Summary; A follow up to Another Season.

Rated: T  WC 27,000

Every Purpose Under Heaven Series:

Every Purpose Under Heaven
Another Season
Dru
All Our Yesterdays

 

Dru

Ben Cartwright stood in the middle of Virginia City’s dusty Main Street impatiently pacing that hot July afternoon. The noon stage was late, as always, and he got the usual non-committal shrug from Pete Larkins at the Overland Depot office. The patriarch of the Ponderosa was normally a patient man, but he had things to do and people to see, foremost, his youngest son who was to arrive after three months spent visiting relatives in St. Louis. He had missed the young man immensely, and couldn’t wait to tell him his brother Hoss’ big news.

 

There hadn’t been enough time to send a letter to inform Joseph that his brother was about to be married. Ben figured that by the time the letter got to St. Louis that his son would be leaving for home, so he decided to wait until he returned. Now the anxious father was about to burst with excitement over two very important events that were to take place that day. First, the wild twenty-one year old would be arriving back to hearth and home, and second, Hoss was going to announce his engagement that night at a celebration at the Ponderosa Ranch. Before long Virginia City and all points in each direction would be spreading the joyous news that a woman had landed one of the Cartwright boys. Ben smiled in spite of himself, thinking of how nervous Hoss had been when he had told him of his plans to wed. He knew that Joseph would be just as surprised as his father had been by the whirlwind courtship and proposal.

 

By the time Ben stepped back up onto the sidewalk and had peered into the window of the telegraph office, seeking Pete once more, the stagecoach rounded the edge of town. Hearing the fast approach of horses, he stopped his efforts and hurried to where Joe would be disembarking soon. The driver pulled back hard on his reins and the stage came to an abrupt stop in front of the depot. Will Jeffers climbed down from his perch and set the wooden steps in front of the door and slowly people began to descend from the stage. Ben waited, and craned his neck for a peek at his son. Joseph finally came into view, after he assisted a small child down to its mother.

 

“Pa!” Joe chimed out loudly and hopped down from the stage.

 

“Good to see you, Son!” Ben’s voice boomed out cheerily as he pulled his son into an embrace. He hugged him briefly and then pulled back to get a good look at the boy. “Now what is this?” Pa asked, as he pointed towards the long shaggy hair, which fell almost to his son’s shoulders. Joe also sported what looked like the beginnings of a mustache.

 

“Hey Pa—you know you always said I looked like a cheap riverboat gambler,” Joe laughed and retrieved his bags quickly from the driver. “I actually had the chance on this trip to get on one of those river boats—and well—you know I wanted to look the part!”

 

“Very funny,” Ben sighed and draped his arm around his son’s shoulder as they moved towards the waiting buckboard, “I suppose you won some money then?”

 

“Naw—but I only lost ten or fifteen—” Joe paused and waited for his pa to take the bait.

 

“Ten or fifteen dollars?” Ben went for it.

 

“No ten or fifteen thousand,” Joe replied and waited for the explosion.

 

“Oh—well—that’s not so bad,” Ben nodded, knowing good and well that Joe was trying for a shocked reaction to his claim. “Guess I’ll just have to raise your wages to make up the difference!”

 

“You ARE my father —Ben Cartwright—right?” Joe shot back.

 

Ben laughed and pulled the brim of Joe’s hat down over his eyes. “I’ve missed your awful sense of humor, Son.”

 

“I’ve missed your over reacting too, Pa!” Joe quipped. “Hey—by the way—where’s my welcoming committee? You know the fan fare —my brothers—Hop Sing? You’d think no one even cared I was back but you!”

 

“Oh—well—that’s a long story. Don’t worry though; they all missed you. Your brothers especially, since they had to do your chores!” Ben laughed and sent the team of horses towards the end of town.

 

“Okay, so what’s going on?”

 

“Just a minute—no story until you go in there,” Ben pointed as the buckboard pulled up in front of the barbershop.

 

“C’mon, Pa! I bet it will grow on you,” Joe grinned and swiped his mustache with his left index finger for effect.

 

“No—and it’s not going to grow on YOU either! Now go on get in there. I think I’ll get a trim and a shave while you’re getting more presentable. We have a party to go to tonight and I want to look good,” Ben replied. He tied the reins of the team and then climbed out of the buckboard. When Joe didn’t come down from his seat Ben took on a paternal stance, with his hands on his hips and his feet spread. “Joseph Francis Cartwright!” he bellowed.
Joe’s contagious laughter twittered out and he climbed down from the buckboard and put his arm around his father. “It’s good to be home, Pa. I sure have missed the subtle way you talk to me. Now tell me all about my welcome home party!”

 

“Sorry Joseph, the party isn’t for you this time. But, I’ll explain the whole thing on the way home. Looks like it’s gonna take awhile to cut through that mane of yours, so we’d better get in there right now,” Ben announced and opened the door to the barber shop and pushed his son in ahead of him.

 

 

 

The dense forests of the Ponderosa loomed in the distance as Ben and Joe made their journey home. After some adventurous tales of his trip were told, Joe settled back and let his father fill him in on the big news of Hoss’ engagement.

 

“I can’t believe it!” Joe beamed. “Hoss found a gal—what’s she like, Pa?”

 

“Oh she’s pretty—but you’ll see for yourself tonight. Hoss even bought a new suit for the occasion and Hop Sing is busy decorating the house trying to gussy it up for the big announcement.”

 

“What’s her name? Anyone I know?” Joe’s curiosity was at its zenith now.

 

“Drucilla Carrington—of course your brother shortened that down to Dru,” Ben smiled and reined the team of horses towards the road, which led to the homestead.

 

“Never heard of her—where’s she from, Pa?”

 

“Joseph—relax you’ve got plenty of time to learn all the details,” Pa sighed. He had forgotten how inquisitive his youngest could be at times.

 

“Hey it isn’t every day that I get a sister you know,” Joe returned.

 

Ben patted his son’s knee and chuckled, “Okay, she’s from Kentucky. Drucilla’s an only child and her parents are deceased. She came to Virginia City via San Francisco where she was staying with an old maid aunt. Mrs. O’Malley rented out a room to Dru at her boarding house and that, Joseph, is about the extent of it.”

 

“Yeah but what does she look like?” Joe repeated, not satisfied yet.

 

“She’s a red head and very petite. I can’t tell you her eye color—but I’m sure you’ll fill me in after tonight!” Ben grinned and watched as Joe finally sank back against the seat and pulled his hat over his eyes.

 

“He’s been dating her for two months you said earlier—so isn’t this jumping the gun a bit? I mean what’s the hurry?”

 

“They are young and in love, and that’s all that matters now isn’t it, Joseph?”

 

“Yeah—I guess—just glad they waited for me to get home.”

 

“Now, do you really think your brother would get married without his pesky baby brother around to pester him?” Ben asked ironically.

 

“Nope—not Hoss. Hey—betcha he will want me to be his best man, huh?”

 

“Well, you know Adam is hoping the same thing,” Ben reminded the boy.

 

“Well older brother is okay for a groomsman, but I do cut quite a figure in my blue suit you know? I would make a much more impressive best man than him!” Joe replied in true conceited fashion.

 

Ben snapped at the reins to send the team into a trot. He wanted to get home and see to the last minute details of the party. Ben also needed a headache powder after listening to his son go on and on about the wedding and the woman who had stolen Hoss’ heart.

 

Pulling up into the front yard, Joe told his father to go ahead into the house and he would tend to the team of horses. Ben knew that it was just an excuse made by his son so he could have some time in the barn to see his prized pinto. He acquiesced and entered the ranch house to see Hop Sing diligently at work decorating the living room. It wasn’t long before Adam came down the stairs and informed his father that things were running along fine in preparation for the engagement party. He also let Ben know that Hoss was out with Dru, but that he would be back home shortly to get ready.

 

After unharnessing the team of horses and putting away the buckboard, Joe stood next to his pinto brushing it as he told the horse all about his trip. He didn’t hear the approach of Hoss, and it wasn’t until he was swept up into a huge bear hug that Joe knew he was there.

 

“Little Brother am I glad to see you!” Hoss exclaimed, still holding his brother tightly.

 

“Yeah—me too—but you want to ease up a bit—I can’t breathe!” Joe laughed.

 

“Oh—sorry. How you doing, Joe? Did you have a good trip?” Hoss asked, and released his brother from his vice-like grip.

 

“Sure—it was great. But, enough about me—what’s this about you getting hitched? I could hardly believe it when Pa told me. So some gal finally got you in her sights huh?”
“Not just “some gal” Joseph!” Hoss objected. “Dru is the most beautiful girl in the world.”

 

Joe laughed and playfully punched at his brother’s rib cage. “I expect she is—if you are fixing to tie the knot so soon. Hey—am I best man or not?” Joe asked seriously.

 

“Now now—I’m still figuring that one out, Joe!” Hoss chuckled. “I mean—you, Adam, Pa, heck even Hop Sing wants that honor. Now you tell me how to satisfy all of you?”

 

“Oh that’s easy—elope!” Joe retorted, grinning at the exuberance displayed all over Hoss’ face.

 

“Uh uh, nothing doing! My bride’s gonna have the works! The church, the flowers, the whole nine yards,” Hoss insisted.

 

Joe put his hand on his brother’s massive shoulder and smiled. “I don’t reckon I’ve ever seen you this happy. And—well—I’m happy for you—you big lug!” Joe replied seriously, and hugged his brother.

 

“Well, what are we doing out here anyhow?” Hoss said, and wiped at his misty eyes. “Let’s go inside and get purdied up! I want to announce to the whole world tonight that Eric Hoss Cartwright is gonna marry Drucilla Carrington.”

 

“Dah dum dum dum, dah dum dum dum, dah dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum,” Joe hummed the wedding march and walked out of the barn with his brother at his side.

 

 

 

The two Cartwright brothers hurried inside the ranch house to start preparations for the big night. Joe only had a minute to shake hands with Adam before Hop Sing pulled him away and into the kitchen. His initial thought was that the Chinese member of the family was happy to see him after such a long absence, but soon he learned the real reason. Hop Sing began to order the youngest member of the family around, telling him what to do and where to go. Joe, indignant at first, warmed up to the loud banter when Hop Sing smiled and handed him a homemade cookie and hugged his arm. As long as he was appreciated, Joe would do anything for his former babysitter. Soon the both of them had the entire living room glowing with candles and had set flowers on all the tables. Joe moved the furniture wherever Hop Sing directed, and all without the assistance of the other family members who had welcomed the additional help by heading to their rooms to get dressed in their best suits. After two hours, Joe also jumped ship and left Hop Sing to his own devices so that he could grab a quick bath before the guests started to arrive.

 

Joe idled into his teal colored suit coat and stood looking at himself in the mirror on his bureau. He smiled at the reflection, as he did feel he looked much better than he had earlier in the day. Joe didn’t want his father to catch on, but he had been looking forward to a haircut once he arrived back home. Though he did miss the mustache, thinking it made him look much older, Pa had paid for it all, so he decided not to say anything about the man’s request. Having washed away the trail dust and put on a good amount of Bay Rum cologne, Joe felt he would have no trouble catching a few dances with the unattached women at the party.

 

Adam knocked on Joe’s bedroom door, and walked in, not waiting for the young man’s approval. He smiled as he watched his brother fighting to get his string tie to sit right on his shirt. Joe fumbled with it awhile before his big brother moved in to help.

 

“When you gonna learn to fix your tie, Joe? I swear you are going to be eighty years old and one of us will still be tying it for you,” Adam fussed as he stepped in closer and made the loop and brought it into a small bow. “There.”

 

“Thanks Older Brother. By the way, you won’t have to do these in a few years. No sir—I will be getting a filly to marry me just like brother Hoss! Yep, then she can tie these blasted things for me,” Joe replied smiling.

 

“Filly? You going to marry your horse?” Adam joked.

 

“Very funny—besides—if Cochise were a woman—well—she’d be the prettiest gal around,” Joe defended what he had said.

 

Adam broke out in laughter and patted his brother’s shoulder. “Joe—sometimes I really worry about you, Kid!”

 

“Isn’t it about time YOU found someone Adam? I mean—you are the ELDER around here. What’s it gonna take, a female Bill Shakespeare?” Joe teased.

 

“Just stop jawing and get your butt downstairs. And—Joe?” Adam asked as he raised his eyebrows and held his nose.

 

“What?” Joe turned, wondering what his brother was doing.

 

“You might want to take some of that Bay Rum off you. You smell like the Sunday Women’s Social Club!” Adam announced and waved his hand in front of his face to ward off the strong odor.

 

“Well—does that mean you attend the Sunday Women’s Social Club, Big Brother?” Joe quipped.

 

Adam tossed one of the pillows from Joe’s bed at his brother and ducked out of the bedroom. Joe tried to get out of the way of the assault, and in doing so; he accidentally got his fingers caught in his tie, pulling it loose again.
“Dad burn you Adam!” Joe shouted and threw his hairbrush at the closing door.

 

Ben had heard a commotion and saw Adam hurrying out of his little brother’s room. He decided to check things out, and made it to the door just in time to get a hairbrush thrown at him. Luckily Pa had grown accustomed to such things, having raised three boys by himself, and his reflexes were sharp. He was able to catch the hair brush in mid air before it hit him. He turned towards Joe and saw the young man scrunch up his face.

 

“Gee—sorry about that, Pa. It was meant for Adam,” Joe explained.

 

Ben walked across the room trying to keep his stern visage. He was, in fact, very amused by the antics of his two sons, especially the ones who most often fought. Ben was beginning to feel the pangs of age creeping up on him, now that Hoss was soon to leave the nest. He wondered how long it would be before he would be alone in the house. Ben tried to get a grip on his emotions as he turned and stared at his youngest. The night was one for celebrating and not for sad reflection. Showing a stiff upper lip, he put his hand on Joe’s shoulder and directed his gaze.

 

“Just keep this on that bureau or I might find another use for it, Joseph,” Ben warned sternly, but couldn’t help but to break into a smile as he set the brush down.

 

“Is that a threat or a promise?” Joe quipped.

 

“Both. Now be on your best behavior tonight, okay?” Pa asked, as he moved closer and automatically began to adjust his son’s tie.

 

“Need you ask? Aren’t I always the most eloquent member of this family?”

 

Ben felt his son’s forehead and then frowned.

 

“What’s wrong, Pa? I don’t have a fever—do I?”

 

“No—just feeling to see if you had hit your head. Obviously your recollection has been affected by something,” Ben answered chuckling.

 

“Very funny. Just what Drucilla needs, a comedian for a father-in-law!” Joe retorted.

 

“Come on—eloquent one. Let’s see you dazzle the guests as usual,” Ben announced, and pushed Joe towards the door.
Before long, the entire living room was filled with the buzz of commotion from numerous friends of the Cartwrights. While Joe and Adam mingled with the guests, Ben made a point to thank Hop Sing for all he had done to make the house look spectacular. The Oriental man was very happy with the praise, but then hurried back into his kitchen to further prepare the food needed to feed the multitudes.

 

Almost an hour into the partying, Ben met Joe over by the punch bowl where he was ladling refreshments to some of his friends. After the crowd died down around the buffet table, Pa spoke to his youngest.

 

“What’s wrong, Joseph? You almost look nervous,” Ben smiled.

 

“No—but I am anxious to see Dru for myself. Wonder what’s keeping them so long?” Joe asked, looking around.

 

Ben was just about ready to respond when the front door opened and in walked Hoss with his bride to be. “There you have her, Joe,” Ben winked and moved over to the happy couple.

 

“Sorry we’re a bit late, Pa. Dru was kinda nervous about this. But, I convinced her that she’d be among friends,” Hoss explained.

 

“You certainly are, Young Lady,” Ben grinned and took the woman’s hand. He tucked it into the fold of his elbow and moved to address the room. “I’d like to present to you all Miss Drucilla Carrington, my future daughter-in-law!” Ben called out happily.

 

“Yeah, but she’s my gal, so I’ll take that hand, Pa!” Hoss sang out and took Dru’s arm. The crowd laughed at the gentle tug of war going on and Drucilla bowed towards them all.

 

“I just want to tell you all how happy I am. Hoss is the love of my life. Thank you all for joining us on this joyous occasion,” Dru spoke out smiling.

 

There was a loud wave of applause and then the band fired up with a song for the two love birds and they began dancing. Ben and Adam moved back over to where Joe was standing.

 

“Well, Joseph—we’ll have to introduce you after this dance,” Pa said, and patted his son’s shoulder. When he didn’t get a response from the young man he stared at his face. “Joe? You in there?”

