{"id":14021,"date":"2017-04-06T12:24:41","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T16:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=14021"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:41:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:41:14","slug":"mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=14021","title":{"rendered":"Mystery (by McFair_58)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary<\/strong>:\u00a012 year old Little Joe Cartwright loves black horses, especially the new black mare his brothers found and brought home. Though their father disapproves, Little Joe knows she’s the one for him and sets out to prove it. What do an apparition, a burned out ranch, a stolen fortune, a group of desperate outlaws, and Little Joe Cartwright have in common besides trouble? Mystery.<\/p>\n

Rated PG for frightening images and western violence \u00a0(25,100 words)<\/p>\n

Mystery<\/strong><\/p>\n

ONE<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was a fine spring day.\u00a0 The sun was shining in a clear blue sky, a soft breeze was blowing, the birds were singing in the trees and twelve year old Little Joe Cartwright was kicking up the heels of his brand new work boots as he made his way around the back of the stable. \u00a0He\u2019d had to get new boots since he\u2019d outgrown the old ones.\u00a0 On their trip to town Pa\u2019d told him that he was sprouting up like a weed, which had brought a big smile to his face until they pulled into the yard and he saw Hoss comin\u2019 toward them.\u00a0 A knee-high weed for him was just about toe-deep to his giant of a brother.\u00a0 Hoss wasn\u2019t even eighteen and he was already well over six feet tall, which left him, at a little over five foot, feelin\u2019 like he wasn\u2019t even knee-high to a grasshopper.\u00a0 Adam was tall too and so was Pa.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what God was thinkin\u2019 when\u00a0 he\u2019d stuck him in the middle of a family of giants.\u00a0 Although Emily Miller, who was two years older than him, had told him at the church social the week before while she\u2019d been trying to kiss him that she liked her men tiny and tight and that had made him happy.<\/p>\n

Even if he didn\u2019t really know what she meant.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been whistlin\u2019 a tune as he came close to the stable, but had fallen silent for fear of startling the horses. They had five in the corral right now including a black mare his brothers had brought in about a week and a half before.\u00a0 She was sleek as greased lightning and just about as volatile.\u00a0 He\u2019d tried to talk his pa into letting him take a part in breaking her.\u00a0 Pa\u2019d said the only thing that would get broken was his neck and then he\u2019d said \u2018no\u2019, and then \u2019no\u2019.<\/p>\n

And then he\u2019d yelled it.<\/p>\n

Really <\/em>loud.<\/p>\n

Joe leaned his arms on the railing and stared into the corral.\u00a0 The mare was a good size and powerfully built \u2013 just about right for Adam, really \u2013 but somehow, he knew she was meant for him.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen it the first time he looked in her eyes.\u00a0 Hoss must have been looking to work with her soon, \u2018cause her halter was on and there was a lead rope attached.\u00a0 Pa said she hadn\u2019t always been wild.\u00a0 It was obvious from her \u2018demeanor\u2019 that someone had tamed her, but she\u2019d either broken free or been turned loose for some reason.\u00a0 Pa said that was the worst kind of animal \u2013 one that had tasted freedom and been returned to captivity.\u00a0 He swore she\u2019d never be gentled again.\u00a0 Adam tended to agree with him, but then that was Adam.\u00a0 Mister \u2018I-don\u2019t-take-a-step-without-thinking-it-through-a-dozen-times\u2019<\/em>Adam.\u00a0 Hoss, like him, had taken one look and fallen in love with her.\u00a0\u00a0 Middle brother said she was a wild thing now, but given time and a lot of love, she\u2019d come around.\u00a0 He and Hoss were alike like that.\u00a0 They always held out hope.\u00a0 Always looked for that miracle.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t that Pa and Adam didn\u2019t believe in miracles.\u00a0 They just believed they happened to other people.<\/p>\n

Placing the toes of his new boots on the bottom rail, Joe leaned in and held out his hand.\u00a0 He kept very still and waited for the mare to spot him.\u00a0 She liked him.\u00a0 He knew it.\u00a0 He\u2019d catch her watching him while he was working in the stable, tossing her mane and prancing about like she was showing off.\u00a0 As he stood there, waiting, she stopped moving.\u00a0 The mare whinnied and then, like Emily Miller\u2019s older sister, Grace, who was the shy one Hoss was sparkin\u2019, the horse came toward him with her head down.\u00a0 Joe kept his eyes on her as she approached and didn\u2019t look away, doing like Adam had told him and letting her know who was in charge.\u00a0 She met his gaze firmly for a moment before looking away.\u00a0 A second later she pressed her velvet-soft nose into his hand.\u00a0 Joe waited until he was sure she felt secure and then scrambled onto the top rail and sat there petting her neck, his feet dangling into the corral.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re mine, girl,\u201d he whispered to her.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t care what the others think.\u00a0 You and me, we belong together.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he sat there, talking to her, Joe heard the sound of approaching horse\u2019s hooves followed by his father\u2019s voice.\u00a0 Pa had gone to town late the night before and was just getting home.\u00a0 He heard Adam call out a greeting and then Hoss shouted out one too.\u00a0 Joe smiled at the answering yip that came from inside the stable.\u00a0 He and Hoss had finally convinced their pa to let them have a dog and it was obvious Rogue was happy to see pa.<\/p>\n

He doubted that happiness went both ways.<\/p>\n

Joe rubbed his butt as he pivoted to look toward the yard.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know which was thinner \u2013 him or the rail.\u00a0 He was sitting on the back side of the corral, near the back wall of the stable, and he didn\u2019t think his father could see him.\u00a0 Still, he figured he had better get down and get back to work before Pa found him not only slacking, but breaking the rules.<\/p>\n

Half-sitting, half-standing, Joe turned back to the mare and took hold of her halter, twisting the fingers of one hand behind the leather strap and taking hold of the rope tied to it so he could pull her head in a little closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re mine,\u201d he said again, \u201cand I\u2019m gonna name you.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be a secret between you and me.\u00a0 Okay, girl?\u201d\u00a0 Joe thought a moment.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s see now.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know much about you.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know where you lived before or how you came to be wild again.\u00a0 Your whole life\u2019s just a puzzle, you know that?\u201d\u00a0 Joe wrapped the rope around his hand as she tried to pull away.\u00a0 Then his young face lit with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s it!\u00a0 You\u2019re a puzzle.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about I call you Mystery?\u201d<\/p>\n

For a second, it seemed she liked the name.\u00a0 The mare\u2019s large moist eyes fixed on his and in them he saw a desire to tell him her story.\u00a0 Then, like night swooping in on the back of a storm….<\/p>\n

She went crazy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright was standing on the porch of the ranch house looking over some figures in a ledger Adam had handed him upon his arrival, when a noise caught his attention.\u00a0 It was that blasted dog Joe and Hoss insisted on keeping.\u00a0 A mutt they\u2019d rather aptly named \u2018Rogue\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s is that dog barking about now?\u201d he sighed.<\/p>\n

As Adam shrugged, Hoss came alongside them.\u00a0 \u201cI just seen him tearin\u2019 out of the stable, Pa,\u201d the teenager said.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s a warnin\u2019 Rogue\u2019s barkin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss dropped the plank he\u2019d been hauling.\u00a0 \u201cYou suppose somethin\u2019s upset the horses?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs that black mare still there?\u201d the older man asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s in the corral.\u00a0 I was gonna see if I could start gentlin\u2019 her today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben scowled.\u00a0 \u201cI thought, when I left, I told you to take her out to the north country and let her go.\u00a0 Your brother is too involved with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, Pa.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s got his heart set on that horse.\u00a0 You know that.\u00a0 He ain\u2019t got one of his own since his other fell to the wolves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben shuddered.\u00a0 That <\/em>was a day he preferred not to remember.\u00a0 It had been the stability \u2013 the loyalty of the horse his young son had ridden for nearly four years that had saved his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat mare is not suitable for your brother.\u00a0 It\u2019s as unpredictable as he is.\u201d\u00a0 Ben paused.\u00a0 The dog was still barkin\u2019, only the sound was distant now.\u00a0 A thought flew through his head.\u00a0 He dismissed it as nonsense and then rethought that choice.<\/p>\n

After all, it was<\/em> Joe they were talking about.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is <\/em>your youngest brother?\u201d he asked, his voice laced with mild concern.<\/p>\n

Adam shook his head as Hoss said, \u201cI ain\u2019t seen him for a couple of hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

A second later all three of them were running.<\/p>\n

By the time they reached the corral beside the stable, the damage was done.\u00a0 The railing at the back had been broken through.\u00a0 The wood lay scattered along the ground and all five horses were gone, including the black mare.<\/p>\n

Rogue and Little Joe were nowhere to be seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood God!\u201d Ben bellowed as he rounded on his middle son.\u00a0 \u201cDo you see now why I told you to get rid of that horse?\u00a0 She\u2019s not only wild, but she\u2019s a bad influence on the other animals.\u00a0 Those four were tame as mice and now they\u2019re…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c…out there running wild, and… \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPa.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?!\u201d he shouted as he turned toward his oldest son.<\/p>\n

Adam was pointing.\u00a0 The boy looked sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben drew in a sharp breath.\u00a0 He saw them \u2013 first the gangrel dog and then his son.\u00a0 Rogue sat at Joseph\u2019s side, guarding the boy who lay face down in the grass about a hundred feet beyond the stable.\u00a0 The dog\u2019s coat was a deep brown and Joseph was wearing black today, so they hadn\u2019t seen either of them at first.\u00a0 The older man sprinted the thirty yards or so to his son\u2019s side and, gently pushing Rogue out of the way, dropped beside his boy and gingerly turned him over.\u00a0 Little Joe was unconscious.\u00a0 Ben frowned at the sight of his son\u2019s skinned cheeks, at Joseph\u2019s bloodied knees and elbows that shown through the tattered remnants of his shirt and pants.\u00a0 The boy\u2019s fingers were bloody as well and clenched tightly as though he had clung onto the horse\u2019s reins for dear life.\u00a0 There was also a serious-looking cut above his left eye.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he all right, Pa?\u201d Hoss asked as he reached them.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo thanks to you!\u201d Ben snapped as he rose with the boy\u2019s battered form in his arms.\u00a0 \u201cThis <\/em>is what happens when you choose to disregard my orders!\u201d<\/p>\n

The teenager averted his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry won\u2019t mend your brother\u2019s wounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

His middle son blinked.\u00a0 \u201cI know that, Pa.\u201d\u00a0 He held out his arms.\u00a0 \u201cYou want me to carry Little Joe in, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll carry him,\u201d Ben said as he began to walk.\u00a0 \u201cYou ride into town and get Doc Martin.\u00a0 Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n

He found his oldest son watching him carefully.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s lips were a grim line.<\/p>\n

\u201cFind that horse and shoot it.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam closed the door behind him as he exited Joe\u2019s room, leaving Doc Martin with his little brother.\u00a0 Little Joe had been unconscious about an hour and the first thing he had asked about when he came to was that damn<\/em> horse. \u00a0Joe pleaded with their father not to shoot it, telling him it had all been his fault.\u00a0 He\u2019d said or done something that had startled Mystery, as he called her, and Pa just had to understand that she wasn\u2019t to blame.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s pleas fell on deaf ears.<\/p>\n

Before Hoss returned with the doctor, he\u2019d done as his pa said and tried to find the horse.\u00a0 Like her name the mare was slippery as smoke and, even though he\u2019d found some tracks, it seemed she must have taken a flying leap into the air because any sign of her passage vanished at the edge of an awakening meadow of blue and yellow wildflowers.\u00a0 He had to admit there was something<\/em> about that horse.\u00a0 Joe had called it right.\u00a0 When you looked into her eyes you knew she had a secret and she wasn\u2019t telling.\u00a0 Adam ran a hand over his eyes and breathed out a sigh.<\/p>\n

He just hoped that secret wasn\u2019t going to cost his little brother his eyesight.<\/p>\n

Joe had been pulled from the top railing where he sat when the horse spooked.\u00a0 He said he\u2019d had his fingers entwined in both the lead rope and bridle.\u00a0 Unable to free himself quickly enough, his little brother had been dragged over to and through<\/em> the fence and then across the ground.\u00a0 Joe told them he\u2019d hit his head somewhere along the way, though he couldn\u2019t remember when or on what.\u00a0 The blow left him with a swollen and angry cut above his left eye that was quickly progressing into a knot the size of a child\u2019s fist.\u00a0 Little brother could see, but he said the world looked like a watercolor wash.\u00a0 Light hurt his eyes.\u00a0 The darkness scared him.<\/p>\n

It scared them all.<\/p>\n

As he descended the steps, Adam noticed his father sleeping in the red leather chair before the fire.\u00a0 The older man\u2019s explosive anger earlier that morning had taken him by surprise.\u00a0 Pa rarely lashed out at any of them and he had been close to cruel to Hoss.\u00a0 Then again, he had to remember that it had been a beautiful and feisty black horse that had cost Little Joe\u2019s mother her life.\u00a0 Marie had been dragged too, after her horse had shied and fallen on her.<\/p>\n

God, had it really been only six years ago?<\/p>\n

Passing his father\u2019s quiescent form Adam went to the door, stepped outside, and headed for the barn where he knew Hoss was working.\u00a0 As he had thought all those years ago when Marie died so suddenly, twenty-four-year-old was amazed at the difference a few hours could make.\u00a0 This morning they had been a family \u2013 tight, close, bound by love and trust; completely supportive of one another.\u00a0 Tonight, everything was broken, including Little Joe.<\/p>\n

Though it wasn\u2019t his youngest<\/em> brother he was the most concerned about.<\/p>\n

Adam pushed the barn door open and stepped inside.\u00a0 When he didn\u2019t see his brother, he called out.\u00a0 \u201cHoss?\u00a0 Are you in here?\u201d<\/p>\n

At first there was nothing.\u00a0 Then a quiet, \u201cGo away, Adam.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to talk to no one.\u201d<\/p>\n

He turned a corner and found the teenager sitting on the stable floor.\u00a0 Rogue was draped across his legs and Hoss was petting the pooch\u2019s raggedy head.\u00a0 Joe and Hoss had found the dog a month or so back in the aftermath of a flood and adopted it.\u00a0 Rogue was seven shades of brown from the color of mud to a dark shade of coffee.\u00a0 His hair was long and curly as Joe\u2019s before a haircut, and somewhere under it there were a pair of big, wet, mournful black eyes.<\/p>\n

Mongrel was too polite a word.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you going to sit out here all night and sulk?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t your fault, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

His brother\u2019s crisp blue eyes flicked to his face and then back to the dog.\u00a0 \u201cPa don\u2019t think that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPa was angry.\u00a0 You know how he is.\u00a0 He says things sometimes that he doesn\u2019t mean, especially where Joe is concerned \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, he meant it all right,\u201d Hoss countered quickly.\u00a0 \u201cAnd he\u2019s right.\u00a0 I could of got Little Joe killed.\u201d\u00a0 The teenager\u2019s gaze went to the open barn door, and then beyond it to the house.\u00a0 \u201cMight still.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Doc says Joe\u2019s in no danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was more, of course, but he left it at that for the moment.\u00a0 Maybe Hoss wouldn\u2019t ask about the \u2018more\u2019.<\/p>\n

Those blue eyes returned to his face, hopeful.\u00a0 \u201cYou mean Little Joe\u2019s all right?\u00a0 He ain\u2019t got nothin\u2019 wrong with him?\u201d<\/p>\n

So much for that thought.<\/p>\n

Adam winced.\u00a0 \u201cWell. there\u2019s some…small<\/em>…concern about his eyesight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss let the dog go and stood up.\u00a0 A second later he was looming over him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean?\u00a0 You tell it to me straight, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n

He touched his forehead.\u00a0 \u201cIt was that knock on the head Joe took.\u00a0 There\u2019s some worry about swelling and internal pressure.\u00a0 Paul\u2019s thinks he\u2019ll be okay,\u201d he rushed to assure him, \u201cbut it may take a little while to be sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat you\u2019re tryin\u2019 to avoid sayin\u2019 is that I may have blinded my little brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a world<\/em> of hurt in that statement as big as the budding man who\u2019d made it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss, you know how it is.\u00a0 You<\/em> didn\u2019t do anything.\u00a0 It was that mare \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one I<\/em> kept against Pa\u2019s orders.\u00a0 I was gonna tame that horse for Joe.\u201d\u00a0 He scowled.\u00a0 \u201cIt could have killed<\/em> him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam pursed his lips.\u00a0 \u201cIt won\u2019t if Pa has his way.\u00a0 He told me to find and shoot it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had never seen his young brother\u2019s face so grim.\u00a0 \u201cThat ain\u2019t your job, Adam.\u00a0 It\u2019s mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

The words were almost a physical blow.\u00a0 His middle brother loved animals and would do anything to make sure they didn\u2019t suffer.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen Hoss nurse a horse back to life that everyone else had given up on; seen him lovingly rescue a deer from a hunter\u2019s trap \u2013 even set a wolf cub free, though he knew it would grow up one day and he might have to hunt it down.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss.\u00a0 No, it\u2019s not.\u00a0 That\u2019s not you.<\/em>\u00a0 Let me do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teenager\u2019s jaw was set.\u00a0 \u201cNo, Adam.\u00a0 I gotta<\/em> do it.\u00a0 I owe Pa \u2013 and Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

He tried a different tact.\u00a0 \u201cJoe won\u2019t be happy if you shoot that mare.\u00a0 He\u2019ll hate you for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHating me\u2019s better than him endin\u2019 up dead.\u201d\u00a0 He paused.\u00a0 \u201cYou know little brother.\u00a0 If that horse is alive, he\u2019ll go after it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam was silent a moment.\u00a0 Then he laughed.<\/p>\n

Hoss glared at him.\u00a0 \u201cYou got somethin\u2019 funny you know, big brother, you tell me what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just thinking about the name Joe gave the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat name?\u201d<\/p>\n

That was right.\u00a0 Hoss hadn\u2019t been in the room when Joe\u2019d told them what had happened.\u00a0 \u201cHe called her \u2018Mystery\u2019 and she certainly is that.\u00a0 In spite of what Pa thinks, there\u2019s something about her that\u2019s…extraordinary.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it\u2019s what Joe sensed.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s a good judge of horse flesh, even at twelve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss crossed over to the stable wall and took hold of his saddle.\u00a0 With it, he headed for his newest mount, a big black named Chubb.\u00a0 After setting the saddle, he checked his rifle and saddlebags for supplies and then crossed to the cupboard for more ammunition. \u00a0As he stood there, bullets in hand, his brother turned back toward him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only thing that black horse is, Adam, is a devil.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Joe said you liked her.\u00a0 That you thought she could be gentled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss was silent a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYou know how it is with women, Adam.\u00a0 There\u2019s some of them so beautiful they take a man\u2019s breath away.\u00a0 Make it hard for him to see straight.\u201d\u00a0 His brother shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I looked into that pretty filly\u2019s eyes at first, I didn\u2019t see nothing but how beautiful she was and how she had fire and spunk just like little brother.\u00a0 The trouble with pretty women is, they know it.\u00a0 They draw a man in and make him love them, and then take what they want and toss him aside like he ain\u2019t worth nothin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss holstered his rifle and then took hold of his horse\u2019s reins and began to walk toward the door.\u00a0 \u201cThat Mystery, she set her sights on little brother the first time she saw him.\u00a0 I thought it was \u2018cause she loved the little rascal as much as he loved her.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I was trying to change Pa\u2019s mind.\u00a0 Now I ain\u2019t so sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou make her sound almost human,\u201d Adam said as he followed his brother out of the barn.<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019s frown deepened.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam caught the teenager\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cHoss, are you really going out to hunt that mare down and kill it, or are you just running away?\u201d<\/p>\n

