{"id":16310,"date":"2018-03-30T20:46:47","date_gmt":"2018-03-31T00:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=16310"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:40:29","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:40:29","slug":"bring-mariemcfair_58","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=16310","title":{"rendered":"Bring Marie (by McFair_58)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>A WHB or prequel to ‘Between Heaven and Earth.’ Have you ever wondered what happened when Little Joe climbed Eagle’s Nest as a five year old boy that could have been so traumatic it resulted, not just in a fear of falling, but in total amnesia that lasted for nearly 20 years? This is my take on what happened when Ben Cartwright was told to ‘Bring Marie’.<\/p>\n

Rated PG-13<\/p>\n

Word Count:\u00a0 31,167<\/p>\n

Upon watching the excellent season six episode, \u2018Between Heaven and Earth\u2019, I was struck by the fact that, while Little Joe\u2019s childhood excursion up Eagle\u2019s nest might explain his fear of heights, it does little to account for the fact that he blanked the incident completely from his mind, suffering from total amnesia for fifteen years.\u00a0 In reality, this amnesia would have continued had Ben not told him what happened.\u00a0 To me, it seems inconceivable that this sort of psychological damage came about simply because he climbed too high and had to be rescued.<\/p>\n

This is my take on what really<\/em> happened….<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Bring Marie<\/strong><\/p>\n

Prologue<\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright\u2019s near black eyes shot open.\u00a0 He lay for a moment, his heart pounding, considering the implications of the shriek of sheer terror that had shattered the quiet of a Ponderosa night.\u00a0 When no clear cry for help followed, he allowed himself the luxury of believing it to be his youngest son, not threatened or in danger, but caught once again in the depths of a night terror from which he could not escape.<\/p>\n

As he opened his door, Ben noted Adam and Hoss doing the same.\u00a0 The smile was weak that he favored them with.\u00a0 While he appreciated their concern, there was no need for all three of them to lose a night\u2019s sleep.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll get it this time, boys.\u00a0 You go back to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam ran a hand through his tousled black waves, shoving them back from his forehead.\u00a0 He listened to the now soft sounds of his youngest brother\u2019s terror for a moment before saying, \u201cI thought…well, after what happened at Eagle\u2019s Nest, you\u2019d think the nightmares would have stopped.\u201d<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think.<\/p>\n

Ben walked the rest of the way down the hall to the sound of retreating footsteps and two doors closing.\u00a0\u00a0 Outside of Joseph\u2019s room, he paused.\u00a0 He could hear the boy muttering and thrashing about in the bed, fighting whatever unseen phantom haunted his dreams.\u00a0 The older man paused with his hand on the door latch.\u00a0 He knew that \u2013 no matter how softly he spoke or how gentle his touch \u2013 waking his son would be, as Hoss liked to put it, akin to rousing a grizzly from a nice winter nap.\u00a0 Without knocking he opened the door and walked in.\u00a0 As careful as he was to guard his sons\u2019 privacy now that they were men, it wasn\u2019t a violation. \u00a0From the time this particular son had been very little, it had been a necessity.\u00a0 Ben paused at the end of the bed to watch.\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s jaw was tight; his full lips drawn into a thin line.\u00a0 His fingers \u00a0formed fists that punched at the empty air.\u00a0 There was a sheen of sweat on his exposed skin and he was breathing hard. \u00a0His son was at war with an enemy only he could see, but could never describe.<\/p>\n

Ben ran a hand over his stubbled cheek as he pulled a chair up and sat down.\u00a0 While Joseph couldn\u2019t describe that enemy, he could.<\/p>\n

And it was time he did.<\/em><\/p>\n

It had been a hard week.\u00a0 Ben snorted \u2013 make that \u2018month\u2019.\u00a0 For the last several weeks Joseph had been a man possessed.\u00a0 While night terrors had always been a constant in the boy\u2019s life, during the last month they had become a dark companion that shadowed his waking moments as well.\u00a0 He had turned on everyone he loved \u2013 him, his brothers; even his dearest friend, Mitch Devlin \u2013 putting himself and others in danger, and all because of a childhood fear.\u00a0 The phobia had inexplicably resurfaced when he had climbed up a fist of red rock known as Eagle\u2019s Nest in order to get a better look at a mountain cat that had been terrorizing their herds; an irrational fear so deeply ingrained in his young son\u2019s subconscious that the boy didn\u2019t even know it was there.<\/p>\n

Joe had a fear of heights.\u00a0 It began when he was a little over five years old.\u00a0 His son had climbed to the top of Eagle\u2019s Nest\u00a0 and become so frightened he couldn\u2019t climb back down.<\/p>\n

Or, at least, that\u2019s what he\u2019d told him.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t the truth.\u00a0 The truth was too…<\/p>\n

Painful.<\/p>\n

Steeling himself as if for battle, Ben reached out and caught one of Joe\u2019s flailing arms. \u00a0He held his son\u2019s wrist in an iron grip as he managed to catch the other hand \u2013 the one bunched into a fist and aimed instinctively for his head \u2013 just before it made contact.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph!\u201d he said, his tone stern.\u00a0 He\u2019d learned over the years that speaking gently to the boy did nothing to break into his dreams.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph, it\u2019s Pa.\u00a0 You\u2019re in your bedroom and you\u2019re safe.\u00a0 You need to wake up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still that curly head tossed about on the pillow.\u00a0 Still <\/em>Joe\u2019s agitated body thrashed from side to side. \u00a0The young man\u2019s eyes remained closed, but he saw something<\/em> \u2013 something that terrified him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, don\u2019t…\u201d his son wailed.\u00a0 \u201cNo, please<\/em>…\u00a0 Please, don\u2019t…let me fall….\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben drew a sharp breath as Joe\u2019s words cut through him like a knife, and sights and sounds long buried took the stage and played out before his weary eyes.\u00a0 They had haunted him for over fifteen years, these things his son knew nothing of that disturbed his sleep.<\/p>\n

They disturbed his<\/em> sleep at times as well.<\/p>\n

It had been his hope that when Joseph found the courage to climb toward the pinnacle of Eagle\u2019s Nest and retrieve his rifle, that it would bring him release \u2013 that his son would finally be free of what had happened all those long years ago.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t, of course.\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s fear of heights wasn\u2019t the heart of the problem.\u00a0 At its heart was just how <\/em>his son had come to be on that pile of rock that punched the sky in the first place.\u00a0 He\u2019d told Joseph that it had to do with one willful little boy who had run off and gotten lost and needed to be rescued.<\/p>\n

It was a lie.<\/p>\n

Again, he tried, speaking in a calm, sure tone.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph, it\u2019s Pa.\u00a0 You\u2019re having a nightmare.\u00a0 Joseph! You need to wake up!\u201d<\/p>\n

This time the boy\u2019s body went rigid and then his green eyes snapped open.\u00a0 For a moment they were without focus, but then…slowly…reality bled into the nightmare landscape of his terror.\u00a0 Little Joe drew in a deep breath, shuddered, and then smiled sheepishly at him through a curtain of sweat-soaked curls.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain?\u201d he asked, his voice as ragged as if he had just finished running a race.<\/p>\n

\u201cAgain.\u201d\u00a0 Ben reached out and pushed those curls aside, freeing the boy\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 \u201cEagle\u2019s Nest?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe nodded.\u00a0 He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and then sat up straighter, propping his still trembling form against the pillows.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, Pa, I thought for sure once you told me about me climbin\u2019 up there as a kid and bein\u2019 scared witless, this would stop.\u00a0 But it hasn\u2019t.\u00a0 It\u2019s worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man hesitated.\u00a0 \u201cYou said something a moment ago, Joseph.\u00a0 \u2018Please, don\u2019t let me fall.\u2019\u00a0 Do you know why <\/em>you said that?\u201d<\/p>\n

His son\u2019s smile was chagrined.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s what I said, \u2018Don\u2019t let me fall?\u2019\u00a0 Sheesh, what\u2019d I think, some eagle got hold of me and was gonna drop me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s sucked in air, remembering that horrible night.<\/p>\n

The night he almost lost his son.<\/p>\n

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

It was time.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph,\u201d he said softly, \u201cdo you know why<\/em> that ridge is called Eagle\u2019s Nest?\u201d<\/p>\n

The dusky light fell through the partially opened window, illuminating his son.\u00a0 Joseph Francis was such a handsome young man.\u00a0 Ben could see himself in him, but even more he could see Marie.\u00a0 Sometimes it was like she was there, staring at him out of those familiar green eyes \u2013 issuing a challenge, calling him to care for their son; to keep him safe and whole.<\/p>\n

He had come very close to failing her that night, some fifteen years before.<\/p>\n

Marie\u2019s boy shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cBecause eagles like it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben leaned back in the chair.\u00a0 Oh yes, \u2018eagles\u2019 liked it. \u00a0Especially one <\/em>Eagle \u2013 an ordinary, strange, and extra<\/em>ordinary man by the name of Gabriel Augustine Eagle who chose that high promontory as the place to make his stand.<\/p>\n

And wait for Marie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

ONE<\/p>\n

It was a beautiful day and all was right with the world.<\/p>\n

Or, it would have been if he hadn\u2019t been left in charge of a certain diminutive and determined five-year-old force of nature that went by the name of Joseph Francis Cartwright.<\/p>\n

Adam Cartwright, the boy\u2019s seventeen-year-old brother, ran a hand over his face and then glanced at the barn pole where his little brother wiggled and giggled, trying to break free of the rope he had used to tie him to it.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s hand moved to the bandana tied around his head that he had anchored a hawk feather in.\u00a0 At the moment, Little Joe was in little boy heaven, but playing cowboys and Indians was only going to buy him so <\/em>much time.\u00a0 Sooner or later it was going to dawn on Joe that he\u2019d been had.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t a stupid kid.\u00a0 He was just, well….<\/p>\n

A kid.<\/p>\n

Adam glanced at his brother again.\u00a0 Pa, was gonna kill him.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d gagged him too.<\/p>\n

\u201cMmrrumph…mrrph!\u201d Joe mumbled into the cloth, telling him \u2013 no doubt, in his five-year-old mind \u2013 to give up and come along peaceably.\u00a0 Well, he would, in about five minutes.\u00a0 The stable was clean, the tack attended to, and the horses bedded down for the night.\u00a0 He just needed to tidy a couple of things up and everything would be as it should, which was an accomplishment of Biblical proportions considering that he had had this little squirt<\/em> tailing after him for the last few hours.\u00a0 Pa\u2019d come home just after supper in one of his dark humors, handed Buck over with a scowl, and gone immediately inside; the older man\u2019s footsteps taking him \u2013 with little doubt \u2013 toward the liquor cabinet where he would both drown his sorrows and numb his loneliness.\u00a0 Adam glanced at Little Joe again.\u00a0 It really wasn\u2019t fair.\u00a0 It would have been better if the kid had never known his mother like him, or lost her so young that her death would have had little impact on his life like Hoss.\u00a0 Little Joe had a great big<\/em> hole in his heart and the one person who could fill it \u2013 their father \u2013 was just about as absent as if he was present in his own<\/em> grave.<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s lips curled slightly with a sad sort of smile as he shook his head.\u00a0 Becoming a parent at seventeen was not <\/em>something he would have ever considered \u2013 though a certain young lady he was seeing at the moment could have made it tempting.\u00a0 He looked at Little Joe again, determinedly fighting against ropes he could not hope<\/em> to break.\u00a0 With Maddie Macintosh\u2019s lively personality and fiery temper, he might just<\/em> end up with a little scamp like Joe.<\/p>\n

His brother snorted and made a disgusted noise as he wriggled.\u00a0 Joe wasn\u2019t angry yet, but those big green eyes of his were starting to ignite.<\/p>\n

Adam walked and knelt down in front of him.\u00a0 Placing his hand on his heart, he waited a moment and then held it out, palm down.\u00a0 \u201cChief Adam hears the white man\u2019s plea,\u201d he said solemnly.\u00a0 \u201cHe must seek wisdom from the Great Spirit before he can free his captive.\u201d<\/p>\n

His little brother blinked, caught smack-dab between his growing discomfort and the magic of pretend.<\/p>\n

In reality, he hated to leave Joe tied up, but he needed to check out what was going on in the house before he took the kid inside.\u00a0 Everything depended on just how far down the memories \u2013 and the alcohol intended to dull them \u2013 had taken their father.\u00a0 Usually, Pa just slept it off in the big red chair by the fire, but every once in a while he would find the older man pacing the floor like a caged cat, ready to spring on whoever stepped \u00a0through the door.\u00a0 And even though he had done all his chores and taken care of giving the men their orders and<\/em> watched over that little bundle of energy all day since Hoss was down sick in bed and Hop Sing was busy taking care of him<\/em>, it didn\u2019t mean much.\u00a0 Pa could still explode without warning.<\/p>\n