 

“Yeah—yeah, Pa,” Joe mumbled, still unable to take his eyes off the girl on the dance floor with his brother.

 

“Cat got your tongue, Kid? If so, it will be the first time!” Adam teased and helped himself to the punch.

 

“No—I’m fine—just fine,” Joe answered, but had a hard time convincing his family.
The dance was over and Hoss hurried over towards his little brother with his fiancé. “Here she is, Joe! Dru this is my younger brother Joe,” Hoss made the introductions.

 

“Nice to finally meet you, Joe. I’ve heard so much about you,” Dru said as she outstretched her hand to meet his.

 

Joe shook the woman’s hand and he swallowed hard, trying to regroup his emotions before replying, “Yeah—and I’ve heard a lot about you.”

 

“Oh—good I hope?” Dru asked, still showing off her dazzling smile.

 

“Yes—all good,” Joe nodded and then turned back towards the punch bowl. “Can I get you some punch?” Joe asked, but refused to look into the woman’s eyes.

 

“That would be lovely,” Dru nodded, “it was awfully dusty on the ride in. I guess it’s the drought like Hoss said.”

 

Adam, Hoss and Pa all noticed how ill at ease Joe seemed around the young lady and confused glances passed between the three of them. Finally, Ben cleared his throat and motioned to indicate Joe.

 

“I’m afraid we kinda sprang this whole party on Joseph right as he got off the stagecoach. I think he’s a bit tired from the journey,” Ben tried for a save, since Joe’s facial expression had turned quite glum as he handed the cup of punch to Dru.

 

“Yes—I’m sure you are, Joe. My that’s some trip you took—all the way to St. Louis I heard,” Dru tried to avoid the tense atmosphere that was suddenly overwhelming.

 

“Well—it wasn’t so bad,” Joe re-entered the conversation, trying to be as tactful as he could muster, “I think my father summed it up—guess it did tucker me out a bit. I was anxious to meet you, though, Dru. Hoss told me you were from Kentucky.”

 

“Yes, well—I was born there, but I went to live with my aunt at a very young age. She’s in San Francisco.”

 

Joe finally got up the nerve to look deeply into Dru’s dark blue eyes. “I might be mistaken—but haven’t we met somewhere before?”

 

“No—no I don’t think so,” Dru shook her head.

 

“C’mon Little Brother, don’t go using that old line on my gal like you use it on those fillies in Virginia City!” Hoss laughed and pulled Dru closer to him.

 

“I just thought that—well—I’ve been to San Francisco quite a few times—and that maybe we had met before,” Joe explained.

 

“No,” Dru grinned and put her arm around her fiancée waist, “I am sure I would remember you.”

 

“My mistake,” Joe nodded and looked away from the woman at last.

 

Ben tried to figure out what exactly was wrong with Joseph and why he was behaving so strangely. He decided to break up the little party around the punch bowl and move towards the other guests.

 

“I believe that I’d like to have a dance with my future daughter. If that’s okay with you, Hoss?” Ben asked, smiling proudly.

 

“Well, guess it’s okay with me—that is—if it’s okay with you, Honey?” Hoss replied.

 

“Nothing I’d like more,” Dru answered, with typical charm. She let Ben lead her onto the dance floor as another round of music began.

 

Hoss and Adam walked back over to their little brother, who was downing another glass of spiked punch at the time.

 

“You’re gonna drown in that punch bowl if you keep drinking like that, Joe,” Adam warned.

 

“No—this is my last one. Listen Hoss, I hate to do this, but I have to get some shut eye. I didn’t know how tired I was until now. I hope you will give Dru my apologies.” Joe asked, setting down his empty glass.

 

“Sure, Joe. I’m sorry—guess this party being on the same day as your homecoming wasn’t such a good idea. I sure wanted you to have a good time,” Hoss said, feeling bad that he had overshadowed his little brother’s reappearance. He thought that Joe might be feeling a tad bit upset over that fact.

 

“Hey—no problem. You go on and have fun. I think Big Brother here will want a dance with Dru, so you’re gonna have your hands full trying to keep him away,” Joe replied, and turned for the staircase.

 

“Joe?” Hoss began, and grabbed his brother’s elbow.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Well what do you think? I done good didn’t I? Dru’s some gal huh?”

 

Joe tried to pull a smile from out of his gut. At the time he was having a hard time doing it, as he was besieged with fear over what might happen if he told his brother what he suspected about the girl.

 

“Yes, she’s some girl, Hoss,” Joe nodded and quickly ascended the stairs.

 

 

 

The ranch house stood quiet as Ben settled into his red leather chair by the fireplace and reflected on what a smashing success the night had been. Hop Sing had finished with cleaning up and putting the furniture back into place and had retired, while his boss had decided to wait for Hoss’ return from dropping Dru back at the boarding house in town. A smile creased his face as he stared into the burning embers of the fireplace. Drucilla seemed a good match for his middle boy and he looked forward to walking her down the aisle, as she had requested that night. She seemed to make a good impression on the guests and Ben hoped that soon the married couple would move into the house. He knew it would be short lived, as Hoss had already chosen the desired land he wanted to carve out of the Ponderosa’s one thousand square acres. Now it was just the business of selecting the desired floor plan for his own house, and Adam had volunteered his talents in architecture to help his brother with that chore. Ben thought on the future and the fact that there might be some grandchildren soon delighted him. He was deep in thought when he heard the voice on the staircase calling out to him.

 

“Pa?”

 

“Joseph? I thought you turned in hours ago,” Ben said looking over at his son, who was still dressed in his suit pants and white dress shirt.

 

“No—I couldn’t sleep,” Joe responded, and in his tone of voice his father could tell there was a problem.

 

“Come over here.”

 

Joe descended the staircase and took a seat on the settee opposite his pa.

 

“Now—what’s the trouble?” Ben asked, as he reached over and patted Joe’s arm. He noticed the forlorn look on his son’s face and wondered what was going on. Pa also knew that Joe wouldn’t have reappeared if he didn’t want to talk about whatever it was that had bothered him all evening.

 

“I hardly know where to start, Pa,” Joe confessed and looked down at the wood planking of the floor and sighed.
“Well, you’ve had a long day—many in fact—coming back from St. Louis. Then, we kinda dumped this big party on you—and you found out that your brother is getting married. Perhaps it’s just all the excitement?”

 

“No—no—I wish that were true, Pa. But it’s not. Where’s Hoss by the way?” Joe asked as his eyes scanned the room.

 

“Oh he’s out taking Dru back to the boarding house. Why?” Ben questioned, raising his eyebrows in characteristic fashion.

 

“‘Cause I wouldn’t want him to hear what I’m gonna tell you.”

 

“What’s going on, Joe? You acted a bit strange at the party, does this have to do with Dru?”

 

“Yes—it has A LOT to do with her!” Joe exclaimed, stood, and paced in front of the fireplace.

 

Ben approached his son and stopped his progression. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and turned him so he could read Joe’s facial expression. It was then that Ben realized that there had to be an awful secret forthcoming.

 

“What is it?” Ben asked worriedly. If there was something wrong with Hoss’ selection for a bride it might have a serious outcome and dread was starting to fill the anxious father’s heart.

 

“Pa—this isn’t going to be pretty,” Joe stammered and glanced over to the table in front of his father’s study. “Mind if I get some brandy?”

 

“Go ahead,” Ben nodded and watched as his son walked across the room.

 

Joe poured two glasses of the potent amber liquid and returned to the living room, handing his father one of them. “You might need this too before I’m through,” Joe said somberly.

 

“Let’s sit down then,” Ben replied and pointed towards the settee.

 

Joe sat as he had been directed and his father moved in next to him. He could feel Pa’s hand on his neck trying to offer him some consolation.

 

“Your neck is as stiff as a board, Joseph. You must be awfully afraid to tell me something,” Ben said as his fingers massaged the boy’s neck slowly.

 

“I’m afraid for Hoss’ sake, Pa—not my own.”
“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Ben reassured.

 

“Yeah, yeah I know,” Joe nodded, and took a sip of his brandy. He fought to put the whole event from his past in order to explain it thoroughly to his pa. “You remember—a little more than a year ago—that trip I took to Sacramento by myself?”

 

“I seem to recall something like that,” Pa nodded and thought on it a few minutes while waiting for Joe to continue. He didn’t want to hurry the boy up, as Ben could tell that he was struggling with his emotions.

 

“Yeah—you were gonna go with me—but at the last minute you had to go to San Francisco for that timber contract. So—I went on myself.”

 

“Oh—yeah—that’s right. Go on,” Ben urged.

 

“Well—it was kinda a tough time in my life—and I didn’t want to stay away from here too long. I just handled the paperwork for the horse deal with the army and came back. I was only gone a week,” Joe continued.

 

Ben thought back to the past and remembered how hard that year had been on his son. He had dealt with some very severe depression after having a run in with the law. It had all been caused by one evil man who had come into their lives. The man had been hired under false pretenses; his name was Luke Thrasher. Joe had killed the man in self-defense a short time later, after Luke had blackmailed him. Ben cringed when he remembered how his son had almost left the Ponderosa as well as the country after that event, but had been brought back to Virginia City to stand trial for murder. The trial had brought out everything that Joe and his entire family wanted to forget. Ben could still see Joe sitting on the witness chair in tears as he related how Luke had come to be killed in the fight. He could hear his son’s words as Joe described the awful details of the assault he had endured at the hands of Luke’s brother, one Cade Burroughs. It was in fact, the worst time in his son’s life, and it had been a miracle that the boy had survived it all. Ben now understood why Joe hadn’t stayed in Sacramento with strangers. He knew that the boy felt safer with his family than with anybody else. But, Ben was puzzled as to why Joe would bring up the trip to Sacramento if his problem had to do with Drucilla Carrington.

 

“What does that trip to Sacramento have to do with Dru, Son?” Ben asked quietly.

 

“Well, that last night that I was there I stayed at one of the local saloons. All the rooms in town were booked due to some convention at the time, so I just got one above the saloon. It wasn’t anything fancy, but I only needed it that one night. I wish now that I had just headed back here—but by the time I had talked to Colonel Evans it was already dark. I just figured I would head home the next morning,” Joe began his explanation of events, but he was having trouble with his words already. He hoped that his father would continue to be patient with him while he regrouped a bit.
“Did you see Dru there, Joe?” Ben guessed.

 

“Well—not in the saloon, Pa—it was up in my room actually,” Joe whispered and watched as his father’s face went white.

 

Ben slowly recovered from his son’s announcement. He knew the boy, knew him as well as any father could know a son. But, he wondered why Joe seemed so upset. Now he was saying something about a woman who had been in his room, a room that happened to be above a saloon? Continuing to process the information, he stared directly into his son’s eyes.

 

“No Pa—I didn’t do anything wrong, if that’s what that look is for,” Joe explained.

 

“No—I didn’t think you did, Joseph. But, I think you do need to explain that statement further. What was Dru doing up in your room?”

 

“I guess I need to tell you the whole thing—” Joe began but quickly cut off in mid-sentence.

 

“Please do!” Ben exclaimed and his hand squeezed his son’s neck a little harder than he had intended.

 

“Okay. I ate some dinner, then I played a couple hands of poker. I won about twenty-five dollars and called it quits. I wasn’t drunk by any means—only had a few beers. Compared to the whiskey I had been chugging a few weeks before then, I had cut down a whole lot! Anyway, I guess I was in bed before midnight. It wasn’t very comfortable in that room and the bar downstairs made a lot of noise, but I was so tired that I fell off right away. I was sleeping real good when all of a sudden I could feel someone laying next to me—”

 

“What!?” Ben cut his son off once again.

 

“Let me tell you I was just as surprised!” Joe replied and leaned back on the settee. His father stopped the massage of his neck and chugged the brandy down swiftly. “I had the lamp in the room turned down real low, but not completely out. As I started to come around I felt hands on me—touching me—in places I didn’t want anyone to touch.”

 

“Oh no—Joseph—after what you had gone through—I can imagine what you thought,” Ben whispered, knowing the many nightmares his son had been plagued with during the time he was on trial for killing Luke.

 

“Yeah—I know what you mean,” Joe frowned and finished his drink. He set the glass on top of the coffee table and then stared up at his pa. “I was scared, Pa—real scared. It was like I was in another awful dream—and this time there wasn’t the convenience of running to you! It only took a minute or two to realize that everything was very real. That’s when the woman spoke to me. She told me not to be shy—can you believe that?”

 

“No—no I can’t—but go on,” Ben answered, shaking his head in disbelief.

 

“I got out of bed immediately. I figured that the woman had gotten a hold of the wrong room, you know? I mean—it was a saloon and all—I figured it was one of “those” girls—and she got confused or something. When I told her that—that she’d gotten the wrong room—she said no she hadn’t. Then she walked over to me—I was only wearing my long johns—and she began to loosen the buttons. I pushed her away—and told her to get out of the room. Then I walked to the lamp and raised the wick. I got a good long look at her, Pa—I saw more than I ever wanted to.”

 

“And—it was Drucilla? Are you sure, Son?” Ben asked, praying that he was wrong.

 

“It was her all right—though when I saw her earlier today—well—at least she had her clothes on!” Joe exclaimed.

 

Ben stood and walked over to the brandy decanter. He refilled his glass and called over to his son, “You want more?”

 

“Heck yeah,” Joe replied and moved to stand next to his father.

 

Ben filled his son’s glass and then handed it over to him. He stared at Joe hard. Ben knew what it had taken for his son to have made the confession that he just had. Joe wouldn’t want to hurt his brother Hoss for all the money in the world, and he would know what such a revelation would do to the man. “What happened then, Joseph?” Ben finally choked the words out, though his heart was breaking.

 

“I told her to get her clothes on. She said I should reconsider, and that it would only cost me twenty dollars for her to stay and—well—you know. Anyway—I said I didn’t want her to stay. She got mad, Pa—REAL mad!”

 

“What did she say? Did she leave then?”

 

“She said there had to be something wrong with me to turn her down,” Joe said, and in his voice his father could tell that the remark had hurt the young man’s ego.

 

“There wasn’t,” Ben interjected, and touched his son’s arm sympathetically.

 

“Thanks, Pa,” Joe nodded towards the man and then sipped more brandy. “After what I had gone through with Cade—well—I wasn’t sure if there wasn’t something wrong with me to tell you the truth. But, it made me mad —someone slipping into my room like that—touching me—then saying I was wrong to ask them to leave. I found her clothes over on the table and tossed them to her. I told her she had five minutes to get dressed and out of there or I was gonna get the sheriff. She said some words—that I won’t repeat to you—but I tell you, Pa, they would make a sailor blush!”

 

“I can’t believe Dru could be like that. You’re sure, Joe—very sure that it was her?”

 

“Pa—do you think I would tell you this story if I wasn’t?” Joe replied and stared directly into his father’s brown eyes.

 

Ben knew what his son was getting at. Joe had kept the whole event a secret for over a year out of embarrassment; there wasn’t any reason for him to tell it that night other than the appearance of Drucilla Carrington. “No—no you wouldn’t. Go on—tell me the rest of this awful story,” Ben sighed and took a seat once more on the settee.

 

Joe moved to the hearth and looked into the dying embers. “She said if she showed up downstairs without the money that the bartender would smack her around.”

 

“Don’t tell me you paid her?” Ben asked, shocked by the implication.

 

“Yeah—heck yeah I paid her! I had to get her out of there you know? Besides—I didn’t want to stand there and debate her. I wanted her dressed and out of there. I handed her my poker winnings and she went to the door. That’s when she laughed at me and told me how stupid I was to pass up her offer. Then she just left. I packed my gear and slept over in the livery stable with Cochise after that. The next morning I headed back here. That’s it, Pa,” Joe sighed and sat on the edge of the coffee table exhausted from the emotion he had displayed by his confession. He dropped his face to rest in his hands as the room fell hushed once more.

 

Ben tried to take in everything his son had told him. He processed it in his mind over and over again. It would have such serious repercussions that Ben’s heart raced. How could he tell Hoss? Would the big man believe that his fiancé could do such a thing? He shook his head, paced the living room for a few minutes, and then looked over at his son. Joe seemed so forlorn that his father decided he needed to handle that situation first. He moved and stood over the boy and gently placed his hand on Joe’s shoulder.

 

“You did everything that I would have, Son. None of this is your fault. I’m sorry that happened to you—especially so soon after all you went through with Cade.”

 

“How am I gonna tell Hoss? He’s so in love with that woman!”

