XxXxX

3

Mary had expected Hoss to move mountains. He sure wished he could. If he could have moved that whole mountain out of the way, he could have gotten his little brother home quicker.

At least there was one mountain Hoss didn’t have to move. He didn’t have to worry about how far it was from Virginia City to the Ponderosa. The doc was already at the ranch house. Charlie had come through for them, sending one of the men ahead to fetch Doc Martin. But…someone else was there, too. There were two buggies in the yard.

Hoss jumped down off of Chubb and immediately went to work helping Adam take Little Joe from Ben. “I can get him inside,” he said, meeting his older brother’s eye. “You get the door.”

Adam didn’t argue. He relinquished his hold on their young brother…and then Hoss’s stomach turned yet again. Maybe Little Joe wasn’t a mountain, but he sure was dead weight in Hoss’s arms.

Swallowing back another hearty dose of fear, Hoss barreled into the house right behind Adam. Once inside, he stopped—just for a second, just long enough to see a blonde-haired woman looking up at him from Pa’s chair by the fire. Little Mary was in the woman’s lap, sound asleep, her head resting on the woman’s shoulder.

“Bring him upstairs, Hoss,” the doc said.

Hoss barely heard him. The woman’s soft humming filled his head with a thick feeling—a warm sort of thick feeling that somehow reminded him of a blanket and made him believe everything was gonna be just fine. And, besides, he was already moving toward the stairs. He was moving before he even knew that’s what he was doing. The doc hadn’t needed to say a word.

XxXxX

There was a stranger in Joe’s room. Hoss, Adam and Ben each eyed him warily as they brought Joe in and got him settled on his bed. But neither Doc Martin nor Hop Sing seemed concerned about the stranger being there; and the Cartwrights were far too focused on Little Joe to give any thought to introductions—until the doc got to chasing Joe’s family out.

Ben was indignant. “Who’s this?” he said gruffly after Paul Martin asked the stranger for fresh water, making it clear the man was meant to stay.

“Name’s Connelly.” His hands occupied with the basin, the sandy haired stranger simply nodded in greeting.

“Mary father,” Hop Sing added without looking up, his attention already given over to removing Joe’s torn clothes.

“And he’s no stranger to treating wounds,” the doc added.

Connelly shrugged, looking sheepish, or, perhaps, embarrassed. “Served as a medic for a time back in Ireland.”

“Out now,” Doc Martin gently pressed Ben’s shoulder. “I need room to work, Ben. Missus Connelly’s downstairs. She’ll explain.”

“But Joseph—”

“Needs my attention. Please, Ben. I can’t have you hovering right now.”

Hoss took hold of his pa’s arm. “Doc’s right, Pa. Come on. Let’s go down and see how Mary’s doin’.”

“You know,” Adam added, “she’ll likely be the first thing Joe asks about when he wakes up.”

Pale with worry, Ben’s eyes had a lost look to them, a pleading look he gave to both of his two oldest sons before glancing longingly back at his youngest. Finally, he nodded tersely and started to walk toward the door.

At the first hint of Ben turning, when his lips were just beginning to part, Paul answered his yet-to-be spoken question. “I will send Mister Connelly or Hop Sing down with information as soon as I have any to provide.”

Another glance at Little Joe brought another terse nod. Only then did Ben allow Hoss and Adam to usher him into the hall.

XxXxX

Missus Connelly was closing the door to the main floor guest room as the Cartwrights slowly descended the stairs.

“Why, look at you three.” Her tone was light, as were her steps as she made her way toward them. She seemed almost to float across the floor. “There’s no point to bein’ so glum. ’Tis better to have faith than to fear the worst. Your young man’s still breathin’?” She studied them each in turn, her brows raised in expectation and her eyes sparkling with a smile just on the verge of forming.

“Yes’m,” Hoss answered when his pa and Adam held silent.

The smile appeared. “Right, then. No point to believin’ that might change, hmm?” Her brows rose again, leaving Hoss to feel as though she was a teacher in a classroom prompting all three of them to accept responsibility for a lesson learned.

Ben gave his head a slow, puzzled shake. “I’m sorry, Missus Connelly, I—”

“Sorry?” she asked. “And what is it you have to be sorry for? My name’s Margaret, by the way. Maggie, to most.”