Little Joe didn\u2019t need to see that.<\/p>\n

With a smile at his brother who was now scowling and doing a fair impression of their father at his worse temper-wise, Adam headed for the ranch house.\u00a0 As he neared the front door, he circumnavigated the porch and went around to the side; his destination, the dining room window.\u00a0 He\u2019d learned it was wise to peer in to see what their father was doing before entering.\u00a0 Tonight, he was in luck.\u00a0 Pa was on his feet in front of the fire, but he wasn\u2019t pacing.\u00a0 He was reading a piece of paper that he held in his hand.<\/p>\n

Everything looked safe enough.<\/p>\n

When he returned to the barn, Adam couldn\u2019t help but grin.\u00a0 From the daggers his little brother was shooting at him, Little Joe had finally figured it out.\u00a0 Well, that <\/em>was the last time for cowboys and Indians.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to come up with a new way to keep the kid occupied when he needed to get work done.<\/p>\n

Maybe next time he\u2019d suggest he tie him to the mainmast in the midst of a gale.<\/p>\n

As he bent down and removed the kid\u2019s gag, Little Joe spit out what he considered his worst threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna tell Pa!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam hid his smile.\u00a0 \u201cAnd just what<\/em> are you going to tell Pa?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

His brother\u2019s lower lip trembled.\u00a0 \u201cThat you were mean and tied me up!\u201d<\/p>\n

The older boy shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cYou asked me to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Joe had been ready to spit fire.\u00a0 That gave him pause.\u00a0 He thought a minute and then said \u2013 a little less convincingly \u2013 \u201cWell, then, I\u2019ll tell that you put that cloth in my mouth!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Through it,<\/em> not in it\u2019<\/em>, the black-haired youth silently corrected, but said, \u201cAs any self-respecting Indian would do so that the cowboy could not yell for help.\u00a0 Now I couldn\u2019t have you shouting and alerting your pals, could I?\u201d<\/p>\n

The kid was thinking it through.\u00a0 Sharp mind there.\u00a0 Still, Little Joe was only five years old. \u00a0When he couldn\u2019t come up with anything better, he resorted to his initial threat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m still gonna tell Pa,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n

When he\u2019d finished undoing Joe\u2019s play bonds, Adam caught him under the arms and helped him to his feet.\u00a0 As Joe\u2019s fingers found his, Adam looked down and sucked in\u00a0 a sharp breath.\u00a0 Sometimes, the kid\u2019s resemblance to Marie was startling \u2013 and<\/em> a knife stab to the heart.<\/p>\n

Marie.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d been his<\/em> mother as well.\u00a0 The only one he<\/em> had ever known.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, let me get this straight,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cYou are going to tell Pa that you asked me to play cowboys and Indians and I did, and that you <\/em>wanted the Indians to capture you and tie you up and<\/em> gag you, and I did, and that I was mean to you. \u00a0Is that right?\u201d<\/p>\n

The wheels were turning behind those wide, expressive eyes.\u00a0 \u00a0Little Joe knew he had been had \u2013 he just wasn\u2019t old enough to know exactly how<\/em>.<\/p>\n

His baby brother continued to glare at him for a moment and then asked, \u201cDo you think Hop Sing has any chocolate cookies left?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ah, had it only been that simple to avert all wars.<\/p>\n

Adam laughed as he reached down and lifted Joe from the floor of the barn.\u00a0 As he expected, the little boy instantly began to squirm.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me down!\u00a0 I can walk on my own!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018No, you can\u2019t, Little Joe\u2019<\/em>, he thought.\u00a0 You only know how to run.<\/em><\/p>\n

With solemn dignity, Adam said, \u201cChief Adam must make recompense.\u00a0 He must carry the cowboy on his shoulders to the land of plenty and make sure his tummy is full before he goes to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Joe bounced on his shoulders, trying to get comfortable, he echoed, \u201cRecom…what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRecompense.\u00a0 Repay.\u201d\u00a0 He snorted.\u00a0 \u201cIndian must carry cowboy into kitchen and make sure he gets three <\/em>cookies instead of two for being so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boy, did those green eyes light at that!<\/p>\n

As he settled Joe on his shoulders, the little boy took the bandana band with its disreputable feather off his head and placed it on his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext time I<\/em> get to be the Indian,\u201d Joe said as they started to move.<\/p>\n

Next time, Adam thought, the cowboys will win.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright stirred at the sound of approaching footsteps.\u00a0 As he placed the paper he held on the table beside his chair, his eyes lingered on the brandy bottle and the near empty glass beside it.\u00a0 He could only hope it was enough to steel him for what he was about to see.<\/p>\n

The door opened and Adam entered with Little Joe on his shoulders, careful to duck so as not to let the little boy\u2019s head hit the door frame.\u00a0 Adam was a long, lanky drink of water, nearly six feet tall, while his little brother was small for his age and as cherubic as any child God ever fashioned.\u00a0 Little Joe was barely over five and still had his baby fat.<\/p>\n

Little Joe was still a baby.<\/p>\n

A baby without a mother.<\/p>\n

Ben ran a trembling hand over his stubbled chin.\u00a0 It happened every<\/em> time.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t look at his youngest son without his thoughts turning instantly <\/em>to the boy\u2019s mother; to the woman he had loved so deeply and lost too soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cToo soon,\u201d he breathed aloud.<\/p>\n

His eldest son watched him for a moment, his look appraising, and then reached up and took hold of Joseph\u2019s hands and swung the small boy to the floor.\u00a0 At his brother\u2019s expectant look, Adam nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo find Hop Sing.\u00a0 Tell him I told you that you were so good you could have three<\/em> cookies.\u201d\u00a0 Adam paused and a smile lit his tired face.\u00a0 \u201cAnd tell him that I will be there in a minute to make sure he believes you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Joe nodded, then he turned his way.\u00a0 Ben saw something pass through his youngest\u2019s expressive eyes \u2013 a longing, all too quickly followed by something akin to fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo ahead, son,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIf Adam says you deserve three cookies, you must have been very good boy indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe remained still for a moment, considering, and then grinned from ear to ear and skipped away.<\/p>\n

Skipped.<\/p>\n

How could the boy skip when his mother was dead?<\/p>\n

\u201cPa?\u00a0 Are you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben started guiltily, as if caught with his hand in Hop Sing\u2019s cookie jar.<\/p>\n

He looked again at Adam \u00a0\u2013 really looked this time.\u00a0 There were great dark circles cradling the boy\u2019s hazel eyes and he was far too thin.\u00a0 They were by no means beggars, but lately \u2013 since Marie\u2019s death \u2013 he\u2019d been so distracted that things hadn\u2019t gotten done.\u00a0 Contracts had been neglected and, at times, gone unfulfilled. \u00a0They were hurting for cash.\u00a0 Lately, he\u2019d seen Adam forgo seconds \u2013 and sometimes firsts \u2013 at the table so his little brothers could eat their fill.\u00a0 The boy was pulling far more than his fair share with Hoss sick and him….<\/p>\n

Well, he didn\u2019t know what <\/em>he was.<\/p>\n

Lost?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine, son,\u201d he said at last.\u00a0 \u201cHow are you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFine as frog hair, Pa,\u201d Adam replied, using one of his middle brother\u2019s favorite expressions.<\/p>\n

Ben hesitated, but it needed to be said.\u00a0 \u201cYou look tired, son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam studied him a moment.\u00a0 Then he said softly, \u201cSo do you, Pa.\u201d\u00a0 After a moment of awkward silence, the boy added, \u201cHow is Hoss doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s better thanks to Hop Sing\u2019s constant care.\u201d\u00a0 For the moment Inger\u2019s boy was quarantined to his bedroom.\u00a0 Doctor Paul Martin \u2013 still a relatively new physician in Eagle Station \u2013 thought it was just a severe cold, but there was always the threat that it might turn out to be measles or something worse.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s eyes strayed to the kitchen area.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s missing Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose two are thicker than thieves,\u201d Adam said with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s been hard on Joe too.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

No, the boy didn\u2019t understand.\u00a0 He was only five.\u00a0 How could <\/em>he understand that something could come along that would take his middle brother away from them just as quickly and unexpectedly as that damn<\/em> horse had claimed his mother?<\/p>\n

Ben went the side table and picked up his brandy glass and looked at the amber liquid in it, contemplating finishing it off.\u00a0 \u201cSo long as there are no complications,\u201d he added, \u201cDoctor Martin thinks Hoss should be up and around in a day or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s good to hear.\u201d\u00a0 There was another awkward silence.\u00a0 At the end of it, Adam sighed. \u00a0\u201cWell, I better go see what mischief that little scamp is up to.\u00a0 Hop Sing \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

At that moment the owner of that name appeared as if out of a puff of smoke, standing by the dining table with Little Joe in hand.\u00a0 His youngest\u2019s face was grimy.\u00a0 His hands had been wiped clean \u2013 on Hop Sing\u2019s apron, he imagined.\u00a0 In one he gripped a large dark brown cookie.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle boy say he velly<\/em> good today.\u00a0 Get three <\/em>cookies.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chinese man said it as if someone<\/em> was out of their mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right, Hop Sing,\u201d Adam agreed as he loped over.\u00a0 Ruffling Joe\u2019s curls with his fingers, the boy added, \u201cLittle brother here was real good for me. \u00a0He let me clean up the barn, finish the tack room, and<\/em> take care of the horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Silently, Ben wondered what price his eldest had paid to accomplish that<\/em> miracle.<\/p>\n

\u201cMister Ben <\/em>say it all right little boy have three<\/em> cookies?\u201d<\/p>\n

Three was a bit of an extravagance, especially considering the price of chocolate and their current circumstances, but he knew Adam had his reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it\u2019s fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSee I told you!\u201d Joe thrust out his lower lip in a pout and then instantly thought better of it.\u00a0 The little boy\u2019s gaze shot to him.<\/p>\n

Did he see him tremble?<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, Pa,\u201d Little Joe said, hanging his head.<\/p>\n

Ben pursed his lips.\u00a0 He was more tolerant with Marie\u2019s boy than he had been with his older sons.\u00a0 He knew that.\u00a0 Permissive <\/em>even.\u00a0 But there were lines, and disrespect was one he would not allow the child to cross.<\/p>\n

\u201cApology accepted, son,\u201d he said a little stiffly.<\/p>\n

The five-year-old looked up at him. \u00a0\u201cDoes that mean number three son can have number three cookie now?\u201d Joe asked, eying the one that remained.<\/p>\n

Ben met Hop Sing\u2019s eyes and saw the smile in them.\u00a0 \u201cYes, number three son <\/em>may have cookie number three \u2013 and a glass of milk \u2013 and then it\u2019s off to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Joe began to pull Hop Sing toward the kitchen, to get that glass of milk, only to stop and turn back before they got to the hall that led there.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I see Hoss yet?\u201d he asked, his tone forlorn.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe tomorrow,\u201d Ben replied.\u00a0 The threat of contagion seemed to be past.<\/p>\n

Still….<\/p>\n

Little Joe considered his reply carefully before saying, as solemnly as only a very small child could, \u201cThen I\u2019ll eat this cookie and drink that milk fast so\u2019s I can get to sleep and wake up and it\u2019ll be morning and I can see Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n

While that was not exactly what he\u2019d said, getting Joseph to bed without protest was worth the argument the morning would bring.<\/p>\n

Marie would have told him he was an old fool for arguing with a five-year-old.<\/p>\n

He was so lost without her.<\/p>\n

As Little Joe and Hop Sing disappeared around the corner, Adam shifted nervously on his feet.\u00a0 \u201cEr, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, son?\u201d he asked, turning back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it\u2019s not a good time, but would it be okay if I went into the settlement for the dance tomorrow night?\u201d<\/p>\n

Not a good time.\u00a0 When was it ever<\/em> a good time anymore?<\/p>\n

Ben considered his teenage son. \u00a0It didn\u2019t seem all that long ago that Adam had been Joseph\u2019s age. \u00a0He had wanted so much for his first child \u2013 happiness, stability, a life of ease and plenty.\u00a0 What he\u2019d given him instead was a life of deprivation and a burden of responsibility that would have bent the shoulders of a man of thirty.<\/p>\n

Adam deserved a night off.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo with my blessing son.\u201d \u00a0As the black-haired youth\u2019s eyes lit with surprise and thanks, Ben added, \u201cand be sure to tell Miss McIntosh \u2018hello\u2019 for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy blushed.\u00a0 Adam ducked his head in that way Elizabeth had, and then resurfaced with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cI will.\u201d\u00a0 With that, the teenager turned his feet toward the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll see if Little Joe is done.\u00a0 Would you like me to take him to bed?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll do it.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben halted at the knock on the door.\u00a0 It was late.<\/p>\n

Whatever it was, it couldn\u2019t be good.<\/p>\n

Adam shot him a look, asking if he should get it, but he shook his head. \u00a0\u201cSee Joseph to bed and tell him I will be up later, and then come back down.\u00a0 Oh, and please check in on Hoss for me before you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

His eldest shot a curious look at the door and then his eyes returned to him. \u00a0There had been a second rap.\u00a0 More insistent this time.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure thing, Pa,\u201d he said and then was gone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

