Summary:  Adam has a new wife who has much to learn about him, about the Ponderosa, and about being a Cartwright, but it turns out that she’s a great learner as she and Adam face a number of difficulties.

rating = T  WC = 18676

Very Series:

Adam’s Very Bad Week
Very Bad and Then Very Good
Very Much a Cartwright

 

Very Much a Cartwright

Chapter 1

“A timber camp is not a safe place for a woman.”

“But, Adam, I hardly know anyone here.”

“Debra, you’re going to be fine. Pa and Hoss will look out for you, and Beth is a very friendly woman. I’m sure the two of you can find all sorts of things to talk about.”

“She talks about babies and fishing and trapping. I don’t know anything about that. She and Hoss have these conversations, and I don’t understand most of what they’re talking about.”

“The more you hear them talk, the more you’ll begin to understand. Now I have to go, and there’s no way around that. There are some problems at the lumber camps, and I need to figure out the solution when I see the terrain and what happened. I can’t do it from here. I’m sorry. I thought we talked this all out last night?”

“Maybe, but then you were so sweet and gentle and that distracted me from thinking about this, and then I fell asleep in your arms. When that happens, I feel like there’s nothing in the world that can ever come between us. I was so happy, until this morning when I remembered you were going to be gone for a week. I thought we would have all this time together to get to know one another, and it’s been less than a week.”

Debra smiled at Adam’s grin when she said that. She did remember every moment of those intense three days. The intensity though had been thoroughly enjoyable as Adam did his best to make her feel special, and he began talking with her about her life and telling her about his with lots of anecdotes. She had been able to tell that some of the stories had been difficult for him to tell her, but he did. He trusted her with the most intimate knowledge of him. Of course, there was also the frequent lovemaking. She had already come to crave his touch and his passionate embrace. It only took his hand on her shoulder to turn her to him, and she was ready to do anything he asked. At that moment he was kissing her neck and caressing her, and she began to forget about what she had been saying.

“That’s not fair. You’re doing it again. You kiss me and you want me, and I can’t think straight.”

Adam stopped kissing and leaned back to look at her. “Do you want me to stop?”

“No, of course not, but I want you to finish a conversation with me and not do this to end it.”

Then Debra wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her. If she wasn’t going to see him for a week or more, she was going to make the most of these last moments in bed together even if Hop Sing was upset that they were late for breakfast again. Later as she rested in Adam’s embrace, she could tell that he didn’t want to be gone for a week either. Somehow it made her feel better to know that. “I suppose we should get dressed and go down to breakfast. Your Mr. Hop is going to be scolding us again.”

“No, not this time.”

“Why not? He scolded us, well, he scolded you the last two mornings when we were late for breakfast.”

“I told him last night that I was leaving my new bride for a week at least and that we would need to talk in the morning before I packed up and rode out. He said he understood.”

“Did he have that little smile that a person has when they know what someone means by you needing to ‘talk’ with me this morning?”

With a grin, Adam let her know that he had. Adam pulled her around to face him, and kissed her softly and gently. She reached out to touch his cheek, and then pulled away.

“You shaved! When did you shave?”

“I got up earlier and shaved. Then I slipped back into bed and moved around until you woke up. The rest is history.”

“You think you’re so cute.” Adam grinned again. “All right, you are cute, but why didn’t you just tell me what you had planned?”

“I thought it would be more fun this way.”

“But I thought I had to convince you to make love with me, and you were going to do that anyway. Not fair to shave before you wake me. I was too sleepy at first to realize you had done that, and then you distracted me with those kisses of yours.”

“It was fun.”

“Yes, it was, but how about this?” Debra started to tickle him then and Adam had to roll away from her. “I’m going to start doing that more to you. It’s the only power I have over you.”

Reaching down for her hands, Adam pulled her up from the bed and hugged her. “It’s not the only power you have over me, sweetheart. But now we should get dressed, and I need to pack some clothes.”

“Are you sure I can’t go with you?”

“Have you learned to ride a horse yet?”

“You only gave me two lessons, so no. You could take a wagon, couldn’t you?”

“I could, but that would slow me down a lot. I want to get there today so I can start working. I already told you that a timber camp is no place for a woman.”

“Are you worried about what they would think about you if you brought your wife along?”

“Probably, because they don’t know me, and that would be unusual enough to get me in a fight. I might get in one anyway.” Debra looked worried at that so Adam had to explain. “The boss of a timber camp is the bull of the woods, and most of the lumberjacks are going to think that perhaps I don’t deserve that rank. I can prove it to them by how I work if they give me a chance, but we might end up in a fight first instead.”

“Why don’t you take some of the men here with you so they can protect you?”

Smiling, Adam wrapped an arm around his wife. “Sweetheart, that might get me beaten to a pulp. The best chance I have is doing this alone. Anyone who comes with me would be seen as a weakness on my part. Now, try to get to know my family while I’m gone. Pa said that there was a trip to San Francisco in my future as we have some contracts to finalize. Why don’t you plan on coming with me? That would make the trip a lot more pleasant for me.”

“Really? That would be wonderful. I’ve never been to San Francisco.”

“I love the city, and no one likely object if we stayed there a bit longer than necessary so we can have some time to ourselves.”

By the time that Adam and Debra walked downstairs for breakfast, nearly everyone was surprised to find that both seemed to be in a very good mood. Adam did mention that Debra would be traveling with him to San Francisco when he went there to work on the contracts. Ben had one concern though.

“If you don’t finish up at the timber camps in a week, you won’t be able to do that trip. The meetings are in ten days. You would get there in time in you’re home in seven days or less. I’ll send Candy and Griff with you. That way if you’re not finished, they can finish up, and you can get back here in time.”

Hoss looked up as surprised as Debra by that. “Pa, you think that’s a good idea? Adam’s only been back a short time, and the men up there don’t know him.”

“They’ll be fine with it. He has experience, and they’ll recognize that.”

With a touch on Debra’s arm, Adam let her know not to say anything. “All right. I do want to make that trip to San Francisco, so I’ll be home in a week no matter what. Hoss, Debra needs more riding lessons when you have time.”

Hoss agreed to that, and Ben added that she could ride to town with him when he went to meet with their banker. “She can get the things she may need for living on a ranch. I’m sure Michelle at the dress shop can help her out.”

“I have lots of dresses, Mr. Cartwright.”

“Now, you don’t have to call me Mr. Cartwright. We’re family now, so you can call me Ben or Pa or Papa, or whatever feels most comfortable for you. And I know you have dresses, but if you plan to go riding, you could use some dresses made for that.”

Beth piped into the conversation then. “Yes, our husbands do not appreciate us in pants, but I have riding skirts and split skirt dresses that are a lot more comfortable for riding and even for taking a walk out here. You could probably get some boots, and a heavy coat, a hat, a scarf, and leather gloves too. I’ll go along, if you like, and help you pick out the things you might need. Dress shop ladies don’t always know what a ranch woman may need.”

“Beth, I would like that very much.”

“Maybe Patricia would like to come along too. That way we can have lunch together, and you can meet some of our friends.”

That started to sound like a lot. Adam saw how Debra got a slightly worried look. “Perhaps just the shopping trip for the two of you and a lunch to start. Debra has a lot to learn out here. There’s no need to try to do it all in one day.”

“I’m sorry. I should have thought of that. You come from the east so you don’t know a lot of things I take for granted. I’ll ask Patricia to watch Josh, and we can do what Adam says.” Beth looked hopefully at Debra who smiled. Hoss nodded as did Ben who was relieved that the newest member of the family seemed to be fitting in so well even though the west was all new for her.

Debra walked out with Adam when he went to saddle his horse. Sport was getting a bit old for the terrain they would have to traverse, so he was riding Jupiter. Joe had shaken his head at Adam’s choice of horse.

“Do you always have to pick the horse with the worst disposition?”

“I like him.”

“If he runs you under a branch to knock you off, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“Joe, that is the one trait he has that helped me in Kentucky. They gave me a horse to ride to test me. Darn horse started running at a low hanging branch, and nothing I did was going to turn him. I did what I did on Jupiter. I slid to the side and stayed low. The only way to get me off was going to hurt him too. Worked the same there as it did with Jupiter. He’s fine with me now. He hasn’t tried anything like that with me since I’ve been back.”

“Watch out. That’s what he wants you to think. First chance he gets, he’s going to get you on the ground and then he’ll run off. You’ll be walking back from somewhere.”

At first, Debra had been afraid of Jupiter. Two days earlier when they had arrived on the Ponderosa, he had introduced them. Debra was noticeably worried and Jupiter was edgy. Adam had her move to Jupiter’s side and rub his neck. Then he handed her an apple and had her feed that to him. In the morning and in the evening when he did chores, Debra came with him to feed an apple to Jupiter. He definitely was taking a liking to her. She brought out an apple on this morning as well feeding it to the horse as Adam saddled him. “You take good care of Adam, now, Jupiter. I’m counting on you.” The horse neighed and tossed his head as if to agree which made Adam laugh.

“You’re a natural with horses. You may be riding quite well by the time I get back. Now don’t feed your horse an apple every time you see her. One every few days is enough. If Hop Sing trims some carrot tops, feed her those. She likes them. Jupiter does too, but he won’t be here.”

“Adam, you will be careful, won’t you?”

He nodded and bent down to give her a quick kiss after he led Jupiter out of the stable. Candy and Griff were waiting for him so he didn’t do any more. He mounted up to ride off as Debra watched him. Standing with one hand on a corral fence post, she watched the three men ride away until she couldn’t see him any more. Then with a deep sigh, she walked back to the house.

Chapter 2

“You gonna have trouble because we’re with you?” Candy was concerned. He knew why Ben had asked the two of them to go with Adam, but he also knew how it would look to the men in the timber camp.

“Probably. If it happens, and it probably will, don’t step in. That’s the time to act as if I showed up there alone.”

“What’s going to happen?” Griff was unfamiliar with the timber camps so Candy explained.