His brother stared at him for\u00a0 a moment, then he stepped up into the saddle.\u00a0 From Chubb\u2019s back, Hoss answered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess you\u2019ll know when you see me again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam watched him leave and then slowly and thoughtfully walked back to the house.<\/p>\n

His pa turned to look at him as he stepped through the door.\u00a0 Paul Martin was with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is absolutely essential you keep that boy in his room and out of the light,\u201d the doctor said.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe has suffered a blow to the head that has caused some degree of bleeding into, and swelling of the brain tissues.\u00a0 There has been a malfunction of the brain and that\u2019s what is effecting his eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan he see anything?\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 His father\u2019s voice was ragged with worry and fatigue.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Joe says he can,\u201d Paul replied sympathetically.\u00a0 \u201cShadows and shapes, a little better on the right side than on the left, which is good as it means his dominant side was damaged less severely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long will it take him to recuperate?\u201d Adam asked as he joined them.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod alone knows.\u00a0 Days. Weeks, maybe.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have to expect him to have headaches, Ben, and probably poor balance.\u00a0 And for God\u2019s sake, don\u2019t let him near that stable or a horse again until he\u2019s recovered!\u00a0 Another blow like that could prove fatal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou got a miracle medication in that black bag of yours, Paul, that we can use to keep Joe inside the house and out of the saddle?\u201d Adam asked with a wry grin.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I didn\u2019t believe the cons outweighed the pros, I would leave you with a bottle of laudanum and tell you to give him a healthy dose once a day for at least a week!\u00a0 The best thing he can do is sleep.\u201d\u00a0 Paul started toward the door, but then turned back.\u00a0 He looked troubled.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s another thing, Ben.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d the older man asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe needs his rest and he\u2019s beside himself that you are going to kill the horse that injured him.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father ran a hand across his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI want to.\u00a0 I…meant to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not Mystery\u2019s fault, Pa.\u00a0 You know that,\u201d Adam said quietly.<\/p>\n

The older man pinned him with his black stare.\u00a0 \u201cI know no such thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could have been the wind blowing something into the corral.\u00a0 Or a banging shudder.\u00a0 Maybe even Rogue.\u00a0 Or Joe himself.\u00a0 You know as well as I do that it takes next to nothing to spook a horse.\u00a0 If we blamed every horse that spooked for what happened, we\u2019d have to get out of the ring.\u201d<\/p>\n

And yes, that goes for Marie\u2019s <\/em>horse too, he thought.<\/p>\n

His father\u2019s form had grown rigid.\u00a0 Without warning it, and his anger, bent before his common sense.\u00a0 \u201cI just had to take it out on something.\u00a0 When I saw your brother lying there, I….\u201d\u00a0 The older man sighed. \u201cI feared the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI know, Pa.\u00a0 I know it was too close.\u201d<\/p>\n

The name of the woman he had learned to call \u2018Ma\u2019, whom his father had loved nearly more than life, hung unspoken between them.<\/p>\n

Ben sniffed back unspent tears and looked toward the door as if he had only just noticed that one quarter of the family was missing. \u201cWhere\u2019s your middle brother?\u00a0 I\u2019d have thought Hoss would be here.\u00a0 He has to be concerned about Joe.\u00a0 Come to think of it, I haven\u2019t seen him since….\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam watched it hit him.\u00a0 The memory of his hastily spoken words.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood God,\u201d Pa breathed as he headed for the door.\u00a0 \u201cWhere is Hoss?\u00a0 I need to talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man pivoted on his heel.\u00a0 \u201cGone?\u00a0 What do you mean \u2018gone\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe went to find Mystery and put her down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe feels responsible.\u00a0 For what happened to Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul Martin had remained by the door.\u00a0 He looked them both up and down and sighed.\u00a0 \u201cYou Cartwrights, there\u2019s a streak of guilt in your make-up that rivals the gold veins found back in \u201849.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, you need to go after him.\u201d<\/p>\n

He frowned.\u00a0 \u201cAre you sure you can handle Joe alone?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll sit on him if I have to,\u201d his father said as he turned toward the stair.\u00a0 Then he halted.\u00a0 \u201cSay, did Rogue go with Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 Can\u2019t you hear him?\u00a0 He\u2019s outside on the porch, whining and worrying about Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLet him in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa had a strict rule about no dogs in the house.\u00a0 No dogs on the furniture.\u00a0 No dogs on the rug.<\/p>\n

No <\/em>dogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet Rogue in?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll keep a better watch over Little Joe than I can.\u00a0 Besides, it will give your brother something to do.\u00a0 You know Joseph, impaired sight or not, he\u2019ll be stir crazy by tomorrow afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever you say, Pa.\u201d\u00a0 Adam walked to the door and opened it.\u00a0 Sure enough the mutt was laying on the porch with its unkempt head parked on its shaggy paws.\u00a0 He reached down and scratched what he thought was its chin and called Rogue to follow him into the house.\u00a0 The animal hesitated on the threshold and then tread lightly as they passed his father who now stood by the settee.\u00a0 The mutt had been shooed out of the house with a broom at least a half-dozen times after Joe sneaked it in to sleep with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right, boy,\u201d Adam said as they reached the stairs.\u00a0 \u201cGo on up.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s waiting for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the sound of his friend\u2019s name the dog\u2019s limp ears drew to attention and he yelped once.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood Lord,\u201d Adam heard his father sigh as the older man headed to the kitchen to inform their cook of his decision.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the end it turned out to be the right one.\u00a0 About an hour later Adam went back to check on Rogue and Joe and found them both fast asleep.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s fingers were twisted in the dog\u2019s long brown fur.\u00a0 Rogue\u2019s disheveled head was near his brother\u2019s chin and one of his large paws rested lightly on the injured side of Joe\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

It looked like Joe\u2019s broken heart might be mended after all.<\/p>\n

He could only hope the same thing went for Hoss.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

TWO<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoss kicked at the embers of the fire he\u2019d kindled the night before. There was some life left in them and he was tempted to throw another log on and linger a little while longer.\u00a0 The morning was dawning and it was a cold one, hearkening back more to the winter that had passed than the summer that was on its way.\u00a0 February and March in the Nevada territory were funny things.\u00a0 They was kind of like a girl.\u00a0 One minute she\u2019d be lookin\u2019 at you, battin\u2019 her eyelashes and smilin\u2019, and the next thing you knew you\u2019d feel the sting of her hand on your cheek.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat ain\u2019t all that\u2019s stingin\u2019 today,\u201d the teenager chuckled to himself as he bent to pick up the pot of leftover coffee he had nestled in the coals. His toes and fingers were.\u00a0 And his ears.\u00a0 \u2018Course Mama would have told him that was \u2018cause someone was talkin\u2019 about him.<\/p>\n

Hoss scowled as he stood with a cup of hot coffee in his hands.\u00a0 He knew right sure who that was.<\/p>\n

Pa.<\/p>\n

Pa\u2019s bein\u2019 so mad had spooked him, maybe more than what had happened to Little Joe.\u00a0 Oh, he\u2019d seen his pa mad before, but mostly the older man\u2019s anger came and went like a sudden storm, driving hard and then quickly fading away.\u00a0 This time had been different.\u00a0 When they got to the house, Pa carryin\u2019 Joe and him and Adam followin\u2019 close behind, he got the distinct impression that he wasn\u2019t wanted.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Pa had sent him instead of Adam to go to town for Doc Martin.<\/p>\n

He wanted him out of his sight.<\/p>\n

So when he got back he stayed<\/em> out of his sight.\u00a0 Maybe he was hidin\u2019 in the barn like Adam said.<\/p>\n

Probably, he was.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t never want to see that look in his Pa\u2019s eyes again.<\/p>\n

Behind him Chubb blew out air and nickered.\u00a0 Then he stamped the ground with his foot.\u00a0 The young horse wanted to get on the move.\u00a0 Hoss tossed the remainder of his coffee onto the embers, watched it sizzle for a second, and then crossed over to the big black animal.\u00a0 Taking him by the bridle, he pulled his head close and rubbed his nose.\u00a0 Then he looked down the long road before him.\u00a0 Adam had asked him if he was heading out to look for Mystery or if he was running away.\u00a0 Truth to tell, he didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 He was near eighteen now and old enough to live on his own.\u00a0 He could<\/em> just ride on, head to a new town, take on a new name and get a job. \u00a0He\u2019d sure as heck had enough trainin\u2019 workin\u2019 for his Pa.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019d be better off without him.\u00a0 Adam was right smart and Little Joe, well, what he lacked in brains, he more than made up in heart.\u00a0 He<\/em> was just a big dumb ox like the kids at school used to call him. And Pa?\u00a0 Well, him and Adam had more than enough to do keepin\u2019 up with little brother.\u00a0 They didn\u2019t need to worry about him too.<\/p>\n

Yeah, right after he found that mare that\u2019s what he\u2019d do.\u00a0 Much as he didn\u2019t want to put down a healthy livin\u2019 creature, he owed it to his brother.\u00a0 Adam was right.\u00a0 If Little Joe knew that horse was out here somewhere, he\u2019d spend every wakin\u2019 minute tryin\u2019 to find it and when he did, he\u2019d ride it and end up gettin\u2019 hurt or killed and that was somethin\u2019 he just couldn\u2019t allow to happen.<\/p>\n

It would be, well, his partin\u2019 gift to his family.<\/p>\n

Hoss sniffed and returned his eyes to the fire.\u00a0 He broke some of the coals up with his boot and then poured the rest of his coffee on them.\u00a0 As he stood there, waitin\u2019 for the fire to fizzle out, he heard a sound \u2013 a high-pitched nicker.\u00a0 The kind of sound that a horse uses to say, \u2018I\u2019m here!\u2019\u00a0 It brought his head up and he looked.<\/p>\n

There, on the horizon, her sleek black coat shining like a rainbow in the dawning light, was Mystery.<\/p>\n

Hoss remained still for a moment and then made his way to his horse.\u00a0 He drew his rifle from its holster and walked back, his eyes never leaving the animal that had nearly killed his brother.\u00a0 Once in position, the teenager raised the rifle and sighted along it.\u00a0 It was a clear shot.\u00a0 It would be over in seconds.\u00a0 It….<\/p>\n

She….<\/p>\n

She was lookin\u2019 right at him.\u00a0 Mystery had to know what he was thinkin\u2019 of doin\u2019 and she was just standin\u2019 there, lookin\u2019 <\/em>at him.\u00a0 Hoss lifted his finger from the trigger and ran the back of his hand over his face. \u00a0He was shakin\u2019 like a leaf.\u00a0 The teenager lowered the rifle to the ground, no longer sure he could make it a clean shot and he wasn\u2019t about to shoot and miss and leave the horse dyin\u2019 in agony.<\/p>\n

Mystery nickered again.\u00a0 Quietly this time, not yellin\u2019 out a challenge, but kind of sayin\u2019 \u2018hello\u2019.\u00a0 As he stood there, baffled, she left the hillock she had been standin\u2019 on and walked right up to him. \u00a0Hoss winced when he saw the remnants of the bridle on her head and the bit of broken rope hangin\u2019 down at its side.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen his little brother\u2019s fingers curled up tight with the other end of that rope in them.\u00a0 As the horse stopped before him, he reached for his pistol.\u00a0 Pulling it out of the holster, the teenager aimed it between her eyes.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t move.\u00a0 Only stared back.<\/p>\n

Hoss ran a hand across his brow again.\u00a0 He was sweatin\u2019 like a pig.\u00a0 \u201cAdam sure was right about you,\u201d he sighed.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s just somethin\u2019….<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

The mare bobbed her head up and down, almost as if she understood.<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t no wonder little brother called you Mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was like night and day.\u00a0 One second the mare was calm as a lake with no wind, and the next she was blowin\u2019 like a storm.\u00a0 Hoss backed away as the horse began to buck and then reared up on its hind legs, kicking at the sky.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoa, girl.\u00a0 Whoa!\u201d he said, using the voice that had calmed many a frightened animal.\u00a0 \u201cWhoa, girl.\u00a0 It\u2019s all right.\u00a0 Ain\u2019t no one gonna hurt you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took a few minutes, but in time she calmed.\u00a0 By the time she did, any thought of puttin\u2019 her down was gone.\u00a0 Hoss patted her nose, makin\u2019 soft shushing sounds, and then looked into her eyes.\u00a0 He saw his own reflection there, pale but determined, but even more than that he saw somethin\u2019 in those black depths that shook him to the core. It was a look he hadn\u2019t never seen out of a horse\u2019s eyes before.\u00a0 It was almost….<\/p>\n

Human.<\/p>\n

Thinkin\u2019 about it, he knew now that was what he\u2019d seen the first time he looked at her.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t been wrong, though what had happened to Little Joe had made him question what he seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou didn\u2019t mean to hurt little brother, did you, girl?\u00a0 It was what\u00a0 Little Joe said it when he named you, wasn\u2019t he? \u201d<\/p>\n

Mystery.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it about that name that upsets you, girl?\u00a0 Can you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n

The mare nickered softly as if in reply.<\/p>\n

Hoss laughed.\u00a0 \u201cSo you\u2019re done willin\u2019 now to tell me your secret, but I cain\u2019t understand what you\u2019re sayin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 He patted her nose again.\u00a0 \u201cNow what\u2019re we gonna do about that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mystery shook her head and then she broke away.\u00a0 Turning tail, she walked a few yards and looked back at him.<\/p>\n

Hoss knew that look.\u00a0 His mama had used it often enough.\u00a0 She\u2019d put her hands on her hips and say, \u2018Well?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no disputin\u2019 you\u2019re a female,\u201d the teenager laughed as he holstered his rifle and stepped up into the saddle.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo ahead, girl,\u201d Hoss said as he directed Chubb toward her.\u00a0 \u201cShow me your stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph Francis Cartwright!<\/em>\u00a0 You had better show yourself right now, young man!\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe swallowed hard and winced as his father\u2019s voice boomed through the quiet house.\u00a0 At his feet Rogue whined, sensing trouble to come.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t had much to eat the night before and his stomach had been growling, so he\u2019d decided to come downstairs and get a snack.\u00a0 Since the light hurt his eyes so much, he\u2019d kept them closed and let the dog lead him, passing quickly through the great room and into the kitchen.\u00a0 He\u2019d been so<\/em> sure he could make it there and back to his room before his pa found out.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph! Answer me!\u201d<\/p>\n

No such luck.<\/p>\n

Catching hold of Rogue\u2019s furry neck, Joe let the animal lead him into the hall that connected the kitchen to the dining room.\u00a0 When he felt the light from the window strike his eyes, he halted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

He heard his father\u2019s sigh of relief.\u00a0 Then his strident steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd just what do you think you\u2019re doing, young man?\u00a0 Paul told you to remain in your room.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, Pa.\u201d\u00a0 He knew he was whining, but then why shouldn\u2019t he?\u00a0 After all, he deserved better than he was getting.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m tired of being stuck in that old room.\u00a0 It ain\u2019t….\u201d\u00a0 Joe paused.\u00a0 Best not to add the sin of bad grammar to his other countless crimes. \u201cIt isn\u2019t <\/em>any darker up there than it is down here.\u00a0 Besides, no one was around and I was hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a pause.\u00a0 \u201cHow are your eyes today?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe didn\u2019t really know.\u00a0 So far he\u2019d kept them shut mostly because, well, because he was scared.\u00a0 He\u2019d been awake when they thought he was asleep and he\u2019d heard Doc Martin mention the possibility of blindness.<\/p>\n

A hand came down on his shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe started.\u00a0 He drew in a deep breath and then shook his head.<\/p>\n

A moment later his father\u2019s hand was applied to his back and he was directed forward.\u00a0 \u201cCome with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe didn\u2019t know where they were going, but he thought it was into pa\u2019s office.\u00a0 He was sure when his father helped him to sit on the edge of the desk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe curtains are drawn.\u00a0 You know how dark it is in here,\u201d Pa said.\u00a0 \u201cSon, I want you to open your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe could hear Rogue snuffling around the room.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know why, but the sound leant him some strength.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I gotta?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u00a0 We need to know what is happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe squinted and then, cautiously, opened his left eye.\u00a0 Even though the knot was above it, curiously, it hurt less than the other one.\u00a0 Cautiously he opened the right one as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2019s blurry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow<\/em> blurry?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe thought a moment.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want to scare his pa, but he wanted to be honest.\u00a0 \u201cYou know how it is when the wind blows dust in your eyes and they water?\u00a0 Kind of like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you can<\/em> see?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShapes, Pa.\u00a0 Shadows. \u201c\u00a0 He lifted his head and looked in the direction of the older man\u2019s voice.\u00a0 \u201cI can tell you\u2019re there, but I can\u2019t really tell that it\u2019s you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The shape moved.\u00a0 A second later there was a familiar whoosh<\/em> as his father drew the curtains back and light flooded into the office area. \u00a0\u201cWhat about now?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tears fell from Joe\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 It was like someone had taken a spike and driven it all the way through his right eye into his left.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt hurts, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father quickly closed the curtains.\u00a0 A moment later Joe felt the consolation of his father\u2019s arms.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Joseph.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t mean to hurt you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that, Pa.\u201d\u00a0 Joe sniffed.\u00a0 As he did, Rogue whined low in sympathy.\u00a0 The thought of the dog worrying about him made his mind go to another person he loved who was in pain.\u00a0 \u201cJust like I know Hoss didn\u2019t mean to hurt me by keeping Mystery in the corral.\u201d<\/p>\n

He felt his father stiffen.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss was awful upset, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe blinked as he tried to bring his father\u2019s face into focus.\u00a0 The older man\u2019s voice was hard to read.\u00a0 \u201cAre you still mad at Hoss, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

His father released him.\u00a0 He placed a hand on his head briefly and then dropped into the desk chair.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 I\u2019m not angry at him anymore \u2013 or at Mystery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe brightened.\u00a0 \u201cReally, Pa?\u00a0 You\u2019re not gonna put her down?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a hesitation in the older man\u2019s voice.\u00a0 \u201cThat may be out of my hands, Joseph.\u00a0 Your brother went to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam?\u00a0 Adam\u2019s gonna shoot Mystery?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another pause.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those words were a betrayal he didn\u2019t quite know what to do with.\u00a0 \u201cHoss?\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe felt his father\u2019s hand on his sleeve.\u00a0 \u201cYour brother feels responsible for what happened to you.\u00a0 I\u2019d ordered him to get rid of the horse.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t.\u00a0 You were hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s stupid!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph, mind your tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Pa, but it is.\u00a0 Hoss would never do anything to hurt me.\u00a0 I know that!\u00a0 Is he coming home tonight?\u00a0 Can I talk to him?\u00a0 Please let me talk to him, Pa.\u00a0 Don\u2019t send me back up to my room!\u201d<\/p>\n

