Summary: <\/b>Shortly after his 16th birthday, Joe finds himself taking on responsibilities he couldn’t foresee. \u00a0And now, it’s up to him to help his oldest brother out of a deadly situation.<\/p>\n
Rating: \u00a0T \u00a0(24,700 words)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For Puchi, who writes a wonderful Adam though she loves Joe best,\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0for Marian who is always my inspiration for Joe,\u00a0<\/em>and to all those who\u2019ve thought that I would only write Adam stories!<\/em><\/p>\n Special thanks to one-who-shall-remain-nameless for pestering me\u00a0<\/em>and other inspirations, including a great \u00a0conversation in an airport bar.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fields of White<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The tall sorrel blew hard, plumes of white breath clouding the air as he leaned into the turn. He\u2019d just about raced his heart out, and his rider knew there weren\u2019t many more miles left in either of them.\u00a0 This was the hardest part of the journey, too \u2013 headed up the last few hundred yards to Spooner Summit.\u00a0 It was a long, hard climb from the Carson Valley to the crest of the Sierra Nevada even at a sane pace, but if they could make it to the other side, they\u2019d practically be on Ponderosa land where they might possibly be safe.<\/p>\n Ahead of him, his brother\u2019s pinto skidded through a bend at the crest of the trail, kicking clods of white into the air that shone against the bright blue sky like sparkles floating in a music box globe.\u00a0 Fortunately, yesterday\u2019s snow had been relatively light; a full-fledged December storm in the Sierra Nevada mountains was likely to leave multiple feet in its wake rather than the inches that now covered the slate-stone hills, and they wouldn\u2019t have had a chance.\u00a0 As it was, they had to keep as far ahead of the five-man posse as they could since there was no possibility of hiding their trail.<\/p>\n He urged his horse faster with legs and voice and gloved hands, trying to encourage him.\u00a0 If they could just make it over this ridge, the run down the other side could serve as enough of a rest that his horse might be able to make it to the ranch.\u00a0 They headed up and into the same turn his brother had just taken, but the sorrel had run farther and his rider was heavier than the pinto\u2019s, and when his hooves lost purchase on the slippery trail, they went down hard in a flurry of legs, black dirt and white powder.\u00a0 In the sudden silence, the disturbed snow floated back to earth, lightly dusting the motionless horse where it lay at the top of a long, steep slope. \u201cWhat\u2014?\u201d Joe had asked as he finished tightening his cinch.<\/p>\n Adam cut him off.\u00a0 \u201cJust get on your horse, boy, and ride!\u201d<\/p>\n Having just had his sixteenth birthday, that boy<\/em> rankled, but deep down Joe trusted his brother implicitly so he leaped into his saddle and kicked Cochise into a gallop.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the way to treat a good horse, to push him to his top speed without letting him warm his muscles first, but then Adam hadn\u2019t been treating Sport any better.\u00a0 He knew well his brother\u2019s views on the humane treatment of their horses, so if Adam was running his favorite mount into the ground, there was sure to be a very good reason.<\/p>\n He glanced over his shoulder again, and his worry doubled when he still didn\u2019t see Adam.\u00a0 In a split-second decision, he reined his horse around.\u00a0 Cochise spun on his hind legs in a half-rear, and they bounded up the steep trail.\u00a0 The horse skidded to a sudden halt near the top, nearly unseating his rider as they slid to a stop next to Adam\u2019s horse, which lay on the snowy path, sides heaving from exhaustion.<\/p>\n Joe leaped from the saddle and looked round the countryside for his brother.\u00a0 \u201cAdam!\u201d he cried, near-panic making his heart jump.<\/p>\n He could just barely see the back of Adam\u2019s head where he lay a good forty yards down the hill off the north side of the trail, at the end of a long, deep track.\u00a0 He\u2019d slid through a drift and part way out the other side, and was almost completely covered with snow.\u00a0 Making a quick decision, Joe grabbed his rifle and saddlebags off his horse and slapped him on the rump.\u00a0 Startled and relieved of his rider\u2019s weight, the pinto bolted down the hill toward, Joe hoped, home.\u00a0 He knelt briefly by Adam\u2019s horse and quickly determined that the animal was simply exhausted, not injured.\u00a0 He grabbed his brother\u2019s hat, which had tumbled to a stop a few feet away, climbed over the horse\u2019s belly to the hillside, and gently, carefully, began pulling on the reins.<\/p>\n He was taking an appalling chance and he knew it, but he saw no other way to quickly cover their tracks.\u00a0 Sport slid slowly down the hill behind Joe, his hooves pushing against the ground just enough to keep his descent under control.\u00a0 When they had almost reached the drift where his brother lay face-down, Joe let go of the reins and started tossing snow over the top of the drift onto his brother\u2019s body until he was completely, if lightly, covered.\u00a0 He quickly buried his and Adam\u2019s saddlebags as well as their hats, then clucked at the horse and pulled up on the reins, encouraging him to stand.\u00a0 As soon as Sport was on his feet, though shaking and shivering with legs splayed in exhaustion and head hanging limply toward the ground, Joe dove into the drift as well.\u00a0 He pulled his legs up to his chest and lay stone-still; silent, waiting, praying.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long.\u00a0 He could feel the thudding of the horses\u2019 hooves through the earth before he heard them, but soon the thundering echoed in his ears.\u00a0 Why were they chasing Adam?\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t supposed to have much cash with him on this leg of his trip. What went wrong?<\/em><\/p>\n He hoped he\u2019d have a chance to get the answer out of his brother. He listened carefully without moving for several minutes more, and was rewarded when he heard a final curse, and a last horse raced down the trail.\u00a0 He let out a breath and rested his forehead on his arm, going weak with relief.\u00a0 He only allowed himself a moment, though, before climbing out of his hole.\u00a0 Grateful as he was that his brother hadn\u2019t moved and given them away, he was equally worried.\u00a0 He crouched on the down side of the hill to Adam\u2019s left and brushed the snow from his brother\u2019s face and hair.\u00a0 \u201cAdam,\u201d he called softly.<\/p>\n No reaction, not even the flicker of an eyelid.<\/p>\n \u201cC\u2019mon, Adam, talk to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Still nothing.<\/p>\n Joe sank down onto his knees, his eyes filled with despair.\u00a0 He pulled off a glove to feel for a pulse and was almost as relieved by the warmth of his brother\u2019s neck as he was by the slow steady throbbing of life.<\/p>\n He turned Adam\u2019s head carefully to the other side and discovered the reason for his unconsciousness \u2013 there was a bloody and swollen abrasion that ran from his right temple into the hair above his ear.\u00a0 He was lucky he hadn\u2019t lost an eye.<\/p>\n Joe climbed up to his hidey-hole and pulled out his snow-caked hat.\u00a0 He slapped it on his leg a couple of times to shake off the snow and settled it on his head, then retrieved Adam\u2019s hat and their saddlebags.\u00a0 As he traipsed through the drifts to his brother, he rummaged around in the pockets of his bags, his hand closing on an extra shirt he\u2019d packed.\u00a0 He used it and small handfuls of snow to wash the blood off Adam\u2019s face as well as he could, then tied his bandanna around Adam\u2019s forehead to try to keep the wound clean. He rolled his brother gently toward him onto his side, felt for broken ribs or other injuries and, finding none, rolled him the rest of the way onto his back.\u00a0 He tucked his hat under Adam\u2019s head, not caring that it was getting crushed, and checked the rest of him.\u00a0 This time he found what appeared to be a dislocated left shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cIf that and a bump on the head are the worst of it, you got off pretty light, big brother.\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe the snow had cushioned his fall.\u00a0 He lifted the arm to see if it would move, but one knee hit an icy spot, and he went sprawling.\u00a0 He instinctively hung onto Adam\u2019s wrist, and with a sickening snap that caught him by surprise, the shoulder slipped into place.\u00a0 Appalled at himself for not letting go, not thinking things through, he suddenly realized how little he knew about taking care of injuries \u2013 he should have left the shoulder alone, even if he had managed to fix it by accident.<\/p>\n He caught his breath on a near-sob and swiped at his face with his arm.\u00a0 He breathed deeply a few times to calm down, then picked up Adam\u2019s hat and examined it.\u00a0 He was relieved to find it in good condition \u2013 Adam would need the warmth, once he got him up on his horse.\u00a0 It was only then that Joe realized he\u2019d made the decision to try for home. He slung the saddlebags over the animal\u2019s rump on top of his brother\u2019s, then paused a moment, curious as to whether whatever those men had wanted was in one of the pouches.\u00a0 He decided he\u2019d better get Adam home first; there would be plenty of time later to figure out what those men were after, once they were safe.<\/p>\n He tossed snow over every bootprint he could find, then pushed and prodded Sport around the area where he\u2019d walked.\u00a0 Then he pulled his collar up high around his neck, settled his hat as far down as it would go, tucked his chin down into his coat, and led the horse through the drift and down the hill, carefully keeping the animal directly behind so the hoofprints would obscure his tracks.<\/p>\n He studied the hills, getting his bearings and trying to decide on the best route, one that would get them out of sight of the trail as quickly as possible.\u00a0 There was no telling when the men would come up with Cochise, and though he was sure his horse wouldn\u2019t let them catch him, they\u2019d see the empty saddle and know they\u2019d somehow been tricked.\u00a0 He squinted against the dazzling white landscape and realized he\u2019d have to take care against snow-blindness as well.<\/p>\n He took his thoughts back to the summer, mentally adding leaves to the trees and grass to the ground as he tried to decide on the best route.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, the roundup.\u00a0 Hoss rode over this way, and he told me that night about a path he found through these rocks.\u201d Joe felt like he\u2019d been walking through gullies and canyons for days.\u00a0 There\u2019d been no sign of pursuit, and he wondered if his tricks could have possibly worked. He\u2019d tried everything his brothers had ever taught him, even climbing up behind Adam for a brief trek along the bed of a shimmering-cold stream.\u00a0 He\u2019d wanted badly to stay on the horse \u2013 his legs were warm for the first time in hours \u2013 but he couldn\u2019t afford to tire the animal.\u00a0 He needed him to carry his brother.<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s gloved hands were stiff with cold, now, and when he could feel his feet they ached in their boots from the unaccustomed walking.\u00a0 He\u2019d begun to worry about his own nose getting frostbitten when he heard the first moan.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d\u00a0 He stopped Sport and went to his brother\u2019s head, lifting it carefully to see if he was waking up.\u00a0 He was rewarded with something that sounded like a pained sigh. In spite of his own discomfort, he grinned.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s it, brother. Wake up just a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d Adam tried to raise his head, and his left eyelid twitched halfway open.<\/p>\n \u201cJust stay put.\u00a0 Don\u2019t try to move or you\u2019ll slide right off your horse, and that won\u2019t feel too good.\u00a0 I\u2019ll find us a good spot to settle for a while, get you warmed up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0 His eye closed again, and he relaxed into his brother\u2019s palm.<\/p>\n Not sure whether Adam was actually taking his advice or if he had just passed out again, Joe cast around in his memory for any nearby shelter.\u00a0 He was pretty sure they\u2019d crossed over onto Ponderosa land by now, even if just barely, so there should be a line shack somewhere close by.<\/p>\n \u201cC\u2019mon, think!\u201d he muttered to himself.\u00a0 \u201cWhich way? The house is north, but the line shack might be to the west.\u00a0 Yeah, it is.\u201d\u00a0 He sighed.\u00a0 He hated to go the wrong direction, but when he looked out over the land, he realized the sun was setting. \u201cAdam isn\u2019t gonna last a night in the open. All right, west it is.\u201d<\/p>\n He traipsed on through the gathering darkness, and even though he was cold and desperately worried about his brother, he couldn\u2019t help but appreciate the beauty of the land.\u00a0 The fields of snow that lay before him were a pristine white, the very air seemed to turn golden, and the snow-capped mountains were touched with a delicate rose.\u00a0 The sky was darkening to a pure, deep, velvety blue, the very color of the depths of Lake Tahoe.\u00a0 A few evening stars began to twinkle on the horizon, resembling distant campfires.<\/p>\n He thought of his father and his other brother, Hoss, home and warm in front of the huge hearth.\u00a0 He wondered if they realized yet that the rest of the family was in trouble.\u00a0 His sudden impulse to meet his oldest brother and ride back with him no longer looked like such a good idea.\u00a0 When Ben had said that Adam might not be close enough to home for them to make it home that night, Joe had laughed and told him not to worry \u2013 they could take care of themselves.<\/p>\n Now, how he wished those words unsaid.\u00a0 He could only hope Cochise had made it home. Sport was stumbling with fatigue, but followed Joe willingly up the one step onto the small porch and through the door.\u00a0 Joe told himself that it would be easier to unload Adam straight onto the cot that was set against the far wall. Once he was inside, though, he realized a second benefit: even though they\u2019d have to put up with the barn smell and mess, the trade-off was the warmth the animal would generate. Besides, the horse needed care as well, and it wasn\u2019t as if he and his brother had never bedded down in a barn overnight.<\/p>\n Just enough light came through the single glass window from the winter night sky that he could find the lantern hanging to the left of the doorway.\u00a0 He propped his rifle by the door and lit the wick, placed the lantern on the counter next to the fireplace, then slid Adam off the saddle onto the cot.\u00a0 He moved the horse to the front left corner of the small room, then strung a rope from the lantern hook by the front door to a nail in the middle of the left wall, neatly sectioning off a make-shift stall.\u00a0 There was kindling as well as a few logs to the right of the door, and he started a fire, then took the lantern outside and hung it on a peg driven into the side of the lea n-to.\u00a0 A pair of buckets were quickly filled with snow \u2013 one for the horse and one for his own and Adam\u2019s needs \u2013 and taken into the cabin to sit next to the fire where they\u2019d melt.\u00a0 Another trip for two armfuls of straw inside to spread under Sport, then one more to retrieve a feedbag, which he filled with oats from the storage bin and slung over his shoulder.\u00a0 He grabbed the lantern on his way to the shack.<\/p>\n He moved one of the partially melted buckets of snow to where Sport could reach it, then removed the horse\u2019s bridle to strap the feedbag on.\u00a0 The saddlebags he tossed on the floor near Adam\u2019s cot and winced at the noise they made, hoping it hadn\u2019t disturbed his brother.\u00a0 On the other hand,<\/em> he thought as he pulled the saddle from the horse\u2019s back, maybe it\u2019s not such a good thing that it didn\u2019t bother him.<\/em><\/p>\n He set the saddle near, but not too close, to the fire \u2013 intending to use it later as a pillow \u2013 and took the blanket to Adam.\u00a0 Between the fire and the horse, the shack had warmed up a bit, so he opened his brother\u2019s coat to try to make him more comfortable.\u00a0 He lifted him, pulling him forward until his head rested limply on his shoulder.\u00a0 He slid the coat down and had just gotten one of Adam\u2019s long arms free when he made two startling discoveries: his brother\u2019s holster was gone, and he\u2019d been shot.<\/p>\n Joe rubbed his blood-sticky fingers together, and his heart began to thud heavily. \u201cAdam?\u201d he called softly, his voice wavering ever so slightly.<\/p>\n There was no response, just the slight tickle of his brother\u2019s breath on his neck.\u00a0 Joe slid the coat off the rest of the way, then eased Adam down onto the single pillow.\u00a0 He rolled him slightly away, onto his left side, and pulled the black shirt loose so that he could examine the wound.\u00a0 The bullet had hit him in the back, just above the waist.\u00a0 If the shooter had been just a bit off, it would have missed him entirely.\u00a0 Or caught him in the spine<\/em>, said a small voice in his mind.\u00a0 From the angry look of the wound, Joe guessed the bullet was still in there.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been acting on pure instinct so far, instinct trained into him by his family through years of living in the midst of a wilderness.\u00a0 Accidentally fixing Adam\u2019s shoulder had been more than he ever wanted to have to do. This was something different.\u00a0 Never before had he been responsible for someone else\u2019s very life.<\/p>\n He tried to bring to mind what Pa had said last summer when one of the ranch hands had caught a bullet in the leg.\u00a0 He remembered one phrase vividly:\u00a0 have to cut it out.<\/em><\/p>\n He dropped his head onto one hand.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t, he just couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d The single word came on a breath of air, insubstantial, not at all his brother\u2019s normal voice.<\/p>\n Joe eased him down onto his back.\u00a0 Adam gazed at him blearily, through pain-shrouded eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m right here,\u201d Joe reassured him.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMcGregor Ridge line shack.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam closed his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cToo far . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Joe grabbed at his shoulders, fear churning inside.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u00a0 Adam, you stay with me!\u00a0 Don\u2019t you leave me, you hear?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam shook his head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cNot if I can help\u2014\u201d\u00a0 He broke off with a low moan of pain.<\/p>\n Joe dipped his bandana in the melting snow in the bucket by the fire, and dabbed at his brother\u2019s forehead.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t had a lot of experience with illness, but he could feel the heat of fever rising from Adam\u2019s skin.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m gonna get you home, Adam; home to Pa.\u00a0 He\u2019ll take good care of you, get you well again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStoddard!\u201d\u00a0 The voice came suddenly from outside.<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s head whipped around to look at the door.<\/p>\n \u201cStoddard, we know you\u2019re in there!\u00a0 Come on out, peaceful!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe felt a hand suddenly grip his arm, hard.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam spoke quietly, with reed-thin strength.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t know me, Joe.\u00a0 You don\u2019t know anything about this.\u00a0 You just found me on the road, haven\u2019t even had a chance to talk to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo, Adam\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n His grip tightened.\u00a0 \u201cPromise me, Joe!\u00a0 I\u2019m just a stranger you took in \u2013 you never saw me before!