“The lumberjacks only accept the bull-of-the-woods as boss. Mr. Cartwright is that. Now I heard from Hoss that Adam earned that spot too years ago, but the men up there now don’t know that. He may have to earn it again if they don’t respect his orders.”

“How do you earn it?”

Adam sighed. “Now there’s the fun part. You get to fight them all or at least enough of them that they decide you can handle yourself.”

“All at once?”

“Sort of. They come at you one at a time but fast enough that you don’t get a break in between. The last time I had bruises that took weeks to go away.”

“But you don’t want me and Candy to help?”

“No, it wouldn’t work if you helped. Last time, Hoss and Joe sat on a log and watched. It’s quite possible they liked seeing those men pound on me.”

Nearly as a chorus, Griff and Candy responded. “I could believe that.” Then all three laughed although Adam’s laugh lacked real humor. He wasn’t looking forward to being sore all week as he worked and then having to explain it all to Debra. Once they reached the camp and took care of their horses, the foreman led them to the mess. They had heard the day before about a landslide that had damaged the flume and blocked the river. What they found was considerably worse than they expected.

“It’s gonna take dynamite to open that stream.” Candy looked at all the work that needed to be done and knew they wouldn’t finish in a week.

“You’re right about that and we’ll need to do that first before we even look at the rest of this mess.”

“Why?” The foreman seemed to resent that anyone else was making decisions.

“One problem is all that water building up behind the dam of trees, mud, and brush. That’s going to create problems if we don’t get it flowing again. The other problem is that it will take some time for that water flow to clear out enough of the debris to start flowing well again. We may have to go downstream and clear debris away if it piles up too much in any one spot.”

“Then what?”

“Then we’ll build another flume on the slope to the north.”

“That’s a lot of extra work and it’s a lot longer to the river from there. Don’t you want to reconsider just fixing this one?” The foreman’s tone let everyone know that he had little respect for what Adam wanted to do.

“No this one is in the wrong spot. All the trees cleared around it make it a natural for another landslide. This whole slope is unstable now so we’re not touching it again. Tell the men that there won’t be any cutting on this slope.”

“What’s your pa’s take on all this? Maybe we ought to wait for him to get here?” And there it was. The first challenge to his authority had been delivered and from the foreman. It wouldn’t take long now for the rest of the men to stand against Adam’s orders.

“He’s not coming. He sent me because I have experience with this kind of thing. Now, do we have enough dynamite in camp to blow that mess away down there?”

“We do, but I don’t think you ought to do that. One of the men is missing, and we all think he’s in there. If you blow it, you could be blowing him to bits.”

“I’m sorry to say this, but if he’s missing and in that mess, he’s not alive any more. There’s no way a man could breathe trapped in that. If it was only brush and trees, there might be a chance but it’s all filled in with mud and there’s a lot of water under it.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You tell me then what you think we ought to do. That mess is unstable so we can’t go digging around in it. If we do, more men could die.”

“Sounds like you’re afraid to do it.”

“Anybody would be afraid to do that when there was no good reason to risk his life. Now, where’s the dynamite?”

Grudgingly the foreman led them to the storeroom and to a box of dynamite. As Adam worked with Griff and Candy creating three packs of dynamite to blow the debris away that was blocking the water flow, the foreman left them there. Candy inclined his head toward the door of the storehouse.

“You know he’s going to tell the others about the stupid orders you just gave?”

“Yes. You think they’re stupid orders?”

“No, I think they’re the right thing to do based on what we’ve seen, but I know that he’s going to present them to the men out there as stupid. You’re in for a world of hurt. Did you have to challenge them so soon?”

“Didn’t see a way around it unless we wanted to trudge around in the mud for two days acting as if we didn’t know what had to be done.”

“That’s probably true. What do we do if you have too much trouble with them?”

“One charge should be set about twenty feet from the lower end of the dam. When that blows, another one should be set about ten feet further back. When that blows, two charges need to be set near the bottom of what’s left. Those last ones should have very long primer cords. Whoever sets them needs time to get up that hill before the water roars through the channel made by the dynamiting. A flash flood is unpredictable, and that’s what would be created.”

“There could still be a lot of debris on the banks when it’s done flooding.”

“Yes, but I don’t want to send it all downstream at once. That could mean another dam would be created, and we would have to do the same thing again to avoid logjams in the future.”

“Sounds like a good plan.” Taking a deep breath, Candy nodded and looked to the door. “We’ll take the dynamite down and set the first charge. Good luck out there.”

“Let me go first. When I start talking with the foreman, no one is likely to see you leave here and head downhill. Be sure to walk well to the side of the slide area.”

“Well, thank you for being so concerned.”

“I didn’t want anything to happen to Griff. He’s going to be a valuable hand on the Ponderosa, so I’d hate to lose him now.”

It didn’t take long for Adam to be challenged. Candy had been correct on all counts even in his choice of words because the men told Adam they would not be following his stupid orders. The fight to determine the bull of the woods started with a swing from one of the lumberjacks. Adam had been ready for that one, ducked low, and threw a nasty uppercut into the man’s solar plexus. The next man attacked before he could turn around and Adam got a few punches in the back before he could turn and toss that man aside. He climbed up on some logs to prevent two from coming at him at once. That was a benefit and a hazard. It worked well at first until he lost his balance and tumbled after the last man he had thrown. He had a bear of a man come at him then and was very worried. Luckily the man was slow so his power was something Adam could evade. It hurt his hand to hit the man as he needed to do, but finally a punch to the gut doubled the man over enough for a blow to the shoulder and neck to drop him to his knees. Adam looked up to see that there appeared to be no one else willing to attack and was about to relax when an axe handle hit him on the side of the head dropping him like a sack of supplies. He didn’t move as he lay on the ground.

“There, we won now, didn’t we?” One of the new workers in the camp stood next to Adam with an axe handle in his hand.

With a number of expletives, the foreman moved forward to check on Adam’s condition. “Well at least he’s alive. Damn you, Swenson, that’s not how it’s done. He was winning fair and square. There are no weapons allowed. The fight is to see if he earns the right to bull of the woods. He did, but now we’re gonna have a lot of trouble.” The roar of a dynamite explosion brought silence for a moment. “Damn, he’s sneaky too. He had those two set the charges while he came here to fight. Well let’s go see if his ideas work. A couple of you stay here with him and see if you can get him to come around.”

The men stood on the ridgeline then and watched Candy and Griff scramble away from the mud, brush, and timber jam. Soon there was a second explosion, and the two men moved to set the last charges. Once that was completed, they climbed well up the hill. The men up above wondered if something had gone wrong after several minutes passed without an explosion, but suddenly there were two explosions a second apart. Almost as if in slow motion, the water started to flow but soon was a raging torrent moving trees, logs, and boulders as if they were a child’s toys. The flow was thick with mud at first but by the time Candy and Griff had climbed to the top, it was already clearing some although the water still had a dark hue from the earth it was carrying. Candy looked at the assembled group and got worried when he didn’t see Adam.

“What happened up here?”

At that point, no one was going to challenge his authority, and several began to speak. The foreman raised his hand for silence and quickly then told them the whole story. They rushed to the scene of the fight to find Adam still unconscious. One man was holding a cloth to the side of his head. Candy and Griff knelt by his side as the man moved away. Probing gently Candy checked the side of Adam’s head where he had been hit. He sat back still on his knees and looked up at the men assembled around him.

“This means trouble for a lot of you. His head isn’t fractured as far as I can tell but that is one nasty lump he’s got there. He’s going to need to see a doctor.”

“No.” The word was so soft, Candy wasn’t sure he heard it. He looked at Griff who nodded and said he had heard it too. Adam was waking up. Slowly he opened one eye and then the other but closed them almost as quickly with the glare of the sun in his eyes. Candy took off his hat to shield Adam’s eyes from the sun. “No doctor. I’ve got work to do here.”

Relieved that Adam was regaining consciousness, Candy was worried that he had made no move to get up. “You’re not doing any work right now. We’ll get you onto a cot until you can stand up by yourself at least.”

Adam was going to nod in acceptance but the slight movement he began to make caused pain to radiate through his skull. Instead he raised his hands to get some help. Other men stepped forward and with their help, Candy and Griff got Adam to his feet. He didn’t stay upright for long so the four of them carried him to the camp office and laid him on the cot there. Another brought a basin of cold water and some cloths. Candy and Griff sat with him for the next couple of hours placing cold compresses on the side of his head and waiting to see what he wanted to do next. Adam asked for water, drank it, and almost immediately threw it up. Candy told him to take only small sips of water until his stomach settled down.

That had not happened by the next morning. Candy and Griff were tired from taking turns sitting with Adam through the night, and Adam of course was nauseated and dizzy. He insisted though that they should help him walk to the slope where he wanted to put the new flume. He brought paper and showed Candy and Griff how to measure the angle of the slope. With that and the distance, he began to sketch the design for the new flume. Frequently he had to close his eyes and wait for the waves of nausea to pass and for his eyes to focus but wouldn’t stop until he was finished. He handed the drawing to Candy and asked if he understood what was needed.

“I do. You want me to get the men started on building this.” A soft yes was his answer so after telling Griff to help Adam back to the office so he could rest, Candy began issuing orders to the crew so they could begin cutting the trees that were in the way and the logs they would need to construct the flume. By the end of the day, they had a good start on that. Adam was pleased to hear Candy’s report. Candy looked over at Griff and asked for his report.

“He’s stubborn as a mule, but he can’t walk by himself so he’s stuck here for now.”

“Sounds just like what I expected to hear. Tomorrow may be even worse.”

Chapter 3

The next morning, Adam struggled to walk but used a heavy stick to get around. He told Candy to keep working on the flume. Griff asked what he should do.

“Today, you’re going to mark trees.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Oh, by the end of today, I think you will. I’ll show you and tell you how to choose, and I’ll be there to help as needed, but we need to get at least a hundred trees marked today.”

“A hundred? How can we do that in one day?”

“We can’t if we don’t get started right away, so go grab a couple of hatchets or small axes, whatever is handy, and catch up to me.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard to do.”

