways are good enough for me, and all that kind of talk.”

 

“Yeah that’s the kind of talk I’m getting too..we want to push on with it and he’s….not too eager.”

 

“He’s an old man, Joe. Like it or not, he looks back at all he has achieved and can’t see why it has to change. Nothing I can do about that, it’s how older people get.” he sighed “Had the same trouble here with Paul Martin, I thought he would never retire and let us get on with things here in a more modern fashion.”

 

He walked with Joe to the door which he opened with a smile “Find me a cure for old age, Joe, and all your troubles will be over.,”

 

“Ha! Ha!” Joe replied with a smirk, and having shaken the Doctors hand left him standing in the doorway while he made his way to The Bucket of Blood.

 

Hoss was already seated at a table three tall glasses of beer in front of him.. He nodded over to his brother and watched as Joe weaved his way towards him, greeted some of the girls who were ‘working’ the tables, for the saloon was already filling up with customers wanting to drink something to cut the dust, play cards, eat one of the famed beef sandwiches. He pulled out a chair and sat down, leaving his hat hanging from the back of the chair.

 

He had just lifted the glass to his lips when the other chair was pulled away from the table and Adam sat down, removed his hat and ran a hand over his hair as though he needed to smooth out the curls that drifted over his shirt collar.

 

“Wal?” Hoss leaned forward and for a moment time transported them back twenty years to when they would plotting some nefarious deed, and both Joe and Adam sighed, swallowed down half the beer and replaced their glasses on the table. Hoss darted a look at Joe, then Adam and nodded “You first, Adam…are we going broke?”

 

“No. Our accounts are in a very healthy condition.” Adam frowned

 

“Why you looking so worried then…” Hoss picked up his beer now and swallowed, his brothers listened to him glugging the brown liquid down, before he placed the empty glass down “Well? Can we afford to go ahead or not?”

“We can build numerous cattle stations all over the Ponderosa should we have a mind to do so..” Adam replied and doodled with his finger in the spilt beer “We are in a very healthy position…and considering that the money for the cattle has not been paid in yet that really is a very good position to be….”

Nods of the head confirmed agreement and so now they looked at Joe, who licked his lips and drank a little more beer before beckoning for three more. He waited until the empties had been removed and the full glasses set down before them. Now it was his turn to lean forwards slightly

 

“So far as his medical records are concerned, Pa is in good shape…physically and mentally. Colby even said Pa was ‘sharp’ as in having no memory problems at all…”

 

“Wal, must be something….” Hoss drawled and looked at Joe as though his brother were holding out on them

 

Joe shrugged “Just what we said ourselves really, Pa’s getting old, doesn’t want to let go of the reins and change things from what he knows.” he looked at them both “A not really new problem for us is it?”

 

“What? Pa not wanting to let go the reins?” Hoss guffawed, bringing a smile to their faces. “True enough, at least he doesn’t send us to bed any more with threats of a tanning….”

 

“Shucks, don’t remind me,” Joe pretended to shiver at the memory “How old were we before we refused ….”

 

“Too old!” Adam snapped, a memory he did not enjoy looking back on and tried not to remember the heat in his belly whenever Ben had ordered them upstairs…even now he felt humiliated ! A grown man…he shook his head…best not think about it.

 

“Anyway” Hoss leaned back against the chair, and smiled “We go ahead as planned ..is that right?”

 

It was good to know they were still solvent, good to know Ben was healthy and sound ‘for his age’ and the only problem was that he was a mule headed stubborn old man who still viewed change like Quixote tilting at windmills….

It didn’t matter … the cattle station was going ahead, the cattle would graze and fatten on the best meadow grass on the onderosa (so far as they knew) and would reach markets in the East fat and glossy and worth every dime that was paid out for them.

They raised their glasses and drank deep

Chapter 7

Daniel deQuille inhaled deeply on the cigar, paused a moment before releasing it into the air. He was leaning against the verandah post and watching the comings and goings of Virginia City’s citizens, one in particular had caught his attention. He watched him with both amusement and interest.

 

“Now then,” he said to the young man about to pass behind him, exhaling a stream of smoke as he did so, “Of whom does the gentleman wandering down the pavement so intently remind you ?”

 

Ethan Burns paused and looked in the direction deQuille indicated before turning to look at the journalist with a puzzled frown “I’ve never seen him before, a stranger in town I imagine….”

“Indeed!” deQuille sighed much in the manner of a school teacher whose expectations in his student had just fallen at the first post. “Do you read much, Mr – Deputy?”

Ethan glanced once again at the man opposite who was scrutinising a piece of paper in his hand with an intensity that piqued even his interest. “As much as anybody I expect….why does that matter?”

 

“Have you ever read any of Charles Dickens by any chance?” deQuille puffed at his cigar, his eyes still intent upon the figure opposite who was now innocently engaged in conversation with Widow Hawkins.

 

“I have…” Ethan nodded, his brow still creased as he watched the smoke drift from deQuille’s nostrils like a long dormant dragon about to waken and devour the populace

 

“You see before you the embodiment of Samuel Pickwick, a character Dickens created in 1836 …before you were born no doubt. Look at the clothes, the girth, the way he comports himself! Bald head, spectacles, excellent clothes….and such a smile of benevolence…so pleased with himself..”

 

“Perhaps he is happy to be here…being in Virginia City may have been a long held ambition …” and Ethan smiled to himself at the very thought, as if that were possible for anyone..he sighed.

 

DeQuille turned to him as though the comment had impressed him, he nodded “Every man has a story, Deputy. I warrant you have yourself, a story that should you wish to reveal it would no doubt enthral my readers…anytime you wish to enlighten me, do come …” he gestured towards the offices behind him “As for Mr Pickwick there ….happily wandering in and out of the saloons but never staying long enough to drink anything…as sober when he comes out as when he went in …perhaps you will find out more when you get to your Boarding House as that was where he first emerged, a rather large butterfly from a delightful chrysalis.”

 

Ethan gave the man a narrow eyed look. It was common knowledge that deQuille had been an alcoholic, had even lost his job at one time, and was battling to remain sober, just sometimes though one did wonder…he nodded, tipped his hat and after another brief glance across the road to where Mr Pickwick continued on his way, Ethan headed for his lodgings.

 

It had been a long shift, midnight to mid-day and although quiet it had been boring. He had rattled the handle of Mr Riley’s work shop (if one could call an Undertakers premises such a thing) and heard a dog barking. A few hours later he had watched George and his dog trundle on down the main street, wheel repaired, no squeaking.

 

Portia Lee Whitmore was well used to her favourite guests routine now, so with an eye on the clock she set out the table for him, he would be the only one eating at this time of the day. All her other guests were now busy with their own days’ undertaking, they had breakfastedtogether at the long table, and they had supper later. Ethan was the only one with a different schedule and although he had assured her he could eat the mid day meal in town, she had insisted that it was no problem and that she would enjoy having company and someone to cook before he went to his bed in order to be refreshed for the next shift.

 

Of course his routine varied and there were some days when she would not see him during the day, and he would take his place with her other paying guests, and sometimes not even then…being a Deputy was a job of variables.

 

By the time she could hear him wiping his feet on the door mat (house rule of course, woe betide anyone tramping in mud from the street) she had the food on a warmed plate and was just placing it on the table as he walked into the room.

 

She often wondered if, because of the darkness of her skin, he noticed how seeing him for the first time during the day brought a blush to her cheek. She could feel it now, mantling her neck and face and so quickly lowered her eyes and fussed over the table settings.

 

“Coffee is fresh..would you like some now? Or later?”

 

Ethan liked her voice, it was slightly husky, soft and well modulated. She had told him that she had been to a good school and had received a good education because he had once commented on her speech and had tried to guess from where she had come, and why she had moved to Virginia City but those questions she had batted aside, smiling and returning to some form of work in order to distract him.

 

As he watched her now , removing his jacket as he did so, he remembered deQuille’s comment, every one has a story and once again, he wondered what would be Portia Lee Whitmores.

 

It was after he had eaten and was leaning back in the chair cradling a cup of coffee between his hands that he thought of deQuille’s” Mr Pickwick,” and leaned forward to ask her “Have you a new guest?”

 

“Yes, a gentleman arrived this morning..he is only here for a week though.” she picked up the coffee pot and replenished her own cup, stirring in some sugar.

 

“I think I saw him earlier, Mr deQuille thought he looked like Mr Pickwick …you know, the character from one of Dickens novels.”

 

She nodded and smiled, her teeth white against her skin. Ethan would never admit it but he loved seeing her smile, her eyes would twinkle and dimples would form in her cheeks

 

“I suppose Mr deQuille would think that…yes, indeed, that is something quite passive about Mr Cottor, pleasant you know…”

 

“What is he doing here?”

 

“He’s a tailor. I don’t know why he is here, I didn’t ask.” and she looked away, just long enough to let him know she would not discuss other guests with him, even if he were a Deputy

 

He smiled at her, emptied his cup and set it down on the saucer. Then he rose to his feet and thanked her, paused a moment to say something but thought otherwise, then said “Davy Riley has a dog now….”

 

“Oh that will make him happy.” she smiled again

 

“Yes, I think so…” he nodded, smiled at her and picked up his jacket “Thank you, Miss Portia…”

She watched him mount the stairs to his room and once he had disappeared, turning the corner onto the landing, she gave herself a little shake…and began to collect up the dishes.

…………………

Olivia Cartwright stood by the open window and looked out at the view beyond. She could see her son running in and out of the shrubs and trees that she had planted when they had moved into the house, and heard his laughter and shouts as he called out to Hope and Erik, his cousins as they played together.

 

In the kitchen she could hear Cheng Ho Li preparing the food, she could smell the coffee and the freshly baked biscuits that she had just taken out of the oven to cool on the griddle. She sighed and for a moment drifted into a day dream of contentment… life was so good, she had so many blessings for which to be grateful and then involuntarily she glanced down at the flowers in her hand that she had gathered as a small bouquet to put into a vase

 

She could remember the vase from her childhood. Her mother standing at the window placing wild flowers that she and her sister, Katya, had gathered…and the memory brought a lingering sense of deja vu into her mind. She sighed, shook her head to dispel the feeling but to retain and capture the memory and as she did so she recalled her mother singing..and without thinking more about it, caught up in the song, lifting the flowers to her nose and smelling them .

 

“I’ve run about the garden walks **

And search’d among the dew, sir

These fragrant flowers, these tender stalks

I’ve gathered them all for you, sir.

 

So here’s your bunch of buds and flowers

and here’s the ribbon around them,

And here to cheer your lonely hours,

To the sweet little girl that bound them.”

 

The sound of applause nearly caused her to drop the flowers on the table, but she turned, a little blush to her cheeks, “My mother used to sing it….”

 

“And you sang it beautifully.” Adam smiled. He pushed himself away from the door way and walked towards her, tossing his hat onto the bureau as he passed. He took her hands in his and kissed her, her brow, her nose and then her lips.

“How long have you been standing there….” she whispered, her hands, still clasping the flowers, now prisoner to his embrace, so that the fragrant perfume of them filled her nostrils

“Oh, since …” he half closed his eyes and smiled “Since you picked up the vase. You looked so lovely, Livvy….the sun through the window shining down upon you, you – well – you made me think yet again of how blessed I am to have you as my wife, my love, my friend…my everything.” he leaned down again and kissed her more deeply, the poor flowers crushed between them now.

 

For a moment it was all that mattered..that moment captured in their embrace, their love and their kisses. Then they stood side by side, his arm around her waist, while she placed the flowers in the vase, and looked out through the window. Nathaniel’s voice and Hope’s laugh, followed by Erik’s hearty chuckle…

 

“Why are you home so early…is everything alright?”

 

“Yes, I believe so.” he released her, watched as she placed the vase in the centre of the table, watched as she walked to the kitchen to prepare some coffee. The cups taken down and placed in their saucers. “We had a talk to Pa…”

 

“Oh dear…did it go alright?” she placed the warm biscuits on the plate, poured milk into three glasses for the children.

 

“Finally yes, the cattle station can go ahead. Hoss and Joe are going to ride out tomorrow with Candy to move the cattle on and to decide which of the three plots of land would be most suitable.”

 

“Not too close to the Malahides then?” she flashed him a smile, her eyes twinkling for, as she had told Hester upon their return from the cabin, she wouldn’t trust Mrs Malahide as far as she could throw her, pregnant or not.

 

“No, some distance from the previous site…closer to the meadow and to the town…” he pulled out a chair and sat down, “You are happy here, arn’t you, Livvy?”

 

She caught her breath for a second and looked at him, at the dark eyes earnest now, looking at her as though to read her thoughts, how she felt about the answer she was going to give him.

 

“Yes, I love it here.”

 

“Could you ever leave here…I mean, would you be happy leaving here?” his fingers reached out to touch the back of her hand, the hairs on her arm seemed to stand up as though electricity had passed through her veins, and she could feel the little vein at her throat pulsing faster.

 

“You mean, to go to Carson City…to the cattle station….”

 

He nodded. Perhaps he could sense from her reaction that it would be hard…she was settled, loved where she was, it would be like uprooting the perfect rose to plant in foreign soil. He cleared his throat…and watched her as she drifted away from him, walked back to the window and looked out to the views beyond, her garden, the mountains, what appeared like a snatch of blue ribbon threading through the trees where the river flowed. She didn’t turn towards him, but said..

 

“In Japan a woman about to take her vows for her wedding will say “No one before you, my husband, not even I.”

 

He stood up then, and walked towards her, his hands on her shoulders, and he dropped a kiss on the nape of her neck,

 

“Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord in her heart *….” he paused, and turned her to face him, “Do you ..then …call me Lord in your heart, sweet Olivia?”

 

Her lips smiled, her eyes looked anxious and then filled with her love for him, and again her smile widened, as she kissed him again.

 

Feet scampering across the floor, Nathaniel’s voice “Biscuits, biscuits Mommy…..” and little arms thrown around Adam’s legs, holding him captive so that he was forced to look down at the little man staring up at him, brown eyes beaming, dimples flashing, little teeth white against tanned golden skin…he leaned down and picked the boy up, releasing Olivia now so that she could continue to provide the children with the milk and biscuits. But she paused to look out of the window again and knew, in her heart of hearts, that leaving the home they had here would be one of the hardest sacrifices of her life.

 

** Written by John Cole 1825

*1 Peter 3 verse 6 King James Bible

Chapter 8

 

As Hoss dismounted his thoughts were still revolving around the conversation he and his brothers had shared in the saloon earlier. They had not talked much on the way home, Adam separating at the fork in the road leading to his house, and then Joe riding onwards to his home as Hoss turned into the Ponderosa track.

 

He stood beside Chubb II for a moment, swishing the reins too and fro between his fingers while he mused over an important aspect regarding the cattle station…and it had been Adam who had raised the question as he had raised the second glass of beer to his lips, paused and looked at them both with his dark brown eyes boring into themselves

 

“So we know what to do about Pa….the question now is…” they had leaned forward as he took a long gulp of beer, swallowed and nodded “what about our wives?”

 

Joe and Hoss had looked at one another, blank faced, and Joe had rashly asked “What about them?”

 

“Well, Joseph,” Adam had replied patiently, leaning forward towards them, “Whichever one of us takes over the running of the cattle station needs to take his wife and family with them…” he paused again, his eyes had moved from one face to the other, “and I for one, will not take on the situation if Olivia is not happy about moving there.”

 

His brothers had sighed, leaned back in their seats and nodded; Joe had frowned and looked at Adam

 

“Olivia likes it there well enough doesn’t she?”

 

“She loves the cabin, the woodland, and so far as I gather, she loves coming back home …the cabin is strictly vacation only…”

 

Hoss remembered now how they had nodded, realised they were in for the long haul, and drank their beer quietly. He had realised in that moment that he had not given the management of the cattle station much thought, not in the context of one of them moving away … he had nudged Joe,

 

“Mary Ann had seemed really happy to move back East when President Grant wanted to hire you for security.”

 

“Ah yeah, but that was back then, and now we have Daniel going to school soon..and ..” he had shrugged and then sat there staring at the far off wall as though dazed, obviously thinking back to that time when Mary Ann had seen a means of escape….

 

Hoss recalled how Adam had grimaced and then stared down at the table, his fingers had pushed his glass back and forth for a moment before he raised it to his lips and drank down the rest of his beer. He had put the glass down with a decisive thump, and had nodded at them both. Hoss had felt his stomach drop, because he knew Adam was right, not one of them wanted their wives to be unhappy just to fulfil their ambition of a profitable cattle station. Joe had not said a word for some while, just sat fiddling with a button on his jacket and staring at the far wall while Adam had got busy looking around at everyone else there engrossed in their own business and not interested one iota to the matter of the three women currently under consideration.

 

Now, here he was, home again..and yes, home. This had been his home since as far back as he could remember. Vague recollections of helping making the clay to put between the logs as they had mounted up, higher and higher. He could even recall the first night sleeping in the house and realising that he could not see the stars for he had been so used to sleeping in the open, or under the wagon…shucks, he realised now that if Hester refused to move then he would not say a word to persuade her any differently. He loved his home, this house, everything….

 

The house was silent when he pushed the door open and removed his hat, his gun belt and placed the revolver way out of reach from inquisitive fingers. He heard movement from the kitchen area and after peering into the study in case Ben was lurking there, he made his way to where Hester was busy preparing apple pie.

 

He watched her for a moment…her golden red hair a frame of curls around her face, the determined set of her lips (“This pastry will not fall into holes today, I will not have it”) and the flour smudge on her cheek. He loved her more than life itself, for Hoss, his wife was his life!

 

“Is that for supper?” he asked as he stepped into the kitchen and approached the table, leaned in to kiss her cheek, the one with the flour on, and then picked up some of the apple skin that was curled on the table. He began to nibble it and smiled at her as she leaned in to kiss him,

 

“Hop Sing had to go into town…his Uncle died.” Hester trimmed the pastry and then walked over to the oven, opened the door and placed the pie on the rack. “You’re home early.”

 

“I – we – just finished business in town and decided to take the rest of the day at home…with our wives.” he thought that sounded good, and smiled, nodded reassuringly “Er – is Pa home?”

 

“No, he went for a ride out somewhere..” she brushed flour from her hands then wiped them down her apron, stared down at the remains of pastry and apple still scattered on the table.

 

“What was he like after we left?” Hoss crunched on some more apple, “Bear with a sore head?”

 

“Not at all.” she smiled and faced him, “He was quite cheerful, had some coffee with me and chatted with Erik and Hope …”

 

“Oh where are they? I thought it was kinda quiet in here…”

 

“They’re at Olivia’s, Hope wanted to play with Nathaniel, and Erik has decided that Nathaniel is his best friend ever so I took them there, and when I came back Pa had left the house. Hank said that Pa had saddled his horse and told him that he was going to take a ride and think about things….”

 

“Not sure that sounds good…” Hoss frowned, Pa thinking about things … well, thoughts could go in all manner of directions, he sighed, Ben thinking…about what ?

 

“Oh he was alright, he took out some maps and had a look at them for a while and then, as I said, we had coffee…he was quite cheerful, he isn’t quite the grump you make him out to be… I think he enjoys teasing you, getting his own back for that time when you wanted to ‘retire him’.”

 

“Shucks that was years back along, you’d think he’d have forgotten that by now…” Hoss growled, recalling that time with a clarity that showed he had not forgotten it either.

 

“Mmm, well, I guess it becomes more poignant when one gets old enough to be considering retiring, after all, how old is your father?” she looked at him, fixing him with those sapphire blue eyes, and a smile lingering on her lips.

 

Oh she was adorable, Hoss could not resist leaning in for a kiss, which was received and returned passionately. He sighed, and released her…”The house sure is quiet…empty….” he whispered and she smiled and nodded “It is,” she said quietly.

…………………….

 

Later as they sat together holding hands in front of the small fire, a pot of coffee on the table, mugs filled, calm and peace…contentment.

 

“Hester … remember when we were married ….”

 

“Mmmm, of course….” she leaned towards him, her head upon his shoulder

 

“You never really had a chance to pick out a place ..not like Mary Ann …I mean…you just married me, and then moved in here with Pa and Joe and me ,…” he paused and frowned.

“What are you trying to say, darling….”

 

“Just that … well, would you like ..I mean would you consider..how would you feel if we were to take over the management of the cattle station.” he exhaled, that was a long sentence, a lot to say and now he felt sweat prickling under his arm pits.

 

“You mean,” she sat away from him, her face now stern and her eyes confused

 

“I mean …moving out of here and making the cattle station our new home…”

 

She sighed and picked up her mug to cradle it in her hands, then lowered her head as though she was inhaling the warmth of the steam

 

“I never thought of that…”

 

“I – well – nothing definite, just kind of putting it out there to think about … “

 

“How do you feel about it, Hoss? Could you leave here, your home?”

 

The way she said those last two words made Hoss shiver…it was just what he had been thinking, his home, here, the Ponderosa ranch ..he swallowed and stared down at the table, then reached for his mug of coffee. He could not look at her because he knew she would ‘read’ his thoughts so he took a swallow and then said “Wal, I asked first.”

 

“It means uprooting the children, and Hope was going to start school soon, and Hannah is happy there, with Sofia…and Reuben.” she said it quietly, “I mean, I love the cabin, the woods …but that is for vacations and then …then we would come home.”

 

Her voice trailed away, and he reached for her hand as though she were a child, lost, and when she took hold of it he wondered, perhaps he was, the child, lost !

 

“I love it here,” he said honestly, simply…and squeezed her fingers. The pressure of her fingers was reassuring, he sighed and leaned back, well there, enough said….

…………….

 

Mr Cotter stepped out of the Bucket of Blood saloon with a pensive look on his face. He looked around him,then up and down the main street of Virginia City and his face drooped into an even more pensive expression.

 

Virginia City…more gold, silver and copper extracted from the earth here since 1858 than anywhere he could think of, in fact the amount sent to the Union money chest helped the Unionists gain victory over the Confederate states not so very long ago. The town flourished, it was more far more than a one horse cattle town, the gold and silver had been poured into the buildings of the town, making the saloons extravagantly impressive, hotels surpassed some one would find in London or Paris, but … and here’s the rub, things were beginning to run down, gold was running out, mines were closing.

 

With that thought in mind he turned his attention to the building that bore the legend “Virginia City Enterprise” and made his way, carefully, avoiding the horse dung, to the offices of the towns most illustrious newspaper…there were several others but this building was in a prime location. Cottor liked to start at the top and work his way down.

 

His enquiries led him to deQuilles office, he knocked and entered when a voice bid him to do so. He looked at the man at the desk and removed his hat “Mr deQuille?”

 

“Yes. Mr …erm…”

 

“Cotter.” his visitor replied and seemed confused at the look of disappointment on the newspapermans face “My card..” he produced it with a flourish and held it between finger and thumb before passing it over to deQuille.

 

DeQuille cleared his throat and glanced down at the card, then looked at the man standing beside the desk, his hat clasped against his chest, his face wearing a bland smile but oozing good natured pleasantness. He glanced down at the card again and read:

 

Cyrus H Cotter

Private Investigator

All enquiries handled discreetly

Your request is my pleasure

Chapter 9

Daniel nodded, smoothed down his beard and indicated a chair for the other man to sit. He cleared his throat and watched the portly gentleman lower himself into the chair and nodded again, this, he thought, was an opportunity for a scoop. Daniel was always eager to get that exclusive elusive scoop. He smiled

 

“Well, Mr Cotter, welcome to Virginia City.”

 

Cotter nodded now, removed his glasses and polished them carefully with a large polka dot handkerchief then replaced them on his rather bulbous nose. He looked at Daniel thoughtfully as though weighing up the possibility that this man was probably not up to the task in hand, and doubting his decision to enter the premises. Daniel leaned back and viewed the other man wit the same scrutiny, then asked, very politely, what this visit was relating to….

 

“I’m looking for a man….” Cotter said ponderously, and cleared his throat again, “I have reason to believe he lives here, or he did….”

 

“Ah, well, perhaps the Town Clerk would be better suited for our needs, sir. I’m not in the business of looking for waifs and strays…”

 

“No doubt.” Cotter frowned and shrugged, then leaned back in his seat, “I’ve been looking for this man for over a year now, and the trail leads to Virginia City so here I am, hopeful of finding him at last. It’s been a difficult search …” he paused and looked down at the papers strewn on Daniel’s desk as though they would provide a clue to the unknown persons whereabouts.

 

“Perhaps then you should see our Sheriff…if he is that elusive a person he may be wanted by the law…in which case you could claim a bounty for any information provided.” Daniel smiled, but his eyes were cold, appraising the man opposite… wondering whether or not there could be a story in this search after all.

 

Cotter moved about in his chair as though to make his ample posterior fit more comfortably, he nodded as though understanding Daniel’s comment but then said “This is his story…you may find it of interest, or not, I’ve told it enough times, that’s for sure, sometimes it’s sufficient and other times not…sufficient in prodding the memory you understand.”

 

Daniel nodded, he understood, and took up his pencil and a sheet of paper. “Continue, sir, I am all attention……”

 

“Name Thomas Connolly …” he glanced at Daniel, but there was no reaction, the pencil hovered over the paper, “Born in Ireland and qualified as an Engineer. He left when he was 20 years of age, thinking like many of the Irish, that life would be better here..streets paved with gold etc …he arrived in New York and was absorbed into the Irish community there…and discovered that for every one Irishman in employment there were nine who were not…”

 

He paused, a knock on the door and one of the printers peered into the room, “Copy, Mr deQuille.”

 

“Leave it there….” Daniel pointed with the pencil to another desk at the back of the room, the ‘copy’ printed pages of the latest edition awaiting proof reading, was set down and the man left. Cotter sighed, he had hoped for something to drink, his mouth was dry

 

“Of course, I could continue this story elsewhere, in one of your saloons for instance”

 

Daniel glanced up, sighed, and shook his head. He had thought it possible the man was a drinker, with the colour in those cheeks and the thread veins in his nose. “I have work to do, Mr Cotter.”

 

Duly admonished Cotter settled back into his chair, and continued with the narrative of young Thomas Connolly.

………………..

 

Joseph Cartwright had not given the conversation in the saloon that much thought as they made their way home. He could see Hoss was worried, and he could tell from Adams tuneless whistling under his breath that he was not worried about it at all. He decided not to be unduly concerned, and just enjoyed the ride home. Hoss was definitely out of sorts when they parted and Joe did wonder if the poor man was going to have good reason for concern once he got home and discussed the matter with Hester. Somehow Joe doubted it…he was still smiling when he dismounted in the yard of his home.

 

Daniel was first to see him and ran to him immediately, abandoning his toys and his sister in order to be first to greet his father. Joe was always proud of that moment, the love so openly shown him, and he swung the boy up and into his arms realising, yet again, that Daniel Cartwright was no longer an infant, no longer a toddler, but a little boy soon to be going to school. He sighed and hugged the boy before setting him back down in order to pick up Constance, just about the prettiest little girl on the Ponderosa, and in all honesty he was not the only one to think so.

 

He could hear the piano music as he opened the door and paused a moment to listen to it. With Constance still in his arms he went into the room where his wife sat in total concentration at the piano, the music trickling from her fingers …

She must have sensed he was there because she stopped, paused a moment to let the music drift away into the air, and then turned to smile at him, “You’re early…”

 

He watched as she stood up, and approached him, that smile on her full lips, her grey eyes shining. Not for the first time he thought that his wife should have been a concert pianist, just like Beatrice Weiss had been, and it made him feel once again proud to have a wife so talented, and so humble as to be content with being a mere ranchers wife.

 

“Coffee ready?” he asked as he let Constance down to run out to play with her brother, and he leaned it to kiss Mary Ann’s cheek, “I think I swallowed dust all the way from town….”

 

“Did you get everything sorted out that you thought so necessary …” she was talking as she walked to the kitchen, with him trailing behind.

 

“Oh yes, that didn’t take so long…” he pulled out a chair and sat down.

 

He smiled as she sat down opposite him, “I was thinking -” he said as he leaned forward to take her hand in his own.

 

“Oh yes…” she leaned forward, smiling, sometimes when Joe had this kind of smile, and his eyes twinkled as they were doing, she anticipated some surprise, usually wrapped in an oyster coloured box with a big red ribbon.

 

He reached out for her hand and held it in his, squeezing it gently, “Well, it’s a game…”

 

“Oooh, I like games….” she said with a giggle in her voice, and she leaned forward a little more.

 

“I know..” he chuckled and squeezed her hand some more.

“Daddddeeeee” a wail from the door way, both parents turned immediately to see what was wrong, any thought of a game – of any kind – forgotten in their concerns for their little princess who ran towards them soaking wet and bawling about Daniel, the water trough….Joe sighed, got to his feet and yelled “DANIEL!”

………………

 

The heat in the room was becoming claustrophobic, so deQuille got up and walked to the window which he opened to admit a little breeze. For a moment he stood there and stared out upon those who were walking by, he noticed the Mayor clambering into his barouche, his wife impatiently twitching at her bonnet. He sighed and returned to the desk and resumed his seat

 

“So, Mr Cotter, let me just go over the details here…young Connolly left Ireland and arrived in New York, some ten years ago, due to lack of work he went to Philadelphia he worked there in a coal mine, during which time he was in contact with his family, sending them updates …then suddenly the communication stopped, They have heard nothing since then….?”

 

“That’s right, nothing….so they contacted my bureau and I was assigned to find him.” Cotter nodded, grateful for the breeze , he turned slightly to benefit more from it.

 

“Most Irish don’t bother to chase up those who emigrate, it’s too costly, and too erratic…by the time they would get a letter the writer could be dead….” he shrugged “which could well be the case here.”

 

“Certainly, that was considered and put to them, but these are not poor people, those dismissed as bog dwellers, the Connolly family are well connected and wealthy. Thomas was the youngest and brightest of them and much missed. They did not want him to come to America, but he had his qualifications and believed America would provide him with great things.” he frowned, “He had decided to leave Ireland when his hopes of marriage fell through.” he shrugged “Youth..well ..perhaps we had all been there at one time.”

 

de Quille found that hard to believe in Cotters case, but he let it pass, instead he scribbled down that the youth had suffered a broken heart, then looked up “What happened next?”

 

“After Philadelphia he disappeared entirely. Apparently he rose high in the company, had a good reputation, but then …then he started shooting his mouth off about work conditions, unfair wages etc. He organised strikes…”

 

“That wouldn’t have gone down well…”

 

“It didn’t…he was given warnings by Management, verbal and written …then the Unions turned nasty. He disappeared. End of story….”

 

“Obviously not as you are still looking for him…” Daniel gave Cotter the benefit of a hard cold stare before shrugging “So…what does this have to do with Virginia City?”

“We assumed he had been killed, which was the usual method employed with trouble makers, land of the free doesn’t take kindly to too much freedom of speech.”

 

De Quille shrugged, he had heard enough cliches in his life time and the clock was ticking. .. Cotter adjusted his spectacles

 

“About a year later we got word from one of our contacts that Connolly had been seen …”

 

“In Philadelphia?”

 

“No, our contact had been a close friend of Connolly’s and recognised him right away…he had changed his name … worked as a miner north of here, but as soon as I got down there he disappeared again.”

“Wily character isn’t he?” de Quille glanced again at the clock “Please wrap this up, Mr Cotter, I have work to do….not much time to spare…”

 

“I want you to tell me what you know about a man called O’Connell.I believe he moved here and worked for some years as a Miner…”

 

De Quille frowned, the name was familiar, it rang a long distant memory…he looked down at his notes and hastily scribbled the information down, “What mine, do you know?”

 

“Not yet….” Cotter turned his eyes towards the journalist and smiled “I thought you might be able to help me there. Mr De Quille, with all the information you have at your fingertips, and in your vast memory..”

 

“Thank you, “ Daniel nodded, gave a weak smile “Do you realise how many mines there are, and how many there have been? You expect me to remember one miner among thousands over – how many years – you are expecting a lot…”

 

“Five or six years I would say…if O’Connell is the man I am looking for he would probably stand out as an efficient engineer, and – trouble maker.”

 

“Quite a few thousand of them as well…” he muttered as he chewed on his pen, and stared down at his notes

Cotter stood up and extended his hand “Any help you can give would be appreciated. As I said earlier, the Connolly’s are not poor and they’ll pay well for any information …”

De Quille watched the man leave the room, and for some reason wiped his hand on a handkerchief, as though …touching Cotter’s flesh had been an act that had contaminated his own …O’Connell…yes indeed, he had a vast memory, and the name O’Connell certainly did resonate within it.

…………………..

 

“Well,” Mary Ann slipped off her shoes and settled down among the cushions on the settee, she smiled at her husband who was handing her a glass of wine, “Games…”

 

For a moment Joe was confused, since mentioning the matter of games there had been a lot going on, but now the children were tucked up in bed, shadows crept across the room, lamps glowed like beacons here and there creating a romantic ambience which he had been enjoying and now ..he sighed and returned to his seat

opposite her, which was not what Mary Ann had expected at all.

 

She patted the cushions next to her, and smiled, but he shook his head “This is a different kind of game, Mary Ann.”

 

She frowned, pouted a little “I might not like this particular kind of game, Joe.”

“It won’t take long…it just means you have to be very honest…”

 

“I’m always honest..” her mind scrabbled, wondering what he was talking about, had she given him any cause at all to be concerned about her – honesty.

 

“Look,” he leaned forward, hands on his knees, face earnest and his hazel eyes looking into hers, “Remember how you wanted to move from here?”

 

“Oh, President Grants been in contact…he still wants you on his security team?”

 

“No no, look, this is not a guessing game…” he raised a hand, thought for a moment and then stood up and walked to a desk, after rummaging about he returned to sit opposite her – again – and pushed a piece of paper across to her with a pencil. “This is the honesty game…”

 

“Oh …” she frowned and shook her head, “I don’t think I want to play.”

 

“It won’t take long…” he frowned, then he smiled “Plenty of time for other games later…”

She shrugged, picked up the pen and sighed “Well, what do I have to do…write down a confession of all my misdemeanours?”

“I want you to write down on one side of the paper all the reasons you would – honestly – like to move from here and on the other side write down all the reasons why you would like to stay. See? It’s quite simple…”

She nodded, slowly. Then fixed him with her grey eyes “Alright, and so where are you thinking of moving us?”

 

“That comes later…if I mention the destination it may influence your honest answers…just write your negatives and positives for leaving or staying here….”

 

She sighed, shrugged and picked up her pencil “Are you going to do it too…being honest and everything ?”

 

“Yes…of course.”

 

She nodded and began to write, occasionally glancing over to him to make sure he was writing as well. How honest was honest? How truthful could she be? Things she loved here, things she hated…she stared at the paper and wrote some more…

 

The clock chimed the hour and both of them had finished writing and she had handed him her slip of paper. It had not taken all that much time after all, she had emptied her glass of wine and now rose to her feet and announced she was going to bed. She didn’t pause, she didn’t mention any games, she didn’t ask him when he was coming up to join her..and she didn’t ask to see his slip of paper

 

Joe got the definite impression that she was not a happy wife. He sighed and looked at her lists..they were not long, there were a surprising number of things she had written down that surprised him, both for and against moving from the Ponderosa. But at the bottom she had written

 

“Wherever you are and wherever the children are ..that is home and that is where I always want to be”

 

Chapter 10

 

As soon as Cotter had left the room Daniel opened the window just a little wider. It was as though he needed the clean air from outside to permeate the office and remove any trace, any lingering smell of the man who had sat opposite him, perhaps even to remove the anxious troubling thoughts his conversation had raised in the Journalists memories.

 

Momentarily his hand hovered over a desk in his drawer, one that contained a thick note book brimming with information about a certain family whose adventures, events, had been captured in Daniel’s neat and precise writing. Notations spanning years….

But he resisted the urge and instead went to work on the copy that had been brought in earlier. He spent an hour proof reading and then, after just a few minor tweaks, he carried it out to the print shop so that they could continue their work on producing the next edition of Virginia City’s prime newspaper.

 

But what now? There was more than one newspaper existing in the town. What if Cotter found out more information that he himself had given to him…what if the wretched man found out details that would lead him to unearth a matter that may, perhaps, cause a ripple of earthquake proportions on the Ponderosa.

 

For a moment he dithered at the door leading to the office … and then turned aside to another door, the door that led to the archives, records of Virginia City’s history way back to the Comstock days, to the days of Sam Clemens, Julia Bullette, old Comstock himself…but he knew that he would not have to research as far back as those glory days.

…………………….

The children were gathered around Davy Riley in the yard of the school. The big building towered above them but they were closeted together in a different world, that of their own making and choosing as they listened to Davy the Undertaker’s son tell them about ‘his dog’.

 

“A real dog…” Annie Sales said with a slight scowl of disbelief on her face

 

Ritchie Bellshaw gave her a slight nudge with his shoulder and shook his head “It’s true, a real dog, Annie. My Pa even offered to have it if Mr Riley refused for Davy to have it.”

 

Davy’s chest swelled a little more and he grinned “He knew a good dog when he saw one…”

 

“Well, rightly speaking,” Ritchie said in his pedantic way “It isn’t a dog is it? It’s a pup..and quite a young one at that…”

 

Davy shrugged “So what? A dog is a dog is a dog, just this one has to grow a bit that’s all…like you do, Ritchie Bellshaw.”

 

There were some giggles and sniggers at that comment, but Ritchie was too broad minded to worry about such details, he laughed along with them and Davy returned to describing the dog, or pup, until finally the group began to break away and form into other little groups … time was running out, it would soon be time to return to class.

 

“I wish I had a little dog.” Sofia sighed, and sat down on the steps leading to the door of the school, with Rosie sitting beside her.

 

Not so long ago it would have been Lilith sitting there and they would be chatting using sign language, their secret conversations remaining secret…she sighed, and lowered her head. She was already forgetting how to speak in sign language. She sighed again

 

“Fancy Davy having a dog though…” Rosie murmured as her eyes followed the boy as he swaggered around the yard with his gang following him, talking and laughing, nudging one another. Rosie sighed “Something else for him to brag about…”

 

“I wonder how big it really is….Davy said it’s black and white and has one blue eye and one brown eye. I’ve never seen a dog looking like that…..”

 

“Maybe he’s making it up..about the eyes I mean…” Rosie bit into her sandwich and began to chew, methodically, while her eyes remained fixed on Davy and the other boys.

 

“Do you think your Pa would let you have a dog?” Sofia asked as she licked her lips and bit into an apple.

 

“No. He doesn’t like dogs.” Rosie said very matter of factly.

 

The conversation lulled a little, before Sofia mentioned that Candy would be going with her Uncles to see the cattle station…they were going to stay at the cabin in the woods. Rosie nodded and looked up at Sofia, her eyes beaming “I really loved that place, Sofia…”

 

“Everybody does…” Sofia replied and gave a slight shrug of the shoulders, she didn’t like to brag after all she was not Davy Riley but it was true, everyone loved that cabin, the woods, the river, the animals…she sighed and her gaze was looking way beyond the school walls as she remembered her first night there, the stars shining, her Pa singing to his guitar on the verandah just below her window, her Ma’s voice …she remembered hearing an owl before falling to sleep.

 

“I’m going to ask Pa if we can have a dog…even if he doesn’t like them.” Rosie said with a frown on her face, she looked at her sandwich, and sighed, nibbled away and left the crusts, which she left in the snack box. “Perhaps your Pa will let you have one, Sofia…why not ask him too.”

 

As if Sofia needed any prompting, she was already planning just how she would go about persuading her father, and mother, that it was imperative that they got a dog, rightaway

…………………..

 

Daniel looked down at the headline of the Enterprise newspaper of October 1877. His hand brushed across the paper as though soothing unseen creases away, brushing away details so that the major things came to the surface of his mind. Murder, more than one, yes, more than one…he sighed and extracted several of the printed copies in order to take them over to the desk and read through the relevant details. Note pad and pencil in hand he pulled out a chair and made himself comfortable.

 

There it was ….the first killings, or as some preferred, the initial deaths. A mine collapse at the Bucksburn Mine, proprietor Patrick McGarthy ‘apologised profusely for the number of deaths that had taken place due to a shaft collapsing. The mine he had assured them was undergoing security work and the men had been injured in one of the shafts that should have been left as it was going to be checked over by engineers the following week. Extensive works etc etc …” Daniels skimmed through the paragraphs but there was no relevant name and yet he was sure he would find something here.

 

Another edition, still in September 1877 the body of a woman Mrs Matilda Mayhew had been found beside her overturned wagon on the slip road to the Bucksburn Mine…Sheriff Canaday said there was evidence of foul play. Mrs Mayhew’s husband Samuel was one of the injured when the mine shaft collapsed. Mrs Mayhew was a popular figure in the community etc etc Daniel read the whole section twice over. No name Connolly or O’Connell or anything like it was mentioned.

 

Edging now into October 1877 and this time he could remember the matter more clearly because he had gone down with his photographer to get pictures of the mine collapse….He scanned the picture and nodded, yes, he remembered it well, that picture of the men being dragged out, big Hoss Cartwright carried out .. what a mess that had been, but he got some really good close ups. There was Patrick McGarthy insisting they had gone places that were closed, should not have been there, and then, of course, they had found the body of Samuel Mayhew.

 

He sat back in the chair, and thought back to that time, he had never really understood why Sam had been killed, a poor severely wounded man who had recently lost his wife…he had been found dead in a side shaft, drowned…shot…and the Cartwrights nearly drowned along with him except that he had been dumped there, no one ever thinking to that anyone would look for him, let alone find him.

 

He glanced down to the next page and there it was the first mention….in an interview with a man who had worked on the shift with Samuel and a man called Thomas O’Connell. The man Phil Dunn, had insisted that O’Connell was not to be blamed for the second shaft collapse as he was as innocent of blame as he had been for the first, the one that had killed him. Dunn had even stated that the Management were trying to blame O’Connell, accusing him of murdering his men because he had not a long enough fuse but that was nonsense.

“O’Connell had more qualifications than any man there, years of experience as an Engineer…he should have been exonerated for trying to bring it to the attention of McGarthy and other mine owners that some very necessary work was needed to make the mine safe” and Dunn had concluded with the words “O’Connell was a true professional, he would never make mistakes…he was murdered..along with all those other men..along with Sam”

 

Daniel put the paper down and leaned back into the chair. For a moment he stared at the far off wall, eyes narrowed as his brain scrambled to get hold of the bits and pieces of information that were whirling about in his brain. He shook his head in order to stop thinking..to discipline himself to more research because, he knew, that there was more, much more to this story.

……………..

 

Cyrus Cotter pulled the watch from his vest pocket and checked the time, frowned slightly and slipped it back . He had intended to check on the Comstock News but decided to return to his rooms and look through his notes, make some adjustments to fit with what he had learned from Mr deQuille – although he had a feeling that the man knew more than he was saying.. He would, of course, have to send in his report to the Connolly’s and wondered if they would be rather annoyed at the lack of progress. They were an impatient lot, always pushing him, always insisting he was not earning his money, which sum, he had to admit, was more than adequate.

 

He made his way back to the Boarding House and entered the foyer just as Miss Whitmore was setting out coffee and refreshments in the main dining room. Cotter looked around and noticed just one person sitting by the window, engrossed in a book. A tidy looking woman, well dressed, hair neatly coiled to the back of her head in a chignon. He noticed such things, in his line of business it paid to do so.

“Coffee, Mr Cotter?” Portia was there, standing by his side so he nodded and thanked her, noticed the sweet sugared cookies that she carried to the table and added a pleasant “Thank you.”

Portia poured the coffee and took one cup, with a few cookies on a plate,to the woman seated by the window and then poured some for him, smiled as she handed him the cup and told him to help himself . She then turned and left the room, leaving him alone with the only other occupant.

 

She did not look up, it seemed that nothing was as interesting as the characters in the book she was reading. Mr Cotter sat down, looked around the room before he fixed his eyes on her again…she was not young, definitely a spinster, good figure, had not ‘run to seed’ as the expression goes. Her face fell into stern lines, perhaps that was why she looked older than she was, plus the glasses perched on her nose. He cleared his throat

 

“Good afternoon, Ma’am.”

 

She sighed and looked over at him, nodded as though that was sufficient, and resumed her reading. Mr Cotter thought that was very rude and decided not to bother with another attempt …then she lowered her book and said in a crisp clear voice

 

“Are you going to be here for long…in Virginia City I mean…”

 

“Oh maybe a week or two, perhaps less, depending how things go, you know…”

 

“What kind of business?” she removed her glasses and he noticed that her eyes were quite strikingly blue. Something that lifted her features somewhat …

 

“Tailor.” he replied quickly and turned his attention to his coffee. He didn’t touch the cookies, he had a feeling that she would notice every crumb that fell on his clothing, that he would have to brush off, but brush off where…he was sure she would disapprove if he just left them on the carpet.

 

He glanced over at her, and caught her staring at him, not with disapproval, but with curiosity. He nodded in an amicable fashion, cleared his throat

 

“Are you a resident here, Ma’am.” he asked politely enough

 

“I’m the librarian, Miss Tyndale….” she paused, “I am waiting on a friend…”

 

He smiled, but his eyes were unsmiling, he drank more coffee and was about to speak when another woman entered the room, smiled widely and said “Oh Amelia sorry to be so late….”

 

Mr Cotter decided he would be better off getting to his room, and getting down to the work he had planned to do ..check his notes, amend them, see what next to do.

 

A young man was talking to Miss Whitmore in the foyer, and Cotter looked at him quickly, a swift appraisal…young, handsome and wearing a Deputy’s badge. He nodded as he passed, and Ethan did likewise, the resumed his conversation with his landlady.

In his room Cotter removed his outer jacket and vest, he took the chair and sunk his ample posterior into the cushion and then opened his port folio. He had a system, very neat, all set out in cards…steps to take, 1 to 10. He had notes on them all…but now he picked up No 6…it was simply entitled “The sea Captain….”

 

Chapter 11

The clang of metal upon metal coming from the stables caused the three children to stop their play. With a whoop and a holler the two boys turned in mid-spin and ran towards the sound while the little girl just ran to the house.

 

Although Erik and Nathaniel were well used to the farrier work that their fathers carried out on the ranch, it was still somewhat of a novelty. Better entertainment to go and watch, perhaps be allowed to work the bellows or talk to the horses or just perch on the upper rung of the rails that formed the stalls where the horses would be eating their heads off. As Ben would grumble “You’d think they were all hay burners the amount they eat….”

 

Hope was disinclined to follow the boys, better to go inside and sit with Aunt Olivia and let her Aunt teach her how to knit, using all the lovely coloured skeins of wool that were always in her work basket.

 

The boys feet scampered over the yard, kicking up dust as they went for the ground was hard packed due to lack of rain. They stood framed by the open door of the stable to watch as Adam wielded the hammer, bringing it down upon the glowing red hot metal with the regular beats of a metronome.

 

He looked over at the two boys and nodded, warned them to keep their distance and then continued with his work. Sport had a loose shoe and required attention…it was a work that left him room to think, to go over his discussion with Olivia, not that it had been much of a discussion, but enough to give him cause to meditate on what to do as the family head…his family, not the entire Cartwright clan, he was not responsible for any decisions Joe or Hoss, even Ben, would make in connection to the cattle station.

 

“Be careful…just stay away from the fire…Nathaniel, stay right there or go inside…” he frowned as he noticed his son slowly inching in closer towards the red hot charcoal.

 

Now he used the tongs to move the horse shoe through the charcoal, once it became red hot he took the shoe to the anvil, and began bringing down the hammer. The two boys inched closer, he paused, looked at them both and frowned…

 

Up they scampered onto the top rung of the railings, and watched as Adam plunged the red hot shoe into the water, then back to the anvil, more banging and clanging until he was satisfied that the shoe would fit. Sport was led over and his rear left leg raised, now the shoe was placed upon the hoof, and the sizzling of red hot metal as it contacted hair and skin sent a smell floating up with the small cloud of smoke and the boys nudged one another and grinned for some reason known only to themselves thinking it a great event.

 

Sport turned his big head towards them and stared with his liquid brown eyes, nodded as though he too thought the same, then patiently waited as Adam hammered in the nails ..once finished he let the horse stand, and led him back to his stall.

 

Every horse in the stable had been checked to ensure they were shod well, their hoofs were cleaned and frogs scraped of hard impacted dirt. By the time Adam had finished his task the boys had vanished, bored with watching, itching to get out and down to play.

……………….

 

Miss Tyndale listened to her companion chattering as they drank tea and nibbled seed cake at Mrs Albierno’s establishment. It was an ideal place for ladies to share time and refreshments together and on this particular day Miss Tyndale was more than pleased to have closed the library for the afternoon and taken time to meet Mrs Lonsdale who, being a widow, now stayed at Portia’s B&B. Despite the cookies and coffee they had enjoyed there, it was always a treat to take time out at Mrs Albierno’s.

 

Amelia Tyndale listened and as often happened she only half heard what was being said, she was too occupied with her own thoughts. After a while, when Mrs Lonsdale had fallen silent, she said

 

“That man, the new resident at your lodgings….”

 

“Oh yes? I didn’t see him…”

“No he was leaving as you entered the room…”

 

“What about him? Is he young and handsome ?” and she laughed a little, Miss Tynedale thought that had Miss Austen been writing this conversation down then she would have referred to it as “a titter”..she shook her head, and sighed

 

“No, he is neither. In fact, I did not like him, not one bit….”

 

“Oh well, then…” Mrs Lonsdale frowned “What was the matter with him? Two heads or something..”

“Or something!” Amelia replied with a firm nod of the head and she leaned forward as though drawing Mrs Lonsdale into some conspiracy “Two heads would be a good description, or perhaps better to say, two faces….he says he is a tailor, but I don’t believe that for a minute…”

 

“Oh, what’s wrong with being a tailor?”

 

“Nothing if it were true.”

 

“How do you know it is not….”

 

“Because – he couldn’t look me in the eyes when he said so, and he was looking over my left shoulder, that, my dear Mrs Lonsdale, is the true sign of a liar…” she raised her cup to her lips and drifted into serious thought before she lowered the cup back onto its saucer “The Greeks had a word for someone who was two faced – .hypocrite…it described the actors who performed having to wear masks, you know. And he – that man- was wearing a mask. No, I didn’t like him”

 

Mrs Lonsdale looked at her friend and sighed, too much reading that’s what it was, far too much reading. She nibbled some more cake

 

“Have you been reading more Wilkie Collins, Amelia?”

 

“I was re-reading The Moonstone…” Miss Tyndale replied in a voice that signified that she had drifted into some kind of day dream, lost with her characters from all those books, and she had enjoyed Wilkie Collins novels…

 

“I think you should stop reading them, dear. You are looking at people too severely, too judgementally…they are not characters in a book with – with murder in mind!”

Amelia looked at Mrs Lonsdale and sighed again….how many, she thought, how many people walking the streets of this city do precisely that, have murder in mind… but she said nothing, picked up more cake and stared out of the window.

,,,,,,,,,,

Mr Cotter strolled back out of the Boarding House and stood for a moment with his thumbs struck through the pockets of his vest, rocking slightly back and forth on the heels of his very shiny shoes.

He watched as pedestrians walked by, buggies, wagons, and the occasional barouche weaved in and out along the main street. He looked at their faces, noticed the hard lines on the faces of some who had obviously worked hard for little reward, he noticed the care worn faces of women who had aged faster than they ever thought possible due to the children they had borne and the misery of eking out a living…and he noticed also those plump of face who strolled along with a spring to their step, a sparkle in their eyes because so far life had been good for them

 

He noticed a building as he strolled along simply because the woman who was closing the door and taking care to lock it was rather eye catching. In what way was this? She was tall, angular of build, not a beauty that was for sure, but she now strode towards her buggy with a confident spring t her step, and a slight smile to her face, and beneath her bonnet curls sprung as though they had a life of their own, copper gold hair that caught the sun and shed hair pins.

 

He followed her with his eyes and took note of how she boarded the vehicle, and confidently picked up the reins, chivvied the horse to move and within minutes was driving past him. He had instinctively removed his hat but she did not notice him, her mind elsewhere…some pleasant place one would assume from the smile on her face.

 

Daniel deQuille was approaching and paused in his step, the last person he wanted to meet was this wretched Private Investigator. But it was too late, Cotter had spied him and nodded, then asked as the journalist drew level with him “Who was that lady who just drove off from that building…the woman with the red hair?”

 

deQuille sighed, nodded “That was – is – Hester Cartwright.”

 

“Cartwright? I’ve heard that name before…”

 

“You would not be much of a detective if you had not been here five minutes without hearing the name, Mr Cotter. The Cartwrights own the biggest spread in Nevada…the Ponderosa.”

 

Cotter nodded, the Ponderosa…yes of course he had heard of them, had read about them in fact. He frowned “And what’s that building used for?”

 

“Its the Virginia City Hospice…charity Mr Cotter…we have more than enough poor and needy here in this prosperous town of ours.”

 

“Ah, free soup and cast offs…” Cotter grimaced

 

“If you say so….” deQuille murmured and continued onwards.

 

“One moment more of your time….please.” Cotter waited for deQuille to turn back to him and smiled “Do you know anyone by the name of Harding….Captain Lewis Harding?”

 

deQuille frowned, shook his head and tried to scramble about in his brain for a face to put to the name to the memory but nothing came to the surface “Sorry, no ….”

 

“He captained a ship in San Francisco some years ago….well, actually for some years before he was – ummm – removed.”

 

“Again..sorry…I never heard from or about him.”

 

Cotter nodded. DeQuille turned and now made haste to reach the safety of his office. He would have to do some more research, get in touch with some of his contacts in San Francisco, He knew there was a story here, perhaps a big one, but he had a feeling that certain loyalties would come into play which would mean someone else could get the scoop.

 

The Moonstone…Originally publishedAugust 1, 1868

AuthorWilkie Collins

 

Chapter 12

Mr Cyrus Cotter tried to open his eyes but they seemed to be glued firmly together. His body ached in numerous places and he was afraid to lift his head as everything seemed to be clanging from one side to the next. Sounds around him were muted, seemingly coming from a long way off. He heard footsteps, muffled, apparently approaching him and for some reason he flinched, cringing back as though to avoid a blow to the body.

 

Nothing happened however and he relaxed a little. Took several long deep breaths and tried once more to open his eyes. The mattress upon which he lay was smelling musty, not pleasant. It crossed his mind to complain to Miss Portia Whatever her name was about the standard of her

Boarding Rooms. He groaned as he tried to sit up but had to flop back down again, releasing air pockets of stale smells from the bedding.

 

Finally he succeeded in opening his eyes and found himself staring up at a stained ceiling, pock marked, unpleasantly close to his face. For some while he just remained on his back staring up at the yellowing plaster above him., Then he struggled to remember exactly what had happened…

 

Footsteps again and the smell of coffee drifted towards him. He closed his eyes trying to snatch and put together the pieces of memory that were floating into his brain.

 

“Awake now are we?”

He turned to hear the grating of a key in a lock, the sound of a door swinging open on well oiled hinges. Ethan Burns stepped into the cell and nodded at him, then handed him a mug of coffee, steam rising from it and carrying the bitter aroma to the man’s nostrils.

 

“What happened to me? Why am I here? Have I been arrested?”

 

Cotter swung his legs over the side of the bed and cradled the mug of coffee against his chest. He sighed and shook his head, winced at the pain, then looked up at Ethan who was leaning against the wall opposite him

 

“Well? Explain?” Cotter snapped, and then began to drink the coffee. He didn’t realise how thirsty he was, he could not understand why his hand was shaking, but he drained the cup dry and sighed “Thank you for that…what happened? Why am I here?”

 

“Can’t you remember anything?” Ethan asked as he folded his arms across his chest and observed the other man with narrowed eyes, preparing to fill in any blanks if necessary to the man’s statement

 

“Had supper at the Boarding House.” Cotter said slowly, the memory of sitting at the table with several other people floating towards him “Then I went for a stroll around town. Visited one of your rather expensive saloons….Sazarac if I recall rightly.” he paused and hauled in a deep breath, pain trickled through his head, he raised a hand to his face and touched around his eye, felt puffiness and pain as a result. That, he thought, explained why his vision was not 20/20…

 

Ethan nodded, raised his eyebrows and waited. Cotter looked into the empty cup and then looked up at Ethan “Any chance of a refill, it may help my memory …”

 

Moments later Ethan was back leaning against the wall while Cotter enjoyed his second mug of coffee. He waited patiently until Cotter had emptied that and sat, cradling the empty mug.

 

“So what happened at the Sazarac, Mr Cotter…remember anything yet?”

 

“Is there any breakfast being provided? Only I really am hungry….”

 

“Just tell us what happened, Mr Cotter, then you can go your merry way and eat to your hearts content.”

 

“I was drinking, whiskey…Mr deQuille came and joined me, he was drinking…lemonade??” he sighed and shook his head “No doubt some problem there, Deputy…” he paused “I had asked him about some people I thought may have been here in town…and he was telling me that there was no one by the names I had given him so perhaps it would be a good idea to go elsewhere. Anyway, he went off taking his lemonade with him…then a young lady came and sat down with me. Charming girl.”

 

Another pause, he sighed, put his hand to his face again and winced. Ethan relaxed his shoulders and waited. After considering the young lady for some moments Cotter shrugged “Anyway, she asked me what I was doing there, how long I would be in town and all that sort of thing…I knew she was not really interested in me…I know that game well enough but I did need information and in her business she would be more likely to know than most.”

 

“And did she know ..whoever it was you were looking for?”

 

“She said she didn’t …said she would ask around for me. Then she went….I had another whiskey.”

 

“Did she come back?”

 

“No!”

 

“So what happened next?”

 

Cotter said nothing as he tried to gather up the pieces of his fragmented memory, then he sighed and said “Well, a man came to the table and said to go with him as he had information about one of the men I was enquiring about…so I went with him…” he shrugged, grimaced “can’t recall much else. We walked down an alley and next thing I wake up in here.”

 

Ethan nodded “I found you in one of the alleys, you’ve had a good beating, but I got a Doctor in to check you over. He said you’d survive, but there would be a lot of bruises. No bones broken so you can take it that this was just a warning. Can you remember what the man looked like? A description of the woman?”

 

Cotter frowned, then looked anxious as he began to pat himself down, feeling his pockets, and checking that his belongings were still where he could recall putting them

 

“They didn’t steal anything…” he muttered, “Most unusual…I’d have thought..” he paused and looked up at Ethan “Well, that’s interesting.”

 

“Yes, it is, it means whoever you were enquiring about gave you a warning to stop and to mind your own business.” he leaned forward, “In fact, what business are you in really, Mr Cotter? You aren’t really a tailor, are you?”

 

Cotter said nothing, frowned and got to his feet., staggered a little and fell back onto the mattress

 

“Look, Mr Cotter, you were given a good beating, may be a good idea to check back with a Doctor to make sure you have not a concussion.”

 

“Yes, I’ll do that.” Cotter said quietly,

 

“And if you don’t mind, Mr Cotter…describe the man who approached you and tell me exactly who you are and who you are looking for…” he paused “It may help you in more ways than one if you came clean about all this!”

 

Cotter shrugged and stood up, swayed a little and shook his head “I’m afraid not, Deputy, I am not at liberty to say anything.”

 

“Even after being beaten just for enquiring about some man….”

 

“Obviously not just some man, Deputy…” Cotter grimaced again, shrugged again, “Now then, if you don’t mind, I need sustenance….thank you for the coffee.”

 

Ethan shook his head now, and leaned forward, not threateningly but far enough to make Cotter stand still for a moment “Mr Cotter ..it seems to me you have forgotten something”

 

“What exactly?”

 

“Well, you still do not know this man….but he sure does know you…and he knows you’re out looking for him.”

 

Cotter paused a second, then pushed Ethan to one side and as quickly as he could scuttle, stumbled out of the cell, out of the building and into the early morning sun.

……………

 

Candy rode into the yard of the Ponderosa and dismounted slowly. The three saddled mounts nodding over the hitching rail indicated that the Cartwright brothers were already in the house, so he flicked the reins over and walked quickly to the house, where the door opened and Hester smiled at him, Erik ran out followed by Hope.

“Good morning, Hester” he removed his hat and stepped into the house.

 

She watched as he walked towards where the four Cartwrights were standing close together carefully scrutinising a map that was spread out over the desk. She liked Candy, always had, and as he walked towards the other men she noticed for the first time the slight stoop of the shoulders, the silver threads glinting among the thick black hair. She sighed, well, even Candy was showing signs of age, hard to believe…harder still to accept.

 

The sun slanted golden shards into the room, from outside came the shouts and laughter of the children. Hannah had left for school not so long ago, the wagon would have passed Candy as it trundled its way from Adam’s towards where Candy lived, so that Rosie could be picked up and taken to school. She didn’t like to think of little Hope going to school ..she still seemed so little and fragile, and town was such a long distance to travel.

 

Adam nodded a greeting to Candy and then returned to look at the map. Ben was tapping some location on it with his thick calloused finger, obviously in mid sentence and voicing his opinion. Candy murmured his good morning to them all and edged closer to Adam’s side.

 

The map was criss crossed with lines and marks, bearing the evidence of being often referred to over the years. Candy leaned closer. Ben resumed his monologue, declaring the site he preferred and that he recommended they checked out first and foremost.

 

“It’s closer to town, and further from the Malahides … I still have reservations about that woman…everything that went on there, that she was a party to even if you want to pretend she was ignorant of it.” he glared at Adam as though accusing him that a pretty face had turned him away from pursuing justice.

 

Adam just shrugged and pointed to another location as though to brush off his father’s comment as irrelevant. “This site is closer to town and also closer to the meadow. “

“I think Pa’s would be preferable, “ Joe piped up, although he did not look up to catch his father’s eye, “I like that it’s closest to town….”

 

“Aiming to move there then, are you?” Hoss murmured, a slight, just the slightest, note of wondering if his brother and Mary Ann were actually going to become the Site Manager of the new Ponderosa cattle station.

Joe said nothing and Candy eased his shoulders and wondered about speaking up and voicing his own interest in that position. But some instinct bade him to keep silent as he watched Ben decisively roll the map up. Best to see the three sites and then put in his dimes worth he thought, which was, in the circumstances the best thing for all concerned.

 

“Well, I guess it’s time to get those cattle moving….” Ben said knowing full well that he did not have to move an inch from the front porch, and could enjoy a cup of coffee before getting down to some paper work. There was always paper work after all …ledgers and so forth…

 

“Thought you’d never get round to it, Pa.” Joe quipped and nudged Ben playfully as he passed him.

 

“Coming along with us then, Pa.” Hoss grinned as he picked up his hat and then turned before Ben could answer to call to his children “Erik….Hope. .. I’m leavin’ now, come give me a hug.”

 

Squeals and shrieks accompanied that summons as the two children ran indoors to throw their arms around their Pa’s legs. He leaned down and scooped each one up in his arms, and hugged them tightly against his chest, then he turned to Hester who had come to kiss him, and slip her arm through his…making sure the children were not squeezed too tightly.

 

“Shucks sure am going to miss you…” Hoss muttered and kissed her as he let the children slip from his arms while he put his around her waist.

 

“Well, it wont be as long as usual….” she said quietly, and sighed as she stepped back to let him pass.

 

 

It would not take much time at all, not to drive the cattle to the meadow, let them graze a day or two and then take them on to the cattle trucks and see them taken off to their various destinations. Several of their men would go with the cattle, travelling through the country that at one time had known only Indians, and then the huge cattle herds on the spring round up to market which took weeks out of their lives, and sometimes, even took lives.

 

This was the first time with this new enterprise, if it failed then it would be back to the arduous task of driving the cattle across country for weeks, fording rivers, risking stampedes…adding days to the journey when a new town was found to have sprung up where a town had not existed before…it was a gamble but it had worked for the Malahides and the Cartwrights could see no reason why it would not work out for them.

Chapter 13

 

Adam Cartwright stood and watched the three horsemen trot out of the yard and disappear onto the upper track. He watched even when they had gone out of sight knowing that in a moment they would ride past his house and then down onto the flatter area where the cattle awaited to be driven on to their new pasturage

 

He bowed his head, his brow creased in thought before turning back to the house where Ben waited for him to draw up a new contract for timber…he sighed again, and wished he were riding with his brothers and Candy, seeking out the new sites, arguing over the benefits of one above the other, seeing the cattle on the meadow before they were taken on to the cattle trucks. It was all new, a change, and he resented not being there sharing it.

 

Ben was about to sit down in his old Captains chair as Adam stepped into the room and brought up a chair to the desk so that he would be facing his father. He nodded, and received an answering nod from Ben, who sat down, and then looked at him anxiously

 

“You think I was unfair about Mrs Malahide?” Ben said quietly as he picked up a pen and dipped it into the inkwell.

 

Adam raised his eyebrows and shrugged, he had totally forgotten Ben’s comments about the woman, he had been too busy thinking thoughts of his own about the new project. He cleared his throat, “Well, you have a right to your opinion, Pa.”

 

“She stood aside while you could have been killed….while our men were being killed…” Ben spoke quietly, stating facts, but in a calm manner in order not to provoke an argument.

 

“She had lost the man she loved, was expecting his child, and was terrified of her husband and his accomplice….she was in a fight of her own, had been, for months…” Adam pulled out paper, picked up a pen, put it down in order to pick up the letter from their prospective customer.

 

Ben opened his mouth to say something more when a little body ran into view, and launched himself at Adam. The little boy was up and into his Uncle’s lap before Adam even had time to put down the letter he had been reading..

 

“Uncle Adam….”

“Erik Cartwright….” Adam replied in a similar tone of voice so that the boy’s face creased in to smiles and the blue eyes, so like Hesters, twinkled as he looked up into his Uncle’s face.

 

“Where’s Nathaniel…..?”

 

“At home, with his Mom.”

 

“Why isn’t he here…we want him here to play with us…” Erik wrapped his arms around his Uncle’s neck, thankfully he was not built like Hoss, so it was a gentle kindly embrace

 

“I daresay, but …”

 

“Can you go git him.”

“Later perhaps….”

 

He glanced down as someone tugged at his pants, and smiled at Hope who was standing now, demanding attention “Can’t you go git im now?”

 

“I have work to do, perhaps later…” Adam replied with a smile for the look of disappointment on his niece’s face reminded him of just how close she and Nathaniel were, closer than real brother and sister. He swung Erik down so that the boy was standing next to his sister, who was frowning now and had her hands on her hips as though about to launch into giving her Uncle a scolding. “I promise, I will go get him later….”

 

Hester appeared now, a tray of coffee, sugar and everything needed to refresh them even though they had yet to start on their work. She placed the tray on the desk, disrupting Ben’s ledgers and receiving an impatient sigh from him as a result “Now then, you two, get ready …we have to go into town, hurry now, hurry….”

 

“Don’t want to..” Hope pouted and leaned against Adam’s leg as though expecting him to come to her defence

 

“Nor me too…” Erik puffed out his chest in protest and pouted but Hester only laughed and leaned down to pick him up and swing him in the air

 

“Adam, what are Olivia’s plans for today, do you know?”

 

“She was in the dairy when I left, making butter….”

 

“And Nathaniel…”

 

“Somewhere….” the doting father replied vaguely

 

“I’ll go collect him and take him with us into town, will that be alright?”

 

“If it’s alright with Livvy…” he smiled, caught her eye and frowned “What? Something on your mind?”

 

She said nothing, but busied herself pouring coffee and milk, while the children ran around the room. Ben was engrossed in his ledgers, so again she caught her brother in laws eyes and nodded.

 

Adam got to his feet and stretched, took the cup of coffee from her and followed her to the door which stood open, the two children ran ahead, the buggy was already being prepared by Hank and for a second or two of silence they watched him, listened to the children calling out “Hi Hank..” in their shrill voices.

 

“Adam, about the cattle station….”

 

“Ah, yes…” he swallowed some coffee and cleared his throat.,,he told himself that with change there was always stumbling blocks along the way, he nodded to encourage her to continue.

 

“Hoss and I were talking about it …”

 

“Well, yes…” he paused and looked at her flushed cheeks, “Olivia and I have as well…”

 

“Look, Adam..” she placed a hand on his arm, conciliatory, then sighed “We can’t leave here, this is our home, Hoss is tied to it, he – he can’t leave ..” she paused “I can’t ..bear the thought … !”

 

Adam nodded “It’s alright, Hester, I quite understand…”

 

Her shoulders slumped with relief, “I was worried, I thought for sure .” but she had reason to say no more for he placed a hand now on her arm “I’m sorry…”

 

“Don’t be, Hester, don’t be sorry … and thank you for letting me know.”