TWO<\/p>\n

Ben opened the door only to find William Olin standing on the porch, looking west toward the setting sun.\u00a0 William was a tough but fair man who had taken on the job of attempting to keep the law in Eagle Station.\u00a0 The settlement was fortunate to have him as well as those he called his deputies, Roy Coffee and Jedidiah Connors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWilliam, what brings you all the way out here so late?\u201d he said in greeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvening, Ben,\u201d the lawman answered.\u00a0 \u201cHow are you, and how are those boys of yours?\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone knew how he <\/em>was, so he ignored that part of the question.\u00a0 \u201cHoss is mending.\u00a0 Adam and Little Joe are doing well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot sick, either of them?\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 Before Marie\u2019s death, he would have added, \u2018Thank God\u2019<\/em>, but, try he might, he wasn\u2019t quite there yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s good to hear.\u201d\u00a0 William paused.\u00a0 \u201cDid you get that wanted poster I sent out by way of Jed?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben glanced at the table by his chair.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever seen that man?\u201d<\/p>\n

The rancher hesitated.\u00a0 He had studied the features on the poster as the note accompanying it had asked, but the man as depicted in the crude sketch was so nondescript \u2013 so…ordinary <\/em>\u2013 it could have been anyone.<\/p>\n

He shook his head.<\/p>\n

William looked disappointed.\u00a0 \u201cI was afraid of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you have reason to believe this man will come this way?\u201d Ben asked warily.\u00a0 \u00a0There had been the sketch and a description as well, along with a few other details on the poster.<\/p>\n

The few \u2018other\u2019 details had been unsettling, to say the least.<\/p>\n

Olin shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cHe was seen in Carson City and was said to be heading for Reno.\u00a0 You\u2019re kind of in the middle of nowhere, Ben, and well, I wouldn\u2019t want anything to happen to you or one of your boys in case he tried something. \u00a0You know, a robbery gone wrong.\u201d \u00a0Olin gave him a warning look.\u00a0 \u201cYou and that oldest boy of yours are known to be a little fast on the trigger at times and that can spell trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that moment Adam came walking out of the kitchen with Little Joe anchored on his hip.\u00a0 The child\u2019s mouth was a pink landscape dotted with chocolate boulders.<\/p>\n

His eldest smiled his shy smile.\u00a0 \u201cMister Olin,\u201d he said with a nod.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam.\u00a0 Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

As William\u2019s eyes scanned his youngest\u2019s grimy face, Adam said, \u201cIt\u2019s a bath for this one and then bed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t need no…bath,\u201d Joe sighed as he nuzzled into his brother\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t smell you<\/em>, Little Joe,\u201d Adam laughed.\u00a0 \u201cYes, you do!\u201d\u00a0 As his son moved past him, headed for the staircase, the older boy added, \u201cI\u2019ll be back down in about a half hour, Pa.\u00a0 Mister Olin.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben watched his son mount the steps and turn the corner at the top before saying, \u201cI suppose it\u2019s the reference to this man having been in New Orleans that made you think of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

William nodded.\u00a0 \u201cFirst and most important, Ben, out of all the men in this area you\u2019re the one who owns the most land.\u00a0 That makes you a target.\u00a0 But yes, there\u2019s that too.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rancher scowled.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t be the only person in Eagle Station who has ties in the Crescent City.\u201d<\/p>\n

Had <\/em>ties.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe not.\u00a0 But you\u2019re the only one who does with anything worth stealing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cYou mentioned that before.\u00a0 Is that the latest rumor?\u00a0 That I am cash rich?\u201d<\/p>\n

William walked over to his office and eyed the safe behind the desk.\u00a0 \u201cAccording to Albert Stuart you\u2019ve got over five thousand reasons in there that says you are.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was every scrap of money he had, and a portion of it was a loan from a friend.\u00a0 What was <\/em>his was there to pay the month\u2019s wages to their hands.\u00a0 There was a little to live on as well, but the biggest part was capital to invest in a string of horses he hoped to buy.\u00a0 Those horses would bring them new hope.\u00a0 Due to the war, the army was desperate for mounts.\u00a0 He knew they could make money breeding and then selling the magnificent animals to the soldiers if no one else.<\/p>\n

It was his hope that he would soon have enough money that his sons could heap their plates full and fit the loose clothing on their frames.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlbert told you that?\u201d Ben asked, a little troubled that his banker had shared such personal \u2013 and pertinent \u2013 information without his consent.<\/p>\n

William smiled. \u201cDon\u2019t worry.\u00a0 No loose lips to sink a ship here.\u00a0 When I heard this fellow might be in our area, I checked in with Stu to find out what was in the bank and who, besides himself, he thought might be a target.\u201d\u00a0 Olin\u2019s eyes rounded the room, filled as it was with most of Marie\u2019s cherished possessions.\u00a0 His late wife had elegant taste and he\u2019d indulged her.\u00a0 A beautiful ten piece silver set graced the dining room sideboard.\u00a0 Two sets of fine china filled the Chinoiserie cabinet in the hall.\u00a0 There were silver candlesticks and cloisonn\u00e9 pieces from the Orient and, at the heart of the great room, in front of the grand fireplace, a striped damask settee.<\/p>\n

He should sell them.\u00a0 They were all useless now.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to understand, Ben, you Cartwrights are different from the usual gold seekers, down and out cowpokes, and scallywags that populate Eagle Station.\u00a0 It gets you noticed.\u201d\u00a0 William crossed back over to the door.\u00a0 \u201cAnyhow, forewarned is forearmed is what I always say.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 We\u2019ll take extra care.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law man opened his mouth to say something more, but closed it just as quickly as if thinking better of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do that,\u201d he said, returning the nod.<\/p>\n

After William left, Ben returned to his chair by the fire and picked up the wanted poster so he could look at it again.\u00a0 The list of aliases under the vague sketch was lengthy.\u00a0 It consisted of half a dozen names ranging from the possible to the ridiculous.\u00a0 None of them were familiar.\u00a0 The man was described as being of average height with a moderate build \u2013 as if that helped \u2013 with tanned skin, brown hair and eyes, and a penchant for wearing clothing of the same color.\u00a0 He was described as a loner, hard to get to know and easy to forget, and \u2013 to quote one pragmatic witness\u2013 crazy as a loon.\u00a0 He was wanted for a series of minor crimes including cheating at cards and swindling several people out of their money.\u00a0 There was a major crime too and it was the reason the law wanted to find and catch him.<\/p>\n

The murder of a young woman.<\/p>\n

Ben was still staring at the ambiguous representation of the criminal when he heard Adam\u2019s footsteps on the stair.<\/p>\n

\u201cMister Olin\u2019s gone?\u201d his son asked with some regret as he came to stand beside him.<\/p>\n

Ben looked up.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s red shirt was soaked and his black locks were dangling in front of his eyes, dripping water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bath was a success, I take it?\u201d he asked with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry to report that the captain went down with the ship…several times,\u201d his son answered with a mock salute.\u00a0 \u201cHe resurfaced at the last only to surrender to a wave of white linen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben looked at his boy \u2013 this boy who stood on the cusp of manhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, son,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n

Adam tossed his head and pushed the locks out of his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI want to spend every minute I can with Little Joe.\u00a0 If I go to college in the autumn….\u201d<\/p>\n

If Adam went to college as planned, he didn\u2019t know what he would do \u2013 he only knew somehow<\/em> he would do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you\u2019re there, the time will go faster than you think, son.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be home in no time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam looked longingly up the stairs.\u00a0 \u201cSomehow, when Joe\u2019s nine or ten, I doubt he\u2019ll let me hoist his sails and anchor him snugly in the harbor.\u201d<\/p>\n

It always amused him when his landlubber sons employed nautical terms.\u00a0 Apparently, he\u2019d talked a\u00a0 bit too<\/em> much about those long years on shipboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll have to get to know one another again, but you will.\u00a0 You\u2019re brothers, Adam.\u00a0 There is no stronger bond than blood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam took a seat on the hearth.\u00a0 \u201cGee, Hoss will be \u2013 what? \u2013 almost my age?\u201d\u00a0 His son paused.\u00a0 \u201cPa, I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Maybe I should just forget about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d he snapped, perhaps a bit too harshly.\u00a0 Drawing a breath to calm his nerves, Ben went over to his oldest and sat by him on the stones, grateful for the warmth they exuded. \u00a0It was November and the evenings were growing quite chilly.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d he said again, softly this time.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s your dream and…it was your mother\u2019s as well.\u00a0 You have to do what is right for you, not for me or Hoss or <\/em>Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

His son\u2019s hands hung between his knees.\u00a0 His eyes were fastened on them.\u00a0 \u201cI guess I have a year to decide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot quite,\u201d Ben reminded him.\u00a0 \u201cTuition will come due long before that.\u201d\u00a0 It was another part of why he needed to win the bid on those horses.\u00a0 He had part of the money for Adam\u2019s education set aside, but a four year course at a college back East was not inexpensive. \u00a0Even with Adam living at his grandfather\u2019s home, the expenses appeared to be more than he could manage at the moment.<\/p>\n

Faith<\/em>, Ben reminded himself.\u00a0 Have faith.<\/em>\u00a0 There\u2019s a reason Marie is gone and Adam is going.<\/em><\/p>\n

Though for the life of him he couldn\u2019t imagine what it was.<\/p>\n

His son turned to look at him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did Mister Olin want, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben hesitated to say.\u00a0 Still, he knew the boy was old enough to be told the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a criminal on the loose. \u00a0He may be in our area,\u201d he said as he handed him the wanted poster.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot much to go on, is it?\u201d Adam asked after he read it. \u00a0Then he added, a bit incredulous, \u201cMister Olin really thinks there is something in Eagle Station that would bring a man like this here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUs<\/em> among other things,\u201d he sighed. \u00a0\u201cPeople in Eagle Station seem to think we are more affluent than we really are.\u00a0 William\u2019s afraid someone might say something that would lead this man to attempt to rob us.\u201d<\/p>\n

His eldest considered it.\u00a0 Adam knew of the money in the safe, of course.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be careful, Pa,\u201d he said, speaking for himself and his brothers.<\/p>\n

Ben placed a hand on his son\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 With this new information he regretted the fact that he was set to go to look at those horses tomorrow, but then, the threat was vague at best and he would be back within a few days.\u00a0 It was just bad timing that most of the men were set to leave on the autumn drive as well.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll keep a few of the newer hands here to patrol the perimeter until I get back.\u201d\u00a0 At Adam\u2019s concerned look, he added, \u201cDon\u2019t let the threat weigh you down, son.\u00a0 Just be a little more watchful \u2013 especially where that impulsive little rapscallion you just safely harbored is concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAye, aye, captain!\u201d Adam said with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Little Joe waiting on me to tuck him in?\u201d the older man asked as he rose to his feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 He was asleep before I was out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hated to admit it, but that was a relief.\u00a0 \u201cGood.\u00a0 I have some paperwork that needs to be done before I head out tomorrow to take a look at those horses.\u201d\u00a0 He gave his son a tight smile.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry I can\u2019t take you with me, but \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s eyes met his.\u00a0 \u201cYou need me here, Pa.\u00a0 Yeah, I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unspoken question hung in the air between them.<\/p>\n

So what are you going to do when I\u2019m gone?\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The next morning dawned just as bright and even more beautiful than the day before.\u00a0 The fall air was crisp but not too cold, and the sun was shining in a brilliant blue sky dotted by only a few puffy clouds.\u00a0 The only discouraging thing was that the breeze was coming in from the south, which often signaled an approaching storm, especially if it decided to shift to the northwest.\u00a0 Nevada weather in mid to late November was always a toss of the dice.\u00a0 It could be mild or absolutely chilling to the bone.\u00a0 Even worse,\u00a0 at times the shift from one to the other was so sudden it took everyone by surprise.<\/p>\n

Ben glanced back at the house as he finished checking his cinch.\u00a0 The morning had gone well.\u00a0 Doctor Martin had come by early to check on Hoss and declared him fit.\u00a0 When he\u2019d told Joseph that he could see his brother, his youngest had let out a shriek of joy that had the power to raise the dead.\u00a0 Bolting down the hall, the tiny boy ran into his big brother\u2019s room and leapt on the bed before any of them had time to recover their wits.\u00a0 Noting his concern, Paul Martin had declared that Little Joe was probably the best medicine he could prescribe. Then the physician had made his way to the bed and gone nose to nose with the five-year-old and made him solemnly pinky-swear that he would watch his big brother closely and make sure Hoss did nothing to tire himself out.\u00a0 Adam managed to mask a snicker behind his hand, though his hazel eyes danced over its edge at the doctor\u2019s wisdom.\u00a0 The only sour moment in the morning had come when he had to ask Adam to forgo the dance that night.\u00a0 He\u2019d thought about it all the night before and come to the conclusion that, after William Olin\u2019s visit, he felt uneasy about leaving Hop Sing alone with Hoss and Little Joe with just a couple of greenhorns to watch over them.\u00a0 The experienced men had moved out with the cattle that morning, heading for the high pastures where their small herd would winter, leaving only a few fresh, untried ones behind to keep watch.\u00a0 Adam, of course, had agreed without hesitation.\u00a0 Still, he could see in the boy\u2019s eyes how disappointed he was.\u00a0 He \u2018d offered to carry his regrets to Maddie McIntosh on his way through the settlement, but that had only seemed to make matters worse.<\/p>\n