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, what\u2019s going on?\u00a0 Tell me\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStoddard!\u00a0 You got to the count of ten!\u201d<\/p>\n Stoddard?\u00a0 That\u2019s the name of Adam\u2019s grandfather!<\/em>\u00a0 But his thoughts were interrupted.<\/p>\n Straining, Adam raised himself on his elbow.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, please!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne!\u201d<\/p>\n He slowly nodded.\u00a0 He had to.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what was going on, but Adam apparently did so he\u2019d best do what he wanted.\u00a0 \u201cAll right.\u00a0 But you\u2019d better explain this real good when I get back, brother!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFour!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBe glad to,\u201d he gasped, \u201cif we\u2019re both still here.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe grimaced and pressed him gently into the pillow.\u00a0 \u201cI will be, and you\u2019d better be, too,\u201d he warned and rose.<\/p>\n Adam pulled again at his arm.\u00a0 \u201cRemember . . . stranger!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got it,\u201d he said, irritated, but the look in his brother\u2019s eyes stopped him.\u00a0 It was one he\u2019d never seen before, and he took a few precious seconds to sort out what it was.\u00a0 Then it hit him.\u00a0 Underneath the exhaustion and pain was . . . trust.\u00a0 Absolute and complete trust that Joe could help him, could get him out of whatever mess this was he\u2019d found himself in, that he was too hurt to deal with himself.\u00a0 It was a look that Joe was sure he\u2019d worn himself many times when looking at his father, and yes, his oldest brother, and it stunned him to see Adam turn it on him.\u00a0 He tucked Adam\u2019s coat around his body to help keep him warm, and his voice softened. \u201cYou just rest and let me handle this.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded and closed his eyes, but Joe noticed he didn\u2019t really relax.<\/p>\n \u201cSeven!\u201d they heard from outside.<\/p>\n He grabbed up the rifle \u2013 grateful his brothers had found one of the newer repeating models to give him for his last birthday \u2013 and slowly, carefully opened the door.\u00a0 It opened inward, and as it moved under his hand he made sure he made no quick movements.\u00a0 He held the rifle to his side where it hid in the shadows until the men outside realized he wasn\u2019t this Stoddard they were looking for.<\/p>\n \u201cNine!\u201d one of the men toward the front of the group yelled out.<\/p>\n Joe stepped forward onto the small porch and immediately moved one pace to the side so he wouldn\u2019t be backlit from the lantern inside the cabin.\u00a0 \u201cMy name\u2019s not Stoddard,\u201d he called.\u00a0 Now that they\u2019d gotten a good look at him, he raised the rifle to waist height.\u00a0 The barrel gleamed in the bright moonlight.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019re trespassing.\u201d<\/p>\n He saw them shifting in their saddles and made a quick count.\u00a0 Five, and three of them looked like they were about done in.\u00a0 The one who\u2019d been yelling, a man who had a certain look of substance to him, nudged his buckskin forward into the rectangle of light from the cabin door, and Joe cocked the rifle.\u00a0 He pulled up quickly.\u00a0 \u201cNow, look here, boy; we don\u2019t mean any trouble to you.\u00a0 We\u2019re after an outlaw, and his tracks show he\u2019s in that cabin.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMister, I don\u2019t think you heard what I said.\u201d\u00a0 Joe stood square in front of the building, the rifle now pointed at the man\u2019s gut.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re trespassing.\u201d<\/p>\n He raised his hands, reins still held in the right one.\u00a0 \u201cJust let us collect that fella, and we\u2019ll be on our way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not collecting anyone, not here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStop yammerin\u2019, Blake; he\u2019s just a kid.\u00a0 Let\u2019s just get what we came for an\u2019 get outa here.\u00a0 It\u2019s gonna start snowin\u2019 again soon.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe eyed the slim cowboy on what appeared to be a mouse-colored grulla.\u00a0 Could he . . .?\u00a0 If it worked, it might turn the tide.\u00a0 He judged the distance carefully, remembering all the lessons his father had taught him, everything he\u2019d learned from the long hours of practice he\u2019d put in learning all those fancy tricks to impress his friends.<\/p>\n He waited for them to make the first move, for that would take just a moment of their concentration . . . now!<\/em>\u00a0 Not even raising the rifle, his finger smoothly pulled the trigger and the weapon leapt in his hands.\u00a0 The dirt and snow in front of the grulla kicked up and the horse reared, nearly unseating his rider.\u00a0 The other horses stepped and crow-hopped nervously, and by the time the men all had their mounts under control, Joe had cocked the rifle again and had it pointed at the leader.<\/p>\n He took a deep breath, trying to relax so that his voice would come out low and calm.\u00a0 \u201cNo one\u2019s taking anyone from here.\u201d<\/p>\n Someone to the rear called out, \u201cYou don\u2019t know what he done\u2014!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDoesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Joe interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cI wouldn\u2019t turn a snake over to you.\u00a0 Which one of you is the coward that shot an unarmed man in the back?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019re you talking about!\u201d demanded someone else.<\/p>\n \u201cJust what I said,\u201d he replied, his voice and rifle still steady.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s not wearing a holster, there wasn\u2019t any rifle in his scabbard, and he\u2019s got a bullet in his back.\u00a0 Anyone here want to explain that to me?\u201d<\/p>\n The three towards the rear of the group shot uneasy glances at each other, but the cowboy who\u2019d called him a kid and the man who seemed to be in charge just glared at him.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re still gonna take \u2018im in,\u201d yelled the cowboy.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d and ever so slowly Joe raised his rifle and tucked the butt against his shoulder, \u201cyou\u2019re not.\u00a0 He\u2019s in no shape to go anywhere, and once I get him fixed up a bit, I\u2019ll be taking him with me. You folks don\u2019t seem to understand what I mean by trespassing.\u00a0 You\u2019re on Ponderosa land.\u201d<\/p>\n The man in front seemed suddenly even more washed out in the gray light, and two behind him shifted uncomfortably in their saddles.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Joe continued.\u00a0 \u201cBen Cartwright\u2019s Ponderosa.\u00a0 And I can tell you my father\u2019s not one to let an illegal posse take a wounded man from his property.\u00a0 Especially if he thinks that man might never make it back to a sheriff.\u201d<\/p>\n The leader shifted in his saddle, and Joe had a sense that something he\u2019d said changed the situation, gave him an edge.\u00a0 He wished he knew what it was.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, boy,\u201d said the leader, and there was a thread of reasonableness in his tone.\u00a0 \u201cHow do I know Stoddard isn\u2019t making you say all this?\u00a0 How do I know he doesn\u2019t have a gun pointed at you, or is maybe holding someone hostage inside?\u201d<\/p>\n The temptation was strong to tell him that no one was making him do anything; that there was only one man in the world he trusted more than his brothers, but Adam\u2019s words rang strongly in his mind.\u00a0 You don\u2019t know me.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s a reasonable question,\u201d he finally answered grudgingly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll take one of you \u2013 just one \u2013 inside and show you.\u00a0 Then you\u2019ll clear out of here.\u00a0 I\u2019d suggest you head for town.\u00a0 There\u2019s gonna be a storm coming through here in a few hours, and you aren\u2019t gonna want to get caught outside in it.\u201d<\/p>\n The three men toward the back looked up at the sky, and one on a skittish dun nodded.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s right, Blake.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right.\u00a0 Just let me make sure you\u2019re not under duress, and we\u2019ll go peaceably. \u00a0For now. We\u2019ll be talkin\u2019 with the sheriff, though.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFair enough,\u201d Joe said, and he lowered the rifle slightly, but kept it aimed in his direction.<\/p>\n The man on the grulla flipped the thong off his pistol.\u00a0 \u201cThis is all a load of\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJesse!\u201d Blake called out sharply.\u00a0 \u201cStay put, keep your mouth shut, and leave that gun where it is.\u00a0 Think what would happen if you took out a Cartwright!\u201d\u00a0 He turned his horse slightly so Joe could see every move he made, stepped slowly down from the saddle and held his hands out to his sides, reins in one hand.<\/p>\n So that\u2019s it!\u00a0 Blake\u2019s heard of Pa. Guess I\u2019m safe for now, but Adam isn\u2019t. Gotta be careful . . . .<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cTake your gun out slowly, and drop it on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake pulled his gun from his holster, but looked a bit pained at dropping it into the snow.<\/p>\n \u201cDo it!\u201d Joe commanded sharply.<\/p>\n He sighed, but did as he was told.\u00a0 Joe took one step backwards into the cabin.\u00a0 \u201cCome on in.\u00a0 Slow.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake dropped the reins to ground-tie his horse, then walked toward Joe carefully, every motion showing that he was well aware the young man in front of him was only a hair trigger away from putting a bullet in him.\u00a0 He stepped into the room, and his eyes fell on the man lying on the cot.\u00a0 With a growl of anger, he rushed over to Adam, batted his coat to the floor, and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, hauling him half off the thin mattress.\u00a0 \u201cWhere is it!\u201d he roared.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s eyes were open, but they were unfocused, glazed.\u00a0 He barely had a chance to say, \u201cWhat\u2014?\u201d when the man backhanded him across the face, and he went suddenly limp.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is it?\u201d he repeated, ready to hit him again, but suddenly found the muzzle of Joe\u2019s rifle pushed into his cheek.<\/p>\n \u201cYou make one more move,\u201d Joe said, his voice deadly quiet, \u201cand I will blow your head all the way to San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake froze.<\/p>\n \u201cNow set him down, real easy.\u201d<\/p>\n He lowered Adam slowly to the bed.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s a killer, boy.\u00a0 You don\u2019t know what you\u2019re protecting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s worth a hell of a lot more than what I\u2019m looking at right now,\u201d he said with disgust as he pushed Blake toward the door, the rifle prodding him in the spine.\u00a0 \u201cYou think you have a claim against him, you go ahead and tell it to the sheriff.\u00a0 His name is Roy Coffee.\u00a0 You tell him your Mr. Stoddard is out at the Ponderosa, under the protection of Ben Cartwright.\u00a0 And mister?\u201d<\/p>\n Blake was in the doorway by now, and he turned to face Joe.\u00a0 \u201cYeah?\u201d he asked, his voice not quite as commanding as before.<\/p>\n \u201cYou make damn well sure you got your facts straight.\u00a0 Now, get out of here!\u201d\u00a0 He never took his gaze from Blake\u2019s eyes, but pushed him suddenly in the chest, and Blake went sprawling on the ground.\u00a0 Joe fired the rifle once into the air, then started shooting towards the hooves of all the horses. \u00a0Blake scrambled to his feet and ran for his mount.\u00a0 Joe stopped firing long enough for the man to get in his saddle, then let loose again.<\/p>\n \u201cYou haven\u2019t seen the last of us!\u201d Blake yelled, but Joe just shot the hat off his head in answer.\u00a0 Blake wheeled his horse around and pounded off after the rest of the men. Adam hadn\u2019t moved from where Blake left him.\u00a0 His face was turned away, and Joe took his chin gently to turn it towards him.\u00a0 Blake\u2019s hand had left a vivid welt on his cheekbone, just below the gash from his slide down the mountain, and had knocked him senseless again.\u00a0 Joe felt cold anger rise again in his heart.\u00a0 He was tempted to take Sport and chase the man down, to give him a taste of the brutal treatment he seemed so fond of handing out, but his brother needed him.\u00a0 His hands shook as he dipped the cloth in the cool water again.\u00a0 He pressed it against the ugly bruise with his right hand and laid his left on Adam\u2019s forehead, feeling his rising fever.<\/p>\n He prayed that Pa and Hoss would find Cochise, would backtrack him to the line shack, but who knew when they\u2019d arrive, if at all?\u00a0 Adam was in bad shape and getting worse.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d\u00a0 He tried to rouse him by shaking his shoulders, but carefully.\u00a0 He called his name again, and this time unshed tears thickened his voice, almost choking him.\u00a0 He laid his cheek against his brother\u2019s broad chest, grabbed him tight with his arms and prayed harder than he\u2019d ever prayed in his life.\u00a0 \u201cPlease, God \u2013 please help me.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know what to do.\u00a0 Please, someone tell me what to do . . .\u201d<\/p>\n He gradually became aware of the strong, steady thumping of Adam\u2019s heart, the even breaths that lifted his chest.\u00a0 A calm stillness entered his soul, and he finally faced facts.\u00a0 The bullet had to come out, and he was the only one here to do it.<\/p>\n He slid to the floor next to the cot and considered his options.\u00a0 Adam was out of it, so if he did the job now, his brother wouldn\u2019t feel it.\u00a0 His hands were shaking, though, from cold or fear or even lack of food, he didn\u2019t know.\u00a0 He tucked them under his armpits as he tried to decide what to do.\u00a0 A delay of a few more minutes or so likely wouldn\u2019t hurt, but would give him a chance to steady himself and get completely ready.<\/p>\n He\u2019d need more water and bandages, as well as a thin-bladed sharp knife, if he could find one.\u00a0 He suddenly remembered that Adam, intrigued by his father\u2019s stories of the less than spacious cabins on shipboard, had built small storage boxes under the bunks of the line shacks.\u00a0 They left canned goods and such on the shelves \u2013 anyone in need was welcome to stop the night and have a meal \u2013 but there were a few things Adam had thought should be available for emergencies, yet would be prime targets for theft.\u00a0 Such as a bottle of whiskey.<\/p>\n Joe considered how he was going to get into the box, which was actually built into the wall, and whose outer edge served as a support for the middle of the cot.\u00a0 Its lid was the mattress board, which he was going to be hard put to raise with his brother lying unconscious on top of it.<\/p>\n He sighed deeply and looked around the small room.\u00a0 Not really so small, he mused, but certainly crowded with a horse and two men, one injured and one near-frantic.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I\u2019m not gonna panic,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t.\u00a0 Think, Joe.\u00a0 What\u2019ve you got to work with?\u201d\u00a0 A saddle, a horse \u2013 yeah, that was real useful \u2013 an empty rifle scabbard, cupboards holding a few dishes and some canned tomatoes\u2014<\/p>\n \u201cWait, there was a rope . . .\u201d<\/p>\n He scrambled to his feet and flipped the saddle over.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s lariat was still tied in place.\u00a0 He undid the leather thongs that held it in place and unwound the rope.\u00a0 He dug around at the side of the cot and found the frame\u2019s handhold hidden under the thin, overlapping mattress.\u00a0 It was a moment\u2019s work to toss one end of the rope over a rafter and tie the other end to the handhold.\u00a0 He pulled experimentally on the loose end and saw the mattress frame rise slightly, tilting Adam just enough that his head flopped to the other side.\u00a0 Good!<\/em>\u00a0 He slid his brother to the far side of the cot, against the wall, then pulled on the rope again.\u00a0 He raised the side of the mattress as high as he could without squashing his brother, and tied the free end of the rope in a loose knot on the handhold as well.\u00a0 He then scooted underneath and, although he couldn\u2019t see into the box, quickly unloaded everything he could feel.<\/p>\n He untied the rope and slowly lowered the mattress again, checked Adam carefully, and breathed a sigh of relief that his brother hadn\u2019t even seemed to notice.\u00a0 A mixed blessing.<\/p>\n There was quite an assortment of items spread on the floor, and Joe took quick inventory.\u00a0 Yes, the expected bottle of whiskey, which would be useful for cleaning the wound as well as acting as a painkiller if Adam woke.\u00a0 A kit of bandages, along with a few small tins and glass pots that strongly resembled the contents of Hop Sing\u2019s medicine chest.\u00a0 They were labeled, fortunately in Adam\u2019s bold script rather than Chinese.\u00a0 Liniment, headache powder, a stomach settler, a greasy ointment Joe recognized by the smell from the last time he\u2019d scraped an elbow raw falling from a horse \u2013 all could be useful.<\/p>\n There were some lengths of rawhide strips for repairing bridles and such, tools for fence work and, finally, a rolled piece of leather which, when opened, proved to contain a selection of awls, knives and other implements.\u00a0 His stomach flipped, and he swallowed hard.<\/p>\n He had everything he needed.\u00a0 Except, perhaps, courage.<\/p>\n A soft, deep moan drew his attention to the cot.\u00a0 He checked again for fever, appalled to find how quickly it was rising.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re out of time, aren\u2019t we, Adam?\u00a0 It has to be now.\u201d\u00a0 But Adam was waking up.\u00a0 How would he ever keep him still?\u00a0 His heart aching, he did the only thing possible. He unbuttoned his brother\u2019s ruined shirt, rolled him onto his stomach, then pushed the shirt up as high as he could.\u00a0 He spread-eagled Adam\u2019s arms and legs, and tied him firmly hand and foot to the four corners of the cot frame with rawhide strips.\u00a0 He was careful to make sure Adam\u2019s wrists were protected by his gloves, but he also made sure there was no real slack.\u00a0 Then he took the end of the rope, fed it down the wall side of the bed and pulled it out from the bottom.\u00a0 Eyes blurred by tears that he refused to let fall, he pulled the other end tight across Adam\u2019s back and tied one of his best knots, in hopes the restraint would help keep his brother in place once he felt the cut of the knife.<\/p>\n Adam moaned again.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s all right,\u201d he said, one hand on Adam\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m gonna take care of everything.\u00a0 You just go on back to sleep for a while.\u00a0 Dream about building a fort outta all that snow in that huge field out there.\u00a0 Just picture yourself making up snowballs, one after the other, piling them up in one of those pyramids you always build, gettin\u2019 ready for Pa or Hoss or me to come out so you can nail us.\u00a0 Before you know it, you\u2019re gonna be feelin\u2019 a whole lot better.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam seemed to drop off again, and Joe prayed he\u2019d stay that way.\u00a0 He\u2019d never tried to get a bullet out of someone before, and he knew it was going to be hard enough without hearing his brother\u2019s cries of pain.\u00a0 He tried to remember everything anyone had ever said about dealing with wounds, from Hop Sing\u2019s laments over one more injury to his boys to the men talking about castrating the young bulls at roundup.