Summary:  A story of revenge
Rating: Teens  ( 4,305  words)

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The Easy Way

“So let me get this straight. You want me to hire on the Ponderosa as a hand and WORK for the man that owns the ranch where Stan was killed?” Marty Reed asked his father and brother. His father was a man who had known Ben, but that friendship was destroyed when his youngest son died in a ranch accident on the Ponderosa. Ben had just gotten over the guilt. Now all that Thomas Reed had was his oldest son, Jeff, and his other son, Marty.

“That’s right, son. But after you’ve gotten to know them and become trustworthy, Ben will have one less son.” Thomas replied, anger and hate filling through his veins. Marty shook his head.

“How am I supposed to kill whatever son I have to kill? Who is he?” Marty demanded.

“After they have got a chance to get to know you, you kill his youngest, they call him Little Joe. He will die from a simple ranch accident, like your brother did.”

Marty nodded. Jeff filled his little brother in on the details.

“You got to do this right, brother. Don’t get caught and make Ben pay. Make him and his family suffer like we did.” Jeff said, all of them cringing when they remembered the letter telling them that they had a family member dead from his job. A horse he was breaking had thrown him then trampled him. Little Joe was in charge of the crew that Stan was on. Marty finished his beer and stood up, paying a saloon girl for the drink.

Marty said good bye then set off to the Ponderosa.

***

“My name’s Marty Reed, and my brother, Stan, told me many times that this was a good place to work, so here I am.” Marty said, standing at the door of the ranch house. They shook hands.

“Please come in, Mr. Reed.” Ben said, letting the young man come in.

“You look a lot like your brother. Threw me off for a minute.” Ben stated, getting a good look at Marty in the light. He was a tall man, about Adam’s height, and he had blonde, straight hair. He was skinny too, but had hidden muscles. Joe nodded to him from the settee when Ben introduced them.

“You can certainly work here. What do you do?”

Marty replied, “Horse break.” He liked the two Cartwright’s reactions. They winced a little and paused before getting normal. Marty leaned back on the settee and made himself right at home.

“Excuse me,” Joe said, getting to his feet and hurrying out the door. Ben shrugged and Marty smiled.

***

“What’s eating you, Joe?” Hoss asked, meeting his brother in the barn.

“It’s nothing. How’s Cochise?” Joe replied, getting to his knees to look at his horse’s right foreleg. Hoss got down next to him.

“Take it easy with the animal and you’ll be able to ride this horse in a few weeks.” He said, rising up then helping his little brother up.

“Thanks Hoss,” Joe mumbled as he gave Cochise a few pats. Hoss put his leather gloves on a shelf before turning back to Joe, who had a thoughtful look on his face.

“What are you doing out here in the middle of the night, anyway?”

“Pa hired a new hand for the horse breaking crews,” Joe began. Hoss raised his eyebrows. Joe turned to him and ran his hand through his dark, curly hair. “His name is Marty Reed. Stan’s older brother.”

Hoss swallowed and approached his brother. “What do you suppose he’s up to?”

“Beats me. All I know is that he’s here and he gonna break horses.” Joe and Hoss were startled when they heard their father behind them say, “That’s right. He’s on Joe’s crew and he will be no trouble. He told me that he needs money so he came here. I want you two to make him feel welcome.”

“Yes sir.” Joe agreed. He swept past his father and Hoss and went to the house, passing Marty going to the bunkhouse.

***

Joe twisted and turned in his bed that night, lost in memories formed to a nightmare.

He was watching and cheering on a man atop a horse, fighting to break the animal. Next thing he knows, the man is flying through the air, landing hard in the sand below him. Joe jumped over the fence and runs to him, but is thrown aside by the horse, and the hooves knock him out. The man next to him is dead, and they are being carried out of the corral…

Joe shot up in his bed, screaming. Adam ran into his room, nearly colliding with Ben and Hoss.

“I’m all right.” Joe choked out. Ben sat in the bed with him.

“A nightmare, son?” Ben nodded to Adam and Hoss and they left the room.

Joe shifted in his bed then got up. “Yeah. What time is it?”