 

“I don’t want YOU to say anything, understood?” Ben instructed as he sat down next to Joe.

 

“Huh? Don’t you believe what I told you, Pa?”
“Of course I do—I just don’t want you to tell you brother. Let me do it.”

 

“He’s going to be so crushed by this, Pa. I hate that I ever ran into her in Sacramento. If I hadn’t gone there—” Joe began but was cut off.

 

“If you hadn’t gone there we might never have known that she was like that. How do you think Hoss would feel to find this out after the wedding?”

 

“Probably even worse than he will once he’s told. But, you think he’ll believe it when you tell him? You know Hoss, when he falls in love he falls hard.”

 

“I’ll tell him what you’ve said—then the rest is up to him. Is there anything—anything else you can think of that will confirm your story?”

 

Joe thought for a minute and then replied, “There is one thing—when I was handing her the money. I had to get my billfold—it was over by the light. She walked over to me—after getting her clothes back on—and reached for the money. I saw a scar on the inside of her right wrist—it was about three or four inches long. This evening—when she reached towards me to shake my hand—I saw the same scar, Pa.”

 

Ben let out his breath slowly and shook his head. “How did she think she could pull it off? I mean—when she saw you tonight—you’d think she would’ve known that you would tell someone about it?”

 

“Well, she’s probably at her place thinking about it right now, Pa. I betcha she’s figuring out how she’s gonna handle it when Hoss finds out the truth. Best thing would be for her to catch the next stage out of town—but I don’t think she’s the kind who runs away. If that night in my room was any example—I bet there are lots of other guys who could tell the same tale. She’s a lot of things, but she sure ain’t shy!”

 

Both men turned towards the door when they heard the loud footsteps coming from the porch. They knew it had to be Hoss returning from dropping off his fiancé.

 

“I’ll wait until tomorrow, Joseph. Perhaps you’d better go turn in?”

 

“Yes sir,” Joe nodded and headed for the stairs. He didn’t want to be around his brother until he knew the facts about Dru. Joe was afraid he couldn’t hide the truth from Hoss, as it would be very apparent on his face that there was trouble.

 

“Goodnight Joseph—try not to worry,” Ben called over to his son as he disappeared up the stairs.
Hoss walked inside the house a short time later and appeared to be glowing with happiness. He made his way over to his father and said, “Pa? Didn’t think you’d still be up!”

 

“Yes—I was just about ready for bed,” Ben replied, and had to clear his throat to do it.

 

“Yeah—it’s been a long night, but a fun one. I sure appreciate all you did to make it memorable for Dru and me. She was so happy when I left her!”

 

Ben looked up into the innocent face of his middle boy, and it broke his heart to have to take his happiness away. Deciding to speak with his son the next morning, he stood and patted Hoss’ back.

 

“Well—it is rather late, Hoss. Why don’t we both turn in?”

 

“Sounds good, Pa. I’ve got to meet Dru in town for breakfast,” Hoss agreed.

 

“Breakfast?”

 

“Yeah, we’re gonna eat at the International House and then go talk with Reverend Hastings about the ceremony,” Hoss explained as the two men moved towards the stairs.

 

“Oh—well—are you coming home after that?”

 

“Yeah—don’t worry none—I ain’t forgot about my chores!” Hoss laughed and threw his arm around his father as they began to ascend the staircase. “But, don’t get too used to it, I mean—after I get the house built I won’t be helping out here as much. I’ll have my own place to take care of you know?”

 

“Yes—yes of course you will, Son. I kinda wanted to talk with you tomorrow—when you get back,” Ben replied, and tried not to sound too ominous.

 

“Anything important? Nothing’s wrong is it?”

 

“No—just some things have come up that we need to discuss. So—if you don’t mind—after you and Dru finish—come and find me—I’ll be working on paperwork in my study tomorrow afternoon.”

 

“Sure thing, Pa. Goodnight,” Hoss replied and patted his father on the back before turning into his bedroom.

 

Ben stood in the hallway for a few minutes trying to erase the picture of his son from his mind. Hoss was so very much in love that he would be totally crushed when he learned the truth about Drucilla. It was every father’s nightmare, having to hurt one of his own children for his own good. Ben sighed and moved into his own room dreading the upcoming day.
Joe waited until he saw Hoss leaving the next morning. He had a good view of the barn from his bedroom window, and just as soon as he saw Chub being led out by his brother, Joe pulled on his boots and headed down for breakfast. He didn’t have an appetite, but wanted to check with his father about what he was going to do about Dru. Walking down the stairs Joe caught a glimpse of the dining room table where his father and oldest brother were in the midst of a conversation. Joe figured that Pa was telling Adam the bad news.

 

“Morning Pa—Adam,” Joe said as he sank down in his chair.

 

“Morning Joseph,” Ben replied and handed his son a cup of coffee from the head of the table.

 

“Hey Kid, Pa just told me about your little talk last night,” Adam began, “I hope you know what the ramifications will be?”

 

Joe stared over at his brother like he had said the most idiotic thing he had ever heard. Angered, he shot back, “Adam—you think I’m lying?”

 

“Pull in the quills, Joe—I was only saying that Hoss is going to be hurt by all this,” Adam tried to ease out of what he had said.

 

“Well that’s not my fault! You can blame that on his fiancée!”

 

“Settle down the both of you,” Ben commanded. “We have enough trouble—I don’t need you two to be at each other’s throats today!”

 

“Sorry, Pa. And, to answer you, Joe—I wasn’t putting the blame on you to begin with.”

 

Joe sipped his coffee and tried to calm his frayed nerves. He looked back over at his father and said, “When you gonna tell Hoss?”

 

“This afternoon. Hoss had some business in town first thing, I told him to come home as soon as he was done.”

 

“You want me to stick around? I can put off paying the men up with the herd if I have to,” Adam asked his father.

 

“No—no you go on ahead. I think it would be better if I spoke to him alone. Speaking of which, Joseph, I want you to go and mend that corral up at the South bend line shack.”

 

“I thought Hank was doing that today?” Joe asked, wondering why his pa would want him to trade jobs.

 

“I told Hank to do your work. It’s better that you’re nowhere near here when I tell your brother what happened in Sacramento,” Ben said somberly.

 

“I don’t know why he would be mad at me! I only told the truth,” Joe answered indignantly.

 

“Just do as I’ve asked, okay?” Ben asked, and there was sadness in his voice.

 

Joe saw how hurt his father was over what he had to do, and he decided that the man had enough trouble, he wouldn’t add to it. “All right, Pa—if you want me to stay up there for awhile I’ll do it.”

 

“Perhaps just overnight—take some provisions with you just in case.”

 

“Well—I’m not exactly hungry—so I’ll just go and get ready,” Joe said, pulling himself to standing. “Just send word when you want me back home, Pa.”

 

“Thank you, Joseph, I will let you know,” Ben smiled gratefully and watched as his youngest left the room. “This hasn’t been easy on him either, Adam.”

 

“Yeah—I can imagine. Too bad he didn’t tell us about this last year, maybe somehow it could’ve prevented all of this.”

 

“Oh? Do you tell me everything that happens to you on your trips?” Ben asked, raising his eyebrows.

 

“Well—no—guess not,” Adam fought back a grin, “I see what you mean. Well, I guess I’d better get to the bank and see to the payroll. I’ll be back by nightfall to see how you made out with Hoss. Good luck, Pa.”

 

“Thank you, I think I’m going to need it,” Ben nodded.

 

 

 

Ben worked on various chores that morning to keep his mind occupied and by the time he settled in behind his desk in the study he was well played out. It wasn’t often that he chose to clean the stables by himself, but the tedious work helped to clear his mind in order to try and get through to Hoss later in the day. Ben realized that there was no easy or perfect way to tell the young man about his fiancée. No matter how he chose to say it, it wouldn’t be well received. As the time ticked away, Ben grew more and more jittery and none of the daily expense journals matched by the time he had checked them for the tenth time. He decided to simply stop trying to work on the figures and await Hoss’ arrival.

 

That event came a little past two that afternoon. Ben heard his son as he came in and hung up his hat and holster by the front door.

 

“Hi Pa! Sorry it took me so long—but you know how women are!” Hoss explained, smiling ear to ear as he moved into the study.

 

“That’s fine, Hoss. Why don’t you sit over here,” Ben directed his son to the chair next to his desk.

 

Hoss sank down hard on the wooden seat and stared over at his father. He could tell that the other man was tense and Hoss couldn’t figure out why. Hoss also saw that the brandy decanter had been moved next to his father’s desk, and that was a sign that there had to be serious trouble brewing.

 

“Pa? What’s wrong?” Hoss worriedly asked.

 

Ben stood over his son and leaned against the corner of his desk. He was quite sure that there would be an outburst once Hoss was told the whole story about Drucilla, and he tried to prepare for the onslaught.

 

“Hoss—I have to tell you something. It’s not going to be pleasant—and I ask that you hear me out before you interrupt,” Ben began.

 

“Is this about why Joe was acting so strangely last night?”

 

“Yes—as a matter of fact it is,” Ben nodded. He was surprised that Hoss had even noticed his brother’s glum demeanor. Ben believed his son had only Dru on the mind lately and Joe’s behavior had gone unnoticed.

 

“What—Little Joe in trouble already?!” Hoss exclaimed. “He just got back home—you’d think—”

 

Ben cut his son off and placed his right hand on Hoss’ shoulder to stop him before he said too much about Joe. “No—no Joseph isn’t in any trouble. This concerns Drucilla actually.”

 

“Dru? What does she have to do with all this?” Hoss asked, shocked by what his father stated.

 

“Hoss, please—please listen to me before jumping to the wrong conclusions,” Ben pleaded.

 

Hoss leaned back in the chair and folded his arms across his chest. He nodded towards his father and said, “Go ahead—tell me what’s wrong. But—I’ll tell you now that nothing’s gonna stop me from marrying that gal. If Joe has a problem with her—or me getting hitched—well he needs to talk to me about it!”

 

“Let me explain,” Ben began and slowly and carefully he began to tell his son the story he had heard from Joe the previous night.

 

Ben was amazed that, once he had told the entire story to Hoss, the young man remained seemingly calm. He never interrupted, nor moved from his position in his chair. Finally, with Joe’s story out in the open, Ben leaned back against his desk and waited. Hoss wasn’t forthcoming with words, but his father could tell that a slow burn was starting behind his son’s pale blue eyes. He also saw both hurt and fire in those same eyes, and Ben wasn’t sure who that anger was directed at, Joseph or Dru. After several muted moments, Hoss slowly stood from his chair and stared down at his father.

 

“Joe is lying!” Hoss yelled. “He can’t stand to see me happy—that’s all it is! No—he’s the one who always gets the girls—now I have one and he’s jealous!”

 

“Hoss—please—please sit down and we’ll discuss this,” Ben pleaded.

 

“Where is the little liar? I’m gonna tell him what I think of him!” Hoss continued his outrage, totally directed at his brother and not Dru.

 

“He’s not a liar! You know that—but you’re so much in love you can’t see it!” Ben defended his youngest son. If anyone else had called Joe a liar, Hoss would’ve torn them from limb to limb. But, his upcoming marriage was in jeopardy and he was completely overwhelmed with rage.

 

“Well he’s lying about Dru! You don’t think I would know if she was that type a woman? I’ve spent the last two months with her, Pa—every single day—and there’s no one in the world more sweet—more pure than my fiancee! Now I don’t know why Joe is lying—but I DO know that he is! I want to see him right now!” Hoss screamed, and as he vented his anger, his hands clenched into fists.

 

“Your brother would never want you hurt—don’t you understand? He only told me this to try to help warn you—” Ben started but was cut off by his son.

 

“You think this doesn’t hurt me? This is the woman I love, Pa—more than I’ve ever loved anyone! He’s gonna eat those words or I will beat them outta him!”

 

“Calm down, Young Man, you will not—I repeat—NOT harm your brother in any way! Do you understand me?”

 

“Do you understand ME Pa? I don’t think so—not if you’ve chosen to believe Joe over me! Now—do I have to look all over this ranch for Joe or are you gonna tell me where he is?”

 

“No I’m not. You need to get a grip on that temper first. I suggest you take a little while and then talk to Dru about this. Perhaps—after seeing Joe last night—she will be ready to be honest with you?”

 

Hoss reeled back, making a fist with his right hand. It took all of his will power not to strike his father. “If you believe what Joe said then you don’t care about me—or Dru neither! She’s got nothing to confess to me—and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna mention Joe’s vile lies to her! I’m leaving!” Hoss announced and headed for the front door to get his hat and holster.

 

Ben raced to catch up with his son at the door. He reached for his elbow but Hoss pulled out from the hold. “Don’t do something that you’ll regret, Hoss. Please—for me if not anyone else. Just talk to Dru and see what she says before you confront your little brother,” Ben pleaded.

 

Hoss wiped away a few stray tears. His mind was busy processing his father’s story while his heart was beginning to break. He hated the fact that he could never forgive his little brother for what he had said. Hoss had never wanted to choose between his brother and his fiancé, but if he had to make a choice it had to be in Dru’s favor. Still, he listened to his father’s urgent plea, and wondered if he should go into town and have a talk with his bride to be.

 

“Please?” Ben reiterated in a whisper.

 

“I’m going into town,” Hoss replied quietly, and there was a large lump in his throat when he pulled the door open and stepped outside. He felt as though he was going to throw up. Sullen and appearing bereft beyond comparison, Hoss moved across the yard to where his horse waited. He sprang into his saddle and headed towards Virginia City.

 

 

One thing that could be said of Drucilla Carrington, she was a very thorough person. She had honed the skills over the years and was a proficient liar. Dru had started on her landlady right away, once she had come to Virginia City. She wanted to know all about the citizens of the town and naturally, the name Cartwright came up right off the bat.

 

Dru had arranged to get a job at the local dress shop, it was one way to show she was respectable enough to land a prominent man, preferably a rich prominent man. Shortly thereafter, she had arranged to be introduced to all of the Cartwrights, other than Little Joe, who she was told was away on vacation. She set her sights on Hoss right away. He appeared to be the most gullible of the clan and the big man was known for his good hearted nature.

 

Soon they had become a couple and were going to local events together. Dru knew how to win men’s hearts and it wasn’t more than a couple of weeks before she had Hoss looking around for engagement rings. Of course back then she had no idea that Joe Cartwright knew her in her past life as a lady of the night. It had come as some surprise to the young lady when she met her fiancée youngest brother at their engagement party, but she played it off well. But, from the time she had gotten home from the party, until Hoss Cartwright showed up the next morning to take her to breakfast, Dru dug in deeper trying to get any goods that she could on Joseph Cartwright.
Mrs. O’Malley, Dru’s landlady, was all too willing to answer her many questions early that afternoon as they met over tea. Dru had already surmised that Joe had yet to tell Hoss about her that morning, as he had acted fine over breakfast. She sent him off on errands so she could regroup and talk to Mrs. O’Malley in the hopes that she could come up with some dirt on the youngest member of the Cartwright family. The woman talked in length with the young lady, and had gone all the way back to the time when she first arrived in the small mining town and had heard first hand about the death of Joe’s mother. Mrs. O’Malley had even attended Marie Cartwright’s funeral that first fall in Nevada.

 

From that point, she went on to tell about all three boys, including Adam, who had gone away to college. Dru took it all in, never giving up her secret desire to find some skeletons in Joe’s closet. That information came out in regards to the trial, which had been held in Virginia City almost two years previous. In a hushed whisper Mrs. O’Malley told Dru all about the two brothers who had come into Joseph Cartwright’s life. Her face blushed with a bit of embarrassment, the woman told her renter all about what had happened to Joe at the hands of both Cade Burroughs and his half-brother Luke. Dru tried to hide her pleasure over learning such dreaded details. At last she had found Joe’s Achilles’s heel. Dru knew how to play the game now. She would turn any details that Joe would come up with against him. By the time she had told her fiancé about what had happened it would look as though she was the victim, not Joe.

 

Hoss showed up at Mrs. O’Malley’s Boarding House before dark. He hated what he had to do, but knew if he didn’t confront Dru about it, that it would be forever hanging over their heads. Dru was calm as she bid Hoss inside her room and settled down next to him on the end of the bed. Before Hoss could come forward with the version that he had heard from his pa, Dru began to cry and confessed to a life that was not very lady like. She told Hoss that she had been robbed at gun point as she began her trip back east. Alone and unable to obtain employment elsewhere she had been forced to take a job at the Black Hawk Saloon in Sacramento. She hated the job, but she made sure that Hoss knew that all she did there was hand out drinks. Dru swore that she never had any gentlemen callers the whole time she was in that town. It was at that point in the story where she recalled meeting Joe Cartwright. Dru told her fiancée that she never mentioned it to him because she was unaware that Joe was his brother. She also said that she had thought on it all night and had decided to come clean with the story before Hoss heard a different version.