 

She leaned forward and kissed him gently on the cheek and then turned, hurried down to catch her children and swing them up into the buggy. Again, for a moment or two, Adam stood there and watched, cup and saucer in hand, his eyes followed the buggy as it made its way slowly out of the Yard. He turned and nearly collided with Hop Sing who nodded

 

“Many changes …time too short…” his old friend said and there was a sigh in his voice too.

,,,,,,,,,,

The three horsemen were joined en route by several cow hands as they rode on to where the cattle awaited them. The smell and sounds drifted towards them before they caught sight of the heaving mass of bone and flesh contained within taut gleaming hides. They drew in their horses and from the top of a bluff looked down at the herd. Hoss and Joe exchanged a satisfied grin between them and nodded in mutual silent agreement.

 

The herd was pure prime beef. They had eaten well and fattened plenty. Now they could be expected to fetch top dollar at the markets. Candy inched his horse forward and looked down

 

“They look good…couldn’t be any better anywhere in the territory.”

 

The other men agreed and then nudged their horses to move down towards the heaving cattle, the sound of the cow hands circling the herd, waving lariats, yipping and calling, indicated that they were ready to move out, it just needed a signal from the trail boss. Hoss raised a hand and yelled

 

“Move ’em out….”

 

All the men now pushed their horses forward, old Sam followed in their wake with the chow wagon. It may be a far shorter trip than usual but men still needed their coffee, their food , along the way. The excitement of the cattle run was like electric coursing through their veins, an excitement that would not last long once the herd picked up its pace and the smell and dust mantled them like a suffocating blanket.

Joe and Candy split up, one riding on the left flank of the herd and the other on the right, Hoss rode ahead in front to lead the herd out, later Joe would ride alongside him as ramrod, leaving the men to take his place. Several cow hands rode to the rear where they were better able to pick out the mavericks, or the slower paced and encourage them to pick up their speed and work along with the herd.

 

The noise, the smell and the dust seemed to swell, reaching a cacophony of sound and sensations. In the front of them, Hoss felt pride swell in his heart, and the thought that they were leading the cattle out to the meadow he and Adam had found caused him to wonder just how many other areas on the Ponderosa were as beautiful. As he jogged along with his eyes on the horizon, he wondered if he would ever find the time to explore every part of their land..it was just awesome.

………………….

 

Behind the facade of many of the saloons in Virginia were stairs that led to other doors that would lead to less pleasant lines of business. Stairs led to rooms that provided some form of privacy for the women who plied their trade to the lonely, the miserable, the men who claimed their wives did not understand them. The Sazarac accommodated such a business and the man in charge of his particular ‘corral’ of girls was a man called Drew Coltrane.

 

He was a wealthy man, and his money came from preying on the weak and vulnerable, from exploiting the corrupt and the greed in the townsmen of Virginia City. To the less aware he was a man who kept himself to himself, seemed to be well connected to most the bis names in town, and often escorted the prettiest women to the more expensive restaurants and theatres in town. He was not often seen during the day, most of his dealings was at night.

 

The hammering on the door to his private apartment at the back of the Sazarac roused him from his bed. He pulled on a burgundy silk dressing gown and was still tying the belt around his waist when he opened the door to two law men…Sheriff Nate Carney and Deputy Ethan Burns.

He glared at them stonily, cold eyes flicking from one man to the other and would most likely have closed the door had not Carney put his foot in the way preventing him from doing so.

 

He hauled in a deep breath and nodded, stood aside to admit them and closed the door.

 

“Gentlemen, to what do I owe the pleasure…..” he had a deep voice, it seemed to come from the depths of his barrel chest.

 

“Just a few questions…” Nate said quietly, his eyes scanning the room in which they stood, before coming to rest on the man’s face “A man was found badly beaten in the alley by your premises…” he paused noting the total indifference this statement made “He claimed to have been approached by one of your girls…”

 

“One of my girls…are you sure? What manner of man was he? “

 

“Just a visitor to town…”

 

“And which girl was this?” Drew smiled slowly, his tone of voice contemptuous

 

“She did not give a name…but he described her, I am sure he would be able to pick her out if we were to bring him here.”

 

“So what are you implying, that one of my girls approached this visitor and then beat him up in the alley? He isn’t dead is he?”

 

“No, thankfully.”

 

“Then what exactly is the matter, Sheriff? Men get drunk, they roll out of here and then they get beaten up by other drunks, or by some chancer thinking there was still money in the wretched man’s pockets…what has that to do with me?”

 

Nate nodded as though he had expected to hear words to that effect. This had not been the first time he had come here for similar reasons, and it was true, men got drunk, things happened…but just this once there seemed to be just that much more to the story. He leaned forward closer to the other man

 

“It seems this visitor was asking questions about someone …”

 

Drew shrugged “That happens a lot. People want to meet up with old friends, been said more than once that the whole world has travelled through this town now….perhaps that was what he was doing, just wanting to meet up with an old friend.”

 

“I suppose you’ll tell me next that the old friend did not want to meet up with him and beat him up, is that it?”

 

“Look, sheriff, I appreciate the care and dedication in which you perform your duties but coming here on these obscure charges is carrying it a bit far, do you not think?”

 

“What does the name Lewis Hartley mean to you, Mr Coltrane? Just one more detail…” Nate held up one finger “Captain Lewis Hartley.”

 

Ethan had not picked up the slight widening of the eyes, the way the pupils had dilated at the mention of the name, but Nate had. . .. he leaned forward once again “Any information you have on him ..Mr Coltrane …I would be more than pleased to know.”

 

Drew Coltrane flexed his shoulders, drew himself up straighter and stared the sheriff directly in the eyes. He shook his head “I don’t know the name…”

 

Nate stepped back and his eyes swept over the man, from head to toe, then nodded.

 

“You were a seaman once, were you not, Mr Hartley?”

 

“Why’d you think that….”

 

“You walk like a man who had been at sea for a long time, and you have a tattoo …familiar to seamen… it’s more than likely you knew this sea Captain at one time, also possible that you would not want anyone to know about that… “ he paused and stepped back a pace “Perhaps our visitor got a warning not to look more closely for this Lewis Hartley…sea captain…” he nodded “What do you think?”

 

“I think you’re whistling in the wind…that’s what I think.” he shrugged then pulled open the door “Now ..if you don’t mind …I have a business to run.”

…………..

 

Ethan and Nate stepped out onto the pavement and walked slowly back towards the Sheriff’s Office and Jail house. The feet beat a staccato on the planking,

 

“Sheriff, how did you know Mr Coltrane had been at sea….?”

 

“Oh another sea man pointed it out to me…so I paid particular attention to the man for myself…”

 

“Does he have a history?”

 

“Everyone in Virginia City has a story, Ethan…” he paused “Even you….”

 

Ethan bit down on his bottom lip, deQuille had intimated much the same only the previous day. He sighed..”So what’s Coltrane’s?”

“Came to town not so very many years ago in fact….got into a poker game that lasted four days, one of those that only the most obsessed gamblers sit down to…food brought to the table, no one leaves on pain of death …big stakes, whole lotta gold piled up on that table….”

 

“And he won?”

 

“He won “ Nate frowned, “Talk was of threats etc but then there always is talk after such an event, folk ignore it as losers whinging …but … “

 

“But?”

 

“Suddenly he owns the Sazarac, he brings in a bevy of girls…”

 

“And you can’t wait to bust him?”

 

“No, I can’t… long for the day…he just has a smell about him…gets under my skin…” Nate scowled, and released his breath “I sure hoped that I could nail him this time.”

Ethan nodded, glanced over his shoulder at the imposing saloon and said “Not much you could charge him with, a drunk being beaten up on his doorstep….”

 

“True…but it gives me something that could lead back to him, something bigger.” he looked up and then across the street, he nodded “Let’s go and see how Mr Cotter’s head is now?”

 

Chapter 14

 

The gentle tapping on the door echoed through Cotter’s head and seemed to bounce around for some while before he finally opened his eyes. One eye actually, the other was swollen too much for it to open and he groaned as he tried to get from the bed to his feet so that he would be standing by the time the door opened.

 

He wished now he had stayed in the cell and had accepted the invitation to have a Doctor attend to him because he was feeling decidedly frail. He put a hand out to steady himself as he took a step towards the door while saying in a voice that did not quite sound like himself “Coming …just coming.”

 

The door opened anyway, and he paused as Portia stood within its frame…she looked at him and sighed, and was about to speak when the two men behind her moved forward, so that she was eclipsed from Cotters view. Nate and Ethan stepped into the room, the Deputy smiled and murmured something to Portia and then closed the door behind him. He then turned to face Cotter taking his position alongside Nate

 

“Mr Cotter, would you like to sit down before you fall down?” Nate suggested and waited for the man to slowly sink down onto the chair provided “And would you like my Deputy to go and fetch a Doctor?”

 

Cotter shook his head, waved his hand as though to stop the sheriff from fussing. But he did feel ill, feverish, and he was sure something was broken inside. Ethan cleared his throat “I’ll go and ask Mrs Whitmore to get the Doctor …”

 

“Do that…” Nate nodded and stood aside for Ethan to leave the room

 

“I was feeling alright when I left the cells…” Cotter said, rubbing along his jawline as though surprised to find himself feeling so much worse than when he had seen Nate earlier…

 

“That can happen after a beating…you rest and things settle for better …or worse.”

 

Cotter sighed and was about to speak when the door re-opened and Ethan stepped inside the room, nodded at Nate and then waited for the conversation to continue.

 

“So – Mr Cotter – I take it that is your real name?”

“Of course,” he frowned “Why should I lie?”

 

“Why indeed! And you are a tailor?”

 

“Er – sometimes….and sometimes I’m a Private Investigator.”

 

Silence, both the law men sighed in unison, and Cotter slumped further in the chair. “I don’t like to upset the ladies, so I tell them I’m a tailor. Ladies have such sensitive imaginations …” he paused and looked at the Sheriff who nodded.

 

“Mr Cotter, this sea Captain you find of such interest…may we enquire as to why?”

 

“Why ? Well, let me see…it’s possible that is not his real name of course, the last time anyone heard about him that was the name he gave..or rather the name on his records.”

 

“Lewis Hartley. A sea Captain? Commerical or Naval?”

“What?” Cotter blinked rather rapidly, as though he had to clear away cobwebs in his head to supply the facts required by the sheriff, he nodded “Yes, he was not in the Navy, he was Captain of a ship that plied its trade between America and Europe. A passenger ship by and large…back in the day it was a slaver….got a bad history …” he paused again “The ship and the Captain if you understand my meaning.”

 

“And this Captain Hartley – is he in town here, is that the reason you’re here – investigating?” the slight sneer in Nate’s voice made Cotter cringe, he coughed and cleared his throat, put a hand to his head which was still pounding. “Well, Mr Cotter…just take your time, but today would be better if you don’t mind?”

 

“I don’t know to be honest.” Cotter frowned. “That’s why I was asking around, and probably -” he paused and frowned as best he could “Probably I would say that he is, whether dead or alive, I don’t know, but I think Mr Coltrane would know…”

 

“Let me get this story right….” Nate paused “You went to the saloon and asked about Lewis Hartley.A girl came and showed interest and said she would see what she could find out and then what happened? She took you to see Coltrane?”

 

“No, a man came and told me to follow him…”

 

“Which you did?”

 

“I did.” he paused “But he was not Hartley, he was just some thug and he said he would take me to see someone, but he didn’t say it was Hartley and I never did get to see Mr Coltrane. The fact that I got beaten up just for enquiring about one man seems to indicate that Mr Coltrane would know him though, wouldn’t it?”

 

“Not necessarily,” Nate replied coolly although he was quite sure of the fact, “Could be Mr Hartley, ex sea Captain may not like you enquiring about him. Mr Coltrane may not know anything about him. But – “ he leaned forward slightly, always rather unnerving as he was 6 ft 7ins and it was rather like having a shark leaning over and about to devour his latest victim “what else can you tell me about Drew Hartley? What makes him so interesting that he requires investigating by you?”

 

“I can’t really say…my employers want to keep things as much …you know…secret ..as possible.”

 

“And your employers are?”

 

Cotter shook his head, which caused him to wince as his brain seemed to rattle from one side of his skull to the next. “I can’t really say….but Harley is just part of an on going investigation…I need to find several other people and so far I’ve not made any headway at all.” he frowned “I asked that Mr deQuille but he was no help whatsoever…”

 

“You asked him about Drew Hartley?”

 

“No. I mean…I think so…”

 

Nate glanced over at Ethan who raised his eyebrows but kept quiet. “Mr Cotter, as the law in this town it may help you if you involved us in your investigation. We may be able to find this sea captain of yours and all the others you are looking for so that you can tidy up all the threads of your investigation and let your employers know …before you leave town.”

“They didn’t want the law involved” Cotter drew in a deep breath and raised his hands, flapped them about a little “They arn’t guilty of anything wrong. They just want to find …someone.”

 

Ethan smiled slowly “Just how many someone’s…”

 

“Just one…but the others are kind of attached if you know what I mean.” Cotter closed his one good eye and leaned against the chair back “I feel very unwell, Sheriff, could we continue this conversation another time.”

 

Nate was about to speak when there was a sharp rap on the door which was pushed open so quickly that it caught Ethan in the back and caused him to have to move sharply or fall over. Doctor Corby stepped inside and looked around “Ah, I presume you are the patient?” he said to Cotter as though he were the only person in the room beside himself.

 

Nate and Ethan took the hint and vacated the room.

…………………………….

 

Sofia was sick and tired of listening to Davy Riley bragging about his dog. She was also annoyed at the number of her friends who were also talking about the dog as though it had suddenly acquired community status. She watched as Reuben and the other members of the ‘gang’ encircled Davy and how others attached themselves to the small group. Surely, she thought to herself, some of them have dogs, cats, rabbits of their own, what made Riley’s so special!

 

Reuben had told her not to mention anything about the dog to their parents. That had annoyed her as well, because she was sure that Adam would have listened to her and agreed that a dog would be an ideal companion for everyone at the Ponderosa. Reuben disagreed, of course, but he also said that their Pa had a lot on his mind and that he was still recovering from getting injured a month or so back, and …very insightfully …he had added that Pa would no doubt be wanting to be on the cattle run with their Uncles and would be, well, rather grumpy.

 

That had annoyed Sofia as well. She knew that Joe had affectionately called her Pa ‘Old Granite Head’ but she had no idea why, and when Reuben had explained, in great detail, she had been even angrier. However, she had taken the hint and said nothing, so now, she had to sit there and watch, and listen, as Davy rattled on about this wretched dog.

Lilith came and sat down by her side on the wide steps of the school that led up to the building’s impressive front door. Sofia shuffled up a little to make more room for her friend. This was a rare treat, having Lilith come and sit with her, usually she was too busy studying, in the library or with some of the older girls.

“You don’t mind my coming to share with you, do you?” Lilith smiled

It struck Sofia for the first time that Lilith was changing…not just in her habits, like no longer sitting and sharing time together at lunch, but in her features, and way of talking. Lilith was becoming a young lady, her features were more definite, her hair more luxurious, and her figure …well, she had a figure now, she didn’t resemble a flat board any more.

Sofia swallowed, nodded and forced herself not to stare. Sometimes one saw a person so much that one never noticed changes, and then suddenly a moment comes when one does, and then everything seems to change. Sofia felt awkward, shy. She opened her lunch box and stared down at its contents…

“How are you, Sofia. I see you riding that lovely horse into town nowadays, you and Reuben make such a handsome pair together.” Lilith paused “I was sorry that your friend died, Virginia’s father…”

“Oh did you know Virginia?”

“No, she died before we moved here from Albany. Barbara told me about them though…”

Sofia nodded, so now Lilith called her Ma by her given name, Barbara. .. perhaps that was what happened as one got older although she could never imagine calling her Mother anything by Ma, or Mommy. Lilith bit into an apple, and stared into space for a moment, then smiled

“Davy can’t stop talking about that dog, can he?”

“No.”

“Have you seen it?”

“No.”

“It’s quite cute….but I prefer cats.”

Sofia looked at Lilith and nodded, yes, that fitted alright, Lilith looked like a girl who would like cats, perhaps she would grow up to become a famous lady Doctor with lots of cats at home. She looked down at her food and picked up some cake

“I like cats too.” she said quietly, “We have a cat but she stays in the barn, Pa says it’s best for her to stay there and catch the vermin. She had a litter a while ago…” she frowned and wondered what had happened to the three little kittens, Nathaniel had been fascinated by them, and kept bringing them into the house, one by one. “They were pretty.”

“I know. Your Ma brought one along for us…and Hester took one into the hospice, she said they had problems with rats there and a cat would help…” she chomped on the apple again, and frowned “It’s always sad when things change, isn’t it?”

She looked at Sofia then, and smiled, her eyes were kind and soft, and Sofia nodded, in this, she thought, Lilith was right. But some changes were harder to accept than others…and this, she knew, was a fact

Chapter 15

Golden sunlight beamed through the tall windows of the building in which Virginia City’s library contained hundreds of books. Shelf upon shelf of them standing side by side, jostling one another for space, spines erect, some with gold leaf writing proclaiming their titles, others with more modest themes

Miss Tyndale loved them all and each morning made sure none were in need of any repair, none were sloppily slipped in a haphazard manner on the shelves by her assistant, and that those books that had been returned were in good order. They were examined and dusted and then returned to their original place on her shelves before they had been handed over to her readers.

Her attention was diverted by the door opening and when Adam Cartwright strode into the room Miss Tyndale felt the familiar jolt run through her veins. Even this older version of the man with whom she had fallen in love with many years ago, still stirred her blood and made her heart beat faster.

Of course he had never looked in her direction as someone to have any relationship with, apart from a friendship borne of association and love for books. She accepted the fact that she was invisible, because her love was not selfish, she had been happy when he had returned from sea, happy when he had married and never thought for a moment that that joy could or should have been hers. Her love for him was pure, virginal.

“Good morning, Adam…” she smiled, and because it was him the smile twinkled in her eyes and flushed in her cheeks.

“Good morning, Amelia. “ he smiled back and dimples creased his lean cheeks, he placed four books on the counter “All well read. Thank you.”

She nodded, checked them off in the ledger while he waited patiently and then put them in a basket to be returned to the shelf in due course. She looked at him and waited,

“Can I browse?”

“Of course, you know you are always welcome.” she nodded, trying to sound prim.

By means of an excuse to be close to him, she picked up the books she had just placed in the basket and walked alongside him as though to find where they needed to be replaced. He lingered over the history section, then wandered to the poetry and she quickly apologised that there were no recent new editions coming in.

“Poetry seems to be suffering a demise just now..politics and history and romance are still very popular though.”

He nodded and sighed, then asked her what books she would recommend for children, he wanted Reuben and Sofia to enjoy the benefits of a library …and she smiled, nodded in agreement and led him to the aforementioned section. He leaned down to look at the titles

“Anything happening in town lately, Amelia?”

He pulled out two books both by Captain F Maryatt, Children of the New Forest* and Peter Simple**.

Miss Tyndale frowned slightly and nodded, this meant they had to draw closer to the window, out of the sight of others who may wander in, She looked out and observed the comings and goings of the public before looking at him.

“There is a man here, claiming to be a tailor but he is not. He wanders about asking questions…”

“As many do…” he said quietly, a slight frown on his brow creasing the darkly tanned skin as he did so

“Yes, but he got beaten up last evening, left under the back stairs of the Sazarac after some of his questions upset the person about whom he was enquiring…” now she frowned “Actually, he has been asking questions about two persons…”

He nodded, knowing there was no point in rushing her, she had to follow the threads of her memory and tie them together as neatly as she could, just like placing books in the right order of size on the shelves.

“And should either of these names cause me any concern?” he asked, lowering his voice and looking at her with his dark brown eyes probing in her face.

“Maybe…you know Drew Coltrane?

“Of course…no personal dealings with him, but I guess I know of him…”

“He was a sea Captain at one time…”

“So I understand…but I never came across him – possibly he was on a merchant ship. Taking cargo and passengers to various locations.”

Esme looked at him thoughtfully, then turned away from the window to adjust a book that was peeking out at a wrong angle.

“Perhaps you would know him by a different name…”

“Such as?”

“Lewis Harding.” she looked at him directly, as though the name should have been ringing alarm bells in his head but there was no indication of anything, no recollection of the name nothing at all.

“You mentioned that he was enquiring about two names….” Adam prompted carefully, glancing out of the window and noticing that Nate and Ethan were returning to their office. His eyes travelled as far as possible to where the Enterprise Office building just jutted out far enough to be seen.

“I heard this from Daniel deQuille …” Miss Tyndale paused “but don’t tell him I told you

Adam nodded and smiled, just briefly he wondered what connection Daniel would have with the librarian, but then they were both in the business of words, and that in itself led to other things.

“Go ahead….” he prompted once again.

“Does the name Connolly or O’Connell mean anything to you? Apparently this Cotter…”

“Cotter?”

“The so called tailor asking all the questions…”

“Sorry, go ahead…”

“He asked Daniel about a man called Connolly or O’Connell, an engineer….” she paused and looked at him before turning away and walking slowly back to the counter “Daniel wondered if he would have been employed in one of the mines …he couldn’t recall anyone living by that name now but so many mines have closed down during the past four or five years.”

Adam turned the books over and over in his hands as he pondered on what she was saying, when he realised she had come to a stop he nodded and put the books on the counter. Smiled slowly and thanked her

“I’ll think on what you have told me, Amelia…”

“I don’t want to be talking out of turn, Adam, but perhaps you should have a chat with Bridie …before he does.”

“Cotter you mean?” and when she nodded he collected up the books and thanked her, he bade her goodbye and left the building.

Miss Tyndale had a long memory. Because she enjoyed reading she devoured anything and everything that had print on it, and most of what she read stayed in her mind waiting for her to pluck the essential point as and when she needed it. It was not faultless, sometimes she made mistakes, but this time she was quite sure that what she had read years ago, coupled with things she had overheard here and there, stitched on to Daniels concerns made her think that this time she was right…of course there were facts missing, names not 100% lodged in her head, but … she closed down her thought processes and returned to her work.

……………….

Daniel deQuille had just stepped outside his office in order to enjoy his cigar when he noticed Adam leave t he library. He struck a match and got his cigar smoking well before tossing the match aside. Adam slipped two books into his saddle bag and then paused, glanced around and by chance met Daniel’s eyes. Both men nodded in acknowledgement of the other, but it was Adam who made the decision to cross the road and join the other man.

“Well, Daniel, any news that’s worth spending money on your rag today?” he grinned, eyes narrowed as he watched the other man draw in smoke and exhale it

“Depends on the kind of news you’re interested in.” Daniel put the cigar back into his mouth, he had a habit of keeping it in the corner of his mouth and rolling it to the other corner all the while puffing away at it.

“There’s a man pretending to be a tailor..”

“Ah him…yes, I saw the Sheriff and Deputy paying him a visit just now. Got beat up by Coltrane’s boys.”

“You know that for sure?”

“I have my sources….can’t name them of course.”

“What was the problem with him? The tailor I mean…”

“Usual problem when it comes to Coltrane, asking too many questions…he doesn’t like that.”

Adam glanced away, further down the street he could see the Sazarac, several girls were leaning over a balustrade jeering and cat calling some men who were drifting along the side walk.

“What do you know about Coltrane…someone said that was not his real name. Any ideas?”

“What does it matter to you, Adam. Unless you would know from your sea faring days, of course.” Daniel blew out a smoke ring, watched it drift away “Look, something is going on here and I don’t know what it is exactly, but I have an awful feeling it has something to do with your family.”

He pushed himself away from the post that supported the balcony above, and jerked his head towards the office “Let’s go inside…”

Adam followed deQuille down to the basement where the archives were kept and sat on the stool that the newspaperman indicated was available . Once Cartwright was seated deQuille began to slowly turn over issues of the paper until he paused at one, he nodded over to Adam…

“Remember this?”

Adam got up from the stool and approached the shelf upon which so many back issues of the paper rested. He followed the direction of Daniel’s ink stained finger and saw a picture of a bedraggled group of men emerging from a mine entrance…among them he recognised Hoss, on a makeshift stretcher and Joe….both looking as though they had fought a war.

He looked closer and read the caption, then the article and nodded “I remember this…” he said very quietly “The Bucksburn Mine….PatrickMcGarthy.”

Daniel nodded, “Best read it all…..”

For a while there was nothing to be heard except for a clock ticking away the time; Adam read and he remembered the horror of that cave in, the fear of loss ..his two brothers, he stopped reading and looked at Daniel. Questions, tendrils of memory, connections seemed to whirl about his head and he wished that he didn’t have to ask questions nor hear the answers, but he had to…

“A man was found dead in a tunnel, an old man…” he said quietly

“Yes, I wrote that up on the next edition….” Daniel folded over some pages and pointed to the account “Samuel Mayhew found dead …an old man, already wounded from a previous mine fall.”

Adam nodded “Yes, and his wife…”

“Matilda Mayhew.” Daniel folded back pages to a previous issue…the report of a mysterious death on the road to the Bucksburn Mine

 

“Mrs Matilda Mayhew’s body was found on the slip road to the Bucksburn Mine today by the foreman William Buckley. It would appear that upon returning to the mine from town, in the dark of night, Mrs Mayhews wagon wheel hit a glancing blow on a rock which caused the vehicle to overturn, crushing her body. She was already dead when Mr Buckley found her and the Doctor confirmed her death would have occurred sometime during the night hours.

 

Mrs Mayhew has a husband, Samuel who was recently severely injured in a mine collapse that saw several men injured and killed. She will be buried ……”

 

Adam nodded, blinked several times as though he had to force the words into his head to intermingle with the memories and be made sense of…he nodded again,

 

“Candy was sheriff then…I recall going with him to check out the road and we believed that she had been murdered…. “

 

“Yes, turned out you were right. Mr Buckley rode upon an accident he had already arranged…” he paused and looked at the other man with a frown “You killed him later, didn’t you? Buckley I mean….”

 

“Yes.. “

 

“A long history…Ed Payton and Sally Cass…” Daniel raised his eyebrows, Adam was not the only one with a long memory.

 

Adam passed long finger over his mouth, cleared his throat…”Another name…Connolly….”

 

“Ah, you’re thinking of Cotter the so called tailor….”

 

“Private Investigator? Pinkerton?”

 

“Right in the first instance….” Daniel said…..”And the name you are looking for in connection to this situation is O’Connell.”

 

Adam nodded, and looked at the newspapers “What do you have about him?”

 

*published 1847 **published 1834

Chapter 16

Once Daniel had found the relevant page he stepped back for Adam to approach the wide shelf, and in order to read the information. Adam leaned closer, his hands flat either side of the pages of the newspaper and read the words that years ago Daniel had put together to be printed: He read it twice before straightening his back and staring at the far wall

 

“Today following an explosion at the Bucksburn Mining Company several miners were killed and several others seriously injured. There were numerous casualties among the Chinese employees.

 

Mr Patrick McGarthy the Owner of the Bucksburn Mining Company disclosed that the foreman, one Thomas O’Connell, had made a serious error of judgement in having a too short a fuse to the dynamite that discharged before the men had cleared away to safety.

 

Sheriff Canaday has told the Editor of the Enterprise that he was investigating the mine as it has latterly been subject to a series of grave accidents, although this is the first to incur any deaths.

 

Mr Thomas O’Connell was well spoken of by his work associates, who described him as conscientious, thorough and a true professional engineer. Mr Samuel Mayhew, one of the injured, insisted that Mr O’Connell would never have been negligent in his work and had been campaigning for better working conditions as well as for major works to be carried out in the mine itself.

 

However, Mr McGarthy denies such claims saying that work was being carried out to modernise the Bucksburn and that Mr O’Connell had a reputation for being a trouble maker. He agreed that the deceased worked efficiently and well, and was sad to have to accept that the man had made an error of judgement in this particular matter.

 

The families of the victims would be taken care of within the mining community. “

 

Daniel stopped combing his long beard with his fingers and raised his eyebrows as he watched the rancher purse his lips, then tap his fingers before releasing a sigh and narrowing his eyes.

“Remember him now?” Daniel said quietly.

 

“No, never met him …but I recall the incident well enough.” he bowed his head and stared at the newsprint before him, “Does Cotter know about this yet?”

 

“Not yet, but he soon will….”

 

Adam nodded, and frowned “Mr Samuel Mayhew defended O’Connell and ended up dead ..shot. I remember it all now….” he released a sigh, before looking at Daniel “Why Cotter’s interest?”

 

“I told you, he’s being paid to find out all about O’Connell..he’s been beavering away at an investigation about the man for years.”

 

“Why?”

 

There was a pause for a moment “Well, this is the story he told me…..” and while leaning against the wall and wishing he could light up a cigar Daniel told Adam all about the family in Ireland looking for their lost son, and obviously pinning their hopes on O’Connell . “A wealthy family, and determined to find him, taken years of looking so far.”

 

Adam nodded and turned to glance at the newspaper spread out before him, several years old but the memories sprung to his mind as fresh as the day the events took place. He narrowed his eyes

 

“No mention from Cotter about a wife?”

 

“Noooo.” Daniel said and frowned “Is there a story in this for me, Adam?”

 

“If he’s looking into a certain sea captain then I think the possibility is that Cotter either knows or suspects that O’Connell had a wife….”

 

“Yes, but she died…didn’t she?”

 

Adam nodded and then released a sigh, before grabbing his hat and making for the door, “Not a word to Cotter, if he finds out about the wife don’t let him dig into anything else about her..”

“He’ll be suspicious….he’ll keep digging. After all, “ Daniel raised his eyebrows now and smirked a little “I am a journalist, and I am supposed to know these things.”

 

Adam paused, one foot on the step leading to the door “What else did you print about Matilda Mayhews death? Did you go digging into that?”

 

Daniel’s mouth gaped open, then closed he shook his head “No, there was a lot more going on at the time.” he paused “I didn’t print anything about what I heard, seeing as to what happened to Mrs Mayhew, but I heard that she was taking Mrs O’Connell to Bridie Martin – it was Bucksburn policy to evict anyone who was not working, and as Mrs O’Connell was now a grieving widow – she was evicted. No where to go and seriously ill…so I heard.” he stared directly into Adams eyes but there was nothing there, no twitch, blink, nothing

 

He followed Adam out into the office area, the noise of the printing presses echoed around the building, the smell of ink and paper and heat..Adam shook his head, the whole place was claustrophobic and he needed to get out as soon as he possible. Daniel tagged behind him like a little dog, wanting crumbs but at the door they parted without a further word.

 

Adam walked with quick long strides in one direction, then paused ..where to go first? He inhaled a deep breath and looked over in the direction of the Sazarac, then flicked his eyes to the other side of the road where the Telegraph and Mail Offices stood. He made his way there, more than aware than Daniel deQuille would be watching him, no doubt puffing on a cigar and trying to put all the pieces together.

 

Eddie looked up as the bell tinkled a customer. He nodded and smiled as the rancher stepped into the building and leaned onto the counter,

“I need to send a message to Marshall Duggan, San Francisco…” Adam said as he plucked out a message form from the stack on the counter, “Mark it urgent.”

 

“Certainly, Adam.” Eddie nodded and stood quietly by as Adam wrote out the message and then slipped it over to him, “Urgent…”

 

“Definitely…quick as you can, Eddie.”

 

Eddie counted the words, told Adam the cost and then set to work sending the message through the ‘singing wires’ to the office in San Francisco, he frowned, nodded and ended the message with his usual sign off signature.

 

“Anything else, Adam?”

 

“No….I’ll be back in …” a quick glance at the clock, “two hours.”

 

“Should be a reply by then I reckon.”

 

“Just another thing, “ Adam was standing by the door, ready to leave “Has a man by the name of Cotter sent off any messages .. “

 

“Cotter? The man who got beat up at the Sazarac?” obviously nothing was a secret long where Eddie was concerned, sneeze here and the guy in the bath in the hotel opposite gets a cold!

 

“The very one….”

“He sent a cable off yesterday…” Eddie leaned onto the counter “You know its in breach of company policy for me to tell you that..”

 

“I guess it’s an even more serious breach if you were to tell me to whom it was sent?”

 

Eddie sighed, glanced over his shoulder “Connolly….Mr and Mrs.”

 

Adam frowned “To Ireland?”

 

“No, not that far. Just as far as Reno.” he blinked nervously and nodded “That’s all I can tell ya, Adam.”

 

“That’s alright, Eddie….thank you.”.

 

Daniel had left his post by the time Adam left Eddie, but he had no doubt that the journalist would be sniffing around as soon as he could leave the office with his note book and pencil at the ready. Adam looked again at the Sazarac but turned aside and made his way to the home of Bridie and Paul Martin.

……………………….

 

Tillie’s face broke into a broad smile as she opened the door to the knock on the door. Since she had come to work for the Martins she had developed a great fondness for the Cartwrights, they all held a special place in her heart.

 

“Come in, come in, I just baked a cake .. what would you prefer coffee or tea?” she took his hat and stepped aside for him to enter the house. “The Missus is in there…” she nodded to the door on her left, “But if you come to see the Doc then he’s upstairs in his office.”

 

“Thank you , Tilly. I’ll go see Bridie….and coffee would be good, thank you.”

 

He smiled as he watched her bustling down the hall to the kitchen then his brow creased into a frown as he thought that in this particular story, Tilly also had had a large part to play.

 

Bridie was alone, seated at her desk with her head bowed over what appeared to be ledgers…her lips moved as she counted the figures and then neatly dashed off the total in her bold black writing. She turned and smiled at him, and waved him into the room

 

“Don’t stand there, come on in. I thought I heard Tilly…” she stood up and walked over to the more comfortable chair, and waited for him to sit himself down on the rather bedraggled sofa “Now …what can I do for you. You look as though you have all the problems of the world on your shoulders.”

 

“Not all of them…” he smiled and settled his hat down on the floor beside his foot, “But there is a problem. “

 

“Health? “ Bridie snapped, her head jerking up as though a string had pulled it upright, “Whose? The children..are they alright?”

 

“All well and healthy when I left home, “ he smiled and leaned back, he glanced around the room, it was warm and cosy, the ideal place to bring anyone who was in need of comfort, help …”Bridie?”

 

“Adam?” she leaned forward a little, and Adam realised as the light from the window caught her features that she was getting old, wrinkles were appearing, lips thinning, and he sighed, and glanced down at the rug where he had planted his feet “Bridie – I need to talk to you about something that happened some years ago.”

 

Bridie nodded, and Adam wondered if he was wrong in sensing some wariness about her now, her eyes narrowed, watching him intently

 

“It’s about Margaret O’Connell.” he looked at her more directly and noticed the flushed cheeks, as she inclined her head

 

“Ah yes. Paul came back from the saloon last evening and mentioned there was a man there asking questions about a miner called either Connolly or – Paul said – O’Connor. But I guessed it was more than likely to be our Thomas, Margarets husband.”

 

“Did you know him?”

 

“No, never met him personally, not alive that is. I did try to sew him back together – after the mine explosion. That McGarthy should have been hanged….” she paused “still, his ending was more than enough I suppose, even though it caused trouble ..”

 

What happened after the explosion?”

 

“What do you mean? Ah, of course, Tilda Mayhew…”

 

“She was murdered…

“As you and Candy proved….”

 

“”And she brought Margaret O’Connoll here to be cared for …”

 

“Yes. That’s right. Poor woman, she was thrown out of that cabin – the state of her – about to drop her baby and no food or money – terrible it was, terrible.”

 

They were both silent now, the door opened and Tilly entered, pushing a trolley forwards with the cake, the coffee and tea things ..the smells of which permeated the room. Bridie turned to the little woman and asked her to sit down as they were discussing someone, an important matter…Tilly sat, a little nervous and a little excited.

“Who is it?” she asked, her eyes big and round, moving from one to the other of them “Who are we talking about?”

 

“Margaret O’Connell.” Bridie said quietly.

 

Tilly’s face dropped, and her eyes moistened, she shook her head “Poor girl, poor little girl.” she turned to Adam, “You never did see her, Mr Cartwright, just a little slip of a thing she was….She missed her husband so much, so very much.” she sniffed, pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed at her eyes, then her nose.

Adam waited a moment for her to calm herself, before saying “And she had a baby here?”

 

“Well, of course she did…you know that, well enough, after all…” she paused “What’s wrong, what’s happened?

Adam cleared his throat, “Nothing has happened yet. I need to know all you can tell me about Margaret and Thomas…did she tell you anything at all about his family, his background, his family name?”

 

“It was O’Connell, that’s all we ever knew about him…she told us he was very clever, read a lot, had qualifications in engineering….” Bridie frowned, “He was a handsome lad, or had been before the explosion.”

 

“What was he like> Tall? Short.? ..colour hair, eyes…anything that would mark him as out of the ordinary.”

 

They looked at him, looked at one another, Tilly shrugged as she had never seen him, but Bridie had and seemed to get a feeling that she knew what this matter was about, and who it was concerning.

 

“He had been handsome…blue eyes,” she paused “I remember watching the colour fading out of them…and thinking …well, doesn’t matter that now…but he had red hair….what’s on your mind, Adam.” she put a hand on her chest, as though to still the thumping of her heart “What’s wrong?”

 

“I don’t know yet, it’s only a feeling…and hopefully will come to nothing.” he cleared his throat again, “She left here…..when McGarthy had been killed…”

 

“She took the baby and left for San Francisco…she was going to go to Ireland, to Thomas’ family.”

 

“Did they know she was going? Were they expecting her?”

 

“I don’t think so, if they did they never sent her any money towards the passage fare.” Bridie replied and looked at Tilly, who shook her head. “All she said was that she was going to his family…She said Thomas had told her whereabouts they were from so she would start looking for them once she got there.”

 

“So – possibly they would not have known he was married, certainly not about the baby….” Adam said quietly

 

“I doubt it. How would they know? She never wrote to them…even if she had done the letter would not have reached them for months and months….” Bridie replied, she looked at Tilly “Pour some tea, Tilly, I’m about to collapse here to be sure.”

 

“Did she tell you what ship she went on…..” Adam took the cup of coffee from Tilly, while Bridie took her tea. “I remember you asking me to make enquiries …but it was later on, after she had come back.”

 

“Don’t remind me …oh that was,,, that was more than I thought we could bear, is that not so, Tilly?”

 

They lowered their cups as though out of respect for the girl they had cared for and whose child they had delivered into the cruellest of worlds. Bridie bowed her head

 

“I think it was Candy found her body, under the steps close by…she left a note with the baby,”

 

“Do you still have that note?” Adam asked quietly, sensitive to their feelings, memories of that time tugging at his mind.

 

“I’ll find it for you, Adam, I kept both her letters.

“Then perhaps if I could see them both….”

 

“Adam, you’re scaring me, surely to goodness you are….” Bridie said in a low husky voice, tight with tears.

 

“I’m sorry…” he put cold fingers to his brow, kneaded his temples for a second “But we have to be prepared …no point in thinking every things alright when it may not be…you do understand, don’t you?”

 

“You haven’t told us why we should be worried…you’ve not explained …anything…”

 

Adam hauled in a deep breath…and told them everything he knew, so far….Bridie nodded and put down her cup and saucer so abruptly they rattled

 

“The man Paul overheard asking questions….” she whispered

 

“If he comes here, and I think he will, say nothing….” he looked at them both, Tillys face looking pinched and pale, Bridie’s cheeks flushed due to her high blood pressure. Neither of them said a word.”At the moment he has not connected O’Connell with the Connollys ..hopefully if he keeps looking for whoever he thinks O.Connor is…” he paused “just possibly he’ll go away.”

Chapter 17

Where to go from here? Sometimes danger, the kind of danger that touches raw nerves and sets the heart pumping, is not about wild Indians, nor duels in the main street at noon. It’s the kind that creeps up on one making the spine tingle and a sense of foreboding wrap around one like a blanket, in strangle folds.

 

Adam stood for a moment staring about him, wondering where to go next. Often times when he had a problem he would take himself off to talk to Roy Coffee, but he felt that this was something that he could not lay upon that old mans’ shoulders. He walked along with his head full of questions and answers, none of which he liked. He tipped his hat to the ladies and if he forgot to smile a greeting or paused to talk they seemed to understand and continued on with their own business.

 

The Sazarac loomed ahead and it seemed the obvious thing to do was to go inside and find out whatever there was he could about whatever it was that was interesting Mr Cotter so much.

 

The barkeep was new but even so he recognised Adam and gave him a cheery nod of acknowledgement. Placing his hands flat upon the counter and leaning forward he greeted him and asked him what he could get him.. Adam likewise placed his hands flat down on the counter and leaned slightly forward, asked for a single malt whiskey and waited to be served. He looked in the mirror behind the barkeep and watched the stairs, then glanced around the room that had been reflected so clearly.

 

“Not too busy just now….” he remarked as he took the whiskey and placed down his money.

 

“No. It’ll fill up later, usually does.”

 

“Heard there was a bit of a ruckus here last evening?” he raised the glass to his lips, and looked nonchalant, as though he was not really interested, just showing a little curiosity was all.

 

“Nah, not here.” the bar keep wiped a glass and set it down among a row of others.

 

“Thought I’d been told wrong….someone told me they found a dead guy in the alley under the stairs.”

 

“Oh that…” he shrugged and leaned on the counter, bending forward and nodding “Yeah, some stranger in town…”

 

“That’s what I was told too” Adam sipped some of the whiskey, and nodded approval.

 

“Yeah, he was shooting his mouth off, asking questions.”

 

“Strangers in town do that kind of thing….” Adam frowned as though confused

 

“Yeah, but he was asking the wrong kind of questions. About the wrong person….”

“Well, perhaps he was asking about an old friend, happens ..doesn’t it?” he raised an eyebrow as though it wasn’t really important but …so what?

 

The bar keep shook his head and leaned more confidently in to wards Adam, he lowered his voice

“He weren’t no ordinary stranger in town. You know, some folk give off a smell about ’em, you know what I mean?” he nodded as though affirming his comment so Adam nodded as well and hunched himself over a little as though to confirm this was a private conversation “Some folk ask questions and don’t much bother with the answers, or they get the answer and that’s it ..finished! But not this guy, and he was asking very particular questions…about the Boss.”

 

“Your Boss, I take it….”

 

“S’right.” he nodded and straightened himself up a little, Adam did likewise, and drank more of the whiskey “Then he wanted to see the Boss, so Milly..the girl he was talking to…told someone about him, because she was curious you see…..” He frowned and shook his head “Nice girl Milly..do you know her?”

 

“No….” he emptied his glass and set it down on the counter

 

“You should get to know her, very nice girl. Lots of married men like her company you know…”

 

Adam shrugged and pushed forward his glass. It was refilled and pushed back towards him.

“Anyhow Big Mick was sent in to get him, he left here and that was the last I saw of him….heard he had an accident. Fell down the stairs or something.” he picked up another glass and began to polish it with vigour.

 

“That was unfortunate….” Adam said quietly as he held his glass carefully before taking a sip.

 

“Yeah….the Boss doesn’t like folk asking questions about him.”

 

“I never met him myself. Your boss, I mean….despite being quite a regular customer. Could see he was a very – er – private man. I seen him of course, walks like a seaman. Has that roll to his gait….”

 

“Yeah, but you were at sea yourself, weren’t you? “

“I was…but I was Navy, I think Mr Coltrane was Commercial…”

 

The bar keep nodded, excused himself to attend to another customer. Adam watched him for a second and then glanced into the mirror. A man with a woman on his arm was descending the stairs. Drew Coltrane paused at the bottom step and looked over at Adam, inclined his head slightly and then walked towards him,

 

“Good to see one of the Ponderosa Cartwrights gracing our establishment today…Adam isn’t it?”

 

He extended a hand, a hand clad in a yellow calfskin glove. Adam gripped it firmly and shook it, and smiled “Mr Coltrane…”

 

“We should get together some time, exchange our sea faring adventures…good yarns like good seamen do everywhere….”

 

Adam allowed his smile to widen and nodded “Thought you were a seaman…”

 

“I was, not for long though, just a few years. I didn’t have quite the adventurous life that you had being in the Navy…no, just shipping passengers back and forth. Got boring after a while….” he frowned as though being bored was a major sin,

 

“Guess that can be said about a lot of things in life…one of the reasons I went to sea in fact, only so many cows one wants to see in a life time….”

 

“Hmm, heard your latest venture hasn’t worked out?”

 

“Which is?”

 

“A cattle station near Carson City….” Drew raised an eyebrow, shrugged as though sympathetic.

 

“Well, you were only half right, it’s ongoing….just need to select a new site. You should hire yourself a horse sometime, Mr Coltrane, and take a ride around, come see for yourself. “ he emptied his glass and set it down on the counter

 

“Have it on the house, Cartwright….” Drew said rather arrogantly and turned to leave, the woman slipped her arm through his and together they walked towards the door.

 

Adam pursed his lips and slightly shook his head, he pushed some more money over to the bar keep who said in a stage whisper “That thar was Milly….quite a looker isn’t she?”

……………………..

 

Outside the Sazarac Adam found himself once again itching to get some facts; some thing that would confirm or negate his fears. He looked around once again, and saw Drew and Milly strolling along the street, arm in arm, evidently talking together. Adam sighed, the conversation in the saloon had not helped much at all. Just confirmed that Cotter had asked too many questions from the wrong person. It didn’t explain why the heavy handed treatment though…why leave the man beaten up as he was unless he was asking questions relating to something quiet different to Drew’s manner of seamanship. Perhaps more about his passengers, where they went, where they came from …and how some never arrived at either destination.

 

He hauled in a deep breath, ran his hand round the back of his neck. The town hall clock struck the hour and reminded him that his two hours were now up, he would go to see what Marshall Duggan had to tell him. Walking with more purpose he strode over to the Telegraph Office and pushed open the door.

 

Eddie raised a hand and nodded over to him, in his hand was the news he hoped would give him a chance of settling part of the issue at hand. He had just taken it from Eddie’s hand with a nod and thanks, when the door opened again and another customer stepped into the office.

 

“Mr Cotter…” Eddie exclaimed in a rather theatrical tone, which immediately got Adam’s attention “Looks like you have had an accident? Everything alright sir?”

 

Adam looked over at the other man, and frowned He had certainly got a beating, and over the hours since Nate and Ethan had seen him Cotter’s bruises had darkened, and his eye had closed up entirely. His mouth was cut and swollen. If he had been handsome before the beating, he had certainly lost his looks now.

 

“A slight mishap, nothing else….” Cotter mumbled and looked over at Adam who pretended to be absorbed in his message. “Has anything arrived for me?”

 

Eddie shook his head “I’m sorry, no, not yet, sir”

 

“Hm…well, I have to send a message anyway…” he pulled some paper from his pocket and handed it over to Eddie “I’ve already written it out…..” he then proceeded to fumble for money, some he spilled on the floor and Adam stooped to pick it up for him and hand it back over. He received a mumbled thanks in reply. “I’ll be back later.”

 

The door opened and closed, and just like that Mr Cotter disappeared from view.

 

Adam remained where he was, before asking Eddie if there was any mail for the Ponderosa. He took the mail bag and nodded his thanks, then dumped it onto the counter, opened it and appeared to have decided to check out every letter in it.

 

Eddie did not let him down….whether he understood what Adam was planning on or not, the Clerk just got down to business in tapping out the message that Cotter had just left him. Adam listened intently, every so often picking up a letter and looking at whom it was addressed and putting it back.

He had learned morse code when at sea….there were the signals sent at night by the shutter man, called that because he would use a lamp, closing it at relevant times with a shutter and sending out the message over the waves in the darkness. Then there were the flags, the signal man would put them up to relay their messages to passing ships or when in harbour. And there was the little machine that Eddie was using now, easy to understand to any one standing nearby and listening

 

But Adam felt a chill from head to toe as he listened to this particular message ..as Eddie tapped it out so carefully, following every word Cotter had written, Adam listened and felt his stomach churn over.

 

Cotter had been cunning…he had learned enough to visit two Undertakers in town. Jenkins had been in town years and he had good recall of burying Thomas O’Connell at the cemetery on the land belonging to the now unused and uncared for Bucksburn Mine. The year and day carefully noted by the officious little Undertaker.

 

“IT WOULD SEEM THAT YOUR SON WAS MARRIED TO A WOMAN CALLED MARGARET. UNDERTAKER RILEY CONFIRMED HER DEATH BURIED WITH HER HUSBAND “

Adam could barely swallow his mouth was so dry. He waited until Eddie had finished the message by which time another customer had bustled into the building requiring attention. He picked up the mail bag and slung it over his shoulder and left the building.

 

Back to the pavement, back to wondering what to do next. His head was whirling, how long before Cotter scratched around and found some loose mouthed idiot who would give him the information about Thomas and Margarets child…

 

He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, deep in concentration. Daniel deQuille paused and tapped him on the shoulder, asked him if he intended to take root there, and was met with an icy glare…he shrugged, and glanced across the road

 

“Care for a drink….” he offered, “Coffee…I’ll pay….”

 

“No, that’s alright, Daniel..”

 

“I just saw Cotter, he stopped to ask me the way to the Bucksburn Mine Cemetery. Is that significant?”

 

“You’re a journalist, what does your nose tell you..”

 

“Tells me that it is, and that Mr Cotter is getting ‘very warm’ in this particular seek and find game.”

 

“Anything else?” Adam asked quietly, grinding out the words through a mouth that felt full of dust.

 

Daniel tugged at his beard and sighed “He wanted to know where the local orphanage was…”

he frowned, “I’d say that was very significant…”

 

Adam swallowed and muttered his thanks. He left Daniel standing alone as he strode across to Roys house. Somewhere calm and quiet…he needed to think.

 

What to do, what to do…and what to do first, that was just one problem.

 

Chapter 18

Paul Martin knew the secrets of many folk in Virginia City. Their physical and mental health as well as their life stories, for everyone who sojourned to that town had a story. He saw the man striding across the road and recognised the look on his face. This man he had known since he had been a boy of twelve, and had been summoned to the Ponderosa to deliver a scrawny bawling baby, the third son of Ben Cartwright…and his lovely wife, Maria.

 

Paul sighed and remembered another journey to the Ponderosa, the day Maria had died … and the heart break for the whole family. He remembered being concerned about Adam Cartwright, the way he saw the same look on the youths face as he saw now on the face of the middle aged man pushing through the doors of the Bucket of Blood saloon.

 

Another sigh, he shook his head and thought over the information that Bridie had passed on to him a little while earlier. No wonder the man was worried but then, they still did not know the full facts, perhaps it was not going to be the situation that nagged at their nerves now….just perhaps what the imagination had conjured up was just that, pure imagination, nothing else.

 

Adam Cartwright ordered a jug of coffee brought to the table in the corner of the room. He often sat there as it gave him a view of the door so he could see who entered and who left, he could also see who was coming down the stairs. Vantage points. He preferred not having his back exposed. He poured coffee into the cup and then leaned back into the chair and cradled the cup in his hands. He tried to collect his thoughts and tie all the strands together and then bring them to their logical conclusion.

 

He saw Paul Martin as the old man stepped into the saloon, looked around him and located Adam. He nodded and Paul made his way pass the other tables until he was pulling out a chair and sitting opposite the other man. Max the bar keep hurried along and placed a cup of coffee in front of Paul asked Adam if he needed anything else and upon receiving a shake of the head, promptly disappeared.

 

“What’s on your mind?” Paul asked in that deep voice of his, while his eyes looking thoughtfully into Adams “Bridie told me about Cotter…”

 

“It’s got a lot worse.” Adam intoned with his words encased in a sigh, he stared down at his empty cup and then picked up the jug and poured more of the coffee, still steaming. “I – I heard Cotter sending a message to his employers…the people who are looking for O.Connell.”

 

“And?” Paul frowned, his brow corrugated into furrows that went beyond where his hair line used to be. “Any idea who they are?”

 

“From what deQuille said I think they are O’Connells family from Ireland. They’ve been looking for him for a very long time…Cotters picked up bits and pieces here and there, lost them, picked them up again…they led him here and now he’s off to the cemetery to track down the body, and -” he leaned forward “and that of his wife.”

 

“He knows that there was a wife…how?”

 

“Riley I presume. Jenkins only ever dealt with O’Connell, but it was Riley who -”

“Yes, that’s right, it was Riley, Margaret actually died in the alleyway adjoining his funeral parlour” he leaned forward, lowered his voice “But does he know about the baby.”

 

“Cotter wanted directions to the orphanage….I guess that confirms that yes, he does….”

 

“Well, babies die…especially in the circumstances regarding Margarets death.”

 

“This man has found a link to the ship Margaret had booked passage on, he’s traced that link to Coltrane” he pulled out the slip of paper that bore the message from Marshall Duggan and set it down on the table. “Remember how Margaret O’Connell claimed the Captain would not believe she had booked and paid for her passage to Ireland? Then he had her kicked off the ship…”

 

“She complained that she had been assaulted by one of the crew as soon as she had stepped foot on board…when she took the complaint to the Captain he refused to believe her then accused her of not having paid her passage.” Paul scowled and shook his head “But she had…I know she had…”

 

“Duggan says here that Captain Harding had a reputation for doing this, then when the women – always single women – begged him for help he promised them he would ‘look into it’. “

 

“And?”

 

“When I checked into the matter and got Harding kicked out of the service, he disappeared…body was found some months later…seems his usefulness was at an end but he knew too much…”

 

“Disposed of?”

 

“Yes, he was supplying – well, a lot of single women ended up in establishments like the Sazarac, earning their keep. When he was suddenly unemployed, the supply line dried up.” Adam frowned and scrunched the cable up and stuffed it back into his pocket. “But that isn’t what concerns me, Paul…that matter is between Duggan and the law here ..or wherever else the line takes them. The matter that concerns me is ..”

 

“The Baby?”

 

“Yes….if he goes to the orphanage…”

 

“As I said babies die, they never get to the orphanage, even if he tracks Margaret here, and finds out that she gave birth he need not know anything about the connection to Hoss and Hester..to Erik.”

 

Adam shook his head “People knew though, Paul, and people talk.”

 

“There’s no reason for them to do so, Adam. Why should they?”

 

“Because people talk when there’s money involved, look at Riley…look at how much recall his memory suddenly possessed, he could remember Margaret, facts about her…”

 

“He would have had a record of that…” Paul shrugged “He only had to open a book…check the date and so forth.”

 

Adam swallowed the coffee and leaned away from Paul, lowered his head and stared down at the table, “Who would know about the connection between Erik, O’Connell and the Cartwrights? “ he raised his head and looked at Paul “Anyone who would be likely to talk?”

 

Paul emptied his cup of coffee and stared down at the empty cup, he shook his head “Tilly of course, but she was devoted to Erik, and just a handful of folk … deQuille obviously has his suspicions, surprised it isn’t head line news by now.

Adam shook his head “Dan has his own principles, one of which is to hold back on a story until it really is major news. Who else?”

 

“Widow Hawkins, but she wouldn’t talk, she loves your family too much. Most of the womenfolk at the hospice at that time have left town now…I don’t think they were aware of the connection. There’s Mr and Mrs Garston of course….” his voice trailed away, “I recall he came round bothering us about getting the child put into the orphanage…but …” again his voice trailed away as though he didn’t like the direction his mind was leading him.

 

“The thing is, Paul, if I or anyone of us, were to approach them, raise the subject, suggest a bribe, suggest they forget it ever happened, it arouses their curiosity, then when Cotter goes there and asks his questions .. you know the Garstons well enough, it will only need Cotter to offer more than I paid them…”

 

Paul nodded, he pushed the cup round and round in its saucer trying to think of a way around the situation, then nodded “Look, if Cotter does arouse their suspicions, they’ll be straight round to check the facts with Bridie, myself or Tillie. I’ll fob them off, tell them the child died…”

 

“But they’ll know its a lie…”

 

“Not necessarily…no, I’m sure they won’t….not if we all stick to the same story.”

 

“What should I tell Hester? I think it’s her worst nightmare…should I go and get Hoss back? Should I just wait and see what happens?”

 

“You can’t … because if the worse happens, it could be too late.”

………………

 

It took some time to reach the Bucksburn Mining Corporations land. The track that led to it, the track where Matilda had died was covered over with wild grasses, flowers, debris so he had had to take his time but he was a tenacious man and despite appearances he was not a coward. He had long ago taken up the motto that if there is an obstacle you either go round it, over it or through it.

 

He eventually came to the old mine, and paused a while to look around him at the remains of the McGarthy Brothers empire. The mouth of the mine looked like a massive black throat prepared to swallow any who was foolish enough to step near it. Buildings looked abandoned, not yet wrecks, but certainly uncared for, they all had that unlived in appearance..shingles missing here and there like a tooth that had been knocked out of a full set, panels with so little paint left on them, bleached and grey from the years of wind, rain, snow, and sun. It was a miserable view…and as he looked around him he saw abandoned machinery, timbers, the door of the shed marked Explosives swung open…

 

He stepped down from the buggy and looked around, on foot it looked even more depressing. He checked out the shed with the swinging door and was relieved to find it was empty, then he walked over to the building marked Office…there was a padlock on the door, rusting but still in good working order. He shoved against the door with his shoulder but it didn’t move. He peered through the dirty window and noted that the office furniture was still in place. Obviously with Patricks’ death no one could be bothered to tidy up here

It took over an hour to find the cemetery by which time he was sweating, he had to take off his jacket and was constantly wiping his face and around his neck and wondering why on earth he was there.

There were very few tombstones..and most of those had keeled over and lolled at an angle. Otherwise there were some wooden markers, but mostly there was just a slight mound now covered in grass. It was a depressing sight, more depressing than anything else he had seen that day. He looked, in silence, at the rows of mounds around him and removed his hat. Without having any knowledge about the mining business he came to the conclusion that there was something wrong with this particular mine, the number of fatal accidents confirmed by the number of mounds, of graves, of the dead.

It took time but finally he found it ..a wooden plaque that bore the legend “Thomas O’Connell. Foreman. Died September 1877.”

He brushed away the dead undergrowth and searched for more information…if Riley the undertaker was right then there had to be some evidence of another body buried with Thomas, another coffin lain beside his or maybe on top of his….he scrabbled around for a while until he found what he was looking for, another mound close enough to claim they were buried side by side..the wooden marker just read “Margaret beloved wife.”

He stared at it for a while, frowning slightly. So Thomas had married, but no indication here that there had been a child, no word like Mother to indicate anything of the kind. He bowed his head, said a quick prayer, and stepped away.

The sky was darkening. There was the threat of rain in the air. He wanted to get back to town as soon as possible so that he could send another cable winging its way through the wires

Chapter 18

The cattle had settled; floating through the air was the sound of a harmonica playing some gentle tune that would soothe the more restless among them. There had been a leisurely pace set through the day, as the cattle made their way through territory that they had not trampled on or devoured through the years; a lush rich pasture land, plenty of water, and in some areas trees providing shelter.

Hoss Cartwright removed his hat and then settled his bones down on the ground, sprawling comfortably on thick grass that was almost as good as a velvet cushion beneath him. They had set up camp a little distance from the track, and Sam had rustled up a fine meal for them all. Hoss was content, so far this change was for the better, much better. He drank some coffee and looked at the flames in the fire and thought of Hester. He often thought of Hester when he saw a fire like this, perhaps it was t he flames reminding him of her hair, or the first time he ever saw her sitting beside the fire at home, the flames and her hair seeming to illuminate her like some one out of this world.

 

Joe sighed as he slumped down beside his brother, almost but not quite spilling his coffee over his fingers. “Same sure rustled up a good meal this evening. “

Candy, coming up behind him, agreed as he settled down beside them. “This has been a good day, we may have gone at a slower pace but we seem to have covered a lot of distance…”

“So far so good…” Joe muttered and gulped down some coffee, grimaced a little “Coffee still leaves a lot to be desired though.”

“Can’t have it all, Joe.” Candy laughed and gave hi friend a slight shove in the back, he was feeling relaxed, and his plan, if it came about, gave him a feeling of excited anticipation. He looked at the two men and smiled, then squatted down on his haunches to put more wood on the fire. “I’m looking forward to seeing the sites where the cattle station will be .. best of three isn’t it?”

“If we agree on which is the best …” Joe mumbled, his face still half buried in his mug of coffee

“Wal, it’s difficult…” Hoss said quietly and ran a hand around the back of his neck, “I mean…”

“Yeah? Joe prompted as his brother stopped short of saying anything further and had looked pensive “I mean – what”

“Wal, as I was going to say, fact is…” he paused again “Hester and me, we don’t want to leave the homestead. Thought it would be good idea at first seeing how Hester moved in with us there from being wed, and aint never had her very own home, not like you and Mary_Ann, Joe.”

Joe nodded “So you don’t want to move over to the cattle station…you don’t want to be boss man there?” he grinned slightly and looked mischievous so that poor Hoss squirmed a little inside.

“Shucks,Joe, reckon not…” he sighed and shrugged, then buried his face in his mug of coffee which was nearly cold any way.

“Hmm, well, fact is -” Joe plucked at some grass and began to nibble the longest blade, he then tossed it aside and leaned forward “To be honest, I don’t think I want to go either…might change my mind when I see the sites for myself though…but I get the feeling from my dear wife that she would rather stay where she is…or move into town. “ he paused and frowned at that thought, as though it had only just ‘hit him’ that his wife had always preferred town life.

“Carson City life do you mean?” Hoss asked as he looked at Joe grateful for the life line, but at the same time wondering if this was not going to push him into having to decide to go after all.

“Not sure…she was sure keen to move away when President Grant wanted me on his security team, remember? And then she wanted to buy Amanda Ridley’s establishment and set up business there, and she was the one who pushed to have the hospice open ..remember? She sure gave deQuille a run for his money that time round….”

Hoss grunted, he felt the noose getting tighter around his neck and gulped. He looked at Candy

“What do you think, Candy?”

Candy Canaday had been listening and thinking all the while they had been talking, he cleared his throat “Well, does it have to be a member of the family, I mean, does it have to be one of you three? Personally I don’t think Adam will take on the role managing the cattle station. He could do it hands tied behind his back he could but I don’t think he would want it.”

The brothers looked at him thoughtfully as though he had just produced a rabbit from under his arm pit, then looked at one another. Hoss nodded in agreement, Joe looked thoughtful. Candy looked from one to the other of them and bit down on his bottom lip, perhaps he had already said too much too soon

 

“What do you mean by that exactly?” Joe said testily, “Either one of us could run that show as easy as winking….”

“Sure you could but if I’m right in understanding what you just said, you don’t intend to…” Candy’s eyes widened as though surprised that they could have questioned his comment. “Look, if Adam were interested in taking on that situation…”

“Situation?” Hoss frowned “What situation you talkin’ about?”

“Alright, then, if Adam were interested in being the one running the cattle station he would be here, not either of you two. He would be wanting to check out the sites for himself to make sure he knew exactly where each was, what asset exactly each of them had to offer, all those things…”

“Yeah, well, we can do all that …” Hoss muttered beginning to feel rather sour, and he scowled at his old friend while his blue eyes hardened into blue chips

“I know, and he knows that too .. but you seem to have forgotten just now how pernickety your brother can be at times like this?” Candy said all this as quickly as he could, having forgotten just how competitive the brothers could be and acknowledging the advantages of one did kind of hint that t he other two were deficient somehow.

“Yeah…he is pernickety.” Hoss conceded after a little silence had elapsed. “’Sides which we could see summat in one that he wouldn’t agree on, and if he were to be manager he sure wouldn’t be slow in letting us know about it….”

Joe nodded, and looked at Candy thoughtfully, “You’re right, Candy. If Adam were thinking seriously of being the Manager of that cattle station he would he here now, overseeing the whole shebang. Making sure everything ran according to how he saw fit…”

Hoss nodded in agreement, it was all becoming clear to him now, Adam had washed his hands of the whole thing, perhaps hoping one of them would fall in love with one of the sites and make the decision for him. He frowned, shook his head and sighed “Yeah, seems we might as well just forget the whole thing, just bring the cattle down …let ’em graze a while, sell ’em on via the trucks. And then go on home.”

He liked that idea, he relaxed at the very thought of home He nodded as though to affirm his thoughts. Joe was thinking hard, he had always wanted to run a horse stud, he had already inched his way into the market with the sale of two of Karim’s off spring. His mind vaguely drifted along the lines that one day he would have the biggest stud farm in Nevada…perhaps change the use of the cattle station …he shook his head, Mary Ann may follow his lead but not willingly. He could imagine every day being made to apologise in some small way for making such a decision and including her in it. Perhaps one day though….and he sighed as though he had just said farewell to a dream.

“Back to square One then…” he said quietly, and tossed the grass into the air.

“Well, if it’s all t he same to you….” Candy said quietly, “I do have a suggestion to make…”

“Which is?” Hoss prompted. He leaned forward slightly as though he sensed this could be important and needed his full attention “Say what’s on your mind, Candy?”

“Just that Ann and I were wondering if it was time for us to move on. The house is too small, the kids are growing and David hasn’t really settled into school like Rosie had done…it just seemed that this could be the time to try something new.”

“You’re leaving us?” Hoss cried in dismay and dropped his cup which splashed up the dregs of the coffee over the sleeve of his old shir

“What are you meaning, Candy?” Joe frowned, hazel eyes darkening

“Just that perhaps I could be considered for the job…as your Manager of the new cattle station.”..

………

The Orphanage loomed like a dark shadow among shadows as Cotter urged the weary horse onwards to the entrance. The big wooden doors looked like an entrance to a prison rather than a place that was meant to succour and care for the needs of the most vulnerable in town. He wondered how many women had silently crept up to those forbidding doors and carefully placed their burdens upon the doorstep, rang the bell, listened to its clamour within and then silently slipped away.

Perhaps, if there had been a child within the marriage of the O’Connells that was exactly what Margaret had done…and just for a moment Cotter thought of the woman, and of the man he had been searching for all these long years …

Of course in this kind of town a new born child could have died easily enough – illness raged among the vulnerable, the poor and hungry. Perhaps the mother had placed her hand over the child’s mouth and nose and helped it along its way, rather than surrender it to a harsh life surviving in a building such as this one.

He sat there deep in thought for some minutes, for despite his employment which unearthed so many secrets, he was a man of some imagination, otherwise he would never succeed in his business. Get the facts yes, but lace them with imagination and you create a story, and with a good story there are bound to be secrets and secrets meant feelings, emotions, sensitivities.

He was startled by the sound of creaking, the horse fidgeted and shook his head and Cotter turned to watch as the doors opened just wide enough for a woman to step forward., She was medium height but looked dwarfed by the size of the doors behind her. She stepped towards the buggy

“Do you just want to hand it over or come inside and provide some details?” her voice was crisp, the type that immediately impressed him as a ‘no nonsense, spit it out and get on’ type of woman. Cotter did not like the breed, but he had to acknowledge the fact that they were often times very useful.

He removed his hat and nodded to her, asked her to give him a moment while he got down…and within the minute he was out of the buggy and standing before her, hat clasped against his chest.

“My name is Cotter…” he produced his card and presented it to her, “I have some enquiries to make concerning a child…”

“Age? When? Male or female?”

He blinked, he was used to asking the questions not being demanded to provide answers, certainly not in this manner like some kind of Gatling gun!

“May I speak to the Manager, the person in charge. This is a very delicate matter you understand…” he smiled

“It always is.” she muttered and stepped aside to let him pass into the building.

He could hear the sound of children now, babies crying, children laughing, shouting and some screaming….footsteps ran here and there close by, and he looked over his shoulder to see another door, closed, from behind which the sounds emerged. A smell of food cooking … vegetables, meat..his stomach rumbled and reminded him he had not eaten for some while. He also became aware that the bruises and bumps he had sustained the previous evening were now becoming painful.

He wished now that he had left this visit until the next day. Too late now though, he sighed, and followed the grim figure of the woman who strode onwards as though determined to fulfil her mission come what may!

She rapped on a door and a voice bade her enter, which she did with Cotter trailing in behind her

“Mr Cotter, Ma’am. Sir.” she said and once again stepped aside to let him pass “Mrs and Mr Garston,” she told him with a slight nod of her head as though to let him know he was standing before royalty.

Cotter mumbled his thanks and looked at the couple standing in the room …he found it interesting that the woman had been given precedence in the introductions, from that he took the point…Mrs Garston was the one who controlled the matter, any decisions would be made by her, her husband would be the one who would meekly accede to her lead.