“5:15 in the morning. Why?” Ben also stood as Joe got dressed.

“I’m going to get up now. I think I’d like to check fence today. I need the fresh air.” Joe combed his hair and put his boots on.

“Now I know something’s wrong. You want to talk about it?” Ben said, finding Joe’s jacket in a heap on the closet floor. Ben handed it to Joe, then helped him shrug into it, since Joe had a hard time finding one of the sleeves.

“I’m fine. We don’t need to talk,” And with that, Joe walked out the door, leaving a very troubled father behind.

Joe packed himself some breakfast and rigged the wagon, put lumber and tools in it, then left. Marty watched the whole thing from behind a tree and he grinned.

***

Joe found a spot in need of repair about seven miles deep in a pasture that was almost deserted until winter. He hammered and hammered so he didn’t hear the rider dressed in black come up behind him.

“Joe?” Joe spun around with his hammer in his hand, but pulled back and rolled his eyes at the sight of his brother Adam, who had his hands raised to protect himself from being attacked with the hammer.

“Don’t do that, Adam. What do you want?” Joe handed him the hammer as he got up to get more wood. Adam bent down and started working with his brother.

“I want to know what’s wrong.” Adam ignored his brother’s glare. But Joe did want to talk to someone, and since Adam rode all the way out there just to talk with him, Joe decided to give in.

“It’s the memories, Adam,” Joe sat down to work. “Just the memories. You know about the new hand, right?” Joe waited until Adam nodded. “His name is Marty Reed.”

Adam’s mouth formed into a silent “oh”.

“What is he doing here?” Adam asked, as if Joe knew the answer. Joe only shook his head.

“He said that he needed the money, and that Stan had told him about the ranch, so he came here to see for himself.” Adam looked at Joe and could tell that he was thinking of the day that they had lost a hand. Joe continued.

“He came here despite the fact that his brother was killed here. Out of all the ranches in the territory, he came here. I swear, he looks just like Stan.” Joe started lining the wood so that Adam could hammer it in place.

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, Joe. Maybe he understands that it wasn’t our fault that his brother was killed. Hell, he might’ve come here to show us he understands.” Adam said, pounding the wood into place. They were through with that section of the fence, so Joe climbed into the wagon after Adam tied Sport to the back and got in then they went in search for more fence mending.

“For some reason, I feel so uneasy around Marty. I don’t know what it is.” Joe said, as he flicked the reigns to send the wagon in motion. Adam couldn’t think of anything more to say.

***

Half a year flew by and Joe suspicions with Marty faded as the two became friends. Marty was a good hand and worked well with the other hands. Everybody liked him and even trusted him.

Little Joe stepped into the crisp morning air and inhaled deeply. It was his turn to chop the wood and stack it today, and they would need it. It was the middle of winter and it was plenty cold. Joe turned the collar of his jacket up and headed to the barn to retrieve the ax. He bumped into Marty, who was holding it.

“Excuse me, Joe. Didn’t see you coming.” Marty offered. Joe grinned.

“My fault. What are you doing with the ax?” Joe asked, pointing to it.

“I was getting it for you.” Marty handed it to him. Joe nodded. “Thanks.”

Marty turned and disappeared back into the barn as Joe walked over the tree stump used for chopping. He raised the ax high over his head, then with force, he brought it down upon the wood, slicing it clean in half. He continued doing this, not knowing that he was being watched by a hand in the barn. But suddenly, as Joe brought the ax down to the wood, the ax head flew off! Joe cried out as it caught the right side of his face, missing his ear. Marty ran out of the barn to finish him off, but crouched down by him instead when Hoss came running from the house. Joe was unconscious.

“What happened to him?!” Hoss demanded, picking up his fallen brother to take him inside, Marty explained the part about the ax head flying off, then hitting him. It was unknown to Hoss that Marty had rigged it. Marty ran ahead to open the door for Hoss. Feeling the cold blast of air, Adam cringed in his chair and turned to yell at whoever let in the draft, but sprang up when he saw Hoss carry Joe in, who was by now covered in blood on one side of his face. The three men laid Joe down on the settee and Hoss ran to get bandages and Hop Sing.