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know why, but Young Johnny \u2013 who\u2019d been old as long as he could remember \u2013 always held his cutting knife over the fire before working on each young animal, so after he\u2019d chosen the two thinnest, sharpest knives, he took them to the fireplace and held them in the flames until they changed color from the intense heat.<\/p>\n He set them carefully to one side and dragged the bucket of now-melted snow to the cot.\u00a0 He retrieved a couple of bowls and dipped them into the water, then placed the kit with the bandages in easy reach.\u00a0 He then lit and hung a lantern from the rope that was still draped over the rafter.\u00a0 He slid it just a bit to the side so he could have the best possible illumination on what he had to do.\u00a0 \u201cIs that everything?\u201d he asked himself.<\/p>\n He tried to think through all he intended to do, picture every move.\u00a0 Pa had taught his sons that technique, to review a process over and over in their minds until they were sure.\u00a0 His mind froze, though, on the first moment he would press the knife to his brother\u2019s skin. He could see the blood welling, flowing down Adam\u2019s side to the bedding, soaking it dark red\u2014\u00a0 \u201cStop it!\u201d he commanded himself.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t helping.<\/p>\n It was likely to happen, though, so he grabbed the rolled bedding that had been tied onto the skirt of Adam\u2019s saddle and extracted the slicker from it.\u00a0 He took out his pocketknife \u2013 one of his father\u2019s birthday gifts to him \u2013 and sawed the slicker in half.\u00a0 He pushed it under Adam on each side of the bed.\u00a0 He had to be practical; there was only one mattress, and if it got blood-soaked, there would be nowhere else to put him.<\/p>\n He started talking, making himself believe.<\/p>\n \u201cEnough stalling.\u00a0 You have to do it, and it has to be now, before Adam wakes up again.\u00a0 Soak the wound with a wet bandage, clean it off good so you can see what you\u2019re doing.\u00a0 Just a little bleeding \u2013 well, that\u2019ll change, you know it will.\u00a0 Be ready for it.<\/p>\n \u201cGet the knives, set one aside.\u00a0 Try to figure the angle, yeah, poke a finger just a bit down in there; better than a knife that could cut in the wrong direction.\u00a0 No shaking.\u00a0 Keep your hands steady.\u00a0 Yeah, that\u2019s where it\u2019ll be.\u00a0 Wonder how close he was to the gun, how deep the bullet is.\u00a0 Please, God, please not deep.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bleeding\u2019s starting up a bit.\u00a0 Wipe it up, get that knife in there, see if you can find the bullet.\u00a0 Don\u2019t mess around, Joe; get it done!<\/p>\n \u201cEase it in \u2013 God, Adam, stay still, don\u2019t wake up, not now! \u2013 something hard in there.\u00a0 A rib?\u00a0 No, ribs are higher, could it be?\u00a0 Take the other knife, hold the wound open; something down there, not too far . . .<\/p>\n \u201cHow do I get it out?\u00a0 Gotta get one knife under . . . just a little under, push it up against the other . . . sweat in my eyes . . . don\u2019t lose the bullet, don\u2019t lose it, ease it up . . . gently . . .<\/p>\n His breath came in gasps. \u201cSo much blood!\u00a0 Can\u2019t see it any more, there\u2019s too much blood!\u00a0 Where is it \u2013 please, I can\u2019t have lost it!<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u00a0 Calm . . . you can do it . . . Pa believes you can control yourself, prove him right . . . more, a little more, is it coming?\u00a0 Is it almost out?\u00a0 Don\u2019t move, Adam, please, don\u2019t move, not yet, let me get it, oh, God, it won\u2019t come, gonna have to cut . . . more blood, so much blood, I\u2019m sorry, Adam, I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m sorry, I\u2019m sorry . . .\u201d<\/p>\n The small, bloody piece of metal slowly rose to the surface, delicately balanced between the two knives.\u00a0 As soon as Joe was sure it was completely out, he grabbed it and flung it across the room.\u00a0 Hands shaking in earnest now, he pulled the cork from the bottle of whiskey and poured the pungent liquid over the bleeding wound.\u00a0 Adam cried out in pain, pulling at his bonds, but he\u2019d been tied well and couldn\u2019t move away from Joe\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n Tears coursed down Joe\u2019s face as he pressed clean wadding against the wound and held it there, trying to stop the bleeding.\u00a0 His brother\u2019s moans ripped through his heart.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all over, Adam,\u201d he wept, choking on the words.\u00a0 \u201cThe bullet\u2019s out \u2013 I did the best I could, and I got it out.\u00a0 I hope to God I did it right.\u201d\u00a0 He snagged the blanket with one hand, still pressing on the wound with the other, and drew the warmth over Adam\u2019s back.<\/p>\n Shattered by fear and body-aching fatigue, he dropped to sit on the floor next to the cot among the blood-soaked bandages, bowls filled with reddened water, and the now-filthy knives.\u00a0 He stared at his blood-stained hand that was stroking his brother\u2019s hair almost with a will of its own . . . but it was a very long time before he stopped shaking. \u201cIs\u2019bella . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Joe dragged himself up from the darkness of exhausted sleep.\u00a0 The cold light of a bleak winter morning greeted him.<\/p>\n \u201cIs\u2019bella, no . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d Stiff with cold, he raised himself onto his knees. With horror, he realized his brother was still tied down. He grabbed one of the blood-stained knives and swiftly cut through all the rawhide thongs, flipping the blanket up to get to the rope across Adam\u2019s back. He hesitated, though, to roll him over, afraid of what the movement might do to the wound.\u00a0 It seemed to have stopped bleeding, and he wondered if he should try to change the bandage. It seemed to be stuck. Maybe he should wait to change it. It might be harder to get off later, but he just didn\u2019t think he could manage if the bleeding started up again.\u00a0 With some difficulty, he worked a roll of bandages under Adam to tie the wadding in place over the wound, then he tucked Adam\u2019s shirttails back in his pants to help hold it.<\/p>\n He pulled the blanket up over Adam\u2019s back, smoothed it free of wrinkles.\u00a0 He sighed deeply and looked around the room.\u00a0 \u201cWhat a mess,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 Well, that was something he knew how to take care of.<\/p>\n He opened the door of the cabin to dump the bowls of reddened water and was shocked to find a raging snowstorm that obscured the wide field in front of the small cabin.\u00a0 Cold air blew into the cabin, and Sport\u2019s ears pricked.\u00a0 The horse looked at Joe and shook his head, his mane tossing wildly.\u00a0 Joe couldn\u2019t help but grin.\u00a0 \u201cNo, boy.\u00a0 We\u2019re not going out in that.\u00a0 Not yet, anyway!\u201d<\/p>\n Quickly, he dumped the water and stepped back inside.\u00a0 He refilled one of the bowls from the bucket and tried to wash his hands.\u00a0 They wouldn\u2019t come completely clean, but at least he wouldn\u2019t leave red marks on everything he touched.\u00a0 He slowly eased the ruined sections of slicker from under Adam\u2019s body, bundled them into a ball with the used bandages and threw the whole mess into the same corner the bullet had landed in last night.\u00a0 He refilled the bowls and set them by the bed, then braved the outside again to get more snow in the buckets.\u00a0 He scooted through the door again and set them by the fire.\u00a0 The cabin was almost as cold as the outdoors, so he added a few more sticks of wood to build up the flames, and the room began to warm again.<\/p>\n He returned to Adam\u2019s side and laid his hand against his forehead. Still feverish, still out cold.\u00a0 The welt where Blake had hit him was even more livid.\u00a0 Joe unscrewed the lid to one of Hop Sing\u2019s pots and gently smoothed the pungent ointment over the torn skin.<\/p>\n \u201cWish you\u2019d wake up, tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d\u00a0 He smeared another gob over the bruise Adam had gotten on his slide down the hill.\u00a0 \u201cWhy are those men chasing you?\u00a0 Why are they calling you by your grandfather\u2019s name?\u00a0 What do you have that Blake wants so bad?\u201d\u00a0 He closed up the tin and studied his brother.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d he called softly, but there was no response.\u00a0 \u201cC\u2019mon, Adam, wake up!\u201d<\/p>\n Frustrated, he rose and took a turn around the room.\u00a0 He knew where his brother had been \u2013 they\u2019d received a letter from someone Pa called an old family friend, asking for business advice.\u00a0 Joe wasn\u2019t familiar with the name, but it had brought a smile to Adam\u2019s face so he wasn\u2019t surprised when their father suggested that he make a trip to find out the situation and see what, if anything, they could do to help.\u00a0 It had been two weeks since Adam rode out, and three days ago they\u2019d received a telegram saying he was almost finished and would be returning.<\/p>\n Had something gone wrong in the final stages of whatever he\u2019d been doing?\u00a0 Were the men who\u2019d been chasing him involved somehow?<\/p>\n Thanks to the storm, they were safe for the moment.\u00a0 Only a fool would brave this kind of weather, and though he knew those men had somehow been mistaken, he didn\u2019t take any of them for fools.\u00a0 They would be settled in some nice warm hotel room in town, all set for a good, hot meal and then a talk with Roy Coffee.\u00a0 Roy wouldn\u2019t head out to the ranch until the storm blew itself out, so that meant he\u2019d have some time to try to . . . what?<\/p>\n Get Adam home?<\/p>\n Then what?<\/p>\n Blake and his posse, including the hot-tempered Jesse, would follow Roy and would try to take Adam back to wherever they came from.\u00a0 He had faith that Roy would do his best to keep that from happening, but what if Adam had actually been involved in something \u2013 innocently, of course \u2013 that required him to go?\u00a0 He didn\u2019t trust them to take care of him.<\/p>\n He looked across the room at his brother.\u00a0 Adam wasn\u2019t going anywhere. Even from this distance, Joe could see his flushed face.\u00a0 He crossed to his side and sat on the edge of the cot, soaked a rag in cool water and mopped at his brother\u2019s forehead.\u00a0 The cloth heated so quickly that\u00a0 Joe knew his troubles weren\u2019t over yet.<\/p>\n Thirsty himself, he knew Adam needed water, too.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to shift him onto his back to get any into him, though.\u00a0 He retrieved a blue tin cup from one of the shelves, dipped it into the bucket of water and set it on the floor near the cot.\u00a0 Everything organized, he rolled his brother carefully onto his side, paused a moment to reassure himself, and then eased him over the rest of the way.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, wake up,\u201d he called, squeezing his bare shoulder.<\/p>\n He heard a soft groan.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s it \u2013 time to get up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Adam breathed, the word almost lost in the howling of the wind outside.<\/p>\n Joe dampened the rag again and dabbed at Adam\u2019s face and neck.\u00a0 \u201cHow can you be so hot when the cabin\u2019s so darn cold?\u201d\u00a0 Adam shivered, and Joe pulled the blanket up tighter around his neck.\u00a0 \u201cBurning up, but feeling like you\u2019ll never get warm.\u00a0 A bad fever.\u201d\u00a0 He wondered if any of the other little pots of medicine would help.\u00a0 \u201cFirst, though, get you a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n He slid an arm under his brother\u2019s shoulders, raising him just enough that he\u2019d be able to drink, and shifted so he sat partly behind him. But even that slight movement must have hurt, because Adam groaned again.<\/p>\n \u201cI have some water for you, Adam, but you have to wake up enough to drink it.\u201d<\/p>\n The long black eyelashes flickered.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s it, wake up. C\u2019mon, Adam, you gotta wake up for me.\u201d\u00a0 A thread of desperation strained his voice.<\/p>\n Adam blinked, frowned slightly, and said, \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re awake!\u201d Joe\u2019s heart lifted, and he heaved a sigh of relief.\u00a0 Maybe now they could figure out what to do.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, it\u2019s me, and I have some water for you.\u00a0 Take it slow . . .\u201d\u00a0 He held the cup to Adam\u2019s dry lips and poured a few drops at a time into his mouth.\u00a0 Adam swallowed, so he gave him a bit more.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2019s Berto?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho?\u201d asked Joe.<\/p>\n \u201c \u2019s he all right?\u201d he slurred.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know \u2013 tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam looked around the room, not quite focusing on anything.\u00a0 \u201cThe deed\u2014\u201d\u00a0 He tried to sit up, but Joe held him in place against his chest easily.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat deed?\u00a0 Who\u2019s Berto?\u201d\u00a0 The name was vaguely familiar, but he couldn\u2019t bring anyone\u2019s image to mind.\u00a0 He shook his brother lightly.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, what\u2019s going on?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGotta get Pa . . . get Pa to\u2014\u201d\u00a0 He wrenched himself out of Joe\u2019s grasp, but the movement must have hurt because he raised a hand to his forehead and groaned.<\/p>\n Joe shifted around to face him, holding him up by one shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cAdam!\u201d He tried to get his brother\u2019s attention.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, look at me.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam blinked and squinted, but Joe could see his eyes weren\u2019t tracking right.\u00a0 \u201cJoe?\u201d he asked again.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s Pa?\u00a0 Need him . . .\u201d\u00a0 He frowned.\u00a0 \u201cNeed him for something . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s frustration boiled over.\u00a0 \u201cDaggonit, Adam, tell me what\u2019s going on!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t know where . . . where . . .\u201d\u00a0 His voice started to fade, and his eyelids drooped.\u00a0 \u201cJoe?\u00a0 Where . . . ?\u201d\u00a0 He slumped suddenly.\u00a0 Joe caught him in his arms and swore as he laid him gently back on the cot.<\/p>\n \u201cHow\u2019m I supposed to figure out what to do when you won\u2019t tell me what happened?\u00a0 You\u2019re always telling me to grow up, take on more responsibility and make decisions, but you gotta help me here.\u00a0 What if I choose wrong and mess everything up?\u00a0 Adam, tell me what to do!\u201d<\/p>\n But his brother was once more still and silent.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d he whispered, anguished. Cochise stumbled into the yard of the ranch house just as the storm began to break.\u00a0 Finding the door to the barn closed, he whinnied loudly and pawed at the ground.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019re you doin\u2019 out here, fella?\u201d asked Young Johnny.\u00a0 The old man was in charge of the barn today, a rotation he didn\u2019t mind at all.\u00a0 The Cartwrights had always been good to him, from the first day he rode up and asked for a job.\u00a0 The ranch hands had sent him to a dark-haired, somber-eyed young man they called Mr. Adam, and he\u2019d been the one to hire him, saying his father was ill.\u00a0 The moment Young Johnny met Mr. Cartwright, he recognized the illness \u2013 a sickness of the heart \u2013 and bunkhouse gossip had filled in the gaps in the family\u2019s tragic history. It was a wonder they carried on at all, losing a third Mrs. Cartwright like that.<\/p>\n He stroked the pinto\u2019s neck, noting that he wasn\u2019t hot \u2013 as if he\u2019d been running \u2013 and lifted the tied-off reins over the horse\u2019s head to lead him into the barn.\u00a0 He closed the door carefully behind him and led the horse to his stall, wondering what had happened to his rider.\u00a0 Little Joe hadn\u2019t been much more than a baby when Young Johnny had first met him, and he knew Mr. Cartwright would be devastated if anything had happened to the boy.\u00a0 To any of his boys, in fact.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t take the time to unsaddle the horse, just made sure he had hay and a bit of water.<\/p>\n The door to the barn opened and let in a blast of cold air.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss, that you?\u201d he called.<\/p>\n \u201cSure is,\u201d Hoss answered.\u00a0 \u201cThought I heard a horse come in.\u201d<\/p>\n Young Johnny eased his way out of Cochise\u2019s stall.\u00a0 He jerked his head in the horse\u2019s direction.\u00a0 \u201cCome walkin\u2019 up, nice as you please, askin\u2019 to be let in the door.\u201d\u00a0 He answered what he knew would be the next questions.\u00a0 \u201cNo sign o\u2019 Joe or Adam, nor Adam\u2019s horse neither.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cWhat kinda shape\u2019s he in?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTired, but okay.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t fall or nothin\u2019 I can tell.\u00a0 Saddle ain\u2019t wet, bedroll\u2019s still tied on tight.\u00a0 Messy, but tight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMessy?\u00a0 Joe ain\u2019t as neat about his knots as Pa an\u2019 Adam, but I wouldn\u2019t call him messy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, these is about the worst knots I ever seen him tie.\u00a0 Like he was in a right big hurry.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss slid into the stall next to his brother\u2019s horse and shook his head at the hasty job Joe had made of tying his bedroll on the saddle.\u00a0 \u201cI see what you mean.\u201d\u00a0 He undid the cinch and handed the saddle over to Young Johnny, then ran his hands over the hair on Cochise\u2019s back.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s dry now, but he sweated up a storm somewheres along the line.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat ain\u2019t like Joe, neither.\u00a0 He knows better than to run a horse into a sweat in this kind o\u2019 weather.\u00a0 Somethin\u2019s real wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYou take care o\u2019 him for me?\u00a0 I gotta go talk to Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure thing.\u00a0 I\u2019ll brush him down good, walk him out a bit.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at Hoss speculatively.\u00a0 \u201cYou gonna be wantin\u2019 Buck and Chubb?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStorm\u2019s gonna get worse before it gets better, but once it starts to ease up a bit, you know Pa\u2019s gonna want to head on out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll get \u2018em grained up for you, then.\u00a0 Brush \u2018em out.\u00a0 They\u2019ll be ready when you want \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss slapped him on the shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cThanks.\u00a0 I\u2019ll let you know what we\u2019re gonna do.\u201d \u201cPa!\u00a0 Hey, Pa!\u201d Hoss called out as soon as he was in the house.\u00a0 He pulled off his coat and hung it on the rack by the door.\u00a0 \u201cPa!\u201d he boomed again toward the stairs.<\/p>\n Ben appeared on the top landing.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s all the shouting about?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe\u2019s horse come home without him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d Ben exclaimed and rattled down the stairs.<\/p>\n \u201cAin\u2019t no real sign o\u2019 trouble \u2013 Cochise is fine, didn\u2019t fall or nothin\u2019 \u2013 but he come in alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben headed for his coat.\u00a0 \u201cWell, what are you standing around for?\u00a0 Get some supplies packed up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa, we cain\u2019t go out in this.\u00a0 It\u2019s gettin\u2019 worse already, and it ain\u2019t gonna let up.\u00a0 We\u2019ll never find him.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben paused with one arm in the sleeve of his coat. \u201cHoss, isn\u2019t there time to at least look around close?