 

The whole time Dru spoke Hoss held her hand and kept his secret. He never let on that he knew what she was going to say. By the time she got to that one particular night, Dru knew that Hoss was falling for it hook line and sinker.

 

With tears streaming down her pale face, Dru spoke of being sound asleep in her small room over the saloon when a young man had simply walked in. That man was Joe Cartwright. Dru said that he had awakened her and she could smell the potent stench of rotgut on his breath. She fought to get out of the bed, but he had held her down. Dru said that he kept saying that he had something to prove. She said she had asked the man what he was talking about and he kept on repeating the name of Cade Burroughs. Pushing the tears from her eyes, she looked up at Hoss and asked him who the man was. Hoss just shook his head and urged her to tell him the rest of the story.

 

She continued by saying that she finally got Joe to leave the room, but that he was very mad at her for not putting out for him. Dru finished by saying that the very next day she wired her aunt and had begged the old woman to try to send stage fare so that she could leave the horrible town. After a few days, the money had arrived and Dru went back to San Francisco. She had worked as a tailor’s assistant until she had enough saved to push east. As she stared into Hoss’ eyes she knew that she had won him over. Dru apologized for keeping such a dark secret from him, but that she wanted to spare him the shame that she felt. She said that she was worried that Joe might try to take up where he had left off in Sacramento if she didn’t say something to his brother about it.

 

Hoss pulled Dru into his arms and hugged her fiercely. He promised that nothing would ever happen to her as long as he was around. Hoss also told her that he promised to love her forever and that no matter what had happened he still intended to marry her. Of course Dru played her part to the hilt, even offering Hoss his engagement ring back. Hoss simply pushed the ring back onto her finger and kissed her deeply. He said they were going to get married as planned and that he would have a good long talk with both his brother Joe and his father as well. By the time Dru walked Hoss to the door to kiss him goodbye her heart was full of joy. She had won, won over Hoss’ own flesh and blood and she loved it. There would never be a chance for Joe to counter with his claim now, Dru had made it all the more believable by bringing Cade’s name up in the confession. Surely she thought, no one would suspect that she would know about what had happened between Joe and the man. Waving goodbye to Hoss, Dru turned back into her room. She was elated.

 

Hoss Cartwright walked across the street to get his horse with a determined set to his jaw. He had one thing in mind and that was getting a hold of his brother Joe. By the time he made it in front of the Silver Dollar Saloon he ran into one of the ranch hands. The man waved to him and called a quick hello.

 

“Hank? Do you happen to know where my brother Joe is?” Hoss asked, forgetting to even return the howdy.

 

“Sure I do!” Hank exclaimed and moved to stand next to the large man. “Your Pa switched jobs on us today. Joe went to the line shack at south bend to repair the corral and I went on to check on those steers up on the Concho.”

 

“Thanks,” Hoss briefly replied and swung into his saddle. Leaving Hank behind wondering why the usually friendly young man simply rode off, Hoss sent his horse into a fast clip towards the ranch.

 

 

 

Darkness fell over the lonely line shack down at the south shore of Lake Tahoe. Joe had gotten most of his assigned duties done, and had decided to call it a night, when he heard the sound of a horse approaching the small cabin. Hoping that it was a messenger from his pa telling him to head home, Joe stepped out onto the porch. He was surprised to find his brother Hoss riding up to the hitching post.

 

“Hi Brother!” Joe sang out and moved over to welcome Hoss.

 

Hoss dismounted and strode briskly over to his little brother. Before Joe could say another word, he found himself half carried up to the line shack and all but thrown inside. He was beginning to wonder why his father had told Hoss where he was when a fist came precariously close to his nose. Joe ducked and tried to talk but Hoss intervened by putting a hand up to his brother’s mouth.

 

“I don’t want to hear nothing from you other than an apology, Joe!” Hoss fumed.

 

“Simmer down, Hoss,” Joe warned. “Don’t do something you’re gonna regret in the morning.”

 

“I said apologize for them lies you told about Dru!” Hoss repeated.

 

“I didn’t tell any lies about her. Everything I told Pa was the truth. Go on—ask her yourself!”

 

“I know what you did to her, Joe. I could hardly believe my own brother could be that evil. Now you take back that made up story you told our pa!”

 

“Hoss she came into MY room. She grabbed me—she told me she wanted twenty dollars. I threw her out of there! It’s all true!”

 

Hoss reared back and planted a fist underneath Joe’s left eye, splitting the skin open from the assault. Joe slumped back against the wall and tried to defend the oncoming attack. Hoss was like a loose cannon and when he got riled there was nothing that a much smaller person could do to stop him. Joe ducked as Hoss sent another punch towards his mid-section. He was caught right under the ribs as he turned towards the interior of the cabin. Joe, reeling due to his wind being knocked from his lungs, felt another blow to the back of his neck. He collapsed onto the floor gasping for air.

 

“Say it! Say you made it all up!” Hoss demanded as he drew his brother by his jacket up from the floor.

 

“I can’t—it’s the truth,” Joe muttered and wiped at the blood streaming down his cheek.

 

“I said apologize!” Hoss screamed and sent another punch, which knocked Joe out cold.

 

“Oh my God!” Ben’s baritone voice shot out from the cabin’s open doorway. He rushed to aid his fallen son. “What have you done, Hoss?” Ben asked shaking. He drew Joe up towards his chest and surveyed the damage caused by the boy’s own brother’s fists.

 

“I gave him the chance to take it all back and he wouldn’t. I ain’t standing around for no lecture, Pa. You want to talk to me—I’ll be at the International House!” Hoss replied hotly and stormed out of the cabin.

 

Ben lifted his youngest son up in his arms as Hoss slammed the cabin door. He carried the boy over to a cot across the room and carefully set him down. Slowly he unlaced the ties to Joe’s green corduroy jacket to survey the damage. He had already noticed the large gash underneath his son’s eye and the knot under his chin from the punch, which had knocked Joe cold.

 

“Dear Lord—this can’t be happening,” Ben cried as he stood and stared down at his son. He left the cabin and readied the buckboard, which Joe had driven up to the line shack. He knew Joe needed to be tended, but decided getting the boy to his own bed would be better than trying to doctor him in the cabin. Ben wasn’t even sure how severe the boy’s injuries were, and hoped that he could make it home before too long. After removing his horse’s saddle, Ben drew out the blanket that was underneath and placed it inside the wagon. Then he tied Buck’s reins to the back of the buckboard and returned inside the cabin to fetch Joe. The anxious father’s hands trembled as he scooped the boy up into his arms again and hurried out to lay him down. Joe never flinched as his body hit onto the hard wood frame of the bed of the buckboard. He was as limp as a rag doll, and totally unaware of his father’s presence. I’ve got to get you home, Joseph, Ben thought to himself as he launched himself up to the driver’s bench and sent the horses down the path that led back to the Ponderosa ranch house.

 

Adam heard the loud shouts for help coming from the front yard. He quickly tossed down the book he had been reading and ran towards the door. The lantern on the porch revealed the silhouette of his father pulling up in the buckboard. Adam’s thoughts raced as he jogged out to assist his pa. He wondered what Ben was doing with the buckboard. Hadn’t it been Joe who took it out earlier to make the repairs down at the southernmost border of the ranch?

 

“Help me get your brother upstairs!” Ben sang out, and in his voice was heavy concern for the boy laying in the back of the wagon.

 

“What happened to the kid, Pa?” Adam asked, as he followed his father into the house, closing the door behind them.

 

“Never mind that right now—go and tell Hop Sing to bring up something to bandage Joe with. I need some salve and grab that bottle of brandy by my desk in case he comes around while we’re working on him,” Ben called out his requests as he took the stairs up to the boy’s room.

 

Adam did as he had been instructed, summoning Hop Sing from his bedroom to help them as well. The two men quickly gathered what they thought Ben might need to do his doctoring and hurried up to Joe’s bedroom. By the time they had made it there, Ben had already removed his son’s boots and jacket and was working on the buttons of Joe’s shirt.

 

“Bring that lamp over closer will you?” Ben requested, as he bit down on his bottom lip. He could already see the bruising starting under his son’s rib cage and worried that there might be a broken bone or two.

 

“Here, Pa. Who worked him over?” Adam repeated his original question, as he stood at the top of the bed with the lamp in his hand staring down at his battered brother.

 

Before Ben could reply, Joe started becoming more alert and was fighting the prodding and poking that was going on.

 

“Settle down now, Joseph. Let me have a look at you,” Ben whispered and gently felt the boy’s chest.

 

“H—he was s-so mad—s-so mad at me, Pa,” Joe stuttered and then arched his back when his father’s fingers hit on a tender spot.

 

“It’s going to be okay, Son. You just lay back and try to rest easy while I see if you’ve got any broken ribs,” Ben again whispered.

 

Adam looked from his father to Hop Sing and back down at his youngest brother. He was starting to lose all patience with them. He wanted some answers, and he wanted them fast. If someone had pummeled his brother then there was a matter of settling the score.

 

Adam gave up on asking his father, so instead he reached down and put his hand underneath Joe’s chin and called to him, “Who did this to you, Kid?”

 

“H-Hoss—H-Hoss,” Joe responded, as tears streaked down his battered face due to the awful memories of the fight.

 

Adam’s mouth fell open in shock and disbelief. There was no way possible that Hoss would ever cause that much injury to his younger brother! Hoss had spent most of his life taking care of the boy to ever let something like that happen. Adam’s burning gaze was cast upon his father, who, just shook his head and waved his hand to reveal he didn’t want to talk about it just yet.

 

“Joseph—sit up a bit—let me check something,” Ben continued his examination.

 

Joe eased off the pillows and soon felt his father’s fingers prodding and poking his back. His own vision was obscured due to the black eye which was rapidly closing his left eyelid, but Joe could see enough to notice how frightened his father looked at the time. He groaned again and then Ben lowered him back onto the propped pillows.

 

“Give to Little Joe!” Hop Sing insisted, and handed his boss a shot of brandy.
Ben nodded gratefully and took the glass from the cook’s hands. “Take a sip of this, Son, it’ll help with the pain,” Ben instructed and placed the brandy in Joe’s left hand.

 

Pulling the glass to his lips, Joe drank what he could before handing it back to his pa. The strong alcohol burned his throat going down and soon he was swept up in a coughing spell.

 

“Here—chase it with some water,” Adam jumped into the situation, and handed his brother a glass of water.

 

Joe waved off the additional drink, he felt as though he was going to throw up anyhow and didn’t want to increase the urge in the pit of his stomach to let loose its contents.

 

“Anything busted?” Adam asked.

 

“No—I don’t think so,” Ben sighed and reached for the salve, which Hop Sing held, in his hands. He doctored the cuts and bruises and stated, “I think he’s just going to be real sore tomorrow—he’s got a lot of bruising.”

 

“Wish I had never come home,” Joe whispered, still fighting the mental images from earlier that evening. “How could he, Pa? How could he believe her and not me?” Joe asked, and then began to cry again. He felt betrayed by his brother, betrayed and hated.

 

Ben could tell that his son was emotionally unable to handle the situation, so he decided to afford him some privacy. He wanted to know what had happened at the line shack before he had gotten there, but didn’t want to make the boy go through any more distress at the time. He motioned for Adam and Hop Sing to leave the room.

 

“I’ll be down in a few minutes,” Ben said, staring directly at his eldest son. He knew that Adam wanted to know the details, but it would be done out of the ear shot of Joe.

 

“Come on, Hop Sing—let’s go rustle Joe up some broth, shall we?” Adam urged, and shot the cook a retreating look.

 

Ben continued to patch his son up, and while he did, he couldn’t help noticing how distraught the boy seemed. Joe had turned his face away from his father and stared towards the wall. It pained the anxious father to see the re-appearance of tears streaking down his son’s face. He knew how close Joe and Hoss had always been, and also knew that it had to be killing the boy on the inside that someone had interfered with their relationship.

 

“You want to tell me about it, Joe?” Ben asked patiently.

 

“He believes Dru—not me. H-Hoss—h-he called me evil, Pa! I can’t believe he would think I would attack a woman—but I guess that’s what she told him I did,” Joe sobbed.
Ben pulled his son towards his chest and held him close. He tried to come up with some words of consolation, but it was hard to think of any at the time. Ben couldn’t understand Hoss attacking the young man he had always taken care of in the past. That just wasn’t the young man who he had raised. Ben sighed; he knew that it was a difficult time in the big hearted man’s life, a time of total confusion. But, that didn’t give him the right to attack the much smaller Joe.

 

“He’s just confused, Joseph. I bet you that once he gets into town he will be full of regret for what he did,” Ben whispered and tenderly pushed away the tears from his son’s eyes.

 

“No—no he won’t, Pa,” Joe insisted, staring up at his father. “You didn’t see him—didn’t hear what he said to me. Hoss hates me.”

 

Ben pulled his son close again, trying to take away his heartbreak. “No—you might think that right now—after what you’ve just been through it’s to be expected. But, I’m very sure, Son—very sure—that once your brother has time to think it all out—he will realize that you would never lie about something as important as this. Now, let’s lay you down so you can get some rest.”

 

Joe settled back on the pillows and his father pulled up the covers around his shoulders.

 

“You just try to sleep awhile, Joseph. I’m going downstairs for a few minutes—and I want to find those eyes closed when I come back. Okay?”

 

“I’ll try,” Joe whispered, but his heart wasn’t in his statement.

 

“It’s going to be all right—I promise you, Joe,” Ben vowed. He waited in the room until he saw the boy’s eyes close. Before leaving, Ben pushed back his son’s fallen bangs and softly kissed his brow. He hoped that he could keep the promise that he had just made.

 

Ben descended the staircase full of regret. He blamed himself for not having gotten through to his middle son. If he had handled it differently, he assumed that Joseph would not have been harmed. It had been only fatherly instinct, which had propelled him to go to the line shack that evening. Now he was glad that he had listened to the voice inside his head, which beckoned him out there. He was mad, mad at the whole terrible situation, but foremost he was mad at Drucilla. She had apparently poisoned his son’s mind and sent him off to have a one on one with his little brother. Dru held the key to the whole awful situation between Hoss and Joe and Ben wished he could go to her house and have it out with the young woman. But, he knew it wouldn’t be a wise decision at the time. By the time Ben made it down to the living room, he was fighting with his own heart to figure out how to handle the problem.

 

“Pa? Hop Sing made some coffee. Why don’t you come over here and we’ll try to decipher all that’s gone on today,” Adam offered. He felt awful about what had happened and knew that his father was beating himself up for not having more control of Hoss.
“Thanks—but I think I could use something a tad stronger,” Ben replied and moved over to his chair by the fireplace. He sank down hard onto the cushions and gazed over at Adam.

 

“Here—I put some of your brandy into the cup before I filled it with coffee,” Adam said and handed his father the drink.

 

Ben sipped at the hot brew and tried to get his thoughts in order.

 

“So? What did Joe say? And how did Hoss find him out there?”

 

“I don’t know how Hoss knew—unless he happened to run up on Hank. I kinda had a bad feeling that something like this might happen. I just wish I had gotten to the line shack before Hoss got a hold of the boy.”

 

“He sure did work him over,” Adam announced as he drank from his cup of coffee.

 

“Yes—yes he did. But, we all know that if Hoss wanted to do some more serious damage that he could have very easily. He hurt the boy—that’s not a question—but Hoss must’ve pulled his punches not to have broken any bones. Joe’s gonna be sore, very sore—but fortunately he’s in no danger. I still can’t believe Hoss would ever think that of his brother!”

 

“Think what?” Adam asked bewildered by his father’s off the cuff remark.

 

“Joe said that Hoss called him evil for some reason. He also mentioned that Dru must’ve told Hoss that he had attacked her—not the other way around. I don’t know how she managed to sound so convincing—he ought to know Joseph a lot better than that! That boy would never hurt a woman—it’s not in him to do such a thing.”

 

“That woman must have spent her whole life conniving and lying is all I can think, Pa,” Adam replied, shaking his head wearily. “Did Joe say where Hoss ran off to?”