“Keep that attitude, and we’ll get the job done.”

Griff looked to Candy who shrugged. “Just do what the man say. If he passes out and falls flat on his face, just drag him back here and dump him on the cot in there.”

Without turning, Adam had a comment. “I heard that.”

“I figured you would. You stubborn Cartwrights got the hearing of a wolf. Just wanted to let you know what I think about your plan.”

“Thanks, now get working. I want to head home in a week.” Both Candy and Griff grinned at that. Apparently Adam would suffer a lot in order to see his wife again by the end of the week. They didn’t blame him at all, and they worked as hard as they could that day to get as much done as possible. Unfortunately for Adam, his desire to work was a lot stronger than his body. He tried to sip water and keep it down, but that didn’t work. By early afternoon, he was retching up anything he tried to put in his stomach. He leaned against one tree at a time moving forward as necessary and did his best to guide Griff in marking trees. They had over fifty marked but had slowed down considerably by then. Adam declined lunch knowing he would never keep it down anyway. By mid-afternoon, Griff insisted it was time for Adam to go back to camp. He refused.

“All right then, walk ahead by yourself. You haven’t been able to stumble from one tree to the next without my help for the last hour. It’s going to take a long time to get you back to camp even if you lean on my shoulder. Now what’s it going to be?” Adam conceded defeat and accepted Griff’s help. With his arm around the younger man’s shoulder, they slowly made their way back to camp. Adam was pale and sweating which made Griff worry a lot. He got him into the office and onto the cot where Adam fell asleep almost immediately. The cook came to ask if they wanted something to eat. Griff told him that Adam hadn’t eaten anything since the day before and couldn’t even keep water down.

“He’s a sick man. He should be in bed and not out in those trees.”

“I know it, and you know it. Now tell me how to convince him.”

“We might have another problem. The man who hit him got fired. Swenson came back today and said no one here had the authority to fire him. When the foreman had him forced to go on his way, he swore revenge.”

“On whom?”

“On the boss.”

“Which one?”

“Adam, the one he hurt. He ain’t too bright, and he’s caused other trouble so the foreman was just as happy to see him go, but the fool thinks it was the boss’ idea. Nothing nobody said seemed to get through to him. He rode outta here as mad as a hornet. I’m afraid he may try something.”

“Thanks. I’ll tell Candy and see what he wants to do about all of this.”

When Candy got back, he was very worried and determined that Adam had to see a doctor. “I have to stay here to finish that flume. Are there enough trees marked so the men can start cutting again?”

“We got over fifty done today, and I think I could do maybe a hundred more, at least in that section.”

“Good. Tomorrow you can take the supply wagon and give Adam a ride home. I’ll send one of the men to town to let the doc know that he should go out there to see to Adam.”

“Who’s going to tell him all this?”

With a deep sigh, Candy smiled grimly. “I guess I am.”

As expected, the conversation with Adam didn’t go well. Finally, Candy had an ultimatum. “Tomorrow morning, if you can’t walk to breakfast by yourself, eat, and keep it down, I’ll simply tell the men to put you in the wagon. You’re so weak now you couldn’t stop anyone from doing anything so you better get some sleep. You need it.”

“Candy?”

“What?”

“Could you ask the cook to give me a cup of broth? I think I could keep that down, and I’m very thirsty.”

“I can do that. Griff’s having dinner now. I’ll send him with some as soon as he’s done.”

“Candy, thank you.”

The next morning as expected, Adam got to ride home in the wagon. Candy had them throw an old mattress in the back as well as a blanket, and then put Adam’s saddle in there for him to use as a rest for his head. Jupiter was tied to the back of the wagon for the trip home. Candy assured Adam that the flume would soon be done and that a crew would be working to clear the rest of the debris from the river. Finally, Adam asked Griff questions about marking trees using the Cartwright rules for tree harvesting and was satisfied with his answers. If necessary, Griff could mark trees for the men to cut.

“Why don’t you let the men up here do the marking? They know a lot about trees.”

“They also make their living cutting trees, and they would cut every one of them down if we let them.” Griff nodded because he understood and snapped the reins to head the team toward the Ponderosa ranch house. Adam leaned back against the saddle and was soon asleep.

Miles away at the ranch house, Hoss was taking Debra for a ride as he did herd counts. She had learned a lot during the days that Adam had been gone, and Hoss thought that mostly she needed time in the saddle to get comfortable riding. That’s why he had asked her to ride with him when he did the herd counts. Hop Sing had sent some lunch with them so at about noon, Hoss stopped in some shade and asked Debra if she was ready for lunch.

“Hoss, if I get out of this saddle, I don’t think I’ll get back on this horse again. My backside is getting very sore.”

Laughing, Hoss helped her dismount. “Mine still gets sore some, and I’ve been riding for a lot of years. Trust me. If you get out and walk around some and relax here for lunch, it will be easier not harder to ride the rest of the way.”

“I’ve seen Beth hop off a horse and walk away like nothing at all. How does she do that?”

“She’s a strong woman, and she’s a natural on horseback. She’s been riding since she was about as high as a horse’s hock. I think she finds riding more natural than walking. Adam’s like that some, and Joe’s a lot like that.”

“Will I ever get like that?”

“Maybe, but probably not. You’re going to be a better rider than Pa is though. He don’t like riding much. Adam says it’s because he was a sailor, and riding a horse just ain’t natural to a sailor.”

“Hoss, can I ask you a question?”

“Sissy, you can ask me anything.”

“Adam said he told you about my background. Did you tell anyone else?”

Hoss looked down at the ground. He hated to have to make this admission. “I know Adam didn’t want me to tell anyone, but I couldn’t keep a secret from Beth. She knows, but she won’t tell anyone. It’s just that we don’t like keeping secrets from each other. We can keep them from anybody else though.”

“It’s all right, Hoss. I understand. It’s just that Beth has talked to me in a way that made me think she might know. Now that I know, it will help when it’s just the two of us talking. I won’t have to be quite so guarded about what I say.”

“Ain’t it real hard keeping that kind of secret?”

“It is, and someday, I want to tell the family, but Adam thought it best if everyone gets to know me first. Adam and I need to get to know each other better too. We haven’t had that much time together yet.”

“I can tell how much he loves you though. His eyes light up when you’re around or even if he says something about you. He’s really smitten.”

“Hoss, I’m really smitten too. I miss him, but I think he’ll be happy to know that I can ride now.”

“Well, we better finish up our lunch then and get you some more practice.” Debra groaned at that, and Hoss chuckled. He found it very easy to be with Debra. He felt like she was the sister he never had. It was fun for him to have a sister, but of course, it wasn’t nearly as much fun as having a wife, but Hoss felt like the Ponderosa was a lot more pleasant place since the three brothers had gotten married.

Debra was enjoying having brothers too, but she was still a bit apprehensive about Ben and Hop Sing. She decided she would have no better time than the present to ask Hoss about his father and the family cook. “Hoss, does your father know about me?”

“Not that I know. Adam wouldn’t tell him, and I didn’t. Why?”

“He looks at me sometimes, and I swear, it looks like he can see right down into my soul. It makes me wonder if he knows what I did for ten years.”

“You were in it for ten years?”

“Yes, I ran away from home when I was seventeen. I found there aren’t many jobs for young women who don’t have a good education. I was kidnapped into my first job.”

“They forced you?”

“Yes. It happens a lot in the cities especially to naive girls like me. I was luckier than most. Because of my looks, I was purchased by another house. They put me to work but paid me. I started to save the money to get away from it all, but I ended up spending most of it buying the last house where I worked. That’s where I met Adam, and that’s where he found me when he came looking. I hadn’t worked as a painted lady for about five years then, but I was running a house where other women did. Adam and I talked a lot. He tried to convince me that to get the things I wanted, I needed to get out of that life completely. So I did.”

“What do you want from your life?”

“Most of all I wanted to be loved. I have that now. If we could have a baby, then that would be even better. I know Adam would be a great father. I see how he is with Josh. He loves your little boy so much. I know he would love his own child even more.”

“Yep, I think Adam would make a great father. He was like a father to Joe when he was little, and he taught me a lot of stuff too. I know he would love teaching his own son.”

“What if it’s a daughter?”

“Sometimes I think Adam would love a daughter even more especially with what happened with Peggy.”

“I know that he was going to be Peggy’s stepfather but Laura got married to your cousin instead, but I think there might be a lot more to that story than I know.” So Hoss told the story about Laura and Peggy, and then what happened with Will.”

“Adam was paralyzed?”

“For a while, he was. Doc says it was because of all the swelling in his back. He still has problems with his back sometimes.”

“Adam and I do need a lot more time together. I know about a lot of these things, but he hasn’t had the chance to fill in the details. We have a lot to learn about each other.”

Hoss and Debra continued to talk for the rest of the afternoon. When they got back to the Ponderosa, Hoss got scared. He saw the wagon from the lumber camps with Adam’s saddle and a mattress in the back, and even more ominous, he saw Doctor Martin’s carriage outside the house. He helped Debra from her horse and told her they needed to go in the house.
“I thought you said we always take care of the horses before we take care of ourselves?”

“Not this time. Let’s go in the house. That’s Adam’s saddle in the wagon, and Jupiter is in the corral.”

Scared by Hoss’ look, Debra let him escort her into the house. When she walked inside, Ben stood as did Joe, Patricia, and Beth. She looked around the room and didn’t see Adam.

“Where is he? What’s happened to Adam?”

Chapter 4

“I thought at first that his head injury was so serious that it was causing him to be nauseated and dizzy, but it’s his kidneys. He took some blows to his back, and the kidneys were hurt. He needs to stay in that bed for the next three days at least. I want him flat on his back except when he has to take care of his needs or sit up for a meal.”

“Doctor, up in the camp, he could barely keep broth down. How’s he gonna eat?”