“Yes,” Ben answered mechanically as he took her hand in greeting. “I’m Ben. And these are my sons, Adam and Eric. Hoss, to most,” he added with a small, quick smile.

“And fine it is to be meeting all of you. Would you be likin’ some coffee? Or perhaps something a wee bit stronger? I understand from Hop Sing brandy might offer some comfort?”

This time it was Adam’s brows that rose.

Ben cleared his throat. “Please, Missus Connelly, have a seat. Allow me to—”

“Maggie,” she corrected sternly as she took hold of Ben’s arm and started guiding him toward the seating area in front of the fireplace. “And let’s have none of that nonsense, now. This be your home, certainly, but there’s no need for you to be playin’ host with me, not after what you’re family has done for mine. Now you come in here and settle yourselves, all of you, and allow my family to do for yours. Come along.”

Adam met Hoss’s surprised glance with the trace of a grin, and then settled his own self into the blue chair. “Mary’s asleep, I take it?”

“Aye, and soundly too, bless her. She’s a stubborn one, you know. Willful and oh so headstrong. How she got it into her head there was only room for one child under our roof….” Maggie Connelly’s eyes strayed toward the guest room, her smile fading behind a look of consternation. She shook her head slowly.

“Joe said she’s got a little brother now.” Adam’s words came as somewhat of a revelation to Hoss. The ride home had been a quiet one. Adam had told them Joe had talked a bit before losing consciousness, but he hadn’t given many details. Of course, no one had been too interested in saying much of anything.

“Aye. Michael. We left him in Virginia City with the Hamiltons soon as we heard young Mary was here. By the grace of God we were just askin’ the sheriff to help us find her when your man rode in to say she’d already been found. It’s grateful I am we could leave Michael with our dear friends as we did. That wasn’t the way of it ‘til recently. He came early, you see, and he’s sure been a handful. So needful. ‘Twas us fearin’ the worst ‘til now, I’m afraid. And what did all that fear bring us?” She gave Adam her now familiar, expectant look; although this time she answered herself. “A little girl lost and a young man needin’ a doctor’s care.” Shaking her head, she abruptly changed her tone. “Now, what shall it be? Coffee or brandy?”

Ben’s back straightened. “How about both?” he offered. “And what do you say we share the responsibility of playing host?” Kindness and sincerity began to lighten the worried shadows in his eyes.

The gaze she returned reminded Hoss of her gentle humming when they’d first come through the door. He sighed, feeling comforted again.

“Right, then,” Maggie Connelly said softly. “I’ll get the coffee.”

“And I’ll get the brandy,” Ben answered.

And then Hoss pulled his lower lip between his teeth. Otherwise, he was pretty sure he’d start singing out, and I’ll be in Scotland afore ye. Yep, he felt comforted, all right. He looked to Adam and then on up the stairs; and he flatly refused to fear the worst. “You know, Adam. I get the feelin’ Joe’s gonna be just fine.”

Leaning forward with his elbows propped on his knees, Adam nodded. “Somehow I don’t think Maggie will accept anything less.” He grinned just the slightest bit. And then he did the most peculiar thing. He started whistling the very song that was rolling through Hoss’s mind.

“Ah,” Maggie Connelly called out from the kitchen. “A grand song that is.” She even started singing when she emerged with the tray, although the words she used were not the ones Hoss had learned. “Oh, red is the rose, that in yonder garden grows. Fair is the lily of the valley. Clear is the water that flows from the Boyne, and my love is fairer than any.”

XxXxX

Music. Joe heard music. It was a pleasant enough sound. Someone was playing a guitar. But that wasn’t Adam singing. It was someone else…someone with a higher pitch to his voice. A tenor.

Curious, Joe tried to gather his jumbled thoughts. He realized he was coming awake an instant before he discovered he was in his bed. An instant after that, he began to feel all the reasons why he was in bed. Pain elicited a heavy groan he simply didn’t have the strength to contain; and he started to thrash about, desperate to find a more comfortable position.

“Easy now, son.” The voice wasn’t his pa’s. The hand pressing down on his chest was also too small.

