Summary:  A brother acting out of character causes another to worry.
Rating:  PG-13  2,280 words

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A Worried Man

Hoss sat staring into the fire, for once the cookies Hop Sing had brought him on his return from Virginia City forgotten.  He sighed heavily, something was wrong but he just didn’t know what. It had been a normal trip to town, he had collected the mail and a few stores, while Adam checked with their lawyer about some contract and went to the Bank. Absolutely normal on the ride in, his brother chatting away as always but then on the ride home, it was as though he had suddenly become invisible. Adam was lost in his thoughts, hardly aware of anything, relying on Sport to take him home and as soon as he’d seen to his horse Adam had taken refuge in his bedroom.  

Hoss didn’t have a clue why his brother had changed but he had never known Adam quite so oblivious to his surroundings and Hoss was sure that something was seriously wrong. For most of the ride he had studied his brother’s face but that hadn’t helped, Adam was all too good at wearing a mask to hide his feelings. Hoss shook his head just an uneasy feeling in his stomach of impending trouble.

Little Joe had been checking out a new bunch of wild horses that had been brought in the previous day and was very taken by a black stallion. He bounced into the house and grabbing an apple flung himself down on the sofa “Hoss did you seen that black?  He’s fantastic. I’d love the chance to break him, but I bet Adam takes him.” 

There was no answer and Joe noticed the untouched plate of cookies, “Hoss you ill or something?”  Still no answer and Joe threw the apple core at his brother.

Hoss started “What you do that for?”

Joe lent over and grabbed two cookies, “You were ignoring me.”

 “Lot of that about.” Hoss sighed, “Adam bin ignoring me.”

 “So? Ain’t exactly unusual, big brother gets his head stuck in a book or something.”

 “But this was on the ride back from town.”

 “Maybe he met some girl and was planning how to get to know her better.”

 “If’n it had bin you. No there’s something wrong I feel it.”

Joe shrugged “You gonna eat those cookies?”  Hoss shook his head and getting to his feet headed out to try and clear his head, maybe Chub would listen to his problem. Joe was surprised to have the plate pushed over to him, but decided Hoss would get over it and settled to his snack.

Adam belatedly joined his family at table but, after one look at his eldest son, Ben declined to comment just passing the meat platter. Adam didn’t take much and spent more time moving it around on the plate than he did eating. Ben frowned even his middle son wasn’t eating with his normal enthusiasm. He wondered if his two eldest had quarrelled but that didn’t often happen. Only Joe seemed immune to the atmosphere and eventually Ben tried a direct question, “Was there any problem in town?”

Adam looked up from his plate for the first time, “Contracts all signed, our terms accepted and the money is in the safe. Hoss got the mail and the supplies, don’t think we were short of anything.”

Hoss mumbled, “Hop Sing got all he asked for, mail’s on the desk.”

Ben gave up, sure that in time his sons would reveal the problem. Adam pushed his plate away hardly touched and despite his good intentions Ben couldn’t stop himself

“Not feeling well Son?”

“I’m fine Pa, just not hungry.” Adam got to his feet decisively “I do have something to show you, after you’ve finished.” With that he disappeared upstairs.

Ben looked over at Hoss, “Do you know what’s going on?”

“No Sir, but he’s bin worrying me, ever since we left town, never known him so quiet.”

Joe was the only one to really want the peach pie that Hop Sing brought in, he was used to not understanding his eldest brother and had supreme confidence that Adam would sort out any problem. Seeing Hoss leaving the table without dessert brought home to Ben just how worried his big son was.

Ben asked Hop Sing to bring coffee over by the fire and sitting down in his usual chair he waited to find out what was wrong.

Hoss couldn’t settle, he was pacing around and when Ben told him to sit down he began tapping, not even aware he was doing it. Ben impatiently told him to stop that tapping but although he did so, two minutes later he started again.

For once Little Joe kept very quiet, he didn’t want to attract attention and be sent to bed, curious to see what Adam had to show their Pa. He settled quietly with a book although he wasn’t reading it. He was just about to give up and see if he could persuade Hoss into a game of chequers, when Adam came down the stairs.

Adam had a newspaper in his hand and he passed it over to his Father, “I got this in town. The Pony Express brought the news to Dayton early this morning and Dan de Quille brought out a special edition. It’s started.”

As Adam held out the newspaper the headline was clear to his brothers,  “War!!! War!!! War!!!”

Ben quickly scanned the main points, General Beauregard, in command of the Confederate forces around Charleston Harbor, opening fire on the Union garrison holding Fort Sumter. Then he looked up at his eldest son, “Not exactly a surprise, it has been coming ever since Lincoln was elected and the states started seceding.”

“I know, but sort of hoped common sense would prevail.”

Ben reached for his pipe and Joe took the paper with Hoss moving to read over his brother’s shoulder. Ben got his pipe pulling to his satisfaction and then said firmly, “Either way it’s nothing to do with us out here, we’re not even a state.”

Adam shook his head, “We can’t avoid it Pa, we’ll be involved whatever we want. I had a letter from my roommate as well. John said much the same that war looked inevitable, but he also said that if it came he would have to join the Massachusetts regiment. I expect he’s already joined up, the attack on Fort Sumter was eight days ago.”

Joe let the paper fall at that and both his brothers stared at Adam as Ben asked “You’re not thinking of enlisting?”