“Griff, he told me that he went out working with you. He shouldn’t have done that. I let him know just how stupid I thought that was. The head injury alone should have been enough to put him in a bed to recuperate. Working out in the heat and climbing up and down those hills likely made his condition much worse than it was.” Seeing Griff’s downcast look, Doctor Martin softened his tone. “Griff, it’s not at all your fault. I’ve already chastised Adam rather thoroughly for behaving as he did. He knew he shouldn’t have been out there working. He’s changed in some ways, but that stubborn streak is as strong as ever.”

Ben was still concerned about the head injury. “Paul, are you saying his head injury isn’t serious?”

“No, not at all. As I said, that should have been enough to put him in a bed to recuperate, but he is completely lucid and aware. He remembers what happened and in the time sequence it happened. Those are all very good signs. No, I only meant to say that the kidney injuries are serious and no one should take them lightly. My instructions have to be followed so that his kidneys can heal. I’ll talk to Hop Sing before I leave with a list of things that Adam can eat and drink. He’s not going to like his menu either, but no one is to bring him anything except what’s on my list of acceptable food and drink for him. You may think you’re helping him with a big ham sandwich, but it would make him sicker. I’ve said all of this to Adam, and then I repeated it to Debra in front of him before I told him that I would tell all of you the same thing, so he’s well aware of what needs to happen and that the rest of you will know.”

Up in their bedroom, Adam and Debra were very quiet. Exhausted by the ride home and the doctor’s examination, Adam had closed his eyes to rest as Debra sat on a chair at his bedside holding his hand. She was worried for him and upset with him too. He had known this fight was likely and had done nothing to prevent it. That bothered her a great deal, but she knew that this wasn’t the time to bring it up with him.

After the doctor left, Ben came up to see if Adam wanted anything. He found Debra in the chair by Adam’s bed, and somehow felt a bit resentful about that. This was the first time any of his sons had been hurt since they had been married. Ben was so used to being both mother and father to his sons, he found being displaced from his nurturing role a bit unsettling. Later he realized that his tone of voice had been affected by that and made his voice unusually harsh when he asked Debra if his son needed anything. She had looked at him with a worried look and told him that Adam was asleep. Later when Adam woke, he saw Debra sitting by his side staring at nothing. He squeezed her hand to get her attention, but didn’t get the smile he hoped to see.

“What’s wrong?”

“Maybe this was a mistake?”

“What was a mistake?”

“Me coming here. Marrying you. Trying to be part of this family.”

Moving to sit up, Adam grimaced and fell back against the pillow. He wanted to wrap his arms around Debra and assure her that it was definitely not a mistake, but was too weak and in too much pain to do it.

“You see, just like that, I caused you more discomfort. I can’t do anything right.”

“Sweetheart, you do lots of things right, excellently, in fact. I couldn’t be happier. I’m sorry I got hurt. I thought it wouldn’t be like this. Apparently one of the lumberjacks didn’t know the rules. No one is supposed to get hurt.”

“It’s not just that. It’s keeping secrets from your family. Your father looks at me like he knows and wishes I wasn’t here.”

“Oh, that’s not true. He’s accepted you into the family. You would know it if he didn’t.”

“Well, you didn’t see the look he gave me earlier. He saw me sitting her by your side, and he had that glower that said I shouldn’t be here.”

Slowly Adam processed all that she had said and thought about it. “Perhaps my father didn’t want you here by my side, but I don’t think it’s because he doesn’t want you in the family. Pa has always been the one to sit by our side when we were sick or hurt. He was the one who held our hand or wiped our brow with a cool cloth. He sat in that chair, and I’m sure he prayed many times for us to be well and healthy again. He may have been surprised to see his spot filled by another.”

“Do you think that was it, because he didn’t look at all happy with me, and he talked to me like he was mad at me?”

“I’m pretty sure that was it. Now close the door and get in here beside me. I’ve missed you, and I want to have you by my side.”

“Aren’t you thirsty? Or hungry?”

“Maybe in a little, but right now I need you more than anything.”

“Adam, the doctor said you had to stay flat on your back for the next three days.”

“I will. I promise. But he didn’t put any restrictions on what you could do, did he?” Adam grinned and Debra shook her head.

“You’re terrible sometimes, but I love you anyway.” Debra stood and locked the door before slipping her dress off and sliding beneath the covers to kiss her husband.

Ben came to the closed door and was going to knock. He had a tray with tea and cookies sent up by Hop Sing and wanted to apologize to Debra for his earlier gruff response to her. With the sounds coming from the room though, he thought it prudent not to knock. He took the tray downstairs and told Hop Sing that Adam wasn’t quite ready for it yet. Hoss asked if he could take Josh up to see Adam, but Ben said it would be best if he waited for a time. With the slightly embarrassed look Ben had when he said it, Hoss chuckled. He had a fairly good idea why, and he supposed Adam and Debra needed some private time. He understood completely. He felt the same way when he was gone for a few days. He missed Beth and Josh so much that he couldn’t get enough time with them it seemed when he got back. He thought to take his father’s mind off that by discussing the timber camp situation.

“Griff said that Candy is working with the men up at the timber camp to build a new flume. He worked with Adam as he was designing it, and thinks it will be done soon. Griff and Adam marked over fifty trees before Adam would allow them to bring him back home. Adam taught Griff the basics of marking and left him with a map of the next section to be cut. I sent Griff back up there to mark more trees. The foreman will tell him when he’s marked enough of them.”

“You think Griff knows enough after only a few days of marking with Adam?”

“It was only one day, but it seems Adam spent a lot of that time teaching him why we do what we do and how to select the trees to mark. I asked him a lot of questions before he left, and Pa, I think he already knows more than I do about marking trees. He’s pretty darn smart.”

“I had thought that Adam would be teaching Jamie about that, but I guess it’s good that Griff knows too.”

“Uh, Pa, Adam and me and Joe been talking about that.”

“Griff?”

“No, Jamie. Pa, Jamie wants to go to school. He didn’t tell you because of all the work we had to do and not enough of us to do it, but now with Adam back, and Griff showing a knack for some of the work, we were thinking maybe we could let Jamie go to school.” Hoss held his breath for a bit when he finished because he wasn’t sure how his father would react. He was relieved to see him smiling.

“It didn’t take long for the three of you to start plotting behind my back, now did it?” He saw how worried Hoss looked. “Don’t worry about it Hoss. I’m glad to see my sons acting so much like brothers again. As for Jamie, maybe you ought to tell him to talk to me about it. We’ll work something out when I know more about exactly what he wants.” He saw Hoss wanted to say something, but he held up his hand to stop him. “No, Jamie needs to tell me. It’s what a father and son need to do.” After Ben and Jamie talked, Ben had another reason to speak with Debra and Adam, but first he had to find out why Debra always looked like she was afraid of him. He decided the best person to ask was Hoss.

“Course she’s a bit frightened of you, Pa. You give her that look that used to scare the heck out of us as kids, and she’s scared.”

“Hoss, what kind of look is that? I don’t have a look that I mean to use to scare the heck out of anyone.”

“Pa, you lower them eyebrows and you purse your mouth, and it used to be pretty scary to all of us.”

“Used to be pretty scary to all of you?”

“Heck, for one, now I know sometimes you was jest trying not to bust out laughing especially after some of them stunts Joe pulled. And the other reason I used to be scared was I thought it might be leading to one of your little talks out in the barn. Now that ain’t gonna happen no more, so I ain’t near as scared of that look as I used to be.”

“Beth and Patricia never seem scared of me.”

“Beth knows you would never hurt her. The two of you got to know each other real well with all the time you spent with her and Josh when she first got here.”

“And Patricia?”

“Heck, Pa, Patricia’s a schoolteacher. She’s got a scarier look than you do.” Ben laughed because he had seen the look she gave Joe on occasion, and he knew he never wanted to be the recipient of that look. “Now Debra is trying to fit in here even though she don’t know nothing about living in the west and on a ranch to boot. She and Adam still got a lot to learn about each other too. She’s a might on edge so ifn you give her a look like that, well, she’s bound to think you don’t like her or you don’t like her being here.”

Ben thought about what Hoss had said. He knew that Hoss probably had already talked to Debra about this so all he had to do was act the way Hoss probably told her he would. He got the tray with cookies and some fresh tea and headed up the stairs. It was quiet when he got to Adam’s room, so he knocked softly. Debra opened the door to tell him that Adam was sleeping again.

“He’s so tired. The doctor said he would be, but I guess I’m still surprised at how much he’s sleeping.”

“Yes, but Paul wanted him to be drinking something every hour, and it’s been over two hours since Paul left. I’m afraid you may have to wake him so he can drink. Do you think that would be all right?” Surprised a bit at Ben’s friendly tone and that he asked her what she thought should be done, Debra smiled and agreed. “I could get some extra pillows to prop him up if you think that would help you get him to drink the tea Hop Sing made for him?” Surprised again, Debra nodded and took the tray from Ben as he went to get extra pillows. She had awakened Adam by the time Ben returned. Ben helped Adam sit up as Debra put the extra pillows behind him. Then she offered to let Ben sit in the chair by Adam’s side. “No, no, that’s your spot. If you don’t mind, I’d like to pull up a chair on the other side to talk with the two of you?” Debra nodded as Adam smiled. He could tell how hard his father was trying to put Debra at ease.

“So, Pa, what is it you want to talk to us about?”

“Well, apparently you already know that Jamie wants to go to school. We just had a short conversation about it downstairs after Hoss told me that he had talked about it with Joe and you. Now Jamie has some specific objectives, but he doesn’t know much about which schools he could attend to achieve them. I was hoping that the two of you could take him along when you go to San Francisco so he could take a look at the school there to see what they offered.”

“Pa, I did want this time to be a honeymoon of sorts for Debra and me. We haven’t had that much time together, and I wanted to show her around San Francisco.”

“Son, I do know that, and I don’t want to interfere with that. I thought that perhaps you could take him to one of the schools each day and let him find out what he could find out. He’s not much for going out in the evenings, so if you got him back to the hotel to his room, that would be enough. You would still have every evening with your lovely wife, and the days to conduct any business you had to conclude. After a couple of days, you could send Jamie on his way back home.”

“You trust him to travel by himself?”