\u201d<\/p>\n Against every bit of common sense, Hoss forced out a weak, \u201cSure, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n A fierce gust of wind rattled the window panes and howled against the sturdy framework of the house.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Ben said softly.\u00a0 \u201cNo, we can\u2019t, can we?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss hung his head sadly.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think so, Pa.\u00a0 This is gonna be a good, solid blow for the next day or two.\u00a0 We get caught out in it, and it\u2019ll be Joe tryin\u2019 to find us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe could be hurt\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know that, an\u2019 it bothers me, too.\u00a0 But I figger he\u2019s holed up somewheres.\u00a0 He knows these mountains near as good as any of us.\u00a0 \u2018Sides, he most likely met up with Adam, an\u2019 they\u2019ll just wait out the weather in one of the south line shacks.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben sighed and slid his arm back out of the sleeve.\u00a0 \u201cI know you\u2019re right; it\u2019s just so hard to leave him out there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, too.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss scrunched up his face in thought.\u00a0 \u201cTell you what \u2013 why\u2019nt you go ask Hop Sing to get us a good dinner ready while I start gettin\u2019 our supplies together in case the storm breaks sooner.\u201d\u00a0 He knew it was the right answer when he saw his father\u2019s shoulders relax.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, son.\u00a0 Give Buck and Chubb a good meal, too.\u00a0 They\u2019re going to need it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYoung Johnny\u2019s already takin\u2019 care of it, Pa.\u201d He took his father\u2019s coat and hung it on its peg again.\u00a0 Once Ben went around the corner to the kitchen, he leaned an arm on the door, buried his head against his forearm.\u00a0 \u201cHang on, buddy,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 \u201cWherever you are, hang on.\u201d Adam was dreaming of snow.\u00a0 Soft flakes drifted down to be caught on his tongue, others swirled around him in a soft spiral that teased him into dizziness.\u00a0 He was standing in the middle of a white, silent field that extended to the horizon in each direction, and then he rose like a bird, except he could see himself \u2013 a small shadowy dot against an expanse of colorless flatness.\u00a0 Until a thread of crimson began to creep from the blackness to stain the snow in erratic tendrils that twined around the small darkness, encircling and overwhelming it, turning the pure white a deep, spreading red.\u00a0 He lifted away, embracing the frigid whiteness and allowing it to pull him back into reality, even though it meant returning to the world of pain and cold.<\/p>\n He could hear the sounds of someone moving around; the faint rattle of tin dishes on wood, the shuffle of boots on the floor, the thud of wood hitting the floor, and the soft swear words from a voice he knew but couldn\u2019t place.\u00a0 He knew he\u2019d been shot; he could remember the searing impact that had spun him to the ground as well as the frantic scramble for his horse, but couldn\u2019t recall the reasons for any of it.\u00a0 He wondered what had been so desperately important.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d the soft voice said, and he realized he\u2019d been hearing it as a steady monologue for several minutes.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m gonna go outside for a few minutes to see how deep the snow is.\u00a0 It\u2019s been blowing for a day and a half, now, so it might be bad.\u201d\u00a0 The voice sighed.\u00a0 \u201cSure wish you were up to a snowball fight.\u00a0 There\u2019s a great field out there.\u201d<\/p>\n It was quiet for a few moments, and he finally pulled a name together with the voice.\u00a0 Joe.\u00a0 Wanting to play in the snow.\u00a0 He always knows the best places, too.<\/em>\u00a0 An image came to mind of the two of them building a small structure of walls and trenches, and piling snowball after snowball into a neat mountain.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I finish out there, I\u2019ll check your wound; see if I can get that fever down a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n No answer seemed to be required \u2013 which was a good thing, he reflected, since he didn\u2019t seem to have the energy to do anything but breathe.\u00a0 The voice faded in.<\/p>\n \u201c. . . we\u2019re gonna have to leave soon, or those men will be back.\u00a0 Whatever it is you took from them, they want it real bad, and I don\u2019t wanna be here when they ride in.\u00a0 You just rest up, \u2018cause it\u2019s gonna be a long, hard ride home.\u201d<\/p>\n He had something someone wanted . . . an image came to mind of a beautiful black-haired, black-eyed woman writing on a paper, writing his name, but there was something wrong with it; she was writing it wrong . . .<\/p>\n For services rendered and upon terms agreed to, hereby transferred to Adam Stoddard `<\/p>\n She hadn\u2019t finished his name.\u00a0 The bullet had seen to that.\u00a0 Isabella \u2013 oh, Isabella, I\u2019m sorry I left you, sorry I couldn\u2019t fix everything\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n The paper; where was the paper?<\/p>\n He finally dragged his eyes open and realized he hadn\u2019t been lying in the dark at all.\u00a0 He looked around the small room, trying to figure out where he was.\u00a0 A small cabin, made smaller by the presence of a . . . horse?\u00a0 His<\/em> horse.\u00a0 Why was his horse inside the cabin?\u00a0 Joe had been here, too.\u00a0 Where was he now?<\/p>\n He looked around some more, not moving anything but his eyes \u2013 the rest of him was too tired, too heavy.\u00a0 His eye fell on the saddle that was lying upended on the floor, the saddle blanket tossed haphazardly over it.\u00a0 He squinted, trying to bring them into focus, and gradually realized they were his own.\u00a0 There was just the slightest edge of white paper sticking out from a discreet pocket hidden in the blanket.<\/p>\n The deed!<\/em><\/p>\n What had Joe been saying?\u00a0 . . . those men will be back . . .<\/em><\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t let them get the deed.\u00a0 If they came in here, they\u2019d see it first thing.\u00a0 Where was Joe?\u00a0 He had to get him to hide it . . .<\/p>\n He turned his head on the pillow, but couldn\u2019t find his brother.\u00a0 Oh, yeah<\/em>, Adam thought. Joe said he was going outside.<\/em>\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t remember how long it had been.\u00a0 Time seemed to be sliding by, and he couldn\u2019t latch onto it.\u00a0 Joe should be finished \u00a0by now, shouldn\u2019t he?\u00a0 What if Blake and his posse are back and have him\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n He had to get up, had to hide the deed somewhere else, then he had to find his gun.<\/p>\n Sitting up didn\u2019t seem to be an option, so he rolled onto his side, grunting once at the sharp stabbing pain in his back that was echoed by dull throbbing in his shoulder and head.\u00a0 It worked, though, and he was able to push himself upright.\u00a0 The room spun, but he held tight to the cot frame until it settled.\u00a0 Sliding to the floor was easy \u2013 too easy, and he wondered how he\u2019d ever get onto the bed again.\u00a0 Later.\u00a0 Get the deed, then worry about it later.<\/em><\/p>\n The opening in the blanket was well-hidden in the woven pattern.\u00a0 He pulled the paper out slowly, carefully.\u00a0 He looked around the room and finally recognized it as one of the line shacks they\u2019d built last summer.\u00a0 He remembered that he\u2019d been particularly pleased with them \u2013 he didn\u2019t get to use his architectural skills very often, so had made an exercise out of the project.\u00a0 His brothers had laughed at how much time and effort he’d spent on the drawings, but his father had encouraged him, perhaps realizing that Adam had to use his skills or they\u2019d atrophy like a broken leg that was never exercised.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been exacting in his requirements for the planks they\u2019d cut at their mill, to the point where the men had rolled their eyes behind his back.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t care, and once the hands had seen how easily the building went up and how snug it was inside, he\u2019d received more than one apologetic grin.\u00a0 After all, they’d be the ones sleeping there during cold and rain.\u00a0 The old-timers had been told about the secret box under the cot\u2014<\/p>\n The box!<\/em>\u00a0 That was it.\u00a0 He could hide the paper in the box.<\/p>\n He dragged himself over to the cot and stared at it.\u00a0 There was a rope attached to the frame.\u00a0 He followed it upward and discovered it was looped over one of the rafters.\u00a0 Too foggy to try to figure out why it was there, he nonetheless took immediate advantage and hauled on it.\u00a0 His shoulder complained viciously and the sharp pain in his back narrowed his vision, but the edge of the cot lifted so he ignored the pain and tied the rope off.\u00a0 He scooted close enough to drop the paper in, then heard the sound of boots on the front step.\u00a0 He hurriedly undid the slip knot, the cot settled into place, and he was leaning against it, breathing hard, when the door opened.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam!\u201d\u00a0 Joe slammed the door shut and in two long strides was kneeling next to him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing out of bed?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBed?\u201d\u00a0 Actually, that sounded kind of nice.\u00a0 His warm, soft bed; big enough to accommodate his long frame, two plump pillows instead of one hard, flat one, Hop Sing bringing a hot cup of coffee \u2013 he felt a cool hand on his forehead and realized Joe was still talking to him.<\/p>\n \u201c. . . can\u2019t leave you alone for more than two minutes.\u00a0 Well, if you\u2019re awake enough to get up, then we\u2019d better head home, let Pa deal with you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa?\u201d\u00a0 He looked around.\u00a0 \u201cIs Pa here?\u00a0 Need him to\u2014\u201d\u00a0 He tried to stand, but only succeeded in getting to one knee before wobbling dizzily.<\/p>\n Joe helped him sit on the bed while admonishing, \u201cNow, stay put, willya?\u00a0 I gotta get Sport saddled.\u00a0 The weather\u2019s clearing up, and we gotta get home before those men get Roy to show them the way to the house.\u00a0 Maybe we could even make it by lunch,\u201d he added wistfully.<\/p>\n Adam didn\u2019t really notice Joe\u2019s comment about food.\u00a0 His mind grabbed onto his mention of the sheriff.\u00a0 Roy can validate the deed . . . Roy\u2019s an officer of the law and knows me. Pa can show him the family Bible . . .<\/em> but he was forgetting something.\u00a0 It was just within his grasp when Joe distracted him by bundling him up in shirt and coat.\u00a0 He felt his little brother\u2019s slim strength under his arm, helping him to his feet.\u00a0 It took all his energy and attention pulled together to get across the room, and then to climb up the mountain to his saddle.\u00a0 Why had he wanted such a tall horse?\u00a0 There must have been a reason . . .<\/p>\n \u201cHang on, brother.\u00a0 I\u2019ll get up behind you in just a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n Hunched over the saddle horn to the point he was nearly lying on his horse\u2019s neck, he managed to stay put as Joe led Sport through the doorway, down a lurching step, and out into the bright sunshine, but it was more by instinct than intent.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s brilliantly white snowfield hurt his eyes, so he shut them tight.\u00a0 He sat there, alone, for what seemed an age until he suddenly felt his brother arrive behind him.\u00a0 A strong arm around his waist pulled him somewhat upright\u00a0 His hat appeared on his head, which was better, but it was still too bright.\u00a0 He groaned and tried to shade his eyes with his hand.\u00a0 He was so tired.<\/p>\n Then he felt a cloth brush his face and blessed darkness descended.\u00a0 He felt something being tied around his head, and when he touched his face, he discovered Joe had blindfolded him.\u00a0 \u201cSmart kid,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n He could hear in Joe\u2019s voice the grin he must be wearing.\u00a0 \u201cSo you finally admit it, huh?\u00a0 Your little brother is good for something.\u201d<\/p>\n Feelings welled up, almost overcoming him \u2013 love for this most precious child, gratitude for the strength he hadn\u2019t known the boy had, strength of mind, body, and heart.\u00a0 But not a boy.\u00a0 Not anymore.\u00a0 \u201cNot my little brother,\u201d he mumbled.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d Joe exclaimed in his ear.\u00a0 \u201cOf course I\u2019m your brother.\u00a0 You feelin\u2019 all right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot what I meant.\u00a0 Not a boy \u2013 a man.\u00a0 You grew up on me sometime.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t notice.\u00a0 Sorry.\u201d\u00a0 And as he sank down into the comfort of sleep, he thought he felt a tightening of the grip around his waist, and a faint smile graced his lips. His father\u2019s view was more complicated.\u00a0 Sometimes Joe thought Pa didn\u2019t believe any of them were grown up. \u201cJust wait till he sees what kinda shape you\u2019ve got yourself into,\u201d he grinned.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019ll send you off to bed, just like you were six years old.\u201d\u00a0 A chuckle bubbled up in his chest at the image.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen it before \u2013 his fully-grown, college-educated businessman of a brother reduced to school-boy status by a single glare from their father\u2019s deep brown eyes.<\/p>\n Pa knew his boys; knew what it took to grow into a man.\u00a0 He knew Joe was working on it, and he expected just as much as what someone of Joe\u2019s age could reasonably give.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t look for Hoss\u2019 strength or Adam\u2019s sharp mind \u2013 he knew Joe\u2019s gifts would become apparent, and he was patient enough to wait for them to develop.\u00a0 Even though Joe sometimes chafed under his father\u2019s view, he was grateful for his understanding.<\/p>\n But Adam . . .<\/p>\n His brother muttered something in his sleep, and Joe readjusted his hold around his waist, distracted from his musings by practicalities.\u00a0 He was uncomfortable, riding on Sport\u2019s rump, but at least he was warm.\u00a0 It was hard to see over Adam\u2019s shoulder, even though he was slumped, but that also meant he made a wonderful windbreak.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s arms were beginning to ache with the strain of holding him, though, and they were only about half-way home.\u00a0 He kicked himself mentally for leaving the rope in the cabin and tried to think of something he could use instead.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t figure out a way to use their belts \u2013 neither of them had enough extra length to make looping them together feasible.\u00a0 The leather thongs that hung from everyone\u2019s saddles weren\u2019t long enough or strong enough \u2013 but maybe he could use them to tie their belts together.<\/p>\n Sport continued to amble his way home as Joe tried to pull the rope-like lengths of leather from their holes in the pommel. It was awkward, since he couldn\u2019t really see what he was doing, and his gloves made his fingers clumsy.\u00a0 In frustration, he jerked them off with his teeth and tucked them in the front of his jacket for now, then went back to work.\u00a0 He pulled on one end of the string, lengthening it but careful not to pull it all the way out; he didn\u2019t need their saddle coming apart.\u00a0 When he figured he had enough length, he fished out his pocketknife and sliced off what he needed.\u00a0 He repeated the process on the strings on the other side of the pommel, and by the time he finished, his fingers were numb with cold.\u00a0 He fumbled closing the knife, and what with trying to hang on to his brother and the precious strips of leather, he almost dropped the knife.<\/p>\n He caught his breath at the near-loss.\u00a0 It was a beautiful knife \u2013 the handle had an inlaid silver shield engraved with the Ponderosa brand, flanked by his initials.\u00a0 It was one of the finest things he\u2019d ever owned, and the trust implicit in the gift lifted his heart every time he used it.\u00a0 He tucked it safely into his pocket.<\/p>\n He tied the front of Adam\u2019s belt to the saddlehorn, then pulled a second string to connect the back of it to his own.\u00a0 He slipped his gloves on, grateful for the body-warmth they held, and shook his arms out.\u00a0 He\u2019d go beyond his strength to help his brother, but knew this wouldn\u2019t end when he got home.\u00a0 He had to be ready for anything, and exhausting himself now might be fatal for Adam later.\u00a0 He had to protect him.<\/p>\n It was a strange twist in their relationship.\u00a0 As long as he could remember, he\u2019d sought his big brother\u2019s notice and approval.\u00a0 He\u2019d delighted in Adam\u2019s rare playfulness, soaked up his tender touch with scrapes and bruises, learned everything his oldest brother could teach him, and tested his strength against him, both physical and mental.\u00a0 He\u2019d nagged to learn every dirty fighting technique Adam knew, and dragged him into mock fistfights.\u00a0 He pestered Adam constantly and always felt a shiver of victory when he could pull him from his work.\u00a0 He used every weapon he had \u2013 grins, sad eyes, giggles, sharp words \u2013 to catch Adam\u2019s attention.\u00a0 He\u2019d wondered on occasion why it was so important to him, but until just this minute, he\u2019d never realized.\u00a0 Adam saw life clearly.\u00a0 He viewed people without prejudice, making his judgments based on their actions and what he could determine of their motivations.\u00a0 He might love someone, but how he felt would never blind him to their behavior.<\/p>\n If Adam saw him as a man, then he was \u2013 or at least he would be.\u00a0 Oh, he knew he still had a lot of growing to do, a lot of wisdom to gain, but a knot of tension somewhere deep inside, a gnawing he hadn\u2019t realized was there, began to ease.\u00a0 He would get there.\u00a0 Adam had said so.\u00a0 \u201cAnd,\u201d Joe grinned, \u201cwe all know that you\u2019re never wrong.\u00a0 After all, you\u2019ve told us so often enough.\u201d Joe approached the ranch house cautiously.\u00a0 Sure enough, even from a distance he could see the buckskin that Blake had been riding was tied at the hitching post, along with the horses belonging to Jesse and the other three members of the posse.\u00a0 He was thankful to see Roy Coffee\u2019s horse as well.\u00a0 He\u2019d argued with himself the whole way about what he\u2019d do if Blake and Jesse beat him home, wondering briefly if he should take Adam somewhere else, but he could feel the fever heat rising from his brother\u2019s body.\u00a0 He knew Adam needed shelter and decent care, or it wouldn\u2019t matter what those two had told the sheriff.\u00a0 He trusted Pa and Hoss and Roy to keep the situation under control, so he\u2019d kept heading home.<\/p>\n He pulled Sport to a halt while he was still far enough away that no one in the house would have heard him.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d\u00a0 He shifted his grip on his brother.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, we\u2019re just about home.\u201d<\/p>\n There was no response.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, if you can hear me, we\u2019re about five minutes from home.\u00a0 I\u2019m not gonna tell them who you are, and I won\u2019t let Pa or Hoss either, but I sure wish you\u2019d tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d\u00a0 He pulled his brother up close to his chest and called his name again, this time sharply and practically in his ear.\u00a0 He was rewarded with a faint grunt that he could feel more than hear.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s it, brother.\u00a0 It\u2019d be a whole lot better if you were awake for this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHuh?\u201d\u00a0 Adam tried to lift his head, but it fell forward again.