 

“Hoss told me that he was going to stay at the International House. I got there right after the fight ended. He knocked the boy out cold. Apparently, Hoss tried to get his brother to apologize for what he had said about the girl. You know your little brother—he would never give in—even if it would save him from a beating.”

 

“I ought to go and have a word with Hoss myself,” Adam responded sharply. He knew that someone had to stop the young man before things got worse.

 

Ben reached over and grabbed Adam’s elbow, to prevent him from leaving the house. “No—not now anyway. Let’s give him the night to simmer down. Then—well—perhaps he might listen to you? He sure won’t listen to anything I’ve got to say right now. He thinks I’m against him for believing Joe.”

 

“Then it’s settled—I’ll go into town tomorrow and have a long talk with him. I’ll try to reason with him, and if that doesn’t work I might just have to do to my little brother what he did to his!”

 

“I don’t want any more violence, Son. We are a family! This fighting has got to stop.”

 

“Well, it will once we find out what Dru told Hoss. There’s got to be some hole in her story and I’m gonna find it! If I have to ride to Sacramento to get at the truth I will,” Adam vowed vehemently.

 

“Thank you, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to all that.”

 

“But the wedding is less than two weeks away. We can’t let Hoss marry that—that—woman!” Adam protested. The more he thought on what Dru had done to the family the more angered he got.

 

“All we can do is try to stop her, Son. I pray that we can somehow. If not she’s going to put a wedge between your brother and us that we will never be able to break through,” Ben warned and set down his empty coffee cup. “I think I’ll go and sit with Joe for awhile,” Pa announced and stood from his chair.

 

“You ought to get some rest, Pa. I know how upset you’ve been the last two days.”

 

“I’m fine—just tired. You be careful when you speak to Hoss. I don’t want another son hurt like he hurt Joseph,” Ben warned as he turned for the stairs.

 

“Don’t worry. I’ve been riding herd on Hoss for a whole lot of years now. He knows better than to go off on me!” Adam smiled.

 

“I hope so. Goodnight, Son,” Ben replied and wearily ascended the staircase.

 

 

 

Adam, like his father, had spent a restless night. In his mind, he tried to think of a way to get through to Hoss the next day. He knew he would have to be as tactful as possible in order to get his brother to tell him all that Dru had said about the incident with Joe. Grabbing a quick breakfast, Adam hurriedly saddled his horse and headed into Virginia City. He hoped that somehow he could figure a way out of the terrible situation that had torn the family apart.

 

Hoss heard the loud knock on his hotel room door. He figured it was probably his pa. The plain fact was that he expected the man the night before, but he had never shown up. Hoss knew how upset his father had been, once he had taken a look at Joe laying on the floor of the line shack. He knew that he was in for a serious lecture eventually. Drawing open the door, he stared down at his brother Adam.

 

“Adam? What are you doing here?” Hoss asked, still standing in the threshold.

 

“Mind if I come in for a few minutes?”

 

“I’ve got to get cleaned up—I’m meeting my fiancé for breakfast,” Hoss still held his ground.

 

“It won’t take long,” Adam replied and watched as his brother reluctantly stepped aside.

 

Hoss walked over to the end of his bed and sat there, shoulders slumped and with a defeated look on his face. Adam could tell that his brother hadn’t gotten any more sleep than the rest of the family, and he looked it. There were dark circles under the big man’s eyes and he hung his head as he stared at his scraped knuckles. Though he was still very angry with Little Joe, it did kill him on the inside to realize that he had harmed the boy.

 

“How is he?’ Hoss choked out, still refusing to look at his brother. He didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes.

 

“You worked him over pretty good, Hoss. Good thing nothing’s broken,” Adam answered, as he sat down next to him.

 

“I wasn’t trying to kill him, Adam! I just wanted him to stop lying about the woman I love.”

 

“You know our little brother—probably as much as anyone who’s ever known the kid. He’s a sneak, and a shyster at times, but he’s not a liar, Hoss.”

 

Hoss’ demeanor changed with his brother’s words having been spoken. He clenched his fists and finally looked directly at Adam. “You saying that Dru is lying to me?”

 

“No—I’m not saying that. I just would like to know both stories before I make a judgment one way or the other,” Adam tried for the diplomatic approach. Truth being said, he believed Joe’s version one hundred per cent. But, if he told Hoss that, he was afraid that he would never learn the details of Dru’s story.

 

Hoss stood and paced the room. He wanted to talk to someone, and Adam was saying that he was impartial and all. Hoss decided to confide in his brother to get it all out on the table. He hated that the family wasn’t happy about the upcoming wedding, and hoped that maybe Adam could act as some sort of a mediator to change all that.
“She told me that she was robbed at gunpoint right when she started her trip back east. She only made it as far as Sacramento. Dru said that she took the job at the Black Hawk Saloon there —but that all she did was serve drinks to the customers,” Hoss stopped and stared hard at his brother to make sure he wasn’t judging his girl by what she had done in the past.

 

“Go on—I understand,” Adam nodded.

 

“Well—she was just gonna wait tables until she got up enough money to keep going on her trip. Dru hated having to go to that place and work—but she did. And, she confessed all this to me before I said anything about Joe’s story!”

 

Adam took in the additional information and as he did, he fought back a grin. Dru was, just as he had thought, an accomplished liar. She obviously knew that Hoss was about to tell her Joe’s story, and instead, she chose to present her own version to draw first blood.

 

“Okay—she told you before you let her know that Joe had talked to Pa. Go on tell me the rest.”

 

“Well—she said she had a little room upstairs—above the bar. It’s all she could afford, Adam—there wasn’t anything wrong with that!” Hoss insisted.

 

“Yeah—you gotta do what you have to when you are in a pinch. So, what did she say about Joe?”

 

“Well—she was sleeping one night when this cowboy entered her room. She said she smelled rot gut on his breath and instantly woke up. You do remember how much our little brother was drinking back then, right?”

 

“Yes—after what he went through with Cade and then his brother Luke—well—it was understandable don’t you think? I mean—if that had happened to either one of us—we would’ve done the same thing most likely!” Adam defended Joe’s behavior.

 

“Yeah—that’s the one thing that she said that made sense.”

 

“Huh? What she said about what?” Adam asked, confused.

 

“She said that the man held her down and said he had something he had to prove. Then he kept mentioning the name Cade Burroughs! Now—how would she have known about that? It only convinced me even more that Dru’s story was true and Joe had covered what he did in his confession to Pa the night before!”
Adam sat quietly processing the additional information. So far all the woman had confirmed was that Joe had been drinking and he had mentioned the name of someone who had hurt him. It made no sense at all. Not only had Joe stopped drinking whiskey before his trip to Sacramento, he also had stopped mentioning Cade and his brother Luke. Joe had made it a point to inform his family that he never wanted anyone to bring up the two brothers ever again around him.

 

“I don’t know—haven’t got a clue,” Adam replied.

 

“Well I’ll tell you how! Because everything my girl said was the pure truth!” Hoss yelled.

 

“Settle down, Hoss—come on—sit over here and finish the story,” Adam pointed towards the bed, where Hoss finally sat down again.

 

“Dru said that she finally got Joe to leave her room—but that he was very angry at her for not—well—you know. Anyway—she wired her aunt for more funds the next day and soon she was back in San Francisco trying to earn back the money for her trip. That’s it—other than the fact that she had no idea that it was my brother Joe who had tried to attack her! She was very upset when she met him at the engagement party.”

 

“So? What made her decide to tell you?”

 

“Well—once she was introduced to Joe the night before last she was worried that he might want to finish what he started a year ago. She even offered me my ring back—she was so afraid that I would look down on her for spending a few months waiting tables. That’s the kind of girl she is, Adam.”

 

Adam took a deep breath and stood. He didn’t want to rile Hoss, as it would serve no purpose. Now that he had some information, which might help the family’s effort to get to the bottom of the lies that Dru had spouted to Hoss, Adam chose to pretend he was satisfied with the woman’s story.

 

“I know how hard this all is, Hoss. But, we are family—don’t forget that.”

 

“Yeah—I know that! But, Dru’s gonna be family soon too! If Joe doesn’t come clean with Pa and the rest of us—I’m not going to be able to come home. All he has to do is tell Pa what he did and apologize to Dru. That ain’t asking much now, is it?”

 

“Let’s give it a few days, Hoss. You know—let things calm down a bit?”

 

“Are you gonna tell Pa what I just told you?”

 

“Yeah—I’ll tell him,” Adam nodded and turned for the door.

 

“I know he’s not gonna want to believe this of our little brother—but if he wants me to come home he’s gonna have to. Pa thinks the sun rises and falls over that kid—and YOU know that! But, he’s human—and we all make mistakes.”
“Mistakes? It’s more than a mistake to deliberately go into a young lady’s room late at night and attack her, don’t you think?”

 

“I know that Joe had gone through a hard time—and maybe it messed up his head. I ain’t defending him—I’m still upset over what he done to Dru. But, considering what happened with Cade—maybe Joe was drunk and was really trying to prove himself as a man—like Dru said he kept repeating to her?”

 

Adam shook his head and sighed, “I don’t know about all that—give me some time to think on it, okay?”

 

“Tell Pa—if he wants to talk—to come here and see me. But, if he still thinks that Joe is a danged angel—well—he don’t have to bother,” Hoss stated seriously as he led Adam to the door.

 

“I’ll tell him. See you, Hoss,” Adam said and patted Hoss’ shoulder before he walked into the hall. Once the big man had closed his door, Adam slumped against the wall wearily. I can’t believe you fell for that story, Hoss. That girl has addled your brain, Brother! Adam thought to himself. Well—let’s just check some of this out, he mused to himself as he headed out of the hotel.

 

 

Ben sat in the living room of the ranch house later that afternoon and listened to Adam recount all he had learned from Hoss earlier. He was glad that his middle boy had confided in his brother, as it might help them to piece the story together and find out something that would shake Dru’s version of the event.

 

“So—then he said that Dru told him that Joe held her down and kept on repeating that he had something he wanted to prove. Hoss said that she mentioned the name of Cade Burroughs, and that Joe kept on bringing him up that night in her room,” Adam continued telling his father the facts as he knew them to be, according to Drucilla.

 

“I WHAT?!” came the loud voice from the top of the staircase.

 

Adam and Ben looked towards the sound and saw Joe standing there. They could see how upset he had become on hearing the name that had been conjured up once again.

 

“You should be in bed, Young Man!” Ben protested.

 

Joe painstakingly eased down the stairs and moved over to the other two men. He held onto his bandaged rib cage as he slowly sat down next to his brother on the settee.

 

“What all did she say about me, Adam?” Joe asked, ignoring his father’s objection to his presence there in the room.
Adam looked back and forth between Ben and Joe and gauged what he should say in response to his brother’s question.

 

“Tell me!” Joe demanded, his eyes burning with anger.

 

“Go ahead—tell him,” Ben sighed, giving up on trying to get Joe back to his sick bed.

 

“Dru told Hoss that you came into her room and held her down on the bed. She also said that you kept saying you had something to prove. Hoss said that she mentioned you saying something about Cade too.”

 

“How the hell did she find out about him?” Joe asked, his mind searching for an answer to the question he had posed.

 

“I have no idea—but Hoss said that it was one of the things that helped him to believe her story,” Adam confessed.

 

“I never ever said a thing about that bastard to her!” Joe shouted.

 

Ben moved to sit next to his youngest and put his arm around the boy’s shoulder. “Calm down, Joseph—you shouldn’t even be down here—let alone be dealing with this right now.”

 

“How could he believe this stuff? I just don’t understand, Pa. He knows how much I hated that man—how much I fought to bury the past! Why would I try to attack someone to prove something? Why would I bring up that man’s filthy name again?!”

 

“You wouldn’t,” Ben replied adamantly. “That’s the whole point isn’t it? Joseph, she evidently heard something about what had happened to you—and then decided to use that information in an attempt to make her story sound more plausible.”

 

“That’s my take on it too, Joe,” Adam nodded. “And it’s why I sent a telegraph off this afternoon to someone I know in Sacramento.”

 

Ben and Joe turned towards Adam, a question in their stare.

 

“You remember Jeff Perkins don’t you, Pa?”

 

“Yes—that friend of yours who works at the brokerage firm, right?” Ben replied.

 

“Yeah—I sent him a wire before I came back here. I told him the name of that saloon and some of the other information and asked him to check out Dru’s story.”
“What good’s that gonna do? I mean we all know she worked there, Adam. No one knows what happened in that room above the bar but Dru and me!”

 

“Settle down, Joseph—let your brother tell us what he’s thinking before dismissing the idea,” Ben urged, still trying to calm the boy.

 

“I hope that he can find something that will prove the kind of woman that we all think she is, Joe. It’s a given to the three of us that she’s lying. If we can discredit her we stand a better chance of getting through to Hoss.”

 

Joe touched at the cut underneath his eye and replied, “I don’t know if anything will make Hoss change his opinion, Adam. He beat the hell out of me last night, and all because she lied and he chose to believe her over me!”

 

“I think he’s sorry about that, Joe. You didn’t see how forlorn he looked when I saw him this morning. And—he did ask about you by the way.”

 

“I bet,” Joe frowned.

 

“No—he did! He said he felt bad about hurting you, but that he still expects an apology. Pa, Hoss also said that if you want to talk to him that you’ve got to come to him. He says that unless we accept Dru he won’t ever come back home.”

 

“Then maybe he should just stay there!” Joe fumed, and stood back up. He walked over to the study, found the brandy, and poured a drink. The more he thought on what Dru had said, the more angered he was at his brother for believing it.

 

Adam and Ben exchanged worried glances. They thought back to a time when alcohol was Joe’s only solace. He didn’t need to get too accustomed in finding consolation there again. Ben approached his youngest and put his hand on his shoulder.

 

“It’s going to be all right, Son. Let’s see what Adam’s friend comes up with, okay?”

 

“Hoss should know me better, Pa,” Joe whispered and had to push back a few tears from his eyes. “He’s known me my whole life. He’s only known her for a few months. Hoss should know I wouldn’t hurt anyone like that—especially not after what Cade did to me. He believes the worst about me because he wants to.”

 

“I bet you he’s starting to have some real doubts now, Joe. But, he’s in love—or at least he thinks he is! Once he learns what a conniving witch Dru is—well—he will come around.”

 

“If I have to prove myself to him—then forget it!” Joe insisted, the anger coming back to replace the hurt he felt inside. “I shouldn’t have to prove that I’m not a louse! He should just know, Pa.”
“Yes—I know—but you have to look at it from his point of view for a minute. Hoss was planning his wedding, you know? He had Adam draw up the plans for a house and everything. Your brother has never come this close to being married before—I think he’s just temporarily lost his sense of reason,” Ben tried to console Joe again with his words.

 

“What happens if Adam’s friend doesn’t come up with anything on her?”

 

Adam moved over to join his family in the study. “Come on, Joe—a woman like that? I’m sure that somebody will talk. If Jeff doesn’t come up with anything I will personally go there myself!”

 

Joe set the empty glass back on the table and looked up at his brother. “Thanks,” he whispered and turned towards the stairs. “Think I’ll go lay down awhile.”

 

Ben and Adam watched the forlorn figure ascend the staircase. Joe looked even more distraught than he did prior to the conversation.

 

“It was bringing up that name again,” Adam answered the questioning look that his father sent his way.

 

“I know,” Ben sighed. “That woman sure isn’t playing fairly is she?”

 

“That’s okay, Pa,” Adam replied and forced a smile. “She has no idea what us Cartwrights are capable of—but she’s sure gonna find out!”

 

 

 

Ben had decided to let the situation settle down a little while before confronting his middle son about his choice for a bride. He and Adam kept busy the next day performing various chores while Joe stayed in the house and recuperated from the injuries he had sustained at the hands of his brother Hoss. Only venturing as far as the dining table, Joe spent most of the time up in his bedroom deep in thought. He was having a tough time trying to reason the whole situation out in his mind and heart.

 

There had never been a time that he had fought with his brother Hoss. As kids, they most often ganged up on brother Adam when he was put in the position as surrogate father during Ben’s business trips. Then, as they all grew older, the three young men rarely fought at all. Of course, just as with any family, there were times that they had differences of opinions, but most of those arguments were short lived. Joe couldn’t remember a time when a disagreement had lasted longer than a day or two. Now, it seemed as though there was an invisible wall built up between him and Hoss. Joe wished he could go into town and have it out with the big man, but he knew that his brother wasn’t in the mood for listening to reason. Hoss was thinking as a love struck man, one who refused to believe anything bad about his bride to be.