He produced another card and handed it over to Mrs Garston, who took it between thumb and forefinger as though it were dripping blood. She read it and then passed it to her husband, and then she walked over to the large desk and sat down, pointing to the chair opposite and requesting their guest to take a seat.

“Would you like some thing to drink, Mr Cotter? You look quite -” she paused and frowned slightly as though searching for the right word but finding it difficult to locate “quite dishevelled.”

Mr Garston approached another chair, picked up a bell on the desk and rang it, and as he sat down the door opened and a young girl stepped inside, dropped a bob of a curtsey (really? In an American orphanage?) and after being told to bring in coffee and refreshments promptly disappeared . Mrs Garston now leaned back in the chair and nodded

“Well, Mr Cotter…what can we do for you?”

He looked at her and thought that this woman knew a lot of secrets, she was also a woman who harboured a lot of bitterness and anger under her bonnet (not that she was wearing one at the time but he knew what he meant). Her eyes were like gimlets, hard like coal, and her lips were thin, barely discernible until they were moving….he imagined they moved a lot.

He apologised for his appearance , gave a brief explanation – something to do with his investigation you understand – and then provided them with all the details he had available at his disposal at the current moment but which he needed verification of some, and any added details would be appreciated..thank you.

They sat together side by side in their big leather chairs and absorbed the facts but said nothing. The door opened and the same young girl came in bearing a tray laden with all manner of things, behind her came another child, pushing along a trolley affair upon which were several plates of sandwiches, cakes, cookies….Cotter had to gulp hard to prevent himself drooling.

Chapter 19

When Adam left the Bucket of Blood he made his way to the building that had housed Hiram’s office. He regretted the man’s leaving town now more than ever, and hoped that the present incumbent of the firm would be compliant to his request for help. He had discussed it with Paul who had been hesitant to advise investigating the legal side of the adoption until or unless it became really necessary. Adam, however, felt he needed to get the whole situation covered in all its various aspects. If he knew how they stood legally he wanted to be able to give his brother and Hester the best reassurances he could…should Cotter pursue the matter and the Connolly’s appeared and demanded the handing over of the child.

Even as he made his way to the solicitors offices he could hear Ben saying “This could well all end in tears” . They had been discussing the joy the infant had brought to Hoss and Hester after the adoption, and how in privacy Ben had voiced his own concerns. The threat of a family far away in Ireland demanding the child seemed impossible, and Ben had been kindly advised by Olivia to say nothing more that could mar the couples happiness.

Grant Tombs had not made many changes to the office that Hiram had presided over for years. There was a better quality of carpet on the floor and Hiram’s personal wall space, covered by his personal certificates, pictures and diploma’s,now displayed Grant’s …far fewer but just as richly deserved.

The young man stood up from behind his desk and greeted Adam with a smile and outstretched hand, and then indicated the chair for Adam to take ‘the weight of his feet’. Adam duly obliged, leaving his hat on the floor and leaning back a little in order to take in his surroundings, note the changes and then nod and smile at Grant who was patiently waiting for him to speak.

“Grant, some years back Hiram helped us in the adoption of a child, Hoss and Hester’s son,Erik.”

Grant nodded, the smile gone, eyes now wary behind the spectacles. He steepled his fingers and tapped his chin thoughtfully, and waited for Adam to continue

“We – “ Adam paused and took a breath, frowned slightly, “To be honest with you, Grant, I don’t know how to begin….the whole thing is slightly unorthodox….” he paused again and looked at the sombre features of the man sitting opposite him “There was a murder of the natural father…and the rather tragic death of the mother …and the child was abandoned ..” he grimaced and shrugged “I’m making rather a mess of explaining this but ….”

“You want to know if the adoption was legal?” Grant asked quietly

“No, not that, there is no doubt that the adoption was legal, Hiram would not bend the rules or laws for anyone…nor would we have wanted him to do so. I guess what I want is the assurance that there is no legal way for anyone …let’s say grand parents or aunts etc … coming to claim the child back… no loop hole that they could find that would give them leverage to take the child.”

Grant rubbed his hands together, cracking the knuckles of his fingers as he did so…he leaned towards Adam in that confidential pose often employed when serious matters were to be discussed by the legal and medical profession..

“In actual fact, Adam, the legal aspects of this adoption should be discussed between me and the adoptive parents…”

“I know..I appreciate that but …”

“If Hoss or Hester want to come in a discuss any aspect of the matter then I will be pleased to go over the papers with them. On a personal note … “ he paused a moment as though to collect his thoughts “on a personal note an adoption is seldom overturned if the family involved prove themselves to be wholesome and loving. I would be surprised to find any reason, any loop hole, for anyone to claim the child back into the family after this amount of time has passed….”

Adam pouted and looked down his nose at the man, as though he had expected to hear what had just been said but was not entirely sure of agreeing with it…he cleared his throat

“And if the family had found a loop hole…”

Grant shook his head “I know Hirams work, he would have been thorough, and correct. There would be no legal loop hole. No grounds whatsoever …”

Adam nodded, stared at the wall behind Grant for a moment before collecting his hat and standing up “I have a feeling that the family are on their way here to claim the child back….”

Grant frowned, shook his head “Legally they have no rights to the child.”

“What if they never knew the child had existed …by that I mean..at the time Erik was born there was no family here to put in a claim for him, no familial rights were presented to stop Hoss and Hester having him as their own…” he looked at Grant, his face intense and the dark eyes almost black “Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes…it is an emotive plea,. And …” Grant paused “it could be enough for them to take it to court, to put forward a plea to have the adoption reversed, so that any challenge they have could be put forward. . A fair hearing …yes, they could do that…” he frowned “I shall do some research on the matter for you, make sure of the facts so that Hoss and Hester have them available should they be needed.”

He walked Adam to the door which he opened himself, and then stepped back for the rancher to pass him “I am sorry Adam….whatever happens ..should this family come here and put in a claim, or a demand, it is going to be -” he paused again as though he couldn’t find the right words “it will cause a lot of hurt.”

“Yes,” Adam nodded as he slipped his hat on, “Yes that’s what I’m afraid of…”

“What you need to remember, in cases like this, every one involved will be feeling some pain, some emotional heart wrenching…”

“That -” Adam said very quietly “is something I am well aware of…and would wish to prevent.”

Grant shook his head sadly, “I am sorry, Adam…legal matters are cut and dried, black and white…but matters such as this, they never are…I am sorry.”

Adam said nothing to that, he had come to see Grant in the hope of some nebulous answers and come away empty handed.

 

He left the building knowing that there was no way he was going to be able to prevent Hoss and Hester, and the whole family, from feeling the heart break to come.

He stood on the side walk and looked up and down the main street. The noise of traffic was interspersed with other sounds but they seemed far far off, mere echoes to the sounds going on in his head. His eyes roamed up and down, swept over faces of people he knew, people he did not .. he sighed deeply and made his way to his horse.

Years back when he and his brothers were younger, more head strong, perhaps more arrogant, they would have sought out Cotter, warned him not to proceed, threatened him even…perhaps Hoss would even have given the man a taste of what was to come were he to continue with his search.

Now they were middle aged, and somehow that kind of behaviour seemed unnecessarily aggressive. When had they become so civilised?

………………………

Cotter entered his room in the Boarding House. He tossed his hat on the bed and pulled off his coat, then plumped himself down on the chair by the window. He pulled out his note book and looked over all the information he had gleaned during the course of the day and wondered about the different way people reacted to his questions.

The journalist for instance, he knew more than he had told him. What was he holding back? Cotter had never known a newspaper man with hold information when given some which would yield him so much more….a scoop is what they called it. He was being loyal to someone ….but why? He wrote down a large question mark at the bottom of the page….if he found out who the man was being loyal to, he would find out more about the O’Connells.

No point in pursuing the sea Captains angle, if Cotter felt there was something relevant to that line of investigation he would pursue it, despite the beating he got. Certainly there was something that had happened but not enough to merit any further probing and prying. On that particular page he put a large X although his hand wavered slightly as he did so…he resolved not to tear the page out of the book but to keep it for reference. Time would tell….

The Orphanage …The Garstons…he nodded thoughtfully, yes, that had been interesting. They had been very accommodating …yes, they confirmed that the O’Connells’ had a story, a sad story..and they had told him about the mine cave ins, and the deaths and injuries and the murders…they had droned on and on about that..and then months later the woman’s death. Had there been a child?

Oh yes, there had been a child and so far as they were aware the woman had gone to Ireland …that was when they began to appear less certain.

He had asked them if the woman had returned to the town….after all he knew she had because he had seen her gravestone…but there had been no gravestone for a child. He had waited for them to respond and then he noticed the inevitable…the gleam of dollar signs in Mr Garstons eyes, and he had put his hand gently on the arm of his more garrulous wife and said quietly “I think we may need to check on some facts about this….”

Cotter had seen it often enough before , when suddenly a person realises the information they could impart was worth money, because it was deemed important enough for a private investigator to come along, and they get paid for information…so why should the informants not get paid also. Yes he had seen it all before…..but was surprised that the husband had been the one to act, quietly suppressing his wife. And it had been the husband who had turned to him and said in his quiet voice

“We need to check out the facts, it will take a little time…and money

Cotter stared down at the words in the note book,. He remembered their faces, he knew they were not being loyal to anyone as in the case of deQuille He knew they were not intimidated by anyone either, they were just greedy, avaricious. One thing else…Cotter knew that they knew more about the child, perhaps everything that he needed to know

So in the morning he would travel back to the orphanage and see whether their facts tallied with the amount of money he was prepared to hand over to them. Yet, in the meantime, there was still things he could do here in town, things to find out, details to explore.

……………….

Nate Carney smiled a welcome as Adam stepped into the office. Ethan Burns nodded a greeting but continued cleaning the rifles and replacing them on the rack. Mark Watts was thumbing his way through a pile of wanted posters and looked up, smiled and resumed work.

“Any thing I can do for you, Adam?” Nate asked in his deep voice and he leaned back in the chair, the old leather chair that Roy had polished with the seat of his pants for many a year.

“That incident at the Sazarac …”

“The tailor you mean?” Nate smiled and his eyes twinkled “Found beaten up in the alley….”

Adam inclined his head and smiled, he knew that Nate knew this Cotter was no tailor, no matter how smartly dressed he happened to be. “You going to sit down?”

“Nope, can’t stop” Adam replied and pulled out the telegram he had received from Duggan, “You might like to contact Marshall Duggan about this, see what co-operation you can get between you to see Coltrane closed down.”

“Closed down” Nate raised his eyebrows “A lucrative business such as his closed down…think of the loss of revenue, Adam…think of what the Mayor would say…” and he laughed at his own joke, while Ethan looked puzzled and Mark guffawed.

The sheriff read through the lines of the telegram and nodded, the smile faded, the eyes became wary, then he looked at Adam “And your interest in this…”

“A woman .. some years back…when Candy was sheriff ..died here in town, she was booked to go on a ship to Ireland and could have become one of Coltrane’s victims…” he glanced at Mark who had narrowed his eyes at mention of Candy, “She came here for help, and ..died here…”

Nate nodded, then tucked the slip of paper into his pocket “Thanks, Adam…”

There was nothing more to be said. Adam left the building and found himself back on the pavement. Now what? What more could he do…he felt like the Dutch boy who found a hole in the dyke and as soon as he did what he could to plug it, another one opened up…he gazed around him and felt that gnawing pain of knowing he was running out of time.

Chapter 20

The house was quiet….he had expected to hear Hester or Hop Sing in the kitchen or the children playing but there was no sound of anyone. Vaguely disappointed Adam stepped out of the house and into the yard, several men working on the corral fencing raised a hand and greeted him

“Ben’s in the barn -” Hank said nodding his head in the direction of the building and so Adam turned his steps towards the barn, glancing up at the sun for an indication of the time,

The smell of the barn were not unpleasant bringing back memories of when he was a boy and would escape to the hay loft to read a book with an apple and canteen of water in his hand ..stolen hours. He sighed now and gazed around until his eyes located his father who was standing to the left of him, intently observing a hole in the roof. Ben nodded and glanced at his son

“Needs patching up…”

“Sure, I’ll get onto it…”

“I was expecting you back some while ago…”

“Sorry..something else came up that needed attention.”

They stood side by side and for a moment neither of them spoke, but waited upon the other to speak first. Ben had reached that age when his shoulders were more stooped than in years past, his hair was thinning, but still that silver the ladies in town seemed to like so much. He had began to leave it to grow longer than in the past but in the main he had changed little, perhaps a few more wrinkles if one looked close enough.

“So, “ he turned to his son with raised eyebrows, still black against the white of his hair, “what kept you in town so long.”

Adam inclined his head as though acknowledging the question, but still remained silent until he heard his father clear his throat a prompt to get him to speak..so he did…“We need to get Hoss back …where’s Hester?”

“She’s with Mary Ann. Sympathising with one another because -” he paused “Why do we need to get Hoss back? Joe as well?”

“Let’s go and talk inside….” Adam muttered and turned to lead the way back to the house.

Hop Sing had returned from the garden where he had been gathering some herbs for the meal. He smiled in delight at seeing Adam and then bustled into the kitchen to make coffee.

“Well, what’s on your mind?” Ben said quietly as he settled himself in to the big leather Captains chair behind his desk. “What’s so serious that we have to bring Hoss home.”

Adam placed his hands flat upon the desk, and leaned slightly forward “It’s about Erik.”

Ben raised his chin as though preparing to ward off a physical blow, he nodded “Go on…

“A Private Investigator is in town making enquiries about Margaret O’Connell, well, initially about her husband Thomas. His parents are in America, no doubt already on their way here to Virginia City ..”

“Wait” Ben held up a hand to stop the flow of words, then leaned back a little, hand to chin, frowning “You think they are here to claim Erik? Do they know about him? Not everyone does….”

“This man has been hired to find them..him…but finding Thomas automatically leads them to Margaret….then to Erik. The family have been searching for their son for years. They arn’t going to let his death stop them from ..”

“Hold on now….why would they want to take Erik from us? It was a legal adoption, there is no way that they could take him from Hester and Hoss now.” Ben frowned creating furrows that rippled to his hair line, “They can’t even be sure that Thomas O’Connell is their son…besides which…” he paused and his mouth clamped shut.

“Cotter, the man investigating the family, has been on this search for years, he is very committed and very thorough. He’s put a lot of years into this search, he’s emotionally involved so he’ll make sure there are no errors on his part.” he frowned, paused a moment, “The family have come from Ireland, that shows some determination on their part too….”

“Adam, do you really think, feel, that there is a threat to the family, to Erik?”

“I do.” Adam frowned now, bowed his head and looked at the letters on Ben’s desk, he looked up and into Ben’s dark eyes “I saw Grant and asked him about adoptions and such but he was not much help, except to remind me that it was Hoss and Hester’s business, not mine…and legally that is correct. From what deQuille…”

“DeQuille ? He knows all about this already does he?”

“First port of call from an Investigators point of view…but yes, deQuille knows about it, and saying nothing But Cotter has access to information … and he has gone to the Orphanage…”

Ben pulled paper and pen towards him, dipped the pen into the ink and began to write, hastily scrawled words, he glanced up at Adam “We can send some men to take their place, Candy will have to take over as trail boss. This may be Hoss and Hester’s problem but Erik’s a Cartwright now, which makes it a family problem. I’ll get Joe back too…” he folded the letter and sealed it, then after staring down at the paper for a second he sighed and shook his head “How do we tell Hester?”

Adam had no reply to that, it was a matter he had turned over and over in his head all the way from town..how to tell Hester that her little boy could be taken away from her, or if not taken, that the dispute over him could break her heart.

……………

Bridie sat in her parlour and listened to her husband as Paul told her about his meeting with Adam. Her head ached from thinking over the past, dwelling on the fears for the future, tossing bits of information here and there in her mind until she had lost her temper with Tilly over some trivial matter, and retreated to the parlour.

Her anxieties were not lessened by what Paul had to tell her, she listened and wanted to pull details out and examine them minutely as though that would make the whole matter disappear.

“They can’t take him away from Hester though, can they? Even if they prove that Thomas is their son… is there nothing we can do to stop them finding Erik? May be they won’t ever find out about him?”

“Cotter has been to the orphanage and I believe he has already had a ‘conversation’ with the Garstons.”

“But they don’t know anything….” Bridie wrung her hands together, “They never knew about Erik?”

Paul shook his head “From what I recall they knew Margaret had had a child. They came for him not long after her death, do you not remember? They said he should go to the orphanage..”

“I don’t remember…” she whispered but her mind was ticking over and she could see Mrs Garstons face…

“You said that they weren’t interested in the boy, only in the extra money that the Orphanage fund would give them for his keep…”

Bridie began to clutch at her apron, screwing it tightly between her fingers, it had been such a long time ago, and clouded with so many emotions…she felt Paul’s hand on her arm, and looked up

“Will they be able to take him away from Hester?” she asked “They can’t can they?”

“From what I understand they have been searching for their son for a long time, just because he is dead doesn’t mean they will stop searching for their grand son now. Blood, as they say, is thicker than water, and a legal document to come to that…”

“Oh please don’t say that, Paul…”

“Tilly knows not to say anything, doesn’t she?”

“Oh of course she does, she loves that little boy – she would not say anything to hurt him.”

Paul nodded and squeezed her hand “Very well, then we make sure that we all say nothing…this Cotter …he senses he is close to the end of his search, that makes him extra devious so we must be careful….” he kissed her gently on the cheek “Now then, don’t worry….it will be alright.”

Bridie said nothing. In her life she had been told that too often and found that some things never turn out ‘Alright.”

………………..

The cattle had settled at last and the moonlight shown down upon the herd as they shifted and moved, grazed and slumbered. Horns gleamed white, flashing in the darkness as the moonlight caught them at different angles.

The cowboys moved quietly around the perimeter of the herd. Lariats in their hands, just in case they were needed. The horses moved steadily, they were all tried and tested cow ponies, well used to this work, to cutting out the malcontents, to shielding the calves…obedient to the commands of their riders.

At the camp Joe mounted into the saddle of his horse as he started his shift. He had to admit that when Candy had asked to be considered as the Manager of the Cattle Station he had felt a weight shift from his shoulders. He knew Mary Ann would have gone with him had he accepted the role, but not willingly, not because she would have wanted to…and she would have felt trapped and lonely. She was a town girl at heart and Joe had the sense to know that had they moved to the Cattle Station she would have let him know that it was servitude, and she would have worn that like a badge, like penitents of old had worn a hair shirt.

He whistled softly under his breath, nodded to the man he was relieving and took his place. He never really knew how to describe nights like this, riding nurse maid to hundreds of cattle…the silence that was never quiet, because of the sounds of the animals one was watching. And there was always that tension, that waiting for something to happen because cattle can be tetchy at times, and from calm they can switch to chaos within seconds…a herd on the move, in a stampede, was terrifying .. the noise and the dust, and the yelling of the cowboys and the screams of a horse as it was brought down….

Joe shivered, no point he told himself in scaring oneself to death thinking of things that may not happen. He turned his head as he heard someone approach and nodded as Candy appeared out of the shadows. “All’s quiet…” he whispered.

They remained side by side for a while, their horses close enough for the two men to rub knees had they a wish to do so. Candy leaned forward on the pommel of his saddle “You never gave it too much thought did you, Joe? About taking on the cattle station?”

Joe shook his head “Not really….I toyed with the idea of having it as a stud farm you know, but basically the same problem existed …”

“Mary Ann?” Candy murmured

“Not just Mary Ann…me as well…I’m not cut out to such a solitary life, and believe me, Candy, it will be solitary. You sure you want to take it on?” he stared thoughtfully at the other man, the long lean face, wide mouth …but Candy smiled and thumbed back his hat to the back of his head

“Ann wanted town life so we tried it, she found she preferred being out of town, and now …she likes the idea of a solitary life. Shucks with the trains now ain’t hard for her to get to Virginia City any time she has a wish to …she’s happy with the idea… and if she ain’t, well, at least we will have given it a trial.”

“How long a trial, Candy…I don’t want to be looking for a replacement in a few months time?” Joe grinned, teeth white against his skin as moon light swept over him

“Oh maybe three years…” Candy chuckled, keeping it low and he looked over at the cattle “Should get a good price for these, Joe.”

“There’s a big demand for beef steak in the cities…” Joe said quietly “Long may it last…..”

“Amen to that….” Candy said and he grinned before moving his horse onwards, touching the brim of his hat as he did so.

Joe watched him go and then turned his attention back to the cattle. All was quiet…

Chapter 21

The following morning dawned with the regularity one expects but sometimes does not want..the herd was on the move long before the sun rose, moving forward with a relentless monotony that raised the dust and cloaked them all within minutes. Breakfast had been brief, everyone had wanted to get moving as though this new venture had added an extra frisson of excitement to their day.

At Adam’s home the children had been sent off to school and Olivia had seen her husband off to work. Timber orders had to be checked through, the McCrittick Contract was one that needed attention and despite his anxiety over Hoss and Hester he knew there was little point in hanging around waiting for the shoe to drop.

Olivia had watched him leave feeling despondency in her heart. She had watched as Nathaniel had ran out to the yard, waved his daddy goodbye and then ran off to explore. She had watched her son and wanted to hold him close, just to make sure no shadowy figure from the past could ever snatch him away from them.

The information Adam had shared with her the previous evening had caused both of them to have a restless night. How could they sleep with this hanging over their heads. She had felt Hester needed to be told right away but he had said not without Hoss being there They both needed to be told together, they needed the support each one could give …and, as he had added, it may all come to nothing…best wait and see, no point in terrifying Hester just now.

And Olivia knew that Hester would be terrified and she knew that Adam was right, Hoss needed to be there when they were told the news. Possibly there would be no news to tell, and Hoss would grumble about being recalled from the cattle run, and Joe would be more than happy because he hated them and see it as a reprieve.

She drew in a deep breath and looked around the yard. Nothing had changed, the sun shone, the horses pushed against the corral rails and she knew that she had work to do. She had to go to the Hospice in town, and with that thought in mind she turned back to the house, mentally ticking off the list of people she would need to see…Bridie, Tilly, Mrs Armstrong…Widow Hawkins…the list trickled through her head as she went in search of her bonnet.

…………………

Hester re-arranged the flowers in the vase and looked at them with a critical eye. Somehow her floral arrangements never looked as bountiful as Mary Anns who seemed to have the ability to make a bunch of weeds look like a delivery from a florist. She smiled to herself, and tweaked a flower here and one there until she felt more comfortable with it.

Erik and Hope were playing outside in the yard. She could hear their chatter and laughter trickling into the house. These were treasured moments because it would not be long before Hope would be joining her sister and cousin at the school. She knew that little David Canaday was finding it hard to settle in, and Mary Ann was rather anxious about Daniel going …She shook her head, and sighed acknowledging to herself that this was what life was all about, one could not keep the babies tied to the apron strings forever.

At least she would still have Erik…and with that thought in mind she strolled over to the door and stood there for a moment, watching the two children as they ran around, the sun bathing them in light, not a care in the world.

Ben came out of the stable and saw her, raised a hand while at the same time managing to keep his feet as the two children launched themselves at him, each one clinging to a leg, laughing up at him calling out Granpa Granpa so that he paused in leading his horse out and gave a roar, raising his hands and imitating a bear to the delight of Erik and Hope who ran off screaming…

Hester watched as Ben chased them around the yard, growling in his best manner and then she stepped back into the house. Thinking back to their morning meal she had got the feeling that something was worrying Ben. There was a shadow over his countenance, he had been slow to answer as though his mind was miles away, and he had had a look in his eyes that had unsettled her . Of course he had assured her that he was fine, just a case of not sleeping well. Then he had announced he would be going into town, he wanted to see Roy.

She listened to the sound of the horse trotting out of the yard. Ezra called out to him “See ya, Boss.”

Hop Sing came from the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron, pristine white as usual. He nodded and smiled “We make cake?”

The solution to all their problems..cake. She remembered that a French Queen had said that the people should eat cake but then she had not realised the people could not afford bread ..so out of touch with the realities of life. Hester followed Hop Sing into the kitchen, tying her own apron around her …her worries about Ben slipping away as quickly as snow melts before a hot sun.

………………….

Mr and Mrs Garston had arranged to see Mr Cotter at the Internationale Restaurant. They had discussed his previous visit to them during the evening, pulling out of their memories various things they could tell him. Mrs Garston’s nose quivered in excitement at the thought of what the mornings conversation would bring to them…money, yes undoubtedly; satisfaction that they would be showing the Cartwrights that they were not quite ‘Bull of the Woods’ as they thought, there were other contenders better suited to the role in town.

Momentarily she thought of Lucy, her daughter. As she tied the ribbon of her bonnet beneath her chin, Mrs Garston wondered how Lucy was, where she was…there had been no contact with her since the cable informing them of her marriage…her mouth clamped shut on the sigh that nearly escaped her lips. Lucy had chosen her way, so be it.

“Are you ready?” her voice slithered into the silence and then she heard her husbands response from the other room.

Leaving their home, arm in arm as usual, showing to everyone their solidarity, smiling and nodding at neighbours and townsfolk, friends to all and sundry (as they thought), Mr and Mrs Garston were slightly discombobulated when they saw Olivia Cartwright getting down from the buggy just outside the Hospice. Maybe their steps faltered slightly, but they pressed on…they did not want to appear tardy, and certainly they had no regrets at the decision they had made, after all, the Cartwrights had brought all this on themselves…..hadn’t they?

Cotter entered the hotel just minutes after the Garstons , he removed his hat and placed it on the hat stand in the foyer. He noticed that Mr Garston had not worn a hat, being endowed with a still luxuriant mass of hair which he pomaded each morning. Cotter had decided that he did not like this couple. In his line of work he met all sorts of people and some he could not bear, they were sleazy and greedy and even if their information was accurate it was tainted by their malice and avarice.

They greeted one another cordially, shook hands and took their seats. Before they could speak the waiter came, took orders, disappeared. Cotter looked around him, only two other tables were occupied, one by two ladies whom he recognised from the Boarding House From his enquiries one of them was the towns librarian, she had a house in town, a friend of the other woman. At the other table was a fussy old lady talking fast, he caught the hint of an English accent, the woman opposite her looked terrified.

He heaved in a breath and wondered how long it would be before one of the Garstons launched into ‘business’

“Well, Mr Cotter….my husband and I have been talking this matter over…getting all the threads together so to speak so we could give you the complete picture”. She smiled with her lips, not with her eyes. “Firstly though, we need to settle the question of just how much this information is worth to you.”

“Dear lady, until I know what it is you have to tell me…” he raised his hands in a gesture signifying his ignorance

“But it is worth something?” Garston said, speaking in a low voice and well aware that Widow Hawkins was within hearing range. Perhaps they should have had this discussion elsewhere……

“Definitely…my clients are very generous. This matter has lingered long in their minds. You have to see it from their point of view, thinking their son dead, then finding he is alive and well..hope renewed as one would say…and then nothing. No news. Hope dwindling. Then suddenly he comes into their lives again…thanks to a diligent search by myself of course.” he frowned, realised that he didn’t want them to think he was belittling their willingness to help.”People like yourselves are invaluable to enquiries like this…providing, by way of illustration, a nugget of gold when it seems all is lost.”

“And your clients are wealthy?” Garston murmured

“Yes, from one of the oldest families in Ireland. Very wealthy. Thomas, this son I am looking for…” he paused and sighed “he was the favourite son, but not in line to inherit you understand. He left home under a cloud, never to be heard of again until I picked up the trail in New York…” he paused “Of course I have to tell them now that he is dead but that…..God willing…he had a child. That is where your information is so vital.”

He looked at them both, his eyes sharp as if he could see into the depths of their hearts. Mrs Garston opened her mouth to speak when the waiter appeared with their order and began fussing around the table. Then Widow Hawkins heaved herself up from her table and paused at theirs, greeting them in a jolly voice and was introduced to Mr Cotter who stared at her with as much curiosity as she stared at him. Both Garstons had an uncomfortable feeling that Widow Hawkins knew exactly why they were there….fortunately for them, Clemmie knew nothing.

“From my enquiries I know that Thomas is dead…I’ve read the newspaper accounts of the situation at the mine, and how he died. I have located his grave and also…the grave of his wife…Margaret.”

The Garstons nodded, looked at one another..waited for him to continue

“I have reason to suspect there was a child, hence my visit to the orphanage….it would have seemed logical for an orphaned infant to be placed with you. But you do not agree that this happened?”

“It did not.” Mrs Garston said with a snap of her lips.

A family of four entered the restaurant and sat far enough away for them not to be disturbed. She leaned forward, the feather in her hat quivered as though the excitement of the moment she was feeling had travelled through her like electricity

“We tried to get the child admitted into the orphanage …as soon as we heard that Margaret had died. He would have been a few months old by then…”

“He ? A son?”

“Yes, a son. We never even had the chance to see him, the woman who had him at the time…” she paused, her lips thinned, revenge was sweet and fleetingly she thought of all the slights she had endured from Bridie Martin. “This is what happened ….” she said and lowered her voice.

For a while Cotter sat and listened, he drank his coffee and nibbled the biscuits, and listened as she poured out the whole story from the time of Thomas’ death, the murder of Tilda Mayhew…and how Bridie Martin had delivered the child.

“Definitely a boy?” Cotter said “And healthy?”

“Oh yes, but then she, the mother, disappeared….”

“Tried to board a ship for Ireland?” Cotter prompted, and saw them glance at one another, he knew they were thinking if he knew that, what else did he know, would it affect the amount of money they were anticipating.

“She came back here during the winter, terrible blizzards…” Garston mumbled, and glanced around the restaurant before settling his eyes upon Cotter “Died after leaving the child on Bridie Martins doorstep.”

“And it survived…” Mrs Garston snapped, seeking to take back control of the reins of the conversation “We went to offer assistance but were refused…very rudely…and then the child …”

“Disappeared.” Garston said and he sat back in the chair and surveyed the coffee pot as though it were his mortal enemy “We found out later that Mrs Martin had handed the child over to ….a private individual.”

His lips curled back in disgust, as though the thought of someone else having the child other than themselves made him feel sick to the stomach.

“And who is this individual?” Cotter leaned forward, eyes narrowed “A family? Local? Still alive?”

“Very much alive, and thriving.” Mrs Garston nodded her head, and just for an instant she wondered if she had a grandchild somewhere, wherever Lucy and her husband were…and she lowered her eyes and stared at the empty plates and the coffee grounds in the cups and felt totally bereft.

“And this family? Who are they?”

“The Cartwrights.” Mr Garston said “Mrs Martin has always had a soft spot for the Cartwrights, she opened the Hospice with them ..here in town years ago…but it was Hoss and Hester Cartwright that took the child.”

“Cartwright?” Cotter nodded and looked at them both, “The Ponderosa Cartwrights?”

Garston and his wife nodded. Suddenly for some reason, revenge did not taste so sweet They looked at Cotter and then at one another. Cotter nodded again, and stood up, extended his hand to shake theirs once again, and thanked them for the information. Neither one ventured or dared to ask about the money. They both felt that Cotter would fail to provide a dime…

All that for nothing!

 

Chapter 22

The hum of voices and the bustle of people going about their business, someone singing in the background, all provided a calming influence on Olivia . As soon as she entered the Hospice the atmosphere wrapped around her and brought calm to her overwrought mind. So many thoughts and worries diving here and there in her head that had made the journey to town doubly long and difficult.

Adam had told her to mention nothing to Mary Ann, nor to anyone else ..except Bridie who already knew what was going on. But Olivia longed to talk to someone about it, to sound out their impressions, their opinions and in some small measure try and form some barrier of self protection, not just for herself but for Hoss and Hester also…for all the family.

She greeted various ones who had glanced up, caught her eye and acknowledged her as they went about their business. Already food was being prepared for the lunch time when many of the unemployed would queue up for free food. A group of women were sorting through clothes, some to be washed, some to be repaired and some in such good condition that they were hastily tucked away for their own use…they had children too and were either single women, widows, or had unemployed husbands. It was something Management overlooked, after all the women had little in wages and if they could grab at a decent piece of clothing or footwear, then that was just an extra bonus, it would be for someone’s benefit, so why could their needs be ignored when they had the same problems as everyone else.

The office was empty. So the first thing to do was to open the safe, and check the ledgers…make sure all was secure and in good order. The bank was owed nothing, all debts paid up and perhaps, just perhaps, there would be a hint of a profit. As she put on her glasses, and carried the ledgers to the desk Olivia thought back to the day when they had confronted deQuille and demanded some attention be given to the poor in the town…oh some years ago now, and yes, the town had shrunk as the mines had closed one by one. But there were were the poor, the hungry, the unemployed who came every day with their empty stomachs and their sunken eyes … perhaps not so many, but still enough.

The Hospice had been a success, in that it provided for those who had so little, and it was those in town who had so much who provided for them. It gave Olivia a sense of satisfaction as she put the ledgers on the desk and opened them…then sat down, picked up her pen and began to check the figures.

A light tap on the door, which opened smoothly when she called for the person to come in and looked up to smile at the newcomer. Miss Tyndale smoothed her skirt, and pulled her shoulders back and looked at Olivia from her side of the desk, and Olivia, sat there and looked back with a look of surprise on her face.

“Miss Tyndale?”

“Mrs Cartwright.” she nodded as though to acknowledge that Olivia was correct, it was she, the librarian standing there in front of her….she cleared her throat, “I’m not disturbing you, am I?”

“Certainly not. Please sit down, would you like -”

“No, no, I’ve had my break fast” and yet she sat down demurely, hands folded in her lap.

Olivia watched her and smiled. Miss Tyndale referred to the first meal of the day as breaking the fast, which was how it was indeed, not many used that old English term any more and as she sat there, silent, thoughtful, Olivia wondered what had brought the woman to Virginia City all those long years ago. Everyone had a story, even Miss Tyndale.

“Now then…” Miss Tyndale drew a long breath and nodded, looked at Olivia, “I have just left the Internationale where I broke fast with my friend….but there was an occupied table close by. Of course I do know that there are concerns just now for dear Hoss and Hester.. … I am well aware of all that …but I think you need to know that things are moving along at a more rapid pace than you may realise.”

Olivia hoped that the colour had not faded from her face as much as it felt it had to her, she felt herself going limp inside, her bones like jelly, her breathing faster. She realised that Miss Tyndale was waiting for her to speak so she rallied, looked the woman in the face and nodded

“Yes, you mean…the Detective…the man making enquiries…”

“He was at the other table with Mr and Mrs Garston…”

“Oh Adam was afraid of that…”

“His fears were well founded then, because they were all there, heads close together…” she pursed her lips and frowned “Over the years I have learned to lip read, very helpful in a crowded library…or school room…or anywhere really…”

“Miss Tyndale…if you would…”

“Of course… “ Miss Tyndale inclined her head and then looked directly into Olivia’s face “From what I could gather the Garstons – never liked them, always owing on their library books – had made a deal with that terrible man, Cotter. They told him all about the Bucksburn mine incidents, all of it. They told him about the young woman taken to Bridie Martins house and giving birth to a baby .. and how some time later the baby returned to Bridie, while she, the young mother, died.”

“So he knows about – about the baby?

“He already knew about the young man who got killed and he knew about the woman, dying as she did….all he needed was the missing piece…”

“And now he knows…”

Miss Tyndale nodded and then stood up, her face showed the gentleness of sympathy, of concern , her eyes gleamed as though they were moist. She stepped away from the chair “I should think he will go and see Bridie next……he has some facts, but he will want to know more, to really make sure his report is accurate…”

“Bridie won’t say anything…” Olivia said almost fiercely, as she also stood up.

“She won’t need to, people like Cotter can read words in silence you know…they look for answers in their victims eyes…” she leaned forward just a little, the smell of lavender drifted towards Olivia, “Olivia, if there is anything I can do…anything at all…let me know. I am at your disposal…..”

Olivia watched the woman as she left the room, paused at the door way and turned back to look at her

“I think I have some books about the Law and Adoption…it may help to take one or two home with you later, make sure you have all the facts.”

Olivia nodded, she wanted to say thank you but the words stuck in her throat. The Garstons, of all people. She settled back into her chair and sat as though the strength had left her body…she felt an overwhelming desire to cry and slowly removed her glasses, set them down upon the ledger and buried her face in her hands.

“Anything wrong Mrs C?”

“Everything…” she whispered and looked up into the anxious face of Mrs Armstrong who was frowning down at her.

Mrs Armstrong had been one of their founder workers. A big woman with far too many children most of whom Bridie or Paul Martin had delivered. Some were now at the school, all cleanly dressed in the clothes brought to the Hospice and taken home for her brood by Mrs Armstrong. There were times her mouth got the better of her, and her temper was formidable, but loyalty always won through in the end.

“What is it? The Hospice isn’t closing is it?”

“No, no, nothing like that..” Olivia shook her head and picked up her glasses, “I just wish I could turn the clock back and change things …”

“Well, you can’t do that, Mrs C, can’t do either of them things.”No one can ‘cept the good Lord who the good book says caused the sun to stand still a whole day….”

“It would take more than one day in this case, Mrs Armstrong.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

She stood there, hugging a pretty dress against her body, a dress Olivia recognised as having belonged to Constance, her niece and now out grown…..Mrs Armstrong sat down and deftly hid the dress beneath of a fold of her own skirt and looked thoughtfully at Olivia

“You can trust me, you know.” her voice softened, gentled “If’n I can help, I will….”

“I know…” Olivia nodded, paused a moment while Mrs Armstrong remained standing by the desk, “Do you remember the day Bridie had a baby left on her door step?” she paused “It was winter, blizzards, a young woman died….”

“Yes I remember….Me and some other mothers took him for the day, passed him round like a parcel and breast fed him, seeing how we all had more than enough milk to spare…did that for about a week I reckon….”

Olivia nodded, she could remember that, recalled how grateful they had been …

“Do you – do you remember what happened to the child?”

She looked at Mrs Armstrong’s face, the uncertainty there, question marks in her eyes as she returned Olivia’s direct gaze with one of her own

“Not really. I think we all assumed that the orphanage had him, but Widow Hawkins did not think Bridie Martin would let him go to the Garstons….” she paused and leaned forward as though about to share a secret “No one ever mentioned him again, never. But I had my thoughts…”

“And what were those, Mrs Armstrong?”

“I recall seeing Mrs Hester one morning with a baby and it crossed my mind first …I never knew she were expecting and she had been working along here as usual…and secondly the baby had colouring that suited her, you know, could have been her very own child except that I had held him first, and nursed him, and knew him.”

“No one else knows?”

“No one. I never mentioned it and no one ever said a word to me..we all have problems, Mrs C. Some worries that to be honest stick in our heads and fret us some thing awful, no room to worry about any one else’s worries…and Mrs Hester looked besotted, happy …and the baby, he’s a handsome boy now, a child any mother would be proud of.” she paused “Most of those other mothers have gone now..moved away..you know what I mean..”

Silence hung between them like Damocles sword….a clock ticked from somewhere…a door banged shut. Olivia sighed and leaned back against her chair. Mrs Armstrong frowned “He isn’t ill, is he?”

“No, he’s well.”

“Then what is the problem….I mean, it is about him, isn’t it?”

Olivia nodded, remembered Adam had said not to talk about it to anyone…but Mrs Armstrong was not just any one, she had in effect saved Erik’s life all that time ago, and so, leaning forward she quietly told the woman all that she thought it necessary for her to know.

………………………

The two horsemen dismounted by the chuck wagon, wiped sweat and dirt from their brow and then asked Sam the whereabouts of Hoss Cartwright. Sam frowned and gave them a worried glare before pointing them in the direction he had last seen Hoss disappearing among the herd, in with the dirt and the dust.

Jesse Flemyng nodded and muttered his thanks through a dry throat and paused a moment, he looked at his companion, Harold Springs, “Something to drink…throats as dry as the Mojave.”

They were just finishing the drink when Candy saw them and gave a halloo….he had a high opinion of both men having worked alongside them during the years they had been employed by the Ponderosa. He now dismounted and walked towards them, pulling off his gloves and asking Sam for something to drink….”You boys come to give us a hand….”

“Something like that….” Jesse replied “Hoss around ?”

“Right behind me..last I saw….” Candy grinned and took the cup from Sam, turned as Hoss’ voice floated towards them “Looks like Ben didn’t think we could be trusted….sent these two experienced cow pokes to help us out.”

Hoss nodded, removed his hat and beat it against his thigh sending up clouds of dust as a result as he strode towards them. He was about to open his mouth when Jesse produced a square of white paper from his pocket. An envelope…and Hoss could see the Ponderosa pine insignia as clear as day

“Your Pa sent us to give this to you, Hoss.” he looked at the man’s face and wondered what was in the letter he had been carrying and had been told to ‘spare nothing in getting it to Hoss as fast as possible’

Hoss stepped away from them, as though this highly unusual event prewarned him that something bad was about to happen. He glanced over at Candy and the other two men, he heard Joe’s voice from somewhere behind him but he didn’t look round, just tore the envelope open.

 

“Hoss, you need to return home immediately as something important needs your attention. I can’t stress enough…it is important you return home. Joe can return also, but the matter concerns you and Hester. Pa.”

 

He re-read it, then looked over at Joe who was walking over towards him, puzzled, concerned

“We have to get back….pronto.”

“Seriously?” Joe scowled, “Now?

“Now.”

Hoss looked at t he two men “Any idea what’s going on?”

“No.” they shook their heads and Jesse said “Your Pa and Adam looked mightily concerned, we bin riding like the devil himself was on our tails since we got that thar letter.”

 

“And Hester, the children…they are alright, not sick, nothing like that?”

 

“Looked just dandy, Hoss…”

 

“Does she know what this is about?”

 

They shook their heads again …Harold ventured to say that last he saw of her she was fine, looked happy and smiling as usual…and to his mind, considering how worried the two men had looked that indicated she did not know a thing

 

Hoss looked at Joe…there was nothing more to say, Just mount up and get on home.

 

Chapter 23

The town hall clock chimed the hour and Cyrus Cotter stood on the pavement and checked his watch which he wore on the obligatory chain across his waistcoat. He noted the time and then glanced up and down the street .

A sudden caterwauling drowned out the clock chiming and he – and most of the pedestrians in town – turned their heads n the direction of the Sazarac saloon. A group of scantily clad women were gathered on the balcony overlooking the street, shrieking and cat calling.even throwing things. at the two law men who were leading Coltrane and the woman, Millie, away towards the Jail house cum sheriff’s office.. Neither Coltrane or Millie looked in the least ways abashed by the fact that their arrest, or at the very least their apprehension, had been so public.

Cotter watched as Coltrane half turned, raised a hand in a wave, blew a kiss, to the girls clamouring for his attention. He replaced his watch and remembered that his next stop was to see Mrs Martin. He walked away confidently feeling that this assignment would soon be at an end. The cable with the information gleaned from the Garstons was even now winging its way to the family, to whom he had promised confirmation of his findings within the day.

 

He had to admit feelings of apprehension about what was going to happen next , Of course the Garstons had an axe to grind and so he had to discount some of the information as being somewhat exaggerated. At the same time he could not dismiss the fact that a child had been born, the Connolly family had a legal and moral right to know that the son they were searching for had had a child…even though dead himself, there was still someone in town with a claim to the family name.

 

He knew nothing about the Cartwrights, he had made no enquiries about them, asked no questions and had no idea what the Ponderosa was about. His sole interest was getting the job done, getting paid and returning home. He made a request for directions to Mrs Martin’s house from some woman and was pointed to the little building with the picket fence further up the road.

 

Bridie Martin was just opening the door as he pushed open the gate into the garden. She paused with a frown on her face, while her fingers still deftly tied the ribbon of her bonnet under her chin. She waited for him to be just a mere few feet from her before asking him exactly who he was. Cotter did not flinch,but deftly produced a card which he handed over to her. She made a show of getting some spectacles to read it and then handed it over to a woman standing behind her.

“So, Mr Cotter the tailor who is not a tailor at all, what is it you want ? I’m on my way to my work so you had best trot along beside me and ask your questions…” she paused and cast him a disdainful look “but don’t expect any answers, I don’t hold with folk who pretend to be one thing and then turn out to be altogether something else.”

Cotter sighed and removed his hat, then fumbled with it and replaced it. He turned and followed her out into the street,waited while she closed the gate with a firm click and then set his pace to match hers.

 

“I’m enquiring about a child that was born here in 1877 – I have it on good authority that you delivered this child to a Mrs Margaret O’Connell and that her husband died in a mine explosion s few weeks earlier…”

 

“Gracious man, if you know that already then why bother me with your questions, I have things to do more important than answering fool questions like that…”

 

“Believe me, they arn’t fool questions as you put it…it’s really a very serious matter.”

 

“To be sure it is, but you have your information so that’s an end to it…I have nothing more to add.”

 

Cotter frowned, and shook his head, he hurried to catch up with her, “Mrs Martin…the baby that you delivered that day …”

 

“His mother took him from our house not long after he was born.” she nodded and smiled to some woman but continued walking, “That is if we are talking about the same person….after all I delivered a great many babies in this town…”

“No doubt, and I’m sure every mother blessed you for it…but this particular mother was married to a young man …”

 

“I know all that, you don’t have to be repeating your self like Widow Hawkins parrot “ she paused a moment and turned to look at him, her eyes sharp, boring into his face like shards of glass “Look, now, the young man…I never met him until I was there helping with the victims of that mine explosion. Poor lad, he was brave …but he had no chance to live, the injuries he had… surely I said many a prayer as I tried to save his life, but …” she shook her head, turned on her heel and began to march on.

 

“And his wife….”

 

“I never knew her until she arrived on my doorstep….evil walks among us, Mr Cotter, never you be forgetting that…the woman who brought her to my door was murdered as was her husband..evil men, Mr Cotter… and that young woman …” she shook her head and tutted beneath her breath.

 

“Margaret O’Connell you mean?”

 

“Isn’t that who you said earlier? Aye, Margaret O’Connell bless her soul.”

 

“And she had a son?”

 

“Don’t you be knowing that already, Mr Cotter, what with all your questions and Mrs Garston so pleased to provide the answers for you?”

 

“Mrs Garston did mention something ..that they returned..”

 

“Who did?” Bridie barked the words sharply, feeling more and more anger at every step she took, this silly little man and his questions, and all the answers could be fatal for Hester and Hoss…fatal…

 

“Mrs O’Connell and the child.”

 

She shrugged, shook her head and strode on her face set as though the North Wind had blown upon it and frozen it into ice.

 

“Well, did they or didn’t they ?” Cotter persisted

 

“Look, I’ve answered your questions and that’s it. That is as far as I go…now take yourself away, and do what you have to do ..and don’t you be forgetting to pay Mrs Garston her 30 pieces of silver…she’ll be pounding your door down if you do not…”

 

Cotter stopped walking and shook his head. How did people get information like that ..he watched her disappear into the environs of a large building that looked like a warehouse. He approached it slowly, and read the legend painted above Virginia City Hospice …all welcome…

 

He saw a large board at the side of the building close to the main doors and read

 

“Soup and bread provided between the hours of 12-2 p.m.

 

Hot Coffee or Tea any time

 

Please keep orderly queues everyone will be served “

 

He stepped inside, removing his hat as he did so on seeing the number of women that were already there. Some paused in whatever work they were doing, stared at him, and then resumed their business. He looked around him, noted the business like approach to whatever work the women were doing, wondering if he should just turn and go back to the Boarding House for lunch.

 

A large woman detached herself from a group who were busy preparing the food for the day. She came and stood in front of Cotter, looked him up and down and folded her arms across her extremely ample chest.

“You don’t look the kind of man we usually get here wanting hand outs.”

Her voice seemed to boom around the room and several women close by laughed, shrill giggles at his expense. He could feel the colour rising over the rim of his collar, and he cleared his throat

“ I was just going to ask if it was possible to speak to the person in charge.”

“What about?”

“That really is nothing of your concern, Madam.”

“Mrs Armstrong to the likes of you…don’t you go calling me Madam…anyway, the person in charge at the moment is me…so say what you have to say, ask what you want to ask…”

This was delicate, and he risked being made a mockery of…there was a slight feeling in the air of some hostility, he could feel it in the way they looked at him, the light of battle in their eyes.

“I just saw Mrs Martin enter the building…”

“So?”

“Well, I believe she is the person in charge and …”

“She ain’t…the person in charge as you call it…”

“Then who is?”

They looked around at one another, some grinning, some blank faced, but no one prepared to answer his questions. Mrs Armstrong stepped closer, and looked down at him,

“Any other questions you want to ask?”

“Well, if Mrs Martin is not in charge then who is?” he put on a smile, but it didn’t hold, just quavered a little before collapsing.

“Mrs Cartwright is….” someone shouted from the background

“Oh well then, is she available…”

“Not today she isn’t…”

“Then who else…can I speak to…”

“Mrs Cartwright….” came another emboldened voice from the back. “But not today this is her day off….”

“In which case…” he glanced helplessly from one woman to another. Mrs Armstrong was still standing almost on top of him with her arms folded across her ample bosom, eyes like wet pebbles.

“Or -” another voice piped up “It’s Mrs Cartwright …the other one …but she isn’t here either…”

Cotter looked at his antagonists allowing his eyes to roam from one face to another, the ‘You don’t scare me’ tactic he used when a strategic withdrawal was called for….he shrugged

“There’s money in it for anyone who can answer just a few questions…” he murmured as he turned but a hand gripped his shoulder and forced him to stay where he was, turn around and face the owner of the hand…

“Your money Mr Cotter has a foul smell to it….take it back some place else…”

“look all I’m saying….” he stepped back a pace or two, giving ground as he did so.

Mrs Armstrong gave him one last long glare and then turned to face her work companions

“Alright, ladies, lets get back to work…” she clapped her hands as though signalling that she had put paid to the riff raff, the rat, the snitch…more important business awaited them.

Cotter watched as everyone recommenced their tasks, no one glanced at him, he looked around and saw the door with Office carefully stencilled upon it and hauling in a deep breath, squaring his shoulders he headed towards it.

Bridie Martin opened the door just as he approached with Mrs Armstrong right behind him

“Sorry Mrs M, he’s a slippery weasel, and -”

“It’s alright, Mrs Armstrong.” Bridie looked at Cotter and shook her head “Unless you have work to do here, Mr Cotter, and I don’t mean the peeking and prying kind, then you had best leave…now.”

“I just -”

“Now…” Bridie repeated quietly, stepped back into the office and closed the door firmly behind her.

Cotter shook his head and after a moment of standing there and thinking of what to do next, he turned and made his exit. Someone crowed like a chicken…there was some laughter…he shook his head again and walked out into the sunlight.

There was loyalty here, he recognised that and applauded it. He pushed his hat to the back of his head and stared around him. The noise from the women at the Sazarac was quiet now, people rode or walked too and fro…he saw a well built elderly man dismount at a tidy house further along, tethering the reins of a dun coloured horse to the rail before pushing open a gate and striding towards the door.

He sighed, there was, he realised, nothing more for him to do but to go and find the couple the Garstons had mentioned…Hoss and Hester Cartwright.

Chapter 24

 

The horses slurped thirstily from the water flowing from the stream while their riders leaned against a tree close by to swallow down water from their canteens while chewing on some bread and beef that had been snatched up from the chow wagon. Hoss ate the food so fast if was as though he inhaled it…then brushed aside crumbs and looked anxiously at Joe, “How much more time is it going to take you ..”

“Heck, Hoss,I only jest got started…if you chewed your food once in a while …”

“I can’t be wasting time…”

“Look …the horses need a break, ride on as we were and we would kill them., Carry on without food and water will kill us…stop complaining, Hoss, we’ll get home as quick as we can, it is not as if we have wasted any time so far, is it?”

Hoss said nothing, he kicked at the ground, sending up a shower of dirt in the process. He paced back and forth, casting anxious glances at Joe who tried to eat faster but had never been a match for the speed Hoss could engulf food. The horses nibbled grass, their crunching and munching adding to Hoss’ nerves. He tried to recall every word as it was written on the note and felt his innards twist

“Reckon Hester is ill..do you think that is why Pa wrote it down as he did….”

“I don’t know.” Joe wiped his mouth, drank some more water and wished they could have stopped long enough to brew some coffee but Hoss did not want to waste time making up a fire and all that involved ..time wasted..add a moment more than necessary and he would likely keel over and die. Joe cleared his throat “We don’t know any more than what was written down, Hoss. Don’t make it harder on yourself, it may have nothing to do with Hester…”

“The kids then?” Hoss exclaimed as he removed his hat and scratched his head, “Reckon the kids are ill…?”

“I don’t know, Hoss.” Joe snapped out the words, trying to be sympathetic while at the same time having to claw back his impatience. If Pa had only been a little more explicit. Although as he watched his brother pacing the ground he doubted if anything Ben added to the note would have made much difference. The fact was there were only many miles they had to travel to get home, and only so much time in which to do it…nothing and no one could cut down on the time no matter how hard they rode the horses or how few breaks they had along the way.

Hoss spat out some of the nail he had been chewing, and waited for Joe to finish off from what he was doing, then strode over to the horses. He yanked on the reins and pulled them forward, gaining a snort of protest from Chubb as he did so….Navejo ambled along without fuss, always amenable.

“Right, let’s see how far we can go now before you start beefing on about a break….”

Joe ignored him, swung himself into the saddle and made his way to the track that led to the Ponderosa. He knew Hoss was worried, more than worried, he was scared…He had himself spent the time wondering what had happened since they had left the previous day If Hoss’ children were ill, was it possible that it could affect Daniel or Constance? Starting to read between the lines of Bens’ letter had been no help whatsoever, too enigmatic…just enough to scare the pair of them out of their wits.

…………

Roy shuffled over from his chair to the table and poured out hot coffee into two cups, he knew how Ben liked it and added milk and sugar accordingly. He thought over what he had been told, trying to get the sense of it all, trying to get the shape of it. Good or bad? Good for someone certainly, but not so good for someone else. He carefully carried the two cups to the small low table and set them down. He was aware of Ben’s eyes on him all the time. He nodded slowly to himself as he sat down opposite his friend

“What do you know about the family. This family in Ireland….” he raised the cup to his lips and strained the liquid through his moustache has usual.

“Not so far away …Eddie keeps an eye on their movements via the addresses the cables go to…”

“That’s -”

“Yeah, I know….but nevertheless that is what he is doing for us. That way no surprises for when they hit town. “

“You think they’ll come?”

“Of course they’ll come, they came to America to locate a missing son, that shows determination, love, dedication….it has taken them years…then they find the lad is dead, but there is a the chance of a living grand child….of course they’ll come.” Ben ended the sentence with a snort.

“Hmm, whichever way you look at it seems someone is going to get hurt in the process of ..well,.. whatever the end is to the matter.”

“Grant Tombs won’t give us a hint of help either, says he can only deal with Hoss or Hester.”

“Which is as it should be…” Roy mumbled. “Fine servant of the law he would be if he was going to spill everyone’s secrets to the world.”

“I don’t want secrets, I want facts…” Ben placed the cup so abruptly upon the saucer that the spoon rattled. He bowed his head and shook it slowly.

“Seems you got the facts already.” Roy murmured and placed his cup sedately upon the saucer which he put on the table. “You need to spend the time bolstering Hoss and Hesters’ confidence, I should imagine they will be on this Cotters visiting card next.”

“Hoss won’t be back until late tonight, early tomorrow morning…”

Roy sighed, and bowed his head, he knew the coming hours were going to render Ben into a nervous wreck. “Have you said anything to Hester?” he ventured to ask but a glare from the black eyes cautioned him to say nothing more.

“Have you ever come across this man,,,Cotter…before?” Ben finally managed to ask in a more subdued voice, one that didn’t vibrate so much with his angst.

“No,nothing at all. I have made some enquiries though…through folk I have known, contacts you would call ’em I suppose.” his voice just had an edge of pride to it, as though to remind Ben that although old and put out to pasture he still had his uses…after all, wasn’t that why Ben had called in on him in the first place?

In this instance he undervalued himself in Ben’s eyes, for the old rancher would have looked out for Roy anyway, as a friend, a staunch friend who would, at least provide a hearing ear.

“And anything come of them?” Ben’s voice deepened, emotion made his throat tight, he looked over at Roy with a feeble flicker of hope in his eyes

“Nothing as yet. I started making enquiries as soon as I heard about him getting a beating at the Sazarac…it’s early days yet, Ben. I’ll let you know know anything as soon as I hear ….”

Ben nodded and cradled the empty cup within his large hands, his eyes wandering to the far wall and fixing on a picture, one that he would never be able to describe were he to be asked minutes later.

……………………

Cotter walked to his lodgings with his mind buzzing with facts. He had just sent a cable to the Connolly’s about the current state of affairs, and tried to think of all that this investigation entailed. It had been ongoing for a long time….lapsing every so often when the leads had dried up, and picking up from when a clue revealed itself.

He made his way into the Bucket of Blood and propped himself up against the counter, and when the bar keep noticed him he ordered a pint. He waited for it to arrive, and stared at it for a moment. Was a time when a pint of beer was never enough, he could have drank a pint of whiskey could he have afforded it. Drink had been a cruel friend, and as he took the glass of beer over to the table he thought back to the times when he was more often under the table, than seated at it.

He sighed and lifted the glass to his lips

“Care if I join you?”

He glanced up and nodded as deQuille took the opposite seat. A tall glass of lemonade was placed on the table in front of him which he picked up between his long pale fingers, he nodded at Cotter.

“How’s your investigation going? Got all the information you want…yet?”

Cotter frowned, drank some of the beer and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. He glanced at the lemonade, then at his beer…every drinker has to find their own level, he thought.

“What can you tell me about the Cartwrights?” he asked quietly and took another long gulp.

“The Cartwrights?” Daniel raised his eyebrows, a voice inside his head warned him. Be careful.

“Their name came up in conversation and I realised that …well, I know very little about them….and they could be integral to this investigation….”

“Integral to your investigation? “ Daniel shrugged “I can’t think why? They were never involved in mining in a big way…and your boy – this Connolly lad – he was a miner, and engineer….” he shook his head “Can’t see them being involved.”

“It’s taken a twist though, I had a word with the Garstons…seems they’re the sort should be running your newspaper, seems they know all manner of things that you, amazingly, have not a clue about…”

deQuille shrugged, drank from his lemonade and allowed his eyes to skim over the sight of the beer in Cotters hand. He sighed and put the glass down upon the table

“How can you not have been in this town for so long as to know know nothing about the Cartwrights. What about The Ponderosa…heard about that..”

“Only since being here…a ranch that they own..”

“Sitting on a thousand square miles of land….they were among the very first to settle in these parts…” and leaning back in his chair, his hands folded over his stomach and his eyes watching the flies buzzing about the joists in the ceiling Daniel began to tell Cotter the story of Ben Cartwright, his three wives, his three sons. The search for Eden…the establishment of the Ponderosa.

They were both on their second drinks..Cotter another beer, and deQuille sipping on a large cup of coffee…and there was silence between them. Cotter frowning,, Daniel pondering…where did all this information take them….Cotter laced his fingers around the glass of beer, frowned

“So the three sons, got married”

“They did….” Daniel smiled slowly, “Beautiful women….”

“And they have children…”

“They do…Joe, the youngest, has two, a boy and a girl. Adam the eldest has three. .. although only one is his, the other two he adopted when he married their mother…and Hoss …”

“Strange name?” Cotter narrowed his eyes, Hoss was the one mentioned by the Garstons…

“Yeah, mother was Swedish…” Daniel shrugged “they have three children…two girls and a boy.”he released his breath and vowed that was all he was going to say about the matter. He emptied his cup and got to his feet “Take care of yourself now…g’day.”

“Just a moment…” Cotter raised a hand but Daniel ignored it, it would be too easy to say too much.

Cotter watched the man go, and picked up his beer. It was lukewarm now, but he drank it down and then slammed the glass down onto the table.

He sat there for a moment, deep in thought. It occurred to him that everyone in town knew something, something they were not going to tell him….something the Garstons had stated more or less in their discussion with him. He shook his head, and thought a little longer then stood up and left the table to step out into the early evening

Chapter 25

 

The horseman paused, momentarily, in order to look over his shoulder and observe the rider approaching him. He relaxed on recognising his father and took a while to check out the look on Ben’s face. The older man was not looking too happy, but lately it seemed that the world weighed heavily on Ben’s shoulders, his face often wore the look of patient resignation. Perhaps that was how all men look after a while, Adam thought as his father drew abreast of him..waiting for that last inevitable sleep

“Hi Pa, How did you find things in town?” he pushed his hat a little further back in order to look into the dark eyes that were now turned to him,

“I saw Roy…he’s going to contact a few folk he knows and run a check on Cotter.”

Adam grimaced, a downturn of the mouth that Ben noted and was immediately irritated by “Why? What’s wrong with that? We need to know what we are up against, Adam.”

“We know what we are up against, Pa. Cotter’s just a man doing his job, is all. He was sent to look for a lost son, found him and ..now he’s looking for a lost grandson.. that’s what he was paid to do..”

“And no matter the consequences…” Ben growled, halting his horse so that he could look more regally annoyed.

“Depends on your point of view.”

“What#s that supposed to mean…no, go on you started so may as well finish…”

“Well, Cotters spent quite a few years looking for this man, this lost son…imagine how the man’s parents feel? Just try and imagine it, Pa…” he frowned, “Remember not so long ago when Joe went missing…and we scoured the county for him. This family have been looking for their son for years”

“I know that…” Ben snapped and shook his head, “And so,what? We hand Erik over to them just like that?”

“No of course not.”

“Erik’s as much a Cartwright as your Nathaniel…” Ben growled nudging his horse to start walking, he scowled, his face dark. “I don’t intend to hand him over….no matter what trick they pull.”

Adam didn’t answer right away, he noted that his father had referred to Nathaniel, not to Reuben or Sofia who had as much right to the Cartwright name as Erik…all three adopted…but he swallowed it down and cleared his throat.

“They may not have any trick to pull, Pa. They just have a right to Erik through family, through blood.”

Ben opened his mouth again, closed it and straightened his shoulders as though war had been declared and he was getting prepared to face it. Adam cleared his throat again,

“When is Hoss expected back?”

“If he rides hard enough to kill his horse . Later tonight. But if he has sense and rests up then maybe early morning.”

“I’ll be there early morning then….” he turned his horse into the direction of his house, through the tree line he could look down upon it, see the smoke curling from the chimney.

Just a mile further on was the original Ponderosa ranch, and he thought of Hester and the children there, playing together…. not knowing that something formidable was heading their way. He looked over at Ben,

“How is Hester?”

“She’s her usual self…”

“Should we tell her now, give her some idea of what is happening?”

Ben looked at Adam and frowned, he had toyed with the idea himself, prepare her so that she could be the one to tell Hoss? No, that seemed cowardly, it would mean her spending hours suffering without the comfort of her husbands arm around her shoulders, without him to lean upon. He shook his head, caught Adam’s eye and an understanding of the decision passed between them

“Tomorrow morning then…” Adam said softly. He paused again, put his hand to his jacket pocket and withdrew some papers “McCrittick signed the papers…I saw Mac and got the job started.”

Absent mindedly Ben took the papers and stuffed them into his pocket.. He shook his head as though dismissing McCrittick and his contract from his mind and bade Adam goodbye…then continued on his way home.

As he rode down towards his home his mind trickled back to the past, a woman coming out of the house, a basket of washing on her hip, a hand shading her eyes from the sun and behind her the sound of children…he blinked and shook his head, sometimes memories became too real and then he realised that Hester was coming out of the house, the sun shone upon her hair, highlighting the golden red of it like a halo. She raised her hand to shield her eyes and smiled. Ben’s heart felt like a shaft of ice had pierced it, he knew the pain that was going to be inflicted upon her in the hours to come, and he longed to spare her that, longed to with all his being.

………………….

Mr Cotter took the stairs to his room in the Boarding House and closed the door behind him. He then pulled out a chair and sat down at the little table that served as a writing desk and began to write his notes. Every so often he would pause, think about what to write, think behind what events would play out soon…and he felt a longing to get on the next train out of town, to disappear. But, then of course, he would not get paid for the work he had done, and he was not a rich man. It was, he told himself, honest work, profitable in a way, and often times brought more joy than sorrow to his employers. Just that this time along with the joy was sorrow, in more ways than one.

He leaned back against the cushions on the chair and retraced his footsteps since coming to Virginia City…he came to a halt when he thought of his interview with the Garstons …that, he thought, was when he should have stopped, just not have gone further, perhaps even not have bothered seeing them. Was it not enough that the Connolly’s would know their son was dead without knowing that a grandchild existed?

He shook his head, no, he was duty bound to continue and carefully dipped the pen into the ink. He noted down that he had seen the Preacher who had baptised a child, the son of Hoss and Hester Cartwright. He noted that he had seen several lawyers until he came upon one who had listened with more than the usual attention to what he had said, and then denied any knowledge of what he was talking about…well, not in so many words, just that legally he could not divulge the information he demanded.

He looked down at the paper and his notes … Thomas Connolly known as O’Connell had a son, and that son was named Erik Cartwright. It was all there in black and white….

………………………..

It seemed to Adam that the children were noisier than usual, more demanding of his time and attention. He wanted to talk to Olivia but whenever the chance came one of the three would appear, popping up like so many fledglings in a nest with their beaks open…Reuben wanted help with his math, Sofia wanted him to listen as she complained once again about Davy and that dog of his, ending as always with ‘course, it would be nice to have a dog of our own, wouldn’t it?’ and then Nathaniel who wanted to wrestle with him, or wrap his arms around him and hug him tight, or run at him just to see if he could bounce off his father’s long legs.

He had hauled in all the patience that he had ..he worked on Reuben’s math and helped him so that the boy would be able to apply the theory next time. He told Sofia that he had enough pups in the house getting under his feet as it was so needed no more. That left her thinking….her face screwed up as she pondered the conundrum. Nathaniel he grabbed hold off and swung in the air and threatened to toss him into the horse trough if he didn’t calm down….of course Nathaniel just laughed and thought that was great fun until his father had taken him out in the yard and dangled him inches above the water ….

Finally as the stars burst out in the night sky the children were in bed, asleep…or pretending to be…and he was able to sit down, take hold of Olivia’s hand and ask her how her day had been…

“You were in town today, weren’t you? Your turn at the Hospice?” he rubbed her fingers with the thumb of his hand, tenderly, it was good to have her to himself, precious moments.

“Yes.” she frowned then and leaned towards him, her head upon his shoulder, sighed “Bridie had an altercation with Mr Cotter and then he had an altercation with Mrs Armstrong. I wanted to go out and have an altercation with him myself but Bridie said enough harm had been done, the wretched man knew all he needed to know from the Garstons.”

Her voice wobbled slightly and a tear slipped from her eyes made its course down her face and dripped on his shirt. She drew the finger of her free hand over them to stop more tears

“Adam, I kept thinking – all day long – I kept thinking how can we keep this from Hester and Hoss. Do we have to tell them?”

“From what Eddie has been able to tell us…” he paused and his arm brought her closer into his body, he kissed the top of her head, “We have to be honest and tell them…”

“Could you not go to town and see Mr Cotter and tell him not to pursue the matter, give him some money and tell him to go away?”

“Too late. The Garstons – and perhaps some others – have told him what he needs to know, he has probably already informed his employers.”

“But – it will take them a long time to get here from Ireland won’t it?”

“They’re already here in America….not so far away from what I gather.”

Olivia sobbed, a hic cough of a sound in her throat, and she put her hand to her eyes and shook her head, “I can’t bear the thought of what this will do to Hoss and Hester….if someone came here and demanded I handed over one of our children….I couldn’t bear it.”

She turned her face into his chest, and he held her close, tight, stroking her hair and wiping her tears away gently with kisses …

………………………

Hoss warmed his hands by the fire and then picked up the coffee jug. Steam rose as he poured out the thick black liquid into his mug. He stared into the flames until his eyes ached. Joe came and took the coffee jug and filled his mug, then sat down beside his brother.

 

They did not talk, to be honest they had run out of words, speculation, scaring each other to death wondering what was wrong…what could have happened in the short time since they had left the ranch.

Hoss sighed, a sound that came from the soles of his boots. “We need to get out of here before daybreak.”

“Sure, we should get home then about 4 or 5 …”

“S’right…” the big man swallowed the coffee without tasting it, “Sorry, Joe, but I can’t waste too much time just doing nothing ..”

“Sleeping and eating ain’t doing nothing…you need to do both…and the horses need the break, we’ve ridden them hard.”