“He’s old enough as long as someone has made the arrangements and explained them to him. He is very bright. I seem to remember sending my oldest son to Boston when he was about Jamie’s age.”

Adam looked to Debra. “It would give us a chance to get to know this newest brother of yours.”

“All right, Pa, you can tell Jamie it would be fine with us. He can travel with us out there, and he should probably plan on at least four days there. I know there are at least three schools I want him to see: Saint Ignatius Academy, Berkeley University, and Santa Clara. He might even want to take a look at the Heald Colleges. I know he may have an idea of what he wants to learn, but these schools will give him an idea of what his choices are. Then I think we could all spend at least one day together before he leaves.”

For the next half hour, the three of them talked about Griff, about Debra’s riding, and about various other things that had been happening. By the end of the conversation, Debra was feeling a lot better about being on the Ponderosa. Ben and Debra got to talk a lot more during the next three days as they took care of Adam. Gradually, he was able to eat more and to keep everything down, but he was restless and wanted out of that bed. When Doctor Martin showed up after three days, Adam wanted to know most of all if he could get out of bed, and approved his request to be able to go to San Francisco as planned.

Several days of Adam recuperating were enough to get on anyone’s nerves. The whole family breathed a collective sigh of relief when Doctor Martin said that Adam could get out of bed and that the trip to California would not be too taxing if he continued to follow some simple dietary restrictions and drank water regularly to help his kidneys function normally. Adam noticed that Debra had the same look as Jamie, Ben, and Hoss when the doctor made his pronouncement before leaving to go see patients whom he said needed him. Adam took her hand as she sat on the chair at his bedside.

“That bad?”

Before answering, Debra looked at Hoss and Ben who nodded. “Yes, and worse than that.”

Looking a bit sheepish, Adam knew what he had to do. “I’m sorry. I know I say that every time I’m an awful patient. I thought I was trying to be better this time.”

Ben answered first but it was for Hoss too. “You were.” That caused Jamie and Debra to look shocked.

Debra especially was concerned. “He’s acted worse than this in the past? More crabby comments, more complaints, and more caustic humor at everyone else’s expense?”

Ben and Hoss looked at each other before answering and couldn’t help grinning when they did. “Yes!” Adam had the good grace to be at least chagrined at that revelation. Hoss couldn’t help himself and shared a couple of stories that had Adam closing his eyes and leaning back against the pillows in shame, embarrassment, and at least a bit of anger at Hoss for telling these stories to Debra.

“Please, could you all leave so I could get dressed? Paul did say I could get out of bed.”

“Yes, why don’t you do that. I think Hoss has more stories to tell me.”

Grabbing for Debra’s hand as she moved to leave, Adam added a caveat. “No, sweetheart, not you. We need to pack, and I need your help. Please?” Adam almost reconsidered when he got her answer.

“Yes, I’ll stay. We need to talk.”

Chapter 5

Once the others left, they did talk.

“What’s bothering you the most?” Adam could tell that Debra was upset with him. He had sensed for days that she was holding back from telling him something, but it had to come out.

“You getting hurt when you didn’t need to.”

“I didn’t get hurt on purpose. No one knew that Swenson was going to hit me with an axe handle.”

“Adam, that may have been the luckiest thing of all. Doctor Martin said that your most serious injury was to your kidneys. Someone hit you so hard in your back that they could have killed you. If Swenson hadn’t hit you in the head, you would have probably stayed up there working, and your kidneys could have failed. I don’t know this Doctor Martin very well, but he seems very competent. He said that what happened to you in that fight and the way you kept working like you did could have killed you.”

“What would you have me do? Walk away from every challenge? What would men think of me if I didn’t do things because I was afraid of getting hurt? I’m fine now so it worked out all right.”

“All right? You can’t ride a horse. You can’t walk without hanging on to something so you can keep your balance. How many more injuries can you take? I can’t live like this worrying about whether you will live or die. Every day, will I have to fear what will happen to you, and at night, will I have to wonder if you’ll come home to me or if I’ll never see you again?” Near tears then, Debra turned away from him and looked out the window. She knew how close she had come to admitting how desperately terrified she was of losing him. She finally had someone who loved her and couldn’t bear the thought of being alone again.

Adam’s emotions were swirling. He felt anger, resentment, love, compassion, worry, and all sorts of other things. He didn’t like it when he felt he was losing control emotionally, and that was how he felt at that moment. It made him feel vulnerable. Amazingly, he was able to avoid saying anything that would have made the situation worse, but it wasn’t improved by his silence.

Debra waited for his response and worried when he didn’t say anything. She began to think he didn’t care enough to respond to her fears and concerns, but when she turned around, she could see the signs of his emotional anguish. She stepped toward him, and he pulled her into a fierce embrace. She could feel his heart pounding and wondered at his reaction for she had never seen him silenced by his own turmoil. He whispered to her what he likely would never be able to say to anyone else.

“I love you more than I love my life. I would never do anything to hurt you. But if you want me to live a safe life, I can’t do it. I can’t promise that I’ll never be in danger, that I’ll never fight anyone. I wouldn’t be the same person then. It would make me a stranger to me and to you. I’m sorry that I’m too weak to change.”

“Oh Adam, you’re not weak, and I don’t want you to change who you are. But you could have tried to avoid that fight in the lumber camp. You didn’t. It was like you were looking forward to it. All I’m asking if for you to remember that we are two now, and decisions we make affect two people not one. If I lost you, I would feel completely lost. You’re my anchor now. I’m sorry to ask you to do it for me, but I have to. I need you more than I thought I could ever need another person. I had resigned myself to a life alone. I thought that what I had was enough, but you showed me that life was so much more than I thought it was. You awakened feelings in me that I didn’t know existed. You kiss me and hold me, and it’s all I ever want.”

“I love you so much. I’ll try. It may not happen though. I’ve lived this way for so long that I do things without thinking about them sometimes. I react quickly to some situations, and it’s saved my life on more than one occasion.”

“And from what you’ve told me, sometimes it almost got you killed.”

“I’ll do my best. It’s all I can promise.”

“Thank you. It’s all I can hope for. I never thought I could love someone as much as I love you.”

They embraced then and kissed. Debra felt Adam trembling and realized it wasn’t just the emotional impact of their conversation. “You need to lay down again. I don’t think I could catch you if you fell.” Adam sat down on the bed then and leaned back against the pillows when she gave him a gentle push on his chest. “You relax. I’ll start packing for our trip. You can tell me all the things we’re going to see and do while we’re there.” She saw his grin then, smiled, and amended her statement. “All the things we’re going to do outside of our hotel room.” She already knew he used humor to mask feelings that were nearly overwhelming to him. In this conversation, she was willing to let it work too for the feelings they had bared were powerful and probably needed to be tamped down at least a bit. He asked a question then that surprised her.

“Can you shoot?”

“Are you worried that such an emotional woman would lose control and shoot you the next time we argue?”

“Oh, I don’t think that was arguing. If we ever argue, there will likely be repairs needed for the roof. No, I was wondering because we’re going to be traveling for a few days, and it would be helpful if you knew how to shoot. I have a small pocket pistol that you could carry for your own protection.”

“Is travel still that dangerous out here?”

“Not usually, but it never hurts to be prepared for the worst. If you like, I can teach you the basics or we can ask Joe to show you.”

“Is it that important?”

“I think so, but we could ask if Beth and Patricia know how to shoot. Most women out here can so I would expect that they would know.”

“When I decided to follow you out here, I thought the most difficult things would be being worried about Indians and living in the wilderness. Now it turns out my biggest problem is not knowing the things I need to know to live out here. Sometimes it seems so overwhelming.”

Standing again, Adam wrapped his arms around his wife. “We’ll take some time in San Francisco to relax and get to know each other better. By the time we get back, perhaps you won’t feel like there are so many other things to do. You’ve had to make a lot of adjustments. I know that, and I’m thankful every waking moment that you’re willing to do that for me. I’ll do my best to be the man you want me to be. Let’s go downstairs and see about that pistol for you?”

Downstairs, they found that Patricia and Joe had stopped in to see how Adam was doing. The shooting lesson turned out to be a family affair then. Beth knew how to shoot and stayed behind with Josh, but Patricia had been learning to shoot with Joe’s help and wanted to practice. Joe and Adam took two small pistols from the gun case, and the whole group went behind the barn to set up some targets and have the women practice. Debra looked competent holding the small pistol as Adam instructed, but her skill ended there. Finally Adam said she should probably think about using a shotgun.

“Why?”

“Because even the worst shot can hit something with it, and anybody staring at the end of a shotgun pointed in their general direction isn’t likely to challenge whoever is holding it. Even a partial hit could be deadly. Hop Sing has one in the kitchen. He shoots like you do.”

“Can I try that?”

Surprised, Adam nodded. He asked if someone could go get the shotgun, and he sat down on a tree stump. He was a bit pale but shook off Debra’s efforts to get him to go back to the house. Partly that was because he wasn’t sure he could walk all the way back to the house, and the other reason was that he did want to see Debra fire that shotgun. He remembered the first time he had. He didn’t think his father stopped laughing for at least a day or two. Then Ben had done the same thing to Hoss and Joe. Adam had to wonder if he would do it with Debra too. He did. Ben told her to hold it firmly because it had quite a kick, but didn’t correct her when she didn’t tuck it into her body as firmly as she should. She hit the target but never saw it fly up in the air because she was on her backside in the dirt. Everyone paused before laughing because Debra got up from the dirt, brushed off her skirts, and marched up to Ben. She had looked around to see everyone holding back the laugh they wanted to let out so much. Then she knew they had all known what was going to happen. She handed the shotgun to Ben and then grabbed him in a hug.

“Thank you for accepting me into the family.”

Ben hugged his daughter-in-law. “Debra, if I had known that was what you expected, I would have done it a week ago.”