 

Joe knew that his father and oldest brother were going to be away until dinnertime, up at the newly constructed railroad trestle. Deciding to wait in the living room for their return, Joe grabbed one of Adam’s books and sank down on the settee. Hop Sing came in now and again to check on his young charge, to make sure he had everything he needed. The Oriental man’s heart broke for the family at that time. He, too, hated the thought that there was dissension in what was normally a loving and caring family environment. Hop Sing wished that there was something else he could do, other than seeing to the cooking and cleaning. Unfortunately, Ben had informed him that there was nothing anyone could do until they had the information back from Sacramento. Once it arrived, he had told the cook, they would confront both Hoss and Dru with whatever facts Jeff Perkins had ascertained.

 

Hearing the sound of an approaching rider, Joe waved Hop Sing off and decided to see who it was himself. Slowly he made his way over to the front door and drew it open. He was surprised that instead of his father or brother Adam, Steve Colter was heading up the porch.

 

“Steve? What brings you out here?” Joe asked, and reached out to shake the other man’s hand.

 

“Helping Pete out at the telegraph office, Joe. He said I should bring this out to your pa right away,” Steve explained. He shook Joe’s outstretched hand and then handed him the piece of paper.

 

Joe looked at the paper and decided to wait to read it after Steve had left the house. He moved over to the credenza, reached into his jacket, and drew out a silver dollar.

 

“Here—thanks a lot for coming out here so fast. I know my pa will want this as soon as he gets back.”

 

“No problem—thanks, Joe!” Steve smiled, glad to have received a tip on top of the money that Pete had given him to take the telegraph out to the Ponderosa.

 

“You want to come in for some coffee?” Joe offered, but hoped Steve would decline. His heart beat rapidly, wondering what information he held in his hand at the time.

 

“No thanks—want to get back to town before dark. Take it easy, Joe!” Steve waved and turned for the door.

 

“See you, Steve,” Joe called to the departing figure and headed back over to the settee.

 

Quickly scanning the letter, Joe’s mouth formed a sinister smile. They had gotten what they hoped for. Adam’s friend had provided enough information to sway even the biggest skeptic.

 

“What that?” Hop Sing asked, coming in from the kitchen.
“It’s some information we were waiting on,” Joe stated and moved back to the credenza. He pulled on his jacket and strapped on his six-gun.

 

“Where you go?”

 

“Into town,” Joe replied and put on his hat.

 

“Mister Ben want you to stay here!” Hop Sing protested.

 

“Just tell Pa that I’ve gone to Virginia City to tell Hoss all about Dru. If he wants to come into town—he can meet me at the International House,” Joe ignored the cook’s objection and pulled open the door.

 

“You stay here. Mister Ben and Mister Adam be home soon!”

 

“This is something that I’ve got to do, Hop Sing. Don’t worry—I’ll be fine!” Joe insisted as he headed for the barn to retrieve his pinto.

 

Hop Sing stood in the doorway and watched Joe exit the front yard a few minutes later. He didn’t like it, but from past history, the cook knew that once Joe set his mind on something few people could stop him. Hoping that the confrontation between both Hoss and Joe would go better than it had a few days prior, he turned back towards the kitchen. Hop Sing knew that Ben Cartwright would be very mad that his youngest son had gone to see Hoss without him.

 

 

Joe was half way into Virginia City by the time his father and brother arrived back home. They didn’t even have enough time to dismount before Hop Sing was in the front yard shouting at them in his native tongue.

 

“Hold on—hold on!” Ben called as he eased down from his saddle. “In English, Hop Sing!”

 

“Little Joe—he no listen. Boy all the time in trouble!” Hop Sing ranted.

 

“Oh no—what’s he done this time?” Adam interjected and moved next to the family caretaker.

 

“He ride to town—he going to talk to Mister Hoss.”

 

“HE WHAT?!” Ben’s voice bellowed out.

 

“Man from town come—he give Little Joe paper with information—then boy leave to see Hoss. Hop Sing try to stop—but no listen! Little Joe never listen!”

 

Ben shot his son a bewildered look, which quickly changed to frightened concern. “Must’ve been that telegraph we’ve been waiting on.”

 

“Let’s go, Pa!” Adam yelled and sprang back up on his horse.

 

“You stop him Mister Ben. He go to International House to see Mister Hoss. You go quick!” Hop Sing shouted and watched as the two men rode out of the yard.

 

 

 

Joe tied the reins to his horse out on the hitching post in front of the Silver Dollar Saloon. Darkness had fallen over the mining town and rowdy cowboys were starting to pile into the bar. He fought the desire to join them, and perhaps down a few beers before going through with his mission. Joe wanted to be the one who uncovered the goods on Dru and wondered which way would provide more satisfaction. His gaze tracked down the street to where the International House Hotel and Dining Room stood. Joe figured he would probably find his brother Hoss there. Looking in the other direction, and across the street was Mrs. O’Malley’s Boarding House. Smiling smugly, Joe decided to drop the news on Dru first. As far as he was concerned, it was about time that the woman had a good talking to. Joe patted his pinto and then crossed the street.

 

Mrs. O’Malley had just set aside the dinner plates. There was a strict rule that the evening meal was promptly at five p.m., and she had several boarders joining her that evening. Dru had helped the older lady set the table and then they ate a good home cooked meal before the young lady had excused herself and returned to her room. Mrs. O’Malley stopped putting the dishes away when she heard the knock on the front door. Wiping her hands on her apron she made it into the foyer and went to see who her visitor was.

 

“Well Little Joe Cartwright!” the lady smiled. “I haven’t seen you in a month of Sundays. Come on in.”

 

Joe removed his hat and nodded towards the woman. She was decent enough, but Joe knew that she was also well known as one of the town’s main source of gossip. He wondered if perhaps she had helped Dru with some facts along the way.

 

“Hello Mrs. O’Malley, how are you?” Joe said, trying to be polite enough to get his way in to see Hoss’ fiancé.

 

“Fine, Little Joe. My look at your face!” she exclaimed, seeing the cut and bruises underneath the young man’s eye. “Who did that to you?”

 

“Oh,” Joe paused and touched at his eye, “it’s nothing. Just had a fall.” He didn’t want to give the old woman any more fodder in the gossip department that she would carry out of the house and throughout the town.

 

“Well, it looks like fist marks to me,” Mrs. O’Malley replied suspiciously.

 

“I was just wondering if I could speak with Drucilla for a moment?” Joe changed the subject fast.

 

“Little Joe—it is a bit late for callers. I think she has retired for the evening.”

 

“It won’t take long. Could I please?” Joe asked, and tried to look sincere in his request.

 

“Oh—I suppose so. Her being your brother’s fiancé—I’m sure she won’t mind.”

 

“Thank you,” Joe smiled.

 

The landlady waved for Joe to follow her down the hallway to Drucilla’s room. She knocked on the door and said, “Drucilla honey—you have a caller.”

 

Dru heard the woman’s voice and wondered who would be visiting her. She had seen Hoss earlier and he told her he would see her at breakfast over at the hotel. Joe had caught her unaware and it showed on Dru’s face when she pulled open the door.

 

“I told Little Joe that you wouldn’t mind seeing your future brother-in-law,” Mrs. O’Malley explained.

 

“Of course not—come on in, Joe,” Dru replied. Truth being told, she didn’t want to see Joe at all, but she also didn’t want to cause a big scene in front of her landlady.

 

“Thank you,” Joe nodded and sent a wickedly evil smile over to her.

 

Soon the two enemies were standing in Drucilla’s bedroom staring each other down.

 

“Now that she’s gone—what do you want?” Dru got right to the point after she heard the landlady’s footsteps retreating down the hall.

 

“What do I want?” Joe asked and chuckled. “Let’s see—I think what I want most of all is for you to go to my brother Hoss and tell him what a big fat liar you are. Yep—come to think of it—that is what I want first of all.”

 

“In your dreams!” Dru fired back. “See this ring? It means that Hoss and I are going to be wed. And there’s nothing that can stop us now. He doesn’t care about you anymore, Joe. Just look at your face! I know he did that to you. Oh how I laughed under my breath when he confessed what he had done. Sure he was upset—but he will get over it once we are husband and wife!”

 

“You are pathetic—you know that?” Joe laughed and leaned up against one of the walls. “You are also a liar—but your time’s coming. And real soon too!”

 

“Oh? What are you going to do?”

 

“I have something here that’s going to change the whole picture,” Joe announced and pulled the telegraph out of his jacket pocket. “Yeah—as soon as Hoss sees this—well—you will go back to the gutter again!”

 

Dru tried to hide her worry as she stared over at the piece of paper in Joe’s hand. “What is that?”

 

“It’s a telegraph we got—and boy have you been a bad girl! This here will spell out exactly what type of a woman you are. Then—when my brother reads it—well, he will know I was telling the truth all along.”

 

“What truth? The truth that women aren’t your choice for sleeping partners?” Dru laughed.

 

Joe moved over to the woman and there was fire in his eyes. He grabbed her by the wrist and held it tightly. “You know I’ve never struck a woman in my life. But—if you say anything else about me—well—I might have to change my perspective and give you what you deserve!”

 

“Don’t threaten me!” Dru shouted, not being the type who backed down from any man.

 

Joe let go of Dru’s wrist and forced her gaze. “I don’t have to threaten you. Hoss can do that for me when he reads this. It’s time he sees it—if you are wise you’ll hide—and catch the next stage out of here. Go back to the brothel!” Joe said vehemently and then turned for the door.

 

Dru had been backed into the corner and knew she had little time to stop Joe from telling his brother some things from her past that she’d rather forget. Acting out of instinct, much like a cornered snake, she reached out and pulled Joe’s six gun from his holster. Joe spun around, having been caught totally unaware of the woman’s move.

 

“You aren’t going anywhere!” Dru said and then, without even aiming, she pulled the trigger of the gun.

 

Joe fell to the ground like a sack of grain, his blood spilling from just above his belt. He had known the woman was evil, but never thought she would do such a thing to him.

 

“Watch this,” Dru smiled and then ripped the top of her dress. She then gave a blood curdling scream. “Help!”
Joe’s eyes rolled back in his head and his body slumped over just as the landlady returned down the hall and pushed open the door.

 

“Joe—Joe Cartwright—he tried to rape me—help!” Dru called to the woman and then let loose her tears.

 

“Oh you poor child! You poor poor child!” Mrs. O’Malley replied and walked over to Dru and held her close.

 

“I had to do it—I had to—he wouldn’t let go of me!” Dru sobbed.

 

Mrs. O’Malley moved over to the fallen man and knelt down. “He’s still alive—we’ve got to get help. I’ll be right back!” she said breathlessly and ran out of the room.

 

“Die fast,” Dru whispered as she stood over Joe’s body. She reached inside his jacket and pulled out the telegraph. Running across the room she stashed it underneath her mattress and then returned to the doorway to wait for Mrs. O’Malley.

 

 

 

Ben and Adam had arrived in Virginia City just as Joe was going to see Dru. They thought that Joe had gone directly to see Hoss, and decided to intercept him to prevent another fight. Knocking on Hoss’ hotel room door, Ben braced himself for the worst.

 

“Pa? Adam? What do you want?” Hoss answered curtly.

 

“Is Joseph here?” Ben asked and peered inside the room.

 

“No—haven’t seen him. Why?” Hoss replied, confused that his father would think Joe had come to him after the fight.

 

“He was coming here—that’s what he told Hop Sing,” Ben said, wondering where the boy had gone off to. They had seen Cochise tied in front of the saloon and figured he had walked down to the hotel from there.

 

“Why would he come here? I ain’t got nothing to say to him—unless he wants to apologize,” Hoss announced, still holding his ground as far as his little brother was concerned.

 

Before Ben had the chance to reply, he could hear a loud commotion coming from the lobby. Within minutes the desk clerk ran up the stairs. He knew where he would find Ben Cartwright, and knew he would be needed.

 

“Mr. Cartwright—Mr. Cartwright!” the man shouted.
Ben and his sons turned out of the doorway and looked at the panic on Bill Jefferies’ face.

 

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked the man.

 

“Little Joe—he’s been shot—over at Mrs. O’Malley’s Boarding House. You’d better come quick—it don’t sound good!”

 

The blood drained from all three of the Cartwrights’ faces as they hurriedly followed the desk clerk down the winding staircase. Ben knew now that Joe had decided to confront Drucilla instead of Hoss. His heart raced from the images playing out in his mind over the consequences of that meeting.

 

The door to the boarding house was wide open when Ben, Adam, and Hoss filed inside. A small crowd had gathered in the hallway and they had to push their way down to Dru’s bedroom. The young woman stood next to the threshold wiping her tears away on a handkerchief. Mrs. O’Malley was standing next to her holding the young woman in her arms.

 

With his knees shaking, Ben moved to where Joe still lay covered in his own blood. He almost didn’t see Doctor Paul Martin as the man pushed bystanders out of the way and hurried towards the injured boy.

 

“Let me have a look, Ben,” Paul called over to him.

 

Ben was fighting back tears when he moved aside enough to let Paul examine Joe. He looked out in the hallway and saw Dru standing there and his blood began to boil with anger.

 

“What have you done!” Ben demanded, staring directly at Hoss’ fiancée.

 

“I—I—couldn’t help it—Joe tried to rape me! I had to—I had to. Oh Hoss!” Dru sobbed and fell into the big man’s arms.

 

Hoss felt trapped between two opposing worlds. The woman he loved was standing there shaking and with tears running down her pale face. He could see that her dress had been torn almost off, and he couldn’t help wondering if Joe had gone after her again. But, there on the floor lay the boy he had grown up with, and his fear for Joe’s life grew as the doctor began to feel for a pulse.

 

“Hoss? Hoss I’m sorry—but I didn’t know what to do—he wouldn’t let me off the bed— then he tore my dress. I reached for his gun—I just wanted to scare him away—but it went off!” Dru explained with panic in her voice.
Adam eased over next to his father and saw the uncontrollable anger that was very apparent in his eyes. He knew what Ben wanted to do, because he wanted to do the very same thing at the time. They both had to let the law handle Dru, though they wanted to shoot her down like she had shot Little Joe.

 

“It’s not good, Ben,” Paul muttered. “We need to get him over to the hospital before we lose him. Somebody bring a carriage!”

 

There were a few men, who even though they wanted to stay and hear what Ben Cartwright was going to do to the woman who had shot his son, left the scene and rushed to get a carriage for the doctor and Joe.

 

“Get the sheriff,” Ben demanded as he gathered Joe up into his arms and followed Paul out to the foyer.

 

Dru continued to play it up held in Hoss’ arms. She knew that as long as Joe died that she would be able to call her deed self defense. She prayed that he would die soon.

 

“Look what she’s done now. I hope you’re satisfied,” Adam said to Hoss and headed out after their father.

 

Hoss clung onto his fiancée, but his heart wasn’t in it. “I’ll stay with you until the sheriff gets here,” Hoss told her as he wiped away his own tears.

 

 

 

Doctor Martin began to bark orders the moment he stepped into the main corridor of the Sisters of Mercy Hospital. He called for a stretcher to be brought out and soon they had Joe spread out upon it. Before Ben or Adam could ask any questions, Paul disappeared with the injured young man inside the operating room. All the two Cartwrights could do was to wait and worry. Fifteen minutes later, Paul re-emerged from the room and waved for Ben to come over to the doorway.

 

“Here’s Joe’s clothes,” Paul began, and handed Ben the stack of clothing. “We’ve got him prepped and ready to begin but he’s insisting on talking to you.”

 

“Joseph is awake?” Ben asked, surprised that his son had come back around after passing out from loss of blood and shock.

 

“Yes—but not for much longer. Go on and speak with him for a minute. The sedative I just gave him is going to work fast so I can get to that bullet,” Paul explained.

 

“Here, Adam. You hold these—I’ll be right back,” Ben called to his son and relinquished the clothes to the boy’s brother. He then made his way into the operating room.
Paul washed his hands and pulled on his operating gown, assisted by the head nurse. Pulling up the surgical mask he approached the operating table and said to Ben, “Go ahead start talking—he’ll hear you.”

 

“Joseph? It’s your pa—you still with us?” Ben whispered as he grabbed on to the boy’s hand.

 

“Pa—Pa,” Joe murmured and tried fruitlessly to focus in on the man standing next to him.

 

“You need to settle down, Son. Let Doc have at that bullet—then we can talk all about what happened,” Ben tried to calm the boy.

 

“Gotta tell you—tell you—the telegraph—” Joe mumbled and then stopped speaking abruptly.