Hoss felt a little twinge of guilt touch him, he hated causing another beast to suffer. He nodded and looked at Joe “Point taken…an early start though…”

“Sure…” Joe nodded, swallowed some coffee and coughed, “How can you drink this stuff…it’s foul.”

Hoss said nothing, just stared into the flames and returned to wondering what was going on at the Ponderosa…playing the same scenes over and over again in his mind…fighting the urge to get the horses saddled and ride out of there..

Chapter 26

The house was silent. When she opened her eyes, slowly, there was not a sound. Slowly, inevitably, as she became aware of having woken up, the sound of the house wrapped itself around her, like a comforting blanket, the sounds she had lived with for years now,

She stretched out her arm and sighed as she felt empty space, so she brought it back and tucked her hand under her chin and curled more tightly into her favourite position. Sounds were her lullaby. The creak of the roof joists like that of an old man stretching his back and ribs to ease the ache from a long day of dragging everything around and supporting them…the gentle quiet tick of a clock close by, slightly out of sync with the more sonorous tones of the old grandfather clock downstairs that echoed up the steps to her room. There was the gentle swish of the long curtains against the floor as the breeze caught them and sent them dancing, and the creak of the bed as she turned over on the mattress.

The only thing missing was the sound of her husband snoring by her side. Just for a moment she wondered whereabouts he would be now, closer to the meadow perhaps? Maybe not even half way, but it didn’t matter because it meant he would be back all the sooner. She had always hated those cattle drives that took him weeks, into months, from home.

She was about to slip back into sleep when she heard the sound of footsteps…little footsteps padding across the floor to the bed. She wondered if it would be Hope, or perhaps Erik..it would not be Hannah, the little girl was too tired after a long day at school, and all that travelling back and forth into town.

She smiled to herself as the bed covers were lifted, a little body slipped into bed beside her and snuggled in close….cold feet pushed against her legs, and a slight shiver trickled up and down her flesh causing goose bumps She knew from the shape that it was Hope, and in a second she would be sound asleep. Little Hope, she sighed, in a minute she would get up and take the child back into her own bed, and then she smiled, allowed the child to wiggle closer. It was not worth the bother, better to enjoy these moments, it would not be long before her little girl would be going with Hannah to school and too tired to snuggle into bed with Ma again.

 

Outside the owl hooted and the breeze caught the sound so that it seemed to echo around the room, but by the time it had faded away Hester and Hope were sound asleep.

……………….

The shadow in the room moved. A curtain across the window shifted across the carpet. The lump in the bed did not move apart from exhaling and inhaling, and snoring . Mr C Cotter was sleeping the sleep of the untroubled.

The shadow moved closer to the bed and turned up the flame in the lamp before extending a hand and very gently placing it over Mr Cotters nose and mouth, pressing gently enough to stop the snoring but not too forcibly as to cut off his supply of air altogether. Mr Cotter was very still, then he became all motion as his brain alerted him to danger, and nerves kicked in, along with fear and panic

“Not a sound, Mr Cotter, if you value your life….”

Cotter swallowed the scream that was stuck in his throat and tried to stay still, to try and barely breath even when the hand was removed. He glanced around him, noticing the light in the room, and the shadow of a man in the corner ….the light caused the pistol in his hand to gleam just enough for him to know that it was levelled at him.

“Who is it? Who – what do you want?” he whispered, barely able to get the words to slide through his mouth. His chest felt as though a ton weight was resting upon it, crushing the air from his lungs. “If its money you want, I don’t have much…just help yourself….it’s in my wallet…take it.”

His hand flailed around the night stand, caught the wallet and sent it to the floor…he whimpered, the sound was like a cannon going off.

“Can I sit up? I can’t breathe…” he pushed himself against the pillows and once sat he looked around to see more clearly who was sharing his room with him…”Are you still there?”

“I am.”

“Then – what do you want? I’m not a rich man…believe me…but take whatever you want…”

“I don’t want your money, Mr Cotter….just some information.”

“Information…what about?” his fingers found his spectacles and he pulled them on, blinked so as to focus in the direction of the shadows where he could just about discern the shape of a man, who now stepped into the room, into the lamp light.

“Who are you? What do you want…what information are you talking about…”

The shadow, dressed all in black, with a black bandana across the lower part of his face, pulled out a chair and sat down, close enough for Cotter to see dark eyes beneath the shadow of the black hat.

He realised he was barely breathing so took a big gulp of air and waited…everything comes to him who waits, wasn’t that what they said…

“Mr Cotter..” a pause “Would you like a glass of water?”

“No…I mean…yes, thanks…”

He stood up and moved to the night stand and poured out water into a glass which he handed to the other man quacking in the bed. Cotter realised when he took the glass that his hand was shaking, he tried to get it to stop but he still managed to spill some down the front of his night shirt. The shadow resumed his seat and waited. When Cotter had finished drinking and set the glass back on the night stand he began to speak….

“You work for a family called Connolly?”

“Yes….”

“Tell me about them…”

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything…from the beginning…..” and he sighed, as though he had to accept he was talking to an imbecile although in fact Mr Cotter was very intelligent just scared to death.

“The Connollys are an Irish family …very wealthy, lived in that area for generations. But despite being Catholic they – well – the family line was in decline, let’s put it that way.. Mr Connolly thought he was on safe ground because he has a brother who inherited, and he has sons of his own.

The man in black shifted in his seat and sighed again, Cotter got the impression he needed to speed up so he took a gulp and re-started the story

“Mr and Mrs Connolly had two sons and a daughter. Thomas Connolly was a rebel, a very intelligent one at that, he went to college, studied engineering, had an amazing brain on him…but he didn’t want to be harnessed to the old family, wanted to make his own way. There were fierce arguments and eventually he left. For America. Time went by, after a while Thomas ceased to contact them….”

He paused and the silence settled like a blanket upon them…he cleared his throat “Anyway, that was what prompted them to contact my company…and I got the job of trying to find Mr Connolly. It was like finding a needle in the proverbial haystack. But I finally picked p his trail and the fact that he had changed his name …”

“Go on.”

“Nothing more to say really except that Thomas Connolly was trouble, too intelligent for his own good, in that I mean he was not intelligent enough to keep his mouth shut, wherever he went he agitated the bosses for better living conditions, better pay, better shifts …he got a name for himself which helped me a lot because even when I lost track of him, it was not long before I could pick him up again. Took some time though…”

“And eventually you got here?”

“Yes, eventually…located him here and discovered the whole story..how he died, and his wife too…that was a surprise …but she died too apparently.”

“She did….”

“Mr and Mrs Grayson were very helpful in my research…they told me about his wife, Thomas’ I mean..how she had a child…left here, and then returned …with the child.”

“Go on…”

“What else is there to say…you probably know more about what happened than I do…”

“I meant…” he paused and cleared his own throat “I meant where are the Connolly’s now?”

“En route to Virginia City.”

“When do you expect them to arrive?”

“Possibly tomorrow afternoon unless there has been complications with booking the train…but so far as I know, they will arrive tomorrow on the 5 p.m train. “

The silence came again but Cotter could hear the man breathing now, slowly, and the silence was non threatening , more meditative..

 

“And what do you think they will do then? Pursue your enquiries….”

“With vigour I should say….probably the next morning.”

“And do they “ he paused again, hesitant as though unsure how to frame the words “know where the child is now?”

“Yes, they do.” Cotter felt calmer now, more in control of the situation as though the conversation had swung things in his favour. “They know he is at the Ponderosa…legally adopted I believe by Hoss and Hester Cartwright.”

He wanted to be brave and end with a flourish, toss off the bedroom covers, spring out of the bed and say “Arn’t I right, Mr Cartwright.” but he knew he would look stupid with his white spindly legs on display beneath the night shirt. He gripped the sheets with one hand and waited…

The man in black stood up and put the chair back from where he had taken it. He must have realised he was not up against a brave man, or a fool hardy one, known that Cotter would not attack him or draw a gun. He just set down the chair, made his way to the window and stepped out onto the balcony.

Cotter listened, he heard the thud as the man landed on the ground, then the sound of a horse …he sat there for some moments waiting, not sure for what, but he waited for it nonetheless/ Finally he sunk back against the pillows and closed his eyes…he wondered if the Cartwrights being prewarned about the Connollys coming would affect the money they paid him.

He fell asleep quickly enough, his conscience still as clear as it was when he fell asleep earlier. He wondered which Cartwright it was who had dared to invade his room…but he had not been threatened, not really.

No point in making a fuss.

Chapter 27

The dull thud of his horses hooves upon the hard packed track leading to the Ponderosa was the dominating sound as Adam rode through the night with a sky ablaze with stars upon a purpling blue black sky. It was late, or early, depending on which way one viewed the hours after midnight. The screech of a hunting bird came from a tree above him, then silence.

He stopped the horse and sat in the saddle for a while, stretched his back, stood in the stirrups and flexed his back again until he felt the familiar pop click of vertebra settling back into place. Then, for a while he justt looked about him. This was the time when on board ship he would walk the deck, look at the sky and think of home. There was the time like this on his ship when he realised that he no longer loved Barbara, her memory, the sound of her voice, the important things that mattered to him…had faded to nothingness. And it was a time like this when on board his ship he had leaned upon the taffrail and looked down at the sea and remembered Olivia’s eyes, the sound of her …and yet even though he had only seen her three times , he knew that she had lodged deep into his heart, and would remain forever.

He sighed and turned around in the saddle to look behind him. No one there. He was still alone. His horse snorted, as though reminding him that there was still some way to go and she was hungry. He nudged her flanks with his heels and she set off into her long loping stride …eating up the miles, chewing up the moments of time between the present and the time when he would have to tell Hoss and Hester and at that memory he felt a deep pain that stopped his breath …so that he had to stop Kami again, and sit there to inhale, to stop and think. What to say, how to say it, or just leave it all to Pa? But Ben did not know what he knew…he shivered and set the horse back in motion. Best to get it dealt with now then whatever was to come …they could face it together

The sound of horses in the yard trickled in to Hester’s sleeping consciousness and she stirred, rubbed her eyes and slipped back into sleep. Hope nestled in closer, her soft blonde hair mingling with her mother’s Titian locks.

Ben had the door open as Hoss dismounted, and was hurrying towards him to grip him by the hand. “Where’s Joe? Didn’t he come with you?”

“Yeah, but he went on home to make sure Mary Ann and the kids were alright. Why? Should he be here ..”

“No no, it’s alright, it doesn’t really concern him..well, not really. I’m glad you got here so fast, Hoss. “

“Yeah, yeah…” Hoss nodded wishing his father would stop dancing around the issue and just spit it out, “I see Adam’s here…”

“Got here just five minutes before you….”

“So he knows what’s going on …whatever that is…”

“Come on indoors, Hoss, we need to talk…” Ben paused, tugged at his ear lobe, and then rubbed his jaw as they entered the house. The door snapped shut and Hoss turned to see Adam as the other man rose out of the chair by the hearth.

“Hey,Adam..”

“Hoss.”

“Yeah, well, here I am..what was so dad burned important that I had to leave the cattle and come back here….you all skeered me to death with that dang letter…” he paused and looked at their faces, “Shucks, I’m dry as a desert, how about a drink or something ?”

“Sure, Hoss…” Adam nodded and yet just stood t here chewing on his bottom lip and staring down at the rug at his feet.

“Dadburn I’ll go git it myself…” Hoss grumbled and was about to head for the kitchen when Hop Sing stepped into the room bearing a tray which he set down on the table. “Shucks, does everyone know what’s happening except me and Joe?”

Adam looked at Ben, then they both looked at Hoss. Ben hauled in a breath and said quickly “I think it would be a good idea if you were to get Hester down, Hoss. It concerns her too……”

Hoss felt a surge of relief, Hester was alright, the children were alright, whatever the matter happened to be it was going to be alright. Then as he mounted the stairs towards the upper landing he felt a shiver rip through him, whatever it was going to be…Hester didn’t know, only Pa and Adam….so what was it? What was so dadburned important that they had to get together like this and discuss it. He glanced over his shoulder to where Ben and Adam waited them in the big room, Adam pouring coffee into four cups…and the thought occurred to Hoss that even Hop Sing must know about it seeing how he was there and …and before he could think of anything else Hester appeared, tying the belt around her dressing gown and looking sleepy eyed, tousle haired and he could not resist leaning forward to kiss her

“Hoss? I thought I heard your voice.” she yawned, and shook her head, “What are you doing back here? Are you alright? You’re not hurt at all are you?”

“No, honey, I’m fine just a mite confused….you sure you’re alright?”

“Yes, I’m – I’m just not sure what’s going on….” she walked down the stairs holding his hand, his big gentle hand that quite engulfed hers, “Adam? It’s a bit early isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry, Hester…” Adam nodded, yes, it was early, he was tired, he wanted to go to bed, he wanted to snuggle up to his wife but here he was about to deliver the worse possible news…he looked at Ben

Hoss grabbed at one of the cups and swallowed it in a gulp, then he walked to the table and poured another cup for himself, and then carried it and Hester’s over to her. He looked from his father to his brother and shrugged “Well, say what you’ve got to say…”

“Sit down first, Hoss.” Ben muttered and flapped his hand to indicate the nearest chair,but his son took the seat on the settee next to his wife, which was as it should be, after all. He smiled at her and she slipped her free hand back into his, smiled in return.

“So…what’s wrong?” Hester asked and smiled at the two men whom she loved dearly, and were both looking at her with a look on their faces that boded bad news.

“Hester, there’s no easy way to tell you about this …but it concerns Erik.” Ben cleared his throat and looked at them, their faces turned towards him slightly bemused, two innocent chicks in a nest about to be trampled on….he frowned “There’s a man in town who has been looking for Thomas Connolly…..”

“Who’s he?” Hoss asked innocently, blue eyes wide and face totally confused.

“Thomas Connolly is Erik’s father…fleshly father I mean…except that we knew him as Thomas O’Connell. And he died in the mine explosion…”

“Wait.” Hester raised a hand….drew in a big breath “Wait a moment…Thomas O’Connell is dead…that time with McGarthy….and Thomas’ wife was Margaret…”

“Yes, that’s right…and of course, she’s dead too but …” Ben sat down and leaned towards them, his hands palm upwards as though they contained a gift, except they did not, it was merely an act of commiseration, sympathy “Erik’s grand parents ….”

“They’re here?” Hester cried, jumping to her feet, the cup and saucer crashing to the floor spilling its contents and the saucer spinning round and round like a top until it shuddered to a halt.

Adam stepped forward, a hand on his father’s shoulder “Not yet, they should arrive this afternoon or at the latest tomorrow.”

“You mean they’ve come to take Erik …” she whispered the words, and then with a sob she cried “Haven’t they?” and then almost in a shriek “Haven’t they?”

Hoss covered her hands with his own, patted them gently, “They can’t take him away from us Hester, we’re his legal parents…his own parents are dead…”

Adam pulled his chair closer to them, as though what was being said had to be spoken about quietly, he looked at them both and thought that so far so good, no real hysterics, and if they could keep it that way then some kind of plan would be possible, they could move forward and keep everything contained.

“We don’t know much about the Connolly’s except that they are from Ireland, one of the old families and therefore have history…and money…behind them. Obviously they wanted to locate their son…and it has taken them some time to finally track him here.” he paused.

“And in the meantime they found out about Erik?” Hoss asked, unusually quiet

“Yes.” Adam nodded a slight frown puckering his brow.

“And you found this all out when? Yesterday? Last week?” Hoss’ voice had that hard edge to it that indicated rage was building up…rage and fear…a combustible mixture.

Ben stepped in or rather he leaned in more closely, a hand stretched out to rest upon Hoss’ arm

“Cotter must have arrived as you left the Ponderosa…”

“Cotter is that his name…” Hoss started forward, getting to his feet and clenching his hands into fists “Is it? Where’s he hiding out?”

“He isn’t hiding out anywhere.” Ben sighed and pushed Hoss back down into the couch “Look, he’s a man who was hired to do a job, to find a family’s missing son…well, he found him, took years, but in the process he also found out that there is a grand son…and …”

“What kind of people are they?” Hester asked quietly, “I mean you said they were Irish, and rich, old family…but what else do you know about them?”

“Nothing else…” Adam said, frowning as he spoke, wishing now that he had found out more when he had had the chance “Except that they have loyalty and love to be looking for their son for so long…and paying for it too…”

“This Cotter …how did he find out about Erik?” Hoss snapped, eyes like ice now, and the veins in his neck like cords

“In the usual ways Investigators find out things…and Erik’s adoption was no secret now, was it?” Ben said, again forcing his voice to be as gentle as possible.

“They’ve come to take him from us, haven’t they?” Hester said in a wail of anguish, “Oh no, no, please say it isn’t so…” and she burst into tears, covering her face with both hands as she did so.

“They can’t take him from us, he’s legally our son….” Hoss growled, narrowing his eyes, and glaring at Adam “Well, he is, isn’t he?”

“He is…you have the legal documents here, Hoss, and Hiram left them all with Grant who will help all he can. Should he be needed of course….” Adam glanced at his father, who nodded affirmation.

“So you went and found out about that too then…” Hoss snarled, as though any effort his brother had undertaken on their behalf placed them more under obligation to him than anything…his thoughts, his emotions and feelings were every which way, he couldn’t think straight, he wanted to knock holes in walls, break down a door, give Adam a beating because he was here dealing with things and he had ridden off without a clue….his body shook with the effort to keep control of the emotions he felt now, for himself, for Hester…

“What if they take him away from us…they can’t do that can they? They can’t, can they?” Hester was sobbing as though her heart were breaking, her body arced as she folded in upon herself, rocking back and forth, keening for a child still safely tucked up in bed above them….

“Grant will explain all you need to know legally…” Adam said with one eye on his brother, but his hand on Hester’s arm, “But we know when they are coming, we know who they are, and why they are here….not necessarily to take Erik but to see where their son has been buried. They’ve lost a son, they’ll understand how you feel and …”

“I don’t want to see them, I don’t….and they can’t see Erik…I won’t let them. Is there anywhere we can go and hide? Can we go to the cabin….” she paused and her eyes looked into Adams, and she blinked tears that rolled down her cheeks “Adam, what can we do?”

“You and Hoss have to decide what to do, Hester…..” Adam said quietly knowing only too well that if Hoss had his way the door would be off its hinges, and he would be riding his horse into town to shake Cotter to get every bit of knowledge out of him, by good measure no doubt, giving him, Adam, a glancing blow on the way out.

The sound of a horse entering the yard and all four of them tensed .then relaxed as Joe threw open the door and hurried inside..He looked at each one of them in turn, stopped to look sympathetically at Hester and then demanded to know what was going on.

Hester got up, clutched her robe around her and made for the stairs, as though Joe’s entrance had galvanised her into action. She needed to be with her baby…her baby, no one else’s, hers…..

“Well, arn’t you going to say anything? Mary Ann was fine..kids were fine…so thought I had best come on down and see what was happening here…so …what is it?”

Adam stood up, walked over to where he had left his hat and picked it up, he put his hand briefly on Joe’s shoulder and then turned slightly “You know where I am…” he murmured and left the house, minutes later they heard his horse leaving the yard.

Joe threw his arms in the air…shook his head…”Won’t someone tell me what’s going on!!”

Chapter 28

Joe was still demanding answers even as Hoss was mounting the stairs in order to be with his wife, but when Joe’s voice broke on a shrill note he turned and said in a rather deeper than usual voice that Pa would explain everything, then proceeded on his way.

Joe looked at his father and then slowly sunk down into the big chair while Ben stood as though his feet were nailed to the floor. Joe shrugged “Well, what’s the matter? Is Hester ill? Mary Ann says she had no idea that there was anything wrong…I’ve left her worried sick that something bad has happened to the children …”

Ben lowered his head and nodded, as though the matter were too heavy for even his shoulders to bear up under the burden. He finally settled down into his chair and raised his hands to his face, rubbed them as though somehow that would energise the muscles to work his mouth. He cleared his throat and slowly proceeded to tell Joe the whole sorry story, while Joe sat as though by rights he should suspend breathing.

“So? What’s the big worry?” he finally said, spreading out his hands as though he were unable to see the problem “Erik is legally their son, he’s a Cartwright…”

“By blood he is a Connolly…..”

“Oh and his father was so proud of that fact that he changed his name as soon as he reached New York!” he frowned and shook his head “It’s not as if they are coming to steal Erik away from us is it?”

“We don’t know what their intentions are, Joseph. They’ve spent time and money looking for a son, and …”

“Sure, I know what you said… does not mean that Erik is at risk from them. I think this has got a little out of hand, causing more trouble than its worth.”

“You think so, do you?” Ben raised one dark eyebrow and fixed Joe with a look, “And if it were Daniel or Constance in this situation…would you feel so unemotional about it then?”

“As far as my children are concerned it’s hardly likely to happen….all I’m saying is that it could well be a perfectly normal family who will be happy to see a healthy little grandson and then will go back to Ireland …instead of all this emotional panic…which does no one any good because they’ll end up making rash decisions and there will be a heap of problems as a result.”

Ben shook his head. Of course Joe was right, fear and anxiety often resulted in a knee jerk reaction with bad results, but at the same time the Connolly’s could well be capable of stealing Erik away from them, or taking legal steps to over turn the adoption. He stood up and picked up his empty cup and saucer before taking it over to the tray on the table,

“Well, you had best get home to your wife, Joe….we’ll no doubt have more to say when we see you later.”

Joe nodded, and got to his feet, yawned as he walked to the door and then paused, “Oh by the way, this may seem insignificant just now but Candy wondered if he could be considered as Manager of the cattle station….he said he and Ann were ready for a new challenge in life.”

Ben merely nodded, his mind a long way from thinking of the cattle station but he said nothing, leaving Joe feeling disgruntled that his piece of news had failed to impress. He slipped his hat on and hurried from the house, mounted his horse and headed for home.

…………………….

Hoss could hear the horse trotting out from the yard and gaining speed on the level track towards Joe’s house behind the hill. He paused at the door of the room in which Erik slept and pushed it open very gently. He had expected to see Hester there so was not surprised at the sight of his wife sitting beside the bed, looking down at the child while she clutched her hands together like two fists against her chest.

“Hester?”

She did not acknowledge him but remained as she was, locked in position, scared to move in case the little boy slipped away from her sight were she to do so. Hoss stepped further into the room until he was right behind her, and then placed a gentle hand upon her shoulder. She immediately loosed her fists and raised one hand to rest upon his.

“Hester…honey …. come on, let’s go to bed and sleep on this, huh? You may wake Erik up and frighten him..”

“I wouldn’t frighten him, Hoss, I’m his mother…he would not be frightened of me..not ever…”

“No, of course not…” he touched her hair, lightly, caught at a loose strand and held it between his finger and thumb…”Sweet heart, we need to think over this rationally. Do things right…”

“What do you mean?” she was frowning as she turned her face to look at him, “What do you mean by that? Of course we will do things right…”

“I just meant that until we see these Connolly’s…”

“I don’t want to see them, not any of them….”

“Yeah, but that may be easier said than done, Hester. They’ll want to see Erik, and talk about him..”

“And take him away?” she stood up and faced him, “Is that what you mean? You were never sure about adopting him in the first place were you? You were.. …”

“Hey, hey…hold on thar, Hester…jest because I saw there could be a problem didn’t mean I didn’t want him? I love him like he’s my own flesh and blood, you know that…”

“I’m not going to let them see him, I’m going to take him away from here, somewhere safe where they can’t find him…”

Hoss bowed his head and shook it slowly but Hester had turned away from him now and was looking at Erik as though her heart were breaking. Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped from her chin, her shoulders shook in an attempt to prevent her sobs being too loud and she turned back to him and let him gather her up into his arms and hold him against his chest. She could smell the sweat and dust from the long ride he had made to reach her from the cattle, the smell of wood smoke, horse sweat …she buried her face into his shirt and whispered “I’m scared, Hoss. I’ve dreamt night mares of this happening, that some one would come along and know that Erik was not really ours, and that they would snatch him away from us….all the years we have cared and loved him…” she paused and looked up at him “Hoss, I’m sorry I said that about you not wanting him at the start, I should not have said that…”

Hoss nodded and stroked her head. Very carefully he led her away from the little bedroom that had once been Joe’s all that time ago. He took her into their own room, swept her up into his arms and then carefully settled her back onto the bed. He gently stroked away strands of hair that were caught up in her tears and stuck to her face, he kissed her on the brow and held her hand.

“Lets try and catch a few hours sleep, to be honest I’m plain wore out and need to get some sleep so’s I can think straight. We have time on our side so far and…”

“Should we go and see Grant?” she whispered looking into his eyes and seeing the gleam of tears there. She raised a hand to his face and touched his cheek with her fingers

“I reckon so…find out how we stand legally.”

“Because that’s all we have isn’t it? Some papers to say he is ours legally…” her voice was brittle whether from trying to suppress tears or to fight back the fear and desperation she was feeling.

“Yes, sweet heart, that is all we have, and it should be more than enough…” he leaned down and kissed her again. “Try and sleep.”

The words rolled round and round in her head……try and sleep….how could she when someone was planning on stealing her son.

She stared up at the ceiling and watched the shadows as they shortened and shortened until they were nothing more than a blotch on the plaster. Sun light spread over the room… she rolled off the bed and slipped on her slippers and prepared for the new day.

She could not bear to think beyond the hour….it was all too much and when she heard Erik’s voice calling out for his Momma she thought her heart would break.

……

The man in the bed rolled over onto his back and stared at the window of his room. Had he imagined it? It had seemed very real.

He forced himself from the bed and walked to the window where the curtains drifted over the carpeted floor. He looked down from the window to see what was beneath and noted that the verandah would be all too easy for an intruder to enter any of the windows along the Boarding House’s upper room.

Standing there staring out at the morning sun, hearing the early sounds of a town coming back to life, the sounds of Miss Portia preparing the morning meal he tried to recall exactly what had been said…Most of the conversation had slipped from his mind completely but he did remember telling the intruder that the Connolly’s would be arriving that afternoon by train…

Should he have told him that piece of information? At the back of his mind Cotter knew that he had wanted to tell him everything. Perhaps it was because he felt guilty, but of what? He had been doing a job, for which he was being paid, and in the process had stumbled upon a child…the child…and he felt that piece of information had become the main focus of this search.

Guilty..because knowledge was a dangerous thing. A family would – could – be torn apart by such knowledge. A child plucked from his secure haven …he closed his eyes at the thought and immediately the faces of Mr and Mrs Garston presented themselves to him. Better that the little boy had been left to their mercy, then the Connolly’s descent upon the orphanage to pluck him into their family bosom would have been a blessing.

He turned away now and ambled over to the dresser in order to prepare for the new day. In some way he hoped that he had provided a crumb of assistance to the family who had raised the child, provided them with time to do something. He paused in his pulling up his pants to think over what they would decide to do…..take things calmly or – perhaps take the child and run.

He shook his head, neither way would work really, the Connolly’s were known for their tenacity, look how they had persisted in this search for their son, Thomas. Years it had taken them, and money..and now here they were on the brink of arriving in Virginia City to create more chaos. Cyrus wished he had never met the Garstons, had never heard of the child, had left the Connolly’s grieving the loss of a son and nothing more.

 

Chapter 29

Miss Tyndale stood by the window of the little room known to all as her office. She watched as the town, her town, came to life…she knew the exact moment that Mr Bevan would bring out the items he would .arrange on the side walk, the buckets and ladders, the stools and wicker baskets. She could remember watching Mr and Mrs Cameron doing just the same all those years ago .. she shook her head to remove the memory of that tragic time. Ben Cartwright nearly died then too, and she sighed again. Life in this town had known great injustices and cruelties

She watched as a little boy ran into the street followed by a white and black puppy that was yipping joyfully at his heels, and it made her smile. She had known Davy Riley since an infant when they had first moved to Town, surly and unruly. But not today, he was so happy to be alive one could see it in his face…all because of a dog. Or, perhaps the man who had remembered his promise to him and come into town again to give him the gift of a true friend. Dogs were always loyal true friends.

 

Oh why this restlessness. Her mind seemed all over the place just now. Her eyes flicked to watching a buggy making its ways through the meagre traffic. Early morning and not much to see just yet. Eddie was opening the Telegraph and Mail Depot, always on time…her eyes had twitched involuntarily to the clock on the wall, yes,to the minute. All the years he had worked there Eddie had never been late in opening up the towns communication system to the world.

She sighed again and watched the buggy came to a halt outside Ridleys Livery …that brought to mind times long ago, but she shook them off, and watched as Hoss Cartwright helped his wife from the vehicle. She smiled slowly, Hester Cartwright was not one who needed help, she was feisty and strong, could have jumped down as easily as winking. But Hoss looked after his beloved and that touched her gentle heart.

Davy Riley yelled to them “Morning Mr and Mrs Cartwright…” and ran on before they could reply, Amelia knew that if he lingered much longer he would be late for school and his father would no doubt blame the dog. She knew Mr Riley hated the poor creature, just because it gave Davy pleasure and that, in turn, pleased Mrs Riley.

She watched now as Hoss and Hester walked from Ridleys and made their way to the building just out of her eye line. So now she bowed her head in order to compile data, information she had gleaned by several sources. Yes, no doubt they were going to see young Grant Tombs, that made sense .. it fitted the logical pattern of things and having come to that conclusion she turned away to take her place at the counter of her beloved library

……………..

Hoss held his wife’s hand in his, and could feel it trembling slightly. Or perhaps it was his own? He cleared his throat as they pushed open the office door to Grant’s office, the one that Hiram had occupied for so many years. The woman who was just sitting down at her desk looked up at them, smiled a welcome. Everyone knew Hoss and Hester Cartwright…..

“Is Grant -” Hoss paused and wondered if he should have asked for Mr Tombs but Mrs Mavis Sly just widened her grin and nodded, stood up and walked to the door of the ‘inner sanctum’ and knocked.

Of course Hoss and Hester could have just walked in but this was office protocol, and even though a little thing it gave her something to do and prepared Grant for his next clients, although today Hoss and Hester were his first. It was that early…..

“Mr and Mrs Cartwright to see you, Mr Tombs. They have no appointment but…”

Grant looked up from reading a file on his desk and nodded, thanked her and stood up to welcome the couple as they entered. Mrs Sly closed the door and left them to it, and returned to her desk. The murmur of voices floated through the wall …

“I wondered if you would come today, Adam said they would let you know what was happening. Have you any further news of this family….”

Grant looked at them, Hoss looking uncomfortable and nervy, Hester with moist eyes and a handkerchief in her hand which she kept raising to her eyes to stop any tears, should they fall.

“What do you know already, Grant?” Hoss asked and sat down on the flimsy chairs that Grant’s salary could stretch to…

“Only what Adam told me, that there was a family on the way here who could have claims to your son, Erik. I told him I could not discuss the situation with him, it was a matter for you both – he understood that, of course.”

“This family is – it seems –“ Hoss coughed, to get the words right “ seems they have blood rights to Erik. Seems that their son …Erik’s flesh and blood father…is I mean…they bin searching for him for years, now they know he’s dead and the man they hired has been scratching around and found that he had a son, and that would be their grand son, you see…”

Grant nodded, he saw and sympathised. Hester looked as though she was having trouble breathing . He took advantage of the break in Hoss’ chain of thought to ask her if she would like something to drink? She shook her head and Hoss continued….

“Look, Grant, Hiram drew up the adoption papers and swore they were legal and right, that Erik was now OUR son. No one could dispute that…it’s all writ down in black and white…and sealed…” he frowned recalling to mind the big red wax seal on the papers locked away securely in Pa’s safe.

“You’re worried about them having a legal claim to the child?” Grant nodded, saw them exchange a look, “Legally Erik is your son. But they have claims due to their family connections…” he paused and opened the folder on his desk, for a moment there was silence, Hoss and Hester afraid to breathe, for Grant to look for the points in the document that could be used against them …then he looked up and nodded “It’s interesting that their son left Ireland years ago and promptly changed his name. He obviously did not want to be found.”

“We heard that this family are very wealthy, landowners and such …but Thomas was poor, he and Margaret barely made a living.” Hester managed to speak without breaking down in tears, “Something must have happened to make him do that…could they be … I mean…perhaps they are bad people and he was not wanting to …oh I don’t know…I guess I’m clutching at straws.” she paused and blinked, dabbed her cheeks, “You said they had claims ….would they be valid?”

Grant pursed his lips, and frowned. Slowly removed his glasses and set them down on the desk, before leaning forward, his hands clasped together as though in prayer

“They are Erik’s flesh and blood, his grand parents, of course they have claims…” he lowered his eyes, waited for Hester to calm herself, while Hoss lost the colour in his face which then rushed back “The worse case scenario is that they find a Judge somewhere who would take the case to court in an attempt to overturn the adoption and turning Eriks care into their custody. In order to do that they would have to prove that you were unfit parents, that Erik was in danger of being badly treated, abused … they would fail to prove that, of course, but as you say they are wealthy…” he paused “As I said it was the worse case scenario. They could very well be very honest, kind people who would make wonderful grand parents for Erik…”

“But they live in Ireland…” Hester said and shook her head as though she could not believe she had said something so banal. There were thousands of grand parents in Ireland with their children’s children scattered all over the world…such was the success of emigration!!

“And why would Thomas have changed his name…and wanted nothing to do with them….” Hoss blurted out, “Grant, surely …”

Grant raised a hand and shook his head “Hoss, Hester…you do not know these people. Why not just get to know them, find out from them what they have in mind. They have had a shock knowing their son is dead, but also the joy of knowing they have a grand son. Wait and see, time will tell …”

“You think we’re being stupid coming here…” Hoss grumbled, because he did feel stupid now, he felt as though he was in the wrong, and Hester too….he squeezed her hand, and found it to be icy cold.

“No, you did the right thing coming here and checking up on the facts.” Grant leaned forward, again.”Look, you both know that decent folk will bring you and Erik no harm. But we also know that this is a cruel world out there, and if they arn’t decent folk they could easily …” he stopped himself and drew in his breathe, no point he told himself on talking about a situation they had pondered on themselves, “Why not just wait and see what happens….”

“And if they are not decent folk and decide to snatch Erik from us because they have money and can pay people to do that….” Hester spoke in a tone of voice so cold and devoid of feelings that Grant, in the act of replacing his glasses, nearly dropped them.. “Then what do we do?”

“Then you get the law involved…” he cleared his throat and nervously looked from one anxious face to the other “Obviously.”

“So we just wait and see what happens…and suddenly one morning Erik will be gone, taken because they have money and can do that kind of thing….and then …if the law catches them they will claim they have a right, because they are his grand parents after all…and we’re bad parents and they can prove it in court…” her voice had the edge of hysteria, and she realised that, stopped, put her hands over her face “Oh Grant, I’m sorry, it’s just that it keeps going over and over in my head that they could take him away….”

Grant nodded, said nothing but looked to Hoss for help, after all it was his wife having the hysterics. Hoss sighed and gently squeezed Hester’s hand “What if we go away for a while, with the children… “

Grant stood up and walked to the other side of his desk, so that they formed a little circle of three, after all, to him, the Cartwrights were like family, their anguish was his, their problem was his, but he had a legal mind set and now reached out and took hold of Hester by the hand

“I strongly recommend that you do not do that until you have met them. Let them see their grand child. Judge from that what to do next…..if you feel Erik is in danger, well, you know how to protect your own, you have been doing that for years. But meet them first…” he released her hand and then leaned against the desk, waiting for them to speak.

Hoss stood up, then slowly Hester rose to her feet, they thanked him, politely and made their farewells. Hoss shook his hand and they left the room, Grant trailing behind them, feeling that he had let them down, said the wrong things…they were silent as they left the building hand in hand.

The school house bell was tolling, Davy and the dog had disappeared and the main street was busy. Women were already walking down the side walk with baskets on their arms,little children ran here and there, or stayed close to their mothers, infants in their mothers arms dozed. The traffic was heavy, carriages and barouches, buggies and rigs threaded their way through being over taken by horsemen all headed for a destination somewhere….but Hoss and Hester remained in a daze, heads thick with confusion and distress and fear.

How could anyone make the right decision when their hearts and heads were full of emotional turmoil . Hester replayed over and over again what things of substance she had gleaned from Grants conversation with them, nothing made sense. Hoss worried more now about Hester,his concern for her greater than his fear for Erik because she had always been his rock, and now it seemed she was crumbling and he didn’t know how to put her together again..to be his rock once more. He did not want to lose Erik any more that she did, but being a man he did not quail at the thought of meeting the Connollys face to face…the Cartwrights had faced down worse than them in their life time. But Hester…she had not.

“Let’s go and see Bridie…” he suggested and gently steered her to wards the home of their dearest friend

From the library window, with several books in her hands, Amelia Tyndale watched them walk pass her building. Her heart went out to them both, for it would have taken a blind man not to notice how Hester was suffering , the evidence of her misery clear on her pale features.

A movement from across the street caught the peripherals of her vision, and she watched as a man strode towards the Mail Office. The ‘would be pretend tailor’…Cotter.. Amelia narrowed her eyes and shook her head, he was like an evil talisman she thought, hovering like a black cloud over everything …if only he had never stepped foot in her town…..

 

Chapter 30

The bell summoning the children to school rang through the town, unheeded by most, such a familiar sound every day. Late comers to school ran to get to the school yard in time and add to the mixing and mingling in the school yard before orderly queues were formed to enter the building.

Mr Edward Evans stood by the door and watched as the children jostled and giggled – mostly – as they streamed into the big hallway and up the stairs. He nodded at some, smiled at others, frowned at the minority who insisted on continuing with a little horse play. He was more than pleased to see Davy Riley with the smile on his face which was becoming a regular feature…the boys faith in mankind restored thanks to one man and his dog…

He watched as Reuben Cartwright steered his way to the left as the children reached the top landing, the way to his class room while his sister, Sofia made her way to the right. Both looked unusually solemn and Evans tried to recall anything that his step son may have told him about what new drama had arisen on the Ponderosa – he could think of nothing .

The younger children were turning into their classes now and his eyes watched them trickle through the big doorway…little ones with such big tasks ahead of them, some had travelled miles to get there, and did so every day; some had eaten their first meal of the day on the wagons or on foot to reach school… some would fall asleep over their desks…and he sighed, some of these children would disappear in the winter months, as school would be unreachable due to the bad weather conditions, and he knew that soon children from all classes would slip away, having to work on their parents farms, or homesteads…until they could be released for schooling once more.

He closed the big doors behind him and made his way to the classroom to teach his first lesson of the day. Education was precious and each child there had parents who appreciated that fact. At the same time their livelihoods, their survival as families, was vital and each child was also taught that fact from an early age.

Reuben Cartwright was at his seat next to Jimmy. His customary morning smile missing, replaced by a slight scowl, eyes fixed onto somewhere on the floor …something, Edward Evans thought, was ‘going on’, something was weighing heavily on the child’s shoulders.

……………….

While Hoss and Hester sat in Bridie Martins’ smart little parlour and poured out their problems to her and Paul, with Tilly a constant feature as she came and went with trays of refreshment their little girl, Hannah, sat in her classroom chewing the tip of her pencil and trying to concentrate on what her teacher was telling her.

Hannah was a practical little girl..and at the age of six was becoming very aware of things that went on around her. As she had sat on the wagon seat between Rosie and David Canaday she had wished that Sofia and Reuben had been with them. She wanted to know if they had also noticed the strange atmosphere in their house or whether it was just at the Ponderosa where ‘something had not felt right’

Her eyes moistened as she thought back to their hurried breakfast, to Hester’s constant urging for them to ‘eat up’ ‘hurry now there are things to be done today’ and Hoss sitting there hardly eating anything and Ben, Grandpa, sighing and looking around at them all as though he was never going to see them ever again.

She had never known a morning like it…even Hop Sing .. she brushed away a tear before it fell upon her cheek, even Hop Sing had been very quiet, in fact, he had appeared at some time during the meal and brought in the bread and …she frowned …and then he had gone, she could not recall seeing him, hearing him, at all for the rest of the meal.

The whole thing had made her stomach tie itself up in knots, and she had looked at Hope and Erik and wondered if they had noticed anything wrong but then Hope was always a quiet little soul, and not given to chattering during meals, while Erik seemed oblivious, ate with his usual enthusiasm and laughed and giggled as usual. And there was that one time when Hoss had looked at the little boy and … just looked…his face assuming a sadness that Hannah carried in her memory throughout the journey to school.

“Hannah Cartwright…pay attention….” Miss Stanton tapped at her desk with a ruler, and Hannah sat straighter and forced herself to concentrate, unlike Mr Evans, Miss Stanton had a limited imagination and never employed what little she possessed to become sympathetic to the troubles of her pupils. They could have travelled each morning from the moon for all she cared, so long as they were seated at their desks and brains engaged to function.

………………

Sofia was more than grateful that she could ride Paddy to school. When weather was good, as it had been for some days now, her parents permitted her to ride the horse along with her brother who rode into town on Max. It helped blow away cobwebs and allowed her mind to clear for the coming day. She had always hated school, and the enforced obligation to sit still and pay attention to someone else…but now she was settled into the system, learned from the lessons she enjoyed, and tolerated those she did not.

Miss Hathaway was a good teacher, she enjoyed the lessons and she cared about her pupils. She wondered what tragedy had befallen Sofia this morning but smiled to herself, Sofia was a drama queen, and most mornings was wrapped up in some terrible event that had taken place at home….she smiled at them all, her pupils, her surrogate family, and felt for them all.

Sofia tried to concentrate but her mind was constantly dwelling on the way her parents had behaved that morning. She could see that her father was tired, his eyes were heavy and his smile was not ‘real’ because his eyes had not smiled when his lips had parted in some grimace or other. He had spoken little, had shown little interest in their lessons, or their coming day but ate hurriedly and then got up, kissed Olivia – and held her close for longer than usual – before hurrying out of the house.

Olivia had talked and shown interest, perhaps too much so, patting her – Sofia – on the head as though she were some pet dog, and looking long and lingeringly at Nathaniel and, Sofia was sure but she had seen her mother’s eyes moisten and for a moment she had wondered if Olivia was going to start crying. She had asked Reuben twice if he had done his homework.. twice! As though she had totally forgotten she had already asked him.

Then there was the matter of what Reuben had told her he had overheard during the night when he had gone sleep walking…he often did and they had found him asleep in weird places ..no one took much notice nowadays and he was not allowed a night light in case he bumped into the table and knocked it over. But sometimes he would wake up involuntarily and make his way to bed by himself.

That night he had woken up and found himself standing on the half landing of the stairs, looking down at the big room where his parents were sitting, and still hazy with sleep he had for a while stood there, and watched, and listen

Although they were seated together, Adam and Olivia were holding hands, and talking seriously about something. Reuben saw his father reach out and touch Olivia’s face gently, and Olivia had removed her hand from his and – it seemed to the boy – brushed away tears.

Why would his mother be crying? Reuben wanted to ask, but then his father had leaned forward and taken Olivia into his arms, kissed the top of her head and glanced upwards, seen Reuben and frowned…the boy just turned and returned to his bed.

But, as he said to Sofia while saddling their horses “Something’s wrong, and they didn’t talk much this morning did they? Ma just was pretending to be her usual self, but she weren’t …was she?”

He had looked at Sofia then, and his sister thought of the quiet breakfast and her mother’s quiet demeanour and nodded “Do you think Grandpa is ill again…like that time before?”

“We’ll have to ask Hannah when we get to school …she’ll know..”

They were further confused when en route to school they caught up with Hoss and Hester in the buggy heading for town. There was no sign of Hannah and upon asking their Uncle and Aunt if Hannah was going to be at school, Hoss had said she was on the way to the Canadays, with Ezra to collect Rosie and David. Hester had smiled but like Pa, her eyes had not smiled at all, the blue eyes were just blank.

Blank. Like her mind at the moment. Miss Hathaway called out her name and she had to stand up and apologise because she had no idea what Miss Hathaway had said. Then she had to go and stand in the corner, face to the wall and told to pay attention in future. She knew if it had been Miss Stanton she would have had a ruler slapped down across her hand…so she dutifully did as she was told, and faced the wall.

What if Grandfather were ill …or dying…. the thought brought tears to her eyes and one actually trickled down her cheek and plopped onto her pinafore.

………………….

Adam Cartwright dismounted and was walking towards the Ponderosa ranch house when Joe’s horse was heard approaching from the direction of the track. He paused on the porch and turned to greet his brother who slid from his saddle and grinned over at Adam

“Morning, Adam….” he tied the reins to the hitching rail and walked to where Adam was standing, one hand on his hip and the other rubbing his jaw, “You look like you’re ready for bed….”

“And good morning to you too, Joe.” Adam nodded, ignoring the comment because he was liable to have said that yes, he could only too willingly have returned to his bed…

“Everyone alright?”

Adam nodded and asked the same question with regards to Joe’s family, receiving a grin and nod in reply. They pushed the door open and were greeted by shouts of welcome, Hope and Erik ran to them, expecting to be swung high and as Joe would say “Lets see if you can hit the ceiling this morning….” something Ben would say every morning in those long gone by days when he had been a child himself in this very house.

Adam walked to the study area with Hope perched on one arm, and the little girls arms hugging him around the neck while she wanted to know if Nathaniel would be coming later to play.

Ben was already at the desk, surrounded by papers and nodded over to his sons…then looked down at some paper before saying rather gruffly “Hester and Hoss are going to see Grant this morning..” he looked over at Adam “You must have just missed them …”

Adam nodded “Heard horses on the track as I was saddling up….”

Ben leaned back against his chair and sighed, he flicked the corners of the papers with his thumb, as Adam released Hope and both men watched as the little girl scampered away to find Erik. Joe joined them, running his fingers through his hair and his hazel eyes glancing from one to the other of them

“Did you say they’ve gone to see Grant?”

“Yes, want to make sure there are no loop holes in the paperwork for Erik’s adoption.”

“Hiram would have made sure of that…” Adam said as he pulled up a chair and sat down,he looked at Joe, before asking his father how Hoss and Hester were feeling now about everything

“Hester’s being very contained…no hysterics, not many tears…sometimes it would be easier if there were, but ..” he flung the pen down “I hate saying this, but I warned them when they decided to adopt Erik that this kind of thing could happen….”

“Well, it has, and we have to just face up to it.” Adam responded and sighed, he and Olivia had talked themselves dry trying to work out a solution…he looked at Joe who shrugged and ventured to say “The Irish family could be really pleasant people, they wouldn’t want to take Erik from a family where he is loved and well cared for….”

“I hope, Joe, with all my heart, that you’re right.” Ben paused as the rattle of cups and the smell of coffee drifted their way

Hop Sing appeared, nodded at them and placed the tray on the low table. Adam watched as their old friend turned and walked away, his plait bobbing against his back, grey now, in parts as silver as Ben’s own hair. Was a time…..he gulped and shook his head, best to banish the memories and get on with the business at hand

Chapter 31

Time …for some it moved too quickly and for others every minute prevented the next hour actually arriving. Adam and Joe rode out of the yard with their minds in different directions entirely. Joe was wondering about the task awaiting them…and Adam was wondering how Hoss and Hester were getting on, what Grant had been able to tell them, whether or not they were feeling less anxious or perhaps, more so

At Bridie’s Hester wept a little more and was fussed over by Bridie and Tilly. Hoss sought out Paul in his office and discussed the matter – man to man – and came to the same conclusion that Grant had made…best meet the family and take it from there.

“But why’d you think he changed his name, Paul?” Hoss looked at his old friend with his eyes clouded by his concerns. “I know you didn’t really know him…”

“Thomas O’Connell? I met him several times in actual fact..” Paul made himself more comfortable in his old leather chair, he pursed his lips and shook his head “Each time briefly..you’ll recall the mine was constantly calling out Doctors to attend to the accidents that were taking place .. too many accidents and O’Connell was always there waving some papers at us, reports of how the so called accidents were nothing of the kind. All of them caused by negligence and apathy on the part of the mine’s owner.”

“And what did you make of him? Was he just stirring up trouble…”

“McGarthy tried to make it seem as though he were…” Paul chewed on the top of a pen and stared out at the far wall like a man does when trying to assemble memories and thoughts. Eventually he put the pen down and shrugged “Well, I began to think O’Connell was right, no one else had such a high accident rate as McGarthy’s so I went to see him in that big fine house he had ..but he lost his temper and shouted and cursed, called O’Connell trouble and a shirker, tried blaming him for the things that were happening.”

A brief silence as they both recalled the last mine accident that nearly killed Hoss, Adam and Joe…and the one prior that had killed young Thomas O’Connell. Paul leaned forward as though they were two conspirators plotting to blow up the town hall.

“O’Connell was a very intelligent man, and an excellent engineer. He explained to us – Jimmy and myself at the time – why the incident being referred to as an accident at the time could not possibly have been any such thing. He was young, good looking and passionate about what he was doing….and that was primarily to save lives.”

“Yeah, but any reason he let on about why ….”

“None o f my business, Hoss. Not then …perhaps now you will find out why, from his family. But at the time all I can tell you is that he was a very pleasant young man. Margaret …his wife…in some ways bore the brunt of his passion, when she came here she was malnourished and due to have that baby at any time. She said that McGarthy was trying to force them to go, the money for food for some reason cost more for them than any one else….Thomas had told her to stick it out because he was sure McGarthy’s tyranny would not last much longer…in that way he was being selfish, he did not appreciate the hardship Margaret was enduring..but then he was young.”

“And you liked him?”

“I respected him. Didn’t know him well enough to say anything other than that…” he paused now and looked at Hoss “I reckon the person you need to see is that Investigator of theirs, Cotter. He may be able to tell you something more about the man, and his family….”

“Don’t know whether I could manage to keep my hands off’n him,” Hoss scowled, and his fists clenched involuntarily. “Why’d he have to come here in the first place…”

“Look, you know what they say, don’t kill the messenger. After all he was only doing his job, he did not know where it was going to lead…and as an honest man he has to ‘render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s”

“Huh?”

“He has to report back his findings …and that is all that he did, Hoss.”

Paula Lee Whitmore turned towards the door and then smiled when she recognised who was stepping into the house. Her smile was one that people described as lighting up a whole room and Hoss found himself involuntarily smiling in return. He removed his hat and approached her,

“Ma’am…”

“Hello Hoss, how are you?” she put down the table cloths that were hanging over one arm and turned to give him more of her attention “I doubt if you’re looking for a room to rent are you?”

“Shucks no, ma’am.” his brow furrowed and he glanced down at the floor before looking up at her again “Is a Mr Cotter staying here ?”

“He is, but he is not here just now.. he said he had to meet some folks from the station…”

“Oh – that time already, huh?” Hoss shook his head then sighed “Thanks, ma’am.”

“Can I take a message for him?”

“No, guess I’ll just go and see if I can find him …

She nodded but did not smile as she bade him farewell. She could tell he was worrying about something and a smile would not have done much to make him feel any better.

……………

Cotter pulled out his watch and checked the time again.. He had been pacing up and down the station platform for what seemed forever, and he was beginning to wonder if the train would ever arrive. The Platform Manager kept casting an anxious eye over at the dapper little man, wondering if he were planning to stage a robbery or planning out the timing for some kind of murder…he watched as Cotter paced back and then forward, turned on himself and made the same circuit again ..and again.

“I told you last time you asked that there was a hold up on the line…you got may be another half hour to wait.” he yelled from the window of his booth and shook his head when Cotter swore a line of expletives that would have made his hair curl. Who would have expected such a fine looking man to curse like that…

Hoss arrived a few moments later, slightly out of breath and sweating uncomfortably. He glanced up and down the platform and saw just the one person there, pacing ..pacing…he shook his head, this, he surmised must be the man he sought. He brushed aside the platform manager and headed towards Cotter who was staring down at his watch willing the hands to move faster.

“Mr Cotter?”

“Who wants to know?” Cotter snapped. He was done with niceties, he was done with this town and the whole business. He just wanted to get his pay and then leave. He glared at Hoss then looked he man up and down, frowned “Who are you?”

“Hoss Cartwright.” and Hoss bit his lip to make sure he didn’t slap the man right in the mouth.

“Hoss Cartwright? Do I know you?”

“No , but…”

“Wait.” Cotter raised a hand, stepped back a pace or two and shook his head “Mr Cartwright, I -I’m so sorry…” he pulled off his hat, and the anger and impatience he had been feeling slipped away much as the colour in his face had done “Mr Cartwright…we need to talk….”

Hoss nodded, his eyes narrowed as though he didn’t trust this man but had no other recourse but to do so…he nodded over to the waiting room where passengers were able to sit and take the weight off their feet “Over there…”

Cotter led the way. He tried to straighten his shoulders but he was too aware of the man following him. He pushed open the door and made for the seat by the window, Hoss followed and sat down opposite him and waited.

“Well, ain’t you gonna tell me what you’re so awful sorry about?” Hoss said quietly, as though he were trying to coax some truth out of his children..

“I – I didn’t know there was a child involved….I didn’t realise that ..that there were folk who would be hurt by this investigation. All I had to do was find – locate – a missing person and let his family know. But

“You didn’t have to mention about the child…” Hoss said, not so gently now, a slight bitterness in his tone and his eyes narrowed more than ever

“I had to mention it, Mr Cartwright. They would have found out anyway, and if I had not been the one to tell them I would have lost some of my salary..withholding information is not part of the contract.” he pulled out a handkerchief and mopped his brow.

“Tell me about Thomas Connolly …”

“What exactly do you want to know? “

“Why did he change his name? He’s Irish…right? And an intelligent engineer so I’m told…so why did he change his name.”

Cotter shifted in his seat, and hitched a shoulder, shook his head “Look, this search for Thomas Connolly has been on going for a very long time. We lost his scent when he changed his name..took a year to pick him up then it was easier to trace him because of the amount of trouble he caused along the way…a mine here, an engineering company some place else…he was just always looking for trouble. Don’t get me wrong, he did not cause trouble, he seemed to find employment where there were problems, too many accidents unwarranted incidents…he just seemed to zero in on places ..moved from county to county, then crossed borders…got so he didn’t care about leaving a trail, he just kept on moving and …”

“So he finally reached here and got hired by McGarthy…” Hoss watched the man nod and blew out his cheeks, shrugged “But that was not what I asked Mr Cotter…I want to know what caused him to change his name……”

“What does that matter? A name is just a name…you ask most of the Irish or Poles or whatever what their real names are …they’re all hiding from something or someone…..” Cotter frowned, and looked down at the floor. “Everyone has a story to tell…something to hide…”

“Not everyone…” Hoss replied, and his blue eyes looked directly into Cotter’s face causing the other man to redden around the neck, a bead of sweat traced a trajectory down his cheek.

“What do you know about his background then..apart from when he came to New York…”

Cotter brought out the handkerchief again and dabbed his brow. He shook his head.”He left Ireland against his parents wishes, he just packed his bags and left ..they are wealthy people, Mr Cartwright, and to all intents and purposes he had no reason to leave. I don’t know more than that you will have to find that out for yourself, from his family.”

Hoss leaned back and bowed his head, his chin rested upon his chest…Cotter fidgeted and pulled out his watch again “The train will be here soon…the Connolly’s will be on board.”

Hoss nodded, sighed and stood up, “Let’s go welcome them to town then, Mr Cotter…you and me both.”

 

Chapter 32

There were others on the platform awaiting the arrival of the train which could be seen in the distance and heard as the tracks running alongside the platform began to vibrate and the sound of the travelling monster roared ahead of its appearance.

Cotter glanced thoughtfully at his companion and cleared his throat, politely

“Mr Cartwright, I do hope you will not mind my saying this but… I presume you came to town today with your wife?”

Hoss nodded, eyes narrowed , lips pursed. The thought of Hester waiting for him at Bridie’s trickled through his mind…now it was his turn to clear his throat

“Well, I was just thinking that perhaps it would be better if she were at your side when you meet the Connollys. .. and perhaps …not today..”

“Why not today?” Hoss immediately demanded

“Because I should think they will need time to digest the facts, about their son. And also to see his grave. . there is a lot for them to take into consideration and meeting you and your wife…the whole situation…” he glanced back to the sight of the train now bearing down on them “it could be thought a trifle unfeeling

Hoss felt tremor of anger, unfeeling, how much more so for him and for Hester and…yet, Cotter made sense, he nodded. Hester would be wondering where he was, what was happening…it would be better to go back to Bridie’s and talk everything over with her.

“Where are the Connolly’s staying?” he asked quietly his body half turned towards the exit from the platform

“I think the Internationale….” Cotter said a trifle anxiously, imagining the man and his wife storming up the stairs and banging on the door demanding to know what was going on and how it would affect them. “I am sorry, Mr Cartwright….I just thought…

“No, you’re right…” Hoss frowned “When they’re wanting to talk to us…discuss anything…perhaps you could ride on over to the Ponderosa….”

Cotter nodded, gave a slight smile and turned his attention to the train as it roared into the station…spitting steam and cinders into the air and over the people patiently waiting on the platform.

Hoss turned away and walked slowly from the station, with his hands thrust into the pocket of his pants and head bowed. He was ignorant of anyone who walked by and greeted him…once he paused and looked as though he would t urn back, just out of curiosity…but then stopped himself and hurried on towards Bridie and Paul Martin’s home.

……………….

Reuben and Sofia were out in the yard with the children that had been let loose from lessons in order to expel some energies and hopefully be refreshed enough for their next lessons. It took them some minutes to find Hannah, standing with her back against the school wall, staring down at the ground and ignoring the pleas of the friends she had who wanted her to join in and play.

“Hannah…Hannah.”

Hearing her cousins voice gave the child a spark of energy and she raised her head and gave a half smile, a nod. Sofia was the first to reach her and grab at her hands,

“Hannah…what is happening? Is Granpa ill? Has something …horrible…happened?”

Hannah shook her head, the black curls straggled over her shoulder, her eyes were moist and her lips trembled “They never said…they never said anything but Ma is so upset and Pa looks sad and he didn’t eat much and they left before me, because they said to Granpa they had to go and see Grant about something important….”

“Grant?” Sofia frowned.

“That’s the lawyer, the one who took over from Mr Woods.” Reuben explained, always glad to be able to share his superior knowledge with his siblings, or anyone else come that…he would learn in time that not everyone appreciated a know it all.

“Then why would they do that….” Sofia asked and squeezed Hannah’s fingers with her own, “Mommy and daddy are upset too…”

“Ma was crying last night…” Smarty Pants said with a sigh, and shook his head

“Something is happening, “ Hannah said in her little girls squeaky voice “And I don’t know what it is, but Pa kept looking at us and making these big huffing sounds. “ and as best she could she gave a fair imitation of her father’s sighs “And Ma looked like she would cry just anytime …and she kept stroking Erik’s hair and fussing over him….”

“Do you think he’s ill?” Sofia whispered, little Erik, poor little boy

“I don’t know…he hasn’t got any spots or anything, he ate all his food up and he was happy ..he did not seem to know that Ma and Pa were so unhappy.” she frowned “Hope did not seem to know either..she didn’t notice anything.”

“What about Granpa?” Reuben asked gruffly “Didn’t he say anything?”

Hannah shook her head, thinking of Ben and the worried look on his face whenever he was looking at Erik and the forced smile when he turned his attention to the little girls. She frowned, “I want to go home.”

“Can’t really go home now, Hannah. “ Reuben said matter of factly, he frowned, smooth brow furrowed into nearly visible lines “Perhaps at lunch time we can sneak out and go see Bridie…she may know what is happening.”

“We’re not allowed…” Hannah whispered, her head hanging and her chin resting on her chest. A tear trickled down her cheek “I got into trouble in class already.”

“So did I…” Sofia said and once again squeezed Hannah’s fingers.

The bell tolled, recess was over…the children shared a look of dismay, no plans made, everything still up in the air, what were they to do….Obediently they turned to follow the lines of children straggling back into the building. Yells and shouts, laughter and shrill cries all drifted up and over their heads…Reuben looked down at the two girls “We’ll meet here again at lunch ..I’ll have thought up something by then.

“Will you?” Hannah whispered her eyes raised to fix upon the boys face and Reuben nodded with more confidence than he felt

“Sure I will….” he said with a nod of the head and an air of bravado that he did not actually feel.

Hannah relaxed, she felt the burden ease from her shoulders….Reuben, her hero, was going to deal with the problem and everything would be just fine.

………………..

James Edward Connolly waited for the train to come to a complete halt before he stood up, straightened the crease in his pants and picked up his hat which he placed carefully on his greying head. Once he had gained his feet he nodded over to the two women who had been seated opposite him as though giving them permission to stand ..which they did. No word was exchanged, but they picked up their belongings and followed him out of the vehicle, stepping down onto the platform just as the worse of the steam and cinders was over.

James Connolly’s piercing blue eyes swept up and down over the people who were now milling about on the platform. Then they alighted upon a man who stood alone, hat clasped against his chest and looking at the passengers with an intent that indicated he did not really know for whom he was looking.

He nodded, and stepped forward, immediately followed by the two women the oldest of whom had succeeded in getting one of the porters attention, and while he grappled with the luggage, she joined the other woman to stride behind James with her head high and chin ready to take any blow. The younger woman appeared like a shadow beside her, trailing behind her as she in turn trailed behind James.

Eventually all three seemed to manage to meet up together in front of Cotter who extended his hand and introduced himself. Hands were shaken, introductions made…in the soft Irish lilt James informed Cotter “James Connolly, my wife Roisin* and my daughter* Aislyn…you are Cyrus Cotter?”

“Indeed, sir, Mr Connolly.”

“Very good, shall we proceed to our hotel, and perhaps we could get a meal somewhere…and discuss matters.”

Cotter nodded, he felt like if he nodded long enough his head would roll completely off his shoulders. He turned to the porter and instructed the man to send the luggage to the Internationale and led the Connolly’s from the platform.

Aislyn Connolly followed behind her parents, her eyes watching everything as she passed. She had her fathers blue eyes, her mothers red tinted hair, and a resolute stubborn chin…she was not beautiful, nor was she pretty, but she had something about her that caught attention, perhaps in her eyes, or her deportment, or the full curve of the lip…for a woman lacking beauty she certainly caused people to stop and look at her twice.

Her mother was tall, regal looking, her red hair coiffed to an inch of its life…if one could use that expression…her eyes were blue but lacked the vivid depths of her husbands. In looks she was very attractive, but there was a brittleness about her that did not endear her to people, which made her appear aloof and cold although in reality she was shy, timid, but married to a man who would not tolerate such weaknesses in his woman… she did not look around her, just kept her eyes fixed on her husband’s back and followed.

A buggy was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps and they clambered into it, with Cotter bumbling about and almost falling into his seat. They moved out into the traffic and into the main street of Virginia City and were immediately surrounded by the noise, the sounds and smells of a busy western town smothered in the heat of the day.

Traffic moved slowly…Cotter realised they would have got to the hotel sooner had they walked. He felt perspiration trickling down his back and under his arm pits. Every so often he glanced at the three Connolly’s and wished, not for the first time, that he was a long long way away.

“I will want to have all your notes available…to read through…” James said, that soft lilt holding a hint of a chill to it.

“Of course, they are all here, in my case..I brought them anticipating ..”

“And a full transcript of any conversations you have had…the information they gave you…”

Cotter merely nodded “I did send you details as soon as I received them…”

“Not in full otherwise your messages would have cost me a fortune…”

“True enough….” Cotter mumbled and tried to think of what points he may have neglected to record and feeling quite confident that Mr Connolly would notice them right away.

The buggy turned and stopped. They had reached their destination. Cotter sighed and felt as though all the burdens of the world had just landed on his shoulders.

………………

Bridie closed the door behind her and stood for a moment as though lost in thought. It had been a sad little time with Hester and Hoss, she had said what she could that may have buoyed them up a little but she doubted if by much.

As she walked to the parlour to sit in her favoured chair she thought over what had been said, the tears that had been shed. The whole situation was reminding her again and again of Margaret, poor little Margaret who had died in such horrible conditions…leaving them the legacy of the child who had been born in that very house months earlier. It had reminded her also of the first time Hester had seen Erik, sleeping in the crib upstairs…and how she had fallen so in love with the infant.

And now those bonds could be severed, and the wishes of Erik’s fleshly parents denied because if a man chooses to left his family, forsake his given name, then Thomas O’Connell certainly would not have wished his child to be taken into the family embrace.

She shook her head and when the door opened and Tilly entered she shook her head again, “It’s no good, Tilly, what are we going to do to help them….”

Tilly for once said nothing, she stood like a dummy with her hands clasped in her lap, then she cleared her throat “I just seen ’em.”

“Who?”

“That man Cotter was in a buggy with three people…a man and two women…they went into the Internationale. Very grand they seem to be….”

Bridie leaned back into her chair as though Tilly’s words had quite deflated her…she shook her head, and just repeated what she had already said “What are we going to do ….”

*Roisin pronounced Ro-sheen meaning Little rose in Gaelic

Aisling pronounced ASH-lyeen with a soft n sound…meaning ‘dream’ or ‘vision’

Chapter 33

Cotter trailed in behind the three Connolly’s much like some left over baggage that the porter was now bringing into the hotel. The bell boy came to take over the task and Cotter noticed that Connolly didn’t put his hand to his wallet to slip the porter anything … perhaps they did things differently in Ireland.

Connolly approached the reception desk and took the key from the young man standing there in his smart uniform, who rather nervously pushed the registration book towards the Irishman. Connolly pulled off his grey kid gloves and taking the pen scrawled out his name and details, before pushing the book aside. He turned away and with the key clutched in one hand nodded over to his wife and daughter who now pivoted around to follow the bell boy, and their luggage up the stairs.

Cotter stepped forward, his action catching Connolly’ eyes and causing a lift in the dark eyebrows,

“Is there anything else you would require, Mr Connolly?”

Connolly frowned “The reporter, the one who has the details of the – accident – that killed my son, I would want to see him at some time. Tomorrow perhaps….” he paused “ and this afternoon I would like to go to see my sons grave..”

“What time would be convenient?”

“2 p.m. No later. Bring your notes then, you can discuss them with me on the drive over ..is it far from town?”

“It isn’t the local cemetery, sir. The Mining Association formed their own….each private mine …”

Connolly waved a hand to stop any further comment, tersely saying “I understand..” Connolly nodded, scratched the back of his neck and scowled “2 p.m …”

“Will your wife and -”

“Of course…” he paused and shrugged “Of course they’ll come …”

Cotter sighed and nodded, replaced his hat as Connolly turned and headed for the stairs. He waited a moment, glanced at the clock and then left the hotel.

……………..

In the buggy jouncing its way out of town the two occupants sat silently side by side, each one steeped in their own misery, inflicting further pain by lingering over memories… Hester sighed and finally slipped her hand through Hoss’ arm, that little curve the elbow formed just for her hand to sidle through and rest upon his forearm. He nodded as though approving of the gesture, but then glanced down at her, just as her eyes were lifted to look up at him. Their eyes met…

“It will be alright, Hester.”

“I’m afraid, Hoss.”

He nodded, “I know, but … seems to me that we should do what Grant and Bridie say..just bide our time, wait and see…”

“Why would they come all the way over from Ireland…” her voice quivered, her eyes had that moist sheen to them that Hoss hated to see, and she blinked to stop tears falling

“Honey, Pa would have done the same were it me or Joe or Adam…kind of like having to make sure it’s real”

“I wish that they had not bothered…” she whispered

“I know.”

Her fingers tightened on his arm, he could feel them pressing into the flesh through the thin material of his shirt.. he turned the horses off the road and onto the wide space of grass that ran alongside it. The wagons wheels made a swishing sound as it passed along crushing wild flowers, grass and forming a small track as a result. He drew the horses to a standstill and turned to her

“Remember when we first came here…..”

“Yes I remember…it was the first time we were together and I told you about John Mark…”

“Yeah, and we went to the river…”

“I tripped, you caught me…”

“I loved you the first moment I saw you, Hester….”

“You had a whole list of candidates to be your wife….”

“Pa wanted one of us to get married, give him grand children…I had to do what a good son had to do…check out the dames and find myself a wife…and then you came along..” he folded his fingers around hers, still clutching at his arm, “You were…and still are..so beautiful.”

She leaned towards him and raised her face to his, their lips touched gently.

“Hester, whatever happens with these folk…and Erik….we have one another, we have Hannah and Hope…we can beat this, whatever happens….”

“Whatever happens, darling…” but she leaned her head upon his chest and the fast beating of his heart assured her that he was suffering too, whereas she felt that her heart was solidifying into an ice block and would eventually crack open and break…Hoss was in pain, already grieving ..and the thought caused the tears to fall.

………………..

