oe and Eddy were making their way through the burned out remains of what used be the main the house. As Eddy looked around at what was left of her home, tears filled her eyes.

Joe looked over at her, sympathy etched on his handsome face. “Are you okay?” he asked, walking closer to her and putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.

“I just can’t believe it’s actually all gone. I never thought…” she replied as something shiny caught her eye. She moved closer to the object, then bent down and picked it up.

“What is it?” Joe asked, looking over her shoulder.

Tears were now freely falling down her cheeks as she looked at the ash covered object. She wiped it clean and then answered Joe’s question.  “It’s Pa’s pocket watch.” she replied, hoarsely. She opened it up and a sob caught in her throat as she looked at the picture of her and Sam nestled inside. “He carried this with him everywhere.”

Joe’s heart was breaking for this young woman he had come to love so completely and he wanted desperately to catch the monsters that caused such heartache and devastation. “Well, now you can carry it with you.” he said gently.

Eddy took a shaky breath and looked at Joe. “I think Sam should have this.” she stated and slipped the watch into her jeans pocket.
As they made their way out of the remains of the house they saw Ben, Adam and Sheriff Walker riding into the ranch. As the three men dismounted, Joe and Eddy walked up to them.

“Surprised to see you both here.” Ben said, looking from his son to Eddy. “Have you seen Hoss and Sam?”

Eddy nodded. “We worked things out.” she replied. “She and Hoss are gone to Jake’s cabin.”

“Jake’s cabin?” Walker asked. “What for?”

“Sam thinks there may be something there to tell us who’s behind all this.” Joe replied and then looked at Adam. “Adam, I’m sorry I raised my hand to you…” Joe smirked. “… again.”

Adam sighed. “We all got a little hot tempered, younger brother. We should be concentrating on finding out who’s guilty in this matter, not fighting amongst ourselves.”

“You’re right, Adam.” Eddy replied. “And I’m sorry too, for what it’s worth.”

“So am I. Let’s just put it behind us.”

Joe and Eddy looked at Adam and nodded in agreement.

Walker looked around the ranch but didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. “Nothing has changed since I was here a month ago.” he said.

Adam started to look around himself. That’s when he noticed movement coming from the ridge on the south side of the ranch. He walked closer and that’s when he saw the steer.  “Hey, there’s cattle up on that ridge.”

Eddy walked up to Adam and then looked at the ridge. “Cattle?” she asked.

“Let’s take a look.” Ben said and everyone mounted up.

—————————–

Sam and Hoss were in Jake’s cabin. They had spent the better part of a half an hour going through drawers and boxes but so far had come up empty.

“I reckon there’s nothing here to find.” Hoss said, as he made his way over to the desk.

“There’s gotta be something.” Sam replied, as she sat down on Jake’s bed. She looked over and noticed a picture sitting on his nightstand. She reached over and picked it up. Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked down at it. The picture was of her, Eddy, their parents and Jake. It had been taken last summer before the fire.

Hoss was rifling around through papers and books on the desk but there was nothing there but tally sheets, a lumber contract and books on cattle brands.

Sam shifted her weight and put the picture back in its place on the nightstand. As she shifted on the bed, she felt something underneath her. She stood up, lifted the mattress and there it was. Jake’s journal. A small book, bound in worn black leather. “Hoss.”

Hoss looked over and saw her holding the black book. Sam sat back down on the bed as Hoss walked over and sat down beside her. She opened the book and they both started to read what the pages held. Their eyes went wide. They couldn’t believe what they were reading.

There were journal entries about the fire, the cattle rustling and pages entailing who was behind the whole thing. Basically, this book had everything they needed.

“Why didn’t you go to the Sheriff?” Sam asked, speaking to Jake like he was actually there in the cabin with them.

Hoss shook his head in sadness. “I reckon someone got to him before he had the chance.”

Sam looked over at Hoss. “We need to get this book to Sheriff Walker.”

“Say no more.” Hoss said and they left the cabin. They mounted up and took off towards the old homestead.

———————————————

Everyone, save for Sam and Hoss, made it to the top of the ridge. This was when they noticed there was a small herd of cattle, of about ten to fifteen head.

Eddy walked over to one of the cows and inspected it. She paid close attention to the brand, the brand that was definitely not the Thunderbolt brand. It was a brand she had never seen before. An arrow.

“Hey, take a look at the brand.” she called over. “Ever seen it before?”

Adam shook his head. “I’ve never seen this brand before.”

“I have.” Walker spoke up.

“Where?” Ben asked, looking over at the Sheriff.

“Saw it on a horse hitched outside the Red Horse as I was making my rounds.” he replied, as he removed his hat.

“When was that, Sheriff?” Joe asked.

Walker scratched his head. “Oh, must’ve been about three days ago.”

Eddy walked over to Walker and got in his face. “Who’s horse was it?” she demanded to know.

“I’m betting it was one of the Bishop’s.” a voice said, causing everyone to spin around. Sam and Hoss were there and Sam was holding up Jake’s black book.

“Who are the Bishops?” Joe asked, confused.

“According to Jake’s book, they were the ones behind the fire.” Sam said, as she walked over and handed the book to Sheriff Walker. “Jake wrote all about it in his journal.”

“Looks like checking out the cabin paid off.” Eddy said, looking at her sister.

“We almost didn’t find it.” Sam replied. “He had it hiding under his matress.”

Hoss walked closer to one of the cows. Something had caught his eye, there was something off with the brand. “I think we got more problems than just the fire.”

Sam walked up to him, “What do you mean, honey?”

Hoss frowned, “This cow has been re-branded.”

“Re-branded, son?” Ben asked, looking at his middle son.

“Yeah. And from the look of it,” He sighed, “Over the Thunderbolt brand.”

Eddy threw her hands up in the air. “Great! Just… great!”

Walker looked over at Hoss. “How can you be so sure?”

“Look here.” Hoss pointed. “This arrow brand looks like it has a shadow underneath it. Like it was branded over a darker brand.”

Ben smiled at the knowledge his middle son possessed. Hoss had always been the best cattleman on the Ponderosa and Ben knew that Hoss was the man to go to for any information where cattle was concerned. Or any animal for that matter.

“Well, the list of charges keeps mounting.” Walker stated. “I’ve got murder, arson, cattle rustling, kidnapping…”

“We have to find the Bishops.” Eddy said, interrupting Walker.

“Any ideas where to start looking?” Sam asked, looking to her sister.

“We can head back to town and talk to Ted. He probably knows them. Or maybe Dawson has seen them with Cal.” Eddy said. Then an idea hit her. “Or let’s go over and see these new buildings.”

Sam smirked. She knew exactly what her sister was doing. “Alright, little sister, sounds like a plan. Lead the way.”

Eddy smiled at her big sister as they made their way over to their horses. Hoss and Joe looked at each other, smiled and followed suit. Ben, Adam and Walker mounted up as well.