Adam got to his feet moving over to the fireplace and tracing the bricks, not wanting to face his father, “I have to think of it Pa. You know how I feel about slavery.”

For a long minute there was absolute silence at that statement, even breathing seemed to have been suspended and then Joe broke it, “Probably all be over before you could even get there, the South has real good fighters.”

Adam shook his head but didn’t comment and Joe pushed harder, “The South just want to run their own affairs, not be bossed by the Yankees. Maybe I’ll go and help them.” He grinned broadly “Could be fun.”

Ben glared at his youngest son “Joseph, fun is the last thing war is. Anyway you are far too young. You will not go, we have important work to do here, this family can provide food and are not getting involved in fighting on the other side of the continent, none of us.” 

Hoss looked anxiously at his eldest brother, Joe was young enough for their Pa to enforce his will but Adam wasn’t and he knew just how stubborn his older brother was. Trying to lighten the atmosphere Hoss asked, “Where is this Fort Sumter?”

Ben explained, “It’s a Federal fort in Charleston harbour, that was the problem.”

Joe frowned, “Charleston that’s South Carolina ain’t it?”

Ben nodded and Joe went on “But they seceded months ago, don’t they have the right to property within their own state?”

Adam sat down in his usual blue chair, “It’s federal property, they built it. Anyway Lincoln said secession is legally void and that he would use force to maintain possession of federal property.”

“Typical northern trick try and claim the law, why shouldn’t southerners rule themselves, after all we broke from Great Britain because we wanted to manage our own affairs.” Joe lent forward determined to get his point of view across.

Adam shook his head, “Men died to set up the Union and now the South want to break away so they can keep slavery.”

Ben roared at them, “Enough both of you, its bad enough that the country is split, I will not have brother against brother in my own home.”

Joe glared but headed out to the barn to tell his woes to Cochise while Adam sighed heavily “I’m sorry Pa but you can’t make this go away by either ignoring it or yelling at it.” Having had his say Adam headed up to his own room, leaving Ben and Hoss looking at each other.  

Ben got up and poured himself a large brandy and for once offered a drink to his middle son and Hoss gratefully accepted. “Pa do you think Adam will really go?”

“I hope not, I hope he will realise just how important our job here is, particularly now.”

It didn’t really help, Hoss could hear the doubt in his father’s voice. None of the Cartwrights expected to get much sleep but each, for their own reasons, went to their rooms reasonably early.

Hoss usually went to sleep quickly, but tonight it was impossible and the walls seemed to be closing in on him so he headed back down to the main room, when he was sure everyone else had gone to bed. For once he wasn’t interested in raiding the kitchen, although he did get himself a glass of cold water and than sat staring into the fire. He remembered a night some four years earlier when Adam had woken the whole house, screaming from a nightmare. While it wasn’t that unusual for Joe to disturb them when he was younger, it was the only time he could remember Adam doing so.

The day before his Pa and Adam had been discussing some court case, the Dred Scott case. Hoss had never really understood what was involved in it, but he knew it was something to do with slaves. He had listened to his Pa and Adam talking as Pa tried to calm his eldest son down and heard something about a slave market, but when he asked Adam about that a few days later Adam refused to explain. There had been a look of horror on his face and he had just said that Hoss really didn’t want to know.

Hoss wasn’t sure exactly what it was that Adam had seen or knew, but he did know that the result was his brother hated the whole idea of slavery, maybe feeling strongly enough to take him thousands of miles across the continent to enlist. Then maybe Little Joe would copy his eldest brother but he would join the South and by three in the morning, Hoss had his brothers fighting and killing each other on some battlefield on the east coast.

Ben had found it equally difficult to sleep and giving up he went down for a drink. At first seeing Hoss he looked for a plate of food, the usual reason for his big son to be up in the middle of the night but there was nothing, just Hoss looking miserable.

 Ben went over and sat down “Can’t sleep?”

“Nope. Pa you ever seen a slave market?”

That was the last thing that Ben had expected “Strange question Son.”

“Remembering Adam having that nightmare few years back you was discussing slave markets, but he wouldn’t say nothing about them when I asked.”

Ben frowned and then he remembered the incident that Hoss was talking about. “It was a long time ago Hoss, Adam was a child, I should have protected him better.”

Hoss waited patiently and eventually his father went on “We were in St Louis, not long before I met your Mother. There was a large slave market on the steps of the courthouse. There was a young girl maybe 10 years old and she and her Mother were for sale. Adam had wandered off from me and he was watching as the prospective buyers examined both mother and child and then they were sold separately. Mother and child were both crying and Adam asked me to stop it. I have seldom felt more helpless, there was nothing I could do. He had nightmares for weeks afterwards.”

“Guess that’s why he’s so dead set against slavery?”

“One reason I’m sure.” Ben frowned remembering the callous treatment that had so upset his young son, things he could never tell Hoss.

Hoss bit his lip “Pa will he go?”

“I don’t know Son but if he does, we pray for his protection and that in time he will come home again.”

According to the Dred Scott decision, slaveholders had every right to move their slaves anywhere (including the territories) without jeopardizing their ownership rights. This was a huge set back for the abolitionist movement. It also enraged free-soil whites, who wanted to keep the western territories white by keeping the slaves out. Although the decision pertained to territories of the United States and not States, northerners were concerned that the same ruling could be extended over all of the United States. The Dred Scott decision created an escalation of North-South hostilities prior to the Civil War.