“Marty, go get the doctor. And bring back pa from the cattleman’s meeting.” Adam said, never looking up as he used his bandana to wipe at the blood. Marty nodded and ran out the door, just as Hoss came back with Hop Sing. Hop Sing set to work.

“What happen to Lil’ Joe?” The cook asked.

“Marty told me that he was chopping wood and the ax head came off and clipped Joe on his face. It almost chopped off his ear.” Hoss said, before rushing to shut
the door.

For about an hour Adam, Hop Sing, and Hoss worked hard to get the bleeding down from the large cut, and finally did, right before Ben and Paul Martian burst through the door.

Hoss once more explained what happened, and Paul told him to carry him up to his bed.

***

A slow hour went by and the doctor finally came downstairs. By his side was Joe, who was nursing his face, but grinning all the same. Ben, Adam and Hoss jumped up, relief evident on their faces as they saw how Joe had talked the doctor into letting him come down. Paul sat Joe down in the blue chair.

“How bad was it?” Ben asked, sitting on the fireplace by Joe.

“Not good, but not bad. It cut him good, but at least it didn’t stop in his face. I gave him stitches and he’ll be able to get back to work outside when his face has a chance to start healing. I hate to tell you this, it will leave a scar about four inches long, the length of the cut. It shouldn’t be too noticeable.” The doctor explained. They thanked the doctor and Paul was on his way back to town.

***

Few weeks went by fast and before they knew it, Joe was out the door every morning to break horses.

“I’m glad you’re all right, Joe. I thought that I would have to ride them all!” Marty exclaimed, giving Joe a playful punch on his arm. Joe frowned, but then smiled as he rubbed his arm. It was now sore. Why did Marty hit him so hard? From a distance, Adam wondered the same thing. “I couldn’t let you have all the fun, now
could I?”

“Well, in honor of your return, I have saddled a horse for you and he is waiting in that corral, just for you!” Marty took off his hat and politely bowed, making Joe laugh as he walked to the horse that was trying to jump the fence. Joe eased himself onto the horse and they cut it lose. Marty perched himself on the edge of the fence and watched. He smirked when he noticed the saddle starting to slip. Joe felt it too, but was too late.

Adam and Hoss had just reached Marty and handed a letter to him, when they witnessed their younger brother fly through the air, then crash through the fence. All of the men around ran to Joe, but Joe got to his feet by himself, limping to them. Marty ran into the horse corral and ripped off the clean cut cinch from the saddle, previously done with his knife, so that the saddle had the appearance of it snapping.

“Joe! Are you hurt?” Adam asked, walking Joe over to a tree stump so that he could sit down. The rest of the hands ran to get control of the horse. Hoss gave Joe a drink, then Joe laughed and brushed his brothers off.

“I’m fine. Just a few cuts and bruises.” Joe said, getting to his feet to walk off the pain. That day, it was considered a minor ranch accident, and Joe had to rest for a few days so that he could heal. It happened all the time. But the worst was yet to come, and they had no clue.

***

“Joe, I think you’d better come check on Cochise’s leg now. The one she hurt.” Hoss said, his head poking through the front door. Joe jumped up from the settee and followed Hoss to the barn. “What’s wrong with her?” Joe asked, feeling the leg up and down. Hoss smiled.

“Tell me, Joe.” He replied, liking the little game he was playing with him. Joe felt more, then stood up.

“I can’t find anything wrong.” Joe put his hands on his hips. Hoss broke into a grin, then said, “That’s right, Joe. There isn’t anything wrong with her!”

Joe smiled and pet his horse.

“Well then, now she can help me work again!” Joe said, looking out of the barn to see how much daylight he had left. Hoss frowned.

“You don’t want to work now, do you?” Hoss asked, throwing his hands in the air. Joe smiled and turned around.

“No, Hoss. Just going for a ride so that Cochise can get her exercise.” Was the explanation.

“Do you really want to go riding this evening? After all, you did take a flying session. And I had to repair the fence you smashed up.”