Everyone chuckled then, and several had a few tears in their eyes at that moment. They walked back to the house with Hoss stepping next to Adam to offer his shoulder, which was graciously accepted. By late in the afternoon, Adam and Debra were packed and ready to go the next day on their adventure to San Francisco. Jamie had packed his valise a few minutes after Ben had told him he was going along. Ben spent some time that evening explaining to Adam some of the things that had changed in their business dealings with the railroads and with the banks. He showed him the various legal documents that had created several corporations out of the Ponderosa enterprises separating them so that a financial problem with one would not threaten the others at all. The next morning, Ben gave them a ride to town to catch the stage. Sitting across the street with no idea what he would do next after having spent all the money he had, Swenson watched Adam and the others board the stage. That gave him an idea.

Dressed as he had been when doing business in St. Louis years before when he had first met Debra, Adam looked every bit the serious businessman except that pistol under his coat also said he was a dangerous man. Debra had run her hands across his chest that morning after they dressed.

“Remind you of something.”

Her voice hoarse with desire, Debra answered. “Yes, and when we’re in San Francisco, perhaps we could relive some of those very good memories.”

“Did you pack the red satin corset?” Debra nodded, and Adam grinned.

As they rode in the stagecoach later, Adam wanted to pull Debra into his embrace as he remembered that morning, but there were Jamie and the other passengers so it wasn’t prudent to do so as she sat next to him. Jamie engaged the other passengers in conversation to pass the time, and soon they were discussing their favorite places in Sacramento and San Francisco. One of the passengers was from Stockton, and Adam had been there often to visit friends so it was another topic of conversation. None of them noticed the rider who pulled into the road ahead of the stage until the driver pulled the coach to a sudden halt. Adam was going to draw his pistol until he heard the voice outside threaten to kill the driver if anyone made a move to defend themselves. He ordered them all out of the stage. Adam didn’t remember Swenson well because of the short time he had seen him in the camp before he was unconscious from the blow Swenson had given him, but it was soon apparent that the man held some animosity toward Adam.

After they had emptied their pockets and purses of all valuables including handing over their holsters and pistols, the masked man ordered Adam to go stand by a small tree. Then he pulled a lariat from his horse and ordered Debra who was the only woman passenger to tie his hands behind the tree. She refused at first, but the man said he would shoot Adam in the head if she didn’t. So with Adam encouraging her to cooperate, she did but she tied it in a way that she had used when she was a working girl. Sometimes men wanted the women to be tied up, but they only allowed it if one of the other women did the knots because they had a knot that could be undone with the tug of one end of the rope or other material used. Adam was unfamiliar with that but he did feel the end of the rope that Debra carefully tucked between his thumb and index finger.

“Now all of you get on the stage and get out of here. If I hear that stage stop anytime soon, I’ll put a bullet right between his eyes.”

“Mister, what do you want with my brother?”

“Oh, him and me got some history, little boy. We’re gonna have some fun together. Now git.”

Jamie urged Debra to get on the stage whispering to her that he had a plan. In a very quiet whisper, he told the stage driver to drive away but to slow when he got to the curve. Jamie planned to jump out there and head back to help Adam somehow. He told Debra what he was going to do and she wanted to go with him.

“No, it’s too dangerous. Just go get help.”

As the driver slowed at the curve, which he hoped the bandit wouldn’t find suspicious, Jamie jumped from the stage door and rolled to a stop by some bushes. He got up to find Debra had rolled the same way about twenty feet up the road. The driver had tossed the shotgun that had been at his feet although the bandit hadn’t known that. Jamie picked up the shotgun and walked to Debra to help her to her feet.

“What are you doing here? I can’t help Adam and protect you too.”

Debra pulled her small pistol from her pocket. “He’s my husband. I wasn’t about to leave.”

Quickly and as quietly as they could, the pair headed back to where Adam was tied. Jamie handed the shotgun to Debra warning her not to shoot it if he or Adam were in the background. He took the pocket pistol and tucked it in the back of his waistband. When they snuck closer, they were dismayed to see blood staining the front of Adam’s shirt. Standing in front of him with the knife poised, Swenson could be heard taunting Adam.

“There, how’s that feel? That little slice is just the beginning. Maybe I’ll open you up like a deer and gut you out. Maybe I’ll skin you like I heard some Injuns done to some folks down in Arizona way.”

Everything happened very fast after that. Adam had been tugging at the piece of rope Debra had carefully placed but his position made it difficult to do. When he finally released the knot, he flung his arms out to knock Swenson’s attempted strike with the knife away from his belly. Then he wrestled with him to get the knife out of his hand. Weak as he was after his injuries though, Adam was losing the battle. If not for Jamie running forward to place the barrel of the small pistol next to Swenson’s ear, he might have killed Adam right there. Swenson tensed at the feel of the cold steel but also knew he was facing an inexperienced boy. He acted as if he was surrendering but used the movement to swirl around knocking Jamie to the ground as well. He scooped up the pistol.

“You got a little girlie’s pistol there, boy. Now I’m gonna show you how it’s used.”

“I don’t think so.”

Swenson spun around shocked to see a shotgun pointed at his gut from only ten feet away.

“I may not be the best shot, mister, but I’ve been told that even I couldn’t miss from this distance. Drop those weapons and back away.”

As he dropped his weapons and backed away, Debra moved forward. Jamie grabbed the pistol as soon as he could and trained it on Swenson.

“Mister, I am a good shot. My brothers taught me. So facedown on the ground or I’ll show you that I can shoot out both knees before you can take a step.” When Swenson complied, Jamie asked Debra for the shotgun training that on the prone man. “Debra, how’s Adam?”

Adam answered for himself instead. “I’m fine. I wish you could have gotten back a minute earlier. This slash may be shallow but it hurts like hell.”

Debra was relieved to find that although Adam seemed to be bleeding profusely, it was from the length of the cut not its severity. It was, as Adam would say, only a cut in his hide. Thankfully it was no deeper than that. After about five minutes, they heard the stage returning. The other passengers had complained that the driver was putting them in danger so he had given them the option of disembarking before he returned. The driver helped Jamie tie up Swenson as Debra got a petticoat from her valise and used it to put a thick bandage over Adam’s wound. They gathered up the items that Swenson had stolen from the passengers. As the driver was going to put a bound Swenson in the coach, Debra objected.

“Adam needs some room to lay back, and we have other passengers to pick up. There’s no room for him inside with us.”

“But Mrs. Cartwright, we can’t leave him out here like this.”

“There looks to be room on top.”

“I gotta drive. I can’t be watching him at the same time.”

“Can’t you tie him down with all the other baggage? He’s already trussed up for delivery.”

Grinning, the driver agreed that was a good idea. With Jamie’s help, they hoisted the big man to the top and tied him down like any package for delivery. It would be an extremely uncomfortable ride for the man, but no one felt any sympathy for him at all.

“Ma’am, it’s a pleasure knowing ya. Adam done got himself quite a wife.”

When Debra sat beside Adam in the coach, she pulled him to lean back into her so he could put some pressure on the bandage to help stop the bleeding from the cut he had. “Yes, I did get myself quite a wife.” Looking over at Jamie, he added more. “I got myself quite a brother too when Pa adopted you. Thank you, both of you, thank you.”

Chapter 6

The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the longer than expected stay in Placerville so Adam could see a doctor. They got to San Francisco just in time for the meetings Adam had to attend. On the first day there, he dropped Debra at a dress shop and sent Jamie off to the first school he planned to visit. On the second day, Debra went with Jamie to another school for a visit. She was most impressed there by the library. She had never seen one so large. That gave her an idea for the third day. She asked Adam to drop her at the biggest bookstore he knew. Debra was a voracious reader when there were books around that she could devour. She had started reading some of the books Adam had, but she wanted some variety preferring more poetry to Shakespeare and books on architecture and engineering. That evening when Adam returned to their suite, he found a stack of six books on the table in the room.

“I see your shopping trip was a success.”

Debra looked up from a book she was reading. She had been so engrossed in it, that she had not heard Adam enter their room. She moved to him and hugged him and kissed him soundly. She looked a bit sheepish though so Adam had to ask why.

“Those aren’t the only books I bought. Those are for when we’re here. I shipped more. I hope you’re not upset. I spent my own money so I wasn’t wasting any of yours.”

“Sweetheart, you are going to share those books with me, aren’t you?” She nodded. “And you don’t have to worry about spending money. I have quite a lot, and I never would complain about you spending money on books. You must know I love books.”

“Good, because I bought some for Jamie too.”

“Good, I owe him a lot.”

“Yes, I do too. He saved you.”

Adam chuckled and then Debra had to ask why. “Did you hear how his voice cracked when he told Swenson that he would shoot him in both knees if he didn’t back away?”

“Yes, and neither of us is ever going to tell anyone that, are we?”

“Of course not, but it was funny.”

“There wasn’t anything funny about that situation. I hate to even talk about it.”

“All right, we won’t. So instead, where do we take Jamie for dinner tonight? He’s picked a school and only has to go home to talk to Pa about it. Then he can register and get started on his college degree.”

“At the bookstore, some people were talking about a new Italian restaurant that opened only about two weeks ago and it’s already a popular place. They said the people just got here from Italy, and the food is some of the best. We could try that.”

“What’s the name?”

“Achilli’s. Like Achille’s heel but with an i at the end instead of the e. I asked because I thought it might be a good place to go.” Debra saw the look that Adam had when she said that even if he managed to disguise it rather quickly. “Well, you better tell me what that was because I’m not going to drop it, and don’t try kissing me to get me to forget. I won’t.” Adam kissed her anyway because he wasn’t sure how to tell her about Kathy or Katarina. He knew it had to be the same family, and he had left on rather poor terms with the young woman. He wondered if she had changed her mind about him, and he didn’t particularly care to find out. He knew Debra wanted to know though so he told her after they kissed and while she was still in his arms.

“So you kissed her, she thought you would love her, but you didn’t and left. Is that about it?”

“That’s it exactly, but I never should have kissed her.”

“And all of this was before you decided to come back to St. Louis to try to get me to marry you?”

“Of course. I would never have done anything like that if I was already committed to you. It was you though who caused me to turn away from her. You were in my dreams and thoughts. There wasn’t room for another woman in there.”