After a moment his father said softly, \u201cThat is precisely what I am going to do, young man, if you do not calm down<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe sniffed in his tears.\u00a0 \u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father rose to his feet and began to pace.\u00a0 Joe tried to follow him with his eyes, but it was like trackin\u2019 a fish underwater \u2013 it made him feel sick.\u00a0 \u201cI would let you talk to your brother but, following in your <\/em>footsteps, Hoss has defied me and left without so much as a word.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe blinked.\u00a0 \u201cHoss is…gone?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was one word, but there was a lot of pain in it.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hopped down from the desk and nearly tripped over Rogue who had fallen asleep under his feet.\u00a0 Catching himself, Joe held onto the corner of it.\u00a0 \u201cPa, we gotta go after him!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe<\/em> will do no such thing.\u00a0 Adam has gone after your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, Pa!\u00a0 Hoss needs to hear it from you and me.\u00a0 What if….\u00a0 What if he won\u2019t <\/em>come back?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hi father was silent a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYour middle brother is old enough to make his own choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe just couldn\u2019t believe what he was hearing!\u00a0 He opened his mouth to protest, but decided it was useless.\u00a0 When his pa was in one of his moods, getting him to change his mind was like trying to move a granite block with a feather.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tired, Pa.\u00a0 Can I go lay down on the settee?\u201d<\/p>\n

A hand lighted on his forehead.\u00a0 Instantly.\u00a0 \u201cAre you ill?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe shook his head and then winced and wished he hadn\u2019t.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just my eyes.\u00a0 It makes me tired when I use them too long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHeadaches?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about your balance?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe shrugged as his father took him by the elbow and helped him over to the settee.\u00a0 \u201cI got down the stairs all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll talk about that <\/em>later.\u00a0 You rest now.\u00a0 That\u2019s an order.\u201d<\/p>\n

He could hear his dog whimpering somewhere nearby.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about Rogue?\u00a0 Can he stay with me?\u201d<\/p>\n

The silence stretched out so long this time Joe feared he\u2019d committed yet another sin.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can sleep on the floor by you.\u00a0 No dogs on the furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe beamed as he signaled the dog to come lie beside him.\u00a0 \u201cSure thing, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Joseph, don\u2019t you worry about your brother.\u00a0 Adam will find Hoss and he\u2019ll bring him back, and maybe Mystery too. \u00a0I\u2019m sure of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure you\u2019re right,\u201d he said as he lay back against the pillows.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou rest, son.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

A knock on the door cut his father off mid-sentence.\u00a0 Joe sat back up.\u00a0 \u201cWho do you think that is, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou lay down.\u00a0 Try to get some sleep.\u00a0 I\u2019ll find out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe watched as the older man opened the door and a tall thin red-headed man stepped into the house.\u00a0 He thought it was Phil Carter, their current foreman at the logging camp.\u00a0 At a glare from his father, Joe scrunched down on the settee and closed his eyes, but he fought sleep, attempting to remain awake so he could hear what the two men were saying.\u00a0 Unfortunately, his eyes were throbbing like an infected wound and he kept drifting in and out.<\/p>\n

\u201c…is it, Phil?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c…need you at the camp, Ben. …trouble.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat trouble?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAccident.\u00a0 Martin\u2019s dead…need you..\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c …Joseph…can\u2019t leave him. …up to you.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo, sir…law\u2019s involved…up to you….\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Joe blinked as the sound of the door opening awakened him.\u00a0 He sat up, opened his good eye, and peered over the back of the settee.<\/p>\n

His father was standing with one hand on the knob.\u00a0 The other pulled at his chin.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose Hop Sing can manage.\u00a0 At least for a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen you\u2019ll come, Ben?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see that I have any choice.\u00a0 I\u2019ll leave first thing in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the two men walked out the door, Joe turned back and rested his head on the pillow.\u00a0 He reached down and caressed Rogue\u2019s head as he thought about how it really was like his pa said, God did<\/em> work in mysterious ways.\u00a0 He\u2019d decided earlier that arguing with his pa about going after Hoss wasn\u2019t going to do any good.\u00a0 Pa\u2019d made his mind up.\u00a0 Just like he\u2019d<\/em> made his <\/em>mind up that what that meant was that he was gonna have to do somethin\u2019 about it on his own.\u00a0 Hoss was good at tracking.\u00a0 So was Adam.\u00a0 But he knew someone who was even better.<\/em><\/p>\n

As fatigue and pain rose up once gain to claim him, Joe patted his shirt.\u00a0 As if on command, Rogue stood up and put his hairy paws on his shirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s say you and me ask if its okay to go fishin\u2019 tomorrow after Pa leaves, boy?\u00a0 I bet you<\/em> can find Hoss before Hop Sing even knows we\u2019re gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

His co-conspirator eyed him, and then he gave him a big wet kiss.<\/p>\n

Joe laughed.\u00a0 \u201cAw! Save it for Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When Ben came in ten minutes later he found the pair asleep on the settee.\u00a0 Not having the heart to wake them, he tossed a blanket over both boy and dog.\u00a0 After that the older man headed into the kitchen to talk to his cook and friend about his unexpected trip to the logging camp, completely unaware that the choice he had just made would bring ruin to them all.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

THREE<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam knelt on the ground, fingering remnants of burnt and coffee-soaked wood.\u00a0 It was a habit of theirs, using the leftover coffee to put out the fire.\u00a0 Pa called it a waste, but the older man did it too.<\/p>\n

Usually when Little Joe was making the coffee.<\/p>\n

He was pretty sure the camp had been pitched by Hoss. It had all the earmarks of his teenage brother\u2019s occupation including several salvaged bird\u2019s nests, a beefed-up rabbit burrow, and an imprint of a body in the grass that could have been made by Jack\u2019s beanstalk giant when he fell.<\/p>\n

Rising, Adam took a step toward Scout, intent on pursuing his brother, but stopped at the sound of someone working the lever on a rifle.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just stand still, mister.\u00a0 You hear?\u201d the man ordered.<\/p>\n

It was one of those edgy voices.\u00a0 Jittery. \u00a0Nervous.<\/p>\n

Young.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGlad to oblige.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd get your hands in the air!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow which is it you want?\u201d Adam asked calmly.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t stand still and <\/em>put my hands in the air at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, but you can die for back-talking my little brother,\u201d a gruffer, older voice announced to the ominous sound of a pistol\u2019s safety catch being released.\u00a0 \u201cBullet in the brain.\u00a0 Bullet in the back.\u00a0 It\u2019s all the same to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam remained silent for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cIs it all right if I say something?\u201d he inquired as politely as if he were at the dinner table asking for salt.<\/p>\n

\u2018What you got to say?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat unless you have a very good reason, murdering me is probably not<\/em> the way to start your day.\u00a0 Since I don\u2019t know you and you don\u2019t know me \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho says we don\u2019t know you?\u201d the older man countered.<\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t even considered it.\u00a0 Adam started to turn.\u00a0 \u201cWho…?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just keep your eyes lookin\u2019 south, Cartwright.\u00a0 You take a look at us and the next thing you\u2019ll see is a grave.\u00a0 One big enough for you and that brother of yours who is nosin\u2019 around.\u201d<\/p>\n

He had<\/em> to mean Hoss.\u00a0 \u201cYou haven\u2019t hurt him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ain\u2019t gone near him,\u201d the younger of the pair said, his voice pitched high.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s got that bedeviled horse with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShut up, you idiot,\u201d the older man growled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m tellin\u2019 you, it\u2019s possessed.\u00a0 You seen the look out of those black eyes.\u00a0 That ain\u2019t no animal lookin\u2019 back at you, it\u2019s \u2013 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShut up!\u00a0 Just shut up.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, the mystery of Mystery begins to unravel,<\/em> Adam thought.\u00a0 These two knew the black mare, but it didn\u2019t sound like she belonged to them.\u00a0 Maybe they were the ones who let her go.\u00a0 Or, perhaps, had stolen her and she escaped.\u00a0 Whatever it was, the younger one was scared of her and he didn\u2019t think the perceived threat was merely physical.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you saying a spirit lives inside that horse?\u201d Adam asked.<\/p>\n

Apparently it was the wrong thing to<\/em> ask as three seconds later he felt the barrel of a pistol parting the back of his black hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just keep your mouth shut, Cartwright.\u00a0 My brother\u2019s nervous enough without you feedin\u2019 his fancy.\u00a0 I keep tellin\u2019 him, that horse is just a horse.\u00a0 It\u2019s loco cause the woman who owned it was loco.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s dead then?\u201d<\/p>\n

He felt the man\u2019s breath on his cheek.\u00a0 \u201cDead as it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even as Adam opened his mouth to reply, the gun was withdrawn.\u00a0 That should have been a good thing.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

A second later it came down on his skull.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoss followed the black mare for some time.\u00a0 Mystery led him on such a winding path that he had been lost for a bit, but now he knew where he was.\u00a0 He\u2019d been in this area before as a little kid.\u00a0 It ran alongside a small lake whose surrounding hills were dotted with caves, and was known as a place where outlaws and renegade Indians often took refuge.\u00a0 Their pa always worried when they came this way, but both he and Little Joe had been fascinated by the caves and the drawings they found in them. \u00a0They were high up on the walls and told bits and pieces of the story of the ancient people who had lived there long ago.\u00a0 He and Joe, they\u2019d take turns finishin\u2019 up that story, fillin\u2019 in the gaps and comin\u2019 up with wild endin\u2019s \u2013 sometimes happy, sometimes sad.\u00a0 Every time they could, they\u2019d get away from Pa and Adam and find a way in.\u00a0 One time they\u2019d found a natural shaft cut into the hillside and had shinnied down it, and from there made their way to the bottom of a tall rocky tower.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019d gone lookin\u2019 for gold, but it was him that found somethin\u2019 \u2013 somethin\u2019 that scared him.\u00a0 It was white and moved like a vapor in the dark.\u00a0 At first he\u2019d thought it was a wild animal, but then it up and reached for him.\u00a0 He\u2019d yelped like a girl, grabbed Joe by the arm and practically shoved him up the shaft, and then the two of them had high-tailed it out of there faster than a man could say \u2018Jumpin\u2019 Jack Robinson\u2019.<\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019d asked, but they\u2019d never gone back.<\/p>\n

Hoss squinted against the sun, which was just topping the trees.\u00a0 It was almost noon and he\u2019d been movin\u2019 for near five hours now. \u00a0Since Mystery had backtracked, he figured the ranch house wasn\u2019t all that far away \u2013 two, maybe three hours on foot.\u00a0 As the teenager thought of home, a pang hit him like a hunger in the belly.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what he\u2019d been thinkin\u2019.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t leave.\u00a0 He just couldn\u2019t<\/em>.\u00a0 Adam would be all right if he did, but there weren\u2019t no tellin\u2019 what it would do to Little Joe.\u00a0 He\u2019d lost so much already.\u00a0 Or to his pa.<\/p>\n

Pa, who\u2019d worry he\u2019d driven him away with his anger.<\/p>\n

Hoss looked at the mare again.\u00a0 He\u2019d taken to callin\u2019 her simply \u2018Girl\u2019 since she seemed to have a problem with Mystery.\u00a0 \u201cYou sure<\/em> do know what you\u2019re doin\u2019, don\u2019t you, Girl?\u201d he asked as he and Chubb followed her up a rise.\u00a0 \u201cYou kept me wanderin\u2019 long enough that mad I had on just plain wore away to nothin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The horse turned back to look at him.\u00a0 She blew air through her nose and shook her long mane.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t mind, though, I\u2019d be obliged if you would tell me just where<\/em> is it you\u2019re takin\u2019 me.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss felt a shiver snake along his spine as he met her too-wise eyes.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know how he knew but, suddenly, he did.\u00a0 \u201cNot back to that cave where I saw that…thing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Mystery\u2019s black eyes narrowed as she approached, challenging him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ain\u2019t that I\u2019m afraid to go back,\u201d he told her.\u00a0 \u201cWell, not much at least.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa\u2019d told him once that horses weren\u2019t smart enough to get a joke.<\/p>\n

This one was.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, go on then,\u201d the teenager said with false bravado as she snorted and capered.\u00a0 \u201cYou take me wherever it is you need to take me, so\u2019s I can see whatever it is you want me to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mystery struck the ground with her hoof.\u00a0 She nuzzled his shoulder and whinnied, and then began to walk.<\/p>\n

Hoss was sure his pa would think him dumb as a cluck for lettin\u2019 a horse lead him into the unknown.\u00a0 Adam would roll his eyes and Joe, well, Little Joe would be laughin\u2019 so hard he\u2019d split a gut.<\/p>\n

He hoped Little Joe was okay.\u00a0 He hoped his baby brother would feel like laughin\u2019 again real soon.<\/p>\n

He hoped he\u2019d see <\/em>his little brother again.<\/p>\n

Mystery nickered, impatient.<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t that just<\/em> like a woman?\u201d Hoss sighed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam awoke bound and gagged and slung over Scout\u2019s back.\u00a0 It was as undignified a position as it was uncomfortable.\u00a0 His face was turned into the horse\u2019s flesh, so all he could do was listen. Unfortunately, he could hear at least four horses besides his own, so his attackers had not been alone and he was definitely outnumbered and outgunned. \u00a0His quick mind liked puzzles \u2013 in fact, they fascinated him.\u00a0 Still, he preferred solving them with a pencil on paper while sitting in the big blue velvet chair by the fireplace and not hanging upside-down over his horse\u2019s saddle! \u00a0As Scout plodded on, he considered what he knew.\u00a0 He and Hoss had found the black mare wandering on the range and brought her home.\u00a0 All of them, from Pa to Little Joe, found her both intriguing and just a little dangerous.\u00a0 Joe fell in love with her at first sight, of course, and Hoss, pampering their younger brother as usual, defied their father and kept her in the corral so he could tame her.\u00a0 Little Joe had done something while sitting on the corral fence, accidentally no doubt, to spook her and the mare had dragged and nearly killed him.\u00a0 Pa had blamed Hoss and Hoss had run away.\u00a0 He\u2019d<\/em> come looking for the teenager, to bring him back home, and accidentally stumbled into a nest of somewhat brutish outlaws who had some connection to the mare.\u00a0 One of them at least thought the horse was housing the spirit of a woman who had died.<\/p>\n

Or more likely been murdered.<\/p>\n

It was a conundrum worthy of a cliffhanger in one of those dreadful dime novels Little Joe hid under his pillows.<\/p>\n

Adam shifted so he could lift his head and look around.\u00a0 They were still on Ponderosa land, down near one of the smaller lakes that was ringed by hills that contained a myriad of caves. \u00a0The caves were the favorite haunts of outlaws and brigands since there were so many of them the law simply lacked the manpower to search every one.<\/p>\n

They had also been a favorite haunt of his younger brothers up until about two years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cCartwright\u2019s awake,\u201d one of the outlaws announced.<\/p>\n

Damn.<\/em>\u00a0 He should have kept his head down.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t make no difference.\u00a0 He can\u2019t do anythin\u2019,\u201d the older man groused.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat if he tells someone what we\u2019re doin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

The elder of the pair snorted.\u00a0 \u201cThere ain\u2019t gonna be no one for him to<\/em> tell by the time we\u2019re done.\u00a0 Him, or that younger brother of his.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outlaws were threatening Hoss again.\u00a0 Adam hoped they didn\u2019t already have him held captive somewhere.<\/p>\n

A sudden thought struck him, sending a shudder along his spine.\u00a0 They did<\/em> mean Hoss, didn\u2019t they?<\/p>\n

Or did the outlaws have Little Joe too?<\/p>\n

No.\u00a0 That was crazy.\u00a0 Joe was home.\u00a0 He was half-blind.\u00a0 Pa wouldn\u2019t let a twelve-year-old half-blind boy out of the house.<\/p>\n

Would he?<\/p>\n

The younger outlaw cleared his throat.\u00a0 \u201cHow long until we\u2019re there, Earl?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShut up,\u201d the other one snarled.\u00a0 \u201cI told you not to use my name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earl?<\/em><\/p>\n

Did he know anyone called Earl?\u00a0 Adam racked his brain for a moment.\u00a0 The name was familiar.\u00a0 Recently <\/em>familiar.\u00a0 It took a minute or two, but then he had it.\u00a0 A pair of disgruntled brothers, one older than him and the other about Hoss\u2019 age.\u00a0 They\u2019d signed on at the ranch about a week before Mystery arrived.\u00a0 Pa had fired them a few days back.\u00a0 He\u2019d never explained why.<\/p>\n

Virgil Stanley and his older brother, Earl.<\/p>\n

Adam continued to think things through as best he could as he bounced along on Scout\u2019s back.\u00a0 He\u2019d shifted enough that he could watch the landscape pass by so he also made sure to note any unusual trees or rock formations.\u00a0 He was hoping against hope that, when he found a way to escape, he would be able to locate Hoss and the two of them would return home and lead their father and a posse back into the hills to take these men.\u00a0 It was<\/em> Hoss the men were talking about.\u00a0 It had to be.\u00a0 Little Joe was safe.\u00a0 He was sure of that.\u00a0 Joe wouldn\u2019t be stupid enough to try to follow them when he couldn\u2019t see.<\/p>\n

Adam groaned.<\/p>\n

It was<\/em> Joe he was thinking about, after all.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod,\u201d he muttered under his breath, \u201cwherever<\/em> that little scamp is, keep him safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe Cartwright crouched down behind a scrubby bush.\u00a0 His fingers were entwined in the rumpled fur of his dog\u2019s neck and he clung to Rogue like a lifeline. All around him were the sounds of late afternoon \u2013 wind rushing through the trees, predatory birds calling to one another as they wheeled through the sky, water crashing over rocks, cows lowing and horses neighing.\u00a0 As he couldn\u2019t really see \u2013 the light kind of blinded him \u2013 he found all the noise a little bit overwhelming.\u00a0 More than once he\u2019d thought of turning back, but he just couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 He had to find Hoss \u2013 had<\/em> to make his brother know it was okay. \u00a0As soon as he\u2019d given Hop Sing the slip, he\u2019d held a piece of Hoss\u2019 clothing under Rogue\u2019s nose and told him to \u2018seek\u2019.\u00a0 The dog had taken off like a shot, leading him straight into the woods behind the house and then into the trees.\u00a0 He felt bad about tricking Hop Sing \u2013 he\u2019d told the Chinese man that he and Rogue were going fishing for the day and that he\u2019d got permission from his father before he left.\u00a0 Hop Sing was busy dealing with a man who had come by the house with a wagonload of goods to trade and he\u2019d just nodded his head and wished him out of his way.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to think of some way to make it up to his friend.\u00a0 Maybe he could do all of Hop Sing\u2019s fetching for a month or so.<\/p>\n