<\/p>\n \u201cC\u2019mon, Adam . . . wake up and tell me what\u2019s going on before we go on in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c. . . deed . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Now Joe was the one to mutter, \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGet th\u2019 deed.\u00a0 Get to Pa . . . he can prove . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat deed?\u201d\u00a0 Sport shifted restlessly under them and pulled at the reins, wanting to get to the barn.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, tell me what you want me to do.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have much time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPaper . . . in my saddle blanket.\u201d\u00a0 He raised a hand to his head and groaned.<\/p>\n \u201cIn that little pocket you put in?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDamn . . . took it out.\u00a0 Joe . . . gotta get it.\u00a0 Get it to Roy . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGet what paper?\u00a0 A deed to what?\u00a0 And take it to Pa or Roy?\u00a0 What are you talking about?\u201d\u00a0 Adam didn\u2019t answer, but Joe couldn\u2019t stop asking.\u00a0 \u201cIs it in your saddle blanket or not?\u00a0 C\u2019mon, Adam where is it?\u00a0 What do I do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n Sport whinnied angrily and shook his head.\u00a0 Joe heard the faint answer from Cochise, coming from the barn.\u00a0 As grateful as he was to know that his beloved pinto had gotten home, he could have done without the announcement.<\/p>\n \u201cNot much time,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 Anyone in the house would have heard Cochise, and they\u2019d be out in the yard in a moment.\u00a0 He might have to move fast.\u00a0 He fumbled with the knots, but they\u2019d tightened during the ride.\u00a0 He berated himself for not thinking ahead and pulled his pocketknife out again.\u00a0 He quickly sliced through the leather thongs holding Adam in place, but this time it was nerves, not cold, that made him fumble the knife as he snapped it shut.\u00a0 It flew from his hands and he started to make a wild snatch for it, but Adam began to topple and he grabbed his brother instead.\u00a0 His heart sank at the loss, but there was no choice, really \u2013 much as he cared about the knife and what it stood for, Adam\u2019s safety overrode everything else.\u00a0 He set the loss aside and set his mind to the upcoming confrontation.\u00a0 He loosened his gun in its holster, swallowed once, took a deep breath, and then nudged Sport forward. Adam gradually noticed that they weren\u2019t moving any more.\u00a0 He felt something warm tossed over him \u2013 a blanket? \u2013\u00a0 then there were people talking and hands pulling at him.\u00a0 He hung onto the saddle horn with desperate strength until he recognized one of the voices belonged to his brother Hoss.\u00a0 He relaxed and let himself fall, knowing those log-strong arms would catch him.\u00a0 He smiled slightly at the irony \u2013 he was the eldest, the one who was supposed to watch out for his younger brothers, yet they were the ones caring for him.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s goin\u2019 on, Joe?\u201d he heard Hoss ask.\u00a0 \u201cWe got a bunch o\u2019 fellas in the house goin\u2019 on and on at Pa and Roy about someone named Stoddard who stole somethin\u2019 from them and killed some little gal back down in Markleeville.\u00a0 Pa\u2019s about to have a fit \u2018cause that\u2019s where Adam went\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c \u2019s me,\u201d Adam coughed. He pulled the bandana down from his face to hang loosely around his neck and squinted up at his bigger brother.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat in tarnation happened to you?\u201d Hoss\u2019 eyes widened as he took in the bruises and bloody scrapes on Adam\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cAn\u2019 whaddaya mean it was you?\u00a0 You\u2019d never kill no gal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was shot,\u201d Joe answered grimly.\u00a0 They\u2019d made it to the porch by this time, Adam feeling a little steadier on his feet.\u00a0 What Joe said next, though, stopped Hoss in his tracks.\u00a0 \u201cIn the back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDidn\u2019t kill her,\u201d Adam muttered.\u00a0 \u201cIt was Jesse.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, what the heck is goin\u2019 on?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shook his head in frustration.\u00a0 \u201cOnly Adam knows, and I haven\u2019t been able to get him to spit it out yet.\u00a0 His name\u2019s Stoddard, though\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cO\u2019 course it is!\u201d Hoss interrupted.<\/p>\n Joe glared at him.\u00a0 \u201c\u2014and we don\u2019t know him.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam wavered between them, unsteadily leaning toward the front door.\u00a0 His father . . . the warmth of the big fireplace . . . it was a toss-up which he wanted more.\u00a0 \u201cGo inside?\u00a0 Find Pa . . . cold . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Joe parked himself square in front of his oldest brother.\u00a0 \u201cTell me what to do, Adam.\u00a0 Tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa\u2019s gotta prove I\u2019m Stoddard . . . for the boy.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss fairly sputtered.\u00a0 \u201cThem men inside, they got a wanted poster on Stoddard.\u00a0 A thousand dollars.\u00a0 You go in there sayin\u2019 that\u2019s who you are, an\u2019 they\u2019ll haul you back to Markleeville for hangin\u2019\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Adam spun toward his brother.\u00a0 The world tilted crazily, and he grabbed at the front of Hoss\u2019 jacket, drawing himself up with panicked strength that he knew would cost him dearly later.\u00a0 \u201cGotta do it.\u00a0 Don\u2019t tell them you know me.\u00a0 They\u2019ll kill you if they think you\u2019re in on this.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss blew out a long sigh.\u00a0 \u201cIn on what?\u201d he asked, sounding as exasperated as Joe.\u00a0 He backed off, though.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, if that\u2019s the way you want it.\u00a0 But you gotta tell us what this is all about.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sagged in relief and had just started to say, \u201cThe line shack\u2014\u201d when the door crashed open and suddenly the porch was filled with men who grabbed at them, pulling and pushing.\u00a0 They ripped Adam from his brothers\u2019 hands and dragged him inside.\u00a0 He stumbled and almost fell as he passed through the doorway, but the men \u2013 he recognized Blake and Jesse at the forefront \u2013 hauled him to his feet.\u00a0 Then he heard the most welcome sound in the world:\u00a0 his father\u2019s bellow.\u00a0 No contest now as to whether it was the fire or his father that was more welcome.<\/p>\n \u201cJust what do you think you\u2019re doing?\u00a0 Let go of him!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe rushed into the room and to their father\u2019s side.\u00a0 He grabbed at his arm and, in what Adam blearily recognized as an effort to fill him in under the guise of a very young man\u2019s babble, poured forth, \u201cPa, I found this man out on the road from Genoa \u2013 calls himself Stoddard \u2013 these men shot him in the back\u2014\u201d\u00a0 That earned the strangers a deadly glare from Ben.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what they want, but they can\u2019t take him with them all the way to Markleeville.\u00a0 It\u2019d kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n He pointed at Blake.\u00a0 \u201cThat man, there; he came into the line shack where I was trying to fix Stoddard up, and he asked him all these questions, and when Stoddard couldn\u2019t tell him \u2013 he\u2019s too sick, Pa \u2013 when he couldn\u2019t tell him, he beat on him.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s gaze shifted from anger to something Adam had rarely seen.\u00a0 His father was not only furious and sick with fear for him \u2013 something Adam read easily by his expression and the way he stood with both feet planted solidly \u2013 but he looked at these men as if they weren\u2019t even human.\u00a0 \u201cPut him on the settee,\u201d he whispered in a voice that nevertheless carried through the large room.\u00a0 \u201cNo one is taking an injured man from my house until we get the doctor out here and he says he\u2019s well enough to be moved.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake started sputtering.\u00a0 \u201cCartwright, you don\u2019t know what he\u2019s done!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben took a single step forward, fury radiating from him like the front edge of a howling Sierra blizzard.\u00a0 His voice was pure steel and deadly quiet.\u00a0 \u201cI said that no one . . . no one<\/em> . . . is going to remove Stoddard from my care.\u00a0 Now put<\/em> . . . him<\/em> . . . down<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n The two cowboys who were all that kept Adam on his feet shuffled forward, almost against their will.\u00a0 They were just about to ease him down when someone grabbed him from behind, hauling him towards the big hearth.\u00a0 Something hit him in the lower back, and the pain nearly brought him to his knees.\u00a0 Everything was a confused mess, and he had a sudden dizzy vision of himself lying in the middle of Joe\u2019s snowfield, the tendrils of crimson growing into a circle that expanded at an alarming rate.\u00a0 He felt a sudden hot warmth inching down his back to his belt and realized he had very little time left.\u00a0 Have to tell Pa . . . tell Joe . . . have to make sure they know enough to carry on without me . . . take care of the boy . . . .<\/em><\/p>\n When his vision finally cleared, he saw Joe and Hoss by the dining room table, his father and Blake over by the desk, and \u2013 yes, that was Roy, thank God \u2013 by the stairs.\u00a0 Maybe he could pull this off after all.\u00a0 His throat tightened, making it difficult to speak.\u00a0 \u201cAll right,\u201d he rasped.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll talk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou better believe you\u2019ll talk,\u201d came a voice by his ear, and he realized it was Jesse who held him, who had a gun jammed in his side.\u00a0 \u201cWhere . . . is . . . it?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n He suddenly found the whole situation unaccountably humorous and began to laugh.\u00a0 Jesse, Blake \u2013 they thought they could scare him.\u00a0 He would tell them just exactly as much as he wanted his family to know.\u00a0 The trick would be to say it in such a way that only the Cartwrights would understand.\u00a0 What had he managed to tell Joe so far?\u00a0 His gaze drifted over all the men on the room, carefully calculated to land on his youngest brother at just the right time.\u00a0 \u201cYou think you have me cornered . . . you\u2019ve got me in a . . . box.<\/em>\u201d Joe\u2019s brows drew together at his stare.\u00a0 He paused, then shifted his gaze to the men by the desk. \u201cMr. Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n His father started, unused to hearing those words from that voice, but, bless him, going along.<\/p>\n Adam chose his words cautiously.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, to you and your family for your care.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, son.\u201d\u00a0 Easy words from an older man to a younger, a designation that would be misinterpreted by Blake and his men, but that he was grateful to hear one last time.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you make sure that my heirs do what\u2019s right with my property?\u201d<\/p>\n He could see the growing worry in his father\u2019s face, was sure Ben understood the meaning in what he said, what others would think referred to a stranger\u2019s personal effects that would need to be disposed of after trial and hanging.\u00a0 No, he wouldn\u2019t last to make it to trial \u2013 Jesse would make sure of that \u2013 and probably not even to the end of the day.\u00a0 The circle of dark red snow was growing, covering more and more of the field of white, encroaching on his vision again.<\/p>\n Jesse shook him, and the pain jarred him back to the present.\u00a0 \u201cTell us where it is.\u201d<\/p>\n He smiled and let his gaze roam again.\u00a0 \u201cLike I said, Jesse.\u00a0 You think I\u2019m . . . boxed in<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 This time he saw Joe\u2019s eyes widen.\u00a0 Good.\u00a0 He\u2019s figured it out . . . they\u2019ll take care of\u00a0 the boy.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t be around to see it, but he\u2019d accomplished what he\u2019d set out to do.\u00a0 He could leave it in his family\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n \u201cStoddard!\u201d<\/em> Blake yelled.<\/p>\n He started to chuckle again, though it hurt desperately.\u00a0 \u201dC\u2019mere, Blake.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell you exactly what you need to know.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake took a step toward him, then two.<\/p>\n \u201cCloser.\u201d\u00a0 He held the greedy rancher with his eyes, willed him closer.\u00a0 It was getting harder to breathe; he was lightheaded from blood loss and victory.\u00a0 Soon Blake was right next to him, and he twisted in Jesse\u2019s grasp so that he faced the two of them.\u00a0 He could see Joe and Hoss in the distance behind them, ready for whatever he was setting up.\u00a0 Joe took one step back, another, and then one to the side so he was hidden by Hoss and Hop Sing.\u00a0 Yes, now was the time.\u00a0 He almost didn\u2019t have enough air to say what he wanted, and his voice was thick, choked.\u00a0 \u201cWhat you need to know . . .\u201d<\/p>\n They leaned in, almost on top of him in their anxious greed.<\/p>\n \u201c. . . you think you can make me say.\u00a0 But you can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n The gun was jammed into his ribs again, and the room went as still as a winter night.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll kill you,\u201d Jesse threatened.<\/p>\n He smiled with a feral satisfaction.\u00a0 \u201cYou already have.\u201d\u00a0 And he let the field of red take over, using his last bit of strength to make sure he fell forward, taking Blake and Jesse with him.\u00a0 His world was gone before they all hit the floor together. Hoss had just started to relax when the two cowboys followed Ben\u2019s instructions and helped Adam to the settee, but then the man named Jesse grabbed Adam and dragged him over to the hearth.\u00a0 Adam went white and his knees seemed to go out from under him, and Hoss surged forward, but then he saw the gun pressed to his brother\u2019s back.\u00a0 Jesse held Adam upright by the bandana that was now twisted around Adam\u2019s neck.\u00a0 Adam coughed, choking, and Jesse eased up on his grip, just a bit.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s voice was raspy, but Hoss could hear every word.\u00a0 He recognized, even if others wouldn\u2019t, the warmth in his brother\u2019s eyes as his gaze touched him while he spoke.\u00a0 There was a spark of humor, too; as if Adam knew he\u2019d already won and was merely playing out the hand for his own entertainment.<\/p>\n Joe must have realized something was going on, too, because he gradually stepped backwards.\u00a0 Hoss moved slightly to the right and Hop Sing moved to the left to cover his younger brother\u2019s movements.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what Joe had in mind, but he shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, ready for his chance.<\/p>\n Adam drew Blake and Jesse to him, a spider weaving his web.\u00a0 The two leaders of the posse drew closer to him, and in his excitement, Jesse tightened the bandana again.\u00a0 Adam could hardly speak, but Hoss still didn\u2019t dare move \u2013 not while the gun was jammed in Adam\u2019s back.<\/p>\n When Jesse threatened to kill Adam, his brother just smiled.\u00a0 It was a look that Hoss had never seen on his face before, but he knew what it meant.\u00a0 Adam had won, though it might cost him his life.\u00a0 It was a price his brother accepted.\u00a0 Then he collapsed, taking Blake and Jesse with him, and the world disintegrated into chaos.\u00a0 The red chair went over with the falling men, a gun went off, and he had a quick view of Roy ducking behind the blue chair as the bullet blasted a hole through it, just missing his head.<\/p>\n Hoss thumped two of the posse members to the floor with a swipe of one arm, knocking a pistol toward the ceiling just before it fired.\u00a0 He saw from the corner of his eye that his father had an arm around the neck of the third, and Roy knocked the chair out of his way as he surged forward to help Ben.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s inert body still pinned Jesse and Blake, but they were already getting free.<\/p>\n With everything that was in him, Hoss wanted to go to his brother, but he knew he had to give Joe as much time as possible to get away.\u00a0 He grabbed the two posse members he\u2019d just knocked down and rammed their heads together.\u00a0 They fell, senseless, at his feet, and he moved on to Blake and Jesse.\u00a0 His heartache fueled his anger, and as soon as they were in reach, he simply grabbed them by the collars of their coats and tossed them aside.\u00a0 Tangled in dining room chairs and each other, they struggled to get up, but all of his attention was now on his older brother.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam!\u201d he cried, carefully rolling him face up.\u00a0 His hand cupped his brother\u2019s waxen face, and his heart sank when Adam didn\u2019t respond.\u00a0 He leaned down to press an ear against his chest, and it was while he was listening carefully that he suddenly thought of the consequences of what he would say next.\u00a0 If Adam was dead, there would be no place those men could hide from his vengeance, but if he was alive, Blake would still insist on taking him to Markleeville, and they\u2019d just be back where they\u2019d started . . . Joe didn\u2019t see what started the ruckus, but took full advantage of it.\u00a0 He knew where the paper was now, and as everyone\u2019s attention had been drawn to Adam, he\u2019d slowly moved backwards, one step at a time, until he was between the dining room table and the wall, and was well hidden behind Hoss and Hop Sing.\u00a0 He heard his brother\u2019s final words, then there was the sound of furniture turning over, the sharp snap of a gun being fired, the wild bellow of his brother Hoss.\u00a0 He shoved Hop Sing forward and ran.<\/p>\n On his mad, quiet dash through the kitchen, he grabbed Hop Sing\u2019s favorite carving knife in its leather scabbard from its peg on the wall next to the worktable.\u00a0 He dropped the hanging loop over his head and stuffed the scabbard down the front of his jacket.\u00a0 He still had his gun but no extra bullets, and as much as he shrank from the thought of using the knife on a man, he knew if it came down to Adam\u2019s life or one of those men\u2019s, he wouldn\u2019t hesitate.\u00a0 And he had no illusions that they wouldn\u2019t be after him, just as soon as they figured out where he\u2019d gone.<\/p>\n He knew he didn\u2019t have time to saddle Cochise, and he wasn\u2019t sure how rested his horse would be anyway.\u00a0 The cold air sliced into his lungs as he frantically tried to think of a way to hold off Blake and his men as long as possible.\u00a0 He needed to take the strongest, fastest horse he could find . . . his quick eye picked out the best of those tied in front of the house, a big roan one of the quiet men had been riding. He pulled out the knife and slashed through the reins of all the others, then mounted and swung his hat at the rest.\u00a0 They milled uncertainly for a moment, but when he whacked a particularly skittish one on the haunch, it bolted from the yard and the others followed.\u00a0 His horse bolted, too, but he encouraged the wild flight.\u00a0 Snow flew at him in clumps from the herd in front, but he just ducked his head into the roan\u2019s mane and urged the animal to go faster.\u00a0 When he was about a half mile from the house, he shouted at the loose horses, waving his arms until they scattered.\u00a0 It was the best he could do.<\/p>\n He kicked his horse into as fast a gallop as was safe, and settled in for the long ride out to the line shack, working through everything he knew.