“Oh, so you did find her attractive and would have pursued her if you hadn’t met me?”

Adam leaned back and saw the wicked gleam in her eye, which allowed him to relax about it. She was teasing him. He was very thankful that she wasn’t the jealous type, but going to that restaurant was probably not a good idea because Kathy was the jealous type. When he suggested that to Debra though, she disagreed.

“Adam, I know you have been with other women. You’ve told me about some, Hoss told me more, and I heard an awful lot when I was in the dress shop in Virginia City. It’s part of your past and helps me to understand you, but I’m not concerned about it. I have a past too, and we may have to confront that someday, but we love each other, and this is not a problem for me unless you have some feelings for this woman.”

“No, none at all unless you consider friendship. I wanted to be only a friend, but she wanted more.”

“All right, then, let’s go to dinner there. Maybe she’ll take a liking to Jamie.” Again she was teasing him, but Adam had an uneasy feeling about all of it. Even despite that, he agreed to go. Jamie was excited not only about having chosen a college, but also for the books Debra had purchased for him, and for going to dinner with Adam and Debra. He had never sampled the nightlife of San Francisco except for the more staid restaurants to which Ben would take him. He assumed Adam would not be that concerned about what he saw and did.

When they got to Achilli’s Restaurant, there were people waiting outside on benches hoping to be the next ones to get an open table. Adam suggested that perhaps they could try another place but Debra gave him a look that said she knew why he wanted to leave. It was then that Kathy’s brother saw them and called out to Adam.

“I have a table for you. We keep some open for our family. You are like family. You come in and see Papa and Katarina.”

“This is my wife, Debra, and my youngest brother, Jamie.”

“Ah, you move quickly in affairs of the heart. Perhaps you are a bit Italian after all. Come in, come in, all are welcome.” After greeting Kathy’s father, Adam and Debra sat at a table with Jamie who couldn’t help himself looking all about the room at the variety of people there. Adam smiled. He knew only too well how different this was from any restaurant his father would have picked. They waited for food to be brought out, and suddenly Adam had a lap full of woman and a mouthful of tongue. He did his best to pull away from Kathy but she wrapped her arms around his neck.

“I knew you would come. I knew you couldn’t stay away from me.”

As much as he could, Adam tried to remove her arms from their embrace of him so he could get her off his lap. Finally he stood but she simply let herself be pulled up so that she was pressed against him with her arms still around his neck. “Kathy, please, let go.”

“Don’t be so embarrassed. It is my father’s restaurant. He won’t care, and if these people care, then that is their problem, no?”

“No, that is my problem. Please let me go so I can introduce you to my wife.”

It took a moment for that to sink into Kathy’s consciousness. Her elation at seeing Adam in the restaurant had blinded her to anything else. She turned to see a pretty woman sitting at the table with a wide-eyed red-haired boy. “You don’t have to play games with me. I suppose that is your son sitting there too.”

“No, that’s my youngest brother, Jamie, now please let me go. I wouldn’t want to make any more of a scene here than you already have.”

Releasing him, Kathy stood there staring at Debra and then looking back to Adam. “You married so quickly? Then you bring her here to shame me?”

“No, I brought her here to meet my friends and to have dinner.”

In tears, Kathy rushed away from them and out the front door of the restaurant. Adam looked helplessly at Debra. He wanted to do something to help Kathy, but Debra was well aware that anything he did would likely make things worse than they already were. She couldn’t do anything because Kathy likely saw her as the enemy. Jamie asked then why they weren’t doing anything. Debra explained.

“If Adam goes to her, then she will think that he does care for her. If I go, she’ll be very angry because to her, I am the enemy who took Adam away from her.”

Pausing just a moment, Jamie had an answer. “I’ll go. She shouldn’t be outside alone and crying like that. Something could happen to her.”

Adam went to find her brother or her father to let them know what had happened. Debra sat at the table and drank her wine. This had definitely been far more of a mess than she had ever imagined it could be. Adam returned after about ten minutes saying that her brother had gone outside to look for her. Adam sat at the table with Debra staring into his wine glass.

“It’s not your fault. You don’t have to look like you killed someone.”

“I knew it was a bad idea to come here tonight, and I came anyway. Sometimes I ought to do a better job of following my feelings about some situations.”

“I insisted that we come here.”

“But I was the one who knew how emotional she is.”

“Did you in your wildest imagination ever expect her to do what she did?”

Grinning, Adam shook his head. “No, I guess I never knew her that well. That was quite a shock.”

“Here, drink some wine. I don’t want to kiss you until you wash the taste of her out of your mouth.”

Worried that Debra might be upset, Adam shook his head again when he saw that wicked gleam in her eye. “You do have a sharp tongue sometimes.”

“And I believe you like that a lot. I’m not wrong, am I?”

Kathy’s brother stopped by their table then. “Katarina is on the terrace with your brother. They have decided to eat there as there are too many here who saw how she was embarrassed. You may join them if you wish, or you are very welcome to dine here as you planned.”

Adam was torn. “Debra, he’s pretty young to leave with that wounded cougar.”

Debra sipped her wine and asked him one pertinent question. “When you were that age, and had a chance to be with a woman like that, what would you have done if someone pulled you away and said you couldn’t?” Adam grinned at that. “It won’t last. He leaves here tomorrow, and she’ll tire of him quickly. He still too much a boy in many ways.”

“So you think we should let it go and let him decide how far he wants it to go tonight?”

“Oh, it’ll go pretty far, I would think. Let him have some fun.”

“Pa will kill me if he ever finds out.”

“I won’t tell, you won’t tell, and I would be money that Jamie won’t tell. Now let’s have a delicious dinner, and we’ll find out what Jamie wants to do when he tells us.”

Jamie came up to their table an hour later to tell them that he and Katarina were going to take a carriage ride. Adam walked outside and hailed a driver. He told them where he wanted him to take the two, paid him half which included a generous tip, and handed the rest to Jamie telling him to pay the driver when he was dropped off at their hotel. Katarina glowered at him but then smiled sweetly at Jamie when he offered to help her into the carriage. Debra walked outside and Adam asked if she wished to have a carriage ride. She did.

Later in their hotel room, they made love and then stood in their robes on the balcony looking out over the city and the bay. Adam reached around her to slide his hand inside her robe as he nuzzled her neck. “Do you want to go back inside?” For an answer, he switched to the other side of her neck and began opening her robe. “Adam, we’re on the balcony where anyone can see us.” He pulled her around to face him as he kissed his way down one side of her neck and then up the other side to her ear. With both his hands inside her robe caressing her, he whispered to her.

“We’re on the top floor of the tallest building facing in this direction. No one can see us. We’ve never made love outdoors. Perhaps we can remedy that right now?”

Debra didn’t answer for a moment, but then she untied the sash of Adam’s robe, and they made love under the stars for the first time although they weren’t looking up at the stars. Debra noted that later. “Why would we make love out under the stars? We only looked at each other anyway. We should make love in bed where it’s more comfortable, and then we can go look at the stars.”

The next morning, Adam was feeling a bit ill. He realized that the wine, the clams, and the cheese he had eaten were probably too much for one meal. He had felt so good when he was eating with none of the nausea that he had felt earlier when he tried to eat things he shouldn’t that he didn’t realize that he had taxed his still recovering kidneys. He asked if Debra would make sure that Jamie left for the depot in time to get on board the paddlewheeler that would take him to Sacramento. She also checked to be sure he had all the other tickets he needed to complete his journey home. He kissed her on the cheek and thanked her for letting him have an evening with Katarina.

“I know she’s too old for me, but last night was wonderful. She was very nice to me.”

Jamie blushed at that point so Debra wisely refrained from asking any questions. She wished him well, and then went to get some light breakfast sent to their room. Adam ended up drinking tea and eating part of a hotcake before he declared that he had enough. Their suite had been retrofitted with a water closet and it contained a large tub. There was a tank on the roof that supplied hot water so Debra added water to the tub until it was half filled before she invited Adam to climb in. She soaped his back and shampooed his hair letting him relax in the warm bath. He said he could wash the rest, but she insisted that she would do it. She was careful when washing his chest not to rub over the new long pink scar he had.

“I don’t think that will hardly show at all after a while. The doctor did a wonderful job stitching it up. He could be a dressmaker as well as he puts in a stitch.”

Debra continued to wash him until she had soaped up and washed every part of him. He said she should get in the tub with him or let him get out to dry off. She stood and slipped off her clothing as he watched. She climbed into the tub then straddling his hips.

“It’s going to be difficult to do anything like this.”

She said she could manage, and she did. They got out of the tub later as the water became cool. Debra mopped up some of the water that had splashed out and spread the wet towels over the tub after the water drained away. “I like this. We should get a water closet at home. I would appreciate that very much.”

“We could do that. Let’s go shopping for what we need while we’re here. That might be a good thing to do today, because I don’t feel like I have the energy to do much of anything else.”

So they shopped for a water tank, a stove to heat that tank, a large tub, and a sink. By the end of the day, those items were purchased and were to be sent to the Ponderosa. They did more shopping over the next few days buying clothing as well as some items for their room on the Ponderosa, took carriage rides, attended the theatre when they could get tickets, and sampled the food at bakeries, restaurants, and chocolate shops. Debra suggested that they ought to buy some chocolates to take home. Adam visited a tobacco shop and got some high quality tobacco for his father. Their room began to look a bit like a warehouse until Adam had many of the items crated and shipped home. After a week, they knew their vacation was coming to an end. They had a picnic on the shores of the bay, walked out to see what was in the tidal pools at low tide, and took a long ride to see some friends of Adam who lived outside the city. Then it was time to pack up and go home.