Daniel deQuille glanced up as the door to his office opened after a sharp staccato rap on the glass, he frowned when Cotter stepped inside and carefully closed the door behind him

“Mr Cotter …” he half rose, then decided the man was not worth the bother and sat down again

“What can I do for you?”

“The Connolly’s have arrived …they want to see you tomorrow with all the information you have about what happened to their son..” he paused at seeing the blank look on the man’s face “You recall, Thomas O’Connell….”

“Oh yes, of course…” Daniel drawled out the words, nimble brain working as to where the news angle came and how it would benefit him

“I will be taking them to the grave..his sons grave…” Cotter edged in closer “What do you know about Margaret O’Connell? Is there anything you can tell me about her….where she came from, who she was…”

“You’re the Investigator, Mr Cotter, I thought you would have all that information at your finger tips by now…”

Cotter shook his head “For some reason I always assumed he would be a bachelor…”

“There are not many who remember her, at least I imagine now. . .most of her neighbours would have been miners wives etc, and they moved on when the mine closed.” he paused and looked down at the mess of papers littering his desk, he stroked his beard “Look, there may be some women at the hospice who may remember her, some of them worked at the mine… McGarthy was not the most pleasant man to work for so they may have some stories to tell, if there are any previous employees there of course.”

Cotter nodded and muttered his thanks as he turned to leave, only to hear deQuille demanding to know what he found…it would make an interesting addition to anything else he could write up about the Connollys and O’Connells.

Cotter detested journalists but in his line of business they were an excellent source of information…deQuille was thinking much the same about him.

…….

Reuben was at a loss as to what his big plan could be…he did not know enough to have anything tangible to work on, no detailed information, no clues…just their feeling that there was something happening and of course, his greatest fear…that his Ma and Pa were going to come apart. What he had seen when they had thought he was asleep…he still remembered his mothers tears, the way she was looking up at Adam..what if the problem was all about them …

But then he dismissed the whole thing, no doubt it was nothing to do with them and Hannah had said that her parents were upset, they were the ones going to see Mr Tombs. Perhaps Sofia was right, perhaps it was to do with Grandpa.

Davy Riley came running up, a grin on his face, and he gave Reuben a friendly jab in the ribs

“What’s wrong with you, Reuben, you look like you gotta problem.”

“Yeah, I have…”

“So..what is it? C’mon, share? P’raps the gang can help sort it out….” he glanced over his shoulder to where Jimmy and Tommy were standing nearby, watching them, waiting for the signal to group together..

“That’s the problem..” Reuben muttered “I don’t know what the problem is yet..”

Davy frowned, nodded and rubbed his chin “Guess that does make it difficult.”

“I promised the girls I would get it sorted out, but …” he paused, shrugged

“Aw, girls, you don’t want to worry your head about them, they always have to fret over something, that’s what girls do…” he grinned and nudged Reuben again “C’mon, forget ’em …”

Reuben was about to reply when he caught the glimpse of someone riding pass the school gates,someone who might know, just might tell him. He pushed Davy to one side and headed for the gates, if it meant a detention so be it…a man has to know some facts to build up a plan, and some facts – risks or not – were worth the risk.

.“Pa. Pa.”

Halfway to dismounting Adam heard his son’s voice and quickly turned to see Reuben running towards him. All manner of fears based on assumptions raced through Adam’s mind…some accident, Sofia was dead, the school was on fire, Reuben had been caught doing something wrong and trying to evade a tanning.

“What’s the problem…” Adam asked immediately, catching his son by the jacket in order to slow him down “Right, catch your breath…what’s the matter?

Reuben swallowed and cleared his throat….”Pa..”

“Go on, son, what’s the problem?”

“I don’t know..I mean, I don’t know what the problem is but me an’ Sofia and Hannah ..we’re real worried about it.”

Adam nodded, narrowed his eyes and glanced over his son’s shoulder just in case half the school yard had emptied and were spilling out to surround them. He put a hand on Reuben’s arm and drew him closer “What do you mean, Reuben? “

“Just that Hannah’s real upset and so is Sofia and they think Grandpa is ill again, but then Hannah isn’t sure it’s that and I was …I was worried too..” he paused as he looked up into his father’s face, the dark honey brown eyes gentling, a furrow on the brow…he sighed “I saw you and Mom last night – er um – talking kinda…and “

Adam straightened up , and pursed his lips, raised his eyebrows and nodded “So you put two and two together…”

“Jest me..I never told the girls what I saw. I’m sorry Pa…I know it’s wrong to spy but I was not really I just happened to be there and …saw ..Ma was crying…” he swallowed a lump the size of a whale and blinked “I’m sorry.”

Adam nodded, he drew the boy closer so that they would not be in the way of any other pedestrians, and could talk a little more privately. He realised yet again how much children absorbed ..the silences, the tears, the brief anxious glances meant to reassure..he bit down on his bottom lip and sighed. There was only so much he could tell the boy, after all, it was not his personal problem and Hoss and Hester would probably not want him sharing the details. Not yet anyway. And Hannah..how would she deal with the matter if Reuben went into school now and told them what they feared…about her baby brother.

 

“Look, Reuben…” he paused and leaned closer “I think we will have to discuss this later, this evening when I know a bit more myself. It isn’t something I feel free to talk about just yet, it is not my own problem you see… “ he looked at the boy and could see he was confusing Reuben more, he cleared his throat now, “It has to do with the family, just a worry just now that can be sorted out in time.”

“Is it Grandpa?”

“No, Grandpa is fine, just fine…”

“Is – is it…to do with money?”

“Money?” Adam gave a slight mirthless chuckle “No, no problems with money. And there is nothing to worry about regarding your Mom, she is just anxious about something else .. some one else’s problem, and she doesn’t know how to fix it. You know, your mom, she likes to be able to fix things for people.”

Reuben gave a tentative smile, not sure whether he had enough facts now to make a plan, perhaps he could say talking things over with Pa had been the plan…and Adam, seeing the doubts and worries flit across his sons face like clouds scudding over a blue sky, squeezed the boys shoulder gently, and smiled

“Whatever this problem is, Reuben, it will get sorted out. Tell Hannah not to worry…” he felt guilty saying that, the little girl was too sensible, too sharp for her own good…”Tell Hannah her Ma and Pa will tell her everything later, and it has nothing to do with Grandpa.”

“She thought it had more to do with the kids…you know, Hope and Erik. She said her Ma and Pa kept looking at them, and fussing …you know…. like parents do…” he sounded ambivalent about the fussing and such he would received if Olivia were worried about him, Adam gave a wry twist of the lips before repeating what he had already said, they would find out more later

“Now get back to class before you’re missed “ he said and gave the boy a slight shove in the direction of the school.

Hannah and Sofia were waiting for him close to the gates, and near by but not too close were the gang..Davy, Tommy and Jimmy. They looked at him with big eyes, hopeful faces. Reuben nodded and jerked his head indicating they moved elsewhere, and while he and the girls talked together the gang, now numbering 4 as Philip had sauntered up and joined them. By the time the bell clanged to summon them back to class the girls seemed more settled.

Mr Evans gave Reuben a stern look as the boy hurried past him up the stairs into the building just an acknowledgement that his absence from the school grounds had been notice

Chapter 34

The silence in the room was so profound that it seemed as though time had been suspended. Then the sounds of the house began to creep in around them, the tick of the old clock with its occasional hic-cough, the creak of a floor board…and then the sigh that emanated from Hester.

 

Adam had told them everything Cotter had said, he did not embellish nor embroider nor give an opinion. He said it as it was and then waited for their response…the inhaled breaths, the clutch at each others hand, a tear that trickled from Hester’s eye.

It was Hester who spoke and broke through the quietness, in a very still voice she just said

“So they are coming tomorrow..?”

“So Cotter said…” Adam nodded

Hoss shook his head “Perhaps we should go see him first…..just us two…”

He looked at Hester, who brushed away the tears and glanced at Ben, then Adam, “No, I don’t want to,” she almost whispered “I don’t want them here and I don’t want to see them…”

Hoss sighed and bowed his head, he looked like a man who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders and wished everything would just blow away. “Don’t cry, Hester, please don’t cry…”

His voice was barely a whisper, it sounded like the dry leaves of fall rustling together between a man’s fingers and Adam felt the tug to his own heart as he watched them, so that he too, bowed his head and looked away.

Ben cleared his throat and stepped forward, he put his hand on Hester’s shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze, comforting, reassuring…

“Nothing has happened yet…may be nothing will so let’s remain positive for now, eh?”

“They’ll take Erik…” Hester swallowed the sob, and had to cough instead.

 

“We don’t know that,” Ben replied, putting a slight pressure on his fingers on her shoulder, he could feel the tremble in her body, and knew this was a mother suffering, tormenting herself about something that may never happen, but was real to her now…”We let them come ..no, don’t look like that, my dear, just stop and think a little and let me say what I think…firstly…No one is ever turned away from the Ponderosa. Secondly …this is a family who have just had to accept the loss of a son, have found out that they have a grandson. They are Erik’s true grand parents and we – in all honesty – we cannot turn them away from at least seeing him.”

 

Adam pursed his lips, wanted to say something but then decided the better course of valour was to say nothing. He looked at Hoss, saw the veins bulging in his neck, the effort he was making to control his anger, his emotions. Hester had sat down now and folded her hands within her lap, said nothing but stared at the floor.

 

Ben sighed now and glanced at Adam as though expecting his son to speak up but Adam was not prepared to poke at the flames and create an inferno, Hoss was likely to erupt and blunder his way into town and say too much, or say all the wrong things, or just give Connolly a thump or two to send him on his way.

 

“Look, we’re Cartwrights, since when do we allow ourselves to get beaten by nothing more than our imaginations, because to be honest here, we have no idea what this family want from us, all our fears, and anxieties, are based on what we fear most…losing Erik. And we won’t lose him because we have the law on our side…but we can mediate with them, bear in mind that they have a blood connection to the boy.”

 

Ben’s voice was gentle, tender, the voice he would use when these men had been children, placating them, soothing them. Hester looked up now and drew in a deep breath before turning away and reaching for Hoss’ hand.

 

“Now is not the time to go making rash moves, or wrong decisions” Ben now added, as though having found his voice he was not going to let any of them shut him up. “We need to wait, be patient, meet them and hear what they have to say…”

 

Hester nodded, and it was Hoss now who placed a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it gently. He looked totally miserable, and Adam felt the utmost sympathy for him. He was about to speak when the sound of a horse and a vehicle entering the yard heralded a visitor…and immediately Hester looked panic stricken and rose to her feet as though about to confront an army

 

“It’s alright, Hester….Olivia said she would bring the children home ..it’s no doubt them.” he gave a tentative smile “Just one thing….it may be wise to talk to Hannah, just explain as best and as simply as you can what is happening because she has noticed and is worried, scared…”

 

“Oh I …I had not thought…” Hester stammered and nodded “Yes, best to tell her what she needs to know.”

 

“We’ll be discussing it with Reuben and Sofia…apparently they think Pa is dying and the Ponderosa is about to collapse as a result.” he tried to make it sound light hearted but it fell short, Hoss just stared at him as though he had talked a load of rubbish and Hester was already walking to the door to welcome Olivia and to snatch up her little boy to make sure he was safe….

…………..

Tillie Trevelyn opened the door to the persistent knocking and found herself confronted by a complete stranger who stared at her, before observing her from top to toe and then asked if it were possible to speak to the ‘lady of the house’ Tilly drew herself to her full height and raised her chin challengingly, and looking down her nose at the woman demanded to know exactly to whom she was speaking.

Roislin sighed and slightly inclined her head, the feathers in her hat quivered as she did so,

 

“Tell your mistress that Mrs Roisin Connolly wishes to speak with her…”

 

Tilly nodded and muttered something under her breath, but she kept the woman waiting on the doorstep instead of stepping aside to let her enter. She located Bride in the little private parlour and hissed “The Connolly woman’s here…wants to see you.”

 

“Who?” Bridie boomed

 

“Mrs Connolly….”

 

Bridie nodded and stood up, she was about to say something when they heard the front door thump shut, footsteps in the hall…and when she pulled open the door of her little sanctuary Mrs Connolly herself stood resolutely before her.

 

Roisin bowed her head slightly “Mrs Martin?”

 

“Certainly…please….come in, Mrs Connolly.” Bridie stepped aside, invited her in with a gesture of the hand and then glanced over at Tilly with raised eyebrows before asking her visitor if she would like some refreshment.

 

Tilly bustled off to her kitchen to prepare ‘refreshment’; muttering under her breath as she did so, feeling ‘in her bones; that no good was going to come of this confrontation.

 

Bridie felt very aware that Mrs Connolly’s eyes noticed every detail of the little room, from pictures to books, to dusty corners and to pristine china ware and ornaments..she felt judged immediately and felt at a total disadvantage. She gave a weak smile as she sat down, and watched Mrs Connolly to do likewise. They faced one another across the low table like two duellists.

 

“This is an unexpected – pleasure – Mrs Connolly. I never expected to have a visit from such as yourself to be sure.”

Roisin said nothing but looked at Bridie in a way that made the other woman shift in her chair although it was not an unkind look, rather the look of someone wanting to say something but finding it hard to locate the right word. Finally Roisin decided to settle on laying a comfortable foundation upon which to discuss what she really had come about…so she gave a slight smile

 

“I did not expect to find an Irish woman to share time with this afternoon, Mrs Martin. I was just told you were the Doctor’s wife …”

 

“Oh, well…” Bridie gave a slight shrug,

“So we both have had an unexpected pleasure this afternoon…”

 

“Indeed…” Bridie inclined her head and wished Tillie would make an entrance now, rattling tea cups and distracting attention, eating up precious minutes so the interview would pass more quickly.

 

“What part of Ireland are you from…your accent is familiar but …”

 

“Yes, well, years here in America has worn it down I dare say.” Bridie smiled, “I left Ireland when I was very young you know. Born in a small village Ballyconneely a village in west Connemara”

Roisin smiled and nodded, her eyes gleamed with something warmer than had been a rather appraising stare, “Baile ‘ic Conghaile “

 

“Yes,” Bridie nodded, sighed and leaned back “That’s how we would call it…”

 

“County Galway has many beautiful areas…we travelled through it many times over the years.” she stopped as sounds of activity came from outside and the door opened, Tillie emerged with the tray laden with all that was needed for the ladies refreshments. She set it down on the low table with a thud, gave Bridie a look to indicate that she was ‘there should she be needed’ and promptly disappeared.

 

Roisin and Bridie settled down for a few minutes of silence as Bridie prepared tea, sliced cake, presented both to her visitor and then settled back into her chair hugging her cup and saucer to her chest.

 

“And where would the Connolly’s come from I would be asking….” she said as though having established her credentials she was the superior of them, after all, Connolly…who in Connemara had ever heard of them.

 

“I was not always a Connolly,” Roislin said after sipping some tea, “I was a Kealy …and if you know your history the O Cadhia clan were the rulers of West Connermar ..” she smiled and for an instant there was the hint of the girl she had once been “so you see we are neighbours rather…”

 

Bridie chuckled then, her eyes twinkled “Och, don’t we love our history….and find all the threads that lead us back to Brian Boru himself….”

 

“Well, true enough, my husbands family make the same claim…” she paused and put her cup carefully into the saucer, setting it down upon the low table “Mrs Martin…my husband is seeing the newspaper man, Mr deQuille, to discuss all about the mine that contributed to my sons death…to Thomas’ death…” she paused again and interlaced her fingers so that Bridie could not detect how nervous she was at that moment “I heard from Mr Cotter about your involvement, how you helped those who were injured..may even have tried to save Thomas..” she drew in her breath and blinked rapidly as though to remove the moisture over her eyes, “No, I came to see you about – about his wife, Margaret.”

 

“Ah -” Bridie exhaled long and slowly, and bowed her head “Margaret.”

 

“We had no idea that he was married…we know nothing about her at all. I …I understand that you cared for her after Thomas died.”

 

“You have to understand, Mrs Connolly, it was the McGarthy’s rule that if a man died then his home – a mere shack may I add – was to be emptied out, that would include removing wife, children, chattels…and so Margaret found herself homeless, a widow, a child herself about to …” she paused.

 

“About to have a child of her own?” Roisin prompted kindly.

 

“Yes, that’s right.”

 

“Tell me abut Margaret….what was she like?” she leaned forward, her eyes bright, cheeks flushed and Bridie found herself thinking what a fine looking woman this was, and to be so interested in Margaret too. Roisin waited, details she wanted were what any woman would want about the woman their son had married….was she a good woman, would I have liked her, would she have liked me.

 

Bridie finished her tea and set down the cup, putting it down beside Roisin’s on the tray. She half closed her eyes as though better to recall to mind what she knew about Margaret O’Connor.

 

“Oh well, when she came here she was such a thin slip of a girl, a child as you say, about to have a child of her own, but a widow, grieving and heart broken. Och, many an Irish woman can understand that feeling to be sure but Margaret ..she so loved Thomas. She told us so much about him, about how intelligent he was, how clever. She had her baby here, and then one day she left ..just left …wanting to get to Ireland …”

“How did she know where to go? I mean, obviously Thomas was Irish but he had changed his name…and …”

 

“She had all his papers from the cabin..brought them here…he had his certificates, they bore his personal details…some letters also…from you.”

Roisin nodded “Yes, when he first left and went to New York he was still Connolly…something happened there that made him change his name.”

 

“So .. what more to say…she must have been a sweet girl but when we knew her she was desperate, hated the man responsible for her husbands death.” Bridie sighed, “Poor girl, we never really saw her at her best…although having said that, perhaps she gave of her best when she came back.”

 

“With the baby…” Roisin sighed, and looked at Bridie “When she died.”

 

“Yes, when she died….”

 

Bridie saw the drift of sorrow pass the woman’s face, and then told her all about the night the baby was left on their doorstep and Margaret O’Connor died just a few feet away in an alleyway, buried in snow.

 

Chapter 35

Hester had never been a sentimental woman. Her life had never been smooth running, her childhood had been emotionally turbulent due to a highly strung mother who suffered the misery of countless miscarriages, an insufferable father who put all his energies into the love of his life which was the Buchanan Banking Company. When she had fallen in love with a struggling journalist who had chosen ‘the wrong colour uniform’ during the war.. she became an outcast first and a widow second.

 

But although lacking sentiment Hester was humble and honest, gentle and caring so when the door closed on Adam and Olivia, and she had hugged Hope and Erik and sent them into the kitchen for milk and cookies she approached Ben and said softly

 

“Adam did say that the Connollys were thinking of taking Thomas back to Ireland?”

 

“I believe that is what he said…” Ben sighed, and nodded

 

“That’s what I was thinking about, Pa. I feel – ashamed -”

 

“You have nothing ..”

 

“Yes, I do…we do.”

 

Hoss came up behind her now and put a hand on her shoulder, asking her what did she mean by that, he could not think of anything of which he would be ashamed.

 

“Thomas and Margaret are Erik’s blood parents, Hoss. We should never have left them there like that…” she looked at them, saw the realisation of what she meant dawning on their faces and gave a slow nod “We have never hidden from Erik that he was special, he was adopted, and had two Ma’s and two Pa’s….we should have brought them here to the Ponderosa and buried them here. Shown them the respect they deserved …given Erik somewhere he could go to should he ever have wished to do so…” she sighed, and shook her head “I should have realised…”

“No, you’re right,” Ben cut her off quickly, “Quite right. Both of them deserved that at the very least.”

 

“And -” Hesters throat tightened a little so she coughed first to get the words out “He was going to take Thomas but not Margaret ..”

 

“I heard that too…” Ben said and Hoss nodded, but said nothing Ben stood up now and put his arm around Hester’s shoulders “We can’t do anything now, my dear. It would be – provocative – and Connolly would or could feel we were making a fight of all this which is not our intention. Once they have gone home – with or without Thomas – then we shall deal with the matter accordingly and bring them – her – here to the Ponderosa. They deserve that at the very least….”

 

“Margaret died to save Erik, and bring him safely home, didn’t she?” and nodded as though to confirm her own words. “Thank you, Pa. Hoss.”

 

She leaned in to kiss them both and then turned away to locate her two little ones and just for a moment enjoy their company before the next hurdle had to be surmounted…discussing the matter with Hannah.

 

She was not sure what to say!

…………….

Adam and Olivia had not long been home when their two eldest children returned from school. Reuben led Max into the stables followed by Sofia with Paddy, and inside the house Olivia sighed, looked at her husband and prepared to ‘discuss the situation’. They had agreed between them on the way back that Olivia would take the lead in the discussions, with Adam the silent partner. She knew he would speak up when and if he felt the need but as it was a subject – an emotional subject – it was really better handled by his dear wife.

 

Nathaniel had run out to greet his siblings, shouting boisterously a welcome and getting swept up into his big brother’s arms and swung around until he was dizzy. He loved it.

 

He had been told about Erik being adopted, of course neither he nor Erik understood what it really meant, but absorbed the fact with the ease children absorbed most things without thinking about it. His reaction when being told had just said “Me too…me adopted too…”

 

Reuben looked over at his father and gave a tentative nod, a smile …Sofia, only too pleased at seeing her father home so early ran up and hugged him, and then said with the smiles falling away “Daddy, is Granpa alright? Is he?”

 

Nathaniel immediately turned round having been distracted by a toy that had got ‘lost’ some time back and now discovered lingering under a chair. Grandad..what was wrong with Grandad?

 

“Gran’pa is fine, nothing to worry your head about, princess.” he stroked back a strand of hair from across her face, “But there is something we need to talk about so go and wash your hands and tidy up so we can – er – talk about what has been worrying you both so much.”

 

“I not worry…” Nathaniel said stoutly, hugging the new found toy against his chest and Adam laughed and picked him up to hug him.

…………………

The three children sat round the table and looked expectantly at their mother and father…Erik was not sure what was happening and looked apprehensive, while Hope and Hannah sat close together, feet swinging back and forth under the table.

 

“I know you’ve been worried…” Hester started and then realised that only Hannah had been concerned, Hope and Erik had not a clue. But Hannah nodded and Hope looked confused and Erik looked more concerned about the cookie he was eating and whether or not he could slip away and get another with out any one noticing.

 

So in a gentle tone and with Hoss seated beside her nodding every so often Hester explained that as Erik was special, having two Ma’s and two Pa’s something important had happened….his ‘other’ Pa’s parents were coming to visit. They had come all the way from Ireland to see him. Wasn’t that exciting.

 

The three children looked like three little birds in a nest, big eyes, open mouths. Hannah frowned,

 

“But you were upset this morning, Ma…why were you upset?”

 

Hester hauled in a deep breath and placed a hand on her daughters cheek, caressing it gently.

 

“I guess I was just surprised is all….and a little …worried…in case…”

 

“They won’t take Erik away will they, Ma?” Hannah – as usual – got straight to the point of it, and the gasp of horror from Hope made it seem even worse, so Hester shrunk back and gulped, and shook her head, Erik frowned, it made no sense to him at all and he had finished his cookie.

“Why would they want to take Erik from us, sweet heart?” Hoss asked, “There’s no need for you to be worrying about such a thing as that…they’re just coming by to pay us a visit…”

 

“When? When are they coming by, Pa?” Hannah now asked and looked from one to the other, and then at Erik and Hope “Will we see them? “

 

“You’ll be at school no doubt…” Hester replied “But later on we will – I expect – arrange for them to come and we can have a special party for them, you would like that, wouldn’t you?” and inwardly she thought to herself, “what are you saying? A party? For them? Heavens, am I going crazy or what?”

 

“Are they nice folk?” Hope said in her still squeaky voice, and she blinked her big eyes and gazed up at her father and then at her mother “They’ll like Erik, if they are nice folk won’t they?”

 

“I’m sure they’ll like you all…” Hester said fighting the urge to cry

 

“I don’t want to be at school if they are coming tomorrow, Ma?”

 

“Well, um – er – we shall have to see about that, sweet heart, we don’t know when they will be here..” she slumped back into the chair, closed her eyes and willed herself not to cry.

 

Hoss frowned at his daughter as though chiding her for her forthrightness but Hannah was not worried about her Pa’s frowns and scowls, she knew they were like clouds skimming the summer sky and had enough intelligence in her little head to know that her mother was finding the whole thing difficult. Erik decided he had had enough and wriggled his way off the chair, running back to the kitchen to demand another cookie from Hop Sing.

 

Hope sat very still, she had not thought that anyone would think Granpa was ill, and that had caught her by surprise, and now this talk about another set of grandparents. She frowned now, matching Hoss’ own, and looked up with a ‘hopeful’ look on her face

 

“Are they my grandparents too? Will they bring presents?”

…………………………

 

Reuben and Sofia listened to the explanation that Olivia gave them, Reuben occasionally nodding like a wise little Chinaman, and Sofia frowning like an anxious little mother. Nathaniel played with his toy, running it across his thighs which were hidden from Olivia’s gaze by the table.

 

“So then…” Reuben said giving his parents a direct look from his brown eyes, “These people whom we don’t know are coming to claim Erik back?”

 

“No..why should they?” Olivia asked in return while Adam raised his eyebrows and thought what a sensible question, how do we get out of that one.

“I think,” Sofia said quietly and her eyes cast down to stare at the pattern in the table, “I think they have ..they’ve come to take Erik away.”

Olivia sighed and looked at her husband who leaned forward slightly “The reason we are worried, is because we do not know what their purpose will be in coming to see Erik. They never knew he existed remember, not until yesterday. It’s a big thing in their lives..” he paused and looked at each one of them, even Nathaniel was paying attention now. “We can only wait and see what happens when they get here.”

 

“So -” Reuben now leaned forward, matching Adam’s stance perfectly “What plans do we have in case they want to take Erik away.. what are you going to do?”

 

“You’re not going to let them take him, are you?” Sofia gasped and her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head as if she could not believe her family would allow any such thing.

 

“No more than we would let anyone take either of you away from us.” .Adam replied with a solemnity that seemed to draw the line under any further discussion.

 

Reuben and Sofia looked at one another. Reuben knew he would be having a conference with the gang in the morning, he would have to think hard on what plan he could come up with. ,,while Sofia could only blink away the moisture in her eyes and let the tears fall.

 

“Sofee crying….” Nathaniel pronounced as though, in his opinion, that just about ended the conversation there and then. He slid out of his seat and, bearing his toy aloft, went in search of others that would, he just knew, be happy to see the lost toy returned.

……………………

 

Roisin Connolly returned to the luxurious suite in the hotel and found it empty. For a moment she stood by the door as though unsure what to do, whether to go forward or return to the busy town beyond the security of these rooms.

 

Finally she made her way towards the window overlooking the main street and looked down at the busy back and forth of every day life for the citizens of Virginia City. Then she went to the chair by the empty fire, sat down and tried to gather her thoughts about her encounter with the Doctors wife.

 

Once she had realised Bridie had not known Thomas her whole thought was about Margaret, the woman her son had chosen for a wife. She knew so little about her…even with Bridie’s information of the last months of her life – giving birth, returning to die and saving her son as a result – that was just a cameo of who Margaret had been. But, who was she this young woman who had loved Thomas so much and suffered heart break as a result, .where had she come from, what had been her maiden name.

 

Roisin Connolly then thought of her son, Thomas, who had been the light of her life just as Margarets son had been hers for just those few brief months. How she wished that she could turn back the clock to ten years ago. Before the tears were fully formed in her eyes she heard the door click open, her husband’s voice, and as usual, she forced the tears to dry, and swallowed them down.

Chapter 36

“Do WHAT?”

Joseph Cartwright’s eyes bulged as he glared at his big brother, hands on hips, shaking his head.

They were almost, but not quite, nose to nose, and this was not an unusual position for either of them as one or other would come up with some brain wave the other disapproved of..for a while.

 

“So – tell me again – you want me to go with you to dig up two bodies and then bury them here in the Ponderosa.” Joe stepped back, shaking his head as though in disbelief “Where did you get that crazy notion from?”

 

“Hester said..”

 

“Hester? You kidding me?”

 

“Well, it’s – like – they are family and -”

 

“Since when were they family? Huh? Huh? He was dead before Erik was born….” he waved his hand as he shook his head “And – anyhow – what does Pa think of this crazy idea of yours/”

 

“Look, it isn’t crazy, the only thing crazy about it is that we didn’t do it before…alright, they ain’t family but they are Erik’s …”

 

“And?”

 

“And what?”

 

“What did Pa say about all this?”

Hoss stepped back, placed his hands on his hips and scowled . He shrugged and then prodded his brother in the chest with one beefy forefinger “He said it was a good idea…they should be here…for Erik.”

 

Joe paused, frowned and looked doubtful. He rubbed his chin and shook his head

 

“He said that?”

“He did…..” Hoss gulped back anything else he was about to say and glared at Joe.

 

“And you think now would be the best time, rather than go checking out the fence over at the north pasture.”

 

“Sure – why not? Fact is I can’t be away for long because the Connolly’s are coming today anyway…they want to check us out I guess.”

 

Joe narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips “They are coming here?”

 

“Yep. According to that detective they hired he told Adam they were going to come today…”

 

“And you think you’d have time to dig up two bodies and transfer them to somewhere here on the Ponderosa and get all gussied up before they came?” Joe tossed his head back “Huh”

 

“Huh? Why’d you say huh? We could do it, if we worked at it together.”

 

“Of all the crazy ideas….not to mention that it is probably highly illegal.”

 

Hoss said nothing about that, he had not asked about it being legal, had not even thought about it. Joe hunched his shoulders and stared at the ground

 

“What does Adam think about this? Seeing as he isn’t here to give his assistance and valuable advice?”

 

“He don’t know… he just told us what Cotter said, that the Connolly’s had seen where Thomas, their son, was buried and wanted to dig him up and take him off to Ireland. Hester got upset because she thought that mighty unfair, leaving Margaret here on her own kinda, and so she said they should be buried here..for Erik.”

 

Joe sighed deeply and shook his head. He gave his brother a long sorrowful stare and shook his head some more. Then he started to walk towards his horse making Hoss think that he was all for the idea and prepared to ride over with him to the graveyard where the couple were buried. Then Joe paused and turned to look at him

 

“Hoss, just what do you think the Connollys will say when they go back to the graves and find them missing? They’ll have us arrested for grave robbers for sure…”

 

“Nah, we ain’t robbing anyone..”

 

“We’d be taking their son from them…think about it, Hoss? “ Joe gave his brother five seconds to ponder the matter before continuing “If we had thought about this kindly act when Margaret had died, perhaps the Connollys would look upon us with favour, gratitude even for caring so much about their son. But thinking about doing it just when they have come along and decided to dig Thomas up and take him back to Ireland……” he shook his head as though he could not believe his brother could be so stupid “Of all the class acts you have performed in the past, Hoss Cartwright, this must be the stupidest.”

 

Hoss said nothing but stood as though his boots had been nailed to the ground. He could hear the door of the ranch house opening behind him and Ben’s voice hailing his youngest son, then his hand falling heavily upon his, Hoss’, shoulder, He willed Joe to say nothing about his idea, as the younger man strolled over towards them

 

“I hear you have visitors today, Pa?”

 

“That’s right, the Connolly’s …at least that was what Adam was told.”

 

“What do you reckon they’re coming for? Just a visit or ..” Joe shrugged and glanced from Ben to Hoss, his eyes gleamed green and Hoss swallowed nerves.

 

“Guess they’re coming to check us over, and to see their grandson. At the same time we’ll have a chance to look them over too…and decide what to do next.”

 

“Like -” Joe paused and stared at Hoss who cringed at the thought that his brother was about to

suggest that digging up the O’Connell’s would be what to do next “Like making sure they don’t go off with Erik.”

 

“Like making sure exactly that…” Ben said grimly, and clamped his mouth shut in that firm line they knew so well. ‘Over my dead body and all that kind of thing’ ,,,,,,

 

Joe nodded “What time do you reckon they’ll be here?”

 

“Well, any time I guess…” Ben shrugged and looked at Hoss as though he would know, but it was Joe who decided it would definitely be the afternoon…which Hoss had mentioned earlier anyway

 

“See, they’re wealthy and Europeans.. they won’t do much apart from getting themselves dressed up and having breakfast and then discussing what to do next and reading the newspapers..then they’ll have the mid day meal and talk some more…may be then drive over and check us out as you say.”

 

“How’d you know that?” Hoss said, narrowing his eyes.

 

“Oh Mary Ann knows all about that kind of thing, reads all those kind of books and magazines…she knows all about oh -” he sighed dramatically and looked at Hoss “things like – like – “

 

“Anyway, we’ll settle on this afternoon…gives me time to do other things..” Hoss said quickly, shoulder barging Joe out of the way and heading to the stable..

 

“Do you want me to come with you?” Joe shouted as his brother disappeared into the building but there was no response so with a chuckle he turned to his father “Do you want some family support this afternoon, Pa? We could come on over…”

 

Ben shook his head and put a hand on Joe’s shoulder “No, we’ll not overwhelm this this time round… may be at the weekend…invite them over for a family gathering”

 

Aislyn Connolly did not conform to the modus operandi that Mary Ann had told Joe, she was intrigued by the town, the people, and particularly in the project the Irish woman, Bridie Martin, had told Roisin about with such enthusiasm.

For a while she stood outside the hotel entrance watching the comings and goings of the people on the street and then, finally made her way to wards the large building to which numerous women and a few men were directing their own steps.

 

She realised she was following the Irish woman of whom her mother had spoken by hearing her chatter as she strode towards the building, the woman to whom she was speaking nodding every so often as the flow of words spun around her. Aislyn just followed and observed.

She noticed that the majority of people entering the building were obviously very poor, their clothing showed the kind of neglect common to those who had nothing else to wear, not even the one to wear and one to wash seemed relevant. Some clothing was torn, badly patched, dirty to the point of being soiled. She hesitated when Bridie Martin and the other woman stepped through the doorway into the interior.

 

There were boxes and sacks full of items ..food items ..and as she stood there Aislyn watched as several women came and started to carry the items into the building. Another woman came out and surveyed the items thoughtfully, shook her head and was heard to say to the Irishwoman “This is not good enough, Bridie….”

 

Aislyn wondered what was not good enough, and approached with her curiosity aroused As soon as she stepped through the door she found herself in a hive of industry…the food was being carried to the far end and turned out onto long tables. Women came from every where to stack boxes and sacks, sort out the vegetables from the bread that had been left, and there was meat too…another woman was lighting a large stove, other women were carrying pots, pans, skillets. Everywhere she looked something was happening.

 

“Can I help you? You look rather lost?”

 

Aislyn turned to face a very pretty woman with glossy chestnut hair and large grey eyes. She seemed out of place amongst all the women present being well groomed and clean and smelling of perfume. Aisling looked around her and was about to speak when a young woman came and tugged the others sleeve

 

“Excusing me, Mrs Cartwright….”

 

Ah, one of the Cartwright women, Aislyn stepped to one side and waited, prepared to listen and learn. Mrs Cartwright turned to the young woman and greeted her by name, warmly, and even took her hand in her own,

 

“How did your interview go, Sally?”

 

“Oh it went well, Mrs Cartwright. Your letter – it impressed them so much” Sally blushed a little, “And so they said I could start working there on Monday.”

 

“Truly?” and when Sally nodded, looking shy and blushing a little, Mrs Cartwright, Mary Ann, gave her a hug, “Oh I am so pleased ..”

 

“Thing is, Mrs Cartwright, I need ..”

“Of course you do, my dear. A maid working for the Mayor needs some neat and tidy clothes, do they not?” Mary Ann nodded and glanced around her, then pointed to a door “Ask Bridie to help you choose whatever you need and if there is anything you need that is not there …I’ll make sure its available for you by Monday.”

 

“Mrs Cartwright -” Sally drew in a deep breath, seemed unable to speak “Mrs Cartwright, I think its wonderful what you do for us…and looking out for work for us ..like you do…I would never have had the courage to ..” she wiped her eyes obviously overcome and turned away, walking quickly to the door Mary Ann had pointed to earlier.

 

Aislyn turned to leave, she had seen enough, and now felt like an intruder but Mary Ann was quick, and had stopped her before she had managed to get to the door. With a smile she asked Aislyn the same question “Can I help you?”

 

“No, not really.” Aislyn replied, then paused “You are one of the Cartwrights from the Ponderosa?”

 

“Yes .. I am..”

 

“And you work here?”

 

Mary Ann nodded, no point in saying any more than that, it would sound arrogant and boastful to say “Actually I happen to be one of the proprietors of this establishment…” no, that was no good at all.

“And it’s to help the community from what I’m told?”

 

“It is…local tradesmen and others donate food and clothing …even books….” she looked at Aislyn as though assuming that could be one reason she was there, a grand lady like herself …she smiled again, “We’ve recently started trying to find employment for some of the ladies, and gentlemen here. Since the mines closed there has been a large number of unemployed who need to find some work … the mines were the life blood of this town, and for the people in it.”

 

Why did she feel the need to explain. Mary Ann sighed, there was something about this woman that made her uncomfortable and when she felt like that, Mary Ann tended to talk…’gabble on’ her mother would have said.

 

Aislyn nodded, smiled “Well, fine it is to have met you Mrs Cartwright, maybe it will not be too long before we see one another again.”

 

Mary Ann nodded, shook the gloved hand that was extended towards her …and watched as the other woman walked away. Aislyn paused at the door, just where the box which had Donations printed in big letters, but she continued on her way, her head turning over and over the events of her short morning stroll…and meeting one of the Cartwrights too…that had been a bonus.

 

Mary Ann stood for some while watching Aislyn before returning to her office. Her head was busy mulling over this visitor from Ireland….certainly no beauty, but with her blue eyes and red hair and that rigid deportment she was certainly a commanding figure. She paused to turn and look back in an attempt to see where the woman had gone.. could it have been one of the Connolly’s? If so, why had she come to the hospice?

 

Sally’s voice disturbed her thoughts….”Mrs Cartwright..look what I found? Aint it grand?”

 

Chapter 37

 

Everyone’s nerves were strung taut as a violin string…..Hannah insisted she had a tummy pain and could not go into school and when Hester insisted the child burst into tears which upset Hope and made Erik bawl.

 

What to do? Hester had never believed in backing down to a child’s whims and had determined that life would go on as normal on this particular day. It was not helped with Ben casting Hannah a sympathetic look and giving a sigh which made the poor mother feel even more wretched. Hoss, of course, was no where around, he was too busy conniving with Joe and when Joe rode off alone, he just went into the stable and sat on a bale of straw to ‘think things through’

…

Reuben and Sofia had devised a plan to ‘save’ Erik should there be any risk to the poor child being whisked away…it was still in the embryonic stage and Reuben had said they would discuss it with the gang. Sofia, knowing the gang would not let her participate, got into a sulk so that throughout the morning meal she snapped and grumbled and kicked Reubens feet under the table so that he retaliated and Olivia had to threaten them with some discipline if they carried on like it…Nathaniel pretended not to notice and acted like an angel.

Adam had left early, he had kissed his wife and hugged her tight knowing that she was concerned about what was going to happen with events at the big house that day. She felt torn between going to support Hester, showing a united front so to speak, or keeping her distance and not interfering, after all, as Adam said, it really was Hoss and Hester’s personal business and they had no right to interfere .

…….

 

When Joe told Adam about Hoss’ plans to dig up the O’Connells he had just laughed and shaken his head asking Joe whether he had managed to persuade their brother not to do any such thing.

 

“Guess he meant well….fact is, we should have thought of it a while back, not left them there like an anonymous couple.” Joe rubbed across his forehead as though trying to remove any sign of concern for his big brother

 

“True …” Adam agreed “And rather annoying that it was only due to the Connolly’s thought of removing Thomas’ body that made us think of it. After all, we have your Mother’s first husband buried here out of respect to her, and for Clay should he ever return again…even Uncle … and I use the term lightly …Uncle Gunther is buried on the Ponderosa out of respect for Inger and Hoss.”

 

“Yeah…” Joe sighed, and shook his head “Makes me feel ashamed we didn’t think of it sooner.”

 

“You ever hear from Clay?” Adam asked as he checked a fence post that was standing skewed, he gave it a shove and then nodded, it was solid enough just needed straightening up.

 

“Not for years now…guess he’s forgotten he has a little brother working his butt off here on the Ponderosa.”

 

Adam grinned as Joe had not shown much sign of working his butt off all morning, just staying put in the saddle and watching as Adam dismounted to check various posts along the stretch of fencing Pa had wanted inspected.

 

He leaned on the pommel of his saddle and watched as Adam remounted “You hear from Will and Laura at all?”

 

“Nope.” Adam replied as he settled into the saddle

 

They were quiet for some while before Joe said “How about these Connollys then….?”

“What about them?”

 

“Well, do you think we should be there – with Hoss and Hester – when they arrive. Show them family solidarity.”

 

“Not sure, Joe. They could see it as an act of aggression….could put us on the wrong foot with ’em.”

 

“Mmm.” Joe shut his mouth and thought a little more, from the frown on Adams face he was obviously thinking things over too. “How about giving them a real rousing welcome then>”

 

“How’d you mean?”

 

“Stop the carriage and tell them they’re trespassing on Ponderosa land…you know, the way we used to …”

 

“Guns drawn you mean?” Adam raised an eyebrow then shook his head “Those days are past, Joe.”

 

“Well, how about getting some of the boys to attack the carriage then we ride up, guns blazing, and rescue them…..”

 

Adam shook his head and gave his brother a look that would have withered a field of corn, “Where do you get your ideas, Joe? You reading them dime novels again?”

 

“Nope, Mary Ann won’t let them into the house, says they’ll corrupt the kids brains….” he shook his head and sighed “It’s all classics and stuff like that nowadays…”

 

“Poetry?” Adam grinned

“Managed to steer her clear of any of that stuff….” Joe chuckled “Living with you spouting it every hour of the day was enough to put anyone off it for life….”

 

“Well…” Adam shrugged, smiled and then became serious, his face slipped into a pensive expression, his lips pursed “I’ve got an idea though….”

…………..

 

Nate and Ethan listened as the Irishman explained what he wished to do, and what he required from them. They had never experienced such a request before, as Nate would say later when people wanted to dig up dead folk they just went along and did it…they had never requested any paper work to endorse it before.

 

Of course, neither wanted to show such primitive attitudes to this gentleman who addressed them with such finesse. His soft Irish accent explaining about his son, long lost, now found, but dead.

They sympathised, nodded and then gently suggested that they got the relevant paper work from one of the solicitors in town….James Edward Connolly thanked them for their time and left the building.

 

He knew from Cotters reports the legal firm that had represented the Cartwrights re the adoption of the child and made a bee line for the relevant Law Firms building. The secretary ushered him into Grants office and closed the door gently behind her, while Grant extended his hand to have it shaken by his visitor

 

Connolly was impressed by the young man who sat down across from his, separated by the grand desk upon which papers and files and other paraphernalia was spread out neatly, as though to say ‘I’m really busy so don’t take up too much of my time …’

 

James explained who he was and why he was here, an exhumation order for his sons body and also to enquire into the legality of his sons child being adopted by a local family. Grant listened, sympathised, then rang a bell for his secretary who bustled in and was asked to provide coffee for them, the paper work for an exhumation and the file on the Cartwright adoption that had been written out by Hiram Woods some years previously.

 

He was brisk, to the point and nervous. He owed the Cartwright’s so much and the situation of the adoption was like suddenly he was treading on eggshells…this was the start of the situation of which Hoss and Hester had lived in dread and discussed with him only days before. He listened as James spoke of family, loyalties, blood lines…

 

The coffee came hot and sweet, the exhumation order was duly signed and sealed, although when Grant mentioned that James really needed two orders one for Thomas’ wife as well, James had shaken his head, said he did not know her or anything of her and would not take her to Ireland ..after all…who was there to say they were even married, who was she anyway?

 

“She was the mother of your grand son, Mr Connolly.” Grant murmured kindly

“So she claimed..” James snapped back and then shut his mouth tight, “That is something we have yet to prove…..”

Grant leaned back in his chair, one hand on the file relating to the adoption “If there is any doubt about it, Mr Connolly, then there really is no point in opening this file and discussing its contents until you have the proof you seem to need.”

 

James’ lips twitched, he had not guarded his tongue, his feelings about the woman who had married his son had overtaken his usual reserve and caution.. He had fallen into a trap and could only hope that he could somehow retrieve some victory from it at some later date. He nodded, finished his coffee, and picked up the exhumation order.

 

“I will be seeing the Cartwrights later …this afternoon no doubt. I shall see you some other time….”

 

“If you intend to contest the adoption, I can assure you it is in perfect order …”

 

“Blood is thicker than water, sir…and thicker than any lawyers ink.”

 

Grant said nothing to that, merely nodded and stood up, indicating the interview was over, but as James reached the door he said “Should you take the matter further, I shall be defending Mr and Mrs Cartwrights adoption of the child.”

 

James merely inclined his well groomed head before putting on his hat and leaving the room.

……………….

Roisin and Aislyn wore black as befits women in mourning. Neither had said anything when James had told them he had the authority to exhume Thomas’s body, they had not even glanced at one another for mutual sympathy . James had spoken and that was it, there was nothing else for them to say.

 

They boarded the rather handsome carriage that had been designated for their use by Mr Manson and the driver assured them he knew where to take them. He told them it was a long trip and the ladies would be wise to keep their faces covered as the road would be dusty. Both women sat opposite James, who occupied the other seat alone with his thoughts and refusing to look at his womenfolk.

 

The driver was proven correct, the road was long and it was dusty. The horses hooves threw up the dust from the road which settled like a fine film upon their skirts and clothing, they brushed it away and then more settled ..eventually they just gave up.

 

The sound of horses approaching them caused them a flutter of nerves, after travelling so long with their own thoughts and only the sound of the carriage and their own horses breaking the silence. The two horsemen came from behind them, drawing alongside the carriage and removing their hats. One had the temerity to place his hand upon their horses harness and stopping the vehicle. The driver did not seem bothered, greeting them with a grin and a nod.

 

Joe rejoined his brother at the side of the road, their horses nodded their heads as the two men leaned forward, smiles on their faces

 

“Welcome to the Ponderosa, ladies and gentleman….” Adam declared in a rather too hearty voice.

“Thought we would come on by as we saw you on the road, couldn’t pass you without saying good day to you…that would have been rude.” Joe beamed a smile, Aislyn smiled back, lifting her veil from her face to do so…she was rather taken with the look of this gentleman whose hazel eyes twinkled at them.

 

“And who might you be? And by what right do you have to stop us from travelling on this road….” James demanded, while Roisin, like her daughter lifted her veil from her face to observe the two men more acutely.

 

“Adam Cartwright…at your service..” Adam announced and extended his hand to be shaken “Welcome to the Ponderosa.”

 

“Joseph Cartwright…” Joe said now extending his own hand and smiling widely at them all

 

“We like to welcome visitors to the Ponderosa when we can…..I take it you are on your way to see our father…” Adam smiled, rather resembling a wolf about to devour a lamb as he brown eyes scrutinised James with no smile in them at all “Mr Connolly?”

 

“We are…” James said as he straightened his back and removed his gaze from the younger mans eyes, “And -”

 

“And this is your charming wife …” Adam bowed his head, and touched his brow in respect. his brown eyes now softening with a twinkle in them

“And daughter….” Joe took her hand and kissed her fingers in a most gallant way. “Aislyn isn’t it?”

 

Aislyn blushed and nodded, James snapped his gaze from one to the other of the brothers and then said “Driver..continue….”

 

Beckham did just that, the horses moved, the carriage rolled away and left the two brothers standing in the road watching the dust rise and fall.

 

“That was going a bit far, Joe, kissing her hand an’ all.” Adam murmured as he replaced his hat

 

“Maybe, but had to make one of them feel as though we meant what we said, about giving them a welcome….” he grinned and turned his horse round to return to work, to checking posts…

 

Chapter 38

The carriage continued on its way and Beckham hummed and whistled beneath his breath to keep the tedium at bay. The occupants of the carriage remained quiet. Not one of them addressed a word to any of the others. If any noticed something of beauty they never mentioned it, not a flicker of a smile would pass their lips. If they saw anything that would cause them displeasure that did not register either, no curl of the lip, no indication of irritation – just silence

Each one of them was locked in their own private thoughts so deeply that nothing along the journey seemed to register. The atmosphere was not exactly unpleasant because they lived in this kind of situation every day, yet at the same time, being in such different surroundings one would have thought there would have been some kind of exchange between them, some word uttered.

 

The dust settled upon their clothes and the only action from them was to brush it away almost languidly before resuming their rigid posture.

 

Roisin’s thoughts were on her son, her deceased son…she had read the notes taken from the newspaper accounts, she had the information from Bridie that told her his death was not a pleasant one. In her heart she grieved mortally for she had loved Thomas more than words could say..he had honestly been her favourite, and when he had left Ireland it had broken her heart. Now, knowing he was dead, her poor heart was torn anew.

 

What were Aislyn’s thoughts as the carriage bore her away from town, onwards to the Ponderosa? Sometimes her eyes would flick over to her father and if the veil were not in place perhaps one could see how obviously she loathed the man. She did not look or glance in her mother’s direction, a woman she considered to be weak for not standing up to her husband.. She still saw their relationship as a child would, without stopping to think more deeply about the personal individual feelings of two people who had come together and brought her into the world as a result of that union. She never thought of what went wrong, why it went wrong, how did they each personally feel now.

 

She watched the landscape changing as they drove along but nothing touched her heart. She had resolved from an early age that she would not allow anything to touch her heart knowing that should that time come she would lose control. She could not bear to be without control. Perhaps that was why she disliked James so much as he controlled so many aspects of her life …she never realised how much alike they were indeed.

 

James was ticking things off in their relative boxes…the exhumation of his son, arrangements for transportation of coffin, confrontation with Cartwrights…returning home with grandson…that was a sticking point ..he ticked another box, if the grandson proved to be their grandson and not the product of some other liaison by this supposed wife.

 

Locked in their separate thoughts they never noticed the house and outbuildings on the right of the track, down through the trees. The carriage rumbled onwards …

 

Hester had spent the day with her stomach in knots. She fully sympathised with Hannah who was but a child and still had such worries and anxieties about the situation which she did not fully understand. It was felt better for her to go to school and have the distraction of friends and lessons to pass the day, much better than mooning around the house dreading the moment…

 

And now the moment had come, and the carriage was drawing up in the yard. Ben rose to his feet and sighed deeply, glanced over at her and nodded as he walked to the doorway, and pulled it open. Hoss came and stood beside her, then they followed Ben to the door in order to greet their guests.

 

They walked to the steps leading down into the yard, and waited as the occupants of the carriage also waited for Beckham to come and open the door and lower the steps for them to disembark. While he was doing that the Connollys looked around them and took in their surroundings.

Were they impressed? Not really. They had expected something on a far grander scale They had seen the houses in various towns that were owned by the rich and famed in those parts, and had expected something similar here. It made them doubt just how true the stories were, that the Cartwrights had been here before the Comstock Lode, before Virginia City existed. It made them wonder just how wealthy this family were considering the rumours that they were sitting on a mountain – or two – of silver.

 

Here they were confronted by a wooden cabin…bigger than some to be sure, but it was still the kind of building one associated with homesteaders, peasants. Homeliness did not come into their vocabulary, grandeur did!

 

James’ eyes swept over the corral with the horses pushing against the bars, or cantering back and forth. Good working horses he thought, but not the kind he would expect to see at the great horse fair of Ballinasloe …which had taken place in Ireland since the time of the Kings of Tara.

 

He stepped down and waited for his wife to come and stand by his side, his daughter slightly behind them. Now to appear conciliatory to the older man and the couple standing close to him .

It was unusual for Ben or any Cartwright for that matter not to approach the visitors to give them a warm welcome to the Ponderosa, but here today, the three of them remained on the verandah, waiting for the visitors to come to them. A reticence seemed to hold them back, perhaps the air of superiority that James created, or the disdainful way he had looked, dismissed and ignored what was around them…but not one of them stepped down to extend their hand in welcome.

 

“Welcome to the Ponderosa, “ Ben said eventually, deciding that something had to be said and some movement towards the trio would be better than standing waiting for them to make the first move.

 

Hester’s heart lurched, her stomach clenched, and her eyes moved from one woman to the other,. She wondered what they were thinking, what impression they were making, and why were they standing there so – rigid.

 

Hoss stepped forward now, his hand extended “Good to meet you at last, hope you did not find the journey too dusty.” and then felt awkward as he noticed the dust still settled in the folds of their gowns.

 

“Come along in..” Ben ushered them forwards, shook James’ hand and heard him mumble something but did not quite catch what actually was said.

 

Hop Sing brought in refreshments on the tray and put it down on the table casting a glance over at the three visitors and having a deep foreboding in the pit of his stomach that things were not going to proceed well. He bowed politely and quickly disappeared back to the kitchen where Hope and Erik were drinking lemonade and munching on cookies.

 

Hester was uncomfortable, she could feel the apprehension in the air, the unwillingness of their guests to warm towards them, and act …well…just relaxed more and showed some willingness to talk and show some interest in them. Then she realised she had not yet spoken and forced a smile,

 

“I’m Hester…” she said while her blue eyes moved from face to face, “What can I get you to drink? The dust ..”

 

“It was dusty,” Roisin said as though realising that she should also say something, anything to put this poor woman out of her misery as she stood there dithering, “Lemonade would be very welcome.”

 

She had removed her veil now that they were indoors and she looked at Hester appraisingly, much as she would have looked over a woman applying for a post as house keeper at the big hall back home. She noticed the woman had red hair, blue eyes, and when she smiled she looked more than a little attractive. But she just could not understand why she would have married such a man as this Hoss ..big ungainly fellow that he was, no doubt a good workman but … …

 

Aislyn was observing Hoss as she settled into a chair, and thinking back to the two horsemen who had approached the carriage and welcomed them to some extent far more warmly than had been shown here. How could they have been brothers? Were they brothers?

 

With the Connollys seated and looking reasonably comfortable, refreshments handed out and cups and saucers filled the Cartwrights took their seats, and inwardly took in a deep breath. The coming time was not going to be easy…..

 

“We met your brothers on the way here.” Aislyn said at last, cup and saucer in hand, eyes fixed on Hoss.

 

“Really? Shucks, how come?” Hoss replied his blue eyes flicking from one to the other of them

 

“They rode up to welcome us to the Ponderosa… “ she replied and took a sip “Being in the area so to speak.” she sipped her tea and her eyes also flicked from Ben, Hester to Hoss again.

 

Ben cleared his throat and frowned, nodded and then said in a gentle tone of voice “We’re all very sorry for your loss. To have to come all this way to find what happened to your son…”

 

“Did you know him?” Roisin asked, her voice warm now, eager to find out more. A mother crying out…did you speak to him, touch him, hear him speak, what did he say, what did he talk about?

 

“I saw him…” Hester said quietly and set down her cup upon the saucer, “ I was there when they brought him and the other victims of the explosion out from the mine..I helped where I could but sadly, his injuries were too severe….it was a horrible thing to happen.”

 

The spasm of pain that swept across Roisin’s face came and went, she compressed her lips to stop the involuntarily cry slipping out, she had heard enough from Bridie, but somehow Hester made it seem, somehow, more violent.

 

Aislyn lowered her head and stared down at her cup, at the muddy water of her tea …she thought of her brother, of his dying, but Roisin had not told her about the visit to Bridie,so had not prepared her for what she had happened to Thomas.

James cleared his throat and raised his chin, it seemed to Ben that the man was challenging everything and was preparing to challenge what ever was coming to the question he was about to pose.

 

“The woman…Margaret…did you know her?”

 

Ben and Hoss looked at Hester, who blinked her blue eyes and stared at the man in the big chair whose eyes were boring into hers, and she wondered why he wanted to know more about Margaret than his own son…she nodded slowly

 

“Only a little. Dr Martin and his wife, Bridie, they cared for her afterwards…” Hester paused, realising that a few words more and the subject of Erik would be thrust upon them, and she did not want that yet…not until she felt more prepared, better able to control the subject and her emotions.

 

“I read the account in the Enterprise, your local newspaperman showed me it all…told me .. all that happened later.” James scowled “My son was not exactly vindicated but =”

 

“Your son was fighting against heavy odds, Mr Connolly. “ Ben said quietly, “At the time there were more against him than for him, but in the end…”

 

“Yes, in the end.” James replied and picked up his cup stared at it in a manner that Socrates may have looked at the cup of hemlock and with a sigh took a sip.

 

That stillness settled upon them again. Hester looked over to Ben to catch his eyes, to encourage him to say something, but before he could speak there came the sound of little feet running into the room, Hope’s voice “That’s mine, that’s mine….” followed by Erik’s shrill laugh, the giggle of a four year old, happy, content, innocent of everything except running off with his sisters cookie…held high like a trophy as he ran into the room

He ran straight past Roisin and towards his mother, throwing himself into her lap, burying his face into her skirts “Hide me, Mommy, don’t let Hope git the cookie…” and his infectious giggle trickled into the silence.

 

Chapter 39

 

The sound of china breaking, a gasp that was more than a gasp …and for a moment there was a silence that dropped like a blanket over them all. James uttered some words in Irish Gaelic

that meant nothing to the Cartwrights but the tone of voice was sharp, scathing. His hand came down heavily upon Roisin’s arm, and perhaps he would have said more but he happened to see the look on Ben’s face and clamped his mouth shut.

“Perhaps we should go outside and leave this to the ladies….” Ben suggested and got to his feet leaving James in no doubt as to what he had to do so he left his chair and followed his host from the room.

 

Aisly was picking up the remains of the cup while Roisin was profuse in her apologies, but her face was pale, her eyes fever bright as they fixed upon the child leaning into Hester’s skirts.

“It’s alright, Mrs Connolly, there’s no harm done…” Hester said quietly and glanced at Hoss who had been wondering what to do, he felt like a spare wheel now, but seeing the look Hester gave him he understood. He nodded and swung Erik up into his arms and up onto his shoulders so that the child giggled again and kicked his heels into his father’s chest and said “Giddy-up”

 

Once Hoss had gone to join Hop Sing and Hope, and then wander out into the garden with them, an air of calm settled in the room, and the three women looked at one another, settled back into their chairs and held their breaths.

 

Hester wished that she had sent Erik away to play with Nathaniel so that he would have remained unseen by these people; she wished it more than ever now as she recalled to mind the sound of Roisins cry, not just a gasp of surprise or awe or wonder…but the cry of a mother, the cry of a woman who remembered another little boy with red hair running about and giggling ..just like Erik.

 

A mother knows that sound, the broken heart that lives only with memories, with ghosts of what had been and longings for what might have been but never could be – ever. Hester looked down at the floor, where the remains of the spilled tea gleamed in a golden puddle on the rug, slowly seeping into the fabric, disappearing and perhaps leaving a stain. Like the events in our lives, she thought, like seeing a baby asleep and being reminded of another from years ago..her little brother who died, and that had resulted in her love for Erik.

 

Thomas’ son. Margaret’s son. Roisin’s grandson.

 

Aislyn spoke first, trying to lighten her voice by remarking how surprised they had been to see that Mrs Cartwright had red hair too. Hester nodded, and thought how odd that all three of them had this russet coloured hair, perhaps a shade lighter with one, perhaps a tad redder in another…like Erik, like Thomas…and vaguely she remembered that Margaret’s hair had been muddy blonde, nothing to be impressed by really.

 

Roisin was looking at her, staring now at this woman who had adopted her grandson. She wanted to speak, but her mouth seemed clamped to her teeth. She swallowed and looked at the tea pot, the other cups, the shattered remains of hers…and then heard herself apologising, what a scene, what would they think of her, so sorry about the smashed cup.

 

Hoss must have mentioned to Hop Sing that there had been an accident, and now he appeared with another cup and saucer, a teapot and all the makings of a fresh cup of tea all on a little silver tray which he placed beside Mrs Connolly’s chair. He nodded, glanced at Hester and nodded again.

 

“Thank you, Hop Sing.” she smiled, and he left them and Hester watched as Aislyn stood up and walked to the table and poured out fresh tea for her mother. She placed the cup and saucer carefully in her mother’s hands as though the woman were feeble minded and did not know how to do it herself. Then she resumed her seat, folded her hands in her lap, looked at Hester

 

“Why did you take the child? What made you choose him as ..” she glanced away and frowned, scowled, the look did not improve her looks and Hester felt a tight ball of dislike for her, tight in her chest.

 

She stood up, with dignity and approached the table now, she poured herself a fresh drink and then sat down. Best to keep the hands busy, to be occupied, think, think, think……..she swallowed some of the tea, realised she would have preferred coffee but swallowed it anyway. She looked at the two women and met two pairs of eyes staring back at her.

 

Whatever she said would have sounded trite…a cliché…maybe even patronising. How could she explain to them how she had felt when she saw Erik for the first time, how could she find the words that would soften those hearts that she just knew were intent on taking her son from her.

………………….

 

Ben leaned against the corral fence and stroked the neck of his horse. Cinnamon was a good beast, handsome too and the colour of pale honey, her mane and tail were creamy coloured and her eyes were like those of a doe, liquid brown, beautiful. Ben loved this horse even more than he had loved her predecessor so he stroked her neck and the soft muzzle before turning to James with an enquiring thoughtful look on his face,

 

“Took you some years to locate Thomas….” his deep voice bore a question, his dark eyes required an answer and so James nodded

 

“It did. I had hopes of a more positive result than this though.”

 

“Why did he leave Ireland and change his name? Had he committed a crime of some sort? Running away from Irish law?”

 

James shrugged “Family business…you would not understand.” his lips were thin, almost white against the pallor of his skin

 

“Oh I know all about family business, having three sons of my own…” Ben smiled and shrugged, then turned his back on the horse and leaned against the railings, “I’ve been to Ireland you know…several times when I went to sea as a young man.”

 

“Oh. A seaman you were?”

 

“Indeed yes, I went to the Limerick Horse Show at one time…saw some great horses. The Irish have a good eye for horse flesh.”

 

“Indeed we do…” James could not resist glancing at those now in the corral as though they would not be accepted for the Limerick show just not good enough standard

 

“These horses are working horses, they have to be tough for the work they do, know the moods of the cattle, ride through stampedes, ride hard without breaking wind, and stop on a dime!” he smiled and tucked his hands into the back pockets of his pants, “I remember the first time I rode one, being more used to a ships deck than a horses saddle and the darn thing stopped so sudden I went right over its head…” he glanced up but there was not even a flicker of change on the other man’s face, he nodded and glanced over to where the carriage was still waiting with Beckham on the seat talking down to Hank “Let’s go for a ride…”

“I’m not…”

“Won’t take long, want to show you something…”

Ben led the way now to the carriage and asked Beckham to take them to Joe’s house, just a little over a mile up the hill and round the curve ..Beckham was willing enough and Ben stepped aside for James to step into the vehicle before joining him. The door closed and the horses moved off.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

Hester placed her cup upon the saucer and straightened her shoulders. She looked at Roisin and addressed her comments to her, the mother, the one suffering loss and grieving and hoping.

 

“Margaret left the baby on the doorstep of the woman who had delivered him. She was dying. She returned to town with this little baby and walked through a snow storm to get to Bridie’s house and left him there, knowing he would be loved…cared for…and then she crawled into an alley and died. But you already now this, don’t you?”

 

Roisin lowered her eyes, Aislyn nodded and clenched her hands together to quell her impatience. Hester nodded, and sighed

 

“Margaret left a letter to Bridie asking her not to place the baby into the orphanage, to find some family who would love him as she loved him…a mother’s love …” she looked into Roisin’s eyes and noticed the widening of the pupils, “she had shown that love above and beyond what most of us would ever have to do, she had suffered so much in order to bring him to a safe haven…”

 

“We know the story Mrs Cartwright….” Aislyn said and raised her chin, her eyebrows, “If you could just answer my question.”

 

“Shakespeare once wrote the words Love Thyself Least….and when it comes to a mother wanting to save her child, despite all the odds, the dangers to herself, that is when that love always prevails, one never thinks of ones own desires, wants, needs….just the child, the child is all that matters, you give way to that love, and Margaret did just that……”

 

She noticed the impatient movement Aislyn made but before the woman could speak Hester looked again at Roisin and addressed her words to her “I could have no more children and perhaps some would say two was enough any way.but out here two is never enough…infant mortality is high, doesn’t matter if one lives in a mansion or a hovel…you know that too, Bridie told me a lot about life in the villages back in Ireland.

 

“I wanted my husband to have a son, and I could not give him one. I became ill with the worry of it, and then Bridie took me to a room where Erik…the baby …slept and told me about Margaret and showed me her last letter…please. she had written, find him a family where he would be loved…and I looked down at him and … it would have broken my heart to have walked away and left him there and yes, there is another reason why I loved him. I think I was already destined to love him because as soon as I saw him I remembered a time when I was a little girl and looked down at my new brother and loved him…but he died shortly afterwards and …and here was this baby so like my brother, like my own bone and blood and flesh. “

 

She paused then, what more could she say, but she looked again at Roisin and there was pleading in her eyes, pleading to her not to take away her baby, not Erik…

………………

 

As Ben expected Karim came immediately to the fence rail to greet them with a toss of his regal head and swish of his tail. He was pure pedigree, whoever had sired him had been pure bred because no horse in the Sheik’s stable so far away in Eygpt would be anything other than that, and his dam had a pedigree that went back so far that none of them had bothered to read through the whole list that had accompanied her on that long voyage from Egypt to San Francisco. James stepped forwards, his hands clasping his cane and his eyes alive for once with something other than bitterness and anger. His breathing changed too, the breathing of a man who loved what he was seeing…perhaps the reaction Ben would have expected from James when he had seen his grandson, but here it was, a horse, but …what a horse.

 

“Beautiful. Magnificent. Where did you get him? He must have cost ..thousands…”

 

“It was a gift to my son. My eldest son…Adam. Actually his mother was the gift but the Sheik did not know that there was this little hidden extra within her, she was impregnated even before the sea voyage. Kamille – his mother – is the true beauty. Karim…well, Joe wants to run a stud farm …he has already had several successes from him…”

 

James nodded and reached out a hand to stroke the horses long face, down the long bone from brow to nose, and sighed “I would give anything for a horse like this one. And a gift you say?” he shrugged “Who would be fool enough to give this beast as a gift….”

 

“The giver of the gift owed my son, Adam, his life…his reputation..his family. He felt it was the least he could do to send a horse but then he knew how Adam knew his horse flesh, he tried to persuade him to ride in one of their races in Cairo….” he shrugged “But then that’s a different story.”

 

“What was your son doing in Cairo?”

 

“Ah well..when you see him he may tell you about it himself…” Ben said with a nonchalant shrug “We usually have the family here for a meal once a week, perhaps you would like to come along, meet everyone….I think Adam has been to the Limerick horse show too,…” he did not say any more but turned to make his way back to the carriage, James lingered a while longer, watching the horse canter and show off in the paddock Joe had made for him…

 

Well, perhaps this was the sprat that would catch the whale…who knew, but one thing for sure, Ben never wanted to see the misery etched onto Hesters face again.

 

Chapter 40

James remained silent while seated in the carriage and taking the track back to the main Ponderosa home. Ben glanced over at him every so often, waiting and wondering what to do, what to say next. Finally James turned to the older man and said “When I saw your son he was not riding a pure bred animal to be sure…”

“Certainly not, he would be using one of the corral horses, a working animal. Kamille is too valuable an animal to use as a working horse. Personally I do not agree with keeping a hay burner ..” he smiled at James puzzled expression “an animal that will eat all you have and not work for it…no, a good horse works for a living, not just to be a pretty creature to show off every so often.”

“But still he keeps it…” an eyebrow lifted and a slight smile on the thin lips.

 

“Oh yes, but then Kamille is special…” Ben smiled again and looked mischievous, even James noted the twinkle in the near black eyes when he looked at him next “How about we go and visit Adams place, you can see her for yourself….”

 

“I doubt if the ladies will be missing us…” James replied as though that settled the matter entirely.

 

Ben nodded, winked and then turned to Beckham’s back and yelled to him to carry on to Adams place, and make a detour there. Beckham had no problem with that., this was an easy days wages for him, just riding and enjoying himself, taking his ease…he nodded and clipped the reins slightly so that the horses moved into a slightly faster gait.