Joe opened his eyes to tiny slits and looked up at Doc Martin.

The doc smiled back at him. “Seems you’ve made a hero of yourself, Little Joe.”

Little Joe…. The words stirred the memory of a young girl. “Little?” she had shouted down to him. “You’re not little. I’m little.”

“Mary,” Joe whispered as he allowed his eyes to slip closed again.

“That’s right. Mary Katherine Connelly. Her parents are downstairs singing your praises even now.”

“Sounds like…sea shanty.”

“They’re singing, anyway. And do you know why?”

Joe looked at the doctor, puzzled.

“Because Mister Connelly has pronounced that he expects you to recover nicely.” Doc Martin sighed as Joe’s puzzled gaze deepened. “Despite the fact that his experience consists entirely of field medicine with absolutely no formal training….” He smiled softly. “I happen to agree, thanks to that Cartwright constitution of yours. And, if faith can move mountains, as Missus Connelly insists, there’s no reason to believe otherwise. But I’m counting on you to prove us all right. You hear?”

Joe blinked slowly.

“That means I’m counting on you to be a model patient. Take your medication when your father says it’s time, stay put in that bed until I pronounce you fit enough to move about, and then take things slowly until your wounds heal and your strength returns. Now, do I have your word?”

“I’m not…going anywhere…today,” Joe rasped out tiredly.

“Hmmm…. Well, I suppose I’ll have to accept that answer for now.”

The sound of the doc’s bag snapping shot pulled Joe’s eyes open once more. “Doc?”

“Yes, son?”

“Can I have…medicine…now?”

“Well,” Ben Cartwright’s voice rumbled into the room. “Now there’s a surprise! Joseph Cartwright asking for medicine?” And suddenly Joe’s pa was standing where the doc had been barely an instant earlier.

Joe scrunched his eyes closed for a long moment, hoping to chase away his confusion. “Hurts, Pa.” He felt a familiar hand on his good shoulder.

“I know, son,” Ben said more softly. “I’m proud of you, Joseph. I want to tell you that was a foolish thing to do, but…I can’t. You saved that girl’s life. If you hadn’t jumped in—”

“The puma,” Joe said. “It was the puma…that jumped.”

Ben’s grip on his shoulder tightened slightly. “You saved Mary’s life, Joe. And you did the right thing sending her home on Cochise.”

“Don’t ya’ mean Cocheese, Pa?” Hoss’s voice drew Joe’s attention back to the doorway, where both of his brothers were entering. “That’s what Mary calls him. Cocheese.”

Joe tried to smile; he grimaced in pain instead.

“I imagine you wish you’d stayed with Hoss,” Adam said.

Looking to his family gathering around his bed, Joe took in a small pull of air, hoping it might clear his head. “No. I’m glad.”

“Glad you got walloped by a puma?” Adam asked, although his own, small grin made it clear he knew that wasn’t what Joe was saying.

“Glad I was there…for Mary.” He tried to take a deeper breath. All it did was remind him of his pain.

“We’re all proud of you, Joe,” Adam said then, a small, honest smile replacing the grin.

“Sure are, shortshanks.” Hoss patted Joe’s foot—the only undamaged part he could reach.

“I’m just glad…she’s okay.” Joe let his eyes slip closed…until he remembered something important. “Adam?” he called out softly. “You’ll talk to her? About….”

“About being oldest?” The grin was back. “And taking care of her little brother?”

Nodding, Joe finally found a trace of his own smile.

“I’ll talk to her. But….”

“What?” Joe asked, concerned.

“She’s got her work cut out for her if she thinks that little brother of hers could ever live up to you.”

“I always thought I had…a hard time…living up to you.” Joe’s eyes moved to Hoss. “Both of you.”

“Aw, shucks, Joe. I ain’t never thrown myself in front of a puma.”

Joe smiled again. “You’ve saved…my hide…a time…or two.”

“Or ten,” Adam added.

Joe couldn’t smile any longer. He just hurt too darned much.

“Paul?” Ben’s voice called softly through the encroaching darkness. “I think we’d better let him have that medicine now.”

“Thanks…Pa.” But somehow…strangely…Joe fell asleep without it.

 

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