In the end, he left well enough alone.<\/p>\n

Now, it was late afternoon.\u00a0 He\u2019d hoped to get an earlier start, but things were what they were and it was time for him to set out on his journey to Placerville.\u00a0 He intended to ride until dark tonight, make camp, and then complete the remainder of the one hundred mile trek the next day.\u00a0 The bidding on the horses would happen the morning after that, so he had plenty of time to make the trip at ease.\u00a0 \u00a0What he needed to do there wouldn\u2019t take long and, if he was lucky, he would be home by late morning the day after.\u00a0 With Hoss just mended, he didn\u2019t want to be gone too long, and besides that there was simply too much to get done before the snow set in and they were cut off from what little civilization Eagle Station offered.<\/p>\n

That thought brought another stinging one.<\/p>\n

It would be his first winter without Marie at his side on those long, lonely nights.<\/p>\n

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

Ben turned at Adam\u2019s voice.\u00a0 His own was a bit shaky when he asked, \u201cWhat is it, son?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019re going to need this.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man groaned when he saw the leather case containing all the paperwork he had spent hours completing the night before.\u00a0 If he had ridden off without it….<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, son, for keeping track of this old man.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam smiled.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not so old, Pa.\u00a0 Just…older.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Taking a step forward, he cupped his hand around the back of the boy\u2019s neck.\u00a0 Adam was not one to show open affection, but he accepted the gesture with a smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry again about the dance,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay.\u00a0 Besides, you know what Bayly said, \u2018Absence makes the heart grow fonder\u2019<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

His son had left the door open.\u00a0 Through it Ben could see the settee and the heads of the two young boys \u2013 one reddish-blond and the other, chestnut brown \u2013 who sat pressed tightly together on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ll be fine, Pa,\u201d Adam said, reading his mind.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing promises he has enough apron strings to tie them both to while I do my chores and see to the business of the ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben laughed.\u00a0 It felt good to laugh.\u00a0 It felt good as well to know that Hoss was better and on his feet, and that Adam wouldn\u2019t have to try to keep an eye on Joseph all alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let your brother overdo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t be able to.\u00a0 Since Doc Martin charged Joe with keeping a close watch on him, I haven\u2019t been able to pry the two of them apart.\u201d\u00a0 Adam looked at the sky and then said, \u201cYou better get on your way, Pa.\u00a0 You\u2019ve only got a few hours of daylight left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben turned and raised his foot to place it in the stirrup.\u00a0 He froze as his gaze hit the ground.\u00a0 In the busyness of life, he\u2019d almost forgotten \u2013 almost<\/em>.\u00a0 He was standing in the exact spot where Marie\u2019s horse had stumbled and thrown her; at the spot where he had knelt in the dirt to cradle his beloved wife\u2019 broken body and held her as her spirit returned to its Maker.\u00a0 As he hesitated, there was a sudden shift in the sky.\u00a0 Light and cloud shadow played over the yard, casting both him and Adam into darkness.<\/p>\n

Bringing with it a sudden presentiment of impending danger that nearly unmanned him.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa?\u00a0 What\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam was concerned.\u00a0 He had reason to be.\u00a0 Ben could see his own hands shaking where they gripped the saddle and reins.\u00a0 The rancher closed his eyes and gave himself a stern talking to.\u00a0 There was nothing to fear.\u00a0 Nothing<\/em> was going to happen while he was gone.\u00a0 He was simply unnerved by the sudden realization that he was standing where his wife had died.<\/p>\n

With a shake of his head, he finished mounting.\u00a0 From his position atop his buckskin\u2019s back, Ben looked at his home and whispered a silent prayer that, when he returned, he would find all just as it was now.<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t survive another tragedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything\u2019s fine, son,\u201d he said at last.\u00a0 \u201cSee you in a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam ran a hand over his eyes and then used it to slick back his black hair before reaching for the latch on the door to Little Joe\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n

This was the second time in one night.<\/p>\n

It had <\/em>to be a record.<\/p>\n

As he advanced into the room, Adam considered the last few days.\u00a0 The one after his father left had gone well.\u00a0 The day after that, which had been Sunday, Hoss had felt well enough to go to church and so the three of them \u2013 him, Hoss, and Little Joe \u2013 had put on their Sunday best, piled into the buggy, and traveled to the settlement.\u00a0 They\u2019d even managed to keep Little Joe clean until they walked into the sanctuary, though there had been a close call with a mud puddle when they debarked from the buggy.\u00a0 Thanks to\u00a0 one of the new hands Pa had hired and left behind, who happened to be in town, Joe had made it into the service spit and polish clean.<\/p>\n

From there things just went up.<\/p>\n

Though he\u2019d missed the harvest dance on Friday night, after the service he\u2019d managed to sweet talk Maddie McIntosh into forgiving him and even gotten a kiss on the cheek for volunteering to stay in town and help her clean up the hall where it had been held.\u00a0 Hoss and Little Joe had helped \u2013 along with a few adults including the mud puddle hero \u00a0\u2013 or at least that was their<\/em> word for it.\u00a0 Hoss and Joe had been joined by Mitch Devlin, whose Pa was also lending a hand, and the three little boys had whooped and hollered like Indians as they tore down the remnants of streamers and autumn decorations and ran outside with them to a bonfire Pa\u2019s hand, a man named Gabe, had started.\u00a0 In the end, he\u2019d managed to advance to a kiss on the lips along with a promise for dinner the next Saturday night, and both of his brothers had been so worn out by the time they left that they\u2019d slept all the way back to the Ponderosa. \u00a0Hoss woke up when they reached the house and managed to find his own way upstairs, while he carried Little Joe up and placed him in bed and \u2013 for once \u2013 the kid slept through the night.\u00a0 \u00a0All in all it was proving to be a most pleasant few days.<\/p>\n

That was, until Little Joe fell apart.<\/p>\n

It was a funny thing with kids. \u00a0Keep them busy and they\u2019ll forget their own name.\u00a0 But let them have time to think…<\/p>\n

That morning Little Joe had come down the stairs looking for Hoss, forgetting that his brother had returned to school.\u00a0 When he realized Hoss was gone, the tears started to fall.\u00a0 Unfortunately, he\u2019d <\/em>been busy at the time and instead of trying to comfort him, he\u2019d foisted the disturbed little boy off on Hop Sing.\u00a0 Hop Sing had been in the middle of calculating what supplies they would need to weather the winter and it turned out the Chinese man\u2019s temper that day was just about as short as a tail hold on a bear.\u00a0 By the time he\u2019d arrived home for a late lunch, he\u2019d found Little Joe sitting in the dining room with his nose in the corner.\u00a0 Well, not really sitting.\u00a0 Sort of crouching so his backside was about an inch off the leather seat.<\/p>\n

Little Joe, of course, ran to him the minute he entered the room, sobbing his little heart out.\u00a0 It took a while to get the story out of him between the sniffles, hiccups, and sighs.\u00a0 Apparently, Joe being Joe, he\u2019d decided to be helpful and as Hop Sing piled things in one place after counting them, Joe would diligently pick them up and return them to the original pile thinking that was where they belonged.\u00a0 Personally, he thought Hop Sing\u2019s punishment was a little harsh.\u00a0 The poor kid wasn\u2019t trying to be a pest.\u00a0 Still, since their cook was a grown man and he<\/em> wasn\u2019t considered one yet, there was little he could do but back him up.<\/p>\n

Little Joe was crushed.<\/p>\n

Everything might have worked out if Hoss had come straight home from school.\u00a0 After being officially reprieved (it had taken a lot of promises, but he\u2019d managed to get Hop Sing to relent and let Joe out of the corner), Little Joe took up a post on the settee, facing the door, to await the return of his \u2018charge\u2019.\u00a0 Unfortunately, instead of Hoss showing, there was a knock at the door and he opened it to find John Devlin.\u00a0 John had come to tell him that Hoss had been feeling poorly by the end of the school day and his wife had \u2018kidnapped\u2019 the eleven-year-old and taken him to their home so the boy could rest and she could fatten him up.<\/p>\n

As if Hoss needed fattening up.<\/p>\n

When the man added that Hoss might stay the night, Little Joe \u2013 who had watched the proceedings wide-eyed \u2013 deflated like a balloon without air.<\/p>\n

After that it had been one thing after another.\u00a0 A bored Little Joe was always an invitation to disaster.\u00a0 The last straw came when the kid wanted to play checkers and since Hoss still wasn\u2019t home, begged and begged and begged him<\/em> to play.\u00a0 He\u2019d been crunching numbers, trying to get some calculations done before their father returned and didn\u2019t even look up.<\/p>\n

Until <\/em>he heard the checkerboard and all the checkers crash to the floor.<\/p>\n

That <\/em>had been the last straw.<\/p>\n

Like the wrath of God he\u2019d descended, scooped Little Joe up, and took him up the stairs in one swift motion, and then almost literally threw him onto the bed.\u00a0 He scolded him and, after helping the little boy into his night shirt and tucking him under the covers, ordered him to stay put until the cows came home!<\/p>\n

That was when it happened.\u00a0 Joe thrust his lip out and folded his little arms over his chest.\u00a0 He thought at first it was a gesture of defiance, but then the little boy\u2019s lip began to tremble and those big emerald-green eyes flooded with tears and he started to wail.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Hoss??\u201d\u00a0 A breath here, dramatically poised.\u00a0 \u201cDoctor Paul told me to watch out for him or he\u2019d get sick.\u00a0 How come he isn\u2019t home?\u00a0 Is he dead??!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Good Lord.<\/p>\n

An hour after that \u2013 and a million and a half assurances later that neither Hoss or Pa (who came in late into the conversation) were dead \u2013 he\u2019d finally extricated himself from the situation and returned to his paperwork, but only because Little Joe cried himself to sleep \u2013 and that was only<\/em> after a glass of warm milk, a bedtime story, opening the window a crack for air, and leaving the oil lamp by his bedside with the wick turned up to chase away the monsters who might come in the open window.\u00a0 Finishing the paperwork took until midnight and he had just gotten out of his clothes and into his robe and laid down on his bed with a deep satisfied sigh when a wail worthy of an off-key soprano in a ten cent opera house split the air.<\/p>\n

He got it.\u00a0 Really, he did.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t been all that long since Joe\u2019s mother had died.\u00a0 It was only a month back, maybe six weeks, that his littlest brother had returned to his own bed and managed \u2013 for the most part \u2013 to stay in it and sleep through the night.\u00a0 It had gone on so long Pa told them to ignore it as best they could and stay in bed and get some sleep \u00a0and that he<\/em> would see to their brother.<\/p>\n

Right.\u00a0 Sleep.<\/p>\n

With a siren going off in the next room.<\/p>\n

Abandoning his bed and any hope of sleep, like a zombie he\u2019d walked the hall and gone to Joe\u2019s room, \u00a0opened the door, and stepped inside.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s eyes were closed.\u00a0 Tears streaked his baby face.\u00a0 He was turning from side to side and murmuring and moaning.\u00a0 The sheet and coverlet were wound around him with the grip of an eight armed octopus.\u00a0 He\u2019d gone over to his brother and sat on the side of the bed and started rubbing his back like Pa always did, speaking softly and telling Joe everyone and everything was safe and secure including him.\u00a0 After a while the little boy grew quiet and seemed to fall into a deep sleep.<\/p>\n

\u2018Seemed\u2019 being the operative word.<\/p>\n

The clock in the hall had just struck three when he heard his brother talking.\u00a0 He\u2019d been dreaming himself and lay there for a little while just to make sure he was hearing what he thought he was.\u00a0 It was funny, because Joe didn\u2019t sound particularly upset, but he sure was talking up a blue streak.\u00a0 After a minute everything went quiet.<\/p>\n

Too <\/em>quiet, it turned out, since he couldn\u2019t get back to sleep.<\/p>\n

And so, about ten minutes later, he had put on his slippers and robe and headed down the hall and now, here he was, ready to go into Joe\u2019s room for the second time even though there was no practical reason to do so.<\/p>\n

Adam snorted.<\/p>\n

Was this<\/em> what it was like to be a father?<\/p>\n

Between the low-burning oil lamp and the moonlight streaming in the window, it was easy to navigate the room.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s bed linens were piled in a small heap in the center of the bed.\u00a0 The weary teenager scratched his head and yawned.\u00a0 Somewhere under that cloth mountain was his baby brother and he supposed he had better find him and stretch him out and return the bed to some sense of order just in case Pa got back early and decided to come in and check on the little squirt.\u00a0 As he approached the bed, out of the corner of his eye, Adam saw something shift in the yard.\u00a0 Curious, he went to the window to see what it was, but by the time he arrived there was nothing there.\u00a0 Just the an empty yard and three hours \u2018til sun-up. \u00a0The window was still open, so he closed it, knowing how Pa worried about the night air.<\/p>\n