 

“What about the telegraph, Joseph?”

 

“Shot me—Dru—shot me—hurts—hurts—Pa,” Joe continued talking out in a delirious manner.

 

“I know—it’s going to be okay—don’t you worry none.”

 

“Telegraph—came—took it to her—shot me—shot me—then ripped her dress.”

 

“Did she rip her dress, Joseph? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Ben asked, though he had assumed that fact to be true earlier.

 

“Ripped her own dress—Pa—I didn’t hurt her—never hit a lady—she shot me—hurt.”

 

Ben stared over at Paul and saw him point to the clock on the wall. He assumed the doctor was making note of the fact that they had to get right to the operation.

 

“I know you didn’t hit her—don’t worry about that, Joseph. You just lay still now and let Paul get that bullet out, okay?” Ben said and ran his hand gently through the boy’s hair.

 

“Telegraph—proves it—find telegraph—she shot me—hurts—hurts bad, Pa,” Joe whispered and then fell off into a drug induced slumber.

 

“What’s that about a telegraph, Ben?” Paul asked as he moved closer to his patient.

 

“I’ll fill you in later. Get that bullet out before he loses any more blood,” Ben sighed and stepped out of the way.
“You go on outside. I promise to let you know Joe’s prognosis as soon as I’m finished, Ben.”

 

“Take good care of him,” Ben replied, though it wasn’t needed. He knew that Paul cared about Joe very much and would do his utmost to keep the boy alive.

 

“I will,” Paul nodded and watched as Ben mournfully moved out of the operating room. “Let’s get this done,” Doc said to his nurse and reached for his scalpel.

 

 

 

Adam waited for his father, the whole time wondering what was going on in the next room. By the time Ben joined him in the hallway he could see the worry etched all over his father’s face.

 

“How’s the kid?”

 

“We won’t know for awhile—Doc’s just starting now.”

 

“What did Joe say to you?”

 

“He kept muttering something about that damn telegraph. I wish to God that he never got that thing!” Ben replied, angered at the whole situation, and how Joe had come to town to show it to Dru and Hoss.

 

“Where is it anyway? I’d like to see what Jeff had to say.”

 

Ben stared at the clothes in Adam’s hands and his eyebrows narrowed. “I would assume it’s somewhere in his pants or jacket.”

 

Adam set his brother’s garb down onto a chair and painstakingly went through them. Coming up without anything, he turned back towards his father.

 

“It’s not here,” Adam announced flatly.

 

Ben was surprised by his son’s statement. He assumed that Joe had been delirious, but now he was starting to have some doubts. Perhaps the boy was trying to give his family the evidence they needed all along?

 

“Joseph—he kept saying something about Dru shooting him—and he kept repeating that we needed to get the telegraph. If it’s not in his clothes—and if he never made it to see Hoss—” Ben was cut off in mid-sentence by his son.

 

“Then Dru has it! It also shows that she had motive to kill Joe!” Adam exclaimed.

 

“Where’s Hoss?”

 

“I heard him saying something about staying with Dru until Roy gets there.”

 

“I want you to get over there right away, Adam. Make sure no one leaves Dru alone in her room. If it’s not on her person, then she’s got it stashed somewhere! Tell Roy what Joe said—and be sure he knows that Joseph saw her tear her own dress too!” Ben insisted.

 

“Kinda takes away that whole self defense issue now doesn’t it?” Adam smiled and turned to leave. “Don’t worry about any of this, Pa—I’ll handle it—you stay and do what you do best.”

 

“And what would that be?”

 

“Pray,” Adam announced and patted his father’s arm before leaving.

 

Ben sank into a chair and did as he was told; he prayed that God would, once again, spare Joe’s life.

 

 

 

Adam pushed his way through the nosey spectators and stopped just outside of Dru’s room at the boarding house. He watched and listened to Roy Coffee, who had just begun his investigation. The man was a seasoned lawman and knew how to seek the truth, even from strangers.

 

“So—Mrs. O’Malley-you’re saying that you never heard nothing until that gun went off?” Roy questioned, staring hard at the woman.

 

“Yes, Sheriff—like I told you—I was in the kitchen putting away the supper dishes when I heard the shot—then I heard Dru scream for help. That poor girl was standing there with her dress torn in half!”

 

“And none of your other boarders heard or saw anything?”

 

“No—I only have two others—both gentlemen—who were at the saloon at the time. They left right after I served dessert.”

 

Roy scrubbed at his stubble of beard and moved over to Hoss and Dru, who were seated on the bottom of her bed at the time.

 

“Any bad blood between you and Little Joe?” Roy asked the young lady, suspicion framing his face.
“Well—we did have—I guess. But—I thought he had come here tonight to apologize,” Dru explained, dabbing the tears from her eyes. She had already donned a robe to cover her ripped clothes.

 

“Apologize? For what?”

 

“It’s a long story,” Dru replied quietly and stared over at her fiancee.

 

“Well I got a long time—so go ahead,” Roy nodded, growing quite frustrated.

 

“I met Joe Cartwright a year ago—well not exactly met—he barged into the room I had over the bar at the Black Hawk Saloon in Sacramento. He was very drunk—and he—well—he,” Dru stopped all of a sudden and broke down crying.

 

Hoss put his arm around the young lady and tried to console her, “Come on, Honey—tell Roy what happened so we can get it all out in the open.”

 

“Joe Cartwright accosted me—in my bed—I had to fight him to get him to leave the room. I never saw him again—until the night of our engagement party at the Ponderosa. I had to tell Hoss what happened—I didn’t want to—but I didn’t want to have it over our heads once we got married.”

 

Roy shook his head in disbelief and countered her statement, “I’ve known Little Joe since he was in diapers. I find it hard to believe that he would do such a thing!”

 

“He did! And—he tried to finish it tonight, Sheriff!” Dru protested. “I thought he just wanted to talk—or I wouldn’t have let him in here in the first place! Once Mrs. O’Malley left us—well he forced me over to the bed—ripped my dress when he tried to take advantage of me. I reached for his gun—I only wanted to scare him off. But—it went off somehow—and he fell to the floor. Now that’s what happened—the whole truth!”

 

“What do you have to say about this, Hoss?” Roy asked somberly.

 

“You know everything I do now, Roy. I got over here after Joe was shot.—and found Dru hysterical. Her dress was ripped—but I can’t see Joe doing it—but I can’t believe Dru would lie to me neither!” Hoss replied.

 

Roy looked around the room and saw the puddle of blood by the door. He eyed the distance between the bed and the spot where the boy had fallen. Something didn’t appear to be right.

 

“Roy,” Adam said, coming into the room after listening to Dru’s explanation.

 

“Adam—how’s Joe doing?” Hoss asked.
“He’s being operated on now,” Adam answered, still upset with his brother for not joining them over at the hospital. But, he reasoned, it was a good thing Hoss had stayed with Dru to prevent her from getting rid of the evidence.

 

“Your Pa with him?” Roy asked.

 

“Yeah—hey Roy—can I see you out here for a minute?” Adam motioned towards the hallway.

 

“You two stay there—I’ve got some more questions for you,” Roy addressed Hoss and Dru. He then moved out in the hallway with Adam.

 

“I’ve got some good information for you, Roy,” Adam whispered. Quietly he related to the sheriff all of the facts as he knew them to be. He made it a point to tell Roy that Joe had been awake and alert enough to say that Dru had torn her own dress and that the telegraph with the goods on her had to be in her room somewhere, or perhaps on her.

 

Roy took in everything that Adam confided. It made a whole lot more sense that Dru was lying than the other version that had painted Joe Cartwright as a rapist. Roy nodded to Adam after he had his say and turned back into the bedroom.

 

The whole time that Roy was talking with Hoss’ brother Dru worried that Joe had come to long enough to say something about what really had happened in the bedroom. She had prayed that the young man would die, but now she wasn’t sure. Dru hoped that the sheriff and the rest of the spectators would leave long enough for her to destroy the telegraph. But, that didn’t look like it was going to happen any time soon, so she kept her position on the bed to protect the piece of paper which sat just underneath her at the moment.

 

“Hoss—I believe we can clear all this up pretty easy now,” Roy began as he stood next to where Joe had fallen. “First of all, I did notice that your bed sits a good piece from this spot where Little Joe fell after being shot. Drucilla—do you know how that is?”

 

“I don’t know what you mean,” Dru replied.

 

“Well—you said that Joe was on top of you and you pulled out his gun, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then you accidently pulled the trigger, right?”

 

“I told you that already—what are you getting at?” Dru asked, starting to get angry.

 

Roy walked from the spot where Joe had fallen over to the bed, pacing it out as he did.
“Way I figure that’s a good ten to twelve feet there—so if you shot him—he would’ve fallen closer to the bed, wouldn’t he?” Roy questioned, raising his eyebrows in disbelief.

 

“Well—he kinda staggered over there before falling—like he was trying for the door,” Dru countered.

 

“No blood stains anywhere near that bed—and he was gut shot from what I heard. When he fell he was already bleeding bad.”

 

Hoss stared hard at Roy and then at his fiancée. For the first time it was starting to seem like the woman was lying about what she had done. He swallowed hard and stood from the bed.

 

“Dru—you didn’t say anything earlier about Joe staggering,” Hoss stated.

 

“Hoss—I was upset—your brother had attacked me—my mind isn’t all that clear about every single detail. You’ve just got to believe me,” Dru answered, tears forming in her eyes once more.

 

“Adam here told me something mighty interesting about why your little brother came to see Dru,” Roy indicated Hoss.

 

“What?”

 

“He said that Joe had with him a telegraph—one that he had received at the ranch this afternoon. Joe wanted to confront Dru with some information that had been sent from Sacramento. That telegraph happens to be missing. Where do you suppose it is, Dru?”

 

“I never saw any telegraph, Sheriff. Adam must be mistaken,” Dru replied, holding her place on the bed.

 

“What are you talking about, Adam?” Hoss asked, turning towards his brother who still stood in the doorway. “Who sent the telegraph?”

 

“A good friend of mine—who happens to live in Sacramento, Hoss. He dug up some facts about your girlfriend and Joe decided to bring it here first. That’s why Pa and I showed up at your hotel this evening—we knew why Joe had come to town.”

 

Hoss turned back towards the woman on the bed and said, “If you know anything about that telegraph you’d better speak up now.”

 

“Honest—Hoss—I don’t know what he’s talking about! Your brother came here—he said to finish what he started in Sacramento. He never said anything about a telegraph—never showed me one—I haven’t seen it!” Dru protested.
“Well, no need for everyone to get all riled up,” Roy grinned and turned towards Adam. “Let’s just have us a look around here to rule out any question about that piece of paper, shall we?”

 

Dru shrugged her shoulders and tried her best to look calm. She continued to sit on the bed, hoping that no one checked under the mattress. “Go ahead and look—there’s nothing to find!”

 

“Adam—Hoss—you boys help me will you?” Roy asked and saw them nod.

 

Soon the two Cartwright brothers and the sheriff were searching the entire room from top to bottom. They went through bureaus and clothing, and came up without a clue. Finally Adam turned to look at Dru and he got a hunch as to why she had never stood from her bed the whole time the search was going on.

 

“See I told you,” Dru said as the men gathered back by the door.

 

“There’s one place we haven’t looked,” Adam commented and pointed towards the bed. “Hoss—she’s your fiancée—you go look that bed over. Tell her to get out of the way.”

 

Hoss walked over to Dru, a look of total despair on his face. He motioned for her to stand, and reluctantly she moved across the room. Hoss searched the bedding and then lifted the mattress. He saw the piece of paper, and his heart dropped in his chest.

 

“Go ahead—read it,” Adam instructed, when he saw his brother had found the piece of paper.

 

Hoss sat down heavily on the bed. Slowly he read the telegraph and all the incriminating evidence that Adam’s friend had come up with on Dru. It hit the big man like a ton of bricks. The woman had been picked up for lewd and lascivious conduct numerous times in Sacramento and had even served some jail time for rolling customers. Dru had been run out of the town by the sheriff there. There it was, before Hoss’ very eyes, the true facts concerning the person he had loved and trusted. Now he knew that he had judged his brother wrong; the same brother who now was in the hospital fighting for his life.

 

“Hoss—Hoss don’t believe any of the lies your brother says about me! He probably manufactured that telegraph! They were all out to get me—Joe—Adam—even your father! You’ve got to believe me,” Dru pleaded, moving over to Hoss and grabbing his arm.

 

“I never knew you—never knew what you were capable of,” Hoss whispered sadly. “Why did you shoot Joe? Because of this?!”
“I told you—it was self defense—look at what he did to my dress!” Dru yelled and opened up her robe.

 

“Joe was still conscious before he went for surgery, Hoss. He told Pa that Dru ripped that dress after she shot him,” Adam added.

 

“You do love me—Hoss—you do!” Dru insisted.

 

Hoss wearily arose from the bed and looked down at the young woman. “Love you? I hate you—hate what you’ve done to me—and my family. Roy—get her out of my sight!” Hoss yelled.

 

“Miss Carrington—I’m arresting you for attempted murder. I only pray that the charge stays that way—or it will be cold blooded murder!” Roy addressed his prisoner and grabbed her wrists. He handcuffed the woman and dragged her off to the Virginia City Jail.

 

“What have I done, Adam?” Hoss asked his brother, his voice shaken. “What have I done to Joe?”

 

Adam felt sorry for the big man, even though he had let Dru twist him around her finger. He felt that Hoss would punish himself enough, he didn’t need to add to his despair.

 

“Come on—let’s go see how the kid is doing,” Adam whispered, and put his arm around his brother’s shoulder for comfort. The two men hurried over to the hospital, each of them silently praying that Joe had survived his surgery.

 

 

 

Ben had paced the corridors of the hospital for over an hour waiting for his son to come out of surgery. His thoughts were on so many things, especially the boy who was being operated on. He also was wondering what was going on over at the boarding house. Ben prayed that Roy, with Adam’s help, would bring Dru to justice.

 

“Pa? How’s Joe doing?” Adam asked, somewhat out of breath from the brisk walk into the hospital.

 

Ben turned around after hearing his name called, and was surprised to see both Adam and Hoss coming towards him. There was something different in Hoss’ carriage, his shoulders were slumped and his face was directed towards the floor to avoid his father’s stare. Ben took that as a sign that Dru had been arrested.

 

“The boy’s still in surgery,” Ben commented and tried to think of something to say to Hoss.
“It’s all my fault—Pa—I never should have believed what Dru told me about Joe,” Hoss said solemnly, trying to fight back his tears of regret.

 

Ben shot a look over to Adam, and then redirected his gaze at his middle son. He could see Hoss was heartbroken on a couple of levels. Hoss had just lost someone he thought he would marry, and his father knew how hard that would be on him. But, to know that Dru had not only lied, but also had viciously shot his younger brother had to be a whole lot worse. Ben hoped that Joseph would forgive his brother’s lack of trust in him. Knowing the boy well, he believed that his son would, should he survive his injuries. The facts were still out on that one at the moment and Ben’s heart filled with sorrow over the situation.

 

“Hoss—Joe loves you—that’s one thing that I do know,” Ben began, “I only pray that he will live to tell you that he forgives you.”

 

As if on cue, Doctor Paul Martin emerged from the operating room and walked towards the waiting family.

 

“How is he?” Ben asked, frightened by the glum look on Paul’s face.

 

“It was a tough surgery, Ben. The only good thing was that the bullet went on a diagonal pattern instead of straight through Joe’s abdomen. He’s lost a whole lot of blood—as you know.”

 

“He’s gonna be all right isn’t he?!” Hoss jumped in to the conversation.

 

Paul stared over at Hoss and Adam and read the worry on their faces. “We’ll just have to wait and see, Hoss. I’ve done all that I could. He’s still unconscious.”

 

“Were any organs hit?” Ben questioned, worried about the fact that the bullet had struck Joe’s stomach.

 

“Fortunately only one.”

 

The three Cartwrights each looked bewildered at the doctor’s statement. How could hitting any organ be fortunate?

 

“It was his appendix. Knowing Joe’s luck—he’d probably end up having it taken out some time in the future anyway. If we had to lose something—it’s the one organ I would have chosen him to lose,” Paul explained, and patted Ben’s shoulder to comfort his old friend.

 

“So—it’s the blood loss that you are mainly worried about?” Ben tried for some clarification of his son’s prognosis.

“Yes—that and the possibility for infection to start up are what I’m most afraid of. Of course we all know that boy of yours, Ben. He’s surprised us so often we’ve come to expect him to change all the rules as far as the practice of medicine is concerned.”