…………………

The three women had not relaxed during the moments since Hester’s explanation as to how she came to take Erik home. Each one of them was eyeing the other with caution and a certain degree of approbation. Roisin broke the silence by asking if she could have another cup of tea and Hester immediately set about pouring her one, the golden liquid streaming from the spout of the tea pot into the fine china cup in a steam arc. Aislyn watched as her mother accepted the cup and saucer and declined the offer of another for herself

 

“I met a lady earlier, another Mrs Cartwright…”

 

Hester paused, nodded “That would be Mary Ann if you saw her at the hospice…”

 

“Is that what it is? I thought if was some kind of soup kitchen for the poor.”

 

“Yes, I suppose it could be termed that as well. When the mines started to close there were so many unemployed, poverty is a great problem for many now. It was Mary Ann’s idea to set the hospice up..we try to provide some forms of employment, clothing, food, anything that would help…” she paused, stopped herself.

 

She was babbling, it was easier to talk about the hospice and other folks problems than get back to what this visit was all about…she glanced over at the door and wondered if Ben and Mr Connolly would ever return. Her heart was racing every time she thought of that cold slim figure of a man slipping back into the house and looking her up and down before saying “Well, Mrs Cartwright…”

 

Roisin cleared her throat and said softly “And yourself, Mrs Cartwright, is it from Ireland that your family originally came? With your colouring…” she looked over at Aislym as though to prompt her to confirm that she also thought along the same lines “you could well be from our parts”

 

“I do not know, Mrs Connolly. Buchanan is my fathers name , and his family came to America back before the Boston Tea Party…no one ever suggested we were from Irish stock.” she smiled slightly,a twitch of the lips “Friends from Scotland asked me the same thing…they said they came from Stirling where the Buchanans were wealthy land owners there.” she bit her lip, perhaps that was a black mark against them, she knew too little of Irish and Scottish history to feel confident that her answer would be approved,

 

Aislin sighed, this whole situation was boring to her, she looked from one to the other of them and then stood up “Perhaps you could show us ..” she paused …what does one say to people who lived in the wilds like this, when there were no manicured lawns to admire or rose beds to wander along.

 

Hester stood up, glad to feel strength in her legs, her knees did not buckle, and she smiled and nodded “Yes, if you come with me I can show you the garden…Hop Sing, our dear friend and cook, set it all out when Joe’s mother was alive. She was a French woman …”

 

“French!” exclaimed Roisin

 

“Yes, she moved here from New Orleans…she was Ben’s third wife….” and if there was just a hint of mischief in her voice the women did not notice.

 

Oh women everywhere love to gossip, they love to know who is who and what is what, and the why’s and the wherefores….not matter what the nationality…just the causal mention of Ben having 3 wives…Hester could almost feel the curiosity in the air floating above her head like a balloon in a festival hall.

 

Aislyn rose to the bait to enquire just how many wives did Hester say …to which Hester glibly said “Just the three….”

 

They stepped out into the garden laid out so many years ago and tended so carefully by Hop Sing ever since. Smells softened the air about them that soothed their nerves and sights greeted them that gladdened the eye.

 

“I never expected to see this in a place so wild…” Roisin murmured.

 

“It is rather secret…but we love it. The children do too…this is a working ranch of course, but we women like to have our little secret retreats.”

 

She was aware of the older woman standing close to her now, almost elbow to elbow, she could smell the perfume that was stronger than the sweet scents from the garden. She waited for Roisn to speak but before any word could be spoken the sound of voices broke across the silence and Hoss appeared from behind some shrubs with Hope and Erik, both of whom clutched little bunches of flowers in their hands.

 

“Hey Honey, I didn’t expect to see you just yet…” Hoss’ big grin stretched across his face although his eyes twitched warily between their two visitors.

 

“I thought the ladies would like a change of scene…” Hester said but her voice faltered as the children held back, keeping close to their father’s legs

 

“And -” Roisin said quietly “it is a good chance for us to get to see Erik again before we leave today.” she stepped forward and leaned down a little “Hello Erik…” she reached out a hand and gently touched his head, brushed back the find red hair “they’re very pretty flowers, are they for your Mother?”

 

Erik nodded and cringed back, his eyes darting over to Hester before settling back to look at Roisin. She straightened herself once again and then looked at Hope who was staring at her with a certain degree of boldness, but before she could speak Hope hid her bunch of flowers behind her back and then ran towards her mother, hiding herself in the folds of Hesters’ skirts.

…………………..

Nathaniel ran out of the house, paused to stare at the carriage as it swept rather grandly into the yard and then seeing Ben he waved and yelled “Hey Hey Granpa….”

 

Ben laughed, and stepped down quickly, followed by Connolly who was once again looking at everything, missing nothing. Whatever he felt about being confronted by yet another rather extravagant wooden cabin other than a colonnaded white plaster edifice he had the grace to keep quiet especially as the lady of the house now stepped out onto the verandah.

 

Ben had caught hold of Nathaniel and swung him up in the air, while Olivia came forward wiping her hands on an apron. James had never seen his wife or daughter wear an apron in their lives…he could not even recall his mother wearing one mainly because, well, they had servants for the kind of things that required aprons to be worn…its the little things he thought, that make a man, or woman.

 

“Olivia this is Mr James Connolly, Thomas ‘ father…” he did not say anything about Erik which caused James lips to thin, but he managed a smile and a slight bow from the waist as Olivia came towards them “I am hoping to impress James with the sight of Kamille…”

 

“Oh then, indeed, prepare to be impressed…” Olivia laughed and stepped right up to them, looked with a smile at James, “I suppose Pa has told you the story of how Kami came to be Adam’s horse.”

 

“Yes, amazing ..quite an amazing story…” and if there was the slightest hint of doubt in the words Olivia and Ben chose to ignore it.

 

“She’s in the paddock…nothing but the best for Her Ladyship…she can pretend she is back in the royal stables in Egypt when the sun is shining on her back.” Olivia said, and grabbed at Nathaniel’s hand so as to prevent him from running forwards

 

James had expected to be surprised…awed perhaps…hoped that he would be able to grin and dismiss it all as typical American bravado, but it was not that, and he was totally bedazzled by her as she cropped at the rich grass of the paddock and when Olivia called her name and she turned her beautiful head towards them, he caught his breath …

Ben picked up the boy and perched him on the top bar of the corral fence, then leaned against it himself, arms folded on the top bar, Olivia stood beside him and smiled up at him, and James ..he just stood and stared, speechless.

………………

Joseph Cartwright leaned against the post that he and Adam had just hammered into the ground

and folded his arms across his chest, stared up at the sky and pouted. Adam leaned down to pick up his hat which he placed on his head, before slowly making his way towards him, a shovel in one hand resting on his shoulder like a man would hold a rifle were he on guard duty.

 

“Well- guess that’s us done for the day…how about it? Time for a trip into town for a beer…” he wiped his brow with his forearm ,nudging his hat further from his brow.

 

“Sure…could do that, plenty of time.” Joe yawned and looked up at the sky, frowned “Wonder how things are going with the Irish family…”

 

“Guess we’ll find out soon enough.” Adam stowed the shovel away and mounted into the saddle.

 

“Strange really, when you think of all the folk that have streamed into America for years now, lots of folks who have inter- married, lost kids, found kids, have no idea where they came from…I mean..what country …what heritage..”

 

“That can’t be said in your case..” Adam said, “Nor mine…”

 

“Yeah …but what I mean is …” he shook his head “Guess I don’t know what I mean, leastways I can’t put it into words…”

 

“Fact is, blood is thicker than water and if you have the money you can eventually find what you are looking for …which in Erik’s case is a case in point.”

Joe rolled his eyes.. that was more or less what he was wanting to say, except that for many thousands of emigrants without money they would never locate that one child they were searching for in a thousand years.

 

“Anyway. I was thinking…” he paused and shot a glance over at Adam, expecting some smart response but nothing came “I should be joining up with Candy and the others, get back to the cattle and locating the best place to build the new cattle station…don’t want Candy selecting a place and putting his stamp on it, after all…”

 

“After all, Candy knows what he is doing, Joe….and if he wants to be the Manager of the station he has a right of choice to its location.”

 

Joe shrugged, sulked a little, pouted. Adam smiled, the inner child remains within us he thought and then as they were jogging along ventured the opinion that if Joe really wanted to join with Candy and the cattle there was nothing here to stop him. Joe raised his eyebrows, frowned, and said nothing, but the silence between them was amiable.

 

“I don’t want Hoss thinking I was not there back him up..” Joe finally said, biting down on his bottom lip.

 

“Well, this is a private matter for Hoss and Hester to settle really, anyone else of us would just be interfering…”

“Do you think they’ll try and take the boy from them…”

 

“Hard to say…” Adam pushed out his bottom lip, frowned “It’s a very emotional situation really.

Not one I would like to be involved in….Mr Connolly looks like a yard of iced water..but his wife…now she’s a different kind …she’s suffered, she’s still suffering…”

 

“I guess so…”

 

They were quiet again, jogging along as they had done for years, since Joe was old enough to ride along that track on his little fat pony years ago. He didn’t want to think of the little boy gone from the Ponderosa, but people with money…had a way of going about things that warranted that they usually got what they wanted…His heart ached for Hester even more so than for Hoss who was just about as tender hearted as they came! He blinked fast, his eyes were moist, so he raised a hand and dashed it away .

 

After a few minutes had passed he said “Guess I’ll leave early tomorrow….”

 

“Mary Ann won’t mind?”

 

Joe frowned, nodded “Guess I’ll take her and the kids with me, could stay at the cabin while I join up with Candy …won’t take long to do that…”

 

“Progress. ..” Adam shrugged, smiled “Trains…who’d have thought it…

Chapter 41′

For the time being it was over..finished! Hoss gently wrapped an arm around Hester’s shoulders and led her back into the house, closing the door behind him. The sound of the carriage leaving the yard rumbled momentarily and then faded but it still brought a shiver to Hester’s spine and she shook her head disconsolately

 

“Do we really have to ever see them again, Hoss?” she looked up into his face and saw the concern flash across his features, widen his eyes…”Can’t we cancel that – that family get together on Saturday?”

 

“We can’t break a promise now, Hester.” Hoss sat down beside her and took hold of her hands, “It’s only right and fair that they get to meet us all, see the kind of family Erik is being raised with….”

She shook her head and clamped her mouth into a tight line before saying that in her opinion that was not what interested them, they just wanted a chance to check Erik out, to see if he came up to their pedigree status…and if he was, then they would never get rid of them, they would be buzzing about the Ponderosa until the time came when they would snatch him away.

 

Hope ran into the room holding onto her favourite doll for the day, she stopped short in front of her parents and looked around at the room “Have they gone – them people?”

 

“Yes, just now. Didn’t you hear the carriage …” Hoss leaned down to pick the little girl up and place her on his knee, such a pretty little girl, still small and frail looking but no longer a cause for her mother’s concern. Hope shrugged

 

“Who was them people any ways?” she stared at her doll as though she would get more sensible answers from her than from the adults in the room.

 

Ben cleared his throat and made his way to his chair, the floor boards creaked as he passed…he looked at Hoss and then at Hester. Then he reached for his pipe and began to toy with it between his big fingers Hope watched him and then turned her attention back to her doll, so that Hoss felt he had to answer so he cleared his throat and hauled in his breath

 

“Well, see, like, um…” he shrugged “Remember how we – well, Hope, remember how Erik is adopted…you remember what that means?”

 

She nodded already deciding that perhaps this would become a rather boring story but felt obliged to stick with it as it was not often Pa was home during the day and she could have his knee all to herself.

 

“Being adopted means that Erik has – had – two daddies and two mummies..”

 

“I know that bit…” Hope said and sighed “But who was them peoples?”

Hester shook her head at Hoss and leaned forward, and was about to speak when Erik came into the room, ran towards them with hands raised, he wanted a knee too, not bothered if it was Ma or Pa’s so Hester lifted him up and set him down.

 

“Them gone now?” he said as he settled his russet head upon her breast and she stroked his face gently and nodded

 

“Yes, they’ve gone now.”

 

“Not like ’em….” Erik said and frowned “Hope not like ’em neever.”

 

Hester had a childish pleasure in that, but yet, what was the point of it… she shook her head in self admonition and kissed the top of his head

 

“Well, you have to be polite when they come again…” she said quietly, “They ….they are special people you know, came from a long long way away…just to see you.”

“Why?” Erik frowned again, and leaned forward to grab at Hope’s doll.

 

“Because they are your daddy’s daddy and mommy…and that means they are your grand parents and aunt.”

 

Both children said nothing, looked at one another. Hope shrugged and jumped off Hoss’ knee and grabbed at Erik’s hand “C’mon…”

 

The three adults looked at them running out of the room, they looked at one another… Hester thought how much she would love to just run away…just like that…without caring, without knowing, without fearing…..

………………

 

The carriage trundled along the track sending up as much dust on the way to town as it did on the way from town….the ladies had lowered their veils and James kept his head down, the brim of his hat protecting him from the worse of it. Beckham wondered if they ever spoke, he had never known a less garrulous group of folk. He flicked the reins and hoped they would be back in town before one of them did speak and the shock would be so great he would topple right off his seat .

 

Roisin dabbed at her eyes, an attempt to stop the tears. She thought back to the interview, because that was all it amounted to really, an interview. She remembered the way the little boy would not take hold of her hand, hid his own behind his back, shook his head. “Don’t want…..”

 

She thought of when he had first ran into the room, laughing, that little giggle and for a moment she had been transported back years, back to when her son had laughed like that, been as care free..and she had loved him. Body and soul she had loved him…..she dabbed at her eyes again and lowered her head.

 

“I don’t want to go on Saturday.” she said quietly, “ I never want to see that woman again, to watch her as she – her eyes – always looking, waiting…”

 

Aislyn shrugged “She was probably thinking the same of you…you could not take your eyes off of her until the boy came into the room…it was even worse then.”

 

“It was like seeing Thomas ..all over again…”

 

Aislyn shook her head “A little boy, that’s all….and an American little boy at that…his accent,.. “

 

“You are both being ridiculous…” James said in a low voice, and his fingers gripped the cane more tightly, he darted a look at both of them, narrowed eyes, and thin lipped said “We will go on Saturday, there are others I want to meet…”

 

“Please, James…” she whispered in appeal but he had turned his head now and stared out at the landscape and she knew that nothing she said now would change his mind.

 

She lowered her head and tightened her hold around her handkerchief. Aislyn stared ahead of her, her mind already racing ahead to the coming Saturday and to meeting the other ‘Americans’…she thought of the Mrs Cartwright in the ‘soup kitchen’ who looked so capable and organised…that appealed to her, a woman who could set her hand to things, she had always thought Americans would be like that….she was determined to have a long discussion with her, not about children, or babies, or Thomas, just about how to organise soup kitchens.

 

James was also thinking along the lines of meeting the other Cartwrights . He was fascinated now by the story of an American out west who could possess such a beautiful horse..and surely, the story of it arriving from Egypt from a grateful Sheik was a bit far fetched! He had read some of Sam Clemens stories and knew how Americans enjoyed ‘pulling gullible Europeans legs’. It was not just Adam Cartwright that fascinated him though, it was that woman….Olivia with her apron…and yet with her air of content, confidence…something about her that appealed to him…strongly.

……………………………

 

AmeliaTyndale watched the carriage as it swept pass, and observed the passengers with a critical eye. The women in their dust covered black dresses (why had they not used the covered carriage, Beckham just did not think things through….) and the thin man who stepped down and did not even turn to assist the women but stood there staring around as though he did not like what he saw.

 

She knew where they had been, of course. She hugged the box closer to her, a box full of books that were now too dog eared to be on the shelves. She was on the way to the Hospice to leave them there, and having taken good care to note the three people now striding into the hotel, she made her way onwards

 

“Let me help you with that, Miss Tyndale…” and Adam Cartwright stepped up beside her and lifted the box right out of her hands “Where do you want them taken?”

 

“The hospice if you please….” she replied and hoped that the slight blush she could feel around the neat white collar of her blouse did not appear too obvious

 

“And how are you, Miss Tyndale?” he smiled down at her, a genuine smile, it twinkled in his eyes so that she felt a little bit flustered and had to cough slightly to get herself in speaking mode

 

“Very well.” she inclined her head and smiled up at him, “Your visitors…I mean .. the visitors to the Ponderosa today, they did not seem very impressed.”

 

Adam nodded, he was quite used to Miss Tyndale’s way of going direct to the matter, he had seen her observing the carriage and its occupants and had anticipated some comment. “ I don’t think they will be very impressed by much…” he frowned “they have a reason for being here ..”

 

“Yes, I know….” she sighed

“And I doubt if they will be happy until that’s all sorted out…to their liking of course.”

 

“Quite ..quite…” Miss Tyndale nodded, her bonnet nodded along with her, and she stared at the side walk ahead of her as if it alone possessed all the answers.

 

Adam decided to say no more, his thoughts trickled to concern for Hoss and Hester and if they were feeling any happier than the Connolly’s whom he had watched stepping into the hotel, as Miss Tyndale observed so acutely..far from happy.

 

Bridie greeted them both with a big smile, it was the end of a long day, and most of the ‘staff’ had now returned to their homes. Adam placed the box of books on a table and glanced from Esme to Bridie, and more than aware of how friendly these two ladies were, he gave a nod of the head, a smile, touched the brim of his hat with his forefinger and walked away….he knew they would want to talk, and he did not particularly want to hear what was said. He would find out later anyway…he usually did.

 

In the little office set aside for the Cartwrights and Bridie, so that they could toil over the ledgers and work out what was needed, what was not and which member of staff they could dispense with or could assist to do more, Mary-Ann and her husband were in a heated discussion.

 

Tactfully Bridie had steered Amelia away from The Office but raised voice could be heard although the words could not…but needless to say, Joe had taken the chance to inform his wife of the plans for the coming weekend. A blissful weekend at the cabin in the woods while he scouted around for the best location for the cattle station, just in case Candy got a little ahead of himself and chose the wrong one.

 

“But, Joe, we can’t go….not this weekend.” Mary Ann had started pleasantly enough as he perched himself on the corner of the desk and smiled his most charming smile at her

 

“But I thought you would enjoy going away, we could take the children and …”

 

“No, no, Joe…that is not right at all. You know what this weekend means for Hester and Hoss….” she looked at him exasperated and shook her head, chestnut curls rippled over her shoulders he loved the look of them and extended his hand but she slapped it away “You can go if you can be so heartless but I shall be staying here, to give them my support.”

 

“Sweetheart – this matter does not concern us…it really does not…Erik is adopted, but he is a Cartwright, he’s an American citizen, they can’t just whisk him away….”

“They might…how do you know they won’t?”

 

“Aw, c’mon now, be realistic….” he sat bolt upright now, his wife, disagreeing with him,….

 

“I am ..seems to me you are not, and to be honest, Joe, I think you are being really really selfish…”

 

“For Pete’s sake, how can you say that?”

 

“I can say it, because that is what I think…how will Hoss feel if you tell him that you are going away at the weekend, when he will be relying on us all to give them moral support, to show that – that Connolly family that they can’t just swoop in and take over ..Hoss…”

 

“Hoss is a grown man, honey, and he is the one responsible for what happens to his family….”

 

“Joe, we are his family….we have some responsibility too…even if it is just to be there and let them see …”

 

“They won’t take Erik…they have no grounds to do so, and …”

“They don’t need grounds….they have a blood tie…”

 

“Hoss and Hester knew this kind of thing could happen when they adopted him…”

“I don’t want to talk about it any more….”

 

Joe paused, stood up, grabbed his hat and nodded then without a word stormed out of the office, slamming the door in good measure. He saw Bridie and Amelia looking over at him, tipped his hat and carried on walking.

 

Adam was propping up the bar in the Bucket of Blood when Joe stormed in, found his brother and took several deep breaths before pulling the glass of beer towards him. He shook his head as though he couldn’t believe what had just happened and took several deep gulps. Adam raised his glass and sipped, set the glass down and looked at his brother

 

“So – you’re not going then?”

 

“No!”

 

Chapter 42

The day at school had not turned out as promising as Reuben and Sofia had hoped..for a start they had arrived a little later than usual so reached the building just as everyone was filing in through the big door to the entrance hall .Rosie, Hannah and David were already ahead of them so there had been no chance of catching them to discuss the situation. Hannah had looked tearful but said nothing as she turned into her class room, followed by David who, as a new boy, was in her class but in a different stream.

Then when lunch break came and in the general rush to get out of the building to enjoy the clean fresh air it took a while to find everyone and group together. Sofia of course having to stay in the background along with Hannah. David had not a clue as to what was happening so went to play with his new found friends, he was happy at least. Rosie came and joined them eventually as did Lilith.

 

Sofia thought it was stupid forming a separate group just because they were girls…they had a voice too, and the matter did concern one of their own family so surely they had the right to be part of the ‘gang’ but no… and then just as Reuben was about to speak Davy Riley burst through with flushed features and big bright eyes yelling “Guess what……”

 

Of course everyone stopped to turn to hear what Davy had to say, Reuben closed his mouth and hoped that Davy was going to suggest something really amazing but after hauling in a deep breath Davy exclaimed “My dad has a special commission….”

 

Silence, the others looked at one another, Reuben tentatively asked “So what does that mean/”

 

“That Irish family you were so worried about….they want my dad to go and dig up a body…well, bones I guess by now, and make a special coffin for it. They want it to be the best he has ever done..and they want him to engrave a thing on the top so everyone would know who the coffin belongs to….”

 

“What thing?” Jimmy Carstairs asked scornfully and looked at Reuben and shrugged, mouthing silently to him his apologies for letting Davy take over the meeting.

 

“Do you mean a crest?” Philip suggested, “Like a ship or bird with a motto carved with it….a lot of rich folk do that, you know….” he turned to Reuben “I should think your grandfather would have a Ponderosa pine engraved on his coffin wouldn’t he?”

Reuben stared at Davy, and then turned to Philip, shook his head…who wanted to talk about coffins, they had come together to talk about how to save Erik, hadn’t they?

“Yah, that’s what it is …the Irishman gave Pa a picture of what he wanted engraved on it and he chose the very best wood…and silk…he wants the whole thing to be the very best ever. He said it has to go on ship to Ireland, to be buried in the thing they put dead bodies in…”

 

“A crypt” Phil intoned and sighed at the ignorance of his fellow gang members. Philip read a lot, he loved reading. He was, obviously, the odd one out….

 

“Anyway, Pa is working like a beaver getting that done and then he has to go to the cemetery to dig up the body…he said I could go with him…not that it will be a body by now, just bones…”

 

And so he went on, and on….until Reuben turned and walked away, head down and hands in his pockets. Sofia ran up to join him, and then little Hannah slipped her hand into hers and gripped it tight.

 

“Arn’t they going to plan a way to save Erik?” she asked in her lilt of a voice and Sofia scowled and shook her head and Reuben growled and mumbled beneath his breath.

 

“What was your plan, Reuben?”

 

It was Lilith who asked, stepping out beside them, her eyes looking from one to the other of them and she frowned, “Had you come up with the idea of kidnapping Erik and hiding him here in town, or something like that?”

Reuben felt a blush mantle his cheek, he was annoyed with his gang and now here was a girl sounding scornful about the only plan they could come up with….he shrugged and lowered his head.

 

Sofia looked at Lilith thoughtfully. In the time she had known her Lilith had changed…she was not in the group of ‘little girls’ now, she had grown, she was becoming ‘grown up’, even her shape was changing and her face was thinner, her eyes larger and she wore her hair in a more sensible lady like style. It had seemed to Sofia that Lilith, her friend, was slipping away from her and she was no longer sure of how to speak to her.

 

Lilith sighed and shook her head “Look, I know how concerned you are…all of you…” and she looked down at Hannah and gave her a special sympathetic smile. “But your idea would not have worked you know…”

 

“It might have done…” Reuben declared stoutly, and squared his shoulders, chin thrust out to take whatever other blow she was about to deliver them.

 

“Look, when you made the plan did you think of how worried, scared, everyone would be? Hester and Hoss would… well, they’re worried now, but if their little boy suddenly disappeared it would be awful for them.”

 

Sofia frowned, they had not thought of Hester or Hoss, or rather, she had not and she felt ashamed immediately. Hannah looked on the verge of tears.

 

“We would have warned them, so they would have known he was safe…”. Reuben muttered beneath his breath

 

“They would not have permitted it, Reuben. Knowing that the child was safe and having to lie to the authorities…and the Irish family…..” she rolled her eyes for Reuben to get the point.

 

Reuben stopped and stood quite still “So, you think its a dumb idea do you?”

 

“It has its merits….but really I think you should just leave things as they are…”

 

“What?” Reuben snapped, and Sofia heard herself repeat the same word in a squeak which rather embarrassed her.

 

“You need to trust your family. Do you think Adam and everyone will let them take Erik? Don’t you think they already have plans to keep him safe…..if you go putting this plan into action you will cause so many problems and you may even play right into the Irish family’s hands…”

“How do you work that one out?” Reuben said quietly and heaved in a deep breath, feeling a little ashamed that he had shown so little confidence in his father and family. Of course they would be thinking of something, of course it would be all under control….well, it had to be, hadn’t it?

Lilith frowned, then shrugged

“Well you would have proven how much Erik meant to you all…but they would not think like that, they would think you were prepared to break the law and run rough shod over everything……”

Sofia opened her eyes wide, her friend Lilith talking so grown up, so like an adult, it took her breath away. She looked at Reuben who was frowning and asked Lilith about what law would they be breaking…..

 

“Erik’s adopted, there are legal things to consider, the Irish family could check the deeds out and prove that some of the things there had been broken…and claim that you were all an unfit family to care for their son’s son.”

 

Sofia frowned now, she was not sure if she liked this Lilith now, she spoke too grown up, knew too much about things, in effect made them all feel like little kids, which in essence was exactly what they were…She felt sorry for Reuben, even at her age she realised men felt this kind of thing more sensitively. She turned to Hannah, and smiled, a little bit wobbly to be sure, but Hannah looked at her trustingly, obviously not having understood a word Lilith had uttered.

 

“I do understand..” Lilith now said as they began to walk slowly towards the steps to the building “After all I’m adopted too….” she frowned “I remember before I was adopted by John, I was just part of Barbara’s family. She married my Pa, but didn’t adopt me so she could have dumped me at the orphanage had she so wished when he died, and I did have an Uncle..he came along once and I think he died…..” her voice slowed then, she had a patchy memory of the man, then shook her head, “But then John came and he adopted us …but if he died then I would have to rely on Barbara not to turn me loose….”

 

“She wouldn’t do that ….” Sofia said and sighed, “I didn’t remember you were adopted too.”

 

“There’s a lot of rules all written down and to do…it’s very involved. I should imagine the Irish family will have gone through it very carefully.”

 

Reuben nodded, he looked at Sofia, then at Hannah..”So we just leave things…”

 

“When the time comes, if it does, you will know what to do…but for now, just leave it to your Pa and the family….don’t make things harder for them.”

She clutched her books to her chest and then walked away, head high. Reuben watched her go with a scowl, then looked at his sister and cousin, “She’s changed…..”

 

“She’s just grown up….” Sofia replied sorrowfully and even though some of what Lilith said made

sense, she still wished that Lilith was the young girl who had tried to teach her sign language and shared her lunch with her and just..well, didn’t take life so seriously.

 

Reuben narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips as the girls retreating figure merged with the crowd He could hear Davy’s voice getting nearer, and turned to see the gang approaching, grins on their face. “Reuben, have you thought up a plan yet….to keep Erik safe….” Jimmy asked, his voice concerned, sympathetic again.

 

“Yes, thank you” Reuben nodded and found a place to sit down to eat his lunch time meal, Sofia sat beside him, Hannah on her other side

 

“Well, what is it?” Billy asked, frowning and getting the idea that he had somehow ruined whatever plan Reuben had, but then tact had never been Billy’s strong point.

 

“We leave it to our folks to deal with….but if there is a chance to act, then we will.” and with that he bit into his sandwich and chewed, staring out above the crowds of children..

…………….

 

Roisin had retired to the bed with a handkerchief sprinkled with lavender oil across her forehead.

 

This whole thing was a nightmare and now she prayed as she had never prayed before that it would soon be over. The thought of someone digging up her sons body appalled her, it was desecration and it was her son, her beloved Thomas. And what about the woman, the wife who lay beside him in her coffin…..did she not deserve..no, at least she would be spared the desecration if she were left there. She could not understand why James was so insistent on bringing Thomas home, and leaving Margaret behind….and what about Erik.

Erik. The sight of that little boy bounding into the room …so like Thomas, so like her son. It had torn her heart into shreds and she wondered how long a heart could carry on beating when it was so battered, so torn as hers now .

 

From the window which was slightly opened, she could hear voices, a babble of voices..shrill Chinese and flat Russian, there was some Irish, some English…all a babble rising up and engulfing her head and making it spin.

 

It had been the same everywhere they had gone in America since their arrival. She wanted to go home. She wanted to sit in her garden and look over the smooth green park land with the trees here and there, the deer tip toing their way delicately through the grass, bending their heads to nibble. And the sky would be blue of course, with white fluffy clouds while she sat there and she would teach Erik to speak Erse* just as she had taught his father.

But all this babble of voices..why could they not just be stilled, be calm.

 

In the distance a door opened and closed, the murmur of her husbands voice and then the door of her room opening..footsteps approaching. When she removed the handkerchief from her brow and opened her eyes she was looking up into James’ face…he nodded

 

“So – you’re awake then?” he nodded and looked around the room, “It really was not such a bad afternoon was it?”

 

“No.” she whispered, but in her head she wanted to tell him that what did he know, he had gone, left her and Aislyn with the couple and it was all just too much. She closed her eyes again, and heard him move away

 

“I shall go and see the solicitor about the adoption…check over the papers….” he paused and stared down, watched two men come out of the saloon and mount into the saddle of their horses. He had seen them before of course, and recognised them. His eyes followed them down the main street until they were out of view.

“Do you have to…”

 

“What?”

 

“Go to the solicitor? Can’t we just go home/” and she could have cried as she realised she had betrayed her own dream, go home now and never have Erik sitting beside her, laughing up at her, kissing her cheek …

 

“The boy is a Connolly, and as such should come home with us…we are his family. His blood family…” he turned “Nothing more to be said about it…I shall see you later. Make sure you are on time for the evening meal.”

 

The snap of the door closing. He must have closed the window she thought, the sounds from outside were less now. Briefly she wondered what Aislyn was doing…perhaps going to the solicitors too to check over every dot, every dash of that legal document that said Erik was a Cartwright.

 

 

* Erse is an alternative name for any Goidelic language especially the Irish language. These Celtic languages is chiefly spoken in Ireland and Scotland…

 

Chapter 43

 

The building was silent now. The last foot steps melted away, the last thud of a door indicating closure. Just how he liked it. He leaned back in the chair and picked up a document,and then slowly began to read through each word. The sounds from outside were muted as his secretary had closed the window in the office despite the warmth . The sun still splashed golden pools across the desk and rug strewn floor.

 

Grant Tombs was an intelligent and focussed young man. He thrived with the legal work in town, and had never been busier, nor happier. Elsewhere in town his young wife would be working in her office too, totalling up the days takings, tweaking this and sorting through that…then she would leave for their home to prepare the evening meal. That’s when he would join her..for a moment he lowered the papers back onto the desk to think over the changes in his life, to count his blessings as some would say.

 

He was about to pick up the papers again when he heard the downstairs door open and then footsteps coming up the stairs. Too confident to be a thief…perhaps a new client? He half opened a drawer of his to ascertain that his pistol was there, handy, within reach. Then he waited.

 

James Connolly hesitated out side the door to the office. With no staff visible he wondered if he had left it too late to see the young man, perhaps he should leave it until tomorrow…but no, he had come now and if no one was in the office so be it. He pushed the door open and stood, framed, in its opening . He nodded and smiled “I thought you would be a man who would work on when everyone had left.”

 

“Mr Connolly…” Grant half rose and gave a slight bow, gestured towards a chair which James sat upon with his eyes fixed on the younger mans face “Is this about the adoption of Erik Cartwright – again?”

 

“I’ve seen the boy now…” Janes said in a low voice, so low that Grant had to lean forward to hear each syllable.

 

“And so?”

 

“I know he is my own flesh and blood, my grandson.”

 

“Legally that does not mean a thing…harsh though it must be to have to remind you, but the adoption proceeded perfectly legitimately. As I told you previously I can not show you any legal document without the permission of the child’s current and legal parents and in their presence…”

 

James frowned, shook his head “I can give that child every advantage he could ever need…Ireland has everything to offer him, my family have more than enough to give him…what right do they have to keep him from possessing his birth right?”

 

“Look, sir, this is something you should discuss with Mr and Mrs Cartwright …see if there is a compromise that you can both reach and I will write up a legal document that will enforce it in later years. I doubt very much that they would want to deny a grandparent access to the child…In years to come he may well wish to go to Ireland, to live there. That choice should be his…don’t you think?”

 

“And in the meantime?” James rose to his feet, slowly as though thinking seriously about what had been said “What happens in the years ahead…he’ll have no memory of his real family…no intention of coming home…”

 

“Again something you should discuss with Hoss and Hester Cartwright. .Erik knows he is adopted, they have never kept that a secret, I doubt very much if they will keep secret his family in Ireland. Contact can be maintained, letters written….this can all be arrangement amicably surely?”

 

James said nothing but stared intently into the younger man’s eyes. Then quite abruptly turned away, left the room…Grant listened to the fading foot steps, the door opening, closing…the silence.

 

Several things of significance happened a few moments later, not that anyone considered them particularly significant immediately. It was later and even later still that everything became relevant.

 

James walked bare headed towards the hotel, his mind on his conversation with Grant and not looking at anything or anyone in particular. Marshall Duggan from San Francisco was leading out a prisoner, leading him towards the barred wagon that would transport him to the railway station, behind them came Ethan Burns and Nate Carney, conversing quietly with Duggan who had one hand on the arm of the prisoner. The prisoner was Drew Coltrane.

 

As the sun shone down on the greying head of the Irishman a woman screamed. James looked up and around him, unused to screaming women in the middle of town. Coltrane also looked up, then down and at Connolly….both men stared, coloured, tried to look anywhere else but at the other. James strode on as nonchalantly as he could, hopeful that no one had seen, no one had noticed.

 

But a long in the tooth policeman had, and so had a much younger law enforcement officer, and both had grabbed at Coltrane and dragged him back into the Sheriff’s office. Duggan dismissed the wagon with a flick of the hand, then closed the door behind them.

 

“Well, now…I think we have things to discuss,” Duggan said quietly “But first things first….we’ll get some facts straight, shall we?” he turned to one of the deputies and told him to put Coltrane back in his cell. Then he pulled out a chair and sat down, “I like to get my facts in order…now, it seemed to me that for a second or two…” he paused “Do you know the gentleman who crossed our path….”

 

“James Connolly…a wealthy land owner in Ireland. “ Nate replied and gave Duggan a brief history of just how he had come to be in Virginia City. “He wants to take the remains of his son home to Ireland, but he also wants to take his grandson as well…”

 

“Understandable I suppose…who is the grandson?”

 

“A little lad the Cartwrights have adopted….” Ethan said as he handed over a mug of coffee to the Marshall and then one to Nate

 

“Ponderosa Cartwrights?” Duggan struck out a protuberant lower lip and humphed.

 

“The same..” Nate nodded and lowered his head to hide a grin, he could almost speak the words Duggan uttered next

 

“Cartwrights always figure in a mess somewhere….”

 

They sipped their coffee ,Duggan raised his eyebrows “Did you recognise who or rather which lady on the balcony of the Sazarac actually screamed…..”

 

It crossed Nate and Ethans mind that not much passed by the older lawman…so they buried their noses in their cups and thought over the names of all the girls they knew who worked at the Sazarac. When Fletcher returned from the cell block Duggan asked him how was the prisoner looking…Fletcher thought about that for a moment as he poured out coffee for himself,

 

“He looks smug. But not like before …he looks smug but anxious….”

 

He sat down with the other three and waited for some comment, then Duggan asked what kind of scream had they heard..obviously a woman, but a terrified woman, a shocked woman .. all three looked at the others and Ethan said “Women scream a lot around here…maybe seeing a snake…or for -”

 

“No. this was a particular kind of scream” Nate said quietly as he cradled his cup against his chest “And it came from the Sazarac balcony .. we all looked up…” he raised his eyebrows “I think she recognised someone she did not expect to see here”

 

Duggan nodded “My thoughts also…she knew everyone else except for the Irishman….”

 

“But why? Connolly only got here the other day…” Fletcher frowned , shrugged

 

“Which leads me to think that the woman who screamed is also Irish….” Duggan nodded as though to himself, “How many Irish women work the Sazarac”

 

Nate and Ethan looked at one another, gave slight shrugs of the shoulders but it was Fletcher who happily supplied several names “There’s Big O’Hara, but she’s more likely to make you scream than scream at anybody, there’ s little Monika O’Driscoll and there’s Lily …surname unknown.”

 

Duggan nodded “Go and bring them in for questioning…there’s an Irish connection to all this, has been ever since -” he paused, pursed his lips and said nothing but his mind was on a letter from Adam Cartwright concerning a certain passenger ship that went from Ireland to San Francisco on a regular route, Captained by Lewis Harding……

 

 

The light knock on the door to Roisin’s room was just about loud enough to be heard and for a moment she waited as was customary at home in Ireland for a member of staff to open the door, and wait for the Mistress’ permission to admit the person. Then she realised she was not home, this was America, and if someone knocked on your door you went to open it.

 

The woman who stood in the hall way waiting for the door to open was nervous. She stood for a moment then stepped back, then walked a few paces before turning and standing once again at the door which opened.

 

“Mrs Connolly?”

 

“Yes…”

 

“Please – I must speak to you, may I come inside…”

 

“I don’t know…I’m alone, perhaps it would be better if you waited for my husband or daughter””

 

Roisin felt nervous, this tall thin woman looking at her with such intensity, clutching at a bag against her chest, had they met before…vaguely familiar but then so many different faces, so many all merging into one…she stepped aside and as soon as the woman was in the room Roisin closed the door.

 

“I’m Tillie Trevelyn …I work with Mrs Martin…for Mrs Martin I should say, except that it never seems as if I am working for her I mean…” she paused to make a deliberate effort to control her talking. “I heard your man is planning to dig up Thomas and take him away to Ireland…but that you’re leaving Margaret here – alone – without her husband…oh please, please don’t let him do it..don’t let him take her husband from her.”

 

The tears began to fall and Tillie took off her spectacles to wipe them away, but how could she stop? She had loved Margaret so much in the time they had spent together, she knew how the little woman had loved her big Irishman..she reached out for Roisin’s hand but the other woman stepped back out of reach. That action stopped the tears, instead Tillie shook her head and her eyes became as cold as the sea that crashed upon the Cornish coastline.

 

“She wrote to you, did Margaret…I know she did because I posted the letter for her. I never told Bridie, she would have stopped me, she wanted Margaret to stay safe here, especially after the babywas born. But Margaret said Thomas would want his son raised in Ireland and his mother would love him….and then it all went wrong…and instead of help she was abused, discarded…and came here, and died….”

 

“I never received a letter from anyone …the only ones I ever got from Thomas were when he first arrived in America…” Roisin now leaned forward, clutched at Tillie’s hands….”Tell me about her,not about what happened to her, but about her… where she was from, how old … let me know the girl my son loved so much.

 

Chapter 44

 

Adam led the horse to the corral, and unsaddled it and removed the snaffle and then grabbed the rag to wipe her down before releasing her in with the other horses milling about in the compound. Unlike Sport, Kami and other horses kept for their personal use, the horses here were picked out as and when needed. He fed her some oats and then closed the gate .

“Daddy….” he half smiled as he turned to see his daughter walking quickly towards him, a glass of lemonade held carefully in her hand “Here you are, Daddy…I didn’t spill any .”

“Well done, pumpkin….” he took the glass and glanced at it gratefully, perfect after a long hot ride, and as he gulped it down he wondered if Mary Ann were home yet and whether Joe was receiving as pleasant a welcome bac

At the thought of Joe his mind trickled back to the importance of the day, for Hoss and Hester, and with a nod of the head to Sofia he began to walk to the house, glass in hand. He was pleased to feel her fingers wrap around his free hand though, and looked down at her, saw the look she gave him and immediately slowed his steps “Anything wrong? Something happen at school today?”

 

“Oh, Daddy..” a sigh that the best actress in the world would envy, so he slowed down almost to a stop.

“What happened?”

“Davy Riley…he isn’t in the gang any more..” she pouted, hands on hips so with his hand now free Adam removed his hat and leaned in towards her “Well, he is – just horrible.”

“How horrible this time?” he hoped his question was not too patronising, but she nodded as though it was the best and only question he could have asked anyway….

“He was bragging about going to a graveyard…imagine, Daddy, a grave yard ? And he was going to dig up bodies with his Pa..and we were going to talk about other things…and he just was not interested, he just wanted to talk about digging up bodies and laughing about it…and no one wanted to talk about what we wanted to talk about…they just ignored it, Daddy..

“What was it you wanted to talk about that was so important?” Adam now asked, and leaned against the post supporting the porch roof, and looked down at her as though whatever she was going to say was really important ..to him.

She nodded, blonde curls bouncing on her shoulders, blue eyes wide with indignation “We wanted to talk about Erik and how to rescue him from that family..”

“Rescue him?” Adam raised an eyebrow and gave a slight pout of the lips, shrugged for good measure “Rescue him from what?”

“From those people who come over ….they want to take him away from us….” she was not so sure now, her voice wavered a little and her mouth drooped.

Adam nodded and then leaned forward more on her level, he placed a hand on her shoulder,

“Look, sweetheart, we don’t know yet what that family wants, they may well have no intention of taking Erik anywhere…which is good because they won’t be able to…they can’t take him anywhere without consent from his adoptive parents. I can’t see that happening any time…so they might as well pack their bags and go back to Ireland.” he smiled, reassuringly, he hoped, and straightened his long body and turned to continue walking into the house

“Are you positively sure Daddy?”

He looked down at her and nodded, “Definitely”

“What if they try to steal him away…kidnap him?”

“Ah well…that puts them outside the law and they will be arrested…”

“And shot? Would you shoot them Daddy…”

“No, best catch them and put them on a ship back to Ireland.”

“Is Ireland a long way away?”

“Far enough…” he nodded to emphasise the point and turned to go indoors, with his daughter trailing along miserably behind him.

Olivia looked over at them as they entered the room, and gave them a smile, her eyes lighting up as they always did when seeing Adam at the end of the day. He smiled and walked towards her, wrapped her in his arms, where they lingered for long enough to try Nathaniel’s patience for he began tugging at his father’s pants for attention.

As he leaned to pick his son up, Adam asked, in a low voice “Have you seen Hester?”

“Yes, she came to see me as soon as the Connolly’s had gone. Quiet now, Nathaniel, I want to talk to Daddy.”

Nathaniel scowled and bowed his head so that it rested upon Adams shoulder, his brown eyes stared at his mother as though he didn’t really approve of this but …who was he to argue.

“Did it go alright?”

She laughed then,as though amused at something and slipped her arm through his, which prompted Nathaniel to wriggle and slip back down to the ground and find something more interesting to do.

“Well, that was a strange thing….she and Hoss ended up discussing nothing very much with the ladies, while Pa brought Mr Connolly ….”.call me James”….here to see Kami.”

“Call me James?” Adam raised both eyebrows

“That’s what he said as we were introduced…he’s a smooth charmer .. and he loves Kami. Don’t be surprised if he puts in an offer to buy her and take her off to Ireland with them. He never mentioned Erik or his son, or anything about why they were here, just wanted to know all about us…about you….and how you got the horse.”

Adam puffed out his cheeks a little and shook his head, “He can offer what he likes but I wouldn’t sell Kami to him…or anyone else for that matter.” he frowned “Hester was alright though?”

“Yes, she said the ladies seemed to thaw once he had left the room, and even more so when they had taken a stroll around the garden. She said there was no doubt about Erik’s parentage, as soon as they saw him, he must resemble Thomas so much….Mrs Connolly nearly passed out….”

Adam nodded thoughtfully “It’s a lot for them to come to terms with, the loss of a son, finding a grandson….

Olivia nodded “Hester said she felt sorry for the woman, the mother, it will break her heart to leave Erik here…”

……………………….

The knocking on the door set off the dog, still young and barking at anything that moves, and getting a kick from Mr Riley as a result as he made his way to the door. Smells of food cooking wafted their way along with him, drifting into the open air as the door opened.

“Yes, what can I do for you?” his eyes looked her up and down, well dressed, jewellery on her fingers and at her neck, he was already charging her for the coffin she could well afford for her dearly departed whoever that happened to be…

“Mr Riley…?” she spoked hesitantly, and glanced over her shoulder while he took the time to work out who exactly she was…”I’m Roisin Connolly….”

Connolly His brain clicked in, he nodded “What can I do for you?”

“Can we talk inside.” she paused and glanced over her shoulder again “It won’t take but a moment,”

He opened the door for her to step into the hallway and then ushered her towards a door which led to what he rather grandly referred to as his study. She followed him inside…further along the hallway another door opened and Davy Riley crept out on stockinged feet to put his ear to the door and hear what was going to be said…

“I believe my husband has hired you to exhume our sons body….”

“He has…we agreed a price…”

“Which he has paid…”

“Yes…what is this? Do you want to check on the coffin, make sure its up to standard….”.his eyes narrowed making him resemble a weasel, and inwardly Roisin shivered.

“No, I have not doubt that you have done a fine job….”

 

“You can check if you want…that crest of yours…took some time getting that right. Your husband seemed pleased enough with it when he saw it …”

“He’s been?”

“Yes, some while back…said he wouldn’t not be at the graveyard, has business elsewhere.”

She nodded, it had been hard enough to see the graves, levelled out now after all this time, but even so…she put out a hand to steady herself for a moment, then took a gulp of air and said

“I need you to help me , Mr Riley. You buried Margaret, his wife….”

“I did…Doc Martin paid for her coffin, a fine piece for a tragic lady….” and remembering the frail corpse that he had handled that dreadful winters day, Riley grimaced, and shook his head.

“My husband ,made no provision for her to be exhumed, did he?”

Riley frowned, bowed his head and shook it, his thin hair fell over his face as though shadowing it.

“Well, I believe husband and wife should be together in death as well as in life….” she put a hand in a small bag and withdrew a leather pouch “I know it is short notice but …not a coffin, my husband would question two coffins going to Ireland..but…could you …I mean they are just bones now, they won’t weigh much at all will they.”

Riley thought of Margaret, she didn’t weigh much at her death that’s for sure, and now, just bones…he shook his head and frowned…”You’ll need proper paperwork….”

“But can’t you just…no one need know…and they should be together shouldn’t they? Could you just turn a blind eye….”

He frowned, “Not sure about the law ….I can’t afford to have my licence taken away…”

“I promise you…I’ll not say a word…and this will cover the cost of any inconvenience…”

“He’ll know when he gets to Ireland…”

“He won’t. As far as he is concerned that coffin will never be opened again..he likes to keep unpleasant things…buried….” her voice had an edge to it now, cold, sharp and he looked at her and again narrowed his eyes.

From the other side of the door Davy held his breath, this was something to tell the gang! Then he paused …but how could he, if they told anyone…anyone at all…he heard movement from the room, the voices were lower he could no longer hear what was said, but he heard the clinking of coins. So, a deal had been struck, he wondered what kind it had been, and hurried back to the other room to sit at the table and eat his meal.

Mrs Riley and Davy heard the door close, and Riley’s footsteps coming toward the room, where he slouched in as usual, pulled out his chair and sat down at the table. He glanced at Davy

“What plans do you have Saturday, boy?”

“I’m going with you to the cemetery Pa. You said you wanted me there…”

“No need…I don’t need you now. You can cut along and take the dog some place with your pals.”

Mrs Riley and Davy exchanged wary looks, the Undertaker was not usually a man to change his mind, once made up it was like rock!

!Are you sure, Pa?” Davy wheedled, “I’m good at digging, honest I am…”

“I told you I don’t need you.. you keep on like that and I’ll change my mind and you’ll have to stay put here all day, minding the shop….”

Davy said nothing to that, he hated the shop, he hated everything about his father’s business. He just nodded and ate his meal, while his brain ticked over and over as to what kind of deal his father had made with the Irishwoman. It must have been lucrative for Mr Riley to change his mind, a habit of a life time

Chapter 45

 

Ethan felt that the room was becoming claustrophobic and he wished he were able to open one of the windows but knew that would not be possible. People had a habit of lingering around in the hope of hearing details of ongoing investigations, especially Daniel deQuille who could be found leaning against the walls of sundry businesses where windows were left open.

He looked over at the older law man who was scribbling something on the piece of paper in front of him which Nate seemed to be finding of interest. He opened the door just to get a snatch of air and to appear as if he were looking for Fletcher and the women, then closed it and wandered over to where the two other law men were engrossed on a sketch Duggan had now completed. The Marshall tapped on the paper, which bore several squiggles that could have been slight representations of people

 

“Now then,” he tapped on one figure “this is how I see it…correct me if I’m wrong…this here is myself, followed by Ethan…and I’m leading out our prisoner ..” he tapped now on the figure that was meant to portray Coltrane ..”Now about here, midway to the wagon, Coltrane paused, he looks across to another man approaching us …here…” he pointed with his pencil to another shape, and in Ethan’s mind the scene leapt into reality again and he nodded, he could see the men, the startled looks on their faces, the widening eyes of the stranger and then “and it was about then the woman screamed…”

 

Duggan leaned back in his chair, and frowned, “We decided that these two men knew each other although Coltrane is keeping quiet… and we also decided that the woman who screamed did so because she recognised ..him.” he tapped the figure, the stranger, the man that had instilled fear in the woman . Duggan’s brow creased causing the deep grooves to fold in upon themselves

“Could be she screamed because she saw her boss being led out under arrest…” Ethan mentioned hesitantly even though he felt that was wrong, but he wanted to say something, be part of it all.

 

“Could be…perhaps afraid she was going to lose her means of employment…” Nate murmured.

 

“No, it was not that kind of fear, she would probably be better off without that kind of employment anyway.” he put the nib of the pencil back to the squiggle representing the stranger “We need to know more about him….and his connection with Coltrane.”

 

Ethan was about to say something when the door opened and Fletcher stepped inside, ushering in two women like a sheep dog tagging at the heels of reluctant sheep. Both women were young, pretty and in Ethan’s opinion would have been prettier if they wore less paint and powder on their faces. They wore their working clothes, gaudy sparkling short skirts that showed off a deal of leg, clashing bright colours, tight bodices so that their ‘assets’ were well on display.

Not every woman employed at the saloons were prostitutes, many worked hard and long hours serving customers, cleaning up after them, scouring out spittoons and cleaning the floors but the prostitutes were not shy about exhibiting what they were, nor how they earned their income. Both women flashed their eyes at the men, hard eyes, cunning and already defiant.

“Take a seat, ladies…” Duggan said and the women smirked and sat down, crossing their legs so that the men could see what other assets they possessed.

 

Duggan waited for them to settle, paused a while longer as he busied himself with pieces of paper and pens, then glanced up at them “Do either of you write? Can you read?”

 

“I can sign my name…” one said in an Irish brogue that she had obviously worked hard on sounding more American

 

“And your name is ?” he pushed the paper across to her “Sign at the bottom.”

 

“I’m not signing nothing anywhere…” she pushed the paper back to him, and turned to the other girl “Don’t you be signing anything either…”

 

Duggan sighed and nodded,”Very well. I’m going to ask some questions,and the deputy here will write down your answers, when we have finished he will read out what you have said and if there is anything you want to change, or add, we can do it then…if you are satisfied that what he has written is what you have said then you can sign it.” he looked at the other girl, who had remained silent and was looking more uncomfortable now “You write, Miss?”

 

“A little.” her voice was softer, younger. She glanced at the other woman and raised her eyebrows before turning to Duggan.

 

“Your name?” he asked her and his eyes met hers, and he noticed the way the pupils dilated “If you don’t mind?”

 

“Lily … “

 

“Just Lily?”

 

She said nothing but looked down at her skirt, so Duggan turned his attention to the other woman who volunteered her name quickly enough.

 

“Miss O’Driscoll….” and so the questions began, friendly questions..what part of Ireland were you from, do you miss it, how long had it been since she was last there, and all the answers were neatly written down by Ethan on the paper with her name and the date and time of interview already penned in.

 

“Did you know the man …name of James Connolly from Ireland….” and he noticed, as did the other deputies that although O’Driscoll barely flinched, the woman called Lily lowered her head but the blush that mantled her cheeks spread up from her neck and there was no hiding that from view.

 

“Didn’t know him, not in Ireland and now now…who is he anyhow?” Monika surveyed her nails and raised her eyebrows

Duggan nodded and twirled the pencil between his fingers then without looking at Lily, he said “So why did you scream when you saw him, Lily?”

 

O’Driscoll straightened up immediately, her hand reached out and gripped Lily’s wrist, “You don’t have to answer that, Lil. You don’t have to tell ’em anything.”

 

Duggan nodded “True enough, but if you don’t tell us now, then we will ask you again…and again..because you screamed when you saw James Connolly, and you screamed because you were scared…so what were or are you scared about, Lily? You can tell us, we’re here to protect you, girl, not cause you trouble.”

 

“Leave her be…” Monika raised her voice, and stood up, “We don’t have to stay here…” she looked at Lily “Come on, Lil, we’re leaving.”

 

“No. You can leave, Miss O’Driscoll, but your friend is staying…and if you cause any scene here then I will have you arrested and put in the cells along with Mr Coltrane…you can discuss your terms of employment with him.”

 

“You can’t do that…” she leaned forward, her face barely inches from Duggans but the old law man shrugged and said that he could, all he had to do was think of what charges to bring up against her.

 

She sat down immediately but her hand still rested upon Lily’s arm as though to remind her that she was there, and all the time Lily had not moved, but remained with her head bowed staring down at something on the floor, a sequin that had dropped from her skirt and caught the light, and glimmered.

 

“Now then, Miss Lily, why don’t you tell us…from the beginning …how come you knew Connolly.”

 

A furtive quick glance over at Monika and then she shook her head “I can’t tell you anything.”

 

Duggan leaned back in his seat and the old leather chair creaked a little. Nate leaned forward

 

“We could go and fetch him from the hotel, if you like…maybe he will remember you and…”

 

She shook her head, black curls trembled on her forehead, blue eyes filled with tears..then she bowed her head again. Nate nodded “Fletch, go and get Mr Connolly will you…he’s at the …”

 

“No…don’t do that…please.” barely a whisper in her soft Irish voice, and Ethan thought her voice sounded so young, so sweet…he felt sorry for her, and wished she would speak up so that they would know what to do to help her, for if anyone was a victim she, he decided, was certainly such a one.

 

Duggan looked at Monika and nodded “You can go thank you ….if we need your help we will come for you, understood?”

 

“I’m staying…I want to make sure you don’t go bullying Lily, or putting down lies..” and as she looked from one to the other of them her eyes hardened, her mouth was like a scarlet slash in her white powdered face.

 

“Contrary to your low opinion of us, Miss O’Driscoll, we don’t indulge in such tactics here…please leave.”

 

She dithered a little, made a show of wanting to help her friend, but having to do what she was told. Eventually the door closed behind her, and Lily was left alone, staring forlornly over at the closed door.

 

“Well, it’s been a long day, gentlemen…” Nate said with surprising cheerfulness in his voice, “I think we should have some coffee….Miss Lily, would you like some?”

 

She nodded, and lowered her head, her eyes searching for the twinkling sequin but the light no longer glanced that way, there was no sparkle and she closed her eyes and tried to assemble the nightmare of her memories into words that these men would understand…and not condemn her.

………….

 

The clock grumbled to another hour, and chimed…Adam smiled and glanced over at his wife as he closed the door behind him. He walked towards her and leaned over the back of her chair, kissed her neck and caught at a curl of hair which he wound around his finger.

 

“Ready?” he whispered and his breath was warm against her cheek and brought a smile to her lips as she turned towards him, offering her mouth to his, a tender gentle kiss.

 

“Ready…” she said softly and sighed before she rose to her feet. “I thought Sofia would never settle down.”

 

“She has a lot on her mind…” her husband smiled, thinking of his daughter with the tenderness fathers often felt for their blue eyed, golden haired girls.

 

“She always has…” Olivia replied with a laugh in her voice, and she took hold o f his hand and then slipped her arm through his as they made their way to the door which he opened and ever the gentleman swept her through…

 

The horses were nodding patiently in the yard, saddled up and ready to go, as eager to take this evening ride as they were, and he squeezed her fingers within his and leaned in for another kiss

“I love evenings like this..” she said as they stepped down from the porch and walked towards the horses, “The smells of sun on the flowers … in the air… it’s unique.”

 

“Let’s hope our visitors will enjoy it as much ..” he observed as he cupped his hands for her to put her foot into them, and then helped with his lift for her to bounce up and take her seat in the saddle.

 

“Oh don’t mention them, Adam…let’s just forget them for this evening…we’re going to be so busy and ..”

 

He raised a hand, and placed a finger to his lips which made her laugh. Then he was in the saddle on Kami, the reins in his hands, and looking at her, nodding and smiling so she turned Mistral’s head so that the horse obediently followed her stable mate out of the yard and up onto the main track.

 

Within half an hour they had reached their destination, the wild grasses brushed against their legs as the two horses made the way through the meadow towards the trees where the gleam of the river could be seen through their branches. It was a beautiful early summer evening, still an hour or so of daylight, still time to linger, to love, to just become one in the immensity of the world they inhabited.

…………….

 

Roisin walked to the window of her room and looked down at the dusty yard that the hotel claimed for their garden. It was nothing like the elegant hotels in Ireland or England…although quite a magnificent edifice in its own right it lacked the whole ambience of home.

 

She sat down at the small desk set by an alcove and took out the papers that she had thrust into her pocket as soon as Tillie had left. Slowly one by one she read, her sons writing, beautiful calligraphy just as he had been taught, words sweeping across the pages in what amounted to a journal of sorts. Words, words, words that broke her heart yet again, and yet, she felt sure, would gradually lead to a healing.

 

She had to hope that was so, had to believe it otherwise there was nothing left for her ..she kissed the very last page and then folded them again and slipped them into her pocket. The weekend, she thought, would be an ordeal, it would be hard, but there was Erik …and with the picture of that little boy in her mind, she left the room to join her husband and daughter for their evening meal.

……………………..

 

The sky was purpling..beautiful hues streaking across the blue of the evening sky. By the time they were home it would be dark again with only the moon to brighten their way ahead.

 

Their horses did not hurry, for their was no need for haste. They had spent precious intimate time together and now wanted to just enjoy a languid ride home, tasting the kisses, remembering the love, smiling at the whispers.

 

Some distance along they heard the sound o f horses, galloping or cantering..in haste..and both pulled up, looked at one another. Adam raised a hand as though to assure his wife that there was nothing to be anxious about “Probably Hoss or Joe…” he said quietly but he leaned forward to loosen the rifle in its sheath at the saddle.

 

She knew what to do, what he would want her to do…ride on ahead a little faster while he led Kami into the middle of the track until he was sure of who was coming… just enough distance for her to ride fast for the house and get help if it were needed…or turn back to join him if it were indeed Joe or Hoss.

The riders pulled up their horses when seeing Adam and Duggan yelled “Only us, Adam, young Ethan Burns here and me…”

 

“So I can see…” the rifle was slipped easily back into its sheath and Adam nudged Kami to walk on towards the two law men, “What’s wrong?”

 

The two law men glanced at one another “Quite a story to tell you, Adam…need your opinion and any information you have…”

 

“Best come on to the house, sounds like you could both do with something to drink..” Adam smiled, but his eyes were anxious as he wondered what could have happened now…what new problems had raised their ugly heads during the past few hours…

 

Chapter 46

Marshall Howard Duggan had never been inside any of the houses belonging to the Cartwrights, so he entered the house alongside Ethan, Adam and Olivia like a man bearing a heavy burden. He sighed as he crossed the threshold of the house which sent a trickle of unease running through Olivia’s nerves. She looked at Adam who was already wearing an apprehensive look which made his face appear melancholy.

 

She murmured about getting them a drink and hurried into the kitchen area while Duggan and Ethan removed their hats, gun belts before they settled down into the big chairs that flanked the empty hearth. The Marshall looked around the room, liked what he saw but said nothing, while Ethan indulged in some small talk that referred mainly to the length of time it takes to get to the house from town and Adam explaining that there are short cuts that make it easier … then Olivia returned with a tray of steaming cups of coffee, asked politely if they wanted anything to eat and apologised sweetly for not asking earlier. Both men shook their heads and thanked her, and in the ensuring silence she bade them good night, smiled over at Adam and quietly made her way upstairs.

 

They listened to the swish of her skirts on the stairs and the opening and closing of the bedroom door before looking at one another as though at last they had freedom to talk. Adam got to his feet and asked if they would like something extra in their coffee, both nodded and so he added a dash of whiskey into their cps -and his – and then settled down in his chair. He steepled his fingers and tapped his mouth, and waited.

 

“Hope your wife don’t mind …” Howard began glancing almost nervously at the stairs

“No, Olivia understands how things are …”

 

“Didn’t want her to hear what we had to say…”

 

“Of course not.” Adam drank some of the coffee and then leaned back in the chair, nodded over to them “Well, what is this about?”

 

“James Connolly. Have you met him yet? I understand he came here …”

 

“To discuss things with Hoss and Hester, and with his wife and daughter…” Adam nodded

 

“About the child…their grand child I believe…”

 

“Yes…they will be here again…Saturday.” Adam drank some more and watched the two men over the rim of his cup, before placing it back on the table.

 

Duggan nursed his cup of coffee, he was obviously juggling words in his head, trying to work out the best way of saying something but not sure how to arrange the sentences…he sighed and finally drank some of the coffee before looking directly at Adam

 

“I’ll just tell you as it is…” he looked up at the ceiling then and then back at Adam “Today an incident occurred …well, fact is someone recognised James Connolly and she was not the only one…”

 

“She?” Adams eyebrows rose and he shook his head, shrugged slightly and glanced over at Ethan who had been silently paying attention to Duggan, as though ready to nudge him in the right direction if he got lost in the narrative.

 

“We have arrested Drew Coltrane …” and in his ponderous way he told Adam about the way Coltrane and Connolly had recognised one another when at the same time one of Coltrane’s ‘ladies’

screamed and how they had brought her in for questioning and popped Coltrane back into the cells. “He refuses to talk, won’t say anything …but we learned a lot from Lily…the young woman who recognised Connolly”

“She’s from Ireland…” Ethan managed to slip into the conversation with a nod of his dark head.

 

“Go on…” Adam prompted seeing as how Duggan had ‘stalled’ and looked rather pensive.

 

“It’s a sad story but …I;ll leave you to be the judge of it…” Duggan muttered and after emptying his cup and settling it back on the table, began to talk more freely, as though now that he had both hands empty he could expand a little

 

“Lily came from the same area as Connolly. Her family were not wealthy but they were not exactly poor either so they kind of knew the Connolly family..and avoided them, particularly James Connolly who had a reputation with the ladies It was hinted that he could not throw a stone into the school yard in case he hit one of his own… But happened that she – Lily – was at one of the horse fairs they hold back there, big events, folk get lost in the crowd so she said. Seems she lost her family but came across Connolly and he charmed her with his sweet talk and before she knew it she was seeing him quite regularly.

 

“The inevitable happens…she becomes pregnant which is a great disgrace to her family and when they know they throw her out. They were very Catholic and, well, that’s how it was…she was suddenly alone, pregnant and frightened. She went to James for help…” he paused and looked at the cup wistfully.

 

Adam was not slow at picking up hints, he got some glasses now and poured a measure of whiskey into the three of them, and each man there took a good slug before Duggan wiped his mouth, nodded in approval and continued the story

 

“Connolly told her not to worry, this was the time for a new start for her, a new life…he had contacts in America who would help her.”

 

“He contacted Coltrane?” Adam said quietly

 

“Yes, he did. Next thing you know Lily is on board ship. Oh you did well dealing with that matter with Margaret O’Connell and seeing that particular body taken out of the link, except he was not, he just turned up here as Drew Coltrane. Anyway…back to Lily’s story…the baby is born on board ship, and is dead, which gives her a lot of grief but looking back she realises probably a good thing. But she is unwell, and so when the Captain says he has friends who could help her get a job and somewhere to live she just goes along with it…ends up here”

 

“I see the connection with Connolly and Coltrane but what has that to do with me…” Adam leaned forwards

 

“You’ll see in a moment. Another lady at the saloon came from Ireland and through the same channels but she came at the time when Coltrane was Captain of that ship….she told Lily she nearly collapsed and died when she saw him come in as owner of the Sazarac those years back, you see, Connolly had set up a little business with the then Captain, pretty healthy young Irish girls …”

 

Ethan and Adam exchanged a look, point taken. Adam sighed and then shrugged again, raised his eyebrows. Duggan nodded

“Connolly’s son found out…that was why he left. He was a gifted, intelligent young man with sound morals, but he could not handle what he knew about his father. There was an argument and he left home “

 

“How do you know that?” Adam enquired, eyes narrowed

 

“Someone slipped Thomas Connolly’s journal into the office….” Ethan said quietly and looked at Duggan to make sure he had not spoken out of turn.

“Yes, we have the young man’s witness statement ..but …and this is where it gets real muddy…and shows what kind of distorted way of thinking Connolly has…” Duggan drank more whiskey and stares at the hearth, eyes a little moist “He receives a letter from his daughter in law…”

 

“Margaret?” Adam said softly

 

“Yes…think about it…he had hired detectives to find his son, prompted by his wife who was heart broken at the young mans leaving…then he gets this letter. He immediately contacts the Captain Harding, tells him to get rid of her, stop her coming to Ireland…well, we know what happened to her, to Margaret, why the pretence now…why the show of ignorance? He knew his son was dead and he knew he had a grandson here…”

 

Duggan leaned back and shook his head “Can’t understand the man….he’s beneath contempt.”

 

“His wife did not know, nor his daughter, so he went along with this charade for their sakes…let them think and hope Thomas was still alive…he thinks he can come here and act the grieved father, an innocent man but then suddenly he sees Coltrane…and there’s Lily….” Duggan raised his eyebrows “On the other hand, there’s his wife and daughter…”

 

Adam raised a hand as though to pause for a moment then looked at Duggan “So the man we thought was Captain Harding, whose body you supposedly fished out of the harbour …”

“Some convenient drunk I should imagine..” Duggan scowled again, “Easy enough trick to do, put the right clothes on, the necessary papers that would identify him as Captain Harding …and we fell for it. Thought he’d have to answer for his crimes to a higher judge….”

“Instead he takes up a new identity here, and a new Captain takes up the other end of his business…do you think Connolly knew that Captain Harding now Drew Coltane had taken over the other end of his business, here, at the Sazarac?”

“I don’t think so. I get the impression that he dealt with the Captain of the ship and left him to make the arrangements,after all they could meet up face to face in Ireland when the ship is in harbour… if the Captain mentioned anyone called Coltrane he would not connect the name with his previous contact.” Duggan shook his head “No, it was clear both men were shaken by seeing the other here…Coltrane would never have expected Connolly to be in Virgina City and as far as Connolly was concerned Contrane, or rather Captain Harding, was dead.”

 

“That’s why Coltrane arranged for the detective to get such a beating that time…Cotter .that was his name wasn’t it” Ethan nodded over to Adam…who inclined his head and recalled to mind the busy little man who had stirred up this hornets nest.

 

“I’ve got a deputy checking out the ship…and the Captain now running the show….they’re at sea just now but I’ll have men waiting for when it comes into harbour.”

 

Adam nodded and then ran his fingers through his hair, another little shrug and pout of the mouth

 

“And so what do you want me to do…”

“Next time they come here..I want you to lean on him a bit, see what you can find out from him about anything to do with this business, because at the moment I don’t really have enough to arrest him…”

 

“Can you arrest him? He’s not an American citizen…”

 

“True, but yes I can arrest him and then deport him…and conjure up all manner of documents and bits of paper that will ensure he never steps foot on American soil again…it will be up to the Irish Authorities to deal with him at their end….” Duggan emptied his glass and sighed “It’s messy.”

 

“Yes, and what about Lily?”

 

“Miss Portia has given her a room at the Boarding House….she has promised to keep Lily safe and will find her work, honest decent work.” Ethan said gravely, much in the tone of a rather pious |Minister.

 

For a few minutes the three men sat in silence then Duggan heaved himself up and stretched a little, Ethan and Adam followed his example, hands were shaken.