Stifling another yawn, the black-haired youth turned and headed to his brother\u2019s bed.\u00a0 Reaching out, Adam patted the mountainous pile of covers and was stunned when they collapsed.\u00a0 With his hand still extended over the bed, he blinked.\u00a0 Then he reached out and patted the covers again, starting in the center and moving farther and farther out until he reached the edge.<\/p>\n

The bed was empty.<\/p>\n

Panic gripped him \u2013 for just a second.\u00a0 Then he smiled with relief and dropped to his knees and looked under the bed.<\/p>\n

Nothing.<\/p>\n

Rising to his feet, Adam turned in a circle, checking every corner.\u00a0 He almost wished the moonlight hadn\u2019t been so bright, because then he might have been able to convince himself that he\u2019d somehow missed the kid huddling in one of them. \u00a0But Little Joe wasn\u2019t asleep on the floor in the corner.<\/p>\n

Little Joe was gone.<\/em><\/p>\n

Flying into the hall, Adam made a beeline for Hoss\u2019 room.\u00a0 Joe had been worried about Hoss, so it made sense he might crawl into his bed.\u00a0 Unfortunately, when he opened the door, it was all too apparent Hoss\u2019 bed had been unslept in.\u00a0 Pa\u2019s room was next on his list with the same result.\u00a0 Two minutes later Adam found himself knocking on Hop Sing\u2019s door, rousing their irate cook from a sound sleep. \u00a0Hop Sing let him have it in Chinese before he could open his mouth to explain why he\u2019d so rudely awakened him, and then spent the next two minutes apologizing in broken English once he understood what was wrong.\u00a0 Apologies accepted, the two of them set out to search the rest of the house, checking every nook and cranny a little boy might find a way to wedge himself into.<\/p>\n

Still <\/em>nothing.<\/p>\n

Which left outside.\u00a0 Outside with the stable and corral full of horses, and beyond that fields and forests with wild animals and rivers with rapids and a desert with high promontories of rock with bone-jarring drops.\u00a0 So many<\/em> things that one took for granted.\u00a0 So many simple, everyday<\/em> things that could prove deadly to a five-year-old boy lost and on his own.<\/p>\n

Only Little Joe wasn\u2019t lost or <\/em>on his own.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d just slammed his arms into his coat and grabbed Joe\u2019s small woolen one.\u00a0 Hop Sing was shouting and shoving a bag of food at him, telling him he needed to take it because \u2018naughty baby boy\u2019 \u2013 that\u2019s it, rub <\/em>it in! \u2013 would be hungry when he found him.\u00a0 As he slung the pack over his shoulder, Adam wondered which thing it was that had driven Joe out of the house \u2013 Hop Sing being mad at him, his \u2018orders\u2019 from Doc Martin to take care of Hoss, him being short-tempered, or simply Pa being away.<\/p>\n

In the end, it was none of them.\u00a0 In the end it turned out Little Joe had a very good <\/em>reason for coming up missing.<\/p>\n

When he stepped out of the door, Hop Sing followed him onto the porch.\u00a0 He\u2019d nearly made it to the stable when their cook started yelling again \u2013 this time using a curious mix of Cantonese and English, most of which was unintelligible.\u00a0 Most but not all.<\/em>\u00a0 He heard five words very<\/em> clearly.<\/p>\n

\u2018…why note pinned to door?\u2019<\/p>\n

His heart in his throat, he\u2019d turned around and walked woodenly back to the porch.\u00a0 He got there just as Hop Sing pulled the knife out of the wood and a little piece of paper fluttered to the ground.\u00a0 A little innocuous piece of paper with an elegant script covering about a third of it.<\/p>\n

An elegant script that contained a message that had the power to change their lives forever.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have your son.\u00a0 Involve the law and the boy dies.\u00a0 Find me and we\u2019ll talk….<\/em><\/p>\n

Adam ran a trembling hand over his chin as he read the last line.<\/p>\n

\u2018And bring Marie.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0***<\/p>\n

THREE<\/p>\n

Buck tossed his head, blew air out of his nose, and looked back at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d Ben snapped \u2013 and then remembered the horse couldn\u2019t answer, at least not with words.\u00a0 Still, his current buckskin said plenty<\/em> with those big black eyes of his.<\/p>\n

The rancher laughed as he leaned forward to pat his friend\u2019s golden neck.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSorry, boy.\u00a0 I\u2019m not angry with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In truth, if he was to admit that he was angry with anyone, it would have to be God.\u00a0 The entire trip to bid on the horses had been a bust.\u00a0 He never even made it to Placerville.\u00a0 A series of mishaps that included a sudden downpour, the result of which was an unexpected landslide that blocked the road and marooned a pair of older women whose buggy got caught in it, had resulted in him \u2013 covered from head to toe in bracken, bruises, and mud \u2013 turning his feet toward home a day and a half early.\u00a0 At this moment there was nothing on the face of the earth that he wanted more, or that would be a better balm to his weary soul, than seeing the surprised and loving looks on his sons\u2019 faces when he rode into the yard. That, and sharing one of Hop Sing\u2019s hearty breakfasts with them.\u00a0 Most likely Little Joe wouldn\u2019t be out of bed yet.\u00a0 That boy could sleep!\u00a0 Of course, Joseph\u2019s more than healthy sleeping habits were due to the fact that the child expended more energy in an hour than the rest of them did in an entire day!<\/p>\n

As they rounded the corner of the barn Buck snorted with what he could only describe as relief.\u00a0 The older man felt it too.\u00a0 But he felt something else. \u00a0\u00a0Something….<\/p>\n

Wrong.<\/p>\n

As he dismounted, the rancher\u2019s gaze went once again to the spot where his beloved wife had breathed her last.\u00a0 Ben closed his eyes and suppressed a shudder, and then opened them and chided himself for behaving like a superstitious old woman.\u00a0 Leading Buck past the spot to the hitching rail, he wrapped his reins around it, gave his friend a pat, and headed for the house.\u00a0 He was breaking one of his own rules, but he didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

First he\u2019d surprise the boys, and then<\/em> he would take care of his mount.<\/p>\n

Ben had taken no more than ten steps when a sound caused him to turn back toward the barn.\u00a0 Adam was standing in front of it.\u00a0 The boy was dressed for travel and his horse was kitted out for at least a day\u2019s journey.\u00a0 With a smile on his face, the rancher approached his son.<\/p>\n

\u201dYou\u2019re up early,\u201d he said.\u00a0 A glance at Adam\u2019s horse revealed a rifle firmly seated in the leather holster attached to the saddle. \u00a0\u201cAre you going hunting?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam gaped at him as if he were an apparition risen out of the morning mist.\u00a0 His lips were moving, but no sound issued forth.\u00a0 He wet them, swallowed, and tried again.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa?\u00a0 Is it really <\/em>you?\u201d<\/p>\n

A sudden terror gripped the older man\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

There were unspent tears in his son\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, son, what is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

His eldest\u2019s hazel eyes flicked to his saddle before returning to him.\u00a0 Ben frowned and looked again.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen it before but paid no attention \u2013 a small blue and green wool bundle bound with twine and resting on the back jockey.<\/p>\n

It was Little Joe\u2019s winter coat.<\/p>\n

Stepping forward, he gripped the boy\u2019s arm and demanded, perhaps a bit too<\/em> harshly, \u201cWhere is your brother?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam looked like he might be sick. \u00a0He blinked back tears and then reached into his tan coat and drew out a crumpled piece of paper.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so<\/em> sorry, Pa,\u201d he said as he held it out.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019d had to describe that moment to anyone, he would have said he\u2019d heard a clap of thunder.\u00a0 The words written on the paper deafened him.\u00a0 They struck him dumb and rendered him unable to move.\u00a0 He had no idea how long he stood there, staring at the four impossible sentences written so indifferently in ink, before he spoke.<\/p>\n

Finally, he managed to utter, \u201cLittle Joe\u2019s…gone?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam was every bit a man.\u00a0 He\u2019d had<\/em> to be since he was old enough to understand and carry out an order.\u00a0 Ben watched the teenager\u2019s jaw tighten.\u00a0 Then he saw him square his feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my fault, Pa.\u00a0 If anything…\u201d\u00a0 His son paused, cleared his throat, and continued, \u201cI should have seen this coming.<\/p>\n

Ben glanced at the note again.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have your son.\u00a0 Involve the law and the boy dies.\u00a0 Find me and we\u2019ll talk.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018And bring Marie.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

How could anyone have seen this <\/em>coming?<\/p>\n

Obviously whoever had taken Joseph knew nothing of his wife\u2019s death.\u00a0 Or did they?\u00a0 Was the request to \u2018bring Marie\u2019 just a cruel taunt \u2013 a way to tell him his small son was doomed to die?\u00a0 He opened his mouth to demand of Adam how this had happened, and then he realized it didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 It had<\/em> happened.\u00a0 If there was any wrong doing on anyone\u2019s part, there would be time to discover and deal with it later.\u00a0 One look at the boy told him his oldest was already punishing himself enough, whether or not there was any guilt that was actually Adam\u2019s to shoulder.<\/p>\n

At that moment the door behind him opened.\u00a0 Seconds later Ben heard the familiar, chastising voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy you not come in?\u00a0 You need eat quick!\u00a0 Get on road.\u00a0 Find little boy before something happen….\u201d Hop Sing fell silent.\u00a0 His next words carried softly on the rising breeze.\u00a0 \u201cMistah Cartwright.\u00a0 So<\/em> glad to see you.\u00a0 God know you need come home early.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man closed his eyes and sighed.\u00a0 He\u2019d been angry with God about all the delays.\u00a0 He\u2019d thought those damn<\/em> horses were so important.<\/p>\n

They meant nothing now.<\/p>\n

Ben read the note again and then carefully folded it and placed it in his pocket.\u00a0 A moment later he nodded toward Adam\u2019s horse.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were going after him?\u201d<\/p>\n

His eldest\u2019s look was determined. \u201cIt\u2019s what the kidnapper seems to want.\u00a0 \u2018Find me and we\u2019ll talk\u2019<\/em>.\u00a0 Only, I didn\u2019t know what to do about…..\u201d<\/p>\n

Only he didn\u2019t know what to do about Marie.\u00a0 There was no way they could give this man \u2013 whoever he was \u2013 what he demanded.<\/p>\n

And he<\/em> had to be the one to tell him that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m coming with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been riding hard and was tired. \u00a0He was also hungry and filthy, but none of those things mattered.<\/p>\n

Only Joseph<\/em> mattered.<\/p>\n

Adam was eying him and his current state.\u00a0 \u201cPa, why don\u2019t you take a moment to rest and change?\u00a0 I\u2019ll see to Buck.\u201d\u00a0 His son favored him with a wan smile.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing\u2019s going to be really mad if someone<\/em> doesn\u2019t eat his breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019d been about to respond when he realized what Adam had said.\u00a0 A new fear gripped him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss?\u201d he asked, breathless..<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry.\u00a0 Again.\u201d\u00a0 Adam frowned\u00a0 \u201cHoss is at the Devlins.\u00a0 He went to school and wasn\u2019t feeling up to snuff by the time it ended.\u00a0 Mrs. Devlin got hold of him and insisted he go home with them to rest.\u00a0 Said he needed a woman\u2019s touch.\u00a0 He ended up spending the night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thank God. \u00a0At least he knew two<\/em> of his boys were safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cMistah Adam right.\u00a0 You come in and you eat.\u00a0 Hop Sing put out fresh clothes.\u00a0 No more smell like bog.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben rounded on his cook.\u00a0 The Chinese man was serious.<\/p>\n

Still, what did it matter what he smelled like?\u00a0 Joseph had\u00a0 been taken.<\/em><\/p>\n

His five <\/em>year old had been kidnapped!<\/p>\n

The older man shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 We need to go now while the trail is fresh.\u00a0 There\u2019s rain on the way.\u00a0 I rode ahead of it.\u201d\u00a0 He saw Adam blanch.\u00a0 His son knew what that meant.\u00a0 A hard November rain this late in the season would wash away all signs.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m going in the house to get the cash in the safe.\u00a0 Even though he didn\u2019t demand it, we can only pray that whoever took Little Joe is after the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing go get food then.\u00a0 Put in bag,\u201d the cook huffed.\u00a0 \u201cGet some chocolate cookies too.\u00a0 Send with boy\u2019s father so boy not run away when he smells him!\u201d<\/p>\n

The two of them watched Hop Sing depart in silence.\u00a0 For several long uncomfortable minutes they stood there, robbed of action by the full impact of what they were facing.\u00a0 Someone \u2013 a madman who had made an impossible demand they could in no way meet \u2013 had his son.\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s only hope might lay in escape, but the boy was so small and so inexperienced, it was unlikely he could survive a night alone in the wild.<\/p>\n