If he made it back home, that was.<\/p>\n

As he and Rogue had moved through the woods, searching for his middle brother, Joe couldn\u2019t help but think about Mystery.\u00a0 He was sure she hadn\u2019t meant to hurt him.\u00a0 From the first time he\u2019d seen her, he was certain that the mare had wanted to be friends.\u00a0 It was funny, her being bothered by her name.\u00a0 He wondered if it was the actual word that upset her or just the sound of it.\u00a0 Mystery.<\/em>\u00a0 Could\u2019ve been \u2018history\u2019 or maybe, \u2018misery\u2019.<\/p>\n

Whatever it was, she sure <\/em>wasn\u2019t happy about it.<\/p>\n

As Joe sat there, considering what it all meant, Rogue growled low in his throat.\u00a0 The boy caught the dog around the middle and pulled him in close and remained stock-still.\u00a0 Since his eyes had been damaged, Joe\u2019s other senses had increased.\u00a0 He heard it too \u2013 the sound of men moving through the trees a little ways off to their left.\u00a0 Whispering in Rogue\u2019s ear, Joe told the dog to be quiet and then retreated further into the underbrush.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought Earl didn\u2019t believe in that mumbo-jumbo you\u2019re always spouting, Virg\u00a0 What\u2019s this about taking that Cartwright kid and leaving him in the cave with the others?\u201d a man asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarl believes it, all right.\u00a0 He just pretends he don\u2019t.\u00a0 He\u2019s seen her same as me and he knows there\u2019s only one way to get rid of her.\u201d<\/p>\n

The horses appeared suddenly.\u00a0 Their riders were almost on him.<\/p>\n

Joe didn\u2019t breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes Earl think this one\u2019s gonna satisfy her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe don\u2019t.\u00a0 It\u2019s that little one she wants.\u00a0 You saw how she took to him.\u00a0 Earl says since we got this one, we\u2019ll use him as bait to get the other one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about their pa?\u00a0 Old man Cartwright watches them boys of his like a hawk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just don\u2019t get it, do you, Thom?\u00a0 That\u2019s where Earl was right smart,\u201d Virgil answered.\u00a0 \u201cHe took out that lumberjack.\u00a0 Ben Cartwright ain\u2019t home.\u00a0 He\u2019s heading north to the camp to deal with the trouble.\u00a0 There\u2019s no one with the kid but the Chink.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chink?<\/em><\/p>\n

A hollow pit opened in Joe\u2019s stomach.\u00a0 They were talking about him!<\/em>\u00a0 But also someone else.<\/p>\n

Just who <\/em>were they going to use as bait?<\/p>\n

Still holding Rogue, Joe inched forward, narrowing his eyes and willing them to work.\u00a0 The sun was nearly down and the twilight didn\u2019t hurt them as much as the day and so he was able to see.\u00a0 Sort of.\u00a0 There was a third horse stopped just behind the two men who were talking. \u00a0Someone was bound and slung over its back.\u00a0 A man.\u00a0 A thin man with…black hair.\u00a0 A thin familiar <\/em>man.<\/p>\n

Adam.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoss swallowed hard over the apple-sized lump in his throat.\u00a0 It was late afternoon and the light was dyin\u2019, but he could see clear enough where Mystery had led him.\u00a0 It was that lake cave.\u00a0 The one he and Little Joe had played in.<\/p>\n

The one he\u2019d run screamin\u2019 from after seein\u2019 somethin\u2019 white movin\u2019 in the dark.<\/p>\n

It seemed a lifetime ago, but in reality it had been, maybe, two years.\u00a0 Adam had been finishin\u2019 up college just about the time it happened.\u00a0 That would of made him about the age Little Joe was now.\u00a0 He\u2019d asked around after they got back to the ranch, but none of the hands seemed to know much of anythin\u2019 about it except that there was a rumor that a ghost haunted at least one of the caves.\u00a0 He\u2019d kept askin\u2019 all kinds of questions, makin\u2019 a nuisance of himself, until his pa caught him at it one day and was mad enough to threaten to tan his hide if he didn\u2019t forget about it and get back to work.<\/p>\n

The mare was standin\u2019 in front of the cave now, waitin\u2019.\u00a0 She\u2019d been all restless energy as they climbed the hill in front of it.\u00a0 Now she was still as one of them statues in San Francisco; the ones that looked so real you checked \u2018em every so often just to see whether or not they was breathin\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s in there, girl?\u201d Hoss asked, his voice crackin\u2019 like it hadn\u2019t done since he\u2019d been his little brother\u2019s age.<\/p>\n

The mare didn\u2019t answer, of course.\u00a0 Instead, she shook her thick mane and pinned him with those big black eyes of hers. \u00a0It kind of reminded him of baby brother pullin\u2019 one of his faces.\u00a0 Not the kind that was meant to charm your socks off so he could get what he wanted, but the kind where Little Joe was genuinely troubled and pert near to tears.<\/p>\n

There was somethin\u2019 in that look of a creature that was livin\u2019 a nightmare and just wanted it to end.<\/p>\n

\u201cI sure wish you could talk, girl,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cI ain\u2019t sayin\u2019 you ain\u2019t got a good reason for me to go in there, but I can tell you, I\u2019d just as soon not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, even as he said it, Hoss\u2019 feet were movin\u2019. Land\u2019s sake, he was almost eighteen!\u00a0 Old enough to know better than to believe that what he saw in the bowels of that cave all those years ago was anythin\u2019 other than somethin\u2019 conjured up by his imagination, or maybe just a piles of bones left when some old prospector died in the dark.<\/p>\n

Hoss shivered.\u00a0 Maybe that <\/em>was what Mystery wanted.<\/p>\n

Someone to find out which it was.<\/p>\n

He was standin\u2019 next to the mare now and he looked right at her.\u00a0 \u201cYou comin\u2019 with me?\u201d the teenager asked, half in jest and half hopin\u2019 she was.<\/p>\n

Mystery nudged him forward and then turned and disappeared into the shadows cast by the high hill that were as dark as her coat.<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged and moved Chubb into the trees so she was hidden.\u00a0 After he tethered her, he lifted his rifle from the holster, returned to the entrance, and stepped in.<\/p>\n

No sooner had the teenager entered the darkness then he heard a horse snort and the sound of multiple riders arriving. \u00a0As several of them dismounted, he retreated farther into the cave.\u00a0 It had a sort of natural foyer at the front \u2013 a space about six feet deep and eight feet wide that was separated from the rest of it by a low-hanging ridge of rock.\u00a0 The opening under the ridge was high enough for a man to walk under, but not by much.\u00a0 Behind it was the bulk of the cave and it quickly plunged down into the earth.\u00a0 Hoss searched the front area quickly and found an outcropping of rock that was big enough for him to hide behind.\u00a0 Then he listened.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou seen any sign of that loco mare?\u201d a gruff-voiced man asked.\u00a0 \u201cThem tracks of hers was leadin\u2019 this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot a lick or hair.\u00a0 Ain\u2019t seen that other Cartwright kid either,\u201d a younger voice answered.\u00a0 The man paused and then added, his voice low, \u201cI\u2019m tellin\u2019 you, Earl.\u00a0 She\u2019s here somewhere.\u00a0 She\u2019s gotta be.\u00a0 She\u2019s always watchin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOH, she\u2019s here all right.\u201d\u00a0 The older man paused and then he said, his tone hard.\u00a0 \u201cIt won\u2019t be long, bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow come you ain\u2019t just shot that animal, Earl?\u201d a third man asked.\u00a0 \u201cA dead horse ain\u2019t no threat.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you think I tried!\u201d Earl all but screamed.\u00a0 \u201cThe damn thing won\u2019t die!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re crazy as a shithouse rat, Earl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd your gonna be dead, Thom!\u201d the older man snapped.\u00a0 \u201cWhy don\u2019t you just shut up and do what you were hired to do.\u00a0 Then you can take your part of the loot and high-tail it back to Virginny and that ugly woman of yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I was hired to do?\u00a0 I didn\u2019t sign on to kill a kid,\u201d Thom countered sharply.<\/p>\n

Earl\u2019s voice took on an ominous tone. \u00a0\u201cWe ain\u2019t gonna kill him.\u00a0 We\u2019re just gonna make a nice cozy home for him down there in the dark and leave him there to rot along with that loco horse.\u201d\u00a0 There was a pause.\u00a0 \u201cNow get Cartwright off of that horse and make him write that letter!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss stiffened.\u00a0 Cartwright?\u00a0 He shifted forward so he could follow Thom\u2019s movement and saw him go over to a pack horse.\u00a0 Once there the outlaw cut something loose.\u00a0 It fell to the ground with a grunt and a thud.\u00a0 At first, from what the men had said, he feared it was Little Joe.\u00a0 Then he realized the man was too big.<\/p>\n

It had to be Adam!<\/p>\n

As Thom dealt with Adam, who struggled against him, Earl and Virgil turned and headed for the cave.\u00a0 Hoss look into the darkness behind him, half expectin\u2019 to see a white vapor risin\u2019 up and swirlin\u2019 around.<\/p>\n

Sucking it in, he slipped past the rocky outcropping and moved farther into the cave\u2019s interior.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam had been unceremoniously dropped on the ground and then rather roughly thrust up against a tree.\u00a0 Both his hands and feet were tied and he was gagged.\u00a0 He\u2019d tried the ropes, but the knots were expertly done and there was nothing he could do to loosen them.\u00a0 The black-haired man watched the outlaws who were with the Stanleys move about, all busy with various chores.\u00a0 The one who was fixing their supper, he noticed, stopped several time to throw a handful of salt over his shoulder as if to ward of evil spirits.\u00a0 Criminals were, for the most part, cowards and often prone to superstition.\u00a0 Something had Earl Stanley convinced that the black mare he and Hoss had brought home was possessed by some sort of malevolent spirit.\u00a0 These men were terrified.\u00a0 So terrified that they were willing to sacrifice the life of a little boy to break free of its spell.<\/p>\n

His brother\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

From what Earl said it seemed the outlaws had meant to kidnap Little Joe, but for some reason the plan had fallen through.\u00a0 In a way, the reason might have been Mystery herself.\u00a0 Joe was obsessed with the horse and he had begged their father to let him do all the barn and stable chores instead of working out in the field so he could be close to her. \u00a0\u00a0For some reason, their pa had given in even though he didn\u2019t like the mare.\u00a0 Now that he thought about it, his father had kept a pretty close watch on Little Joe the last few days and had seemed nervous when one or the other of them couldn\u2019t immediately tell him where he was.<\/p>\n

Now<\/em> he understood why.<\/p>\n

Leaning his head back, Adam pretended to close his eyes but in reality studied the men holding him. \u00a0One was still working on the meal.\u00a0 Earl and the man named Thom stood off to the left of the cave, arguing.\u00a0 Virgil was pacing back and forth in front the opening, while the two remaining outlaws were moving in and out of the brush surrounding the cave mouth.\u00a0 Adam concentrated on the one closest to hand, trying to make out what it was the man carried. \u00a0It looked like a rope, or maybe a \u2013<\/p>\n

Adam froze.<\/p>\n

Something that felt like a wet rug had rubbed against his bound hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the Devil…?\u201d he mumbled into the rag that was tied around his mouth.<\/p>\n

Adam felt fingers move through his hair and the rag dipped a bit.\u00a0 \u201cIt ain\u2019t the devil, Adam,\u201d a hushed voice replied as he felt those fingers move to the ropes that bound his wrists.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s me.\u00a0 Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s eyes closed for real this time.\u00a0 In prayer.<\/p>\n

Dear God.<\/p>\n

Little Joe.<\/p>\n

No….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Danged if it weren\u2019t big brother Adam out there, tied up under a tree!\u00a0 When the two men had come and gone, Hoss had slowly and carefully worked his way back toward the front of the cave until he was about ten feet from the opening.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t easy, since the sun had set, but he\u2019d identified them as the mean-looking pair of hands Pa had hired and fired within the last fortnight.\u00a0 Pa wouldn\u2019t say why, so he\u2019d asked Jim Appleby.\u00a0 Jim had stumbled around but finally admitted that one of the men had caught the pair trailing Little Joe home from school one day.\u00a0 So it was funny that it was Adam who was trussed up.\u00a0 But then, if all the outlaws wanted was ransom money, one Cartwright son would do as good as the other.\u00a0 They\u2019d probably thought Little Joe would be less trouble to take since he was just twelve.<\/p>\n

Hoss snorted.\u00a0 Showed what them two knowed!<\/p>\n

As the teenager watched, his brother Adam shifted, lifting his body up a little higher.\u00a0 Then he seemed to say somethin\u2019, even though there was nobody to hear.\u00a0 Big brother had a gag in his mouth but it was a right funny one, with its ends trailin\u2019 down on either side of his face like he was grippin\u2019 it with his teeth and fightin\u2019 to keep it in place.\u00a0 Hoss growled low in his throat as he watched Adam struggle.\u00a0 Trapped as he was in the cave, there weren\u2019t much he could do to help.\u00a0 There were just too many men in front of it for him to try slippin\u2019 out.\u00a0 All he could do was wait and hope they brung Adam into the cave.\u00a0 Then maybe he could free him and they could overpower the men, jump a couple of horses, and head back to the house to warn Hop Sing and Little Joe.\u00a0 They might even run into Pa on the road.\u00a0 If he knew his father, the older man was probably on the road.\u00a0 His pa would have come lookin\u2019 for him, ridin\u2019 through the night if he had to, in order to make things right.<\/p>\n

Hoss frowned as he saw Adam jerk.\u00a0 Then he understood why.\u00a0 Adam was rubbin\u2019 his wrist with his fingers.\u00a0 Big brother\u2019s hands were free.<\/p>\n

Problem was, the outlaws saw it too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s escaping!\u201d Thom shouted as he drew his pistol.<\/p>\n

Earl Stanley whipped around to look at the tree where he\u2019d left Ben Cartwright\u2019s eldest son trussed up.\u00a0 Damn!<\/em> if that boy hadn\u2019t worked his hands free and was reaching for the ropes on his feet. \u00a0The older man palmed his own weapon and started to run as Adam rose and turned toward the trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got you in my sights, Cartwright,\u201d he shouted.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t be stupid!\u201d<\/p>\n

The dark-haired youth halted and turned back, his hands up.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t shoot.\u00a0 You caught me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earl scowled.\u00a0 He was givin\u2019 in too easy.\u00a0 The outlaw began to move again even as his brother Virgil called out, \u201cThere\u2019s another one, Earl!\u00a0 In the trees….\u00a0 I think it\u2019s the kid!\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, he\u2019d be hornswoggled!\u00a0 No wonder Adam Cartwright had his hands free and no wonder he\u2019d been makin\u2019 for the trees.\u00a0 With his gun trained on his former employer\u2019s oldest son, Earl shouted, \u201cYou come on out, boy!\u00a0 I know you\u2019re there!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s skin paled to match the light color of his shirt.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe run!\u201d he cried.\u00a0 \u201cRun, now!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou run, boy, and I\u2019ll shoot your brother between the eyes,\u201d Earl countered, meaning it.\u00a0 \u201cYou got five seconds to surrender, you hear me, boy?\u00a0 On six, your brother Adam\u2019s dead.\u00a0 One!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe, don\u2019t do it!\u00a0 Run!\u00a0 That\u2019s an order!\u201d Adam shouted.<\/p>\n

There was movement behind him.\u00a0 Leaves rustled and a dog yapped.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo.\u00a0 Three.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, he\u2019ll kill you!\u201d a small voice cried.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s you<\/em> they want, Joe.\u00a0 Run!\u00a0 Go get Pa!\u201d<\/p>\n

Earl took another step toward him.\u00a0 His gun never waivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cFour, Little<\/em> Joe,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cFive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outlaw put his finger on the trigger and aimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can just drop that, mister,\u201d a quiet, fierce voice spoke from behind him.<\/p>\n

The older man pivoted on his feet.<\/p>\n

Damned <\/em>if wasn\u2019t the other one!<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, I got him covered,\u201d Hoss Cartwright said as he advanced to the outside of the cave carrying a rifle and aiming it at his heart.\u00a0 The teenager remained close to the hill, careful to remain sheltered from his other men.<\/p>\n

\u201cPut your hands up!\u201d he ordered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s five of us, boy,\u201d Earl drawled.\u00a0 \u201cAll armed.\u00a0 Think about what you\u2019re doin\u2019.\u00a0 You shoot me and one of them is gonna take out your big brother there before you can make a move to save him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you\u2019ll<\/em> be dead,\u201d the giant teen snarled.\u00a0 \u201cJust you<\/em> think about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The oldest Cartwright son was on the move.\u00a0 Earl watched him stumble due to poor circulation.\u00a0 The boy headed for their cook, who was frozen to the spot, and pulled the gun from his holster.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow its two<\/em> to five,\u201d Adam breathed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam! \u00a0I only count four men!\u201d Hoss shouted.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s five outlaws!\u00a0 One of them\u2019s missin\u2019!\u201d\u00a0 He looked around, panicked.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s Joe?\u00a0 Joe!\u00a0 Come out!\u00a0 Little Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n

Earl scoffed as the teenager\u2019s eyes widened.\u00a0 The brat came out all right \u2013 in Thom\u2019s arms with the barrel of a pistol pressed into his prissy pampered curls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d drop your <\/em>weapons,\u201d Earl said, his voice low and sinister.\u00a0 \u201cUnless you want to see your little brother\u2019s brains splashed halfway across the Nevada territory.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eldest boy went limp.\u00a0 The pistol dropped from his fingers to the ground.\u00a0 \u201cDo as he says, Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teenager hesitated.\u00a0 Earl could see it in his eyes.\u00a0 The boy was weighing the threat.\u00a0 He simply couldn\u2019t believe a grown man would kill a child in cold blood.<\/p>\n

Little did he know.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss!\u00a0 Drop it now!\u201d Adam Cartwright ordered.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019ll kill Little Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Little Joe\u2019<\/em> was squirmin\u2019 like the little monster he was, tryin\u2019 to break free.\u00a0 Earl scoffed.\u00a0 The kid had better watch it.\u00a0 For all he\u2019d protested, Thom had killed plenty and he had an itchy finger.<\/p>\n

With a sigh, Hoss lowered his rifle and tossed it on the ground.<\/p>\n

Earl sneered.\u00a0 It was over.\u00a0 They had all three<\/em> of Ben Cartwright\u2019s boys, but most of all they had the little one.\u00a0 Now that bitch would be satisfied.\u00a0 Now \u2013<\/p>\n