“Okay Hoss, if it makes you feel better, I won’t fly off of my horse, and I won’t fly through a fence.” Joe giggled, saddling Cochise. Hoss laughed as he walked inside the house to join his father and Adam while Joe walked out of the barn atop Cochise. Joe walked Cochise for a while then put her in a canter on the road. He was being careful with her, since in her state, anything could spook her. He looked up and saw that the sun was still bright, but at least it was cool out. He looked into the woods when he and his horse sensed something amiss.

For some reason, Marty was wondering if he should carry this out. He wasn’t starting to like Little Joe, was he? After all, it wasn’t his fault that his brother was dead. Marty shook his head to clear it. He had to follow through, because he didn’t want to disappoint his brother and father. Marty took a small mirror out of his wallet and found the sun in it. He shined it across the road, eye level to a horse, and waited.

Joe never knew why his horse acted up as it did. One minute they’re riding, the next minute, Joe is fighting hard to control the animal. Cochise was spooked bad, and
Joe could only let her buck it out. He stayed on as long as he could, but he had been caught unawares, and he fell off. Marty smiled in satisfaction and hurried off to the house to finish his chores. No one would be the wiser. He left Joe laying face down in the road.

***

“Joe, you told Hoss that you wouldn’t fly off your horse.” Adam said, seeing that his brother was back to consciousness. Adam had been looking for Joe since his horse came back without him. He found Joe lying on the road. With Adam’s help, Joe sat up.

“I didn’t fly off of Cochise, something spooked her and I couldn’t get her under control and,” Joe hung his head in embarrassment to finish, “and I fell off.”

But Adam didn’t laugh, he frowned as he helped his brother stand so he wouldn’t be down in the road. “She got spooked? What spooked her?” What Adam really wanted to know was why Joe kept getting hurt.

Joe rubbed his head. “I don’t know…why?”

Adam looked around. “Where did it happen?”

Joe pointed to the right, leading into the woods. They walked over there and Adam saw a light glinting from under a branch. Puzzled now, he looked for the source, and nearly stepped on it. It was a small mirror. Joe picked it up and caught the light in it. Whoever it belonged to must of dropped it carelessly. Then, it occurred to Adam. Marty had been at Hoss’s side after the accident with the ax head incident that nearly took Joe’s ear, the punch on the arm, all the little accidents that had started when one man came into their lives. Marty Reed. Adam decided to end this quietly. A puma was bothering the south herd, Adam would take Marty hunting
with him then ask him to take his leave.

“Joe,” Adam began, “I think you have an enemy. Looks like someone flashed the sunlight in your horse’s eyes to spook her.”

Joe couldn’t believe it. “I wonder who.”

Adam only shook his head as they slowly made their way to the horses to go home.

***

Ben couldn’t believe it either. “Someone is after you?”

Joe nodded then said, “He or she spooked Cochise this evening.”

“Just keep an eye out and we’ll be alert.” Ben suggested. Joe only shrugged and joined his brothers at the dinner table. Ben sat with them and they all ate their meals, but Adam was lost in thought. He would have to be careful around Marty.

Ben’s parental intuition was getting the best of him each bite he took. He just wished his son would be more careful and to stop being in so many accidents.

***
“Marty, there is something I wish to tell you.” Adam said, as he and Marty rode together on the trail. Marty looked at Adam.

“Yes?”

Adam bit his bottom lip and thought about how to put what he wanted to say. “I would like for you to pick up your pay and leave the Ponderosa. I know of a few ranches around here that could use you.”

Marty’s jaw dropped and he gave Adam a startled look. “Adam are you…are you firing me?”

Adam nodded slightly, “Pretty much.”

“But Why?” Marty asked, a touch of worry in his tone.

Adam again thought about how to say it. “To let you know now, I’m not accusing you of anything,” Marty’s breath caught as Adam continued, “But I happen to notice that Joe is in a lot more ‘accidents’ than usual. All of this started when you hired on. Remember, I’m not saying that you are the cause,” Adam lied, “But I just don’t want to take any chances with Joe. He is my brother and I want to make sure he’s safe.”