 

“If you prefer to spend the night …” Adam started to say as they walked to the door but both men shook their heads as they slipped their hats back on,

 

“Need to be back, we want to have another session with Coltrane…” Duggan said with grim determination in his voice “Shucks, if we have to go without sleep don’t see why he can get away with sleeping the night away.”

 

Adam stood on the porch and watched as the two men mounted their horses and then rode out of the yard. Then he walked over to where Mistral and Kami were still tied to the rail, and slowly led them to the stables …

 

So Margaret had written to the family…Bridie obviously had not known that, or had she? Whatever the case she had left hopeful of a welcome in Ireland if not for her sake, for the sake of the baby, and for Thomas.

 

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely…something had obviously twisted in James’ brain, or had he just been born evil. He had spoken to enough of the downtrodden emigrants from all nations where the powerful and rich wielded control over the masses. It did not matter from which country for there were none where a finger could not be pointed and “ J’accuse” be cried… justice eluded the poor no matter how talented, how gentle, how kind…every country …and he had travelled many enough for the scripture of the Wisest Man to have been proven true “Man has dominated man to his ruin from time immemorial”

 

He thought of Lily, and then again of Margaret….poor Margaret whose son lay in his warm bed just a mile away from where he stood now… and he thought of Roisin – was she so naïve, so ignorant of what had happened?

 

He removed the saddles and blankets, wiped the horses down, but slowly, deep in thought, deep in remorse knowing that he was impotent and unable to change a thing.

 

Then he remembered he had to spend time with James Connolly ….which caused him to chew his bottom lip and scowl ..that was going to be a long day.

 

Chapter 47

Time had trickled along as it was wont to do..like a river constantly flowing onwards, sometimes leaping forwards, other times lingering as though in shallow waters but still continuing onwards. So now the day had come, Today Hester had accepted as being the worst of her life …when the Irish family would sweep in with their demands and take Erik from them, or, if not that, they would put forward every reason how they could and eventually would.

For now though she and Hoss read the brief note that had arrived via Ezra just as they were sitting down for their morning meal and the old man had just grunted “From Adam…”

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked from his end of the table, looking at their blank faces and reading doom immediately.

 

This was going to be a chaotic day. Already Hop Sings relatives seemed to be arriving by the wagonload, and the chatter around the house was getting louder by the minute. The children sensed a big occasion was in the wings and were excited and restless as a result. Hester had anticipated it with dread and spent a lot of the night weeping so that her face was blotchy and her eyes were red rimmed and it all clashed horribly with her red hair. But every time she looked over at Erik tears formed again and she had to swallow hard and pinch her nose to prevent them falling.

 

But now she was totally confused and without a word handed the note to her father in law, and then picked up her cup of coffee. She realised as she put the rim of the cup to her lips that her hands were no longer shaking … and a feeling of calm had settled around her. She looked at Hoss who remained as he had been all morning..that frown on his brow, eyes moist, confused and bewildered, but now even more so.

 

“Well now, what have we here.” Ben muttered and opened the slip of paper to read it for himself

 

“ You have no need to worry….believe me, just relax and enjoy day. I assure you that you have nothing about which to be concerned. The sun is shining, and all is good with the world….Trust me.”

 

“Well, what in the name …” he paused and shook his head “I wish some folk around here…”

 

A crash and an excited jabber of words came from the kitchen area, Hop Sing appeared almost dancing on the spot as he said “Missy Hester, you come quick. Much needed in kitchen…”

 

Hester sighed and stood up, gave a wan smile “And so it begins…..” she murmured, then turned and kissed her husband on the top of his head before leaving the table and hurrying towards the kitchen.

………….

 

The ladies had got together and despite everything being rather last minute Mary Ann had enthused them with the idea of proving to the Irish gentility that they were not back water peasants, and could provide something that would be remembered for a long time. Being an avid social reader, she knew all about such trivia as to how napkins should be folded and how many glasses should be set at a table and what food to eat with what wine. Her greatest regret was that her grand social occasions would not really be appreciated by their neighbours and friends who even with a modicum of wealth would have found her arrangements far too grandiose for their tastes.

 

But Olivia and Hester had agreed to go ahead and so little notes had flown from the Ponderosa to various kin of Hop Sing who had gathered up their chattels and herbs, spices, noodles and who knew what else and were now making their way to the Ponderosa. Once there Hop Sing and Lee directed them like policemen directing traffic.

 

It was chaos .. and as Hester surveyed the coming and going of so many Orientals in her kitchen she wondered how on earth she could not be worried….Mary Ann and her high faluting ideas…still, if it was good enough for the Queen of England in one of her many castles, then it would be good enough for the Ponderosa and their Irish guests.

…………….

 

Olivia had asked, in that subtle round about way many wives have developed over the years, to wheedle out from Adam exactly what Duggan and Ethan had disclosed to him, but he had merely kissed her, assured her that it as alright and stroked her back and kissed her again and given her something else to think about, a knack many husbands had developed over the years which was always very gratifying for both concerned.

 

But come this fraught and busy morning she looked at him and noticed the familiar concerned look on his face, the way his eyes were darker as his brain was working on ..something. She passed him a cup of coffee and smiled at him, anxious herself now –

she could not prevent her concern showing on her face but he merely thanked her and said nothing more.

 

“There’s a lot of wagons going …” Sofia said, waving her fork over her plate, glancing from one parent to the other “ and lots of things going too….are we moving to another house?”

 

“Certainly not.” Olivia said rather more curtly than intended, and she shook her head “It’s a surprise.”

 

“Better be a good one then, “ Reuben muttered with his mouth full of egg “They just took the piano away.”

 

“Noooo.” Sofia jumped up from her seat, anguish on her face

“Sit down Sofia…your piano is quite safe. Eat your breakfast.”

 

“But my piano..”

 

“I told you, its quite safe and part of the surprise.” Olivia was amazed at how calm her voice was, her mind was spinning over and over, what with Adam and his secret, and Mary Ann with her grand ideas and the whole thought of the Irish family descending on them…and that James who gave her a shudder down her back whenever she recalled how he had spoken to her when Ben had brought him to the house …she lowered her eyes, “Eat your food…”

 

Adam sighed, he felt conflicted. He had promised to say nothing to anyone about what Duggan had disclosed, and he had no idea how the day was going to develop as all things ‘social’ had been left to the women. Like Sofia he felt confused as to why the piano had to be taken away, plus he had noticed a wagon from town laden with boxes …he glanced over at Olivia and caught her eyes for she had been thinking of Duggans visit and looked over at Adam with that on her mind and both of them sighed, lowered their eyes and continued to eat.

This was going to be a very long day.

……

Riley did call on Davy to help load the coffin onto the back of the wagon, plus several spades which sparked Davy’s interest “Am I coming along too, Pa?”

 

“No you ain’t” Riley replied, “I got Dodie from the saloon to come help me….”

“Dodie….but…”

 

“Yeah, he has a strong pair of arms and will help do the digging …he won’t say anything …”

 

“Say anything? What’s he got to say anything about, Pa? You got a permit to dig that body up ain’tcha?” he had almost said bodie ..that would have earned him a whack around the head at least, and he put a hand on the coffin gently, as though hoping it would do the job well enough. He tried to see if his father had worked on the coffin to make it larger to accommodate two bodies, then remembered they would just be bones now and bones would not need so much room…maybe.

 

“Just you git back to the shop now….and no jawing to anyone. It ain’t their business what I’m at today, even if I do have a permit.” he touched his pocket as though it were some good luck talisman, “Go on, git, and take that mangy animal with you…”

 

Davy glanced down at the dog who had whined and looked up at Davy as though to say “He doesn’t like me, does he?”, and it seemed to the boy that they both slunk back to the house with their tails between their legs.

 

Dodie from the saloon ambled along just before Davy closed the door…he was employed at the Bucket of Blood and did odd jobs, cleaned the floor, scraped up the blood, sometimes teeth as well, cleaned the spittoons. He would not talk because when he was a young lad some Indians had found him and his family, what had happened to them had somewhat addled his brains as a result any information he could pass on to anyone at all was often so muddled that it would never be believed.

 

Davy sighed…..fancy his Pa preferring old Dodie above him….still, he had the day to himself so what better to do than to forget about the shop as his father called it, and go round up the gang and go skinny dipping in the river. The dog would enjoy that too as it promised to be a hot day…

……………..

 

Roisin had kept to her room. When her husband and daughter went down to the restaurant for their breakfast, which they could have had brought up to their suite, she kept the door closed and just told Aislym that she wanted to be alone.

 

But she gravitated over to the window and saw Riley and a boy load the coffin into the wagon. She clutched the handkerchief close to her heart and bowed her head. Her thoughts were on her boy, her lovely handsome son, and even when her mind nudged at the corners of the fact that Riley was collecting a heap of bones…she just saw bright eyes, russet hair in curls, dimples in his chin as they sat together in their garden and he chattered to her in Erse, the old Celtic language of Ireland.

 

Then she thought of Erik, and in her thoughts she saw him with her, sitting in the grass, laughing, chattering and speaking the old language with that strange American accent of his….perhaps he would lose that after a little while back home in Ireland.

She blinked…brought back to the present day when she saw her husband striding towards the wagon. She saw Riley pause, turn and her heart somersaulted. Would he betray her and tell James of her bribe…and worse still, was James planning to ride to the cemetery with them, to watch the proceedings for himself, to ensure that Thomas, lovely handsome Thomas, was the sole occupant of that beautifully crafted coffin?

 

As it was James had no intention of going anywhere where his sensibilities would be distressed. He nodded over at Riley and looked at the coffin, he gently caressed the coat of arms that Riley had carefully engraved on its lid and nodded. It would be a fine addition to the many already lined up in the Connolly crypt. He looked up at Riley and from his pocket he pulled out a leather pouch, it jingled. Riley nearly had palpitations at the thought that he was being paid more money….he was going to be a rich man but the end of the day

 

“I know I’ve paid you…but I really wanted to show my appreciation, and that of my family, for the work you put into this …beautiful engraving…our coat of arms…” he cleared his throat and then abruptly turned away.

 

Riley watched him go and then weighed the pouch in his hand. He noticed Dodie watching him, and nodded, before mounting the wagon and waiting for the other man to join him

The wagon and its sombre content trundled out of town. Roisin watched from her hotel window and swallowed the tears in her throat. Riley was busy working out how much he should pay Dodie…after all, he had to pay him something, he did not want to appear mean after all.

 

Chapter 48

 

Adam paused in his grooming Kami…light from the doorway was obscured and so he turned to see the cause. He smiled upon seeing Olivia standing there, watching him.

 

“Mrs Cartwright?” his voice was teasing, light hearted as he put the curry brush to one side and wiped his hands on a rag before he started walking towards her.

 

She loved watching him groom his horse, totally at one with the animal, murmuring words in her ear, stroking her along the the fine arch of her neck. Kami obviously did not appreciate the intrusion, she whickered and shook her head, then stamped one foot upon the ground. Adam laughed and grabbed at Olivia’s hands, pulled her towards him, and looked into her eyes.

 

“You look beautiful.” he whispered as he kissed her cheek, “What’s the occasion?”

 

“Don’t joke….” she replied, stepping back a little and observing him intently. “This occasion as you call it …it’s serious.”

 

“Of course, if you say so.” he nodded and released her hands, sighed and looked over her shoulder towards the house “Are the children ready?”

 

“Yes, we’re just waiting on you now.” she pouted, looked or tried to look angrily at him, “Adam, I don’t like this …that Mr Connolly makes me shiver, I don’t like him. … I wish this day would just ..” she paused, lost for words.

 

“I told you earlier not to worry…”

 

“Maybe so, but the thought of sitting down for a meal with that that man…makes me feel uncomfortable. I can’t bear to think what Hester is feeling just now….are you sure that they can’t snatch Erik away from us?”

 

He sighed again, and took her hand in his while they walked slowly across the yard towards the house. Hank was harnessing the horses to the buggy, ready for when they were to leave for this ‘big occasion’ that everyone was secretly dreading.

 

It was a glorious day, the sky could not have been more blue, there was hardly any breeze but the sun was not overly hot. It really was a perfect day for a picnic.

 

“I doubt if they would even attempt to snatch Erik away. Not now…” he smiled again, although she could see that the smile did not quite touch his eyes. “Try not to worry overmuch, sweetheart.”

 

“I can’t help but worry.” she admitted honestly, “And I wish that we had not agreed to this picnic with Mary Ann…it is just so pretentious.”

 

He laughed then, and snatched a kiss as he pulled her closer, just as they reached the porch

“Well, she has secretly been longing to have this sort of occasion here…hopefully it will never happen again but if it gives her pleasure then let her enjoy it.” he smiled “I’m sure our guests will…”

 

“I doubt if he will….” she grumbled and released his hand, then turned and shook her head “You still need to put on a clean shirt…”

 

“Yes, ma’m” he touched his brow, and nodded. She was right of course, he still needed to clean up and put on a clean shirt and so forth. Perhaps this was his way of avoiding ‘the occasion’ ;leaving things as late as possible so that there would be less time spent in the company of a man whom he despised and the women whom he pitied.

 

As he followed his wife into the house Adam thought about the two women, Roisin and Aislyn. Did they know what a monster James Connolly was or were they innocently naïve to everything? Surely if Thomas had known then it was credible that the mother and his sister also knew…and if so, why the charade of coming here…but then of course, there was Erik…..

………….

Hester dipped the comb into the bowl of water again and then carefully combed through Erik’s hair. It was the only way to calm down the curls, charming though they were, she really wanted him to look – how could she describe it –less cherubic? She shook her head and looked down at the little boy who was wriggling to get free of all these ministrations …freckles over his nose and cheeks, a missing front tooth, big blue eyes, and those curls of course. Who could not fall in love with him?

 

Hester looked away and put a hand to her eyes, forced back tears – wondered how there could possibly be any left to weep. It was all very well Adam sending them notes, telling them to enjoy the day, but they were word, just words.

 

She felt as though she were on a see-saw, one moment no nonsense and practical. Another tearful and fearful. As she kissed her son on the top of his head she felt as though a shaft of glass had pierced her heart, and the thought of going to entertain the causes of all this misery…screwed the shaft further and further into her very being.

 

“Ma, my ribbon fell out/” and there was Hope holding up her ribbon again, looking up at her with her big brown eyes so that she was forced to smile and take the comb to prettify the fine blonde hair of her daughter.

 

“Don’t be sad, Ma.” Hope whispered and Hester felt tears well up inside her again.

 

Her children knew her misery, suffered along with her…it was not fair, she was not being fair to them. She forced a smile and tied on the ribbon, assuring Hope that she looked perfect and hoped that the little girl would believe her.

 

She looked so pretty…Hester watched her proudly as the child ran off to join Erik, yes, Hope had grown just as Paul Martin had said she would. The frail little girl Hester was convinced would never thrive had done just that…she was not tall, but she was almost as tall as Hannah. That was a very good thing

 

She forced her eyes away from the sight of her daughter and son sitting so well behaved together on the sofa. “Hannah, are you ready?”

 

“Coming, Ma.” and along came Hannah, her black hair curling down her back and the blue ribbon looking rather lop sided as she ran into the room.

 

“Walk…you don’t have to run everywhere.”

 

“Sorry, Ma.”

 

Well, there they were…Hester nodded at Hannah, and watched the little girl join her siblings. All three like ducks in a row….and Hester had to put her hand to her heart because it thumped so hard against her ribs that she could barely breathe.

 

Hannah with her black hair and blue eyes, dressed in blue …tall for her age, but then with a father like Hoss and Hester not being exactly petite, it was bound to be the case.. Time was running away from them…in a few short years they would be young women, and Hester shook her head and wished that sometimes, just once in a while , one could freeze the moment so that nothing could change.

 

Ben came into the room now, struggling with his tie and he smiled, paused for a moment as he looked at the three children, all of them trying to be good, as though knowing that Hester had been worried, distressed, had forced them to a vow of good behaviour.

 

“I wish Mary Ann had not decided on this fancy picnic.” he grumbled now as he finally managed to get his tie looking less like a mangled piece of rope hanging like a noose around his neck.

 

“I know…” Hester agreed with a nod of the head “I kind of lost what she was talking about after while…”

 

“Could have just had it here, and then spilled out into the yard later on if we needed to do so…” Ben shook his head “I suppose that’s what comes of being from the city back east….” he grumbled some more and Hester smiled remembering all those years ago when she also had been in the city back east…how she and Ann had laughed and flirted at the balls, when the air was full of the perfume of all the flowers decorating the hall in an attempt to smother the smells of over warm bodies, stale perfume ..she shook her head and looked at Ben, then at her children.

 

“I’m dreading this..” she said softly, “Adam said not to worry but what does he know…how can I stop from worrying?”

 

Ben’s hand was heavy on her shoulder but it gave her comfort, reassurance. Over the year there had been many times when she had sought comfort from this man, felt safe in the circle of his arm…just as she did whenever she was with Hoss…

 

“”Hester, nothing will happen today. Erik is not going to be stolen away from you, not now, not ever. Connolly can say what ever he wants, but he does not have any authority to do anything that will remove Erik from the Ponderosa.”

She nodded. Perhaps he was right, she thought, perhaps. Again it was just words ,, just words

……………..

 

The carriage had arrived promptly on time for the Connollys. They stepped into it in silence and took their seats, in silence. The two ladies sat together while James took the seat opposite them. They avoided getting eye contact.

 

The vehicle rolled through the main street of the town, past the big school with its imposing exterior. Past the home of Dr Paul and Bridie Martin. People strolled back and forth without a single glance at the carriage and its occupants. Each person had their own anxiety, their own tribulation. Why concern oneself over those of strangers.

 

In her room at the Boarding House belonging to Portia Lee Whitmore a young woman stood at the window and looked down at the road. She saw the carriage, she recognised James Connolly and the two women whom she remembered only vaguely now.

James Connolly. She watched as he sat there ram rod straight, handsome in his own way with his cruel mouth that could smile in so charming a manner.

 

She remembered one of the Priests talking about Satan being like an angel of light, deceiving people to his ways by disguising his true nature…well, that was certainly true of James Connolly. She watched as the carriage rolled its way out of her sight….and only then did she release her breath.

 

Roisin kept her eyes fixed on the road so that she did not have to look ahead and chance catching James’ eyes. Her mind was in turmoil, words, phrases she had read in Thomas’ journal came back to haunt her, spinning round and round. “Fool ..fool…fool…” echoed like a refrain through out the words, a thin silver thread knitting everything else together

 

Had she deliberately closed her eyes to what was happening? Had she averted her gaze from the way people, even her own staff at home, would avert their eyes when she approached. Did they think she knew and was party to all that was going on …right under her nose!

 

Aislyn glanced from her father to her mother…then lowered her gaze to stare at her feet. A sound from beside her made her look up, and then turn to look at her mother.

Had it been a sob? A cry?

She reached out a hand and gently laid it upon her mothers, folding her fingers within those of the other woman. It was a small gesture. Sometimes good things started with small gestures, like a handful of snow tossed into the snow and gathering momentum as it would roll down the hill. It had been years since she had made this kind of gesture towards Roislyn, and she fully expected her hand to be shaken off, but it was not…instead her mother curled her fingers more tightly around those of her daughter and even if she did not turn her head, Aislyn felt reassured that all was well between them. Perhaps, just momentarily, but even so…that was alright.

Chapter 49

 

The day could not have been better….the sun pleasantly warm because the breeze across the river cooled the more fierce heat experienced by those in town or travelling along the road where the dust was kicked up by the horses and the wheels of their vehicles. The meadow grasses were still green and looking lush, not yet burned brown by the coming summers heat and the wild flowers in their gaudy blues and pinks, scarlet and yellow petals swayed just slightly beneath the pressure of the wagons and the buggies that were making their way to wards the designated picnic area.

 

The starched white tablecloths barely moved on the tables that were set out along the smooth ground which slowly sloped upwards from the river to the meadow. Silver ware gleamed, and although candles were not necessary and ran the risk of melting if the sun were any fiercer, they looked just perfect set out at intervals along the length of the table. Flowers far grander than the pretty wild flowers of the meadow dazzled the eye in their silver and crystal bowls.

 

Mary Ann and her merry band of helpers had done wonders really. Lee, Chen Li and Hop Sing had organised various cousins and acquaintances to assist and now they were all ready .. tantalising smells came from the food being cooked, bottles of wine languished in ice buckets waiting to be poured into the crystal goblets lined up along the rows of cutlery and china ware. Set off just a way from the tables was the piano, standing upon a slightly raised platform which Hoss had completed only in the early hours of the morning.

 

Joe stood beside his wife with his hands on his hips and a grin on his face with mischief sparkling in his hazel eyes. He wondered what each one of them thought as they would round the slight curve which concealed the splendour of Mary Ann’s efforts. And he was not disappointed as each of his family displayed amazement and pleasure and surprise as they saw what lay before them…and Joe’s laughter rang out and scared a few lazy slow geese into immediate flight above their heads

Ben dismounted and then stepped forward, paused and with hands on his hips, legs astride took in the whole scene in front of him. He shook his head and smiled, and in his memory he could hear his wife Maria, Joe’s mother, saying “It would not disgrace the banqueting hall at the Bouvier’s manor, would it?”

 

Hoss lifted Hester from the buggy and took her hand, the children ran ahead of them their voices shrill and excited as they ran, stopped, stared…awed. It seemed strange to see their tables and chairs out side like this, surely they were all in the wrong place?

 

Constance and Daniel were paddling in the clean water of the river, which was running slowly and clear as glass Both the children turned and waved before resuming their play. Daniel picked up stones and skimmed them across the water and Ben sighed, memories of his own youngest son doing just the same thing all those years ago.

 

He could not but help wallow a little in nostalgia now as he looked at his family…handsome men, yes, middle aged now but putting that to one side, they were still good looking men, and they had beautiful wives, each one of them had married perfect complements for themselves. Just sometimes there were moments which one longed to capture, freeze and keep forever. This was just such a one.

 

Adam and Olivia were walking hand in hand towards the river, and Sofia was exclaiming “That’s my piano.. it is. Isn’t it, Aunt Mary Ann.”

 

Mary Ann had the blush of pride that was well deserved. She had worked hard on planning and arranging this and with such short notice too. Hester and Olivia came to stand with her, hugging her, telling her it was all wonderful and apologising for doing so little in the grand scheme of things.

 

The shrill shouts of the children were the first sounds to reach the Connollys’ ears as they came upon the meadow, the smells of food cooking drifted through the air, the colours of the wild flowers bounced upon their vision as the sun shimmered upon them… and then came the sound of piano music.

 

“Oh…” Roisin half rose from her seat, hand to her heart and eyes wide “I know that music….”

 

“Sit down, woman, don’t make a fool of yourself…not here…not in front of them…” he almost stretched out a hand as though to pull her back onto the leather seating but his daughters arm cut across his, brushing it to one side and her hand rested gently upon her mothers arm

 

“It’s Handel, isn’t it?” she said gently and a nod of her head as though affirming her words.

 

Roisin inhaled a deep breath “It’s beautiful.”

“I remember hearing it before….a long time ago…” Aislyn said softly and leaned back her hand now returned to the lap of her skirts.

 

“Oh yes, you and Thomas peeking through the stair bannisters…listening..” her eyes filled with tears

 

“And watching…everyone gathered around to listen to the music. A famous pianist..but I can’t remember her name.”

 

Roisin said nothing, the smile still on her lips as the carriage jounced over the tussocks of grass, crushing the wild flowers and then rounding the curve to see the Cartwrights all assembled at the rivers edge. They had turned to wards the new comers, smiles of welcome on some of their faces, wary looks on others and the children running about, laughing together. There was a little girl standing beside a piano, ready to turn the sheet music for the woman seated at the instrument…a contented smile on her face, already lost to the music and ignoring the yells of her siblings…

 

Ben strode towards them his arms wide from his sides as he offered them his welcome, his eyes dark and twinkling and the smile on his lips generous and warm

“Welcome to the Ponderosa…”

 

Roisin was assisted from the carriage as Ben took her hand and helped her down. Then Aislyn who smiled at him so warmly and in a strange way, gratefully. She stood beside her mother, looking around her before saying she thought the driver had lost his way when he took a turning away from the houses.

 

“We like to show off when we can…” Ben chuckled, “And the inside of the house gets too warm to be enjoyable after a while, with so many crammed in it…”

 

Roisin smiled at that, she could not imagine the big room of the big house ever getting crammed as he put it. James came down on his own, his eyes glanced over the assembled family, the crew of Orientals waiting to be summoned …dressed immaculately in some kind of blue and white uniform.

“Mary Ann wanted you to feel at home….” Joe said, appearing at his fathers side and smiling at the three of them,

 

“Is that your wife playing the piano?” Aisin now asked, her eyes watching as Mary Ann concluded the section of music and began to step away from the piano.

 

“Yes…of course, you have not met have you…” and in his usual charming way Joe led them towards his wife who was approaching them with a smile on her face.

 

Mary Ann recognised the younger woman immediately from the time when Aislyn had appeared at the Hospice and she knew that the younger woman also recognised her. Greetings were exchanged, and Ben suddenly appeared with a tray upon which were several glasses of wine ..Roisin took one and sipped it, chilled white wine, sweet to the palate, perfect for a day like this…she had almost forgotten what a day like this was all about for them, and immediately her eyes turned to the children and looked or one in particular …

 

“You played that piece of music perfectly, Mrs Cartwright.” Aislyn said, holding her glass between her fingers, playing with its stem a little. “ I heard it played once before at home, in Ireland….”

 

“Handel…” Roisin murmured dreamily as though she had been transported back in time and was sitting in that musical soiree listening to the music, the stillness in the room as everyone paid attention “Passacaglia”

“Yes, that’s right.” Mary Ann nodded, smiled, “It was one of Beatrice’s favourite pieces, she loved Handel, and Chopin of course.”

 

“Beatrice …?” Aislyn looked at her mother “Was not that the name of the pianist ..”

 

“Yes, Beatrice Weiss…she was an American…”

 

“She was my music teacher..” Mary Ann smiled, and then turned away “She died recently..a few years ago I mean.”

 

James Connolly sighed, and glanced away, he looked around him, noticed the woman, Hester, gathering up the children in order to get them seated at the table…he tapped his fingers against his thigh, the boring chatter of the women eating at his nerves. His eyes skimmed over the heads of the children as one by one they took their seats… the only good thing about children he thought, was that they matured into adults and if trained well, would turn out half decent…or so one hoped,

……………….

Riley pulled out a neckerchief and wiped around his neck, then mopped his brow. Dodie did the same…this was not the best of days to be digging up graves whether it was to put someone inside or pluck some back out again. He looked at Riley,

“Hope you’re getting paid well for this…” (but of course he knew Riley had been, he had not been slow in noticing the pouch passed over to the Undertaker by the Irishman)

 

“I am..enough to give you some to keep you in beer for the week.”

 

“How much again?”

 

“20%”

 

Dodie frowned, shrugged and picked up his shovel. It had not been too difficult getting one coffin raised but he was surprised when Riley had said the job was only half done…had he known there would be two graves he would have insisted on a bigger cut. He looked at the coffin with the coat of arms on it.

 

“Sure there will be enough room?”

 

“Yes, quit jawing and get on with the job.”

 

“If I had known…”

 

“well, you didn’t …and we’ve struck a deal. Just get digging.”

 

Riley gulped down some water and watched the other man dig into the soil covering Margarets grave. He wished he had brought Davy along now, the boy would not have expected to have been paid for anything, and he would not have queried the orders either. Trouble was, Riley did not really trust the boy, probably because his son took too much after him.

 

The hollow sound of a shovel striking wood echoed in his ears and he turned towards the hole in the ground around which piles of soil were heaped. He nodded and prised the lid of the coffin open…it was flimsy, he had not wasted good wood on these kind of ‘clients’ and there had not been any one around to complain.

It was the work of a few minutes to get the lid off and to look down upon the remains of Margaret O’Connell. He nodded over to Dodie ..this was the bit he knew Dodie hated, well, not that he enjoyed it much either, one could get to grips with a dead body, with its arms and legs and everything intact, but …after so many years in the ground –

It didn’t take too long…Thomas Connolly’s remains were already composed neatly in the new coffin, satin and silk lined and everything. His wife was soon lying by his side, almost as though they were sharing a bed together, a loving tender moment … he closed the lid quickly not wanting to dwell on the thought but to get on with the work.

 

They fastened the lid down, and then carefully lifted it up and carried it to the wagon where it was placed. They they returned the original coffins to the holes and began to fill them in…that was easier and quicker. It was not much longer before they were heading towards town, the rather splendid coffin with its coat of arms swaying back and forth gently as the horse jogged its way home.

 

Davy watched from the hill on the other side of the track.. He had watched Dodie and his father dig and sweat and complain and curse…he had seen the remains placed in the new coffin and watched the holes being filled in. His hand caressed the dogs head, and he hugged him close to himself, and the dog raised his face to lick the boys chin and stare up at him with liquid brown eyes

 

“C’mon, best be getting home…” Davy muttered and stroked the dogs head a little more before getting to his feet.

 

Never in a million years would he ever, ever, take his father’s place as the town’s undertaker… he was sure that what he had just witnessed would give him nightmares for years to come.

 

He ran home, ran mainly in order to try and get ahead of what he had seen, like a bad dream, like something chasing him…he wanted to get away, he wanted to escape the sight, the smell, the sound of what he had witnessed. .

 

Chapter 50

 

Ben said a blessing over the meal…praying Gods blessing to be upon all present and that each could appreciate the provisions provided for them, that peace and goodwill would rest upon every one present and for the next few hours to be convivial and pleasant.

 

James listened and sighed inwardly. He had not thought of Ben Cartwright being in any way of a religious nature. He wondered if during the course of the meal they would be subjected to the man thundering out scripture and verse, condemning those who dared to trespass upon their land, their family and dare to attempt to take one of their own from them.

 

Ben Cartwright…patriarch! James could not bring himself to murmur amen when Ben had concluded the prayer. He glanced over the assembled Cartwrights and Connollys and found his eyes meeting those of Adam Cartwright. Momentarily their eyes locked, as though each were taking the measure of the other and for an instant James felt uncomfortable.

It soon passed and he resumed his observation of those seated at the table. It occurred to him that the Cartwrights not only had a good eye for horses but their womenfolk were above and beyond what he expected. He was seated next to Joe who began to ask him questions about life in Ireland, the horse fairs which he had heard about from many of the Irish in town…and James nodded along, grateful to be seated beside someone who shared one of his passions. He did not fail to think that his other passion, women, was obviously something Joe enjoyed too, for Mary Ann, seated next to her husband, was, in James’ opinion, delectable.

 

Hester was nervous. She wanted to enjoy the meal and to some extent she did, no one could fault the food, but her eyes were constantly roving from one Connolly to the next, and every time Roisin’s eyes strayed towards Erik, Hester’s stomach clenched and she would look over at the boy to make sure that what she saw was the same thing as the other woman. But then, she told herself, it was not…not the same thing at all. Erik had been her lovely boy since a few months old, she had nurtured him and loved him, seen him grow, suffered with him when his teeth were pushing through, nursed him when he had rashes and fever, bathed his cuts and bruises and fed him his favourite treats

 

She knew that to Roisin every move and every smile that the boy made was new to the woman. She was drinking in the giggles, the freckles, the twinkling eyes. It tugged at Hester’s gentle heart to see the love, naked, and the longing, and the hunger

in the woman’s face. Once or twice she had felt Hoss’ hand on her arm, and knew that he was there, to support her, perhaps suffering just as much.

 

Even so, Hester resolved, as she dipped her spoon into the soup and raised it to her mouth, there was nothing on this earth that would make her give her son over to this woman, to that man…and she had to force herself to swallow the food that had been so lovingly prepared for them.

 

It was strange to see so many Chinese bustling about silently serving their needs. ..so Roisin felt, and she wondered what they thought about their servitude. Or did they just feel grateful to have the work and get paid for it? She thought of the servants back home…invisible, stepping back when they saw the master or mistress enter a room in which they were working. As she ate the food she tried to remember some of their faces, but only the housekeeper and cook came to mind.

 

She noticed how Ben and the Cartwights all chatted to the men passing the table and ladling out soup, pouring out wine or water…did they really consider them to be friends? How would being friends with servants affect the status quo.

 

She was sitting next to Olivia and allowed herself to be drawn into conversation,

answering questions about Ireland, of course…did she miss it, was she looking forward to returning..and Roisin wished she were safely back there now, and could only murmur her replies before lapsing into silence. She just wanted to be away from there, but the little boy seated so near by, dragged her eyes to him all the time.

 

Aislyn was enjoying it all. She chattered to Mary Ann about the hospice, plying her with questions. How did it start, what was the annual cost and expenditure and return, did it really help the poor in the community?

 

As it was a subject close to Mary Ann’s heart the conversation flowed easily, the two women had something in common and built bridges as a result. Of course they could all come crashing down if things turned unpleasant regarding the subject that no one dared to mention. Currently all was going well.

 

They turned the subject to music and to Beatrice Weiss, and at this juncture Roisin leaned forward to listen and to comment. Imagine that!! The famous Beatrice Weiss’ husband becoming a school teacher in Virginia City? Roisin could vaguely recall him to mind, a handsome pleasant man who seemed to bask in the reflected glory of his wife’s fame.

 

The children were relaxed and happy, and well behaved …Reuben was torn between being proud of the responsibility of care placed upon him and irritation because it restricted him in some unfathomable way. He whispered to Sofia to ‘do her bit’ and make sure that the girls behaved..but that was a futile request as Hannah and Hope always behaved, it was Sofia about whom one always had doubts

 

The wine was excellent and constantly topped up, and the food could not have been bettered in the best restaurant in Ireland. James felt expansive, he began to relax. He tried to catch Olivia’s eyes, to draw her attention to himself, but somehow she always seemed to avert her head away in time. Something about her really appealed to him. He wondered what her family history was, her colouring made him think of Nordic princesses … and at one stage he realised he was staring at her in a way that drew Adam’s attention to him. The look Adam cast over at the Irishman was enough to make James look elsewhere, but he raised his chin challengingly as though to dare Adam to do something about it, if he dared.

 

After what seemed an interminable amount of time the meal ended….the women excused themselves to go and attend to the children or just wander off through the meadow down to the river to talk among themselves. Sofia ran over to the piano, sat on the stool and began to play some music.

 

For a moment Roisin was not sure where to go….oh she longed to go and talk to Erik. She wanted to hold him and swing him up and around just as Hester was doing. She longed to wipe away the smear of chocolate from his face and kiss him, and hug him close. Eventually she forced her feet forwards and reached Hester’s side and despite her nerves she leaned forward to the little boy and reached out her hand to him

 

“Hello, Erik…you look like you have enjoyed your meal…haven’t you?”

 

Erik frowned, looked at his mother and turned towards her. Who was this woman with the strange sounding voice that did not sound anything like his Ma or Aunts. He hid his face in Hester’s skirts

 

“Not going wid you” he squeaked , his voice muffled slightly in the folds of the skirt.

 

“But I’m not taking you anywhere, my dear…for sure what made you think I would be taking you away? Isn’t this just the most perfect place for a little boy like yourself …” she paused, sighed and then looked at Hester

 

What had she said? What was she doing? Was this surrender? Abdication? Hester did not speak, afraid to turn the subject around and find herself the loser. But Roisin knew that her heart was talking, broken though it was…why break the hearts of others.

 

Joe and Mary Ann had wandered away, holding hands and congratulating themselves on a what they considered a total success…which it was as far as it goes, that was, up to that moment in time.

Constance ran to them, wanting to picked up and they laughed together and called her lazy bones..but she wrapped her arms around her fathers neck and hugged him. She knew that she was safe there, for the duration.

 

Coffee was poured into the best porcelain cups. James was about to stand when Ben raised hand and with a smile indicated that he remained seated. Hoss pulled his chair closer to the table and Adam stood up, excused himself and walked away. This was Hoss’ business and not for him to interfere.

 

He walked over to the old tree that according to Ben’s version of events was where Marie had conceived Joseph all those years ago. What secrets the old tree could tell and he leaned against it and balanced his cup and saucer in one hand while he ran the fingers of his other hand across his mouth.

 

He heard Hannah shouting “Come on,Sofia….” and the music stopped, and he watched his daughter running to catch up with her cousins.

 

Children…he sighed and sipped the coffee, he had never really wanted children. He felt they made a person too vulnerable. How can one protect them from everything that was evil in this world…how to prepare them for what was to come. That love for a child was like barbed wire wrapped around one’s heart …it hurt, it tugged, it tore at one so much. A child’s arms around your neck and the heart soared, gratitude for such a gift , joy at the richness of a love that was unfettered, solely for oneself, and then the fear…losing that love, losing that child.

 

At that thought his eyes sought out Roisin Connolly and he was surprised to see her walking towards him, threading her way through the long grass and the sweet wild flowers that brushed against her skirts.

 

She was a very attractive woman, tall, her bearing was dignified, and her red hair was loosely coiled at the nape of her neck. Her eyes were shaded, blue though, he had noticed that the first time he had seen her , in the carriage, when he was with Joe. Her chin was raised, like her husbands had been, as though expecting someone to hit out at it … and then she was there, standing beside him, and her eyes stared into his face

 

“Mrs Connolly…” he inclined his head and pushed himself away from the tree so that he stood erect

 

“Mr Cartwright…Adam, isn’t it?” her eyes stared into his face, met his eyes, did not waver …

 

“It is…Adam Cartwright..” and he gave the slightest of bows.

 

She nodded and turned slightly away, and now her eyes looked towards her husband, Ben and Hoss. Then turned to watch Hester and Erik chasing one another…that beautiful giggle from the child, that made her heart ache..

 

“You know, don’t you?”

Adam did not reply immediately but he pursed his lips, frowned and gave a slight roll of the shoulders. He looked down at the coffee in his cup and sighed. Roisin nodded

 

“About James, I mean…you know about James….”

 

Chapter 51

Cheng Ho Li was passing at that moment so Adam beckoned to him to take the cup and saucer, at the same time asking Roisin if she would like anything to drink. She shook her head so he handed over the empty cup and nodded his thanks to his friend who strolled back to the table where he was helping to tidy things away.

 

Mary Ann’s carefully structured picnic was now being dismantled and put back onto the wagons to load away. Hop Sings voice was heard shouting instructions in shrill Cantonese to his many relatives who were running around in complete orderliness hoping to get the items taken away as soon as they could.

 

Adam cleared his throat and nodded, frowned slightly “Would you like a chair, something to sit …”

 

“No, I’ll just – “ she paused, glanced around her and saw Aislyn seated on the grass with Sofia beside her and paying rapt attention to something that was being said. Hester and Olivia were seated together, their skirts looking as colourful as the wild flowers draped about them.

 

So Roisin carefully lowered herself down and settled upon the mound of grass beneath the tree, then smiled up at Adam, “Join me will you? So that we can talk together….”

 

Adam cast a quick glance at the table where Hoss, Ben and James were still in deep discussion. Roisin smiled, followed his example and then gave a slight shrug “It seems to be a pleasant conversation, James has not erupted into a fury as yet …”

 

Adam nodded, his eyes now turned back to her as he sat down, not too close but close enough to hear everything that she said even if she were to lower her voice.

 

“Well, you didn’t answer my question, Adam…” she looked at him, eyes wide, and he was not sure whether he could see fear, or anxiety in them, so wide they were and so dark the pupils surrounded by the gentle pale blueness.

 

“Well…” he sighed and said nothing for a second or two, “Why do you ask?”

 

“I got the impression …”

 

“Impressions, assumptions … mmm, not sufficient reason to ask such a question surely.” he softened the words with a slight smile, a quizzical lift of an eyebrow. “Can you answer me a few questions yourself?”

 

She frowned now, and looked back to where her husband was still seated, then looked back at him.

 

“Certainly..”

 

“Did you know Thomas was dead before you arrived here ?”

 

“James told me that the man, Cotter, had located Thomas’ grave …that was the first time I knew that he had died.” the colour flushed her cheeks and then drained away so that she looked a haunted version of herself “From what I was told…from what James told me. Cotter had also found out about Margaret, and – of course – the child.”

 

She looked down then, bit her lip, stared at the efforts an ant was putting into climbing a stalk of grass. She felt like that ..always applying effort and seemingly getting no where fast.

 

“So – when you asked me about James…what did you want me to tell you?”

 

“The truth. Something that would .. would confirm what I’ve been told..” she paused a moment, and sighed as the ant reached the tip of the stem which leaned over so that it was left dangling, little legs gyrating, she swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked back tears “Can I tell you…from the beginning…”

 

“Always a good place to start…” he said quietly and smiled but his eyes did not smile,they were soft, and concerned, gentle as they looked at her.

 

“It’s only from the beginning that I can make sense of it all…to myself you understand?” she cleared her throat again, and in her soft Irish voice she began to tell him her story…and the story of James, and Thomas ..

 

“James was rich, a wealthy man but my family were wealthier. However, they did not have the connections to nobility that James’ had and they felt it would be a good match. I was 16, not long left school but when I saw him that first time.. he was so handsome, I loved him immediately you know? He was a little older, but he claimed to love me ..”

 

Adam frowned, nodded, and wondered how long this story would take…he leaned forward as though to ask a question but she began to talk again.

 

“I was naïve…and I trusted him. I did not see the obvious and I did not hear the rumours…I don’t know why or how but I did not. The first time I realised something was wrong was when I was expecting Thomas…he would not come near me, would not ..did not want to see me…he thought a woman in that state was disgusting, so when Thomas was born I thought life would return to some kind of normal. It did not, it never did…Aislyn was born some years later …a result of a drunken

attack … “ she paused, frowned and looked down at the ground again, the ant had gone, disappeared.

 

“Could you not have left him?”

 

“As a Catholic …no. Also where would I go…by law everything I had owned, possessed, belonged to him…even the house in which we lived, that had been in my family for generations, was now his A woman ..has no credence in this world, not on her own.”

 

“And so what happened …” he prompted, hoping to urge her onwards to the points that mattered.

 

“There was no love between James and Thomas, but the boy was clever, intelligent and went to college. Nothing made James proud or happy…. sorry, this is probably not very interesting…suffice to say that for some reason that I did not fully understand, they had a blazing row and Thomas left home. He wrote some letters, while he was in New York, and then disappeared.”

 

She glanced nervously over her shoulder then, the three men were still talking, James appeared relaxed. She released her breath

“I wanted to know where my son had gone begged James to do something to find him and then he agreed, contacted Cotter, he must have spent a small fortune paying that man to look for Thomas…and all the time…” she frowned, “No, not all the time, but from about four or five years ago he knew that Thomas was here, that he was dead…he knew!”

 

Aislyn laughed, it trickled through the air, a sound that was sweet and unfettered by worry, she was relaxed and happy, leaning back on her elbows in the grass as Erik and Nathaniel now came to roll about and chatter with her. Olivia came and sat down beside her. Mary Ann started to play some music…Chopin…Roisinn seemed to have lost her momentum, staying silent.

 

“So Cotter kept searching and sending in reports…” Adam prompted “And James kept playing the game….”

 

“That was exactly it, a game. Everything a game. Cruel and stupid. ..just like him”

 

“And you didn’t know..”

 

“Nothing! I knew nothing! Seeing that grave, knowing my son was there, had been for years and it broke my heart…but he had said nothing. Nothing at all.”

 

“Does Aislyn know?”

“She may do…in this family one does not talk openly as you may have noticed by now…no, I knew nothing until a lady came with some papers and a journal from Thomas.” she looked up at him and nodded “A lady called Tillie…”

 

“Yes, she looked after your daughter in law and the baby…”

 

Roisin nodded “I read Thomas’ journal..about what he had found out about his father, the disgusting business arrangements he had..horrible, horrible..” she struggled for a moment to breathe, to catch her breath, and shook her head “I couldn’t believe it, I couldn’t dare to believe it…”

 

She put her hands to her face, as though by shielding her eyes she would prevent the tears from falling, but they still trickled through the gaps between her fingers…Adam pulled out a handkerchief and passed it to her, so that she was able to wipe her face dry…blink away the tears

 

“Tillie told me all about Margaret…that woman and Mrs Martin…they did all they could to help her and the baby….and she told me that Margaret found my letters to Thomas and that was how she knew he had a different name, and family in Ireland. So she wrote a letter… Tillie said she posted the letter herself….but I never got it.”

 

Adam leaned back against the trunk of the old tree and looked at her thoughtfully, sighed and wondered how on earth she had been able to live in ignorance all these years and yet…he did believe her, he knew that old adage that the wife was always the last to know, was often too true.

“It was another of James games….make Hoss and Hester think he would take Erik away…” her voice trickled into the air, she shook her head “Making me think he actually cared for the child…because he knew that more than anything I would want Erik to come back home with us. But he had no intention of that, he had no intention of it at all..it was all ..a game.”

 

They sat in silence for a moment, then she said quietly “So what do you know, Mr Cartwright, Adam.? Do you know that my husband is a murderer, adulterer, and worse…far worse…”

 

He sighed and was about to speak when he heard the soft footfall of someone approaching, nearby…he gave a slight nod of the head and then began to talk in general terms. About the fact that Sofia and Reuben were adopted, and how Hester and Hoss had always made it clear to Erik that he was like them, adopted and special.

 

Then he turned and nodded to the newcomer “James! Finished your conversation with Pa and Hoss then?”

 

He rose to his feet, and put out a hand to assist Roisin, noting as he did so the look of distaste that passed over James’ face…he obviously disliked seeing his wife acting like a common woman sprawling about on the grass. Roisin nodded, smiled and thanked Adam for his help, and without looking at her husband strolled over to join the other ladies. James flicked his attention back to Adam and smiled,

 

“Your father, brother and I have reached an agreement with regard to the boy..”

 

“Excellent. I’m more than pleased to hear that…” Adam waited for more, and looked in the direction of Hoss, striding confidently over to his wife.

 

“Yes, I thought perhaps you would be….” James swung his cane casually over the grass, decapitating several flowers in the process and sending them scattered to the four winds. “We have decided that the boy will visit Ireland once he has finished college…of course we can visit here, as easily as Hoss and Hester can visit Ireland at any time…so long as he knows he has family there. You understand, don’t you, Adam, how important family is? “

 

“Definitely.” Adam said with an emphasis that bordered on being sarcastic….but James appeared not to notice and gave a wry smile as he stepped closer to the rancher

 

“Your wife…a beautiful woman may I say…was telling me the story of how you got that horse…”

 

“No story, believe me…” Adam started to walk, not exactly sure in what direction, more in the hope of shaking James off from being his companion than anything else.

 

“Ah, but you must tell….it sounds …fascinating.”

 

“Sorry, the facts are carefully sealed off in a big brown folder marked Strictly Confidential back in Washington.”

 

“Ah, I see…the property of your former employer….” James gave a slight smirk, a curl of the lips, “I was expecting you to ride her today…looking forward to the sight… “ he paused and frowned “She is a beauty, isn’t she?”

 

“She is….” Adam inclined his head and looked over to where Hoss and Hester were walking side by side along the beach,

 

“We will be leaving for Ireland in a few days….perhaps …would it be possible to see her again?” he paused in mid stride and turned to face Adam, “Have you ever been to Ireland, Adam?”

 

“I have.”

 

“Ah, was that when you were at sea…”

 

“It was….”

 

“A big decision …to leave all this…for the sea, quite challenging I would imagine.”

 

“At times…”

 

They walked on, pausing once to watch as the children ran past chasing butterflies…James cleared his throat now and said in his clear Irish voice “Perhaps on the way back to town we could detour to stop at your premises, I would deem it a great favour … so that I can take another look …”

 

Adam narrowed his eyes, the man was persistent that was for sure…he nodded, and murmured agreement, noticed the look of satisfaction on James face and immediately regretted his decision.

 

Chapter 52

 

Olivia was strolling alongside Aislyn and Mary Ann when she saw Adam walking towards them with a purposeful stride and his face set, not in smiles as one would have expected after having enjoyed such a pleasant few hours. She glanced at him and then around and behind him, and noticed James loitering, a few feet distance from her husband, his eyes watchful . She excused herself and waited for Adam to join her

 

“What’s wrong?” her hand on his arm, she could feel the warmth of his flesh beneath the sleeve of his shirt, her eyes raised to his and noting how the anger in them slipped slowly away as he looked down at her. “James?” she raised her eyebrows as though answering her own question

 

“Mmmm…uh” he frowned then, his eyes shadowing slightly but then he smiled, raised his hand to caress her cheek, brushing away a strand of hair that had fluttered across her face, he tucked it behind her ear “Could you look after Roisin and Aislyn for a while….James insists on seeing Kami, and going back to ours…not sure why but I think it wiser if you keep the ladies away from there….perhaps take them to Mary Ann and Joe’s….”

 

“Of course, that’s no problem….” she lowered her voice “Is there anything else going on that I should know about…”

 

“How do you mean?”

 

“Ethan and the Marshall the other evening…and I saw you talking to Roisin just now….James was watching too…”

 

“Well, we’ll see…” Adam replied rather obliquely and gave a slight roll of the shoulders, “He’s very persistent” his smile became more of a lop sided grin, but his hand covered hers which still rested on his arm “It’ll be alright, but – they may want – need – to talk to you…it may be easier for them to do so when it is just ladies together.”

 

“Oh I see…” she smiled then, the dimple by her mouth flashing as she did so “skeletons in the cupboard, that kind of thing..”

 

“Definitely, and all rattling crazily to get out….”

 

“Good timing then..”

 

“Maybe…” he leaned forward and kissed her gently

 

“Be careful, Adam.” she whispered as he turned and walked away from her, striding back to where the man remained waiting, swinging his cane back and forth as though he had all the time in the world but wanted everyone to see his patience was limited.

 

Adam found that the main problem he had now was to exercise self control while being with the man. The knowledge he had of him and what he had done, rankled. The fact that James could so nonchalantly command his time, dictate terms regarding Erik, all the things he had done.. it made Adam feel such a revulsion that he could feel his heart hammering beneath his ribs in protest at having to spend time, alone, with him.

 

He had known evil men before…men who seemed to have no moral compass at all, unable to filter out the bad but sucked up the worse in themselves, and in others. People with money were the worse. What was it some English Prime Minister* had said “Absolute power corrupts absolutely” or words to that effect …and so true in cases of men like James Connolly.

 

One again he wondered how a woman could be ignorant about her husbands actions, but then as he recalled what Roisin had told him, she had barely any contact with him, and he wondered what it must have been like trapped in such a marriage. Surely at some point she could have left? What reason was there to stay? Her Catholic faith? The family name? Or had she been trampled on so much for so long that she – as a person in her own right – was lost, stamped out when as a young woman she had been forced to marry the man…

 

He shook his head as though to push the thoughts out of his brain and to consider the time now ahead. Looking up he saw James smiling at him, standing beside the buggy that was waiting to take him home.

………..

 

Mary Ann listened to Olivia’s request with a smile, her grey eyes twinkling and she nodded her head while her fingers reached for the little hand that was groping their way to her, little Constance was tired and wanted her mom!

 

“That would be a lovely end to the afternoon, Livvy. Aislyn was asking about where we lived and what life was like -” she leaned forward to whisper a little “I don’t think they comprehend our way of life, so used to big castles and manor houses, they think we are just one step above that of a peasant.”

 

“In that case we must show them that we are not…although I have never been to a castle or manor house, have you?”

 

Mary Ann laughed and shook her head as she stooped to pick up her daughter and swing her in to her arms. A little ahead of her Daniel was chasing Erik, while Nathaniel, walking hand in hand with Hope, was picking wild flowers in that dreamy way she had…turning her head she could see Hoss and Mary Ann, also walking hand in hand, looking, at last, at peace with the world as though the chaos that had thrown things in the air recently had now calmly floated down back to earth and reassembled themselves perfectly.

 

Roisin and her daughter were standing close together, deep in discussion, Aislyn was shaking her head and for a moment both Olivia and Mary Ann wondered if there was a disagreement between them, which would have made it a disharmonious ending to the day. Thankfully Roisin reached for her daughters hand, held it in her own, there were smiles..nods of the head. Whatever they had been discussing had led to some agreement …the Cartwright women relaxed, breathed a sigh of relief and strolled up to issue their invitation.

 

Ben appeared with Reuben beside him, scowled a little, then smiled “Where’s Adam going?”

 

“Mr Connolly wanted to see Kami..he seems very taken with that horse.” Olivia said in a rather dismissive tone of voice, and she gave Reuben a slight glare as though willing him to say nothing.

 

“James loves horses.” Roisin murmured, opened her mouth to say something else then stopped, she glanced away and just gave them a tight little smile after all it was none of their business what she knew and wished she could declare to the world but dared not.

“Father spends more time at the horse fairs and auctions than anywhere else…” Aislyn said with a smile, “He was always bringing back a new horse…then a while later back he would go to sell off one of ours only to bring back another to replace it.” and so she twittered on not realising how much pain she was causing her mother and how little interest anyone else had in the subject.

 

“We’re going back to Joe and Mary Ann’s, Pa.” Olivia said as they started to walk towards the vehicles waiting to collect them

 

“Oh …well, I think I’ll decline if you don’t mind,” Ben replied even though he had not actually been invited personally “I’ve eaten far too much and need to just find a comfortable chair, a book and my pipe….what about you Reuben, coming with me?”

Reuben laughed at the picture of himself sitting opposite his grandfather puffing a pipe and reading a book. He declined and asked if he could go to his aunts as well…he wanted to spend time with Karim.

 

Eventually they were all settled comfortably in various vehicles and rolling their way to their different destinations…Hoss and Hester with their three children waving goodbye as they parted to go their way, followed by Ben . Olivia watched as the two Connolly ladies pointed out things of interest to them, chattering in such a relaxed manner that it was as though through the day some magic spell had transformed them into reasonably normal visitors, taking in all the beauty of their surroundings, laughing, smiling. Even Aislyn kept looking at her mother as though she was not sure if this was the same woman who had sat in the carriage on the way to the picnic like a block of ice.

 

But it was a wonderful change and even if it did not last much longer, it was one the younger woman wanted to treasure as she struggled to recall the last time she had heard her mother laugh, or seen the colour in her cheeks, it was so long ago…..far too long ago….

 

What had happened to them?

 

Why had it happened?

 

Mary Ann stepped down from the buggy with her children beside her and Joe standing proudly to help the ladies down from the carriage. Aislyn flashed her eyes at him, after all he was a handsome man even if married, and she laughed ..it was just teasing, she knew it, so did he, and so did Mary Ann. Roisin stepped down beside her and looked around

 

“It’s a lovely home you have here…” she murmured, shielding her eyes against the suns glare

 

“And you have the river close by…do you go fishing?” Aislyn asked

 

“All the time…” Joe replied and turned as Reuben tugged at his sleeve and nodded over to the corral, “Excuse me, have to go…” and he laughed, chasing after Reuben and Daniel as they ran over to where Karim was cantering up to fence, waiting for an apple, and some fussing..

 

“Seems loving horses is not just an Irishman’s obsession….” Aislyn muttered with a twinkle in her eye

 

Nathaniel wriggled away from his mother in order to follow his Uncle and cousins, Olivia watched them go and then returned to observing the ladies. If this was how they changed without James around ..she shook her head and sighed, poor things, she thought, what kind of life had they led in their fancy big castle She turned to look over at Joe and the children, the three boys, the future Cartwright generation. She hoped they would always be content with what they had, proud of what they could achieve, grateful for the advantages they possessed. She thought of Thomas who had fled away from Ireland for a life of his own..but what exactly had he fled from, she wondered…and why?

…………..

“I jest cain’t understan’ why you had to put ’em into the one coffin! You shoulda bought two along..or is the fella too mean to pay for another fancy one.”

Dodie spat tobacco juice into the ground and stared at the road ahead. Behind them the coffin with its contents rattled and rumbled along, being jostled about a little as the pot holes along the track were many and rocks were everywhere.

 

“Look, you jest mind your own business, Dodie..you’re getting your money and that’s an end to it” Riley paused, thought for a moment “They were husband and wife weren’t they? Shared a bed together didn’t they?”

 

“What’s that to do with anything?” Dodie felt in his pocket and extracted a pen knife, he flicked the blade open and began to carefully use the tip of it to remove dirt from beneath his finger nails.

 

“Wal, now they’re sharing the best bed they ever laid in ..when they were alive that is…now they got satin to lay on, and a canopy with a coat of arms on it…they’d be happy if they knowed it…”

 

Dodie thought about it…it made sense in a way, romantic like…he nodded

 

“Don’t suppose the Irishman was thinking like that …when he told you to change the order.”

 

Riley said nothing, but he thought of the woman standing there, money in her hand, tears on her face. He thought she would have gone along with that line of thinking, she would have wanted the best for her boy, and her boy would have wanted to be lying in the arms of his beloved, wouldn’t he?

 

He sensed that Dodie was about to say something else…so told him to shut it and to keep quiet..his jawing was giving him a head ache.

 

 

* William Pitt, the Elder 1770

Chapter 53

 

Hoss and Hester had reached the main track leading from the meadow before Adam and Connolly so for some distance they had to ‘eat their dust’ as Hoss seemed in no hurry to get to where ever…and the three children bounced about on the back seat turning every so often to look back at the buggy behind them.

 

The sound of the horses feet upon the hard packed earth, and the wheels turning, the children calling out to them occasionally and waving hands with their faces wreathed in smiles…nothing else disturbed the quiet although one could say the silence between them was ‘loud’

 

Connolly made a pretence in finding the passing scenery of great interest, the fingers of his left hand tapping slightly on the silver head of his cane, a figure of some bird. The action distracted Adams attention and irritated him, until he told himself that was probably James’ intention… everything a game with him, so Adam stared ahead and sometimes raised a hand to acknowledge the children in the buggy ahead of them but mostly staring between the horses ears at the track.

Finally Hoss turned into a well used track and raised a hand, although he never turned his head, but just his hand raised and the children’s voices were like little birds in a nest squawking “Bye, Bye Uncle Adam.”

 

Adam smiled and again raised a hand to bid them farewell and then passed them as he continued on to the house ahead. No doubt Hester had wanted to see Ann, her cousin, and tell her about the latest developments regarding Erik. He released his breath as though now the other vehicle had gone from his sight he could concentrate better on the matter

 

“You knew Thomas was here, didn’t you?” his voice was low, as though even in the vastness of space around them it was better for no one to hear the conversations

 

James turned his head and frowned “Of course I knew, that’s why we came….”

 

“No, I mean…you knew ..oh must be four or more years ago now…you knew Thomas was dead and you had a grandson.”

 

James returned to stare at the surroundings, his eyes fixed on some point on the horizon.

 

“All that time and money spent sending Cotter here and there when you didn’t really need him at all. And lets be honest here, you have no interest in your grandson. You just enjoyed putting Hoss and Hester through all that anxiety for your own satisfaction….”

 

“Have you finished, Mr Cartwright? “ James drawled in a slow monotone of a voice, indicating he was bored, time to change the subject

 

“And your wife and daughter, you never told them about Thomas being here all that time ago, so they were dragged about on this mystery tour .. “

 

“It was no hardship to them..travel broadens the mind does it not? For several months they saw and experienced things they would never have done stuck back in Ireland…they’d never even seen an Oriental before… it did them no harm.”

 

“Why do it though? Why this charade?” Adam glanced at James now, his brow furrowed as though he really did want to understand, really found the matter of far more interest than Connolly could ever imagine

 

Connolly pursed his lips and half closed his eyes. He had anticipated questions from this man, he had sensed that Adam was not a man to leave questions unanswered, he shrugged

 

“You have no idea what my life is like, Cartwright…” he raised his chin, a ring of pride in his voice, he gave a half smile “I am wealthy, probably wealthier than yourselves even if you do have this Ponderosa of yours, but I have lands and estates that go back generations…it means something, a lot…” he paused his voice trailed to an end and he frowned “Why did you leave all this to go to sea, answer me that?”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because …”

 

Adam shrugged and flicked the reins a little to make the horses get up a little more speed , Silence which neither man seemed inclined to break, Connolly’s fingers began to tap on the silver bird atop his cane

 

“You see, Mr Cartwright, you are a little bit of an enigma…I know you went to college, in New England was it not? A college graduate here in the godforsaken wilderness your family are so proud of…you could have achieved great things…” he paused, nodded “You did achieve great things when you left here…”

 

“Mr Connolly, discussing my past does not answer my questions..”

 

“By what right do you have to even think the questions should be asked…”

 

Adam gave a slight nod, Connolly was right of course, he had no legal or official claim to the answers, so he leaned forward a little more as though to distance himself from the man. It was his turn to purse his lips and frown, he gave another slight nod

 

“My mothers family came from a long line of seamen…same as my fathers…you could say it was in my blood, enough salt water to want to indulge a naval career…before I became too old.” he shrugged “That’s it really….no skeletons to rattle their bones…”

 

“But still lots of secrets…” James smirked, slanting his eyes at the other man before looking back to the road

 

“Not mine, not for discussion..”

 

“Of course not..state secrets…very important to keep them quiet of course.”

 

Adam sighed and said nothing, the man reminded him of someone but that shadow remained lingering at the back of his mind, except for the tingle down his spine.

 

“When Margaret’s letter arrived to tell you about Thomas’ death, and that you had a grandson and she needed help….why couldn’t you have ;just helped her ? Your grandson would have grown fit and well in Ireland, given your wife…”

 

“Look, I got this scrappy letter from a woman who claimed to be my son’s wife…that’s all it was, some woman claiming to be my son’s wife. Why should I have greeted her with open arms? You tell me that?” he scowled, his fingers tightened around the cane “I have others making claims on me, on my money…wealthy families ..well, you must have had your fair share of claims demanding money …people here are no different from those in Ireland or anywhere else.” his mouth was tight now, clamped shut and his breathing came faster, as though he were trying to stifle some emotion.

 

Adam raised his eyebrows and nodded, “So you told your business partner Lewis Harding..”

 

“What do you mean, business partner?” Connolly sat rigid, his face now displayed patches of red as the colour mounted, a pulse in his temple throbbed ominously

 

“Wasn’t that who he was? Captain Harding? Did a fair trade of business for you I believe?”

 

Silence as each man weighed up the consequences of the next step, the next question. Adam cleared his throat “You told him to get rid of Margaret and the child…but not in the usual way, not as a business deal, you just wanted her gone, out of your life…so he sent her away, with nothing…”

 

Connolly did not speak, he chewed his bottom lip and thought over what Adam had said, what, he wondered, what else did he know? His fingers now played nervously with the silver bird…but he remained silent. Eventually he cleared his throat and tentatively asked Adam to explain what he had meant about a lucrative business with this Captain Harding. Better to find out what the man knew first before committing himself to anything further

 

“Well, your trade in women among other things…some of whom moved to Virginia City when Captain Harding decided to kill himself off and become Drew Coltrane…young Irish girls are very popular, so I am told…” he paused and raised his eyebrows then nodded “Well, here we are…it was to see my horse that this trip was about, wasn’t it?”

 

Momentarily James could say nothing. He was aware that they had reached the house that belonged to Adam and Olivia, he was conscious of the buggy sweeping down the long drive and stopping by a corral where some horses paused their trotting about to look over at them

Some of the ranch hands also looked over, before raising a hand to acknowledge their boss and then continue with their work. Both James and Adam stepped down from the vehicle, Adam waited for Connolly to walk from his side of the buggy to the rear and then together they walked to the stable.

 

“Horses..” James said as though the previous conversation had never taken place “ are the biggest passion of my life. If you have ever been to Ireland you would know that for sure…”

 

Adam nodded, whether to confirm he had been to Ireland or that he knew how much the Irish loved horses…He pulled open the stable door, and together the two men stepped into the warm musty interior where horses in their stalls shifted and stamped their feet, chomped on the hay bags, turned their heads in brown eyed curiosity.

 

Adam passed a hand down the long neck of his faithful chestnut, Sport, and allowed James to walk ahead to where Kami was installed. As he remained standing beside Sport who playfully nudged him as though he wanted to know what was going on, Connolly stopped beside Kami and stared at her, reached out a hand to stroke her neck and when she turned to face him, he put a hand out to caress her long face. He turned to Adam

 

“She is beautiful….”

 

“She is, in Arabic her name Kamilla means perfect, complete. Which she is ,all of those things…” Adam sighed and watched as James paced around her, fixing in his own mind her finer points although with Kami, they were all ‘perfect’.

 

“And she was really – a gift to you?”

 

“She was .”

 

“You must have done a lot for him to give you so much…in return….” James glanced over at Adam a sly look in his eyes, a smirk on his lips, and Adam was reminded of someone now, the shadow took on a form, a name Adjo Admose

 

“Can I ask a favour of you, Adam..” James’ voice was soft now, convivial. “Could you lead her out ..walk her around…just a little..it’s too cramped in the stall to be sure and ..”

 

Adam nodded and approached the horse, picking up a bridle, brow band and headpiece as he passed them hanging from a hook, these he slipped onto Kami, who went through a great show of affection for her master, nudging him in the chest, lips snaffling at his hair. Adam finally had all the pieces attached and led her from the stall and out into the compound beyond the stable, James followed walking on the other side of the horse until Adam stopped, Kami pawed at the ground as though to say “What? Is that all?”

 

For a while James was content to walk about her, stroke her, comment on her finer points while Adam leaned against the corral fence watching carefully. Finally James nodded, and walked over to where Adam was standing, as though admiring his horse himself.

 

“I would love to buy her off you….my word, I would be the envy of all Ireland with a horse like that.”

 

“I’m sure you would be…” Adam replied drily

 

“Would you consider selling her to me?”

 

“No”

 

“I would surely make it worth your while….”

 

“No.”

 

James lips tightened. He rolled his shoulders and shook his head “She’s worth a king’s ransom as they say back home….”

 

“May be so, but I would not be asking for that, nor double that price ..Kami was a gift from a good man, and as you and I both agree, she is perfect … and she is not for sale.”

 

“A great pity.” James said slowly “As you know, I usually get what I want…..” his eyes darted towards the rancher who only shrugged

 

“I get that impression, Mr Connolly.” he turned to look over at the men and beckoned one over “Take her back to her stall, would you?”

 

James took out a watch from his waistcoat pocket and frowned “I’m surprised the ladies are not with us yet….”

 

“They were going to Joe’s …”

 

“For how long?”

 

Adam only shrugged and beckoned to the buggy “We could either go and join them, or go inside for a drink…” he gave a thin smile “ I could offer you a fine uisce beatha”

 

“Indeed….the water of life huh? The best words in Irish for a man to hear…” James nodded, and was fool enough to think that somehow he had ‘bonded with the man…he followed Adam into the house, and the door closed firmly behind them.

 

Chapter 54

 

The room was warm, containing the heat of the day while the sun splashed shards of light across the floor, bringing out the colours in the rugs and the gleam of the boards. The titles of books on the shelves stood out more prominently as the sunlight bathed them momentarily before moving on to bless other items in the room.

 

James relaxed, drank some of the whiskey and smiled slowly before looking at the other man in the room who was even now settling into the chair opposite him, the glass of whiskey between his fingers.

 

“You think you know me, don’t you Adam? What did my wife tell you about us during that little chat you had earlier? Did she tell you what a cruel heartless man I was and how empty our marriage had become?”

 

His eyes scanned Adam’s face, saw the blank look and the dark eyes looking back at him. Adam did not reply but raised his glass to his lips, he sat back and said nothing.

 

“Ive been thinking of all you said on the journey here, and what it actually told me about your opinion of me…I didn’t much like it …”

 

“I’m not apologising for the facts, as I know them…” Adam said very slowly, tentatively, weighing his words carefully.

 

“So how do you view me? An adulterer? A man who procures women to sell off as prostitutes? Cruel, selfish..more than selfish perhaps?”

 

“Mr Connolly – James – as I said, the facts as I know them – confuse me.” he nodded then as though to confirm his words, “I don’t understand why a man would go to such lengths as you have done to hide simple facts from your wife about your son, her son, and to deny Margaret and her child the right to a decent standard of life as members of your family instead of abandoning her ..” he paused, looked down at his glass “and it’s obvious that you treat your wife – neglectfully.”

 

James emptied his glass and looked over at his host who promptly rose to his feet and brought the decanter to the low table, he poured more whiskey into James’ glass and wondered if he had said too much, whether this was actually what Duggan had meant about finding out as much as he could..but before he could say any more James leaned forward,

“You are not a Catholic are you, Adam?”