Thom yelped.<\/p>\n

The brat had bit him!<\/p>\n

Thom let out a whoop as he dropped his gun.\u00a0 It went off as it hit the ground, sendin\u2019 gun-smoke back into the man\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 Earl growled as the idiot flailed around, trying to catch the kid who was slipperier than snot.\u00a0 He\u2019d just have to do it himself!\u00a0 Turning his gun butt first, Earl Stanley charged toward the Cartwright kid.<\/p>\n

He was gonna use it to knock some sense into that little son-of-a-bitch\u2019s head!<\/p>\n

As the outlaw advanced, there was a sound.\u00a0 A shrill scream such as he had only heard one other time in his life.\u00a0 Rising out of the gun-smoke like a wraith, the black mare appeared.\u00a0 She reared up on her back legs and then struck the ground with the sound of thunder.\u00a0 Little Joe Cartwright was on the move.\u00a0 The boy\u2019s fingers gripped the horse\u2019s black mane as she came down and he swung onto her back easy an aerialist took to the trapeze.\u00a0 The mare reared again, almost throwing the kid off her back and then, to the surprise of them all, plunged into the cave and disappeared.<\/p>\n

Adam Cartwright was running too.\u00a0 He shot past shoutin\u2019 out something to his brother.\u00a0 The teenager, who was standing by the cave mouth, pivoted on his heel and followed him in.<\/p>\n

Earl Stanley\u2019s lips curled with satisfaction.<\/p>\n

Signaling the man who held the trigger for the charges they had laid along the opening into the hill, the grizzled outlaw told him to let it blow.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d be damned<\/em> if that black bitch hadn\u2019t done his work for him!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

FOUR<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright looked up from his cup of coffee.\u00a0 He was sitting near the fire he had built at the side of the road, giving Buck a short rest.\u00a0 He\u2019d pressed the animal hard to keep going through the night and more than half of the new day.\u00a0 He\u2019d heard something. \u00a0It almost sounded like a muffled explosion.\u00a0 Rising and pitching the grounds in the grass the older man turned toward it, wondering what anyone would be doing blasting out here. This was Ponderosa land, after all.\u00a0 If he hadn\u2019t been so worried about Little Joe, he would have gone to investigate.\u00a0 Instead Ben made a note to return once he was sure all was well at home.<\/p>\n

The most likely scenario was that someone was looking for gold or silver in one of the lake caves.\u00a0 There were always rumors about buried hoards and hidden veins.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s lips quirked at the ends. \u00a0One of these days some desperate man was going to find something and then their whole world would be turned upside-down.\u00a0 He feared it as much as anything.\u00a0 Men would come in droves to dig and to work the land with no more regard for the earth and its bounty than they would have had for a tic caught lodged in their skin.\u00a0 He meant to leave this land, whole and beautiful, to his sons.\u00a0 It was their inheritance and his legacy and he wasn\u2019t about to let anyone devastate it for the sake of greed.<\/p>\n

Returning to his horse, Ben checked Buck\u2019s sides and his breathing and decided the animal needed a few more minutes.\u00a0 He begrudged it.\u00a0 He was anxious to get home.\u00a0 While there had <\/em>been a shooting at the lumber camp and a man had died, he had come to find out that it hadn\u2019t been as a result of a brawl or a dispute.\u00a0 The man had been standing talking to the foreman one minute, and then dead at his feet the next.\u00a0 The whole thing left him unnerved.\u00a0 It seemed to him that someone had deliberately drawn him away from the house.\u00a0 The first thing that came to mind was the pair of miscreants he had fired the week before.\u00a0 Jim Appleby had come to him, worried about them.\u00a0 It had taken a few minutes to pry \u2018why\u2019 out of him as Jim hated to carry tales and he hadn\u2019t seen anything himself.\u00a0 He said one of the younger hands had been coming back from Eagle Station just about the time Little Joe was riding home from school.\u00a0 The man\u2019s horse had thrown a shoe and Joseph had stopped to help him and then went on.\u00a0 The hand had taken the horse into the trees to let it drink at a stream when he heard the sound of other horses approaching. He\u2019d looked out to find the Stanley brothers tracking his son.<\/p>\n

That was all it had taken.\u00a0 He had fired them instantly.<\/p>\n

Joe was a beautiful boy, so there was always the fear that one of the hands would be attracted to him and try something. It was a terrible thing to think about, but life was real, and reality hard.\u00a0 There was also the threat of kidnapping.\u00a0 He made no bones about his love for his sons.\u00a0 It was known he would do anything \u2013 pay any amount of money to get one of them back.\u00a0 Little Joe, at twelve, was the most likely target.\u00a0 He knew it.\u00a0 Adam and Hoss knew it.<\/p>\n

It seemed the only one who didn\u2019t know it was Little Joe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are so vulnerable, are they not?\u00a0 Children,\u201d a woman\u2019s soft voice asked.<\/p>\n

Ben turned on his heel, startled.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t see anyone.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d he called.<\/p>\n

A young woman with long hair that\u00a0 curled at the ends stepped out of the trees.\u00a0 She was dressed simply in a blue skirt and a patterned blouse with a dark shawl tied over the top of it.\u00a0 Her black hair blew in the wind.\u00a0 She smiled sweetly, though the light of it didn\u2019t touch her dark eyes, which were haunted.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lovely morning, is it not?\u201d she asked.\u00a0 \u201cThough a bit chilly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s rain in the air,\u201d he said, and then felt foolish.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like she wouldn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day is cold, and dark, and dreary.\u00a0 It rains, and the wind is never weary.\u00a0 The vine still clings to the moldering wall, but at every gust the dead leaves fall.\u201d\u00a0 She had a Spanish accent and it made her quoting of Longfellow\u2019s poem, \u2018The Rainy Day\u2019, charming.\u00a0 After a moment she repeated, \u201cAnd the day is dark and dreary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben smiled at the thought that he might have just met Adam\u2019s soul-sister.\u00a0 Then, he remembered himself.\u00a0 \u201cWill you sit down and have some coffee?\u00a0 It\u2019s hot.\u00a0 So is the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you.\u00a0 No coffee, but I will <\/em>share your fire for a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben followed her over and sat down on the side opposite her \u00a0\u201cWhat are you doing out here, if I may ask?\u201d<\/p>\n

Those haunted eyes found his face. \u00a0\u201cI am looking for my son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I see.\u00a0 How old is he?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTwelve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI have a boy who\u2019s twelve.\u00a0 He\u2019s quite a handful too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease?\u201d<\/p>\n

He cleared his throat.\u00a0 \u201cForgive me.\u00a0 From what you said, I assumed the boy had run away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRun away?\u00a0 No.\u201d\u00a0 She paused.\u00a0 \u201cHe is a good boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo is Joseph.\u00a0 Just a bit headstrong.\u00a0 When he gets something in that curly head of his, he\u2019s like a bulldog.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u00a0 I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben eyed her.\u00a0 \u201cI beg your pardon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy son,\u201d she answered.\u00a0 \u201cHe is the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben studied the woman as she spoke.\u00a0 She was around the age Marie would have been if she had lived.\u00a0 Thirty-three, maybe a year or two more.\u00a0 She was a lovely woman, though that loveliness was marred by a deep sadness.<\/p>\n

\u201cMay I ask you name?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou may,\u201d she replied and then her smile broadened.\u00a0 \u201cTerese.\u00a0 Terese Navarra.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Ben Cartwright.\u00a0 So you are Basque then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy people are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Basques were separatists, seemingly eternally at war with Spain over their nation\u2019s independence.\u00a0 They saw a few of them in Eagle Station.\u00a0 He\u2019d done business once with a man named Danel Navarra.\u00a0 He wondered if this woman belonged to the same family.<\/p>\n

They sat in silence for a minute or two.\u00a0 Just as he was about to break it, Terese did.\u00a0 \u201cTell me about your children, Mister Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCall me \u2018Ben\u2019,\u00a0 please.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again that rainy day smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cBen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI have three, all boys, ranging in age from twelve to twenty-four.\u00a0 Adam is the oldest and then Eric, though we call him Hoss.\u00a0 The youngest is named Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJos\u00e9pe?\u201d\u00a0 She crossed herself.\u00a0 \u201cAfter our Lord\u2019s father?\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded.\u00a0 \u201cAnd my own.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you are a man of belief.\u201d\u00a0 It was a statement, not a question.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you believe in visions, sen\u00edor?\u201d<\/p>\n

The conversation was getting stranger by the minute. Who was this woman and why was she out in the wilderness alone?\u00a0 Was<\/em> she alone, or were there others within the trees listening, maybe waiting to strike?<\/p>\n

And why was she asking him about visions?<\/p>\n

\u201cI do, but….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI<\/em> had a vision.\u201d\u00a0 Her black eyes remained locked on his face.\u00a0 \u201cI saw my boy.\u00a0 He came to me.\u00a0 He told me of three like him who are in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben felt a chill snake down his spine.\u00a0 \u201cThree?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSi.<\/em>\u00a0 They are lost in the dark.\u00a0 They call for their father.\u201d\u00a0 Terese paused.\u00a0 \u201cYou must not go home, Benjamin Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben rose to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is this all about?\u00a0 I demand you tell me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFind them,\u201d Terese said as she too rose.\u00a0 \u201cFind your sons and you will find mine.\u00a0 They are together.\u00a0 Bring them home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMadame, I….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFind them,\u201d she said again as she stepped back into the trees.\u00a0 \u201cI will keep them until you come.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMadame, I….\u00a0 Wait!\u00a0 I….\u201d<\/p>\n

He was thrashing about in the darkness.\u00a0 It was empty.<\/p>\n

The woman was gone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Something struck him on the head.\u00a0 Hoss blinked awake and reached up to stop it.\u00a0 Instead he started a second cascade of stones tumbling down that struck not only his head but his shoulders and hands too.<\/p>\n

\u201cOuch!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat you, middle…brother?\u201d a weak voice asked.<\/p>\n

Hoss shifted, sending the stones falling to the floor.\u00a0 He looked around for his brother, but there was so much dust in the air that it looked like the aftermath of a battle and he couldn\u2019t find him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam?\u00a0 Where are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a fit of coughing.\u00a0 \u201cAbout five feet…as the…crow flies.\u201d\u00a0 It was followed by a weedy laugh. \u201cToo bad we…can\u2019t fly.\u00a0 As it is…it might as well…be miles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss shook his head, trying to work the cobwebs out of it.\u00a0 He remembered holding a gun on that mean-looking galoot who was threatening Little Joe, and then Joe flyin\u2019 past him on the back of that dag-burned<\/em> black mare.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Joe?\u00a0 Where\u2019s Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a moment of silence.\u00a0 \u201cHe was ahead of us, Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you see him?\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, it was near pitch-black in the cave.\u00a0 The only light was coming in through a few chinks in the wall of rock the explosion had brought down behind them.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean \u2018no\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam coughed again.\u00a0 His chest didn\u2019t sound good.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s…nothing…on the other side of us…but more rock.\u00a0 The ceiling collapsed.\u00a0 If…Joe\u2019s there…he\u2019s under it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGod, Adam, we gotta get him out!\u201d\u00a0 Hoss shifted and made to rise.<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It was only then he became aware that his legs were numb.\u00a0 Fear for his baby brother and for himself warred within him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, I can\u2019t feel my legs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTry to…wiggle…one…of your toes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fighting down panic, Hoss did what his level-headed brother\u2019s voice told him to \u2013 concentrated on movin\u2019 just one<\/em> of his toes.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t budge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ain\u2019t workin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCould be…blunt-force…trauma.\u00a0 Temporary paralysis.\u201d\u00a0 Adam coughed, longer and louder this time.\u00a0 \u201cWait…and…try it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a moment of silence.\u00a0 \u201cJust…dandy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ain\u2019t lyin\u2019 to me, are you, older brother?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course…I\u2019m lying.\u201d\u00a0 Adam seemed to gasp for air.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a…boulder the…size…of you<\/em> pressing on my chest.\u00a0 I think….\u00a0 I think…I…have broken ribs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was that Earl Stanley thinkin\u2019?\u00a0 How come he wanted to seal us up in here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has…something…to do…with that damn<\/em> horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss thought a moment.\u00a0 \u201cJoe was ridin\u2019 her when he came in here.\u00a0 Wasn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo maybe he made it past that pile of rock before it dropped and he\u2019s safe on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

A silence fell between them then, thick as the dust in the air that choked them.\u00a0 Hoss rested his head against the cave wall.\u00a0 He could feel blood running down the back of his hair, probably from a scalp wound.\u00a0 He was dizzy, but more than anything else he was afraid.\u00a0 Afraid for Adam who was obviously hurt worse than he was admittin\u2019. \u00a0Afraid Joe was lyin\u2019, broken, under all that rock.<\/p>\n

Afraid he\u2019d never walk again.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry…your toes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTry to…move the toes…on your foot…you big…galoot!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t get cocky!\u00a0 You ain\u2019t got the energy to spare.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss thought about it hard.\u00a0 He pursed his lips and put everythin\u2019 into the effort, as if he was tryin\u2019 to keep his seat on a bucking bronco.\u00a0 And he did it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey!\u00a0 One of them moved.\u00a0 Weren\u2019t much, but it moved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTry the…other foot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou sure are pushy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTry…it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir,\u201d he grumbled as he thought about his toes in a way he had never thought about them before.\u00a0 \u201cThe big one moved!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood.\u201d\u00a0 Adam paused to draw a breath.\u00a0 \u201cAre you…hurt…otherwise?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGot me a scalp wound.\u00a0 Don\u2019t seem to be nothin\u2019 else.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGive it a…few minutes…then…try to get up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss peered into the darkness.\u00a0 Adam sounded like he might not have much more time than that before he passed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnythin\u2019 hurt other than your ribs?\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, a slight chuckle.\u00a0 \u201cMy…pride.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFeelin\u2019 like an idiot?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou might…say that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teenager fell silent, listening.\u00a0 \u201cAny sign of little brother yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

The heartache in Adam\u2019s tone almost reduced him to tears.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s on the other side, Adam.\u00a0 I know he is.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s faster than a jackrabbit and he was on that mare.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss paused.\u00a0 \u201cHow come you think she ran in here with him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are…two…possible answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo save…him or…to kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss puzzled that\u00a0 minute.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d\u00a0 He waited.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust…resting.\u00a0 Getting…harder to talk.\u201d\u00a0 There was another pause and then he said.\u00a0 \u201cCouldn\u2019t…get away. \u00a0Any of…us.\u00a0 Stanley would have…taken Joe and…killed him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all gonna die anyhow,\u201d he said sullenly.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the mare…knows…something we…don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thought about that a minute.\u00a0 \u201cYou said to save or kill<\/em> him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam coughed again.\u00a0 \u201cStanley talked…about the…mare \u2018choosing\u2019 Joe.\u00a0 Said the only…way to make…her stop haunting…them…was to give her Joe to make up…for what she lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ain\u2019t makin\u2019 any sense.\u00a0 You get hit on the head too, brother?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think…that\u2019s a given,\u201d Adam answered dryly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would she want Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Stanley…did something…bad.\u00a0 Killed a child.\u00a0 I don\u2019t…for one minute…believe the horse is possessed.\u00a0 But Stanley…does.\u00a0 He thinks its super…natural.\u00a0 Can\u2019t be…killed.\u201d\u00a0 Adam\u2019s voice broke and he coughed.\u00a0 \u201cThought sealing…it in here with another child was the…only way.\u201d\u00a0 After another fit of coughing, his brother asked, \u201cCan you…move yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t thought about it. \u00a0Now that he did, the teenager could feel pain radiating from his tailbone down his legs.\u00a0 \u201cDang!\u00a0 I can feel my legs now.\u00a0 They hurt like Hellfire!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s…good.\u00a0 Can you…get to me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can try.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took a few minutes, pulling himself with his arms to aid his weakened legs, but he made it to Adam\u2019s side.\u00a0 With his hands Hoss reached out, feeling around the boulder that was lodged against Adam\u2019s chest.<\/p>\n

He whistled.\u00a0 \u201cDang!\u00a0 That\u2019s gotta hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are…as usual…the…master of understatement.\u201d\u00a0 Adam sucked in air.\u00a0 \u201cCan you…move it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss frowned. \u201cI don\u2019t think I should by myself.\u00a0 If that things shifts the wrong way, it\u2019ll crush you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways the bearer of bad…tidings.\u00a0 Leave…me then.\u00a0 See if…you can find…any trace of Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The teenager felt around and found a few smaller boulders and wedged them in beneath the one layin\u2019 on top of Adam.\u00a0 \u201cThat should keep it from movin\u2019,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood…thinkin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss touched his brother\u2019s face. \u201cWell, we all know who got the brains and who got the good looks in the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u00a0 And you…better find him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The big teen chuckled and then turned to face the wall of stone. \u00a0It was as if the mountain had moved, dropping to fill the cavern from floor to ceiling, cutting Little Joe off from the surface world.\u00a0 The first thing Hoss did was to slowly move his fingers along its bottom edge, prayin\u2019 he wouldn\u2019t encounter a hand or a booted foot.\u00a0 When he didn\u2019t, he let out a little sigh of relief and then rose to his feet and pressed his lips against the rock and hollered.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe!\u00a0 Little Joe!\u00a0 Can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cTry…again,\u201d Adam urged.\u00a0 \u201cHe might…just be…waking up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe!\u00a0 It\u2019s Hoss!\u00a0 You in there?\u201d\u00a0 The teenager waited a moment, listening. When there was still nothing, he had a thought.\u00a0 Placing his hands to either side of his mouth, Hoss said sternly and in his loudest voice.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph Francis Cartwright<\/em>, this is your Pa!\u00a0 You answer me, boy!\u201d<\/p>\n

This time there was a groan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard something, Adam!\u00a0 Did you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam grunted.\u00a0 \u201cDo it…again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph, you answer me now!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

It was quiet.\u00a0 So quiet he nearly missed it.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa….\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss bent and grabbed his brother\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s alive, Adam!\u00a0 Did you hear?\u00a0 Joe\u2019s alive!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam cracked a little smile that faded quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd on the other…side of…two ton of rock….\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe slowly lifted his head.\u00a0 It was about all he could do.\u00a0 He put a hand to it and it came away bloody.\u00a0 Doctor Martin had warned him over and over about hitting his head again and for a moment he was scared, but then it occurred to him that he was in a lot worse trouble than he\u2019d have when the Doc found out about it.\u00a0 There\u2019d been a cave-in.<\/p>\n

He was trapped<\/em> in a cave.<\/p>\n

Before him lay a wall of rock comprised of thousands of big and little boulders.\u00a0 Behind him, there was nothing but darkness.\u00a0 Joe swallowed hard over a rising fear.\u00a0 He\u2019d been riding Mystery.\u00a0 They\u2019d moved so fast he\u2019d missed it.\u00a0 The explosion had brought the ceiling down behind him.<\/p>\n