Marty looked down at the ground, appearing stunned. Adam sat there, on his his horse, waiting for a reply. Marty looked back up at Adam, more relaxed.

“You know what, Adam? Leaving now wouldn’t work to well for me.” He replied. Adam tilted his head in gesture for an explanation. Marty clicked his tongue and shook his head. “No sir, Adam. That wouldn’t work because you’re kid brother aint dead!”

And catching Adam completely by surprise, Marty snatched Adam’s gun and rifle, and threw them in the creek they were by. Adam cursed himself for being so careless as Marty drew his own gun on him.

“Get off your horse, Adam.” Marty commanded, the both of them dismounting. Marty grabbed the reigns from Adam and tied the horses to a tree. He then took the rope off of one of the saddles.

“Go to that tree and sit down,” Marty said, pointing to the desired destination. Adam did as he was told and Marty tightly tied his hands behind him to the tree.

“Why, Marty?” Adam asked, testing to see how tight the ropes were. Marty crouched down beside Adam and gagged him with his bandana.

“Well I’ll tell ya. My family and I blame Joe and your pa for the death of Stan. I have been trying to kill Joe in little ranch accidents, like what Stan died in. But that didn’t work. But now,” Marty stood up, “But now I’m just going to get it done with so that I can go home.”

Adam struggled violently against his bonds as Marty rode away, with both of the horses. Adam figured it all out. The reason Joe was so accident prone wasn’t because he was careless, but because he was being set up. Suddenly Adam became very still as he heard a puma growl.

***

“Lead the way, Marty,” Joe said, after meeting Marty on the trail. Marty had told him that Adam was hurt and needed Joe’s help. Joe didn’t ask for anymore and soon, Marty was leading Joe to the trap. They rode to the spot where Adam was tied, but before Joe saw Adam, he shot the puma that was about to pounce at a tree. It fell down, dead.

“Good shot, Joe,” Marty said, easing Joe’s pistol out of his holster. Joe didn’t notice. Seeing a dark figure at the tree, Joe dropped his rifle and jumped off of his horse to help his brother. He gently took the gag out of his mouth. “My Lord, Adam.” Joe whispered, seeing how afraid his brother was.

“It’s a trap, Joe. He’s going to kill you.” Adam said, his eyes suddenly full of hate as their captor walked up to them. Joe tapped his holster and then realized that his gun was gone.

“Joe, you’re gonna die. Then your brother.” Marty said, pointing the gun to Joe’s back. Adam watched with amazement at the sight of Joe’s mind racing. But as the hammer to Marty’s gun cocked, Joe looked Adam straight in the eyes and winked. With lightning speed, Joe flew through the air and tackled Marty. The two punched and pushed, threw and fought each other until the gun was in Joe’s hands. Marty stood still as they caught their breath. With the gun still on Marty, Joe stumbled to Adam and untied him, then handed the gun to him so that he could take over.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it anyway,” Marty said. He meant it. Joe and he just stood there, staring at each other as Adam gathered the horses.

***

“What a case!” Hoss exclaimed, barging into the ranch house, followed by Adam who said, “At least it’s over.”

Adam was followed inside by Joe. “I feel kinda sorry for Marty, but now I know I’ll be a little safer,”

Finally, Ben came in and shut the door. “You just be careful, son.”

The four Cartwrights went to the table and had their dinner, talking about the events of the day. They had just come home from the trial of the Reeds. Thomas, Jeff, and Marty would be in prison for ten years.

“Adam, I was impressed when you explained how you saw the patterns in my accidents.” Joe said, raising his glass in a modest toast to Adam. Adam smiled.

“I just thought about how strange it was for you to be so accident prone.” He explained.

“Made me feel a little better when Marty said he had the hardest time getting rid of me. He said he was starting to like me,” Joe said. Hoss nodded. “You two sure hit it off fine. Ya might’ve been close friends, ‘cept for the fact that he was trying to kill you.”

Ben shook his head and the they ate their dinner in peace, knowing that they were safe…for now.

Things were just too unpredictable concerning the Cartwrights.

The End