Summary: How long does it take to change a life forever? Joe Cartwright finds out it only takes a second. Written for the 2025 Michael Landon’s Birthday Challenge – pick a period of time, from a second up to a year, that changed Joe Cartwright’s life forever.

Rating: T, Word Count: 1101

It Was Just One Second

They say hindsight is twenty-twenty and I sure do wish I could go back and change one second…just one second of a decision, so that what followed would never have happened. In the ten minutes Adam and I sat in the saloon finishing our beers and planning our free time in Eastgate, one second, the time it took to utter two sentences, was all it took to change my life, and his, forever. 

We drove cattle across Nevada to Eastgate because Pa learned they were desperate for beef. It was hot, dusty, and dry, but we netted a hefty profit for the Ponderosa. Doing our best to cool off in the local saloon, Adam and I discussed our plans. Me? I didn’t want to see a horse or that desert for a few days. My crazy brother, though, thought he could find peace and quiet crossing part of that desert toward Pyramid Lake, doing some fishing and hunting. I did say he was crazy right? Oh if I could take back my words during that one second – “Jumping out of the frying pan into the fire isn’t my idea of a rescuer. Think I’ll hang around town for a while and take it easy.”* 

The words dropped in one second caused a heartache we’re both still living with. Adam left Eastgate later that day and l left the next day to meet him at our prearranged location, Signal Rock.  He didn’t show up, even after I waited an extra day for him. I went back to Eastgate and tried to track him from there. Ever track anyone through rocky hills and dried scrub brush? It’s nigh on impossible. Cochise even got a split hoof, and with no luck finding Adam I headed to the nearest town. Being forced to leave Cochise behind, the livery man loaned me another horse so I could keep searching. My gut tore apart when I turned and saw the large roan. What the hell was this man doing with Sport and what did that mean for Adam? In that split second I realized time had run out for me, and for Adam. I had to find him or die trying. 

I ended up in Salt Flats where the news got worse. They say dead men tell no tales. Well, the two men who sold Adam’s horse to the livery man were lying dead in the jail. My cold gut just got colder. How were we going to find Adam now? My only choice at this point was to telegraph Pa and Hoss. I needed them here to bring hope that we can find Adam alive somewhere in that God-forsaken desert. 

I headed back to Eastgate to wait for Pa and Hoss, and to begin the search there. Waiting for them was like waiting for a dynamite fuse to burn out, but Adam always said to keep busy so time wouldn’t eat me up. I knew where he was headed so I worked on a search plan. When Pa and Hoss finally arrived we began searching the area, splitting up and regrouping to compare notes. It seemed that time was dragging by when we found nothing but was speeding up the longer Adam was missing. We finally got one clue that we were on the right path – Pa found Adam’s empty holster. My breathing stopped as Pa caressed the smooth black leather. He had found tracks of three horses and one man on foot. We followed those until we lost the trail into the desert. Three days had passed and a sense of urgency was beating through my heart, but I, along with Hoss, was worried about Pa not making it. That’s a concern he forced us to push aside as finding Adam was paramount. We pressed on. 

Precious seconds turned into desperate hours and manic days until we reached two weeks since Adam disappeared from Eastgate. All that time, Pa refused to sleep and barely rested or took food and water. Neither Hoss nor I could convince him to pause even for a few seconds. We rode on through the rocky hills, firing our guns every so often, hoping that Adam would hear the signal and magically appear before us. 

At one point we were forced to stop because Pa was about to fall off Buck. That was the moment each of us began to grasp the reality that we would never find Adam, alive or otherwise. Each day of those two weeks I became more and more hollow inside. Pa always told us that where there’s life there’s hope. But all I could see around me was death – dry…dusty…death. Each day that one second decision to let Adam leave alone ate at my insides. I struggled to find any strength left to keep that hope alive. “We have to face it, Pa, we’re not going to find Adam.”* I voiced what we all were thinking. That’s when Pa spoke his words in one final second of our search. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Let’s go on back home.”* 

In the next second, in a single breath, all our lives once again changed forever. Pa saw something, or rather someone, below us. When he called out, “Adam!” my eyes locked on to what Pa saw. We kicked our tired horses into action and raced toward our missing family member. Hope was alive again. Adam released a travois he was dragging and collapsed to the ground. He tried to crawl away from us mumbling hysterical words about gold and games. I couldn’t breathe. My exhausted brain couldn’t make sense of my calm and logical brother being clean out of his head with hysteria. He collapsed with tears into Pa’s arms and I quickly gave him some water. “He’s been through some kind of Hell”* was all I could say. We all had been to Hell and back.

Those few seconds of all of us being reunited were both terrifying and joyous. I worried Adam would not be himself again for a long time, if ever. And I knew I would not be the same. As we huddle in the sand, linked by hands resting on each others’ shoulders, I wonder how long it will take for all of us to heal. How long will it be before I’m willing to let him out of my sight? Before I’m comfortable saying ‘I’ll stay here. You go on by yourself’. Simple words that take only a second or two to utter, that may or may not change a life forever. For now, I’ll relish having my brother back. We’ve all been giving more time together. That’s all that matters to me. 

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Quotes taken from The Crucible.