Where his brothers were.<\/p>\n

Rising shakily to his feet, Joe pressed his face into the rock wall and yelled, \u201cHoss!\u00a0 Adam!\u00a0 Can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can hear you, Little Joe!\u201d his middle brother shouted in return. \u201cAre you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t thought about it.\u00a0\u00a0 Now that he did, he realized everything hurt, but his head worst of all.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m okay,\u201d he yelled back.\u00a0 \u201cHow are you?\u00a0 How\u2019s Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine.\u00a0 My legs are kind of wobbly.\u00a0 Adam…he\u2019s all right too.\u201d<\/p>\n

That slight hesitation chilled him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m…fine, Joe.\u201d\u00a0 Adam\u2019s reply was almost to low to hear.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hell you are!\u201d he shouted back.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Joe, you watch your mouth,\u201d Hoss replied sternly.\u00a0 \u201cAnd don\u2019t you go sassin\u2019 your elders.\u201d<\/p>\n

He scowled.\u00a0 They were trapped in a cave and gonna die and Hoss was worrying about manners!<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you get out?\u201d he called back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t tried the other side,\u201d his brother answered.\u00a0 \u201cIt looks like less rock.\u00a0 There\u2019s chinks with light.\u00a0 How about you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe turned.\u00a0 It was black behind him, but not so completely as he had first thought.\u00a0 There was a little light filtering in from high up.\u00a0 It was funny.\u00a0 All the time he\u2019d spent in the dark had made it easier for his eyes to adjust.\u00a0 He could actually see better than he had on the outside.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Mystery there with you?\u201d<\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t thought to look for the mare.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 Least I don\u2019t hear her and can\u2019t see her.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a pause.\u00a0 \u201cAdam thinks maybe she knows somethin\u2019 we don\u2019t.\u00a0 Like maybe there\u2019s another way out.\u00a0 You remember, Joe, like that shaft we found once.\u00a0 You gotta find her, Little Joe.\u00a0 Find her and follow her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t think I should wait?\u00a0 Maybe Pa will find us and bring the hands to get us out.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a long<\/em> pause this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the look of the size of the boulders in this wall, Joe, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re gettin\u2019 out this way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCouldn\u2019t Pa bring one of the miners and blow it?\u201d he asked in a small voice.<\/p>\n

It was Adam this time.\u00a0 His voice, as ever, calm and cool.\u00a0 \u201cNo, Joe.\u00a0 It would…bring the cave…down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam would know, being an engineer.<\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019s fingers gripped the rock.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, I\u2019m…scared.\u00a0 If I go, I won\u2019t be able to hear you.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be…alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou find Mystery, Little Joe,\u201d Hoss answered.\u00a0 \u201cFind her and then you won\u2019t be<\/em> alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

He sniffed back tears.\u00a0 \u201cAm I gonna die down here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course ya ain\u2019t, Little Joe,\u201d his brother answered cheerfully.\u00a0 \u201cThat black mare loves you and she ain\u2019t gonna let anythin\u2019 happen to you.\u00a0 Mystery knows another way out, I\u2019m sure of it.\u00a0 You find her, little brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tears were falling now, wetting his cheeks.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll try.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you just try<\/em>\u00a0 You do<\/em> it, Little Joe!\u00a0 You gotta get out and get help for Adam.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss paused.\u00a0 \u201cI wasn\u2019t honest with you.\u00a0 He\u2019s hurt bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam\u2019s hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBad.\u00a0 You gotta go get Pa, you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s jaw tightened.\u00a0 His fingers formed into fists as he turned toward the dark unknown.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTake care, little brother.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you go gettin\u2019 yourself hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMystery will look out for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss was standing with his head against the rock wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe sure will, little brother.\u00a0 You go now.\u00a0 Joe?\u00a0 Little Joe?\u201d\u00a0 The big teen waited a moment and then turned toward his older brother.\u00a0 \u201cI think he\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think…he bought…that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout finding Pa…and bringing…him back…to help me.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d had to say something to get Little Joe to leave them.\u00a0 It was one of the hardest things he had ever done.\u00a0 Hoss looked at the rocks he leaned against.\u00a0 Adam had explained it to him.\u00a0 If they tried to blast or even move them, it could bring the whole cave down.\u00a0 Someone was bound to come along and find them<\/em>, eventually.<\/p>\n

Joe would be lost if he didn\u2019t find a way out on his own.<\/p>\n

The teenager knelt beside his brother.\u00a0 He reached out and placed a hand on Adam\u2019s forehead.\u00a0 His brother was clammy and shaking.<\/p>\n

He could only hope that whoever it was found them in time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

FIVE<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright huddled in a nest of creaking branches and budding leaves.\u00a0 He\u2019d tethered Buck to a low bush and then followed the woman\u2019s trail as best he could in the dark. \u00a0She had led him deep into the woods, toward one of the smaller lakes.\u00a0 A light rain had begun to fall and it made a chilly evening even colder.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t dressed properly for the weather and was already shivering.\u00a0 The fire the men before him had kindled looked inviting.<\/p>\n

Even if the men didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

There were three of them.\u00a0 He\u2019d recognized Earl and Virgil Stanley immediately.\u00a0 The other man with him, if he remembered right, was a drifter named Thom Marshall.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t hired Thom since his quota for the day was full, but Roy had mentioned seeing the man in town and said he was trouble.<\/p>\n

At first Ben had expected the woman to be with outlaws.\u00a0 Maybe she was a cook, or even a wife to one of them.\u00a0 But even though her footprints came right up to the edge of the camp, after that they simply vanished.<\/p>\n

Earl Stanley, who was the oldest of the trio, was counting out gold pieces.\u00a0 He counted two for himself for every one he gave the other two men.\u00a0 His brother Virgil was half-asleep and hardly paying attention.\u00a0 Thom Marshall was.\u00a0 Marshall\u2019s eyes followed every coin Earl lifted from the sack and from the look on his face, he was none too happy with the way Stanley was portioning out the gold.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t waited two years to be stinted,\u201d Thom growled.\u00a0 \u201cHow come you get twice as much?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I\u2019m twice as smart as you, moron.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI told you not to call me that!\u201d<\/p>\n

Stanley shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cIf the boot fits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom\u2019s gun was out in an instant. \u201cI could just kill you and take it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earl laughed.\u00a0 \u201cVirg?\u201d<\/p>\n

Virgil shifted, revealing the gun in his lap and the fact that it was pointed at Thom\u2019s gut.<\/p>\n

Apparently the younger man was wide<\/em> awake.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll take what I give you and be happy.\u00a0 Even a quarter of this gold is more money than you could make in a lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got me nine <\/em>lives to take care of.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Virg has got him ten bullets, so shut up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years Thom had said.\u00a0 Ben cast his mind back.\u00a0 Where would that kind of gold come from?\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t recall any bank robberies in the area at the time and besides, that gold would have been in bars.\u00a0 Maybe a stagecoach robbery or….<\/p>\n

Navarra.<\/p>\n

The Navarra fortune.<\/p>\n

Adam was due home from college and their lives had been hectic, what with all the preparations they were making for his return and the fact that he was arriving during calving season.\u00a0 The sheriff had come out the house and asked him to be a part of the posse that had formed to track down the men who had killed Danel Navarra.\u00a0 He\u2019d had to decline as there simply wasn\u2019t time or enough man-power.\u00a0 He\u2019d always felt bad about it, considering the outcome, but at the time there\u2019d been nothing he could do.\u00a0 Danel was a wealthy Basque rancher who lived near Reno.\u00a0 He\u2019d lost his lands due to the Mexican-American conflict, but rumor had it he\u2019d managed to secret away a small fortune in spite of the loss.\u00a0 The promise of so much money had proven too tempting and one night Navarra had been set upon.\u00a0 The men who took him, lynched him, and then ransacked his house.\u00a0 No one knew if they found the money.\u00a0 They only knew the next day that Danel was dead and his wife and only child, gone.<\/p>\n

Were these the criminals who had killed Danel Navarra?\u00a0 If so, they were more desperate men then he had first believed.\u00a0 It chilled him to think that they had intended to kidnap Joseph.\u00a0 In all likelihood they would have issued a ransom demand and then killed the boy.<\/p>\n

Ben moved in a little closer.<\/p>\n

All three men were armed, though Earl\u2019s gun belt with his pistol lay coiled on the ground beside him.\u00a0 Ben scowled.\u00a0 If he showed himself, it would be all too\u00a0 easy for one of the men to take him out.\u00a0 He needed a distraction, so he could get the drop on them instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think those kids are still alive?\u201d Virg asked, a slight tremble in his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy?\u00a0 Your conscience botherin\u2019 you?\u201d Earl snarled.<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s heart plunged to his toes.<\/p>\n

Kids?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cHell, no.\u00a0 I was just…well…wonderin\u2019, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got them ten ton of rock dropped on their heads.\u00a0 Would you be alive with ten ton of rock dropped on your head?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about that black mare?\u00a0 Maybe she….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere you go about that damn horse again!\u201d the older Stanley snapped.\u00a0 \u201cWake up, little brother.\u00a0 That horse is dead as those Cartwright boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s breath came fast and hard.\u00a0 Dead?\u00a0 His boys….\u00a0 Hoss?\u00a0 Adam?<\/p>\n

Dead?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was weird the way she ran into<\/em> the cave instead of away from it.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you think?\u201d Thom asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told you it wanted that snot-nosed kid.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Virg and me were gonna take him,\u201d the older man snarled. \u00a0\u201cWell, now she\u2019s got him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tears pooled in Ben\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

Not Joseph too.<\/p>\n

Joseph, no, you didn\u2019t….<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI never understood why you thought that horse wanted the kid,\u201d \u00a0Thom pressed.\u00a0 \u201cSeems to me you just ain\u2019t thinkin\u2019 straight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat mare belonged to the Navarra boy,\u201d Virgil answered, his voice hushed.\u00a0 \u201cWe think the horse thought Joe Cartwright was him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re talkin\u2019 hogwash.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a click.\u00a0 Earl\u2019s gun was in his hand and pointed at Thom Marshall.\u00a0 \u201cWhy don\u2019t you<\/em> just stop talkin\u2019 all together, moron\u201d<\/p>\n

Thom bristled.\u00a0 \u201cI told you not to call me that!\u201d<\/p>\n

Imbecile.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ben watched the men start.\u00a0 He started too.<\/p>\n

It was her.<\/p>\n

Terese.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you hear that?\u201d Thom asked, standing up quickly and drawing his gun.<\/p>\n

\u201cHear what?\u201d Earl scoffed, though his voice shook.<\/p>\n

\u201cA woman.\u00a0 She called me an imbecile.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s a smart one then,\u201d the older man snarled.<\/p>\n

Thom pivoted and pointed\u00a0 his gun at Earl\u2019s head.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re gonna shut up, Stanley!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOr what?\u201d\u00a0 Earl was still calmly counting coins.<\/p>\n

Marshall snarled.\u00a0 \u201cI have had just about enough of you<\/em> \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben winced.\u00a0 Gun-smoke filled the air.\u00a0 When it cleared he saw Thom Marshall still standing, looking with surprise at his gut.<\/p>\n

It was smoking too.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn you…\u201d Thom whispered and then fell backward.<\/p>\n

Virgil scrambled out of the way, barely making it in time.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019d you do that for, Earl?\u00a0 We need him!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need no one, kid,\u201d his brother groused.\u00a0 \u201cYou and I pulled that heist two years ago.\u00a0 We don\u2019t need to share with no one.\u00a0 Besides, only you and me know what really happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I know.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018Murderers.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Virgil spun in a circle.\u00a0 \u201cDid you hear that, Earl?\u201d<\/p>\n

Earl was<\/em> looking decidedly nervous.\u00a0 \u201cSomeones playin\u2019 with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no one left, Earl.\u00a0 You killed them all!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGet hold of yourself, Virg!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben watched as Earl rose and crossed to his brother.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t take his gun.<\/p>\n

Shifting through the underbrush, the rancher drew closer to the fire.\u00a0 Once in place, Ben hesitated.\u00a0 Virgil was still holding his weapon and could get off a lucky shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere!\u00a0 There!\u00a0 Do you see her?\u201d the younger Stanley shrieked as something white moved through the trees.<\/p>\n

Earl turned to look and Ben charged.<\/p>\n

It was over a minute later.\u00a0 Earl Stanley lay on the ground, unconscious, his first bullet having creased the outlaw\u2019s head.\u00a0 His brother lay beside him, nursing an arm shattered by the second bullet from his gun.\u00a0 Ben crouched and took hold of Virgil.\u00a0 He\u2019d been sick.\u00a0 The younger man smelled of vomit and sweat.\u00a0 The rancher didn\u2019t\u2019 care.\u00a0 He hauled the outlaw up and drew him in close while pressing the point of his pistol into his cheek and demanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are my sons?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t know where he was.<\/p>\n

It felt like he\u2019d been walking for hours.\u00a0 There was light, enough for his wounded eyes to see with, but there was nothing to see other than rock and more rock.<\/p>\n

And more rock.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019d been calling as he walked.\u00a0 The echo of his words made him kind of dizzy, but he kept calling anyway.\u00a0 At first he just yelled out \u2018Hey, girl!\u2019\u00a0 Finally, lonely for someone he knew, he\u2019d begun to call out the name he had given the horse, even though he knew \u2013 for some reason \u2013 it brought the black mare pain.<\/p>\n

He was in pain too.\u00a0 As he moved deeper into the cave, Joe began to feel his injuries.\u00a0 He was limping pretty bad.\u00a0 He\u2019d found a gash in his leg and it was bleeding.\u00a0 He\u2019d laughed when he realized he was leaving a trail of red \u2018breadcrumbs\u2019, kind of like Hansel and Gretel, except there was no one to find them.\u00a0 His head was bleeding too, but it wasn\u2019t bad.\u00a0 Still, just like the Doc had warned, the second blow had left him dizzy.\u00a0 He\u2019d fallen down a couple of times, but kept getting up and walking and calling.\u00a0 He\u2019d been just about to give up when he heard a noise.<\/p>\n

It was a blow \u2013 a horse exhaling through its nose without opening its mouth \u2013 and sounded like it was twenty or thirty feet away.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, girl,\u201d Joe called. \u201cIs that you?\u00a0 Mystery?\u201d<\/p>\n

There was an answer.\u00a0 A shrill squeal followed by a scream.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d the boy said as he moved forward with his hands extended.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what else to call you, girl.\u00a0 I could\u2019ve tried Blackie, or maybe Midnight, but they just ain\u2019t you.\u00a0 How come you don\u2019t like that name?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe was listening.\u00a0 Trying to discern where the animal was. \u00a0If it was truly frightened, it could lash out of the dark with its hooves and hurt him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it okay?\u00a0 Can I call you that?\u00a0 Mystery?\u201d<\/p>\n

Something moved beside him.\u00a0 It startled him since he thought he would have smelled horseflesh.\u00a0 Joe reached out and felt the mare\u2019s velvet-black coat brush against him.\u00a0 When it did, something broke inside him.\u00a0 Tears poured down the boy\u2019s cheeks as he buried his face in her side and suddenly all the strength went out of him.<\/p>\n

Joe slid to the floor and sat there, sobbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta…get out, girl,\u201d he said between gasps.\u00a0 \u201cAdam\u2019s hurt and I need to get Pa.\u00a0 Can you show me?\u00a0 Do you know where that shaft is?\u00a0 The one me and Hoss found?\u00a0 Do you know the way out?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe felt the mare\u2019s soft nose nuzzle his cheek, urging him to rise.\u00a0 Mystery nickered as she lowered her head so he could take hold of her mane.<\/p>\n

A moment later Joe was mounted.\u00a0 He gave Mystery her lead and let her take him where she would, which was farther down and into the darkness.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben left the Stanley brothers trussed up and tied to two separate trees.\u00a0 Injured, they would only have slowed him down.\u00a0 Earl had refused to say anything, but Virgil was the weak link and he\u2019d intimidated the younger man enough to get a general idea of where his boys were.\u00a0 Hoss and Joseph had played in the lake caves as boys \u2013 often against his wishes \u2013 until one day Hoss had stopped asking to go.\u00a0 He\u2019d never inquired why, figuring something had scared the boy and he\u2019d decided it was too dangerous for his younger brother.\u00a0 The caves were like rabbit warrens, with one connected to another and multiple ways in and out.\u00a0 The Paiutes used them, as did men seeking to escape the law.<\/p>\n

An unspoken urgency pressed Ben on.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t even taken time to go back for Buck.\u00a0 In spite of what Virgil said, Earl Stanley continued to insist the boys were dead.\u00a0 Earl was mean as a skunk and about as greedy as they came.\u00a0 He admitted he had intended to kidnap Joseph and issue a ransom demand, and then he was going to kill the boy and leave his body deep within one of the lake caves.\u00a0 The entrance to the cave would be blown, burying his victim and his crime for eternity.\u00a0 Earl had started to shake then and had seemed to lose his grip on reality, shouting that the mare was dead and he was finally free.\u00a0 When he pressed the man to give him more details, the elder Stanley had started mumbling incoherently and in the end, Ben had given up.<\/p>\n

The light was gone now except for the stars.\u00a0 The rain had passed and they were brilliant, blazing a path for him as he made his way over the rocky land.\u00a0 The problem was there were so many caves in the area.\u00a0 The only way he was going to be able to tell which one the boys were trapped in was by the fresh rock-fall and he simply couldn\u2019t see it.\u00a0 He was afraid he was going tot have to wait until morning and if one of them was hurt badly….<\/p>\n

That it might be too late.<\/p>\n

As he approached a large hill, Ben heard a faint noise.\u00a0 It sounded something like a woman crying and for a moment he wondered if Terese had returned.\u00a0 It took him a second or two, but then he recognized it.\u00a0 Of course, Joseph wouldn\u2019t have left the house alone.\u00a0 His son could barely see.\u00a0 Joe had<\/em> to have had a helper.<\/p>\n

\u201cRogue?\u00a0 Rogue, boy, is that you?\u201d<\/p>\n

The joyful bark that answered Ben made his own heart leap.\u00a0 A moment later he was nearly bowled over as a shaggy mass of thick curly brown fur struck him hard.<\/p>\n

He wrapped his fingers in the animal\u2019s fur as he knelt beside it.\u00a0 A quick feel told him Rogue was uninjured.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere are the boys, Rogue?\u00a0 Do you know?\u00a0 Can you take me to them?\u201d<\/p>\n

The dog whined and barked.\u00a0 Then it took off like a shot.<\/p>\n

Ben hastened to follow him, paying no attention to rocky ground; all but flying over it in his haste to find his sons.\u00a0 They\u2019d traveled about ten minutes when Rogue stopped in front of a solid rock wall and began to bark again.<\/p>\n

The older man ran over to it and pressed his face against the rocks.\u00a0 \u201cAdam!\u00a0 Hoss!\u00a0 Are you in there?\u00a0 Joseph?\u00a0 If you can hear me, answer me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogue was still barking.\u00a0 \u201cShush, boy,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI need to hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

As if understanding, the mutt his young sons loved sat back on its haunches and fell silent.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood boy.\u201d\u00a0 Turning back, Ben tried again.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u00a0 Hoss?\u00a0 Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