Finally, Adam stirred. \u00a0He cleared his throat and then asked, \u201cPa, why do you think the kidnapper wants us to bring Marie?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s fingers found the note in his pocket.\u00a0 It made little sense.\u00a0 The only thing he could think of was that the person who took Joseph was the man on William Olin\u2019s poster and that somehow \u2013 somewhere \u2013 there was a connection to Marie.<\/p>\n

He opened his mouth to reply, but it was then he heard it.<\/p>\n

Wagon wheels.<\/p>\n

A moment later the vehicle appeared.\u00a0\u00a0 Ben\u2019s heart lifted when he saw his eleven-year-old son driving it.\u00a0 Beside him sat John Devlin.\u00a0 Hoss made a kissing sound and gracefully brought the team to a halt.\u00a0 As he did, a smile broke out on his broad face.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa! What\u2019re you doin\u2019 home?\u201d\u00a0 the boy asked as he handed the reins to John and then leapt from the wagon and ran toward him.\u00a0 \u201cAin\u2019t you supposed to be in Placerville?\u201d<\/p>\n

When the boy reached him, Ben took him in his arms and hugged him hard \u2013 perhaps a little too<\/em> hard.\u00a0\u00a0 Hoss was a sensitive boy; as sensitive as his Swedish mother had been.\u00a0 Hoss looked at Adam and then those sky blue eyes of his returned to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

John Devlin followed hard on his heels. \u00a0Noting the disheveled state he was in, his friend and neighbor asked, his tone light and jovial, \u201cWhat happened, Ben?\u00a0 Did you decide to take on a mountain and lose?\u201d<\/p>\n

The rancher hesitated.<\/p>\n

John mistook his silence for anger.\u00a0 He pursed his lips and shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cSorry to bring the boy by so early, Ben.\u00a0 It looks like you were just heading out.\u00a0 I was going to take Hoss to school and then bring him over this afternoon, but classes were cancelled.\u00a0 Miss Jones is sick now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, classes were cancelled.\u00a0\u00a0 Anything<\/em> to make this morning more difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all right, John.\u00a0 We were just heading out to…track a cat.\u201d\u00a0 Ben turned back to his middle boy.\u00a0 Hoss was shoulder-high to him, so he barely had to look down.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing has breakfast ready, Hoss.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you go inside and get something to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n

The inevitable question followed. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cIs Little Joe awake yet?\u00a0 \u2019Cause if he ain\u2019t, I can go up and get him.\u201d<\/p>\n

John had sensed something.\u00a0 His tone was tense.\u00a0 \u201cBen?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPa.\u00a0 I think you should tell them,\u201d Adam said softly.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me what?\u201d Hoss demanded, his tone bordering on insolent. \u00a0\u201cWhat is it I don\u2019t know?\u201d\u00a0 Then, as it had since the moment Joseph drew breath, the inner compass Inger\u2019s son had regarding his baby brother pointed the way to trouble.\u00a0 \u201cSomething\u2019s happened to Little Joe, ain\u2019t it?\u201d Hoss caught his arm in a fierce grip. \u201cPa?\u00a0 What ain\u2019t you tellin\u2019 me?\u00a0 Is he hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben drew a deep breath.\u00a0 The truth came out in words almost too painful to utter.\u00a0 \u201cYour\u00a0 brother is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMissin\u2019?\u201d Hoss turned on Adam; his tone accusatory.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHow come you didn\u2019t watch him?\u00a0 I bet he was makin\u2019 you mad.\u00a0 How come you done lost<\/em> him, Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss,\u201d the rancher cautioned, \u201cplacing blame won\u2019t help us find your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long has the boy been gone?\u201d John asked quietly.<\/p>\n

It took a moment for Ben to realize he had no answer.\u00a0 He turned to his son.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d<\/p>\n

His older boy stumbled on his words.\u00a0 \u201cI checked on him….\u00a0 I mean, I went into Joe\u2019s room a little after midnight.\u00a0 He was…gone by 3:00.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five hours.\u00a0 Almost six now.<\/p>\n

Hoss was tugging on his coat.\u00a0 His son\u2019s eyes were bright; his tone eager.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cPa!\u00a0 We gotta go after him!\u00a0 Now!\u00a0 I can track him!\u00a0 You know<\/em> I can, Pa.\u00a0 I\u2019m better than any of the hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben shook his head. \u00a0\u201cNo, son, you\u2019ve been sick.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want you \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fit as a fiddle!\u201d the boy declared, setting both his lower lip and his large feet.\u00a0 \u201cI ain\u2019t stayin\u2019 behind.\u00a0 Little Joe needs<\/em> me!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll do as I say,\u201d he stated flatly.<\/p>\n

Hoss did something unusual then.\u00a0 He went toe to toe with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeggin\u2019 your pardon, but I won\u2019t, sir!\u00a0 You\u2019ll have to tie me to the bedpost to keep me from followin\u2019 you. \u00a0Pa….\u201d\u00a0 Tears entered his son\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s Little Joe<\/em>.\u00a0 I gotta….\u201d\u00a0 The boy drew a steadying breath.\u00a0 \u201cI just gotta<\/em> go!\u201d<\/p>\n

The rancher ran a hand over his stubbled cheeks.\u00a0 He should have been used to it by now \u2013 life turning before the ink was dry.<\/p>\n

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

It was John Devlin. \u00a0\u201cWhat is it, John?\u201d he managed to ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll go into the settlement and let William Olin know.\u00a0 We\u2019ll raise a search party.\u201d\u00a0 His neighbor glanced toward the sky.\u00a0 \u201cIf we have a group of men, we can canvas the area more quickly.\u00a0 That way, hopefully, we\u2019ll find Little Joe before dark.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s fingers brushed his pocket.\u00a0 He glanced at Adam and then back to Hoss. \u00a0These were the moments when innocence was lost.<\/p>\n

And there was nothing he could do about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWilliam can\u2019t know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pulling the paper from his pocket, Ben handed it to John without a word. The other man read it quickly, and then read it again.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood Lord, Ben!\u201d he remarked.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you going to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam had moved over to stand by Hoss.\u00a0 He had his arm around his brother\u2019s shoulders.\u00a0 Tears streamed down the younger boy\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever has Little Joe, they ain\u2019t… They ain\u2019t gonna hurt him?\u00a0 Are they, Pa?\u201d Hoss pleaded.<\/p>\n

Ben took the dreaded note back from John, pocketed it, and then walked over to his sons.\u00a0 He placed one hand on Adam\u2019s shoulder and the other on Hoss\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost likely it\u2019s money he\u2019s after,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI intend to give the man all I have.\u00a0 If he wants more, then I\u2019ll sell the Ponderosa \u2013 all<\/em> of it if need be.\u201d\u00a0 His fingers dug into both boy\u2019s shoulders to emphasize his words.\u00a0 \u201cThere is nothing more important to me than you boys.\u00a0 Do you hear me? \u00a0Nothing!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

They stood there a moment, linked by flesh, and joined in fear, hope, and determination.\u00a0 Of course, Hoss would come.\u00a0 How could he have thought otherwise?<\/p>\n

They were family \u2013 the four of them.<\/p>\n

And still, so it seemed, was Marie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe wiggled.\u00a0 There were ropes wrapped around his wrists and he didn\u2019t like them.\u00a0 They were scratchy and trying to get them off had made his skin red and raw.\u00a0 Meat was supposed to be red and raw \u2013 at least until it was cooked \u2013 but his skin wasn\u2019t supposed to be.\u00a0 He\u2019d fallen one time and skinned up his knees somethin\u2019 awful\u00a0 and come into the house with them lookin\u2019 like raw meat and everybody had made a fuss over him.\u00a0 The curly-headed boy sniffed and fought back tears.\u00a0 He really<\/em> wanted somebody to make a fuss over him now, but there was nobody to do it but the man who worked for his pa who had lied to him.\u00a0 At first, it had been fun.\u00a0 He\u2019d heard a knock on his window.\u00a0 Hoss\u2019 friends did that sometimes \u2013 comin\u2019 to his window or his brother\u2019s \u2013 so he wasn\u2019t afraid.\u00a0 When he went to see who it was, Pa\u2019s hand was there, smilin\u2019 at him.\u00a0 Gabe was the one who kept him fallin\u2019 in the mud puddle before church and helped to clean up after the party, so when he asked to come in he figured it was all right.\u00a0 Pa trusted him, so why shouldn\u2019t he?\u00a0 Gabe climbed right in the window, just like he was comin\u2019 through the door, and told\u00a0 how he thought Adam was bein\u2019 mean because he wouldn\u2019t let him go take care of Hoss like he\u2019d promised the doctor.\u00a0 Gabe told him if he would come with him, he would take him to Hoss but, when he did and they got to the ground, he grabbed him and put a cloth in his mouth and threw him on the saddle in front of him and started riding.\u00a0 Joe sniffed back tears.\u00a0 Gabe said he was his friend.\u00a0 He was no<\/em> friend!\u00a0 He was a bad man.\u00a0 And since Gabe was<\/em> a bad man, he supposed he didn\u2019t care about how much the ropes hurt or how much they made his wrists look like raw meat.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, he wouldn\u2019t have tied him up in the first place!<\/p>\n

Joe looked down.\u00a0 There were ropes around his legs too, so he couldn\u2019t run, but his legs weren\u2019t raw.\u00a0 His twill pants were a whole lot thicker than his cotton shirt.\u00a0 And he had boots on too.\u00a0 He\u2019d dressed up good, only he was in a hurry \u2018cause he was afraid he\u2019d get caught and he forgot his coat, which was really stupid \u2018cause it was rainin\u2019 and he was cold.\u00a0 He knew he shouldn\u2019t have gone with Gabe.\u00a0 Pa was sure gonna be mad!\u00a0 But he\u2019d gone with Gabe because he seemed to be the only<\/em> one who understood that he\u2019d promised Doctor Martin that he would look out for Hoss and he couldn\u2019t do that if he wasn\u2019t the same place Hoss was. \u00a0The little boy bit his lip as he looked around, first at the bad man sittin\u2019 by the fire eatin\u2019 beans and talkin\u2019 to himself, and then at the big red rocks rising above him that were turnin\u2019 dark brown with the rain.<\/p>\n

If he\u2019d of known he was goin\u2019 to end up in the desert at night, he would have thought things through better. \u00a0\u00a0Now, here he was, stuck smack in the middle of it with a bad man, without his coat, shivering and shaking and hungry and tired, and he knew he should be a man and be able to look out for himself just like his brothers, but….<\/p>\n

He wanted his pa.<\/p>\n

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

Maybe, he thought, \u00a0if he yelled really loud Pa would hear him all the way over there in Placerville.\u00a0 Adam would say it was stupid to think that, but it just might work.\u00a0 But, he couldn\u2019t yell.\u00a0 The bad man had pulled a red bandana through his teeth and tied it behind his head, twistin\u2019 some of the curls in with the knot so they pulled every time he shifted and made his eyes water. \u00a0That was why he was cryin\u2019.\u00a0 Not \u2018cause he was afraid. \u00a0He wasn\u2019t afraid.\u00a0\u00a0 Cartwrights didn\u2019t get<\/em> afraid.\u00a0 Everyone knew that. \u00a0Everyone knew not to mess with the Cartwrights. \u00a0He\u2019d heard Adam say once that their Pa was made of iron and that he\u2019d hammer anyone who ever tried to take anything that was his.<\/p>\n

He <\/em>was his.<\/p>\n

He sure wanted Pa to hammer the bad man so he could go home.<\/p>\n

He sure<\/em> wanted to go home.<\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

Joe bit his lip.\u00a0 Hard.<\/p>\n

I…will…not…cry.<\/em><\/p>\n

I will not….<\/em><\/p>\n

Joe flinched as Gabe stood up abruptly and tossed the remainder of his beans into the brush.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t offered him any.\u00a0 That was okay. \u00a0He didn\u2019t think he could have kept them down and throwing up wasn\u2019t something he liked to do.\u00a0 Besides, the bad man might think if he threw up that he was afraid and he wasn\u2019t<\/em> afraid.<\/p>\n

A sound made him look up.\u00a0 He drew in a breath and held it as his eyes went from the man\u2019s brown boots to his brown pants, and on up to his brown shirt and hair.<\/p>\n

Joe swallowed hard.\u00a0 Pa was gonna tan him for sure when he got home, \u2018 cause he sure<\/em> was a liar.<\/p>\n

He was afraid.<\/p>\n

Very<\/em> afraid.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They\u2019d left home as soon as they could, which put them on the road mid-morning.\u00a0 It was mid-afternoon now and they\u2019d stopped to take some nourishment before moving on.\u00a0 Ben glanced at the two sons he had with him who sat near the small fire they had kindled.\u00a0 Hoss was pushing beans around on his plate while Adam sat, his food untouched, staring into the distance.\u00a0 His eldest\u2019s son\u2019s thoughts were his own, but he knew what they were.<\/p>\n