\u00a0 Adam had tried hard to hand him all the pieces \u2013 now it was up to him to put it all together and finish what his brother had started.\u00a0 He knew Adam was in bad shape, could even die.\u00a0 If this was going to be his last request, Joe would do everything in his power to make it turn out the way he wanted.<\/p>\n He hoped he\u2019d understood Adam, that this deed he kept worrying over was really in the box under the cot.\u00a0 How he could have gotten it there \u2013 no, he\u2019d been on the floor by the bed.\u00a0 As determined as his brother was, he could have lifted the mattress just enough to slide it in.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t have been easy, but then if he\u2019d ever been afraid of a difficulty, Joe had never seen it.<\/p>\n He eased his horse\u2019s pace a little, giving him a chance to gather his strength.\u00a0 One thing about Blake, he provided good horseflesh for his men.\u00a0 Joe didn\u2019t know how much of a lead he had, but Hoss would delay the men as long as he could, and Joe had the advantage of knowing the quickest route.\u00a0 Of course he was leaving a trail a blind man could follow, but he knew when to rest his horse and when he could go all out.\u00a0 He knew where the only unfrozen water would be and the only uncovered grass.\u00a0 Most important of all, though, he needed<\/em> to do this.\u00a0 He had to succeed.\u00a0 Adam was counting on him, and he couldn\u2019t let him down. \u201cHe\u2019s dead, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n Sudden, tearing grief ripped through Ben Cartwright.\u00a0 He threw the man in his arms to the floor, not caring that the cowboy cried out in pain when his head cracked against one of the solid legs of the settee.\u00a0 He crossed the room in just a few strides, but came up short when Hoss stood and blocked his way.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me\u2014\u201d he began heatedly, grabbing at his son\u2019s arm to move him out of the way, but Hoss cut him off.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m the only one what knew him at all, Pa; I\u2019m gonna take care of him now.\u201d<\/p>\n It dawned on him that Hoss\u2019 face \u2013 his whole attitude \u2013 was one of belligerence, not grief.\u00a0 He was also standing so that it was impossible for anyone else in the room to get a good look at Adam where he lay between the hearth and the red chair, which was still on its side.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s eyes narrowed, and his heart began to settle from its wild hammering as he realized Hoss was trying to tell him something.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean, you knew him?\u201d Blake\u2019s voice came from the floor as he wobbled to his knees.\u00a0 His voice steadied as he got to his feet and focused his attention on this new target.\u00a0 \u201cYou two friends or something?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss turned his fierce gaze from Ben.\u00a0 \u201cI said I knew him.\u00a0 We\u2019d share a few drinks down Genoa-way whenever we\u2019d happen to meet up there, and whatever you say about what he done in Markleeville, he\u2019s a good man that didn\u2019t deserve what you done to him.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben took a deep breath, now sure of what Hoss was doing.\u00a0 He stepped in front of Blake, also not so incidentally putting another barrier between the man and his eldest.\u00a0 Though he addressed the sheriff, his words were aimed square at Blake.\u00a0 \u201cRoy, I want you to arrest these men.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat charges you want me to put down?\u201d his friend asked calmly.<\/p>\n \u201cMurder,\u201d he answered simply.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t prove that!\u201d Jesse said as Blake helped him to his feet.\u00a0 He shook his head to clear it.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Blake said with a smirk.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t have any witnesses to say how that killer got shot.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben could feel the anger rising, but he quashed it firmly.\u00a0 Adam still wasn\u2019t safe.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not talking about how he got into this condition, I\u2019m talking about how you treated him, knowing how badly hurt he was.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd how are you going to prove we knew any such thing?\u201d Jesse inserted.\u00a0 \u201cYour word against mine in a court of law.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy rubbed at his moustache.\u00a0 \u201cHappen a local jury\u2019d likely believe the Cartwrights before they\u2019d take on what some stranger gunman from down south said.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake frowned, and Ben had a sudden suspicion he\u2019d been caught off guard.<\/p>\n \u201cLocal?\u201d\u00a0 The posse leader jerked his head in the direction of the floor where Hoss Cartwright was once more bent over the body of the man he knew as Stoddard.\u00a0 \u201cHe was wanted in Markleeville, not here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t much matter, now,\u201d Roy said.\u00a0 \u201cMan\u2019s dead, and died in my territory.\u00a0 I\u2019ll just send a messenger to Sheriff Watson, let him know he can tear up them wanted posters.\u00a0 You fellers, though; that\u2019s something different.\u00a0 And even if you was right and you didn\u2019t mean to kill him, fact is that you was responsible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa?\u201d Hoss inserted quietly.\u00a0 \u201cIt ain\u2019t right to just leave him lyin\u2019 on the floor like this.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben spared a look at him, careful to let nothing more than regret show on his face.\u00a0 \u201cTake him upstairs, then; lay him out in the first bedroom.\u201d\u00a0 He searched the room.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing?\u201d<\/p>\n The little Chinese cook stepped forward from where he\u2019d taken cover in the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cYes, Mistah Cartlight?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHelp Hoss get Stoddard upstairs, then get some cloths and water and such to clean him up a bit, do a proper laying out.\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing nodded, and Ben moved out of the way so the little cook could join Hoss.\u00a0 Two of the other three posse members climbed to their feet, but the man Ben had flung to the floor just groaned in quiet agony.\u00a0 The others maintained a respectful silence while Hoss and Hop Sing made their way upstairs with their burden, but as soon as they\u2019d disappeared from sight, Blake started up again.<\/p>\n \u201cSheriff, you have no cause to hold us.\u00a0 We\u2019re only trying to recover some stolen property.\u201d<\/p>\n His righteous tone infuriated Ben, and again, he had to hold his temper on tight rein.\u00a0 \u201cAnd just what property might that be?\u201d he asked through a clenched jaw.<\/p>\n \u201cSome papers he took from the poor widow-lady he killed.\u201d<\/p>\n Widow?\u00a0 Did he mean Isabella?\u00a0 And by Adam\u2019s hand?\u00a0 No, surely not!<\/em><\/p>\n Blake stepped forward, a conciliatory smile on his face that made Ben want to shake his teeth loose.\u00a0 \u201cYou won\u2019t mind if I search the body.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf all the sanctimonious\u2014\u201d Ben started to sputter.<\/p>\n \u201cHold off, Ben,\u201d said Roy, raising one hand.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a reasonable request.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben turned on him.\u00a0 \u201cYou can\u2019t mean you\u2019d let this . . . butcher<\/em> . . . anywhere near\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Roy cut him off again.\u00a0 \u201cYou just settle down a bit.\u201d\u00a0 He turned to Blake.\u00a0 \u201cAn\u2019 you, too.\u00a0 Jest stay put right where you are.\u00a0 I ain\u2019t sayin\u2019 you ain\u2019t got some kinda legal claim to be dealt with, but I\u2019m the sheriff around here and it\u2019s gonna be handled my way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoy\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBen, I ain\u2019t gonna tell you again.\u00a0 I know you got a powerful lot of reasons to be upset with these fellas, seein\u2019 as how they went and killed a man in your house, but I gotta respect their legal rights, too.\u00a0 This has got to be done right, and you know it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.\u00a0 Yes, Roy was right.\u00a0 For what they\u2019d done to Adam, they would pay . . . and he wouldn\u2019t allow his self-righteous desire for revenge to create loopholes a lawyer could let them slip through.<\/p>\n Roy turned to Blake.\u00a0 \u201cNow, what are these papers, and what\u2019s your interest in them?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNone of your business, lawman,\u201d spat Jesse.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, now, I say that it is.\u00a0 After all, a man got kilt in my district over them, so I\u2019d say that pretty much makes it my business.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake held a hand out to calm the gunman.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all right, Jesse.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure the sheriff, when he knows all the facts, will see we have the right to take those papers back to Markleeville.\u201d\u00a0 He stroked his chin.\u00a0 \u201cFact is, sheriff, we aren\u2019t exactly sure what they are.\u00a0 Jesse saw Stoddard arguing with that poor widow-lady, waving them around in the air.\u00a0 One of them had \u201cdeed\u201d written on it plain as could be, but before Jesse could get to her to help out, Stoddard shot her and took off with them.\u00a0 He came to me with the story, and, well, all these good men rode along with us.\u00a0 Now all we want to do is get the papers back to the lawyers in Markleeville for proper disposition.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if his son hadn\u2019t been involved, Ben would have known they were hiding something.\u00a0 \u201cJust five philanthropists,\u201d he said, his voice low and venomous.<\/p>\n Jesse and the two cowboys who were still standing looked confused, but Blake\u2019s expression lightened.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s right.\u00a0 Just like you\u2019re a leading citizen up here, I try to do my best for my community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoy,\u201d Ben said with steel in his voice, \u201cI\u2019ll allow you to go upstairs and search Stoddard\u2019s body, but these men are staying down here with me.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy rubbed at his moustache.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, but I\u2019ll be taking everyone\u2019s guns before I go.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake and the two cowboys gave theirs up readily enough, Blake because he knew the sheriff wouldn\u2019t do the search until he got them and the cowboys out of sheer confusion and a wish to stay on the side of the law, but Jesse hesitated.\u00a0 \u201cGive it over,\u201d Blake said while Roy waited patiently.\u00a0 Jesse scowled, but handed it to Roy.<\/p>\n The sheriff scooped up the gun that Hoss had knocked flying and put all of the weapons in Ben\u2019s gun cabinet.\u00a0 He held his hand out for the key and Ben handed it over reluctantly.\u00a0 The entire situation was too unstable for him to be happy not having access to his gun.<\/p>\n Roy locked the drawer and pocketed the key.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s fine, then.\u00a0 And there\u2019ll be no funny business while I\u2019m upstairs, either, y\u2019hear?\u201d he warned.\u00a0 \u201cI won\u2019t be that far from the top of the steps, an\u2019 that\u2019s a fine view for shootin\u2019 folks what get outta line.\u201d<\/p>\n The two cowboys still on their feet looked less and less like they wanted any part of Jesse and Blake.\u00a0 The taller of the two hunkered down by the man on the floor and pressed his kerchief against a bloody gash on his friend\u2019s forehead, who groaned in misery.\u00a0 \u201cYou won\u2019t get any trouble from us, sheriff.\u201d<\/p>\n Jesse shot a glance of fury at him, but Blake calmed him with a touch on his arm and a soft word.<\/p>\n Ben desperately wanted to follow Roy up the staircase, but he knew it was essential they keep to the story that Stoddard was dead.\u00a0 It seemed a long time before Roy returned, Hoss only a step or two behind him.\u00a0 He searched Hoss\u2019s face, and relaxed infinitesimally when he could detect no further grief.\u00a0 Roy\u2019s announcement, though, brought him back to the present with a thump.<\/p>\n \u201cAin\u2019t no papers on him. Not even so much as a letter.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at Blake hard.\u00a0 \u201cI dunno what you thought you was chasin\u2019 but you sure ain\u2019t found it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben expected Blake to demand to search the body himself, but instead, Jesse spoke up.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s the boy?\u201d<\/p>\n They all looked around the room, and only now did Ben realize he hadn\u2019t seen Joseph since Adam\u2019s collapse.\u00a0 \u201cHe must have run when the fighting started,\u201d he said, trying to divert their attention from what was obvious to him.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s still young\u2014\u201d he added in false justification.<\/p>\n \u201cHe ran, all right,\u201d said Jesse grimly.\u00a0 \u201cRan off to get them papers.\u00a0 Stoddard musta told him something when they were together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSheriff, Mr. Cartwright,\u201d Blake said, \u201cwe\u2019ll be taking our guns now and leaving you in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Ben breathed as he stepped forward.<\/p>\n Roy shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cThey got the right to leave, Ben.\u00a0 \u2018Course I don\u2019t have to give them back their weapons, seein\u2019 as how they already committed violence in my territory.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI got a rifle on my horse that\u2019ll do me just fine,\u201d Jesse said as he stalked to the door and slammed outside.\u00a0 Ben sighed in relief that he was gone.\u00a0 One less threat to his eldest.<\/p>\n \u201cAll right,\u201d said Blake.\u00a0 \u201cYou other men, let\u2019s get going.\u201d<\/p>\n But the man who\u2019d been kneeling on the floor shook his head and said, \u201cI don\u2019t think so, Blake.\u00a0 Soon as Johnny, here, feels a mite better, we\u2019re headed into town for a good meal, then back to Markleeville.\u00a0 This whole setup smells, and we don\u2019t want no part of it no more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFine,\u201d Blake growled.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll go after that young upstart on our own.\u201d He strode to the door and jerked it open, then slammed it so hard that it bounced open again.<\/p>\n \u201cRoy, they\u2019re going after Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss closed the door after peering outside and turned to his father.\u00a0 \u201cNot right away, they ain\u2019t,\u201d he grinned.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAin\u2019t no horses out there to go after anyone on.\u00a0 Just some loose reins hangin\u2019 off the hitchin\u2019 posts.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy had the gun rack unlocked.\u00a0 \u201cAny horses in your barn, boy?\u201d\u00a0 At Hoss\u2019s sudden look of understanding, Roy tossed a rifle to him, which he caught in one hand.\u00a0 \u201cBest go protect your property from horse-thieves.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss was across the room in three strides.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll just do that, sheriff.\u201d<\/p>\n The two cowboys had finally gotten their friend on his feet.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll back you up on that,\u201d the tall one said, \u201cthis has gone too far.\u201d They followed Hoss outside.<\/p>\n \u201cBen,\u201d Roy said softly to his friend, \u201cyou gonna stay here with Adam or go with me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam,\u201d Ben felt like he was caught in a whirlwind, \u201c\u2014how is he?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAin\u2019t too good, but it ain\u2019t hopeless neither, from what Hop Sing says.\u00a0 What those fellers told me when they was in town about Adam \u2013\u00a0 not knowin\u2019 who he was o\u2019 course \u2013\u00a0 well, it was enough that I sent a message on over to the Doc.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be along any time now, an\u2019 between him an\u2019 Hop Sing, they\u2019ll take good care of him.\u201d<\/p>\n Hearing that the doctor was on his way made Ben\u2019s decision much easier.\u00a0 Sudden anger blossomed.\u00a0 \u201cI am not letting those two men shoot another one of my sons.\u00a0 Hoss can watch over things here, help Hop Sing until Paul gets here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGrab your coat then, an\u2019 let\u2019s get on our way.\u201d Blake and Jesse were enraged to discover their horses gone and three guns protecting the mounts in the barn, but with cold determination Jesse managed to catch Blake\u2019s buckskin and a big black for himself, both still with rifles tucked in their scabbards.\u00a0 Then they lost more time, finding enough reins that weren\u2019t cut or were at least long enough to use.\u00a0 When they finally headed out, they were both furious.<\/p>\n Ben and Roy didn\u2019t get out immediately, either.\u00a0 Although Buck and Chubb were ready, Ben found he couldn\u2019t leave without seeing for himself that Adam was still alive.\u00a0 He stayed only a moment, long enough to feel the feverheat radiating from his son\u2019s body and to catch a glimpse of the ugly, swollen wound as Hop Sing cleaned it.\u00a0 That Adam didn\u2019t protest, wasn\u2019t even aware enough to flinch at what should have been excruciating, told Ben how bad it was.<\/p>\n Roy spent those few minutes shortening the stirrups on Chubb.\u00a0 His own horse had been released with the posse members, but he didn\u2019t mind \u2013 Hoss\u2019s horse was fresh and strong.<\/p>\n When Ben came out of the ranchhouse, he offered the ex-posse members beds in the bunkhouse as he prepared to mount.\u00a0 The tall man took him up on the offer on behalf of his two partners, but said he\u2019d be going after the horses.\u00a0 Once he\u2019d gathered a few, he\u2019d follow them to the line shack to back them up.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s the least I can do,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n Ben nodded once in acceptance, then climbed up into his saddle and booted his horse to gallop.\u00a0 Roy took precious moments to carry the cowboy out to where the horses were scattered, then he took off after his friend. It was a race, now, and they all knew it.\u00a0 Joe had a good head start, but he also knew it was likely that Blake and Jesse would catch up with him before he got to the cabin.\u00a0 The snow was harder to get through than he\u2019d thought, and he was essentially blazing a trail that would make it easier on his pursuers\u2019 horses.\u00a0 The roan was laboring even now, and he was still two miles from the cabin.\u00a0 He glanced over his shoulder at the flat terrain behind him and thought he saw two horses \u2013 a buckskin and a black \u2013 emerging from the last stand of trees.\u00a0 It could have been his father and Hoss, but why would they be riding hell-for-leather after him?\u00a0 And he couldn\u2019t believe that both of them would leave Adam . . . unless he was dead.<\/p>\n A sob tore at his throat.\u00a0 No, he had to believe that the two men were Blake and Jesse, as much as he was afraid of how close they were.\u00a0 The alternative was too terrible.<\/p>\n He broke through a last stand of trees onto the field in front of the cabin.\u00a0 He planned his actions \u2013 he\u2019d pull out the rifle, vault off onto the small porch, haul the cot open, grab the paper, and run back outside to his horse.\u00a0 He should have just enough time to slip down the small bank to the arroyo and be out of sight before the two men chasing him came through the trees.<\/p>\n His plan fell apart when he was just fifty yards from the front stoop.<\/p>\n He pulled the rifle out of the scabbard, but then felt his horse slip and go down on an icy patch.