 

“Can I see him?” Hoss broke in. He had so much he wanted to get off his chest that the weight of it was killing him.

 

“Not just yet. We will be moving him into his room in just a little while. I’d like to watch him in recovery for awhile just to make sure those sutures are holding. Ben—you can come in for a few minutes if you’d like. But, that’s about all the commotion that my patient will be able to handle tonight. Why don’t you send Hoss and Adam over to the hotel for some rest?”

 

Ben turned and looked at his sons and smiled, in spite of the horrible situation. He knew they would never leave the hospital until they had at least seen Joe once with their own eyes.

 

“Paul—how about letting them each go in and see Joseph for just a minute—then I’ll send them on their way?” Ben countered the Doc’s suggestion.

 

“All right—but make it brief—your brother isn’t out of the woods yet. Adam—you can go in first.”

 

Adam looked at Hoss’ face and knew that the big man needed to see the boy for his own good. He opted to let his brother see Joe first.

 

“You go on in there, Hoss. But, don’t take more than a minute or two,” Adam whispered.

 

“Thanks,” Hoss nodded, and followed Paul into the recovery room.

 

Hoss stared down at the shockingly pale face of his brother. The boy looked like death warmed over, and his brother’s heart broke from the sight. He knelt down alongside of Joe’s bed and cried.

 

“Little Joe—I don’t know if you can hear me, boy, but I’m sorry. I’m so dad gum sorry I can’t hardly breathe! Please get better—please don’t leave us. I’ve got so much to say to you—so many things to take back. I only hope you’ll forgive me for being such a dumb lummox. I love you, Joe,” Hoss whispered, pushing back his tears.

 

Paul stood next to where Hoss was making his heartfelt confession to his little brother. The doctor felt bad for the entire Cartwright family, but at that moment, especially for Hoss. He hoped that Joe would pull through, because if not, Hoss wouldn’t be able to go on with his life. Paul knew the family well, and with that knowledge came understanding. He knew how close all three brothers had always been. Paul knew how much they loved each other, and if there had been bad feelings between Joe and Hoss prior to the boy’s injury, then he knew why Hoss was prostrate with grief.

 

“That’s going to have to be enough for now, Hoss. You can visit with your brother a little later when he’s in his room, okay?”

 

“Yeah, Doc,” Hoss nodded and slowly stood back up. “You’ll fix him all up—I know you will.”

 

“It’s not up to me from this point on, Hoss. It’s up to the man upstairs. Maybe you ought to say a couple of prayers for your little brother? There’s a small room used as a chapel at the end of the hall.”

 

“Thanks, Doc,” Hoss replied and walked out of the room. As Adam left with Paul to go see Joe, his brother moved past Pa and headed down the corridor to pray.

 

Adam dropped his hand down onto Joe’s shoulder and whispered in his ear. “Hey kid—if you can hear me—how about waking up long enough to get Hoss off the hook? You know he’s beating himself up—he hates that he chose to believe Dru over his baby brother. You’ve just got to get better—or Hoss never will be the same. So—I know you can beat the odds—I’ve got five bucks here that says you’ll open your eyes before dawn. You wake up—you get the money. Deal?”

 

Paul heard Adam’s words and moved over to him. “Can I have part of that bet?” Paul smiled.

 

“No—we all know it would be a sucker bet anyhow, Doc. Joe does things his own way in his own time.”

 

“That’s the truth!” Paul exclaimed and clapped Adam on the back. “How about you go and see to your brother Hoss? I sent him down to the chapel—and I think he could use a friend right about now. I’m going to bring your dad in here before he crawls through the window trying to see Joe.”

 

“I will, Paul. Thanks,” Adam said and turned out of the room in search of his brother.
 

The hospital room was quiet and there wasn’t a sound coming from the hallway. The nurses had already made their two a.m. rounds and even Doctor Martin had retired to a small private room to grab a few hours of sleep. Joe had been brought into his room a little after eleven that night and his father sat keeping a silent vigil next to his bed. He had told both of his other sons to get some rest over at the hotel and had insisted that he would stay with the injured boy until he awoke. Before long, Ben succumbed to the stillness that had fallen over the hospital room and leaned in towards the bed. He rested his weary brow on the side of the mattress, hoping to feel Joe’s movements, should he awaken. The events of the past few days had worn him out, and now his body had decided to take over. Exhausted, he fell into a deep slumber.

 

Joe slowly began to feel his surroundings as his mind fought to register in on all that had happened. It didn’t take him long to figure out that he was in the hospital. The lamp next to his bed had been turned down, but it gave off just enough light for him to see around the room. Groggily focusing on his surroundings, he first noticed his father. Ben was half in the chair and half leaning in on the side of the bed. Joe gave a weak smile when he saw the abundance of white hair on his father’s head, which was laying just at the end of his right hand. Poor Pa, Joe thought to himself and gently placed the palm of his hand on the top of the man’s head. Kept you awake and worrying too long—but I sure am glad to see you.

 

Ben became aware of the fingers, which were softly stroking the top of his head. Thinking at first that it was a wishful dream, he blinked his eyes open. The touch was still very evident; it was Joe.

 

“Joseph?” Ben whispered as he pulled himself upright in the chair.

 

“Hi Pa,” Joe responded weakly.

 

Ben took his son’s hand into his own and smiled broadly. “How are you feeling, Son?”

 

“Like I got gut shot,” Joe quipped, biting back his pain.

 

Ben chuckled and squeezed the boy’s hand. “That you did. You hurting bad?”

 

“Bad enough,” Joe nodded, and watched his pa reach for the water pitcher.

 

“Here drink a little of this—then I will get the nurse to bring you in something for pain. Doc didn’t want to give you anything until you came around,” Ben explained, and then handed his son a glass of water.

 

Joe drank what he could and then waved the glass away. “Where is Doc anyhow?”

 

“I’m afraid that too many nights spent up doctoring his favorite patient has worn poor Paul out. He’ll be in after awhile—just getting a little shut eye.”

 

“Feels like he got a little scalpel happy,” Joe said as his hand drifted to his bandaged incision.

 

Ben pulled the boy’s hand away from his injury and scolded him, “Joseph—don’t touch! You’ve got a whole lot of sutures—and I’m quite sure that Doc doesn’t want to have to redo them.”
“You don’t have to tell me that, Pa. I can feel each one of them,” Joe frowned.

 

“We’ve been so worried about you, Joseph,” Ben confessed as he eased back in his chair.

 

“We? You mean you and Adam?”

 

“We as in—your family—Hop Sing—Doc.”

 

“Hoss?” Joe questioned, surprised by the thought.

 

“Yes, of course Hoss. He’s been in here half the night. I sent both him and Adam back to the hotel for some sleep. Hop Sing came on into town when we didn’t make it back. He made sure that the nurses were told what you liked to eat, by the way.”

 

“What about Dru? Does Hoss believe me now?” Joe asked, worry in his voice.

 

Ben rubbed his son’s arm gently to calm him down some. “Easy there, Joe—I will tell you all about it later—you need your rest.”

 

“I won’t be able to rest until you tell me what happened, Pa.”

 

Ben sighed and shook his head. He was tired and he knew that Joe should be even more so after having incurred such a life threatening injury. But, he also knew that the boy would never settle down until he heard the facts. Reluctantly Ben decided to tell him what he wanted to know.

 

“Well. To answer your first question—yes Dru has been charged with attempted murder. To answer your second question—yes Hoss believes you now. I just wish it hadn’t taken you getting shot for him to realize what kind of a woman he was set on marrying.”

 

“The telegraph—w-what happened to it?” Joe asked impatiently. The movement he made to try to sit up was met with a hand to his shoulder. Ben kept the boy against the propped up pillows and warned him with his stern gaze. “Okay—I won’t move,” Joe began and winced up his face. “I just want to know what happened—I will stay put—promise.”

 

“Joseph, I swear you will be the death of me one day,” Ben replied, frustrated with the boy.

 

“Sorry Pa,” Joe said, and gave his best puppy dog look to garner his father’s compliance.

 

“And don’t turn those eyes on me either!” Ben grinned.

 

“Just tell me the short version of what happened, Pa—then I promise I will shut up for awhile.”
“Oh I know you will—’cause I am going to get the nurse to give you something to knock you out.”

 

“So—what happened to the telegraph?”

 

“You mean the one that you NEVER should have taken into town in the first place?” Ben asked, raising his eyebrows in a characteristic fashion.

 

“Yeah—that one,” Joe answered sheepishly, and chose not to mention why he had done such a foolish thing as to face Dru on her own turf.

 

“Well, Drucilla was far more experienced with hiding lies than she was with hiding telegraphs. After I told Adam what you told me in the operating room, he took that information over to Roy. The sheriff had already figured out that something wasn’t right about the facts as Dru had told them—” Ben’s explanation was cut off by his son.

 

“That means Roy believed me—that I would never do something like that! Funny how he believed me but my own brother didn’t,” Joe responded with hurt in his words.

 

Ben brushed back the bangs, which had fallen, into his son’s eyes. He knew the boy was still upset over the fight he had had with Hoss a few days back, and worse than any physical injury was the knowledge that his own brother would think badly of him. He gave Joe a very sympathetic look and said, “Joseph—I can’t even try to tell you how sorry Hoss is for all that happened. I know he wants to see you—to apologize.”

 

Joe’s eyes glistened with unspent tears, as he tried to gather himself a bit before going on with his questions. “Go on with what you were telling me, Pa.”

 

“Roy had noticed that things weren’t adding up—and then—well—with Adam’s revelations into what you said had happened—he figured out that the telegraph had to be somewhere in that room. Hoss even asked Dru about it—but she lied and said she never saw any telegraph—and that you, Adam, and I were trying to poison Hoss against her.”

 

“Evil witch,” Joe muttered, but he was thinking of far worse things to say about her.

 

“Yes—she is that—and a whole lot more,” Ben nodded. “Anyway—they found it—after she said she knew NOTHING about it—right underneath her mattress. Then her whole story dissolved and Roy booked her on attempted murder. Hoss told Roy to get her out of his sight—and he told Dru that he hated her—and hated everything she had done to his family.”

 

“Yeah—if that telegraph had gotten thrown away—you think he would’ve believed us, Pa? I don’t think so! I betcha he would’ve married her—even though she had shot me,” Joe insisted angrily.

 

“Well I DON’T,” Ben countered. He watched as the glow in his son’s eyes began to fade, and he could tell that Joe was hurting. “I knew we shouldn’t have gone into all this. Let me get you that medicine to help ease that pain.”

 

“No—not yet—don’t want to sleep yet. Tell me the rest first.”

 

“Not much more to tell actually. Roy took Dru to the jail and Hoss came over to the hospital. He wanted so badly to see you, Joseph. If you could’ve seen his face—well—you would realize exactly how much he regretted his actions. Doc let him see you for a few minutes after your surgery was over. He came out of the recovery room in tears. Then he spent hours down at the chapel praying for you. It’s never easy to admit you are wrong, Son—especially when you’ve hurt someone that you love. If the shoe was on the other foot don’t you think Hoss would forgive you?”

 

Joe frowned and pulled the covers up around his shoulders before replying. “I would never think Hoss was as evil as he thought I was, Pa. That’s the truth. I know there was a girl involved—and like you said before—he was planning on getting married and all—but I don’t see how that changes the fact that you either believe in someone or you don’t.”

 

“He let his love for Drucilla—or what he perceived as his love for her— cloud his judgment, Joseph. I am not defending his actions. You know I was very upset with him for hitting you the other night! But, I also feel that if you love someone—truly love someone—you try to forgive their mistakes. You love your brother—don’t you?” Ben asked quietly.

 

“Yeah—guess so,” Joe answered the question reluctantly.

 

“Then—do you think you’ve got it in you to forgive him?”

 

“Not yet,” Joe stated adamantly.

 

“What?”

 

“Well—I figure there has to be a whole lot of groveling done for a while, you know? And, I betcha I can make him jump through a few hoops before I let him off the hook. You know—kinda do all my chores—even when I am all better—just to let him work off this miscarriage of justice?”

 

Ben stared at his son hard and then watched as the boy’s lips changed from a scowl to a smile. He knew that Joe had forgiven his brother in his own way. Ben also knew that Joe wasn’t altogether joking about his own form of payback. Hoss would have to do some serious toting and fetching before Joe would ease up on his indignant attitude.

 

“You are really something, Joseph,” Ben chuckled and ruffled the boy’s head of curls.
“Had you going there for awhile though—didn’t I, Pa?” Joe grinned.

 

“Yes—yes you did. I hope you do as well when you talk to Hoss tomorrow.”

 

“Don’t worry—I’ll practice on Adam before I “allow” Hoss to see me. I wanna play this up a bit—so don’t give me away, okay?”

 

“I guess so—since it will—in the long run—tickle your brother to hear that you’re still up to your old tricks. I’ll keep your secret.”

 

“Thanks, Pa. Now—will you do me one more favor?”

 

“Yes—what is it?”

 

“Tell me what they did to me in that surgery? My belly feels like Doc carved me like a Thanksgiving’s turkey.”

 

“Oh—Paul just removed your appendix. And, he said it’s just as well—one day you were sure to come down with appendicitis anyway.”

 

“He’s probably right about that. So? Other than that—I’m fine?”

 

“As fine as you ever were,” Ben joked and stood from the chair. He was so pleased to see that Joseph was well on the way to healing, and had gotten over his ordeal with his brother. “You never cease to amaze me and everyone else with your healing abilities!”

 

“Guess it’s ‘cause I come from good stock, huh?” Joe quipped.

 

“Yes—that you do. Now—I’m going to go get the nurse. She’ll bring you something for pain—and then your poor old father will be able to sleep awhile,” Ben said, as he headed for the door. “Oh—and Joe?”

 

“Yeah, Pa?”

 

“It takes a real man to be able to forgive someone like you did your brother Hoss. I’m very proud of you.”

 

Joe smiled proudly and replied, “Thanks, Pa. That was almost worth getting shot to hear.”

 

Ben shook his head, well amused by Joe’s antics. He headed down the corridor in search of the head nurse.
Epilogue:

 

Joe did exactly what he told his father he would. He forgave his brother. Of course that was after putting him through a bit of emotional upheaval. Hoss was elated that Joe loved him enough to let go of all that had happened between the two of them. It was Hoss, who two weeks later, drove his little brother back to the ranch via buckboard. It was also Hoss who ran various errands for the boy up and down the long staircase into the wee hours of the morning that first night back home. He didn’t mind, as it eased his conscience to be able to prove to Joe that he was truly sorry.

 

Joe’s recovery was as swift as always, but he did linger in his bed a day or two longer than was needed. It was all part of his ploy to keep his brother doing his chores. Finally Pa put his foot down and instructed his youngest son to get out of bed and to start pulling his own weight around the ranch. Joe reluctantly went back to his chores, though he was happy to be out with his brother Hoss working on a fencing project which had been postponed due to the trial of Dru Carrington.

 

The Cartwrights were all very pleased when the young woman received a sentence of ten years at the Territorial Prison for the attempted murder of Joe Cartwright. Hoss was the only member of the family who did not testify. He couldn’t. Though he no longer loved the woman, the trial was too emotionally charged for him to sit there and listen to the proceedings. The day that the prison wagon had come into Virginia City to take Dru away, Hoss had watched from a distance. His heart still hurt for what could have been. Though he would always remember her, he would also remember how close she had come to killing his little brother. Hoss loved his brother all the more for what he had done in forgiving him the way he had. Feelings of remorse, regret, and even a touch of hatred filled the big man’s mind as he watched the wagon pull away from Roy Coffee’s jailhouse and move towards the end of town. It was a chapter in his life he wanted to close forever.

 

Dru Carrington watched from her seat inside the prison wagon, her face pressed up against the steel bars which surrounded her. She spotted the ten gallon hat just as Hoss disappeared around the corner to the Silver Dollar Saloon. Her face formed a sinister scowl as she vowed internally to seek her revenge on the Cartwright family. Somehow, somewhere, she swore to herself that they would all pay for what they had done to her, especially Joe Cartwright.

 

The End

 

 

( Some characters mentioned in this story can also be found in Every Purpose Unto Heaven and Another Season)

 

Note from author: Thanks to Leesa, Deb and Carol for helping me complete this story. I would also like to thank the voices that dictated this to me from somewhere far far away! Thanks guys, your legend lives on!

 

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

 

 

Tags: Joe / Little Joe Cartwright