Adam was carrying the weight of the world on his young shoulders.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d forced himself to eat, though it had been about all he could do.\u00a0 Fear for his young son gnawed at his gut.\u00a0 It bothered him immensely that no demand had been made for money. He\u2019d brought the $5000 with him in his saddlebags anyway, but he feared this man was after something else \u2013 something less…concrete.\u00a0 He kicked himself now for not paying more attention to William Olin\u2019s warning.\u00a0 The only thing that made any sense was that this man \u2013 whoever he was \u2013 had some connection to New Orleans and to his dead wife.<\/p>\n

Ben ran a trembling hand over his eyes.\u00a0 He could hear Marie, chiding him for being away from home when it happened, and pleading with him to find and save their son.<\/p>\n

After placing his plate on the ground beside his muddy boot, Ben reached into his pocket and drew out the wanted poster.\u00a0 He\u2019d pocketed it before they left, thinking somehow it might help.\u00a0 He stared at the sketch for the hundredth time, searching the poor rendition of the more than ordinary face.\u00a0 Sadly, it could have been anyone.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s grip tightened on the worn paper.\u00a0 In a way, that fact made it worse<\/em>; realizing that someone so commonplace \u2013 someone you wouldn\u2019t have given a second thought \u2013 could be capable of such an abominable act as snatching a small boy from his bed for God only knew what nefarious purpose.\u00a0\u00a0 His hands shaking, the rancher returned the poster to his pocket and drew out note Adam had found pinned to their door.<\/p>\n

\u2018I have your son.\u00a0 No law or the boy dies.\u00a0 Find me and we\u2019ll talk. \u00a0And bring Marie.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

What did that mean?\u00a0 \u00a0\u2018Bring Marie\u2019? \u00a0Why?\u00a0 Ben closed his eyes, trying to imagine the flesh and blood man represented in the sketch on the wanted poster.\u00a0 Plain.\u00a0 Nondescript.\u00a0 Someone you wouldn\u2019t notice unless they knocked you down.\u00a0 Brown hair, brown boots, tanned skin; a brown suit.<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s eyes flashed open.\u00a0 \u201cGood Lord!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa, you ain\u2019t supposed to take the Lord\u2019s name in vain,\u201d Hoss cautioned softly as he looked up from his half-eaten meal.<\/p>\n

Adam unfolded his long legs and came to his side.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is it, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

He drew the poster from his pocket again.\u00a0 With a quaking finger, he pointed at it.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThis man.\u00a0 I hired him about a week back.\u201d<\/p>\n

His son frowned.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u00a0 His name is Gabriel Eagle.\u201d\u00a0 He looked at his son.\u00a0 \u201cYou might not have met him. \u00a0I sent him up to one of the camps first thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s frown had deepened into a scowl.\u00a0 He held out his hand.\u00a0 Ben surrendered the poster and watched as his eldest son assessed the criminal\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mud puddle hero,\u201d he murmured.<\/p>\n

\u201cMud puddle hero?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam went to Hoss and handed him the poster.\u00a0 \u201cDo you see it?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

Hoss scrunched up his nose.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben was lost.\u00a0 <\/em>\u201cMaybe what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry, Pa,\u201d Adam said. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m not being deliberately vague. \u00a0I just don\u2019t want to make a mistake.\u201d When he continued to glower, the teenager went on.\u00a0 \u201cSunday after church Hoss and Little Joe and I stayed behind to help Maddie clean up from the dance.\u00a0 A couple of men joined us.\u00a0 One of them said he was a new hand.\u00a0 His name was Gabe.\u00a0 He caught Little Joe before the service.\u00a0 Saved him from stumbling into a mud puddle.\u00a0 And then I saw him talking to Joe at the hall.\u201d\u00a0 He gestured toward the sketch.\u00a0 \u201cIf this is<\/em> Gabe, it means he was watching Joe even then.\u00a0 Planning to….\u201d<\/p>\n

He had hired this man and let him into his son\u2019s life.\u00a0 It would never have occurred to him that Gabriel Eagle \u2013 or anyone \u2013 would have hired on at the Ponderosa with sinister intent.\u00a0 Little Joe would have instinctively trusted him since…since the little boy knew his Pa had trusted the man enough to hire him.<\/p>\n

Ben felt sick.<\/p>\n

It was because of him<\/em> that Gabriel Eagle had been able to come close enough \u2013 to learn enough about their lives and their movements \u2013\u00a0 to find a perfect window of opportunity to snatch his youngest son.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa, you can\u2019t blame yourself,\u201d Adam said softly.<\/p>\n

His eldest knew him too<\/em> well.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I can.\u00a0 And I do!<\/em>\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe I was taken in by this…criminal!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPa, you\u2019re a good man. You tend to think other men are good too.\u201d\u00a0 His son sighed.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s not a bad thing.\u00a0 A man grows hard if he fears all the time.\u00a0 Pa.\u00a0 Let it go.\u00a0 What\u2019s important right now is to find Little Joe and do whatever it takes to get him away from that madman.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took a moment, but he nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re right, son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s another thing, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking…. It seems, well, like you said, I don\u2019t think this man took Little Joe for the money.\u00a0 After all, there was only one demand \u2013 that we \u2018bring Marie\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 When he said nothing, Adam went on.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think you could <\/em>have known him from before?\u201d Adam hesitated. \u201cOr maybe Marie did?\u00a0 Maybe he\u2019s holding something against her and he took Little Joe to get back at her, or to make her pay attention?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben felt a tug on his sleeve.\u00a0 He looked down.\u00a0 He had forgotten about Hoss.<\/p>\n

The boy had tears in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is Adam sayin\u2019 about mama?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes.<\/p>\n

What about Marie?<\/p>\n

His third wife had been a devastatingly beautiful woman.\u00a0 She had been generous, loving, spirited, and every bit as willful as her child.\u00a0 And like her child, when young, she had been prone to believe in people; to open herself up to them.\u00a0 If they returned that love, they would never have a truer friend.\u00a0 If they did not \u2013 if they wounded her or someone she cared about \u2013 they became the enemy.\u00a0 There had been many men in Marie\u2019s life before he married her.\u00a0 In the time he was in New Orleans, he had encountered at least a dozen.\u00a0 They were drawn to her like moths to flame and spent their time vying for her attention.\u00a0 Could Gabriel Eagle have been among them?<\/p>\n

And if he had been, dear God in Heaven, what did he want with Marie\u2019s son?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When they got far enough into the desert, the bad man took the gag out of Joe\u2019s mouth and offered him some water.\u00a0 He wanted to spit it back in his face but he was too thirsty, so he drank it and just thought about what kind of fun it would be to spit.\u00a0 Closing his eyes, the little boy imagined the spit and water mixin\u2019 and drippin\u2019 down the bad man\u2019s cheek until it settled in his brown mustache, makin\u2019 the ends turn down.\u00a0 That made Joe smile at first, but after a second or two it made him think about the bad man frowning.\u00a0 Gabe frowning wasn\u2019t a good thing.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d done that after he caught him when tried to run away.<\/p>\n

It hadn\u2019t been very long ago.\u00a0 He\u2019d begged and begged for the bad man to take the ropes off his feet and let him go pee. \u00a0When he had, he\u2019d taken off faster than a cut cat.\u00a0 He almost made it too, but Gabe had longer legs than he did and even though he had a good start, he couldn\u2019t run fast enough to get away.\u00a0 The bad man picked him up and threw him down at the foot of a big rock and wound the ropes around his ankles again so tight they hurt.\u00a0 Then he frowned.<\/p>\n

And then he hit him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re nothing\u00a0 but trouble, you know that, boy?\u201d Gabe snarled.\u00a0 \u201cWhat am I going to do with you?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was probably stupid, but the bad man had asked.\u00a0 \u201cLet me go?\u201d Joe replied in a small voice.<\/p>\n

Gabe stared at him a moment more and then he shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 I can\u2019t do that.\u00a0 I owe <\/em>her.\u00a0 And Gabriel Eagle is a man who makes good his debts.\u201d\u00a0 Bending down, the bad man placed the canteen against his lips.\u00a0 \u201cNow, drink up, boy.\u00a0 We got us a ways to go and it\u2019s gonna be hot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe didn\u2019t want to take anything from the bad man, but he knew he\u2019d die if he didn\u2019t drink, so he did.\u00a0 He took a long drink of water and held it in his mouth and rolled it around before swallowing, just like Adam had taught him.\u00a0 Gabe wasn\u2019t lying. \u00a0The day was what Hoss called \u2018a scorcher\u2019.\u00a0 The sun was beating down on them and everywhere around them was dry sand and rock.\u00a0 \u00a0In the distance Joe could see that big old bunch of rocks the Indians thought looked like it a stairway goin\u2019 straight up from the earth to Heaven; the one Pa said the Spanish called \u2018Eagles Promontory\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wonder if she\u2019s up there,\u201d he said without knowing it.<\/p>\n

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

Joe bristled.\u00a0 \u201cMy name\u2019s \u2018Joe\u2019. Stop callin\u2019 me \u2018boy\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n

The bad man turned toward him.\u00a0 A sneer lifted the corner of one lip. \u201cYou\u2019re hers, all right.\u00a0 Same eyes, same look \u2013 same mouth.\u00a0 Now, what did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe clamped his lips shut and shook his head.<\/p>\n

The bad man held up the bandana.\u00a0 \u201cIf you aren\u2019t going to talk, I might as well put this back where it belongs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe wet his lips.\u00a0 He\u2019d do just about anything to keep that old dirty red bandana out of his mouth.\u00a0 \u201cI said, \u2018I wonder if she\u2019s up there?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 He nodded toward the ridge. \u00a0\u201cIt looks like I could climb right up to Heaven.\u00a0 I thought…well, maybe…\u201d\u00a0 It was stupid, he knew.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe if I climbed it, I could find her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabe frowned. \u00a0He turned and eyed the cliff.\u00a0 \u00a0When he turned back, the sneer had made it to his brown eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ain\u2019t gonna need no stairway to get to Heaven, boy.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I\u2019m<\/em> here for.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

FOUR<\/p>\n

He\u2019d never forgotten her.\u00a0 How could he?<\/p>\n

All of his life he had been invisible \u2013 a no one with no prospects who did nothing worthy of attention.\u00a0 He\u2019d drifted from job to job and place to place until his late twenties, never making an impression; never staying long, and never leaving anyone behind who cared enough to ask where he was going.\u00a0 No one cared if he drew breath and that was all right with him. \u00a0It gave him freedom, let him get on with things, some of them legal \u2013 most of them not.<\/p>\n

Yes, he\u2019d been quite happy until…<\/p>\n

Until he laid eyes on Marie de Marigny.<\/p>\n

And then \u2013 suddenly \u2013 he felt the need to do something, to be <\/em>someone. \u00a0She was like the candle\u2019s flame, her beauty incandescent.\u00a0 It attracted every male within a hundred square miles.\u00a0 They fluttered around Marie, a bunch of empty-headed Beau Brummels filling the air with vapid, empty words in the hope that she would grace them with a smile.\u00a0 He\u2019d been there too, sitting at a table, leaning on the bar, sending her roses, a glass of champagne, even an unsigned note telling her she was all he dreamed of, but he never approached her.\u00a0 She had to come to him.<\/p>\n

To pay attention to him<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Eagle stared down at the sleeping form of Ben Cartwright\u2019s young son.\u00a0 The boy was huddled up, trying to keep warm; his small shivering body laying just within reach of the weather-hardened toes of his own brown boots.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d pay attention now.<\/p>\n

For a moment he considered toeing the boy to wakefulness, but decided against it.\u00a0 It was early and he wasn\u2019t ready for his mouth.\u00a0 Leaving the brat where he lay, the now more-than-ordinary man stepped out from under the overhang of rock where he had made camp to stare at ridge that lay before him.\u00a0 It was, perhaps, a mile away.\u00a0 Today or tomorrow, they would reach it.\u00a0 Today or tomorrow, he would watch and wait for Ben Cartwright, for Marie to show and then….<\/p>\n

Gabe ran two fingers across his forehead, massaging it.\u00a0 It had confused him \u2013 what the boy said.\u00a0 Just like what that woman in town said at the church.\u00a0 It had almost sounded like Marie was….<\/p>\n

No.<\/p>\n

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

Marie was alive.\u00a0 He knew it because he\u2019d seen her.\u00a0 Everyday <\/em>he\u2019d seen her.\u00a0 When he looked at the ranch house as he passed by on his way to work \u2013 the house Ben Cartwright brought Marie to after he\u2019d stolen her away \u2013 he\u2019d see her in the window, staring out, pleading for someone to rescue her.<\/p>\n

Cartwright might keep her hidden, jealous of his treasure, but he couldn\u2019t stop him from seeing her anymore than he could keep him from setting her free.<\/p>\n

When he found out Marie had left New Orleans, at first, he didn\u2019t know what to do. \u00a0Then, with sudden insight, he did<\/em>. \u00a0He would make something of himself and then he would seek her out and show her what he had become. \u00a0Along the way there\u2019d been a few mistakes.\u00a0 How was he to know that woman in Kansas hadn\u2019t been Marie? \u00a0\u00a0She\u2019d looked just like her.\u00a0 He\u2019d caught hold of her as she left the Palace and dragged her into a back alley.<\/p>\n