And then he heard it.\u00a0 A blessed voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa?\u00a0 Is that you?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Hoss.<\/p>\n

Ben felt the rocky wall with his fingers.\u00a0 There were chinks in it, some of them large enough to work his fingers into.\u00a0 He pressed his lips against one.\u00a0 \u201cHoss?\u00a0 Son, is that you?\u00a0 Are your brothers with you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam\u2019s here.\u201d\u00a0 There was a pause.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s hurt, Pa.\u00a0 Real bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dear God!<\/p>\n

\u201cIs he conscious?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben steeled himself.\u00a0 \u201cAnd Joseph?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 silence frightened him.\u00a0 Fortunately, it didn\u2019t last long. \u201cHe ain\u2019t here, Pa.\u00a0 Joe got trapped on the other side of a wall of rock.\u00a0 We…sent him away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did what?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAdam said there weren\u2019t no way to bring down all that rock without bringin\u2019 the whole cave down on Little Joe.\u00a0 We was hopin\u2019, well, prayin\u2019 really, that he\u2019d find another way out.\u00a0 You know how these caves are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes, he did.\u00a0 \u201cYou did your best, son.\u201d\u00a0 While he\u2019d been talking, Ben had been running his fingers over the stones.\u00a0 In one area, they moved.\u00a0 The older man reached in through the crack under the biggest one of them\u00a0 and wiggled his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cSon, can you see my hand?\u201d<\/p>\n

After a moment, Hoss gripped it. \u00a0\u201cYes, sir.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can just move this boulder.\u00a0 Maybe together….\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t have to say anything more.\u00a0 Suddenly, the boulder started rocking.<\/p>\n

\u201cEasy, son.\u00a0 Not too fast.\u00a0 If we do it together, we should be able to move it without bringing any more down.\u201d<\/p>\n

As they worked at it his middle son said, his voice shaking.\u00a0 \u201cEven if we can shift the rock, Pa, it ain\u2019t gonna be a big enough opening for me to get through.\u00a0 And Adam\u2019s gonna have to be lifted out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben looked Heavenward.\u00a0 Help me save my boys, <\/em>he mouthed.\u00a0 Dear Lord, help me help them!<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll take it one at a time,\u201d he replied.\u00a0 \u201cI think there are enough stones loose here to make an opening big enough for you to get out and me to get in.\u00a0 That way I can stay with Adam while you go for help.\u201d\u00a0 The older man paused.\u00a0 \u201cCan you do that, son?\u00a0 Are you able?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss\u2019 voice broke.\u00a0 \u201cBut…but what about Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben didn\u2019t stop what he was doing.\u00a0 He had to think of Adam first.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod will take care of your brother,\u201d he said at last.<\/p>\n

You hear that, God?<\/em><\/p>\n

You take care of my Little Joe.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mystery halted and put her head down.\u00a0 They were in a large cavern.\u00a0 Joe could tell by the echoes.\u00a0 It was lit by a pale light that fell from somewhere high above, though he couldn\u2019t tell where.\u00a0 After a moment Joe slid from the mare\u2019s back and stood at her side, talking softly and praising her for how far she\u2019d brought him. \u00a0She took it for a minute or two and then pulled away and disappeared into the darkness.\u00a0 As he stood there, straining to see where she had gone, Joe caught sight of something that looked like it didn\u2019t belong.\u00a0 It was low and white and was laying near the bottom of a funny looking tower of rock shaped kind of like a throne.\u00a0 Curious, he left Mystery\u2019s side and crossed over to it.\u00a0 Bending down, Joe reached for whatever it was.\u00a0 The object was cold to the touch and smooth, though there were bumps at both ends that felt kind of like something that would fit into a socket.\u00a0 He lifted it up and smelled it.\u00a0 It was kind of musty.\u00a0 Putting that piece down, Joe picked up another one and felt something clinging to its surface.\u00a0 This one was flat and concave and there was something stringy hanging on the outside of it, sort of like….<\/p>\n

Hair.<\/p>\n

Joe yelped and dropped what he now knew to be a piece of a skull. He darted back and then stood there, staring at the sad pile of what had once been a man or woman or….<\/p>\n

Beside him Mystery appeared.\u00a0 As the mare whinnied, Joe followed her lead and looked up.\u00a0 There was an opening over his head.\u00a0 Starlight was trickling through it.\u00a0 Something tickled his memory and he recalled the cave he and Hoss used to come to.\u00a0 They\u2019d found a shaft one time that emptied into it.<\/p>\n

Maybe this was it.<\/p>\n

Joe turned toward the black horse.\u00a0 \u201cHey!\u00a0 Mystery!\u00a0 You do know the way out!\u201d<\/p>\n

The horse didn\u2019t squeal at her name this time, but shifted back and retreated once more into the darkness.<\/p>\n

Joe squinted.\u00a0 \u201cMystery?\u00a0 Where are you, girl?\u00a0 Are you okay?\u201d<\/p>\n

Something moved.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s aching eyes tried to focus on it.\u00a0 It reminded him of a shadow coming over a mountain \u2013 black enveloping a deeper black.\u00a0 He blinked, wondering if he was seeing things.\u00a0 But no, he wasn\u2019t, because it happened again.\u00a0 Taking a step forward, he called out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMystery?\u00a0 Is that you?\u201d<\/p>\n

It is I, Jos\u00e9pe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Joe froze.\u00a0 Unless the mare had learned to talk there was someone else down here with him.<\/p>\n

He swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cHello?\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever it was moved again.\u00a0 Joe thought he caught a glimpse of a woman\u2019s face, surrounded by long shining black hair.\u00a0 Then a long slender arm with a bracelet of golden coins reached toward him.<\/p>\n

The coins jangled.<\/p>\n

Jos\u00e9pe.\u00a0 Come. <\/em><\/p>\n

As he stood there, trembling, the arm vanished.\u00a0 A second later, he heard a familiar sound. \u00a0\u00a0Mystery nickered.\u00a0 The mare appeared briefly and then backed off again as if she wanted him to follow.<\/p>\n

Holding his breath, Joe did as she asked.\u00a0 He stepped into the pool of blackness and then suddenly \u2013 miraculously \u2013 was struck by a beam of light that fell through the opening in the ceiling above.\u00a0 It illuminated not only him, but two piles of bones.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s breath caught as he spotted them.\u00a0 One skeleton was smaller than the other.\u00a0 A leather belt lay across its narrow hips and there was a boy\u2019s hat near its head.\u00a0 The other was larger.\u00a0 A woman by the look of it.\u00a0 Her bones were scattered, but there was one he recognized.<\/p>\n

An arm bone with a bracelet of gold coins circling the wrist.<\/p>\n

Reverently Joe reached out to touch it, tears streaking his filthy cheeks.\u00a0 \u201cIs this what you wanted me to find, girl?\u00a0 Mystery?\u201d<\/p>\n

He was alone.<\/p>\n

The mare was gone.<\/p>\n

SIX<\/p>\n

Ben ran a hand across his grimy forehead.\u00a0 He had reached Hoss and together they had managed to lift the \u00a0boulder that was trapping Adam just enough that they were able to drag him out from under it.\u00a0 Then, after making sure his eldest son\u2019s condition was stable and that he was as comfortable as possible, he and his middle son had set off into the night.\u00a0 He\u2019d decided they would make their way back together to where he had left the Stanley brothers.\u00a0 He was going to need help if he was going to get Adam out and he didn\u2019t want to wait for Hoss to do it.\u00a0 They needed the doctor pronto.\u00a0 Adam was severely injured and he was worried his son would go into shock. Earl Stanley would fight him, but he was fairly certain he could persuade the outlaw to help.\u00a0 The promise of a word spoken to the sheriff that would commute his sentence from death to prison time would certainly be enough.<\/p>\n

Ben was vastly disappointed when they arrived and found Virgil Stanley alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cDamn!\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n

Hoss looked at him sideways.\u00a0 \u201cYou gonna wash your own<\/em> mouth out with soap, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cForgive me, Hoss.\u00a0 There are times when simple words just aren\u2019t enough,\u201d he grumbled.\u00a0 \u201cWhat was I thinking?\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t have left Earl Stanley alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was you gonna do?\u00a0 You couldn\u2019t drag him kickin\u2019 and fightin\u2019 all the way to the cave.\u00a0 \u2018Sides, he might have overpowered you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben nodded.\u00a0 At least he had had the foresight to gather up all the weapons and ammunition and toss what he couldn\u2019t carry into the lake.\u00a0 Stanley had no weapon.\u00a0 He\u2019d hidden the gold as well, intending to retrieve it later and return it to its proper owner.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s unarmed,\u201d he agreed.\u00a0 \u201cAnd probably on the run.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about this one?\u201d Hoss indicated Virgil who was laying on the ground gagged and tied and staring at them.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis right arm is useless.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to go back and take care of Adam myself.\u201d\u00a0 Ben looked along the trail that had brought him here.\u00a0 \u201cBuck is tethered back about a half mile.\u00a0 Take him and ride to town.\u00a0 Bring Paul as quickly as you can.\u00a0 Look for us on the road first.\u00a0 If I can, I\u2019ll rig a travois and we\u2019ll meet you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss hesitated.<\/p>\n

Ben placed a hand on his son\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cI know you\u2019re worried about Little Joe,\u201d he said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cI am too.\u00a0 But we have to see to Adam\u2019s needs first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure thing, Pa.\u201d\u00a0 The boy started to move away, but then swung back.\u00a0 \u201cPa, I think there\u2019s somethin\u2019 might help find Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it, son?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cave.\u00a0 Its the one Joe and I used to play in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne time, we found this back way in.\u00a0 A natural shaft cut into the earth.\u00a0 It went down about fifteen feet and then there was a short drop.\u201d\u00a0 There was hope in his voice.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe Little Joe found it.\u00a0 If he could reach the shaft, he\u2019s small enough to climb out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben nodded, suddenly hopeful himself.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou want me to go back and show you where it comes out, Pa?\u00a0 I think I can find it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019ll send Rogue to look for your brother.\u00a0 If Joseph is there, he\u2019ll sniff him out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss grinned.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t think of that. \u00a0I sure do love that dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben nodded.<\/p>\n

He was beginning to love that shaggy fur rug himself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It took everything that was in him, but Joe managed to climb to the top of the pile of rocks that looked like a king\u2019s chair.\u00a0 He was filthy and covered with bruises and scratches, but he was perched on it now, looking up. \u00a0The starlight that slid down the shaft hurt his eyes and made them water.\u00a0 Still, in his mind\u2019s eye he could Hoss boosting him up so he could take hold of its edge, and the two of them flying out of here fast as jack rabbits..<\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019s gaze shifted to the darkened corner of the cave where the skeletons of the woman and boy lay; to where he\u2019d seen the woman\u2019s ghost.\u00a0 He sniffed and wiped the arm of his sleeve across his soiled face as tears streamed down it.\u00a0 He wondered how they had ended up dead and buried so deep in the earth, and if anyone had missed them.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t take much to guess that the woman and boy had been murdered and their bodies left here so no one would find them.<\/p>\n

A crime had been committed and no one knew about it and that scared Joe just about as much as being alone in the dark, seven feet from rescue and barely able to see.<\/p>\n

Turning his attention again to the platform he stood on, Joe examined the top of the rocky structure.\u00a0 It was mostly flat, but there was one precarious pile of rocks that would put him high enough to get his fingers on the edge of the shaft and maybe pull himself in.\u00a0 The trouble was, it was unstable and so was he.\u00a0 Hoss had been big enough to put him on his shoulders and let him scramble up, and then strong enough to pull himself after him.\u00a0 He was neither.\u00a0 The only way he was gonna get out was to climb that small pile of rocks and then push off them and catch hold.<\/p>\n

Which would make the rocks fall.<\/p>\n

He had one chance.\u00a0 Just one.<\/p>\n

Joe looked over the edge of the tower he stood on.\u00a0 There was only a pool of darkness.<\/p>\n

And a long way down.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben knelt on the ground.\u00a0 Upon his arrival back at the cave he\u2019d hunted the area in front of it and had come across some of his boy\u2019s belongings.\u00a0 He\u2019d found a bundle of Adam\u2019s things abandoned on the ground.\u00a0 Then Hoss\u2019s rifle where it had fallen next to the entry to the cave.\u00a0 Last of all was this.\u00a0 The rancher dusted off the small black object as he rose to his feet.<\/p>\n

Joseph\u2019s hat.<\/p>\n

At his feet Rogue milled, weaving in and out of his legs, whining in sympathy.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d gone in to check on Adam first.\u00a0 The boy had stirred when he spoke to him, which was a good sign, but his fever was rising and he wasn\u2019t entirely making sense.\u00a0 Rogue had been guarding him and had done a good job.<\/p>\n

Now he had another one for him to do.<\/p>\n

Ben leaned down and let the dog sniff his son\u2019s hat.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Joe, boy.\u00a0 Find Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

A pair of liquid eyes looked up at him \u2013 giant black eyes shining out of a nest of unruly curls as thick as his missing son\u2019s.\u00a0 The animal hesitated a moment and then he barked, sharp and loud.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood, boy.\u00a0 Go!\u00a0 Find Joe and bring him here.\u00a0 Go.\u00a0 Go, now!\u201d<\/p>\n

With another bark and a shake of his shaggy mane, Rogue was off.<\/p>\n

It took everything that was in him not to follow.\u00a0 Ben closed his eyes and whispered a quick prayer.\u00a0 Wherever Joseph was, he had to believe he was safe and well and that God would hold him until he could put his arms around him again.<\/p>\n

A second later Ben Cartwright walked into the trees and began to look for branches strong enough to construct a frame to hold his injured son.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe had climbed up onto the smaller tower and was balanced there, terrified.\u00a0 The boulder he was standing on wobbled every time he breathed.\u00a0 Well, not when he breathed really, but every time he shifted or moved his arms or did just about anything.<\/em> He\u2019d been brave enough to reach up one time and his fingers had brushed the edge of the bottom of the shaft.\u00a0 Inches.\u00a0 It was just inches away.<\/p>\n

It might as well have been a mile.<\/p>\n

In order\u00a0 to reach it he was gonna have to kick off, and in order to kick off, he was gonna move the rocks and plain and simple, he was going to die.<\/p>\n

Joe glanced at the area that held the bones again and swallowed hard.<\/p>\n

Turning back and lifting his face into the light that rained down the shaft, he told himself to go for it.\u00a0 Just…do <\/em>it.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have any food or water and he was already feeling woozy.\u00a0 If he didn\u2019t get out soon…if nobody found him, he was going to die anyway.\u00a0 A man could only go three or four days without water, and maybe a week or two without food.\u00a0 When Pa did come, he was gonna be worried about Adam.\u00a0 He and Hoss would have to take care of big brother first.<\/p>\n

They might not even start<\/em> to look for him for three or four days.<\/p>\n

Poised there, literally on the brink of death, the twelve-year-old thought about the one he loved who had gone before.\u00a0 It\u2019d been seven years since he\u2019d seen his mama and already her face was like something out of a dream.\u00a0 If Pa hadn\u2019t given him that picture that he had on his dresser, he wasn\u2019t sure he\u2019d even remember what she looked like.\u00a0 Sometimes, in <\/em>his dreams, she spoke to him.\u00a0 But when he woke, he couldn\u2019t remember her voice either.\u00a0 It was like, well, like she\u2019d never existed.\u00a0 Like Mama was a thing of smoke just like that ghost that he couldn\u2019t quite catch hold of \u2013 one that would elude him until he met her again on the other side.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s jaw tightened.\u00a0 Either way, if he made it or if he didn\u2019t, someone he loved was waiting for him.<\/p>\n

As he steeled himself to jump, he heard a familiar sound.\u00a0 It was faint at first and then grew louder as it traveled down the shaft above him.\u00a0 Joe looked up, blinking, and saw a bushy brown face with big black eyes looking down at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cRogue!\u201d<\/p>\n

The dog yelped and barked and pranced in the small space.\u00a0 Then it lost its footing and slid down toward the edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey!\u00a0 Boy!\u00a0 You stay still!\u00a0 Don\u2019t you try to jump down here!\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogue\u2019s toes were perched on the edge of the shaft. \u00a0A small trickle of earth fell and struck Joe on the cheek.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, he was terrified the animal would fall.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want Rogue\u2019s bones left down here with the others any more than he wanted his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you move, boy!\u00a0 I\u2019ll….\u201d\u00a0 Joe gulped.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll come up to you!\u201d<\/p>\n

As his words echoed around him, Joe made his decision and jumped.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAdam.\u00a0 Can you hear me, son?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam blinked and licked his lips.\u00a0 Then he frowned.\u00a0 He\u2019d been sitting in a hall at Harvard, working on a diagram, when one of his professors had come over and told him he had it all wrong.\u00a0 The man had gone red in the face as he screamed at him over and over again how brainless he was and how he\u2019d never make a life for himself outside of being a malodorous cowboy covered with filth, reeking of bovine urine and blood.\u00a0 He\u2019d risen to his feet and shouted back, but it seemed the man couldn\u2019t hear him.\u00a0 He\u2019d shouted until his throat was hoarse, but it did not good.\u00a0 The professor just turned away.\u00a0 Furious, he\u2019d run after him and caught him by the shoulder and turned him around only to find that it wasn\u2019t his professor at all.<\/p>\n

It was his father.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa…?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank God,\u201d the older man whispered.\u00a0 \u201cI was afraid I did you harm by getting you out of that horrid place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam blinked again to clear his eyes of tears and grime. It took a moment, but he realized he was outside the cave.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you in pain?\u201d<\/p>\n

Was he?\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t thought about it.\u00a0 When he did, he realized just how much pain he was<\/em> in.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Henry Comstock…rich?\u201d he managed with a weak grin.<\/p>\n

His father squeezed his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cGood.\u00a0\u00a0 Well, not \u2018good\u2019, but you know what I mean.\u00a0 It\u2019s good you can feel.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been worried about that too.\u00a0 Waking up and being paralyzed, maybe for life.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYour brother has gone to fetch the Doctor.\u00a0 I built this contraption so we can meet them on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s eyes wandered down his dusty frame.\u00a0 He was on some kind of a litter.\u00a0 It was hitched to Sport.\u00a0 His father must have found his horse grazing somewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Joe?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

There was a pause.\u00a0 \u201cStill missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow…long?\u201d<\/p>\n

His father rose to his feet and looked back at the cave.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s been a full day and a bit more, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe\u2019s…strong, Pa.\u00a0 He\u2019ll…be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man said nothing as the same scenarios played through his mind that Adam was imagining \u2013 Joe laying somewhere in the darkness unable to go on; a second blow to the head having dropped him.\u00a0 Little Joe, walking, falling without warning over the edge of some unseen cliff into a chasm only to disappear forever.\u00a0 Little Joe dragging his body forward, slowly dying of thirst, ranting, out of his head, believing they had abandoned him.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph is in God\u2019s hands,\u201d his father said at last.\u00a0 A moment later he added, \u201cI sent Rogue to look for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam thought he remembered the dog being there.\u00a0 He\u2019d awakened a couple of times to find him licking his face.\u00a0 Apparently Rogue didn\u2019t like being alone either.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll…find him.\u00a0 You…know a boy…and his dog.\u201d<\/p>\n