That question surprised the rancher who in mid swallow of his whiskey nearly choked, He shook his head and affirmed that he was not and what did that have to do with anything…

“Catholics believe in confession…it’s a cleansing of the soul …” James’ shrugged “So, let’s say you are my confessor at this moment…and this is my confession…”

 

“I think..”

 

“No, Adam, don’t think…let me talk. I want to explain what it is like ..being James Connolly. Irish born. Wealthier than most. I would appreciate it, Adam…”

 

Adam cleared his throat, swallowed the whiskey and then leaned forward to pour himself another. He looked over at the other man who seemed to be waiting , so he nodded…and James thanked him, sipped more whiskey and settled back into the chair.

 

“I spent most of my early years with my father. The Jesuits believe that the first seven years of our lives form the man we are to become…perhaps that is so in my case. Do you believe that, Adam?”

 

“Some …”

 

“My mother was beautiful, really beautiful but a shadowy figure, she seemed to be constantly ill, having babies that died, hovering in the background of my life, and as a result she formed a kind of mystical element in my mind.  I loved her dearly. I had an older brother, who inherited the title and much else besides. I didn’t envy him, I was content with what I had.

 

“My father was a cruel man…I was five when I first saw him beat a man, and then hang him on a tree opposite the man’s house for all to see with a placard saying “Thief”. He was just a peasant you see, one of many…heavens, Adam, those little cottages are crammed full of little Irish children ..why on earth so many when they can’t even feed themselves. I wanted to know why it was so wrong of the man to take the potatoes when we had so many of them …my father told me that stealing is stealing, and if the man were that hungry then he should work to feed himself and his family..but there was no work…this is – was – Ireland.

 

“A little later my father beat a man to death, I saw him do it…and for the same reason…and my father just said “They never learn…” My father was Irish born, through and through,,, but like everywhere in the world there is a difference between those high born and those who are poor.”

 

Adam sighed, nodded, true enough he had seen it in every country he had gone to, Ireland was not alone ..not at all, he cleared his throat again “Is this a morality story, James…because…”

 

“You can call it that if you wish, I prefer it if you listened with an open mind, Adam. This is my story. I was a child and my mentor was my father, a cruel bigot of a man, who shaped me…and don’t say that I didn’t have to be moulded in the form I am in now…that would lack intelligence.”

 

Adam inclined his head, in acknowledgement of what the man had said and encouraging him to continue…

 

“My mother… had managed through the years of her marriage to provide what she could, without my father knowing, food and clothing for the poor. But as my father’s methods of treating the people became more widely known she found, when she went on her errands that she met with hostility ..they even threw the food at her, along with rocks and stones. I found that a conundrum too…if you were starving, why throw away food freely and kindly given to you? “

 

“Perhaps they felt patronised and ..”

“Does that fill an empty stomach then? Does it? No, of course it doesn’t. My father found out, and her punishment was that when she entered a room, he would leave by another door…he would not sit at table with her, he never spoke to her ..”

“What happened to her?”

 

“I don’t know…” James replied, “One day she was there, another day she was gone…no one would tell me, no one ..”

 

Adam shook his head and shrugged, “So you do the same to your wife?” he said quietly “Is that what you are saying?”

 

“No…I love her. My wife. I loved her the moment I first saw her. I love beauty, Adam, doesn’t any man? Look at your wife for instance – what drew you to her? And your horse..what makes you so stubborn about selling her? Because of their beauty. And Roisin …oh when I first saw her she was so so beautiful. Sometimes I see her and ..my feelings for her are almost overwhelming.”

 

He sighed, as though even now his feelings were too much and he swallowed his whiskey and looked at Adam “That puzzles you>”

 

“She does not feel loved…” Adam replied with a rather testy edge to his voice.

 

“I know..” James nodded “I know that..but…” he swallowed a little more of the golden liquor, the sun was retreating now , casting shadows here and there

 

“Let me explain now about these women and Captain Harding. Lewis was a regular at the horse fairs, and a gambler. I don’t actually enjoy gambling but the horses do tend to get my blood racing that I must admit. So- that’s how we met….”

 

For a moment Adam thought he had stopped his narrative, James eyes were staring at the far wall as though, perhaps, trying to find the words to describe what to say next, he lowered his head and stared at his feet,

 

“As I said I like beauty, and I like women…to be honest the women whom I have been with .. young most of them, so young, and the money I give them for their – their time with me – they take to their fathers. I always give them enough for the man to put something in the plate on Sunday at the Mass you understand, enough for his beer in the public house, and maybe enough to get food ..if the girl is sensible she finds a way to keep some for herself.

 

“So..whatever I take from these young women, I give ..as much as is practical …and then when the day comes when they come to me to say they have a child on the way…what can I do? I know that often I am not the only man who uses them, but I am the wealthiest and proven to be generous. So they come to me…so I ask you again…what can I do?”

 

Adam licked his lips, surprisingly dry and shook his head, he felt embarrassed, awkward…he twisted the glass round and round by the stem and wanted to say something but could not find the words…

 

“You have to know Ireland ..oh to be sure she is beautiful, the most beautiful of countries ..but …let me tell you what happens when a young girl goes home and tells her parents she is expecting a child. No doubt she will be beaten..severely…oh yes, they take the money she earns from her .. well, they have taken the money, and now that is going to stop coming into the house and maybe they have five – seven – children to feed. They have to tell the Priest and on the Sunday her sin is revealed to the congregation…if she is still stupid enough to be at home they will drive her out..heart breaking to see the poor girl with rocks thrown at her, the shouting and the noise of the tins rattling …it is like a witch hunt from old…

 

“How can I let any one suffer that shame….of course they could go to the Nuns…but the babies are taken from them, and they are treated so badly, as they say they have sinned, they have already put themselves into hell so why not give them a taste of it and prepare them for what is to come…”

 

He looked up and stared into Adam’s eyes before lowering his own again.

 

“So they come to me, and I give them money. I had made an arrangement with Harding to take them to America, their passage is paid for them, they have money to make a new start for themselves and their babies. What they do en route, what happens to them en route, and what happens to them when they land is entirely up to them…they have to understand that, they have a chance now to be free to do what they want, in a free country…..or so I am told.”

 

“But then, why do so many ..I mean…why do some …” Adam paused “You’re saying that it is up to them, their choice…”

 

“Of course. Wealth opens doors, and I believe that I should use mine as best I can to help them…some have contacted me and thanked me, and told me of their new lives…but …I did not know about what you told me, about …you see, I’m confused…I thought Harding was dead…I thought…after what happened to Margaret..” he sighed and shook his head “But then I saw him here in town, and someone told me that he owned a saloon…”

 

“He does…”

 

“You want to know about Margaret of course? I knew nothing about her…I didn’t hear from my son..we were estranged from when he was young, he was his mothers son more than my own and …I didn’t begrudge that, I was a bad husband and a worse father…mea culpa…” he looked at his glass, empty now, but he refused a refill by a wave of the hand, “My son was handsome, and very

Intelligent. He wanted to right wrongs but like all young men went about it all the wrong way. We argued and he left. But I always imagined him as he was when I last saw him…I never thought he would become penniless, an itinerant engineer drifting from one mine to another ..I never knew that and was imagining him in some fine office, and I was resenting him for not getting in contact with us..then I got this scrappy little message from a woman who could hardly spell ..and I did not believe her. I just assumed she was like a lot of women who wanted to take advantage of a man’s wealth…and I told Harding to deal with her.”

 

And now the shadows had grown longer, the silence heavier..Adam’s mouth was dry, he felt as though he had talked and talked when he had only listened. James raised his head and sighed

 

“At least I can take Roisins son back to Ireland …that will give her some peace of mind. I told you I loved her, and I do…but I don’t deserve her, I have broken all my vows to her, and I feel soiled just by being in her shadow…she shames me ..and it is all my own doing…”

“Then put it right, man…do it now while you can…it won’t take as much effort as you think.”

 

James shook his head and sighed, then shook his head again. He raised his eyes to look into Adams and gave a weak smile “Thank you for listening…”

 

Adam nodded, stroked his chin with his long fingers “Doesn’t confession always end with penance?”

 

James laughed, “Now that does sound a very Catholic thing to say to be sure..”

 

“Just tell Roisin what you have told me. James….take the time to do that before it is too late.”

Chapter 55

 

Sounds started trickling in through the open window. It would not be long before the men would arrive to unload the wagons and bring in the piano, the furniture and who knew what else that had been taken for the picnic. Cheng Ho Li would come and insist on making coffee

 

Adam felt uncomfortable. Embarrassed to some degree but he was a man of the world, he had sailed around to many countries, seen and experienced things his family had not…perhaps that was why James had zero’d in on him, sensing that he had a broader view of things than his father or brothers.

 

As he stood up, preparing for the activity to come, James reached out his hand and clasped his fingers around Adam’s forearm

 

“Look, I don’t want you to get the impression that I had added to the population every time I was with a woman…it was a very few to be truly honest with you. “ he stood up now and faced the other man, his eyes wet, as though on the verge of tears “The idea of – of sending them abroad actually came from one of the girls. Often they would just talk, about their home lives, the poverty, what it was like living in a small building with so many children, a father who, even when he tried, could not scratch a real living, not one that could match the number of responsibilities he had….and his dues to the church of course”

 

Adam turned his head and looked towards the door as though indicating to James that this was not the time to continue the discussion but James merely nodded and continued anyway

 

“This girl said how much she would give to escape the inevitable, which was to marry and end up like her mother..old before her years, worn down by bearing children, poverty. I asked her where would she go and she said at first to Dublin…later she said to America. I remember asking her what she would do if she could get there, and she just shrugged and admitted she did not know, but she would be free…so I arranged it with Harding, gave her money ..the look on her face was ..well, it was beautiful. I never forgot it…and others ,, “

Adam merely nodded, again he wished James had not said a thing to him about this strange life of his, and for a moment he wondered ..was this just another game, another ploy of James’ to elicit a hearing ear, sympathy, before Coltrane revealed what, so far as he was concerned, really was the case – that they were in partnership running a business in prostitution

 

James shrugged now as though he didn’t really care if Adam believed him or not, he pulled the sleeves of his jacket straighter so that they covered the cuffs of his shirt, he cleared his throat

 

“Remember how I said at the start, that children are moulded to be what they would become within the first years of their lives? Well, I wanted to help those people, I wanted to do what my mother would have done if she could have…but my father’s influence …yes, I know, you may think it all an excuse, I understand that…but now, I am what I am…I don’t know if I am a failure or a success…but with so much when others have so little, surely it is a responsibility to give what one can ..”

 

Adam nodded agreement to that, but he looked hard at James for a moment and then shook his head

“I just don’t understand …that’s all..surely some other way …”

 

“Like soup kitchens? Huh, that doesn’t work…charity removes the last vestige of pride they have….” he paused “that is all they have you see, is their pride, being Irish, I wish…”

 

Whatever he wished remained unsaid as Hank and Ezra struggled in through the door with the piano, behind them Cheng Ho Li loaded with wicker basket full of crockery and silverware and behind him came Li with another linen basket full of various oddments destined for the kitchen.

 

James stepped back and his face resumed the features of the hard cold man he represented to the world and Adam wondered again, had all the man had said just part of a game …

 

Before the arrival of the wagons into the yard Duggan and his deputy Ethan Burns had slipped away from where they had been seated, right beneath an open window and able to hear every word of the conversation . They had arrived during the day and taken up work around the corral and stables, waiting for when Adam would return with, hopefully, some information. When they saw Adam arrive with James himself, they scuttled over to the open window with delight..certain that all would be revealed, and Connolly and Coltrane would be arrested

 

Instead they looked at one another, and recognised the confusion in the others faces …”Did you understand a word that guy said?” Duggan asked quietly, passing his hand over the back of his head

 

“Well, some..but..not everything.” Burns replied and glanced over to the house where the activity was providing a lot of noise “I think we need to talk to Lily…and get more information out of Coltrane.”

 

Duggan glanced back at the house, he shook his head “Do you think the man’s mad?”

 

Ethan frowned, pursed his lips “I think he has too much money .. and too much authority ..and I think he likes playing games with people…to tell you the truth, Marshall, I don’t know what to think.”

“Let’s get back to town, see what we can find out from that Lily …”

 

Ethan nodded, his mind full of memories of when he was a young child..of his father who had gone to prison, the harsh things his mother said about him so that the child had despised the man…Tom Burns ..innocent and railroaded, and murdered by his wife …and how a saloon girl had had the task of healing the wounds and rearing him to be honourable, honest and a good law man. He shook his head, and wiped sweat from his forehead,

 

“One thing I agree with him about, the first years of your life…they can really mess you up.”

 

Duggan looked at the man quickly, then nodded but said nothing. He knew that it would be a very quiet journey back to town .. too much to think about and puzzle over.

 

James was unaware of the two horsemen riding away although Adam noted them and wondered if they had overheard what had been said. He tugged at his ear lobe and nodded absent mindedly as the men struggled in with the piano and the baskets of this and that…and when another wagon rolled up he went to help unload it. Perhaps he was grateful to be able to put some distance between himself and the Irishman

 

James scowled slightly and looked around him, then returned to the house where he poured himself another glass of whiskey and began to stroll leisurely around the room. He found the entrance to Adam’s study and entered that…looking with interest at the neat order of things on the desk, the books on the shelves. Interested in these he approached to look at the titles…and then, with a dismissive sigh, he turned to look around the room…He saw the medals in their frames on the wall and wondered about them. He didn’t think that Adam Cartwright was a man who would want to have such things on display, he seemed to – what was the word – Puritan – for such vanities.

 

A cough at the doorway and he turned to see Cheng Ho Li who promptly bowed as was customary

 

“Coffee?” he asked in a voice that masked his instinctive disdain of a guest who abused his masters hospitality so freely

 

James nodded and followed the man from the study. It was Cheng who closed the door.

….

 

Olivia returned to the house with Roisin, Aislyn and the three children. Beckham had quite enjoyed the assignment for the day, he had the carriage at his disposal of course, and he had been able to enjoy the food and drink that Hop Sing had made sure was provided him and he had stretched his legs by strolling along the river and even enjoying a conversation with Hoss and Joe.

 

In many ways it had been a successful and pleasant visit. Olivia had been pleased and surprised at how the two Connolly women had relaxed over the course of the day, and now had been really convivial guests. Now, on the way back to the ranch, to where James would be, Olivia noticed how the two women were slowly slipping back into their shells and more than anything she wished that she could do something to prevent that happening.

 

Roisin looked over at Olivia and thought her quite lovely, but lacking the warmth of Hester who was, in Roisins opinion, more matronly and motherly. More perfect for her grandson, for Erik.

 

“Olivia, did Hester tell you what James has arranged with her and Hoss, about Erik?”

 

Olivia nodded, and forced a smile “Yes, I thought it a good compromise. What is your opinion? I mean, your husband won’t change his mind will he?”

 

Roisin glanced quickly over at her daughter , then back to Olivia “I would suggest that they had a legal document drawn up and signed before we leave…that may ‘help’ James to remember the arrangement.” she frowned slightly and again looked to her daughter who nodded,

 

“Yes, that would be a good idea. My father likes to play his little games …forgetting things is quite a regular occurrence. I would hate for Hester and Hoss to lose Erik.”

 

“They won’t.” Roisin said in a voice that was quiet but rigid, she shook her head “As much as I have grown to love him, not just because he reminds me of Thomas so much, but because he is ..so lovable, I won’t let him be taken from where he is so loved, and safe.”

 

Aislyn coughed, softly, but said nothing. Olivia nodded as though she understood. She did not, but she did not like James, the man made her flesh crawl. She would believe anything about him…she just assumed it would not be anything good.

 

“It is not easy to leave here, without him” Roisin continued, her eyes now focused on the passing scenery “But I was thinking earlier of a phrase I read from William Shakespeare’s history of Henry VIII . . he wrote “Love thyself least, cherish those hearts that hate thee; Corruption wins not more than honesty. Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, to silence envious tongues, be just, and fear not.”

 

They were silent for a moment and then she said quietly “It would be selfish, self indulgent of me to insist on taking Erik from your family. True life is hard in Ireland, at home….” she glanced then at Aislyn as though to stop her saying a word “and having him with us would be a joy, but ..it would not be a joy for him, in time perhaps, but he would be heart broken and I could not have peace of mind or conscience ..if I loved myself so much as to take him away.” she leaned over to wards Olivia and touched her hand lightly “Do you understand?”

 

Olivia smiled, placed her hand over that of Rosins and nodded “Of course I do…and thank you.”

 

Thank you she thought as she settled back against the soft padded seat of the carriage, thank you for

putting my mind at rest and for your advice and for the courage you must have to live each day with that man….just…thank you.

Chapter 56

The children were the first to get out of the carriage, Sofia prancing about asking if the piano was back and not scratched at all, and Reuben declaring how glad he was to be back home as he wanted to finish his book while Nathaniel ran into the stables to see the horses.

 

Roisin remained seated self consciously in the carriage with her daughter beside her, closer than they had been when they had arrived. She looked around her and then smiled at Olivia, a warm smile that lit up the eyes and flushed her cheeks

 

“Olivia, I do admire you three women…you do so well ..”

 

“So do you…” Olivia said and then went a little pink around the neck “I hope we see you again before you leave…”

 

Roisin said nothing to that as her husband approached, and Adam stood beside the man to close the carriage door behind him. Then as the carriage turned its circle in order to leave Adam turned to his wife and kissed her, held her hands in his and raised one to his lips, and kissed her fingers.

 

“I have to go into town….would you mind?”

 

“Of course not…” she smiled and stepped back “Is it to see Marshall Duggan?”

 

“Not entirely…” Adam paused and bit down on his bottom lip, “I’ll just go get my things…you will be alright, won’t you?”

 

“Of course..” she smiled and clung to his arm as they walked together towards the house “It went well, didn’t it? The picnic I mean..”

 

He inclined his head..he had almost forgotten about that…he sighed, and reached for his hat, then his gun belt…he buckled it on and tied the throng around his thigh. He looked at her then, a long deep searching look and nodded “I love you…you know that, don’t you?”

 

“I’ve never doubted it, not for a moment…” she whispered and leaned in to kiss him again.

………….

 

James turned to look behind him as he heard the sound of a horse approaching. He wondered , in anticipation if it would be Adam riding Kami, but was disappointed when seeing the rancher riding towards them on the older horse, the chestnut called Sport. He watched as Adam drew abreast of them and upon drawing level touched his hat, nodded, but continued on, galloping past the carriage and onwards to town..

“He’s in a hurry” Aislyn said in a slow drawl of a voice, as though she was not really interested but needed to say something.

James only inclined his head and wondered what had caused the other man to feel the need to get into town … had he misread him, was the man not to be trusted after all, would he be indiscreet. He swallowed a lump in his throat and stared down at the floor. He wondered why on earth he had trusted the man so much in the first place…a need to unburden himself? Was it the look of dependence and reliability the man had that had drawn him. Well, it was too late now!

………………

Adam reached the town way ahead of the cumbersome carriage and made his way to the home of Paul and Bridie Martin. Along the way he passed Marshall Duggan and Sheriff Nate Carney who both acknowledged him with serious faces and a nod of the head.

Tillie opened the door almost as soon as the gate had closed behind him she smiled rather shyly, wondering if he was going to tell the Martins about her revealing certain matters to the Irish woman and hoping against hope that he would not.

“Is Paul …” Adam started to ask and then saw the man peering from his study door, and raising a hand in greeting “Ah, Paul…I need to speak to you.”

He removed his hat and pushed it into Tillie’s hands before striding to where Paul was standing, which caused Paul to raise his eyebrows at Tillie and shrug as he followed his guest into the cluttered room and closed the door.

“You look like a man with a lot on his mind…Why not sit down and say what you came here to say!” Paul smiled, his eyes though were serious as he looked at the younger man much like the Doctor he was, now surveying a sick man and waiting to deliver his prognosis.

“Paul..” Adam frowned, sat down on the chair opposite his old friend and paused, then leaned forward, his hands clasped in his lap “Paul, can you remember back along, when I had that problem with Ross…”

“Ross Marquette?”

“Yes” Adam nodded and looked thoughtfully into Paul’s face. “Remember how you talked about a dark gate? How things can happen and its like the mind goes through a dark gate to some other world…”

“That was just an allegory, Adam..” Paul gave a slight smile, shrugged, leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers “Did something happen at the picnic today?”

Adam nodded, then leaned back and stared beyond Paul to look at the thick volumes that filled the shelves of the bookcase behind the man. His eyes narrowed

“You said that the medical profession was trying to make progress with regard to how to help and cure people when they go through that dark gate…” he turned his eyes back to the Doctor “How have things been going in that direction? Has there been much progress?”

“There is more interest now than when Ross was ill…in some cities now there are institutions for the mentally sick, which is a big advance to what had been previously. You may have heard of Dorothea Dix.*..?” when Adam shook his head Paul shrugged “she was a prolific champion for the mentally and clinically insane. Quite relentless in her pursuit for better conditions in those institutions …her report “Memorial” was presented by Senator Joseph Dodd and endorsed by many, as a result many reforms took place..” he paused and shook his head “I’m sorry, that is not what this is about, is it?”

 

Adam shook his head, and scowled, just a little, then sighed, “You said that Ross became mentally ill due to ill health, and the fact that he was over whelmed by all the things that were going wrong in his life…he became …paranoid…” he glanced over at his friend who inclined his head as though in agreement with the statement, “How can someone be paranoid without the conditions Ross suffered?”

Paul frowned, tapped his mouth with his fingers and thought hard before asking Adam to explain exactly what had happened, and to whom he would be referring. Adam inhaled and was about to explain when there was a knock on the door and Tillie entered bearing a large tray upon which a steaming jug of coffee was evident . Both men mumbled their thanks and waited for her to leave the room. Paul looked at Adam, nodded to indicate that while he poured out the coffee Adam could related his concerns. So, taking another deep breath Adam related all he had been told by James Connolly, insisting at the onset that Paul regarded it as hypothetical.

Paul listened intently. Mental health issues were a great personal interest to him, and he devoured and studied anything that came to hand about it. There were advances, slow ones. Institutions were becoming less like prisons or entertainment centres where the insane had been treated like criminals or freaks…but he had to admit, it was all too slow. He sighed and listened, drank his coffee and just occasionally interrupted to ask a question… by the time Adam finished talking Paul’s limited grasp on mental disease and the insane was being tested. Adam’s coffee was lukewarm but he gulped it down and waited for his friends’ comments.

“So ..” he paused, took a deep breath “Did he admit to raping any of these women?”

“No.”

Paul nodded, got up and poured himself some more coffee. It was a mere delaying tactic really, he wondered what some of the leading physicians in this field would make of it. Was this man of whom Adam spoke…insane? Paranoia was just one of many forms of insanity so they were now saying and one could be paranoid without being mad at all. He sighed deeply and stood there, cup in hand staring out of the window while Adam waited impatiently for his answer

“So, he is right..in that the first seven years of a persons life forms the foundation of what type he may become..of course, you could have numerous children face exactly the same conditions and each will show different traits…because there is more involved that what can appear on the surface.”

“I understand that…Paul, don’t give me chapter and verse, just sum it up for me, remember, I am just a lay person not a medical student….”

“I’m sorry, of course, you’re right.” Paul turned and walked back to his chair, settled back in and drank his coffee. “Summing up then…this child is exposed to two extremes …a violent abusive father who frightens him, and a gentle loving kind mother whom he loves but remains shadowy in the back ground of his young life. Then she disappears.”

He paused, drank more of the coffee and sighed “Children are terrified of the power of violence, but as they grow older they become aware of the fact that there is, indeed, power in it. They start to wield it at school, with other children, or within the family…and when you have wealth which can cover a multitude of sins as opposed to love….” he paused “But this particular child feels guilty when he exercises this power…he has the influence and love of his mother always at the back of his mind. As a result…” he put down the cup and saucer and leaned forward slightly “Tell me, these girls, they came willingly?”

“ I believe so, no doubt charmed – because he can be charming – and also because they were in need of money. Poverty …”

“Yes, that would spur them on to accept his – er – inducements. Some may even had enticed him..after all, we are no strangers to how poverty can affect people, one does not have to be in Ireland to experience that….” Paul sighed and shook his head, he was silent for a few moments, emptied his cup and set it aside on the desk.

“He justifies what he does by paying them money, that is what, he would have told himself, is what his mother would have wanted, help the poor, be generous. Helping them to make the journey to America, a new start, escape the rigours of abuse and humiliation…yes that would make him feel he had conquered the evil with the good.” he sighed then “Well, he would not be the only person to think that way…..” and his voice trailed off until there was just silence in the room.

“So are you saying he is insane? “

“I can’t say, Adam, I am not an authority on this subject, but what I can tell you is that he has no moral conscience. His values, his sense of right and wrong, they are definitely skewed. True, he gives them what they want and need, some financial security and some hope for the future, but he also takes… perhaps he doesn’t realise just how much he takes especially when they appear to offer themselves so willingly.”

Adam tapped his fingers against the arms of the chair, shook his head slightly, and chewed his bottom lip as though that symbolised his chewing over what his friend had said.

“What about how he treated Margaret?” he asked after some seconds of silence had passed between them “Knowing that Erik, his grandson was here…”

“He didn’t know for sure it was his grandson though, did he?” Paul looked at Adam with slightly narrowed eyes “We view this from our perspective, Adam. We know the facts relative to Thomas and Margaret. No point in talking hypotheticals now, let’s state it as it is, James Connolly is rich, he has never known poverty, he can not even imagine his son becoming poverty stricken .. in his mind, if his son ran out of funds, there was always more to dip into, he had only to ask. He obviously never did, but chose to go his own way, encountering numerous hardship as a result. Connolly can not even imagine that would happen, not to HIS son! Margarets letter would have been … well, quite unbelievable and he would have dismissed it as an attempt by some woman to inveigle him into giving her money.”

Paul shook his head “Poor man, trapped and alone…still that little boy scared of his father, wanting to be loved by the mother he adored…”

“Do you feel sorry for him then?”

“Didn’t you feel sorry for Ross? Even though he killed Delphine, the love of his life….trapped as he was in a nightmare of suspicion and fear…?”

Adam felt a cold shiver down his back, blinked fast several times “I killed Ross, Paul… …

Chapter 57

Davy Riley stood beside his father and watched as the man carefully sealed the casket, the coffin where in lay Thomas and Margaret Connolly. His father was very careful in his work, his face lined with concentration, his hands nimble as he went about his work. Davy approached the coffin lid and looked at the carving of the crest on its surface. He had never really noticed things like that before and his father had said it was an European thing, they went in for that kind of thing in a big way, showed how wealthy or influential they were, or had been, throughout generations probably.

Davy nodded and was about to ask another question when the door opened and the light from outside streamed into the room so that they could see the dust motes dancing in the air around them. Davy recognised the man right away and instinctively moved away from the coffin and closer to his father, as though in an attempt to protect the man.

 

James Connolly took no notice of the boy and barely glanced at Riley, but walked to the coffin. He stared down a the crest, the coat of arms of his family, and placed a hand upon the finely engraved shapes that had adorned flags and uniforms for hundreds of years He just stared for what seemed, to Davy, hours but in reality it only stretched to a few moments.

“Thank you.” James said in a voice that quavered slightly, he cleared his throat as though the sound of the words even surprised himself. “You’ve done a fine piece of work here, Mr Riley. Did everything go well? No problems with the exhumation…”

“None at all, sir.”

James nodded and gently caressed the lid as though he were touching the warm flesh of his sons’ face, and for a while he lingered as though finding it hard to tear himself away, Riley, and Davy, were suddenly gripped with the fear that the man would ask for the lid to be raised which prompted Riley to step forward, put his own work worn hand on the lid

“It’s all sealed up, sir, just as you asked. Your sons remains will be quite safe no matter what storms at sea you may encounter…”

The Irishman nodded, thanked Riley again and after one last lingering look at the coffin he turned away, closed the door behind him and shut out the light from the room once again.

……………

Miss Tyndale stepped out of the library and turned to lock the door behind her. She paused and looked around her, as was her custom. She enjoyed this ‘end of the day’ survey of the town. She noticed the familiar pedestrians who were doing their last saunter through the town before all the stores were closed and the saloons would create the towns different personna for the night.

The Manager of the Mercantile store was moving his goods back inside, brooms and buckets, mops and baskets and all the paraphernalia that the good people of Virginia City had chosen not to purchase that day…perhaps tomorrow. He saw Miss Tyndale and raised a hand in greeting, and she inclined her head gravely before taking her first steps away from the building behind her.

It was then she noticed the man standing on the side walk opposite ..just standing and staring at ‘who knew what’ apart from himself.. The Irishman . She recognised him, he was a stranger in town but he had left a mark, causing problems for the Cartwright family, causing distress for poor Hester and Hoss. She gave him a stern glare just to let him know, should he bother to notice, that his antics did not sit well with her, not one bit.

It was then that he must have sensed her looking at him for their eyes met and locked for what seemed an infinity of time. Miss Tyndale was not one to be beaten down and maintained her cold glare but eventually she had to lower her eyes and turn away defeated for there was something in the man’s eyes that made her feel cold all over.

It was not exactly fear. Just that she had felt vulnerable. Exposed. His blue eyes had held her own and for that instant of time she had been aware of such emptiness, misery, that it had robbed her of some control ..or had it been something more? She knew that she wanted to get away from him, because .. and that was it really, because she could not explain why she felt as she had and she wanted to get away, back to her little home, lock the door and keep the emptiness away.

James had not even noticed her, not really. There was too much going on in his head to notice very much. The picnic, the food and wine, the conversation later with Adam, it was all getting messed up in his head. Strands of the music that Mary Ann had played on the piano trickled through the back ground of his mind. The bright blue of the sky reflected in the waters of the river. Children’s voices.

Laughter.

 

His son’s coffin…his very own son. Really that was all he had wanted, finding Thomas and bringing him home. He had not been a good father, but how could he have been when he was such a bad husband, and Thomas doted on Roisin. He had wanted to do so much to prove he could be a good father, but … he shook his head as though to shake away any further thoughts about it and to get on with the arrangements that had to be made.

He looked around him, at the closing store, the meandering pedestrians, the piles of horse dung in the road and the dusty heat that caused the smells to linger. Oh for the green fields of home, of Ireland, of soft rain upon his face and sun on his back.

How he longed to get out of this place, out of this town, this country. He drew in a deep breath and exhaled. Not for much longer. Everything with the Cartwrights was settled now, he had not even really enjoyed playing that bit of the game…no, it was alright now, all settled.

……………..

Aislyn had been handed an envelope as they had entered the hotel and she had discreetly slipped it into her pocket so that her parents would not see it and make enquiries. Now she was alone in her room and sat down by the window to open it and carefully smooth out the message it contained. Well, there it was, all that she had hoped for and no doubt prayed for too. She reread it…and held it against her heart, kissed it, closed her eyes for a brief moment before getting to her feet and walking quickly to the door, to the other room where her mother was standing by the window, staring down at the street below.

For a woman who had been determined to maintain control over all things, particularly her own emotions, she had finally “lost it”

“Mother….” a tremor in her voice, so unlike her, she drew in her breath, “Mother…”

Roisin turned towards her daughter as though she were waking up from a dream, she smiled and extended her hand as though to reach for Aislyn’s fingers

“I – I have something to tell you, Mother….before father comes back…” she dragged in a breath and then slowly released it “I have a letter from Geoffrey…”

“Geoffrey ? “ Roisin walked to her daughter’s side, and glanced down at the letter that Aislyn held out to show her “Ah…Geoffrey Montcalm?”

“He – wants to marry me, Mother…he says…” she glanced down to read the treasured words and blushed “He writes that he misses me and in missing me it has made him realise that he loves me..he loves me, Mother… and when we return, he wants to pursue my hand in marriage.” she paused and looked at the other woman thoughtfully “Will father approve do you think?”

She watched as her Mother drew in her breath and slowly released it, then turned back to the window “I don’t know, my darling girl, I don’t know…Geoffrey is not …Irish … is he?”

Aislyn pouted, reached to take hold of her mothers hand again and squeezed the cold fingers gently, “I love him, Mother. Does it really matter whether he is Irish or whatever…?”

“Not to me…I only want you to be happy…”

“I will be happy, Mother…happier than I have ever been in my life…” and she turned to look out of the window where she, like Roisin, could see James walking determinedly along the pavement.

………………

Adam Cartwright stepped away from the Martin’s house and closed the little picket gate behind him. He walked over to Sport as though to mount into the saddle, but paused, then stroked the big horse’s neck and after saying a few words he walked away from the horse and made his way down towards the Sheriff’s office.

James saw him, and carefully concealed himself by stepping into a doorway and turning his back until the the tall rancher had passed him even though he was on the opposite side of the road. He saw Adam pause, tip his hat and exchange a few words with Miss Tyndale which softened the woman’s face it seemed, for her eyes widened, and her lips formed a natural pleasant smile .  Then they parted, she to her home and Adam onwards to the law man’s office

James relaxed and waited a moment, He turned his attention to the big chestnut horse nodding over the hitching rail. He felt that tingle of longing trickle through his blood, making his scalp itch, his body crave ..that familiar feeling that he tried to suppress but often found himself giving way to it…how could he resist? There was the chance, the opportunity…he had only to seize the moment and just indulge in the fulfilment of that desire..which was now overwhelming him

Sport did not fuss, did not toss his head and push this stranger away, but allowed him to mount into the saddle and turn his head in the direction of the Ponderosa.

As he rode out of town he did not see the young woman who stepped out of a Boarding house, paused and saw him, raised a hand and called out “Jamie…Jamie…”

Chapter 58

A shaft of sunlight streamed momentarily across the floor as Adam stepped into the office, and the three law men paused in their conversation to look across at him as he closed the door.

Nate stood up, uncoiling his long limbs from the chair and reaching out to shake Adam’s hand, asking him if he would like some coffee which Adam declined. Dugga leaned back in his chair, the one Roy Coffee had polished with the seat of his pants for years, and nodded over to the rancher

“That was an interesting conversation you had with the Irish man.”

“It was…did you hear it all?” Adam sat down on the chair Nate had vacated while the sheriff perched himself on the corner of the other desk in the room

“We did…interesting and confusing…” Duggan sighed and scratched his head

“We have an addition to the statement made by Lily…she was the last of the Irish girls that Connolly sent to America via the Good Hope … after Margaret O’Connells death, and after Captain Harding seemingly died.” Nate nodded over to Ethan who passed the statement, written by himself but signed by Lily, over to Adam who read it quickly for it was not long, as Nate said it was just an addition, an addendum tp her earlier comments

“I met Jamie at one of the fairs, but I told you that already…he was very kind, he was always very kind and gentle. He would listen to me and help where he could…with money, and once he bought me some shoes.

“Yes, we were intimate but it was never forced…he never hurt me. Often times we did not do ‘it’ at all, he would sit and just read to me or tell me about his life in the big house. He was a sad man. I loved him. He told me he loved his wife and had hurt her once, now she looked at him with fear and it makes him hate himself.

“I am not clever, and I do not understand a lot of things but to me Mr Connolly was just lonely and sad. When I told him about the baby he asked me what I would want to do. He did not try to force me to do anything but he knew how hard it would be if I kept the baby…and then later of course my family threw me out of the house because of the shame of it all although they had always been happy to take the money I gave them …and I knew the Priest, Father 0’Flaherty would be calling me out at Mass .. so Jamie said he had a friend who would help me.. a whole new life. A new country. It was a big decision …

“But in a way it was an easy one…he gave me enough money to live on, and paid for my passage over. I arrived in America, San Francisco, there was no baby…but the Captain put me in contact with Mr Coltrane. The Captain said I did not have to go with Mr Coltrane if I preferred to go elsewhere ..that’s how I came to be here.

Statement ends….signed by Lily D”

Adam sighed, put the very well written statement back onto the desk and looked at them

“You believe her?”

Each of them looked at one another, but it was Nate who nodded “Yes, I do for one…it just seems that your Mr Connolly does what a lot of men do ..rich or poor..they take advantage of a woman, and think paying for it solves their consciences..if they have one.”

No one commented about that, then Ethan volunteered the information that not all the girls who worked in the saloons were – as he delicately put it – working girls, for they all worked , just that some, like Lily, like Ann who had raised him, just waited on the tables and mingled with the clientele, not all of them took their money for ‘entertainment’ upstairs.

“Seems Coltrane is the one who is running this ring, from what we have been told he has …” whatever else Duggan was about to say was left unsaid as Miss Tyndale threw open the door with a great dramatic sweep of the arm and almost shouted (almost ..ladies do not shout after all)

“Adam…that Irish Man has taken your horse..taken Sport. Looks like he is heading to the Ponderosa…”

……………

Ben Cartwright stretched out his legs and leaned back into the old rocking chair that had graced the verandah of the ranch house for many years. He took out his pipe and thumbed in some tobacco, he struck a match. drawing hard to get the flame to ignite and provide him with a good hours smoke.

He half closed his eyes and thought over the events of the day….it seemed to him that a lot of expense worry and time had been spent on that fancy picnic that Mary Ann had set up. So much effort, and for what? Eating and drinking for an hour or so..then more effort in clearing it all up. He smiled to himself as he mentally ticked off various aspects of the occasion ..the food had been good, there had been a resolution to the matter regarding Erik and most everyone there was happy.

It struck him as he blew out a perfect smoke ring that in many ways Mary Ann was so much like Marie, Joe’s mother. Now that was odd, he had never thought of that before, but yes, Marie would have loved to have had a reason to lay out the best of everything on a lavish picnic the way Mary Ann had…well, fancy never having thought of that before and for a moment Ben imagined his dear wife laughing as she ordered the guests to sit there and there, and filled up the wine glasses…she would have been in her element.

Of course if Connolly had not come out with the compromise regarding Erik then Ben could imagine Marie finding a way round that as well…and Connolly could well not have liked how she would have done it.

Ben puffed out some smoke and thought of the Irish man He wondered what the discussion had been about that had been so secretive after the meal, when Connolly had taken Adam .. Ben shook his head, no point in thinking about it, no doubt Adam would tell him in due course.

For the moment Ben was content. He could hear the murmur of Hoss and Hesters’ voices from the window, words floating through into the air and lost but the sounds were happy, light and Ben could imagine the joy and relief in Hesters’ heart now. He had to admit, Connolly had hit upon a very sensible solution to the whole problem..it was just a puzzle as to why he had to put Hester and Hoss through so much agony in the first place. Perhaps he did not care really..perhaps it was just all a game.

But Hester was not thinking along those lines…as she held onto Hoss who had his arms wrapped around his wife’s waist, her head resting upon his shoulder, Hester could only feel the happiest of women. And because she was happy, then Hoss was over joyed, because had Connolly pushed for the alternative, insisted on taking Erik from them, well, they shot horse thieves didn’t they? And a child was far more valuable than any horse…

…………..

Daniel was helping Lee clear away some of the left overs from the picnic. He was always very helpful in that way, there were never any left overs on his plate, and if possible not on any body else’s plate either. Joe was sure the stork had made a mistake and dropped the wrong baby at their door step, he really should have been deposited at Hoss’ door.

Constance was curled up in her mother’s lap, her head resting on her mothers breast, her thumb in her mouth. Mary Ann stroked back a curl from the child’s brow, and smiled over at Joe,

“So..do you think they were impressed?”

Joe sighed, smiled, this was ..well, he had lost count of how many times Mary Ann had asked the same question and he reached for her free hand and squeezed her fingers “Couldn’t help but be impressed, honey. It all looked magnificent. The food tasted good too…”

“I was not sure about him…Mr Connolly…he had such a sour expression on his face most the time” .she had said that several times too, and Joe thought back to when he had bothered to look at James and nodded, as he had done before.

“I don’t think he’s a very happy man…remember, he came here hoping to find his son, and ..”

“Yes, of course…yes, that’s sad. He looked sad at times…”

“The ladies enjoyed it all, Mrs Connolly loved the music you played…and she knew Beatrice too..” he stroked her cheek, leaned in and kissed her.

“She looked a lot happier when she left, didn’t she? Her daughter..she wants to open a hospice when she gets back to Ireland. She said there is so much poverty there…” her voice trailed away, she didn’t want to discuss the negatives after such a wonderfully brilliant day…so she smiled at the memory of all those flowers, the candlesticks, the gleaming glass and china ware..”0h Joe, we shall have to do it again sometime.”

Joe said nothing to that, just leaned back into the cushions and stroked her long fingers. He wondered what Connolly had wanted to talk to Adam about, and smiled

“See. I told you there was nothing to worry about… ” he half closed his eyes and smiled “I told Adam, there was no way that Irish man would be able to take Erik from us..all that worry for nothing.”

She turned towards him and smiled, nodded and leaned forward to give him a kiss

“That’s because you are such an optimist, darling…”

Joe didn’t argue about that…but then he seldom did argue with his wife, well, sometimes, but not often…

…………..

The wind blew in his face, soft and warm.. The sky was still blue, and the sun still shone, although James knew that evening would fall shortly. Sport was a fine horse, moving out along the familiar track with long easy strides and although the track was dusty and dry, throwing up a lot of dust James was not deterred at all. He had not liked the big American saddle, not as good as the ones he was used too, which Americans hated so much. But then Americans spent days it the saddle so they had to have some comfort he told himself.

He was not stealing the horse, and he had no intention of stealing any other horse either come to that, and he was quite sure that Adam would understand he had just borrowed the big chestnut horse now, after all, he would be returning him to his stall wasn’t he?

But they were leaving for San Francisco soon. Thomas’ coffin would be taken to the train and loaded into the carriage this evening to be placed on board ship upon arrival at the docks. There was no other time for him ..James..to see that magnificent horse again, after all, Adam had practically pushed him out of the stables, what chance had he had ..none…so now, he had to make the chance as he had so often before in the past. As his father had always said, when an opportunity comes along seize hold of it and don’t let it pass you by.

He knew he would never see a horse like Kami again, not in his life time. He may well have his stables full of thoroughbred creatures with the most amazing blood lines and expensive pedigrees. But Kami was one in a million…what chance was there of one like her arriving at the Limerick horse shows?

……….

“Take my horse…its already saddled…” Nate said as the four of them rushed from the building nearly knocking Miss Tyndale over in the process

“We’ll follow …” Ethan yelled as he sprinted towards his own horse.

“Nate, you go with them” Duggan shouted, “Adam, take my horse, Nate will need his own…”

Adam did not care which horse he had so long as it had a good turn of speed. James Connolly had stolen Sport!! Stolen Sport..was the man mad?

Well, that was the problem, wasn’t it? The man was, if not mad, delusional!!

 

Chapter 59

The old man in the rickety old chair rose to his feet, stretched his arms to the sky, and then looked ruefully at his pipe. It had gone out! Typical. He had allowed his mind to wander and through want of effort the thing was ‘dead’/ He tapped out the charred tobacco into the dish on the table which was there for such purposes…and looked around him.

The children were still playing happily. Erik had joined his sisters…good to think that Erik had sisters, well, so far as the family were concerned they were bona fide .. he watched them at play. Hannah and Hope, pretty in their dresses made for this special occasion, and it had turned out to be special because the threat hanging over them had been lifted. Erik shouting boisterously, running about and throwing his arms in the air as though he could sense the freedom he would always be able to enjoy.. …

Ben strolled into the main room of the big house and smiled at his son and nodded over at Hester who was preparing the table for a late supper and turned to smile over the old man,who now cleared his throat and said that he would just go and see how things were with Adam and the family. Hoss and Hester exchanged a look, then nodded over at him, again, and watched him stroll out of the house.

“You know what that’s about, don’t’cha?” Hoss said as he settled himself into his chair

“About as subtle as I don’t know what…”

“A cow pat in the middle of a rose bed may be…” and Hoss laughed at her disapproving shake of the head but noticed the twinkle in her eye “Having said that….” he now cleared his throat “ I wonder how Candy is getting along with them cattle….” he frowned “Reckon Joe and I should go catch ’em up and see how things are turning out?”

She came across to him now and leaned over the back of his chair and wrapped her arms around him, kissed the top of his head and hugged him “Not today, Hoss…may be tomorrow.”

He patted her hands and looked up into her face as she leaned over the chair to look down at him, he smiled and nodded “Sure, honey, whatever you say …”

……………..

Adam turned the horse from the main track and into a side turning, the short cut that had served its purpose many times before. Not many out side of the family knew about its existence but a well worn track had appeared as a result of their using it. Odd how they had never known it existed themselves until Bill Enders .. so long ago…had used it to try and cheat the law and get away with murder.

But that was then, and now, as Adam pushed the horse to stretch its legs he wondered about James Connolly. Was it really possible for a man to be two people at the same time, was it? And if so what could the law do about it? As he felt the dust and air hit against his face Adam remembered, yet again, that friend, that friend who had been ‘closer than a brother’, who had dealt with his demons, had become warped, his mind distorted…and who had no hesitation in trying to kill him, Adam, resulting in that black moment when Adam had pulled the trigger ..

He wondered again about the two men, as the thin branches of passing shrubs whipped against his legs. Is a man sane when he kills another in cold blood as Enders had done? Was Ross Marquette sane when he killed Delphine and tried to kill his best friend. Where would the law draw the line? But how can a man kill another..and then he stopped himself following along that train of thought, because he knew he himself were guilty of doing just such a thing.

But James Connolly…what about him? Adam’s horse was nimble, and behind him he could hear Nate and Ethan’s horses, their hooves beating out a staccato beat of their own, echoing those of the horse he was on…skirting around the boulders, dodging between the overgrown undergrowth, kicking up the dust.

…………..

Sport slowed under the command of his rider. He slowed to a trot, and then as he took the turning into the yard of the house Adam had built so long ago, he tossed his head, familiar smells reassured him all was well, even if the rider was an unfamiliar one. Well, that was nothing new, he often was used by others after all he was a good working horse, even if he were favoured by Adam Cartwright. A horse can grow proportionately fond of its master, especially such a good one as his had always been. The rider now slowed him to a walk , down the track and into the yard…turned right towards the stables…

Olivia smoothed down her apron, and tied the strings into a neat bow behind her. She wondered if Adam were going to be late, and if so, how late. Chen was already preparing supper, a light one to be sure, after all they had all eaten far too much at the picnic ..so called…and she smiled at the memory, how could anyone consider such a lavish meal, such a grand setting as a picnic. Dear Mary Ann and her delusion – illusions? – of grandeur.

But she had to admit it had been pleasant to see the two Irish women thaw out, to reveal a glimpse of the real people they really were beneath that patina of fear, that veneer of superiority. She smiled to herself now as the memory of Roisin laughing at something said, and found herself wishing that things could have turned out better for her, after all she was going to have to return to Ireland without her grandson whom she clearly loved already very much.

“Sofia, go and change out of that dress before you dirty it …we’ll be having supper very soon”

“I’m not hungry.”

Reuben laughed “Not surprised, the amount you ate…you even beat Daniel…”

“Did not…”

“Did so…”

“I don’t eat as much as Daniel, no one does…” she pouted, stamped her foot for good measure.

“Except Uncle Hoss.” and Reuben’s laughter became louder as if that was the funniest joke of all.

Sofia laughed too, but she saw her mother’s stern expression and shake of the head. With a sigh she turned and made her way up to her room. Olivia now looked over at Reuben who was playing cup and ball, she shook her head and asked him if he knew where his brother, Nathaniel. was to which Reuben shook his head and shrugged.

“That;s not good enough, Reuben…you should know where your brother is, after all, you are the eldest…”

Reuben nodded, apologised and put away the toy, it was Nathaniel’s’ anyway, he himself was too old for such things now.

“Sounds like Pa’s home…”

Olivia paused in her task of setting out the table and gave a slight shrug, she could not hear anything and so commented to Reuben that he had sharp ears to have heard his father from outside…but then, usually one could …hear him that is…usually.

……

It didn’t take Ben long to saddle up his horse, and then there was Erik demanding a ride with uplifted arms and a smile on his little freckled face. So Ben lifted him up into the saddle and walked him around the yard a little, proud of the straight back, and gentle hands on the reins, the boy was a natural rider.

“Down you come now, son, I have to get going….

“Can I come…”

“Not this time…”

“Awww.” bottom lip trembling…eyelids blinking..but Ben was used to little boys using those kind of tricks…even Adam had used that one many a time when he had been a boy.

………….

James led Sport into the stables and to the stall he could remember had been the big chestnuts own….while he carefully unsaddled him and removed the harness, for he was a good liveryman as well as a consummate horseman. James had always gone by the adage to look after ones horse first, and now he did that, taking up precious time to attend to Sport, rubbing him down with a handy old rag he found draped over a railing.

But it was a strain on his patience. Like an alcoholic knowing there was the best glass of Glenfiddich whiskey poured out within hands reach..just a stall away was Kami..Kamille ..he hurried over clearing down the last remnants of sweat from the chestnuts broad back. Then stepped back to leave Sport to his hay bag, stepped back into the stall where Kami was watching with her large black brown eyes.

It took no time at all to swing the saddle onto her back, and to bridle her, slipping the bit between her teeth, to stroke her sleek neck beneath the fall of mane that swept across his arm…he could barely breathe now. He stepped back to look at her.

Wonderful.

Beautiful.

He shook his head in admiration and tried to think of a poem he had once read about beauty…but his head was jangling, a lot of words whispering around and around in the red mist that filled his brain..

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes;

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,

Had half impaired the nameless grace

Which waves in every raven tress,

Or softly lightens o’er her face;

Where thoughts serenely sweet express,

How pure, how dear their dwelling-place.

And on that cheek, and o’er that brow,

So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,

The smiles that win, the tints that glow,

But tell of days in goodness spent,

A mind at peace with all below,

A heart whose love is innocent!

He quoted it in a whisper, and in French…and even though Lord Byron had dedicated the poem to a woman, James could think only that had he seen this horse he would have written another, just as wonderful, in dedication to this animal. And did not the words apply fittingly enough? Her grace as she stood there, yes, so soft and so calm and so eloquent…..dark eyes looking at him ..what was she saying “Let’s go riding, James…let me show you how strong my legs are, and how swift I can move.”

He put out a hand and stroked her face, her cheek, and jowl…he ran a hand again along her sleek neck and then with a swift movement he was in the saddle. He picked up the reins.

“That’s my daddy’s horse….”

James looked down at the little boy standing close to them, curly black hair, two bright dark eyes a light frown, puzzled, on the smooth golden tan of his brow.

“I know. Your father gave me permission to take her for a ride….” he spoke kindly, gently. He knew that loud voices sometimes scared children and he did not want this child to get scared and go running into the house, screaming for help or whatever it was children did..”I will only be a short while…”

“But daddy doesn’t like it when people want to ride Kami…he says no, all the time…”

The boy was calling him a liar! What insolence…James tossed his head and pulled at the reins

“Out of the way, little boy” he said, his thin lips drawn across his teeth “Or you’ll get hurt.”

 

Chapter 60

“MOMMY! MOMMY!”

The scream summoning Olivia from whatever else she had been doing roused her to immediate action, not only her, but Reuben and Chen all came running to the foot of the stairs ..Olivia running ahead of them, tripping on her skirts, finding her footing again and rushing onwards

Sofia stood in front of her bedroom window …her face white, and her eyes wide ..still in her pretty dress which was just half unbuttoned…

She had not rushed to change her dress. She had pirouetted in front of the mirror for a while and then, walking towards the window, slowly unbuttoning her dress she had looked out ..

“What’s wrong, what’s wrong?” Olivia cried, trying to stem the panic in her voice, while another voice in her head was saying ‘keep calm, don’t panic…keep calm.’

“There’s a man…he took Kami and he knocked Nathaniel down and…” Sofia ended with a squeal and hands over her face “he rode away….on Kami…”

Chen stayed to calm her, placed a gentle hand on her shoulder while Olivia and Reuben turned, hurried down the stairs, out through the doors to the yard ….there were the sounds of a horse retreating in the distance or was that their imagination because all their attention was now on the child sprawled out on the ground before them,

That same voice in her head telling her not to panic, to keep calm as she ran to where Nathaniel lay, gathered him in her arms,,, ‘don’t panic…stay calm’ …but she burst into sobs, as she cradled him close against her breast and mumbled his name.

Reuben knelt beside them, his mother and his brother. He touched Nathaniel’s hand, and felt for the pulse, just like Pa had shown him many times before and he could hear his voice now..you feel for the pulse, just like this ..just like this…

………….

James leaned closer to the horses neck, the silky mane flowing against his face. He had no idea where he was going, but he turned left, up a narrow track covered here and there with undergrowth. The horse was wonderful. Beyond his expectation, or perhaps, equal to his imagination. A Pegasus without wings…wonderful.

His head was aching though, that familiar pounding at the back of his skull which totally spoiled the ride, a reminder that…something was wrong.

The horse trotted onwards, easily picking her way through the scree and the mess on the track, dainty as a lady would be picking her way through a ball room, matching her stride to the music…James was lost in his reverie. No memory of the child. No memory of anything at all really, just enjoying the moment, apart from that thudding in his head..

Adam had seen the flash of the animal ahead, noticed the way it had been directed upon the hill that would have overlooked Joe’s house and provide an amazing view of the river and the surrounding land. He turned the horse from the track to his house and followed along in the direction that James had taken.

He vaguely heard the shout ..his name…but urged the horse onwards, up through he scree..behind him he could hear the other horses, and knew that Nate and Ethan were close behind him.

Ben had seen Adam, followed by the other two men, and was wondering what was going on. He paused his horse to a walk, shouted to Adam but his son did not respond instead he seemed to have urged his horse to move on faster.

Shaking his head Ben was about to nudge Cinnamon to follow when Reuben appeared, and there was no doubt that the boy was emotionally torn, even as he was trying to get Max to go faster, there was no hesitation in his intention to pursue…who? He had arrived at the main track too late to have seen his father and the two other men…and now, with a groan he slowed his horse and turned to his grandfather

“Did you see him?”

“See who?” Ben asked and nudged his horse closer to the boy, and put out a hand to rest upon Reuben’s arm “Slow down, son, what’s going on here.”

Reuben gulped the thickening in his throat, tried to blink away tears although one escaped and trickled down his cheek

“It was that man…the Irishman…he came and took Kami…he knocked Nathaniel down..and..”

“Nathaniel? Where is he? Is he – alright?”

Ben looked around first at the track Adam had taken, then back to the boy. No point in chasing after his own son, Adam knew what he was doing, the main thing now was to calm Reuben and see that Nathaniel was safe.

“Come on, Reuben, let’s get back home…your Ma needs you now..”

“But..he took Kami…”

“Your Pa will see to that..come along..”

Olivia was still there, crouched over her boy, holding him close, swaying back and forth because just then the strength had gone out of her legs and she was not sure if she would be able to get to her feet. Just staying there, holding her boy, keeping him close, just to make sure he was safe..in her arms.

Ben dismounted and hurried to her side, leaned down and placed his hands on her upper arms, and feeling their strength, their warmth she looked up through tear soaked lashes “Is he alright? Ben…he isn’t dead is he?”

Her words came in a wail of sound and Ben shook his head and then leaned forward to look down at the boy. Nathaniel looked as though he were asleep. There was no visible injury on him, no blood, no cuts or grazes. It was only when she loosened her hold on the child that Ben saw the blood on her dress and then realised that the wound was to the back of the head and bleeding profusely.

“Livvy…we need to get him inside. Let me take him now..”

“No…” she clung to him more tightly

“We need to make sure he is alright, and look after him. He will be alright, Livvy..he just needs to get indoors and have some attention to that wound he’s got.”

“Oh Ben….” her words were a moan, a groan,she shook her head and then slowly allowed him to lean down and pick the child up and hold him against his body.

Reuben came and helped her to her feet, whispering words that made no sense, just words that he hoped she would hear and remember that he was there to look after her, no matter what…..

………….

James stopped the horse from going any further. Sitting in that saddle with the reins loose between his fingers he looked around him. The view…oh well, it was not Ireland, no rolling green hills and swaying trees with the white stone houses dotted here and there,..but even so, it was enthralling.

He could see the blue of the river as it wound its way through the sweep of land ..he could see the blue of the sky reflected clearly in the waters and he realised it was where they had only recently had their rather lavish picnic. He could feel the pain thumping in his skull and he could hear the sound of horses…or was that his imagination ? He was too tired to turn around to look.

So much had happened these past days, so much that he could not quite grasp. He knew he had found his son,and in doing so found his grandson…he shook his head…no, they did not matter really, not in his world. It was all a game wasn’t it?

He leaned forward as though to see more clearly the view..it was indeed beautiful, he had to admit that, but better by far were the views he had from the hills in Galway,back home, in Ireland.

Someone was shouting, calling his name, and telling him to dismount immediately. Well, he took no notice of that, there was so much to think about, his head was full of things to think about…of Roisin, lovely Roisin. If only she had not wanted to find her son so much, they could have stayed at home…just paid the detective, that man Cotter, and read his reports….it would have all been alright if they could just have stayed home.

Roisin,,,he loved her so much, so he had said yes, let us go to America..and that had been a big mistake.

He wished the man would stop shouting at him..

…………….

Adam dismounted and walked towards Kami, the man in the saddle remained quite still, quite calm.

“James…you know that stealing a man’s horse here could get you hanged.”

James frowned. Fancy saying such a thing in such a pleasant way. He did no want to bother to look down at him, he knew who it was of course, Adam Cartwright. Oh that thumping in his head…if it would only go.

“James…get down from the horse now…”

James sighed, released the reins and slid his feet from the stirrups, he smiled and looked down at Adam, shook his head at the sight of the gun in the man’s hand,

“No need for that…” he murmured

“You stole my horse…”

“I borrowed your horse…” James sighed, and then tried to dismount except that for some reason he could not move. “You know…Adam…I tried to explain…” he licked his lips, dry, so was his tongue, it seemed to fill his mouth “I wanted you to understand…”

“Understand?” Adam frowned and stepped back, holstered the gun..

“No one understands….”

James spoke in a whisper..he could sense that the world was tilting. Or may be he was…but it kept tilting until ..well, until there was nothing ..just nothing.

Adam knelt beside him as James Connolly lay upon the ground. A soft breeze came and caused dust to rise and fall gently back to the ground, ruffled the dead man’s hair, kissed his cheek with the caress of a lover. The three men stood for a while, removed their hats, thought their thoughts, before Nate checked the body and confirmed the man was dead, probably even before he hit the ground.

Adam Cartwright pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He knew James was right, no one understood, he had not understood when Ross had lost his way behind that dark gate and by not understanding had been unable to help his friend. Now here another soul …and Adam wondered if anyone would ever understand the torment of a soul lost .when the mind wanders along one way, when the rest of the world meanders along its way…who understands?

He had wept when Ross had died in his arms…he looked over at Nate, at Ethan.. and they looked back at him..they did not understand either.

 

Chapter 61

It had rained overnight. A soft but consistent rain that softened the soil and freshened the air. The colours of the wild flowers sparkled with their brightness, and the grass seemed all the greener.

Ben had followed the two law men with James’ body secured to the saddle of the now spare horse . He felt that as the older man he should be the one to tell Roisin and Aislyn about their loss, while Adam had returned home to tend to his wife and check on his young son.

The falling rain may have imitated tears falling from heaven, but thankfully there were no tears falling in either the Cartwright home or the Connolly’s hotel suite. It was, as Ben would tell them later, a rather surreal experience.

James body was taken to Rileys to be attended to..under cover of darkness there was no one to see the rather ignominious handling of the body as Nate and Ethan removed him from the horse and carried him into the Undertakers. When Riley’s jaw dropped and eyes bulged at the recognition of the dead man Nate had just told him to prepare the man for burial, and that Mrs Connolly would come with instructions in the morning.

He was still standing with his mouth open when the two men strode away back to the office to have a ‘deep and meaningful’ conversation with their prisoner, Drew Coltrane.

…………..

Ben stood in the hallway waiting for the door to the Connolly suite to open clutching his hat against his chest and wondering how he was going to begin the conversation. He waited for some moments before the door opened and Aislyn stood before him, and smiled, her eyes bright with the pleasure of seeing him

“Mr Cartwright, how good to see you it is..do come in.” she stepped to one side and closed the door behind him. “We were not expecting visitors at this hour” she said, trailing behind him as he approached Roisin who stood up from the chair to face him, “We were waiting for father to return from wherever he has -” she paused, looked at her mother “What is it? Mother?” then she turned to Ben “What’s happened?”

Roisin remained standing, hands clasped as though in prayer, but face calm, eyes fixed on Ben’s face and then she nodded “Something has happened – to James?”

“I am sorry….” Ben nodded “Yes, er – you may want to sit down, Mrs Connolly…” and he gestured towards the chair she had just vacated

Aislyn came quickly to stand beside her mother, her arm around her mother’s waist, and then she turned her eyes to confront Ben . “Is he dead?”

Ben inclined his head “He rode to the Ponderosa – went riding on – Kami, Adam’s horse – and – collapsed. “ he paused and looked at them both, but their faces remained unchanged, no shock, no horror or gasps of agonised grief at the loss of their husband, father…he cleared his throat again “I am sorry, but he died right there…his body is at Rileys… “

Roisin inclined her head and then slowly lowered herself down on the chair , shook her head and stared at the far wall, it was obvious that there were many words tumbling about in her head and she was at a loss about which ones to select. Aislyn just reached out to take her mother’s hand and then turned to Ben “Thank you, Mr Cartwright. I’m – we’re – sorry you had to be inconvenienced like this…”

Ben waited, surely something more had to be said ? The first pattering of rain against the window heralded a break in the weather. He looked at Roisin “Is there anything I can do to help you – with anything at all -?”

Roisin blinked as though just awakening, her thoughts scrambled, she gathered them together. and nodded “Yes, Mr Cartwright – there is a big favour I would like to ask of you – “

Afterwards with the knowledge that the trip home would probably give him pneumonia, Ben booked himself into the hotel for the night.

………….

Reuben had opened the door to his father, with Sofia hovering beside him before she launched herself into her father’s arms, her face blotched by tears that had been shed …Reuben blurted it all out, nerves, fear, relief all combined for the whole mix of words to tumble out before Sofia could get a word in edgewise.

“But he is alright?” Adam said more than once as he made his way up the stairs to the bedroom and Sofia was squeaking “Yes, but Mommy said he is to stay in bed and he …he has a head ache…”

Olivia was sitting beside her son’s bed, holding his hand and he sleeping…his dark hair just curls like petals against the white pillows upon which his head was resting. She turned to look over her shoulder, relief at seeing Adam obvious on her face, and seeing the fear on his countenance she said quietly “He is alright, he is alright…really he is….”

“Pa said there was a lot of blood…” he swallowed a huge lump of whatever that had got caught in his throat, “That Reuben could not find a pulse…”

“I did look…” Reuben declared behind them, stoutly prepared to defend himself.

Olivia smiled and nodded “Hard to find a pulse on a child. The blood from a scalp wound is always frightening, but it was alright,” she reached for his hand “Chen cleaned it up and look, he’s sleeping well.”

“Is that safe? Are you sure he has not got a concussion? I thought …” he paused and then heaved a sigh and bowed his head “Pa scared me to death….”

“I think we can safely say that your son has inherited the Cartwrights thick skull. Come…let’s leave him to sleep now…”

“I’ll look after him,” Sofia declared, clutching her clasped hands to her chest and trying to look as much like a saint as possible.

Adam stayed where he was, then slowly raised his hands and pressed his fingers against his temples , closed his eyes and heaved in a deep breath. Then he opened his eyes and looked at Olivia,

“What exactly did happen?”

A babble of words..Sofia had to say what she had seen, Reuben had to tell what he had done…and then Olivia raised her hand and quietened them both “James Connolly stole Kami, I think Nathaniel was just in the way and got knocked down……”

“I see…..” Adam nodded and walked over to the bed, looked down at the boy, stroked back dark curls from the golden tanned brow. The skin was cool to the touch, there was not a hint of fever. So he swallowed again, cleared his throat and turned away.

Once downstairs he poured himself a drink, something he seldom did before the children were in bed, but he surely felt the need this time and as Olivia approached he caught her hand “James is dead.”

She looked at him, her eyes searching his face, looking into the dark eyes, and then she nodded and leaned in to kiss him gently “How?”

Adam gulped down some of the whiskey and hauled in his breath “Well, to be honest, he just fell off the horse.”

………………….

Riley opened the door to admit the two ladies clad in black, and also Ben Cartwright. He stepped away from the entrance to his ‘chapel of rest’ and led the way to where James Connolly lay in his silk and satin trimmed coffin. He then stood back against the wall to allow the two women to approach and gaze upon the ‘dearly departed’ although he get the impression that one could remove the dearly aspect, departed was sufficient for which they appeared to be very grateful.

James looked very young as he lay there in his smart suit, Italian cut shoes, silk shirt and cravat. His hair was groomed neatly, and he looked at peace. Perhaps for the first time in his life he actually was…at peace.

Roisin turned aside to look at the Undertaker and beckoned him over. In a manner that Dickens could have used to describe one of his characters by name Uriah Heep, Riley approached, and waited. There was sure to be something more to come and perhaps….easy money.

“Did you want me to make one of those special coffin lids, like the other one….” he murmured as she seemed hesitant to speak.

“No. Perhaps you could just remove the coffin lid with the coat of arms from the other coffin..and put this information on the plaque. That would please him…he will be buried in Ireland in the family crypt.”

She turned then towards the coffin where Thomas and Margaret lay beneath the ornate lid, and she placed hand on it, stroked it gently

“Thomas lived and proved he did not need a coat of arms to prove himself a brave gentleman…and his wife ..a courageous young woman. He would be content with a plain coffin lid…please…Mr Riley could you engrave the details ..” she passed over another slip of paper “and add ..Parents of Erik Cartwright.”

He nodded and looked at the paper, the date of Thomas birth and death, of Margarets death…he nodded and was about to speak when Ben spoke up

“Thomas and Margaret are going to be buried on the Ponderosa, Mr Riley. Could you arrange for them to be there tomorrow morning. The best funeral cortège please, we owe them a lot…we would like them to have the best that you have on offer…”

.Rileys mind was ticking over doing the math……there was the carriage, the black horses and the plumes on the harnesses, and there was…he paused…it was a long trip to the Ponderosa; they would have to forego the ceremonial walk,.where normally he would take the lead in the procession wearing his very best suit and old Timothy O’Briens top hat…the walk would kill him!!!

Ben nodded “My sons will dig er prepare the grave ..you understand..” he glanced at Roisin and Aislyn “We’ll deal with that task.”

……

So now here they stood, men with their heads bare, women in black with their bonnets fluttering with feathers or flowers, all there to pay their respects to Thomas and Margaret O’Connell. That had been the name Thomas had chosen and lived by, that was the name Roisin felt he would have preferred to have been buried with, he and his wife.

The thought of them both in the same coffin, as Riley had said once before, like in their marital bed embracing perhaps…but together. . That had been some comfort for her. She wanted to feel that it made up for the way James had treated Margaret, although even she could understand the reasons why he had turned her away as he had done.

The coffin was lowered by Hoss, Joe and Adam, by Ben and Paul Martin…flowers on the coffin lid .and then the straps removed Roisin threw in a handful of soil, as did Aislyn.

The rain had softened the soil, the air felt fresh, the smell of flowers was everywhere as those who had known the couple in the years past, now filed by and put down their offerings…Roisin watched them go by, and thanked each and every one for coming, for remembering. She knew that there would be days she would wish he were closer, back home with them in Ireland but then she knew also that a little boy would grow up knowing his mother and father were not so far from him ..he could come and visit..should he have a wish to do so.

Joe clasped his wife’s hand and while she watched the people coming, going, he turned to look at another grave not so far away…he had not visited his mother’s grave for so long now…and felt a touch of shame that time has passed and he so neglectful. He thought of her now, the vague drift of memory that he had of her, growing ever fainter as the years passed.

He caught Ben’s eye and lowered his head, turned away. Ben would understand, and Joe wondered if his father came visiting…Hoss came and stood by his side now, Hester also. The four of them stood side by side, they had no reason to speak but their heads were full of memories of past loves, lost loves.

Ben came and stood beside Adam and placed a hand on his eldest sons shoulder “What’s on your mind, son?”

Adam did not answer right away, he had been caught up in memories of his own and now just quietly murmured “Stone roses” and knew that Ben would understand what that meant..the stone roses engraved long ago on a little headstone in a New England grave yard where Elizabeth had slept for so many years now……..

 

They stood silently shoulder to shoulder, side by side, minds travelling the years, seeing the faces, remembering…

Sometimes in the end, that is all one has ..are the memories.

 

Finis

 

31.03.2024