\u00a0 The rifle went flying in one direction as he tumbled in the other.\u00a0 He lay for just a moment, buried in snow, as he caught his breath.\u00a0 Then he scrabbled to his knees, looked around quickly for the rifle, but it, too, must have been buried in the snow.\u00a0 He\u2019d never find it in time.\u00a0 He had his pistol, though.\u00a0 The roan was lying on its side, still with exhaustion or dead.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have time to find out.\u00a0 It was eerily quiet around him; no wind, no birds, nothing but the faint pounding of hooves.<\/p>\n No time, no time, no time . . . .<\/em><\/p>\n The litany repeated in his head with each pounding stride as he ran for the cabin.<\/p>\n He slid to a halt, banging into the wall next to the door, got his feet back under him, and shot through the door.\u00a0 He slipped on some of the straw that was still scattered on the floor, but regained his balance and nearly fell next to the bed.\u00a0 He gasped in thanks that the rope was still attached to the frame.\u00a0 With one quick pull, he had the box open.\u00a0 There it is!<\/em>\u00a0 Such a small piece of paper for all this trouble and anguish.\u00a0 The words on the front caught his eye:\u00a0 \u201cDeed,\u201d then underneath, \u201cSanta Maria Mining Company.\u201d\u00a0 A quick look inside showed him a transfer of ownership, from Isabella Rivera de Vega Morales to Adam Stoddard.\u00a0 There was a smudge after \u201cStoddard,\u201d as if someone had intended to write more, but got interrupted.<\/p>\n Now he understood.\u00a0 Men would do worse than these had to get their hands on a producing mine.\u00a0 He stuffed the paper into the inside pocket of his jacket and turned to the door, releasing the thong that held his pistol in his holster.\u00a0 He opened the door carefully.<\/p>\n They were here. \u201cPull up a minute,\u201d Roy called.<\/p>\n Ben reined his horse around, plumes of steaming breath pirouetting in the air from the animal\u2019s nostrils.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d\u00a0 Buck pawed at the snow with impatience that clearly reflected his rider\u2019s mood.<\/p>\n \u201cGotta give the horses a breather.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t have time for this,\u201d Ben growled as he turned his horse toward the road.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know where they\u2019re headed?\u00a0 What we\u2019re gonna do when we get there?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben paused, torn between Roy\u2019s good sense and the driving urgency that told him to hurry . . . hurry!<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cGive me two minutes to figure out some kinda plan, an\u2019 the horses\u2019ll be good for another hour.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s only one place they could be headed \u2013 the McGregor Ridge line shack.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t believe I\u2019ve been out there \u2013 what\u2019s the layout?\u201d<\/p>\n Buck calmed as Ben started to think through the problem.\u00a0 \u201cTrees until about 500 yards from the shack \u2013 flat, open country ending at the bottom of a cliff.\u00a0 Adam tucked the building under the ridge, to protect it from some of the weather we get up here.\u00a0 A bit of a downhill to a creek off to the right.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy ran a hand over his face.\u00a0 \u201cNot good.\u00a0 Gonna be hard to find cover, if it gets into a shootin\u2019 match.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know it will.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith those men, I \u2018spect you\u2019re right.\u00a0 It\u2019ll be like stormin\u2019 a fort, comin\u2019 up on \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s eyes took on a hard glint.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d storm hell for my boy.\u201d\u00a0 He jerked his horse back onto the trail and, with a swift kick of his heels to the buckskin\u2019s sides, took off down the road.<\/p>\n Roy sighed and followed. Adam was dreaming of snow again.\u00a0 It fell from a sky strangely as blue as the great lake of his home; soft, fluffy flakes that drifted like cottonwood down on the breeze.\u00a0 He stood at the edge of a forest of tall pine, their woody tang wafting through the fresh, crisp mountain air.\u00a0 More flakes fell, quickly, softly, silently, until they obscured everything around him, cloaking him in pristine silence.<\/p>\n And then a speck of darkness appeared before him.\u00a0 It grew, and he realized it was a woman, someone he knew, someone who wanted \u2013 needed \u2013 him to help.<\/p>\n Adam.<\/em>\u00a0 It was a girl\u2019s voice.\u00a0 Young, soft, yet full with the promise of womanhood.\u00a0 Help me, Adam.\u00a0 You are the only one I can trust now.<\/em><\/p>\n They were suddenly in a building, a cozy room with an old desk, comfortable overstuffed chairs, and a crackling fire that kept the icy cold at bay, and he was watching the snow outside from a window near the woman.\u00a0 He heard the scratching of a pen on paper, turned from his vigil to ask, How?\u00a0 What do you need?\u00a0 You know I\u2019ll do whatever I can.<\/em><\/p>\n She stopped writing for a moment and looked up, and he could have drowned in her liquid brown eyes \u2013 eyes he\u2019d loved for longer than he could remember.\u00a0 She was someone else\u2019s, though.\u00a0 Had been, really, even before he\u2019d met her all those years ago.<\/p>\n They will not take this from you<\/em>, she\u2019d said as she tapped the parchment.\u00a0 From a Mexican widow, yes, but not from a Cartwright.\u00a0 I will go back to Mexico, back to my son\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n Stay!\u00a0 It had been an impulse, but a true one, from the heart.\u00a0 Bring him here, too.<\/em><\/p>\n She was tempted, he could tell.\u00a0 He had to convince her.\u00a0 Remember your sixteenth birthday, when you told me you had to leave, to go back to Mexico to marry \u2018Berto?<\/em><\/p>\n The grassy fields had been gay with flowers that long-ago day, the breeze warm and teasing, but what passed between them was as old and strong as the tallest of the pine trees that surrounded them.<\/p>\n You told me to listen for the beat of your heart.\u00a0 In all these years, did you listen for mine?<\/em><\/p>\n As you asked of me, she answered, I listened with care \u2018en el silencio de la noche.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n Yes, how many times had he, too, listened and yearned in the silence of the night.\u00a0 I still love you, always have\u2014<\/em><\/p>\n He\u2019d never know what she might have answered, for a bullet shattered more than a window in that brief moment.\u00a0 She collapsed in his arms, and as they sank together to the floor, she gasped, Mi coraz\u00f3n \u2013 you who have always held my heart \u2013 take care of my son.\u00a0 He is yours, now, as I could not be.<\/em><\/p>\n I will, he\u2019d whispered to her closing eyes.\u00a0 I promise.<\/em><\/p>\n But although she hadn\u2019t heard him, his final words bound the two together in a vow as they\u2019d never been allowed in life.<\/p>\n Then Blake had busted in, and with Isabella still in his arms he hadn\u2019t had a chance to get his gun.\u00a0 The deed was lying in plain sight, and when Blake saw what it was, he\u2019d been distracted just long enough.\u00a0 They\u2019d fought and he\u2019d hit Blake hard enough to stun him for a moment.\u00a0 Then he grabbed the paper and his coat, ran for his horse, and almost got away clean \u2013 until he felt the sudden burning fire in his back that matched the pain in his heart.<\/p>\n He moaned in anguish.<\/p>\n \u201cHush, now, big brother.\u00a0 Jus\u2019 settle down an\u2019 it\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n Mi coraz\u00f3n.<\/em>\u00a0 No, it wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 Nothing would ever be right again. There was no escape from the cabin, no back door, and the window was too small and too high.\u00a0 I\u2019ll have to have a word with Adam about his perfect cabin,<\/em> Joe said to himself.\u00a0 If we both survive, that is.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cCartwright!\u201d<\/p>\n He peeked out the door, but didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0 Blake was hunkered down behind the dead roan.\u00a0 He had a rifle resting on the saddle, barrel pointed at the cabin.\u00a0 Jesse was nowhere to be seen, but his horse was trotting off to the east, rifle scabbard also empty, so he must have dismounted and run off somewhere.\u00a0 It was a sure bet he\u2019d turn up soon.<\/p>\n \u201cCartwright!\u00a0 I\u2019ll give you to the count of ten!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what you said last time,\u201d yelled Joe.\u00a0 \u201cIt didn\u2019t do you any good then, and it won\u2019t now either.\u201d\u00a0 He wondered how long he could stall. Surely Pa would be following soon?\u00a0 But he hadn\u2019t left any horses for him.\u00a0 Blake and Jesse had retrieved two, but they wouldn\u2019t have stopped to grab one for his father.\u00a0 Sport and Cochise were too tired, and Buck and Chubb must not have been available for some reason, otherwise Jesse would have had no hesitation in taking them.\u00a0 Except that might be considered horse-stealing, almost a worse crime than killing a man \u2013 which he could be accused of, too, he realized.<\/p>\n His thoughts spun.\u00a0 One moment he was sure Pa would ride up any minute, the next it occurred to him that if Adam hadn\u2019t made it, his father might not have been in any condition to ride.\u00a0 His eyes stung at the thought.\u00a0 No, he would just have to handle this on his own.<\/p>\n He glanced around the room.\u00a0 No guns, aside of the pistol he wore on his hip \u2013 and it didn\u2019t have all that many bullets.\u00a0 The pile of bloody cloth was still in the corner of the room, dirty plates from his last meal still in the washbasin.<\/p>\n He was tired, so tired.\u00a0 Why else would he be worrying about the mess the cabin was in when there were two men out there determined to kill him.\u00a0 For he had no illusions \u2013 if he didn\u2019t give them what they wanted, he was dead.\u00a0 Of course, if he did<\/em> hand it over, he was probably still dead.\u00a0 They wouldn\u2019t want any witnesses, anyone who knew what was on that mysterious paper.\u00a0 He would simply have to fight it out.<\/p>\n He was good with a gun, he knew that, but he hadn\u2019t killed before.\u00a0 Not a man. \u00a0Adam had told him once that there wasn\u2019t a lot of difference between killing a man and killing an animal . . . until after you pulled the trigger.\u00a0 Well, he\u2019d have to hope his big brother was right, because he knew it was them or him.<\/p>\n A bullet embedded itself in the door, and a second ricocheted off something outside.<\/p>\n Blake\u2019s getting his range.<\/em>\u00a0 That was all right.\u00a0 Now he knew he was safe behind the door.\u00a0 Since it opened on the left, he\u2019d have to stand behind it in order to shoot.\u00a0 He wondered if Blake knew that he was left-handed.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t peer around the door without putting himself at risk.\u00a0 Maybe there was a wide enough crack between the boards . . . no, Adam\u2019s work wasn\u2019t that slipshod.\u00a0 He might be able to drill a hole, though.\u00a0 There\u2019d been an awl in that leather-wrapped set of tools.<\/p>\n He shivered when he unrolled the wrapping, gory memories trying to invade his thoughts.\u00a0 He pushed them aside. No time right now.\u00a0 The awl went through the soft pine with a few solid thwacks of a hammer, then he twisted it around.\u00a0 He blew the wood chips away and peeked through the hole.\u00a0 Too small.\u00a0 He could only see the white snow.\u00a0 He scraped at the sides of the hole, enlarging it as quickly as he could.\u00a0 He blew again, peeked again, and this time saw Blake.<\/p>\n Good!<\/em>\u00a0 He unlatched the door with his right hand and, while looking through the hole, pulled it open just a few inches.\u00a0 He snaked his gun through the opening and fired.<\/p>\n Blake fell backwards at his second shot.<\/p>\n Got him!<\/em> Joe almost crowed, but when he looked again, saw that Blake had risen and was propped on the horse again, though this time with his head tucked a little lower.<\/p>\n He tried to get a wider view, sure that Jesse was creeping up on the cabin, but there was no way to tell.\u00a0 He latched the door again and ran to the other side of the cabin to peer through the small window.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 Well, nothing he could see, anyway.<\/p>\n A fusillade of bullets pinged and thudded against the wall of the cabin.\u00a0 Joe jumped and couldn\u2019t help cringing \u2013 even though he was sure they couldn\u2019t make it through the solid wood, his body tensed with every hit.\u00a0 His head pounded from the noise, and he realized his mouth was dry.\u00a0 When the shooting stopped, he looked in the bucket he\u2019d left by the fireplace \u2013 just this morning?<\/em> \u2013 and found what turned out to be barely a mouthful of snowmelt.\u00a0 He was grateful for the cool wetness, even if there was only one swallow\u2019s worth.<\/p>\n He went to the door, spotted Blake still in position, though leaning heavily to one side, and opened the door again just a little.\u00a0 Blake fired at the same time as Joe, and splinters of wood flew from the edge of the door.\u00a0 He pulled back, but not before he felt a line of fire along his forearm.<\/p>\n Hissing with the pain, he leaned against the door, making sure to latch it securely.\u00a0 At least he hadn\u2019t dropped his pistol, even though he only had two shots left.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to be careful with them, especially since it was his gun arm that had been hit.<\/p>\n He shrugged out of his jacket and ripped the sleeve open with the awl.\u00a0 A deep furrow welled with dark red blood, but it was, even so, a graze.\u00a0 No real damage to the muscles, just hurt like hell.\u00a0 Joe\u2019d had broken bones and his share of scrapes and bumps and bruises, but he\u2019d never been shot before.\u00a0 He was surprised it didn\u2019t bother him more, not realizing how sheer terror could dampen pain.\u00a0 He quickly grabbed one of the bandages he\u2019d ripped up for his brother and wound it around his arm, tightening the knot with the help of his teeth.\u00a0 It would have to do for now.\u00a0 He pulled his jacket on again.\u00a0 He had to pull hard to get the sleeve on over the bandage, but he persisted.\u00a0 He knew he\u2019d need the warmth if he could break free of the cabin.<\/p>\n He patted at his chest where he\u2019d stashed the deed in his jacket, relieved to hear the soft crinkle of paper, but was distracted by a shadow passing over the window.\u00a0 Jesse!<\/em><\/p>\n He peeked out the small hole in the door again.\u00a0 No one in view, not even Blake.\u00a0 Taking a deep breath, he pulled the door open one more time, put his pistol through the opening, but this time he felt a tremendous jerk on the weapon.\u00a0 He held on and was banged painfully against the door as it was shoved open.\u00a0 Then Jesse was on top of him.\u00a0 He fired the gun once, twice, but Jesse twisted away.<\/p>\n Jesse swung at him with his rifle, and Joe ducked barely in time to miss having his head bashed in.\u00a0 He barreled into Jesse\u2019s stomach and knocked him against the wall.\u00a0 The rifle flew into a corner, and now Joe hoped he\u2019d have a prayer of surviving.\u00a0 He threw a right at Jesse\u2019s chin, connecting solidly, but Jesse came back with short punch to Joe\u2019s gut.\u00a0 His lungs nearly paralyzed, he had a brief memory of Adam yelling, Stand up!<\/em> during one of their mock battles.<\/p>\n Though it cost him, he stood, gasping for breath, and saw Jesse\u2019s fists crashing down.\u00a0 He stepped to the side and took the blow on his right shoulder, on the big muscle.\u00a0 His right arm went numb, but he spun on one heel and put his full weight behind his left hook.\u00a0 Jesse went down, and Joe dashed for the door.\u00a0 He\u2019d made it outside and to the edge of the porch when Jesse tackled him from behind, and they both went sprawling in the snow.\u00a0 Joe got to his knees and grabbed at the scabbard that still hung around his neck.\u00a0 The knife was still there.\u00a0 He pulled it free just as Jesse jumped on him.\u00a0 Jesse grabbed his wrist and twisted so the blade was pointed at Joe\u2019s gut, then leaned hard.<\/p>\n Joe clubbed at his head with his near-useless right arm while trying to shove the knife back and away from his stomach.\u00a0 Jesse\u2019s grip was excruciating on his injured forearm, but Joe knew that if he gave in to the pain, he\u2019d be dead.\u00a0 He pulled his knees up to his stomach and kicked out, and Jesse went flying.\u00a0 Still holding the knife, Joe tackled him, and they rolled over and over in the snow, leaving tracks of red behind from bleeding noses and scrapes and Joe\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n Then they rolled together down the hill and hit the bottom of the dry arroyo hard, Joe\u2019s body almost buried by Jesse\u2019s.\u00a0 Fluffy soft flakes of snow settled on them, the only movement, and the pristine white slowly turned red around them. Ben and Roy broke through the trees just in time to see Jesse leap from the porch and bring down Joe.\u00a0 Ben booted his weary horse into a stumbling gallop, kicking snow in all directions.\u00a0 There was a horse on the ground in his way, and a brief glance showed him Blake, leaning against the saddle, but he didn\u2019t hesitate, lifting Buck in an arcing jump over both.\u00a0 A small portion of his mind recognized that the pounding of Chubb\u2019s hooves behind him had stopped, so he assumed Roy would take care of Blake.\u00a0 He was closer, closer \u2013 close enough to see the wickedly long knife flash between the two bodies.<\/p>\n Heart in his throat, he jumped from the saddle and slipped his way to the men through the knee-high snow.\u00a0 He\u2019d almost reached them when Joe kicked Jesse away and then grabbed at him again and they rolled over the edge of the arroyo\u2019s banks and disappeared.<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s steps obliterated the red-stained snow and he slid down the hill after them to stand, appalled and heaving for air, over two men who lay like death in a pool of blood.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe!\u201d he cried and knelt next to the two men.\u00a0 He shoved Jesse off his boy and stroked the matted curls lightly with a shaking hand, afraid of what he was about to find.<\/p>\n Then Joe\u2019s head lifted slightly and turned to his father.\u00a0 His skin was as pale as the field around them, his eyes huge, but he was alive.\u00a0 Ben grabbed at his shoulders, pulled him into his lap as if he were six, not sixteen, and held him tight to his chest.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you all right, son?\u00a0 Please, God, be all right!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe was shaking; Ben could feel him trembling all over.<\/p>\n \u201cPa . . . Pa . . . .\u201d\u00a0 It was all he could seem to say.<\/p>\n \u201cDid he get you, Joe?\u00a0 Did he hurt you?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben pushed him back just a little so he could look him over.\u00a0 His jacket was open, his shirt gory with blood.<\/p>\n Joe shook his head, and Ben almost collapsed with relief.<\/p>\n \u201cNot okay . . . .\u201d Joe gasped.\u00a0 \u201cNot . . . all right.\u00a0 Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n Terrified, Ben searched Joe\u2019s face, looking for the lines of pain and finding them, but what he saw in his son\u2019s eyes told him that the hurt wasn\u2019t from physical injury.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d Joe asked, his hands bruising Ben\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n Ben nodded and cupped his hand around the back of Joe\u2019s neck.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s alive. Doc Martin should be with him by now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank God,\u201d Joe said and slumped in his arms. They left Jesse\u2019s body where it was, being slowly covered by a light dusting of new snow.\u00a0 Ben helped his son up the slope, only pausing for a moment to shake his head at Roy, who had a rattled-looking Blake by one arm.\u00a0 Roy looked down at the body.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing to be done,\u201d said Ben.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll get a wagon out here later.