Chapter 7

As Adam and Debra traveled home, they stopped briefly in Sacramento. Adam had hopes of getting some architectural or engineering work to do in California, and this was where he thought he had the best chances of landing some. As they walked to a restaurant on the first day they were there, Adam was hailed. As he turned to see who it was, he recognized Jarrod Barkley. The two friends greeted each other warmly, and Adam introduced Debra to Jarrod who looked at her with a quizzical look. She knew. He must have been one of her customers, and he was trying to place her face. Adam bragged about how smart Jarrod was and Debra knew then that he would remember. She was uncharacteristically quiet at lunch. After lunch, Jarrod had business to conduct for his family’s ranch, but asked if they could have dinner together. Adam agreed even though he saw Debra’s pained expression as he did so. Then he knew. Jarrod had not yet remembered, and smiled as he said goodbye and said how much he had enjoyed meeting Adam’s wife. As he walked away, Adam turned to Debra.

“He was one, wasn’t he?”

“Yes, he must have been. I’m so sorry, Adam. I knew this would happen with someone at some point, but I never expected you to be friends with him.”

“Did you remember him?”

“No, I still don’t, but I knew when I saw him looking at me that way, that he must have known me even if he doesn’t remember it right now, he probably will.”

“I was thinking the same thing. Well, Jarrod is quite a gentleman. He won’t make a scene. I suppose I ought to say something to him about it at some point.”

“If he says nothing, could you not say anything? I so much wish this could all go away.”

“I’m not the first man to marry a woman who worked like that. Jarrod will understand, and he will never say anything.”

Despite Debra’s misgivings, they had dinner with Jarrod that night. As Adam predicted, he said nothing and was as genial and friendly as Adam said he was. Adam escorted Debra back to their room after dinner and said that Jarrod wanted to have a drink before they said goodbye. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him, but I’ll be back in an hour or so. Nothing could keep me away from you any longer than that.” Debra smiled and hoped it was so. While he was gone, she sat staring out the window at nothing as she rebuked herself over and over for what she had done those years before she was able to get out of the business.

Just over an hour later, Adam returned. He looked serious but not upset. “What happened? Did he remember?”

“Yes, but he remembers you running the house. He wanted to make sure I was aware of your background, and seemed relieved that I was. He was never with you. He’s more worried that you might say something. He only said that he asked for something unusual, and that you took care of it for him. Apparently he only does this kind of thing when he’s far from home because no one in his family knows what it is that he likes. He didn’t tell me what it was.” Adam looked at her and wondered what she would say. She said nothing as she remembered then why he looked so familiar. His request had been unusual for her house but not unknown. There were a few men who requested that so she had been able to accommodate his desires. Now she understood why he was so worried about what she might say.

“Perhaps it would be best if we never talk about this again. I have my secret and Jarrod has his. We can agree that it is not a matter for discussion.”

Relieved that he wouldn’t have to deal with a touchy situation, Adam relaxed. “I told him that’s what I thought you would say. I hoped you would say that. He will never say a word, but he is worried. Tomorrow before we leave, I want to send a message to him thanking him for his hospitality while we were here, and assuring him that all is well. I think he’ll understand.”

Debra felt immense relief. They had encountered one of her former customers, and Adam had handled it all calmly. She had more confidence now that if anything else ever happened because of the life she had led, Adam would be able to handle it all right. She still worried about his father though and told him that. He said that sometime after they got back, he would tell his father how they met. He didn’t expect any problem because of it, but Debra was still worried.

“Sweetheart, Pa’s third wife, Marie had a questionable background too. We never say anything about it because Joe doesn’t know the full extent of what she did.”

“Don’t you think he has a right to know?”

“No, none of us do. He’s got an image of his mother. Why change that? It was a long time ago and in New Orleans so no one is going to say anything. Nothing would be gained by saying anything and a lot could be lost, so we say nothing. Once I explain how we met to Pa, he’ll never say anything about it.”

Reassured, Debra was able to enjoy the trip home. Sitting in the stage coach as they left Placerville, she smiled broadly realizing that she did think of the Ponderosa as home. It was a good feeling. Adam leaned over and asked why she was smiling so she told him. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer to him despite a woman sitting across from them who frowned at the public display of affection. By the time they reached Virginia City, the woman had even more about which to complain because more than once, Adam kissed his wife when she could see them. He began to enjoy watching her disapproving looks as he showed that he loved his wife.

“Adam, are you kissing me because you love me or because it irritates Mrs. Jackson?”

“I’m kissing you because I love you with all my heart, but it is an added bonus that it irritates her so much.”

“You can be terrible sometimes.”

“I thought you liked that?”

“I do.” She laughed then. “Does that make me terrible too?” And the two of them laughed further irritating Mrs. Jackson who was sure they were laughing at her. Joe met them at the depot and helped them carry their luggage. As he stowed the luggage, he said that everyone was ready to welcome Robin home.

“Robin?” Debra was shocked and wondered how Joe could know.

“Yeah, you know, Robin Hood, defender of the weak, savior of the downtrodden. You saved older brother’s life here. Pa’s thinking of putting up a statue in your honor.”

Adam put his hand on Debra’s shoulder to reassure her and help her calm herself. He had been just as shocked when Joe had called her Robin. “Joe, Jamie must have spun quite a tale when he got back here.”

“No, not Jamie, but Shorty told everybody the story. It got better every time he told it. By the end, our Debra leaped from a tree and landed in front of the outlaw scaring him nearly to death as she pointed a shotgun under his chin and threatened to make him the headless outlaw.”

“Joe, I never said anything like that.”

“Oh, I guessed that, but like I said, the story keeps getting better and better. Now let’s get going. Hop Sing promised a special dinner today, and Pa said to make sure we weren’t late.”

“Joe, doesn’t everyone know how terrified I was? I’m not even sure I could have pulled that trigger knowing I would be killing a man.”

“We all know that. We all feel the same way when we’re faced with something like that. But what you did showed how much courage you have and how much you love that old man you married. We’re proud as we can be of you and real happy you did what you did.”

Adam squeezed Debra’s hand as Joe talked. He had been telling her that same thing albeit worded quite a bit differently especially the reference to the old man, but now perhaps she would believe it.

On the Ponderosa, Ben welcomed Adam and Debra with big hugs and a big smile. Hoss did the same before the whole group trooped into the house. Josh had missed Adam and ran for him as soon as he saw him. Adam scooped him up and ended up with a child attached to him for the rest of the day. After dinner, Ben pulled a package out from behind his desk and presented it to Debra.

“It’s a small token of my appreciation for what you did.”

On opening the package, Debra discovered that she had been gifted a new shotgun in a leather saddle scabbard. She thanked Ben but wondered where she would use it.

“If you come out to the stable, we’ll show you how you can attach it to a saddle.”

In the stable, Joe pulled a blanket off a new saddle. It was smaller than any that they had owned, and it took Debra a few minutes to notice the DC embossed into the leather. “Is this mine?”

“Yes, the boys got it for you.”

“But it’s small. Will it fit the horse I’ve been riding?”

“No, it won’t, but it will fit this one.” Adam backed a small gray roan out of a stall. “Her name is Blue. Her undercoat is black, but the white hairs make her look gray. In the sun, she looks like she has a bluish cast to her.”

“You got me a horse?”

“I did with Joe’s help. I asked if he knew of a small horse that I could buy for you, and he said he knew of a blue roan for sale in Carson. He took care of it for me while we were gone.”

Debra gave Joe a kiss then even as the tears started coursing down her cheeks.

“You don’t have to cry. Each of us got our lady their own horse. All the brothers chipped in to have the saddles made, and Pa bought the rifles, except in your case, Pa got you a shotgun. He saw you shoot a pistol, and after what happened on the stage, he thought a shotgun would be a good choice for you.”

“We’re all going riding tomorrow. We’re taking a day off and going to the lake for a picnic. It’s time to celebrate all the additions to the Cartwright family. I have three daughters now and a grandson. I have to tell you I wouldn’t mind a few more grandchildren, but we have a lot to give thanks for.”

As everyone else walked back to the house, Adam handed an apple to Debra. “It’s time to get to know your horse a little.”

Debra fed the apple to Blue who was a calm horse but apparently liked attention too because she threw her head a few times until Debra began stroking her neck. Then she stood calmly enjoying it. “Adam, I feel like a Cartwright now.”

“Sweetheart, you are very much a Cartwright. I love you, Debra Cartwright.” He pulled her into an embrace and kissed her as Blue watched. After closing up the stable, they walked to the house to join the family and hear again the story of how Debra had saved the day. As Joe said, the story got better and better each time it was told. But there was one more story to be told, and the next day at the lake as the ladies walked together talking, Hoss and Joe tried to catch some fish, and Ben and Adam sat by the blanket where Josh was sleeping, it was time for Adam to tell another story.

“Pa, there’s something you should know about Debra.”

“That she worked at a job you would rather she hadn’t?” Surprised, Adam was silent for a bit. “She reminded me of Marie when I first brought her here. She knew how to relate to men very well but it took some time before she knew how to converse freely with other women. That and the fact that neither of you ever seemed to want to talk about where she had been and what she had been doing made the conclusion easy to draw.”

“So you knew all along?”

“No, but I did suspect it. I guessed you would tell me when and if you thought I should know. Adam, it has nothing to do with whether she is accepted into this family. What was clear from the start was that she loved you. It may have been from gratitude at first, but I can see that she loves you every time she looks at you or walks by you and puts a hand on your shoulder. She’s becoming more and more relaxed around us, and I can see how happy she has made you. Not that she had to, but she proved how much she loves you by risking her life to help save you. That says a lot about her love for you. That’s all it takes for her to be accepted into our family.”

“Thank you. I do love her. I want her to be happy.”

The sound of women’s laughter reached them then. Ben looked over at the daughters-in-law he had gotten in the past year or so. “I may have had to wait a long time for this, but I couldn’t be happier having these ladies, who love my sons, in our family.”

“And now there’s another generation to carry on your dream.”

“Another generation: are you telling me something?”

“No, but I hope I can at some point. We keep trying.”

“Oh, I know that. We all know that.” A trifle embarrassed, Adam looked to the lake and the rest of the family. “Nothing to be concerned about. It shows how very much a Cartwright she is.” The two men laughed softly then and leaned back to enjoy the day.

 

Tags:  Adam Cartwright, Family