A slight smile curled his father\u2019s lips.\u00a0 \u201cI certainly do now,\u201d he said softly.<\/p>\n

Adam was frowning.\u00a0 \u201cPa.\u00a0 Listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you….\u201d\u00a0 The older man cocked his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa, it\u2019s…Rogue.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe dropped onto the earth and kissed it.\u00a0 Then he kissed his dog.<\/p>\n

They were out!<\/p>\n

For all his exhilaration, he was exhausted and he started to shake the minute the cold night air hit him.\u00a0 Rogue bounded over and landed on top of him and while the dog barked, Joe laughed and cried and then laughed some more as the his dog\u2019s prickly tongue cleaned his face like one of Hop Sing\u2019s loofah sponges.<\/p>\n

Joe caught Rogue\u2019s spiraling fur in his fingers.\u00a0 Holding him back, he said, \u201cHey.\u00a0 Hey, boy!\u00a0 Cut it out.\u00a0 You\u2019ll lick my face off!\u201d<\/p>\n

Rogue didn\u2019t care, he just kept on licking.<\/p>\n

Exhausted, Joe lay back in the grass, his hands buried in Rogue\u2019s long fur.\u00a0 He had no idea where he was.\u00a0 From what he remembered \u2013 and it wasn\u2019t much \u2013 the shaft in the side of the hill that he and Hoss had found so long ago had been a short ways from the entry to the cave.\u00a0 Somewhere back there his brothers were still trapped.\u00a0 Adam was hurt.<\/p>\n

He had to get up and get moving and get them help!<\/p>\n

It hurt to climb to his feet.\u00a0 More than he expected.\u00a0 But he did it anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, boy.\u00a0 We gotta go \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ain\u2019t goin\u2019 anywhere, you little brat, but to Hell!\u201d a rough voice snarled.<\/p>\n

Joe looked up into the face of his nightmares.<\/p>\n

It was Earl Stanley.<\/p>\n

Stanley reached out and caught him by the collar and shook him hard.\u00a0 As he did Rogue let off a series of low growls and leapt for the outlaw.\u00a0 Stanley kicked the dog hard and sent him flying before turning back to him.\u00a0 The man\u2019s eyes were wild.\u00a0 Blood matted his hair and was crusted on one side of his face and he was trembling like someone who had had too much to drink.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019d you see down there, boy!\u00a0 You tell me!\u00a0 You tell me now!\u201d<\/em> the outlaw demanded as he shook him again, hard enough to rattle his teeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing!\u00a0 I didn\u2019t see nothing!\u201d Joe shouted back.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re lyin\u2019 boy! \u00a0You saw her, didn\u2019t you?\u00a0 Her and that prissy whining brat of hers.\u00a0 He fought hard just like you, boy.\u00a0 He fought hard when I took her, but he lost.\u00a0 I took him out.\u201d\u00a0 Earl Stanley\u2019s hands went to his neck.\u00a0 His fingers began to tighten.\u00a0 \u201cJust like I\u2019m gonna take you <\/em>out!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRelease my son!\u201d<\/p>\n

The outlaw froze, his hands still wrapped around his neck.\u00a0 Joe was barely breathing.\u00a0 Blackness had risen before his eyes, but now there was something else there \u2013 a vision of his salvation.<\/p>\n

His pa!<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, let the boy go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa had Hoss\u2019 rifle and it was aimed at the madman who held him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can snap this boy\u2019s neck before you get off a shot, Cartwright,\u201d Earl Stanley snarled, his voice low and menacing.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you know it.\u00a0 Maybe he won\u2019t die, but if he lives, he won\u2019t be good for nothin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe stiffened.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t thought of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa…\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep quiet, Joseph,\u201d his father ordered.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, Earl, what is it you want?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA horse.\u00a0 Safe passage out of here.\u201d\u00a0 The outlaw moved, whirling so fast he couldn\u2019t follow it.\u00a0 A second later Joe found himself trapped in the man\u2019s arms.\u00a0 The bad man was using him as a shield!\u00a0 \u201cThis one\u2019s comin\u2019 with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes!\u201d\u00a0 Stanley\u2019s hands had moved. One was behind his head now and the other on his throat.\u00a0 \u201cAll it takes is one twist, Cartwright.\u201d\u00a0 He chuckled, a maniacal sound.\u00a0 \u201cYou think I wouldn\u2019t do it?\u00a0 I killed a kid with my bare hands before.\u00a0 He\u2019s in there.\u201d\u00a0 The outlaw indicated the cave.\u00a0 \u201cIf you listen real close, you can hear him crying.\u201d\u00a0 Stanley\u2019s voice grew hollow.\u00a0 \u201cI hear him.\u00a0 Every night….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKilling Joseph won\u2019t clear your conscience,\u201d his father said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes you think I got one?\u201d the outlaw countered quickly.<\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWhat you just said, Stanley.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe felt the man\u2019s fingers tighten on his throat.\u00a0 \u201cWell then, since I\u2019m already damned, one more death won\u2019t matter, will it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Slowly, Joe\u2019s fear was galvanizing into anger.\u00a0 That poor woman and boy laying down there all these years with no one knowin\u2019 what happened to them \u2013 this man had done it!\u00a0 Bolstered by the rage running through him, Joe started to struggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph, no!\u00a0 Stay still!\u201d his pa shouted.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Pa,\u201d he managed before Stanley\u2019s grip increased, choking off the words and his air.<\/p>\n

Unbidden Joe\u2019s hands went to the outlaw\u2019s fingers and began to claw at them.\u00a0 Beside him, he heard something stir and then a low threatening growl.\u00a0 At that same instant there was a voice \u2013 not his pa\u2019s, but another blessed voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa! Get down!\u00a0 Now!\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man didn\u2019t hesitate.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s eyes followed his father as he dropped to his knees and then rose to see his brother Adam stepping out of the darkness.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s eyes fixed on his.\u00a0 Trust me<\/em>, they said.<\/p>\n

There was a shot.<\/p>\n

And everything went black.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When Joe woke up he was on his back and the world was moving under him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome back,\u201d a wry voice said.<\/p>\n

He blinked and looked toward the voice.\u00a0 His eyes were all but useless, but he recognized the head of sleek black hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam?<\/p>\n

That single word cost Joe more than a whole day playing hooky.\u00a0 His hand shot to his throat.\u00a0 Adam caught it and pulled it back and placed it at his side.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t try to…talk.\u00a0 Doc Martin said your…throat is injured, little brother.\u00a0 It may be weeks before you can ask your endless…questions again.\u201d<\/p>\n

That just wasn\u2019t fair!\u00a0 He had so many.\u00a0 Where was Pa?\u00a0 Where was Rogue?\u00a0 Adam had mentioned Doc Martin, so that meant Hoss had made it to town and back okay.\u00a0 What had happened to the bad man who tried to kill him?\u00a0 Was he dead? \u00a0\u00a0He didn\u2019t remember much, just Adam rising like a ghost out of the dark with a gun in his hand and a shot.\u00a0\u00a0 What about the other ghost?\u00a0 Who was she?\u00a0 Who had<\/em> she been?\u00a0 Was she the same lady whose body was laying in the cave with that boy?\u00a0 Who was the boy?<\/p>\n

And what about Mystery?<\/p>\n

Adam laughed and then winced.\u00a0 \u201cI can see this is going to be torture for both of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe swallowed.\u00a0 Then he disobeyed.\u00a0 \u201cAre…you…okay?\u201d\u00a0 His voice had the sound of panning for gold and using it was like a smelting fire.<\/p>\n

His brother\u2019s hand settled on his chest.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I didn\u2019t do myself…any good getting up and…moving.\u00a0 The Doc thinks I may be,\u201d he paused, \u201cI may be in a wheelchair for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s eyes danced at first with the image of his brother on wheels, and then filled with tears when he realized what Adam had done for him.\u00a0 He squeezed his fingers back.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be.\u00a0 It\u2019s done.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t you, it was…the cave.\u201d\u00a0 Adam looked away.\u00a0 \u201cCan\u2019t blame…a cave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRiding ahead with the Doc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe swallowed again over agony.\u00a0 \u201cPa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t I…say no questions?\u201d<\/p>\n

He pulled a face.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re hopeless.\u00a0 Once he knew you were all right…Pa went ahead of us to take…Earl Stanley\u2019s brother to the sheriff…and Earl to the undertaker.\u201d<\/p>\n

His eyes asked the next question.\u00a0 Am<\/em> I all right?<\/p>\n

Adam got it.\u00a0 \u201cPaul thinks you did pretty good…though he said he was…tempted to brain you a third time for reinjuring your head.\u00a0 You have a…long convalescence ahead of you, little brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe closed his eyes.\u00a0 All those questions that had been spinning around in his head seemed less important now.\u00a0 He was tired.\u00a0 He just wanted to sleep.<\/p>\n

A hand shook him.\u00a0 \u201cSorry.\u00a0 The Doc said if you woke up I was to…keep you awake if I could.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen,\u201d the fire came again as he spoke, \u201ctell him…you…couldn\u2019t….\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam laughed.\u00a0 \u201cHow about if I sing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe scowled. \u00a0That would only put<\/em> him to sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou…ain\u2019t got…a…guitar.\u201d<\/p>\n

His older brother smiled.\u00a0 \u201cOh, I have something…much better.\u201d\u00a0 Adam cleared his throat and began to sing.\u00a0 It was a soft sound, made even softer than usual by his lack of breath and fatigue.\u00a0 Joe felt himself drifting off \u2013 until Adam\u2019s accompaniment started.<\/p>\n

The shaggy mound of fur beside him shifted and lifted its head.\u00a0 It looked at him and then at Adam and then began to howl to beat the band.<\/p>\n

It hurt to laugh \u2013 for both of them.<\/p>\n

But they did it anyhow.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

EPILOGUE<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright hooked his finger in the book he held and thought about the words he had just read on the printed page.<\/p>\n

It rains, and the wind is never weary;
\nThe vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
\nBut at every gust the dead leaves fall,
\nAnd the day is dark and dreary.<\/em><\/p>\n

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
\nIt rains, and the wind is never weary;
\nMy thoughts still cling to the mouldering past,
\nBut the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
\nAnd the days are dark and dreary.<\/p>\n

Be still, sad heart, and cease repining;
\nBehind the clouds is the sun still shining;
\nThy fate is the common fate of all,
\nInto each life some rain must fall,
\nSome days must be dark and dreary.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

With a sigh, he put the book down and ran a hand across his eyes.\u00a0 <\/em>Four weeks had passed and his sons were on the mend.\u00a0 Adam had been granted permission by Paul Martin to leave his wheelchair behind a few days before and was on his feet again, though his eldest had said that if he\u2019d known his legs and Little Joe\u2019s throat were going to sort themselves out at the same time, he might have stayed in it so he could have wheeled himself away faster.\u00a0 Joe was an endless tide of questions, some of which he had managed to find the answers to while his boys had mended.<\/p>\n

The tragic story he\u2019d recalled about the Navarra family was indeed the source of all their woes.\u00a0 Even though the Mexican-American war had ended in 1848, its repercussions were felt to this day.\u00a0 Danel Navarre had managed to hang onto his land and money after the war for a few years \u2013 early on they had even done some business together \u2013 but he had lost it in time, and then lost his life to a mob of men whose brothers and fathers had fallen in the war and who were looking to take his treasure in recompense.\u00a0 They set fire to Navarra\u2019s home, released all his cattle, stole several horses, and kidnapped Danel\u2019s young wife and son.\u00a0 Danel\u2019s wife had been a beautiful woman; a typical dark-eyed Spanish beauty with olive skin and flashing black eyes.\u00a0 Her hair had been a wave of shimmering black that curled lightly at the ends.\u00a0 Her son\u2019s hair was curly as well; a mass of black spirals that, from what Ben remembered, had rivaled his own son\u2019s.<\/p>\n

When the raid took place, Jos\u00e9pe Navarra would have been twelve years old just as Joe was now.\u00a0 There was some question as to why the boy had simply not been killed, considering the outlaws intentions for his mother.\u00a0 But for some reason he wasn\u2019t, or at least so it was believed since neither of their bodies had been found.<\/p>\n

Until now.<\/p>\n

Ben thought of Hoss and smiled as he remembered his reconciliation with his teenage son.\u00a0 He\u2019d apologized for the hasty words he spoke when Joseph was injured and Hoss, being the gentle soul he was, had easily and readily forgiven him.\u00a0 The boy was still quite shaken by what had happened.\u00a0 He knew now that he had stumbled on the Navarra\u2019s bones all those years ago while exploring the lake cave with his brother, but had not understood what he\u2019d seen.<\/p>\n

Shyly, the boy told him he\u2019d thought it was a ghost.<\/p>\n

The older man\u2019s dark eyes went to his youngest son where he lay sleeping on the settee, his tousled curls showing above the blanket he had covered him with.\u00a0 Unlike Hoss, Little Joe didn\u2019t think<\/em> he\u2019d seen a ghost.\u00a0 He was convinced <\/em>of it.\u00a0 Just as he was convinced that the black mare that had nearly killed him had, in reality, saved his life.\u00a0 The boy had taken a second blow to the head in the cave-in, so it was doubtful that much of what he remembered was true.\u00a0 Still, Joseph told them about how the mare had sought him out, and how she had rescued him from the Stanleys.\u00a0 He explained how she had led him to the shaft that he and Hoss had discovered all those years ago so he could escape.<\/p>\n

Sadly, such tales were proof that the boy\u2019s memory was faulty.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t had the heart to tell Joseph the truth.\u00a0 When they\u2019d finally had time to explore the chamber Hoss and Adam had been trapped in and examined the stone wall created by the explosion, they had found the black mare \u2013 they had found Mystery \u2013 buried under a ton of rock.<\/p>\n

Ben sighed.\u00a0 According to Virgil Stanley, whose story rivaled Joseph\u2019s for being fantastic, he and his brother had taken Mrs. Navarra and her son to the cave after they\u2019d killed her husband.\u00a0 Earl Stanley was an evil man and he had his way with her \u2013 in front of the boy.\u00a0 Jos\u00e9pe had attacked him and been killed, and then the outlaws had murdered the woman too and left the mother and son\u2019s bodies in the cave, believing no one would ever find them.\u00a0 The money they had taken from the Navarras they had buried nearby with the intention of returning several years later to dig it up and divide up the spoils. \u00a0After that, they rode away on the horses they had stolen.<\/p>\n

One of the animals was Jos\u00e9pe\u2019s, a sleek black mare named Beltza, which was the Basque word for \u2018night\u2019.\u00a0 Virgil said when they emerged from the cave, after killing the woman and boy, the horse went mad.\u00a0 It broke free and ran off into the night, they thought to disappear forever.\u00a0 But no matter where they went, there Beltza was.\u00a0 Virgil said sometimes the mare was alone, and sometimes there was a dark-haired woman riding on her back.\u00a0 He believed the spirit of Mrs. Navarra and the horse became one at times and that she watched them, waiting for them to return to the scene of their crime.<\/p>\n

Virgil said it slowly drove his older brother mad.\u00a0 Earl came to believe that they had to give the woman what she wanted in order to be rid of her.\u00a0 He\u2019d made a wristlet of some of the gold coins and put it on her skeletal wrist, so she\u2019d have her treasure.\u00a0 Then it had become fixed in his mind that he had to restore her son to her.\u00a0 Earl had chosen Joseph since his son resembled the boy and was about the same age and it seemed the mare was taken with him.\u00a0 He intended to kidnap Little Joe, ask for ransom, and then \u2013 using Joseph to lure the horse into the cave \u2013 seal them both in forever before leaving Nevada for good.<\/p>\n

Ben shuddered.<\/p>\n

It had been close.\u00a0 Very <\/em>close.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa?\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man stirred.\u00a0 He smiled at his son\u2019s gravely voice.\u00a0 Paul said it would mend in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Joseph?\u201d he asked as he went to sit on the table beside him.\u00a0 Of course, he had to shift Rogue out of the way first.\u00a0 The dog hadn\u2019t left Joseph\u2019s side since they\u2019d brought him home.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d have to do something about that soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man held back his smile.\u00a0 Adam would say that was a dangerous thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat have you been thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe scooted up and then took hold of Rogue\u2019s brown fur as the dog rose and leaned on him.\u00a0 \u201cWe never figured out why the black mare shied when I said her name.\u00a0 You know \u2013 Mystery?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben had thought about that \u2013 quite a lot \u2013 and he\u2019d come up with an answer.\u00a0 The thought of how he arrived at it still chilled him.\u00a0 He was a practical man.\u00a0 Grounded.\u00a0 He was deeply spiritual, but he had no belief in the supernatural, in things like shape-shifters, banshees, and ghosts.\u00a0 The West was littered with such beliefs and they made men weak and sometimes dangerous, like Earl Stanley.<\/p>\n

Still, if Joseph asked, he would be hard-pressed to explain what he was about to say in any other way.<\/p>\n

Ben reached out and touched his son\u2019s curls.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know what Mrs. Navarra\u2019s Christian name was, son?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s head shook.\u00a0 He still used gestures to save words when he could.<\/p>\n

\u201cTerese.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben had asked around, being careful to conceal how he knew what he knew of the woman.\u00a0 Terese Navarra, her neighbors said, had been a lovely vibrant women, loved by all who knew her.\u00a0 When young her sisters had given her a pet name, much as his boys did when they called each other \u2018older\u2019 and \u2018middle\u2019 brother.\u00a0 Terese had been the one who appreciated beautiful things, who loved to dance and sing. She was apparently quite fastidious in her appearance, so much so her sisters always addressed her with the title\u2019 \u2018miss\u2019, even after she married.<\/p>\n

Miss Terese.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Ben Cartwright,\u00a0Family,\u00a0Hop Sing,\u00a0Hoss Cartwright,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright,\u00a0SAS,\u00a0SHS,\u00a0SJS<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a012 year old Little Joe Cartwright loves black horses, especially the new black mare his brothers found and brought home. Though their father disapproves, Little Joe knows she’s the one for him and sets out to prove it. What do an apparition, a burned out ranch, a stolen fortune, a group of desperate outlaws, and Little Joe Cartwright have in common besides trouble? Mystery.<\/p>\n

Rated PG for frightening images and western violence \u00a0(25,100 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10058,"featured_media":14022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,23,41,32,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actionadventure","category-drama","category-hurtcomfort","category-mystery","category-prequels","wpcat-2-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-41-id","wpcat-32-id","wpcat-30-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":5199,"today_views":1},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Mystery.jpg?fit=2400%2C3600&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11852,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=11852","url_meta":{"origin":14021,"position":0},"title":"Don’t Give Up (by Mumu74)","author":"mumu74","date":"October 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 This is my contribution, with the words I received, including the Petticoats. 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