\u00a0\u00a0 Right now I need to take care of Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBlake\u2019s about done in, too, but I think I can get him to town when that other feller gets here.\u00a0 The roan\u2019s dead, but I found Jesse\u2019s horse \u2013 Joe can ride him home and we\u2019ll figure out what belongs to who later.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBlake.\u201d\u00a0 Ben\u2019s voice was biting, angry.\u00a0 \u201cWas it worth it?\u00a0 Was it worth the lives of all of these people?\u201d<\/p>\n Blake raised his head, and a touch of his old arrogance surfaced.\u00a0 \u201cWhat people?\u00a0 Jesse?\u00a0 Stoddard?\u00a0 That Mex woman?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben surged forward and grabbed Blake by the coat.\u00a0 \u201cPeople, Blake.\u00a0 People who had as much right to their lives as you do.\u201d\u00a0 He suddenly realized Joe had a grip on his arm, was holding him back from striking.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not worth it, Pa.\u00a0 We got what we want, we got what Adam wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake snorted.\u00a0 \u201cStoddard.\u00a0 He\u2019s the cause of this.\u00a0 That no good drifter\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Now it was Joe in his face.\u00a0 Low and deadly, he broke in.\u00a0 \u201cThat \u2018no good drifter\u2019 was named Adam . . . Stoddard . . . Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n Blake jerked back.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right.\u00a0 My brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd my son,\u201d spat Ben. \u201cYour mistake was in thinking that, because a man was a stranger, he was of no account.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019ll do better, if you ever get out of jail, and think twice before attacking anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cC\u2019mon, you,\u201d Roy said, jerking on the man\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m gonna put you in the lean-to for a coupla minutes while I get things sorted out.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at Joe critically, and as he headed for the small structure, said, \u201cBetter get the boy inside and sat down for a bit.\u00a0 A swallow or two o\u2019 whiskey wouldn\u2019t be such a bad thing, neither.\u201d The two of them disappeared into the lean-to.<\/p>\n Joe looked up at his father. \u201cPa \u2013 I\u2019m awful cold, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben had an arm around Joe\u2019s waist, holding him tight to his side, and he could feel the shivers.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t all, he knew, from the freezing mountain air.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s get you inside and warmed up, then.\u201d\u00a0 He called out, \u201cRoy?\u201d<\/p>\n The sheriff reappeared.\u00a0 \u201cHe ain\u2019t gonna be goin\u2019 nowhere for a while.\u201d\u00a0 He trudged through the snow to the cabin door and jerked his head in the direction of the dead horse.\u00a0 \u201cGotta get him a horse, get him back to town.\u00a0 I\u2019ll check in with you tomorrow \u2018bout everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben stepped up onto the porch, but Joe stopped and fumbled at his jacket.<\/p>\n \u201cNo \u2013 wait!\u201d He pulled out a piece of paper.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d asked Ben, remembering Blake\u2019s demands for a document of some kind.<\/p>\n He handed it to the sheriff.\u00a0 \u201cYou gotta make this legal.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy took it and looked keenly at Joe.\u00a0 \u201cThis what them boys were all after?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded, weary beyond measure.<\/p>\n \u201cRoy, if you don\u2019t mind, let\u2019s do this inside.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy nodded.\u00a0 The cabin was dark and cold, so, after getting Joe seated on the bunk, Ben got a fire started while Roy lit the lantern that was hanging on a rope from the ceiling.\u00a0 Then he unfolded the paper carefully, and Ben looked over his shoulder.<\/p>\n DEED\u00a0 Santa Maria Mining Company, Markleeville, Utah Territory.\u00a0 Owner:\u00a0 Isabella Rivera de la Vega Morales.\u00a0 For services rendered and upon terms agreed to, hereby transferred to Adam Stoddard `<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNow we know why they was calling him Stoddard \u2018stead of Cartwright,\u201d Roy murmured.<\/p>\n The name on the deed merely confirmed Ben\u2019s fears \u2013 it was Isabella who\u2019d been killed.\u00a0 What had that done to Adam?\u00a0 They had cared for each other desperately once, with all the passion and devotion of first love.\u00a0 He must have been there when she died; had he been, in some way, responsible, or at least a catalyst? Roy studied both sides of the paper.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m guessin\u2019 Adam wanted me to get this into his right name.\u00a0 I can do that, seein\u2019 as I\u2019ve known him since he was a little feller, but what d\u2019you think we\u2019re supposed to do with it then?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d Ben turned to his son.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know what Isabella wanted Adam to do?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe was slumped against the wall, his eyes closed.\u00a0 \u201cHe was worried about a boy; I think his name is Berto.\u00a0 He said that you had to prove that he was Stoddard, for the boy. I think Blake and those men saw the deed, figured that was his name.\u00a0 Decided to kill him, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cToo?\u201d asked Roy, his attention suddenly intensely focused.<\/p>\n Joe opened his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cAdam said Jesse killed Isabella.\u00a0 Shot her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, he got his just rewards, then, without botherin\u2019 a jury and judge.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben stared at the fire, and the memory of a beautiful young face danced in the flames, with the teasing shadow of a young man\u2019s grin that was seen all too little these days.\u00a0 \u201cIsabella called her husband Bertito.\u00a0 Berto could be their son.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMakes sense.\u201d\u00a0 Roy blew out a breath.\u00a0 \u201cMebbe if Adam is up to it tomorrow, I can ask him.\u00a0 Meantime, I\u2019ll take care of the legal end of this.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe seemed to shrink down farther onto the bed, and his voice was a mere thread.\u00a0 \u201cThanks.\u00a0 It\u2019ll mean a lot to him.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben looked at him sharply.\u00a0 Mostly exhaustion, he deduced, but he\u2019d better take a look at that arm, too.\u00a0 His \u201cSee you tomorrow, then,\u201d to Roy was vague and distracted, but the sheriff just waved at him on his way out the door.<\/p>\n Ben glanced around the room for supplies to tend Joe and, for the first time, saw the mess.\u00a0 Dirtied straw, buckets by the fire, bowls and tin cups that hadn\u2019t been washed, pieces of leather hanging from each corner of the bed, a pile of dirty laundry ominously streaked with brown stains\u2014<\/p>\n He drew a harsh breath.<\/p>\n Joe saw what he was looking at.\u00a0 \u201cI did the best I could, Pa.\u00a0 I had to tie him down so he wouldn\u2019t move while I dug . . . while I . . . .\u201d\u00a0 He choked on the words, and his eyes gleamed wetly.\u00a0 \u201cOh, Pa\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Ben moved swiftly to sit at his side.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all right, son.\u00a0 You did well.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe leaned against him.\u00a0 \u201cI was so scared.\u201d<\/p>\n He rubbed Joe\u2019s back in slow circles as he took in the mute evidence of the near-disaster his sons had been through.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m proud of you, Joseph.\u00a0 So proud.\u201d Two days.\u00a0 It had been two days since he\u2019d rescued his brother, and it felt a lifetime ago and yet as if it had just happened.\u00a0 Joe stood at his brother\u2019s window, staring at the peaceful snowfields, but seeing only Jesse\u2019s face when the knife had slid, all too easily, into his stomach.\u00a0 He\u2019d felt nothing but relief at the time \u2013 knowing immediately that it was all over, that the fight was finished, that Adam was finally safe.\u00a0 It was only later that the nightmares began to haunt him.<\/p>\n How could it be so easy to kill a man, even a killer like Jesse?\u00a0 Roy had absolved him of blame \u2013 called it self-defense \u2013 and though Joe was glad not to have to face a trial, that didn\u2019t stop the memories.<\/p>\n Adam had been right.\u00a0 It was easy to kill; not so easy to live with it.<\/p>\n But his brother was alive because of him, and so he couldn\u2019t regret what he\u2019d done.\u00a0 He rubbed at his forehead.\u00a0 Paul Martin had told him he\u2019d saved Adam\u2019s life by going after the bullet.\u00a0 As it was, there\u2019d been an infection that had kept Adam delirious until early this morning when his fever finally broke.\u00a0 Paul had squeezed his shoulder and said it could have been much worse.<\/p>\n Roy had sent messengers down to Markleeville and through the countryside down there, finally tracking down the boy Berto.\u00a0 Isabella\u2019s son.\u00a0 Joe remembered her now, a beautiful woman his brother had danced with and walked out with and, he believed, loved.\u00a0 She\u2019d left when Joe was still young, and he\u2019d quickly forgotten her.\u00a0 He was sorry for that, now.\u00a0 It seemed wrong not to have more memories of her, now that she was dead.\u00a0 Berto would be all right, though.\u00a0 He would go live with his uncle, and between Se\u00f1or Morales and Adam, Joe knew they had made sure the boy would never lack for money.\u00a0 It seemed little enough.<\/p>\n He moved the rocking chair closer to Adam\u2019s bed and sat down, studying his brother.\u00a0 How long would he sleep?\u00a0 Joe had taken this after-lunch shift at his father\u2019s request, who hoped, he knew, that he would be able to soothe Adam\u2019s worries when he woke.\u00a0 But he\u2019d been up here for three hours now, and Adam laid still and quiet, his chest rising and falling in the steady, deep breathing of healing sleep, left arm bound to his body to protect his shoulder while it mended from the dislocation.\u00a0 Joe rubbed at his face.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t known to do that.<\/p>\n He took his brother\u2019s cold hand between his own, rubbed warmth back into it then tucked it under the coverlet again.\u00a0 Elbows on knees, fingers mussing his hair into wild curls, he waited.<\/p>\n A deep sigh drew his attention from his useless musings.\u00a0 A shift of the bedclothes, a hitched breath, brow furrowed with awakening pain.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d he said softly, and was rewarded by twitching eyelids.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s it, brother, wake up.\u00a0 You\u2019ve slept long enough for now.\u201d<\/p>\n Another sigh, and Adam\u2019s eyes opened halfway.\u00a0 \u201cJoe?\u201d he said on a breath of air.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right, it\u2019s me.\u00a0 You\u2019re gonna be okay \u2013 just gotta rest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d he said, his voice marginally stronger.\u00a0 \u201cPa\u2019s gotta prove\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShhh,\u201d Joe interrupted the familiar phrase.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s all taken care of.\u00a0 Roy took the deed to the judge, got it transferred to your name, all right and proper.\u00a0 It\u2019s been recorded, and it\u2019s in the safe downstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam opened his eyes the rest of the way, and a hint of a smile touched his lips.\u00a0 \u201cYou did it.\u00a0 Knew you could.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe ducked his head.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0 Then he straightened and shook his finger at his brother.\u00a0 \u201cAn\u2019 I don\u2019t ever want to have to do anything like that again, you hear?\u00a0 You stay out of these messes.\u00a0 You\u2019re supposed to be the sensible, smart Cartwright\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n Now Adam really was laughing, though quietly, as if it hurt, but he had to let it out anyway.<\/p>\n Joe grinned, too, then asked, \u201cHow are you feeling?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s brows crinkled, and he rubbed with his free hand at the deep lines between them as if trying to smooth away the pain.\u00a0 \u201cConfused.\u00a0 You say everything\u2019s taken care of?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah. Pa and Hoss and Sheriff Coffee helped out, but we got it all taken care of for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Now one black eyebrow rose.\u00a0 \u201cEverything?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s gaze dropped to the floor.\u00a0 \u201cHardest thing I ever did, gettin\u2019 that bullet out of your back.\u00a0 Got you home, got the deed from the cabin, fought Jesse\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n He broke off, not wanting to bring back the memories, but Adam filled in the rest.<\/p>\n \u201cTo the death.\u201d\u00a0 His gaze rested on Joe.\u00a0 \u201cAre you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe knew he was asking about more than physical injuries.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 Then he leaned forward and gripped his brother\u2019s hand again.\u00a0 \u201cI will be.\u00a0 I wish I hadn\u2019t had to do it, but he didn\u2019t give me a choice.\u00a0 It was him or me, and if he got me I knew you\u2019d be next.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll be all right, in time.\u00a0 You\u2019ll find your way.\u201d\u00a0 His gaze seemed to go unfocused for a moment, and he whispered, \u201cWe both will.\u201d\u00a0 Then his long fingers curled around Joe\u2019s, and he looked up at his little brother.\u00a0 \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a simple word, simply said, but it held a new bond between them.\u00a0 They\u2019d always loved each other, but Adam had always held his hand in protection over Joe.\u00a0 Now they both knew that Joe could \u2013 and would \u2013 do the same for him.<\/p>\n Adam was tiring fast, his eyelids drooping, but he seemed to have one more thing to say.\u00a0 Joe leaned closer, and on a final sleepy breath heard his brother say with satisfaction, \u201c. . . a man.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe could feel tears filling his eyes.\u00a0 He looked up and saw his father standing in the doorway.<\/p>\n Ben nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s right, Joseph.\u00a0 A man.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The End<\/p>\n \u00a9 September 2002 \u2013 December 2003, as allowable, 2017<\/em><\/p>\n From the Brandsters \/ Librarians — Any comments that do not respect the author’s wishes as posted above shall be removed<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: Shortly after his 16th birthday, Joe finds himself taking on responsibilities he couldn’t foresee. \u00a0And now, it’s up to him to help his oldest brother out of a deadly situation.<\/p>\n Rating: \u00a0T \u00a0(24,700 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8546,"featured_media":14807,"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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1091,23,41,1007],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adam-joe","category-drama","category-hurtcomfort","category-joe-cartwright","wpcat-1091-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-41-id","wpcat-1007-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/wildflowers.jpeg?fit=299%2C168&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8546"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14442"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nThe snow was heavier on this side of the pass, with wind-sculpted drifts rising almost as high as his horse\u2019s belly.\u00a0 Joe Cartwright risked a glance over his shoulder, not really surprised that his oldest brother hadn\u2019t appeared yet.\u00a0 Adam had raced into Joe\u2019s resting spot at noon, his horse lathered and wild, his fatigue-lined eyes and rough, black-stubbled chin telling an eloquent story of impending disaster.\u00a0 Joe had ridden out to meet his brother and have what he hoped would be a casual, comfortable ride home with him, but now he scrambled to get his horse ready while Adam hunched over his saddle horn trying as hard as his horse to catch his breath.<\/p>\n
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\nThe group of horses stopped at the top of the ridge, and he knew they were studying the scene, trying to figure out what had happened.\u00a0 He hoped it looked like Sport had fallen, and that he\u2019d returned to take his brother up on Cochise.\u00a0 That there was only one set of bootprints should help, and he was counting on the instinctive dislike of horsemen everywhere of walking \u2013 and especially climbing \u2013 to deter them from actually coming down the hill.\u00a0 He heard muffled words, the stamp of horses\u2019 feet, and a stream of foul words.\u00a0\u00a0 Then the jingle of spurs and bits, more stamping and shuffling, and they suddenly rode off in a flurry of pounding hooves.<\/p>\n
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\nIt was hard getting Adam loaded up onto his horse.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s feet kept slipping on the steep, snowy hill as he tried to raise his brother\u2019s inert body high enough to hoist him face-down over the saddle.\u00a0 He hoped he was right, that Adam didn\u2019t have any busted ribs.\u00a0 Sport was no problem; he had picked his head up a little, but was still too weary to step away from this awkward burden.\u00a0 If Adam had been even slightly conscious, if Sport hadn\u2019t been nearly broken down from the long, hard run, Joe would have tried to mount behind his brother, but he knew he was going to have to walk.\u00a0 He pulled Adam\u2019s bandanna from around his neck and tied it over his brother\u2019s nose and mouth to help keep them warm, then checked his gloves to make sure they were securely covering his hands. The now-ruined shirt served as a way to tie Adam\u2019s hat on, the arms tying under his chin.\u00a0 A grin teased at Joe\u2019s mouth, but it would do \u2013 would keep Adam\u2019s ears and neck warm, too.\u00a0 He was determined to get Adam home, not only in one piece, but without frostbite.<\/p>\n
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\nHeavy snow-laden clouds were playing tag with the stars by the time Joe led his tiny cavalcade up a small hill to the line shack.\u00a0 The building was easy to find, the dark angular shape sitting as it was at the edge of a bright white moonlit snowfield, casting a deep shadow on the rocks behind. A small lean-to for animals had been built up against the building on the left, and a small arroyo gathered water from the heights in a stream several yards downhill to the right.\u00a0\u00a0 Joe ignored the lean-to, though, and headed straight for the door that was set into the right of the front wall.<\/p>\n
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\nOnce he was sure they were gone, he rushed back into the cabin.\u00a0 He took brief seconds to make sure the door was securely latched with the loop string on the inside, then in two quick strides was kneeling at his brother\u2019s side.<\/p>\n
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\nA man.<\/em>\u00a0 Tears pricked at his eyes at the treasured words.\u00a0 Did Adam know, could<\/em> he know how much they meant to him?\u00a0 The same comment from Hoss wouldn\u2019t have meant near as much.\u00a0 Hoss was his friend, his equal, always had been and always would be.\u00a0 If Hoss was a man, well, then, Joe must be, too.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/em>
\nAnd what were the \u201cterms agreed to\u201d?\u00a0 That Adam took them seriously was evident from his words to his father about \u201cmaking sure his heirs did what was right.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019d meant for Ben, Hoss and Joe to take care of this mine, but there had to be more to it.<\/p>\n
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