When she\u2019d refused him, well….<\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t served time for it.\u00a0 The judge understood.\u00a0 He\u2019d nodded at him as he sent him to a place where there were nurses instead of deputies.<\/p>\n

A place that was easy to escape.<\/p>\n

After that he went from town to town, searching, listening, learning, until he found out where Ben Cartwright had taken her.\u00a0 He found out too that Marie had a child.\u00a0 The boy was a problem.\u00a0 He bound her to Ben Cartwright.\u00a0 But that didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 He\u2019d thought of a way to take care of both the boy and his father at once.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Eagle turned and looked at the sleeping child.<\/p>\n

Marie would go with him, once there was nothing to hold her here <\/em>anymore.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

John Devlin and the men he\u2019d raised for a search party caught up to them as the new day dawned.\u00a0 Roy Coffee was among them \u2013 as a friend and concerned citizen, he assured him, and not in any connection with William or the law.\u00a0 Paul Martin was there too, his doctor\u2019s bag in hand.\u00a0 While that reassured him, it frightened him as well.<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s dark eyes narrowed as they canvassed the barren land before him.\u00a0 If the truth be known, it frightened him just to have the others in the area.\u00a0 There was no way of knowing how Gabriel Eagle would react to their presence.\u00a0 He\u2019d discussed it with John and Roy and in the end they\u2019d sent about half the search party back home.\u00a0 The remaining half-dozen men promised they would keep a low profile. \u00a0The ones who remained were good<\/em> men.\u00a0 He knew them all. \u00a0They were homesteaders and ranchers like him, men with wives they loved and children they cherished.<\/p>\n

They knew one wrong move could cost Joseph his life.<\/p>\n

Paul Martin was among the men who remained.\u00a0 He set out with Roy Coffee.\u00a0 The rest chose partners and then did the same while Hoss and Adam stayed with him.\u00a0 The rain had come as he anticipated but \u2013 thank God! \u2013 had been a gentle one that left most of Eagle\u2019s tracks intact. \u00a0Roy had insisted they split up and search the area regardless.\u00a0 The kidnapper could have laid a false trail, he said.\u00a0 He\u2019d agreed.\u00a0 With Joseph\u2019s life at stake, he wasn\u2019t about to take any chances.\u00a0 His friends left about dawn to begin their search, moving a mile or so out and then returning in an ever-tightening circle.\u00a0 Their chosen rendezvous for later that night was the large outcropping of rock the Indians called God\u2019s Stair.<\/em><\/p>\n

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

Ben started and turned.\u00a0 He\u2019d become lost in thought.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is it, Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n

His son hesitated.\u00a0 There was something in his eyes.\u00a0 Pain, yes.\u00a0 Guilt.\u00a0 Perhaps even grief.\u00a0\u00a0 But there was something more.<\/p>\n

Adam was crushed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried, Pa, but I\u2019m not….\u201d The teenager drew in a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not…you<\/em>, Pa.\u00a0 Hoss needs you.\u00a0 He\u2019s taking this really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss.<\/p>\n

Dear Lord, he\u2019d hadn\u2019t given the boy a thought for hours.<\/p>\n

Ten long strides took him to his son\u2019s side.\u00a0 Looking at Hoss sitting there, huddled up, with his back \u00a0against a broad stone, he realized how very young he was.\u00a0 Even he forgot sometimes just how<\/em> young.\u00a0 Hoss was often mistaken by strangers for someone well into their teens.\u00a0 In truth, Inger\u2019s son was barely more than a baby himself.<\/p>\n

That truth became all the more apparent when his son lifted his tear-filled eyes and wailed., \u201cLittle Joe\u2019s gonna die, ain\u2019t he Pa?\u00a0 Just like Ma!\u201d<\/p>\n

It was harder, in a way, to comfort this gentle soul than his other sons.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t take Hoss on his lap as he had Adam, as he did Little Joe, or wrap him in his arms in such a way as to shut out the world.\u00a0 Joseph, when frightened, could bury his head in his shirt and be swallowed up in safety.\u00a0 Hoss, on the other hand \u2013 though still a child \u2013 could only be comforted as a man, with an arm around his shoulder or a simple hug.<\/p>\n

Dropping to the ground beside him, Ben did just that. \u00a0He circled his son\u2019s broad shoulders with his arm.\u00a0 Hoss leaned into him and for a moment the two of them just sat there, lost in their mutual sorrow.<\/p>\n

When he had composed himself, Ben spoke softly.\u00a0 \u201cI promise, son, I will do everything I can to find and rescue your brother and bring him home.\u00a0 Once we find this man and know what he wants \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 head came up.\u00a0 \u201cBut we know what he wants, Pa, and we can\u2019t give it to him!\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019m afeared somethin\u2019 awful<\/em> will happen to Little Joe.\u00a0 There weren\u2019t no way we could bring Ma!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know, son.\u00a0 I\u2019ll just have to explain that to him.\u00a0 Once Gabriel knows your mother is no longer with us, he\u2019ll understand.\u00a0 He\u2019ll have<\/em> to understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 reddish-brown brows drew together and his lips pursed as if he was pouting. \u00a0You could almost see the wheels turning behind his crystal blue eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSir, I don\u2019t mean no disrespect,\u201d his young son began, his tone daring, \u201cbut it seems to me a man who can steal a baby boy ain\u2019t a man who\u2019s gonna understand nothin\u2019, or be nice if he don\u2019t get his way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben drew in a breath and held it a moment before releasing it.\u00a0 The words were hollow, but they were ones his son needed to hear.\u00a0 Maybe ones he<\/em> needed to hear as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, Hoss, there is only one thing we can do for your brother that is certain.\u00a0 You know what that is, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n

It took the boy a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYou mean pray?\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man nodded.\u00a0 The words were forced, but even in his despair he knew them to be true.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u00a0 We must ask God to keep your brother safe until we can find him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna be honest, Pa.\u00a0 I just don\u2019t know if I can do that,\u201d Hoss said softly as tears trailed down his cheeks.<\/p>\n

Ben glanced at Adam who lingered nearby.\u00a0 The boy shrugged his shoulders, as much at a loss as he was.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd why is that, son?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPrayin\u2019 didn\u2019t do no good for Mama, and I\u2019m figurin\u2019 it ain\u2019t gonna do no good for Little Joe neither.\u00a0 God\u2019s gonna do what He\u2019s gonna do.\u201d\u00a0 His young son\u2019s look was defiant.\u00a0 \u201cAin\u2019t that what you\u2019re always telling us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Silence reigned as Ben found himself at a loss for words.\u00a0 God is sovereign<\/em>.\u00a0 The words had been drilled into him from the time he could remember.\u00a0 He remembered as well after Marie\u2019s death how he had come to rebel against his king.<\/p>\n

Was still <\/em>rebelling against his king.<\/p>\n

In the end, it was Adam who spoke into the silence.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss,\u201d the teenager said as he knelt in front of his brother, \u201cmaybe I can explain.\u00a0 You see, prayers are always answered.\u00a0 Always.<\/em>\u00a0 It\u2019s just that, sometimes, the answer isn\u2019t the one we want.\u00a0 Or maybe it is, but we just can\u2019t see it at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 lip was thrust out.\u00a0 \u201cHow is Mama dyin\u2019 an answer I would have wanted?\u201d he countered.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying it is. \u00a0What I\u2019m saying is….\u201d\u00a0 Adam paused.\u00a0 His son turned and looked at him, and then his hazel eyes returned to his brother.\u00a0 \u201cPa knows all kinds of things we don\u2019t, right?\u201d\u00a0 He waited, and when Hoss nodded he went on.\u00a0 \u201cSo if you ask Pa for something and he says \u2018no\u2019, you trust him that it\u2019s for your good.\u00a0\u00a0 Don\u2019t you?\u00a0 Even if you don\u2019t<\/em> understand or agree?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss slowly nodded.\u00a0 \u201cLike when Pa told me to let that little bear cub go even though it was hurtin\u2019, \u2018cause he knew its mama was around somewhere and I might get hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam smiled.\u00a0 \u201cExactly.\u00a0 You see, Hoss, God is a father too.\u00a0 He\u2019s my father and yours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Little Joe\u2019s?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd <\/em>Little Joe\u2019s.\u201d\u00a0 Adam glanced at him again before going on. \u00a0\u201cAnd…even Pa\u2019s.\u00a0 God promises\u00a0 in His Word that all things work together for the good of those who love Him and keep His commandments.\u00a0 He promises<\/em> to listen when we pray, and you and I know God always keeps His promises.\u00a0 And like I said, He listens to every<\/em> prayer, Hoss.\u00a0 So, we just have to trust that what He decides \u2013 whether it is \u2018yes\u2019 or \u2018no\u2019 \u2013 that it\u2019s for the best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben reached up to strike a tear away from his eye.<\/p>\n

Out of the mouths of babes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, boy.\u00a0 Get a move on it!\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Joe swallowed hard.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want to \u2018get a move on it\u2019.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t even want to move<\/em>.\u00a0 He wanted to stay right where he was forever.\u00a0 Joe sucked in air and glanced down to his side and instantly regretted it as the world began to spin. \u00a0Gripping the jagged rocks in front of him with white-knuckled terror, he whimpered, \u201cBut I don\u2019t want to go any higher.\u00a0 We\u2019re too high now!\u00a0 Please<\/em> don\u2019t make me.\u201d<\/p>\n

At first he\u2019d thought they were just going to go a little ways up the ridge, but every time he thought they were going to stop, the bad men would nudge him with the barrel of his pistol and tell him to keep climbing.\u00a0 They were twenty or thirty feet off the ground already and every time he forgot and looked down, he felt like he was gonna fly right off the side and crash to the rocks below.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that much farther, kid,\u201d the bad man growled, pushing him again.\u00a0 \u201cI have a nice little nest up there, all ready for you.\u00a0 Once we reach it, you can rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nest?<\/p>\n

Like the eagles had?<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s jaw tightened as he looked up.\u00a0 The only place to stop was a ledge.\u00a0 It was a long way up, almost to the sky.\u00a0 He blinked back tears as the hot metal nudged his back again.\u00a0 If that bad man did that to him one <\/em>more time he was gonna do one thing or the other \u2013 cry or get really mad!<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 I\u2019m not goin\u2019 up any higher,\u201d he said, shaking his head and digging his fingers in deeper into the rock.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you can\u2019t make me!\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a moment of silence.\u00a0 Then the man said, his voice still as the calm before a storm.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, boy, you might be right.\u00a0 But there\u2019s something I can<\/em> do.\u00a0 I can pick you up and toss you over the side of this here mountain right<\/em> now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He should\u2019ve kept his mouth shut.\u00a0 He knew it.\u00a0 But he was tired \u2013 really<\/em> tired \u2013 and sore and hungry and he\u2019d just about had enough!<\/p>\n

Joe flung a look over his shoulder at the man.\u00a0 \u201cYou go ahead and do that then!\u201d he almost yelled.\u00a0 \u201cSeems to me that whatever you took me for in the first place ain\u2019t so important if you can just up and kill me!\u00a0 And if that\u2019s so, why don\u2019t you just let me go home?!\u201d\u00a0 He was kind of pleading there at the end.\u00a0 Dang it!\u00a0 Joe sniffed and set his jaw and glared at the man, hoping he hadn\u2019t noticed, finishing with, \u201cYou\u2019re pretty stupid if you think my Pa ain\u2019t gonna find us!\u201d<\/p>\n

The bad man was staring at him.\u00a0 He looked…amused.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you aren\u2019t the spittin\u2019 image of her,\u201d he said with a shake of his head, and then added sadly, \u201cToo bad you\u2019re tainted.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was one of Adam\u2019s ten dollar words, as Hoss liked to put it.\u00a0 The preacher used it sometimes when he was talking about men comin\u2019 out of what he called a \u2018den of iniquity\u2019. \u00a0Whatever that was, it wasn\u2019t good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t tainted!\u201d Joe snapped back, since he was pretty sure he wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Before he knew it, the bad man had hold of him.\u00a0 He pulled his hands off the rocks and twisted him around.\u00a0 Then he grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him up so he had to look into his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re as tainted<\/em> as they come.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got bad blood in your veins.\u00a0 Cartwright <\/em>blood!\u201d\u00a0 The man shook him hard.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re what ties her here.\u00a0 She\u2019ll come looking for you and when she knows you\u2019re dead \u2013 and who did it \u2013 there will be nothing left to hold her here.\u00a0 She\u2019ll leave Ben Cartwright and come with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe swallowed hard.\u00a0 His heels were on the edge of the cliff.\u00a0 For the first time since the bad man had taken him, he thought he might really die.\u00a0 Unbidden, tears coursed down his cheeks.\u00a0 When he spoke, his words shook just like he was.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t…know who you\u2019re…talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou…don\u2019t…know…who….\u201d\u00a0 The bad man made a disgusted noise low in his throat and then pivoted and thrust him forward.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you pretend you don\u2019t<\/em> know who!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, I don\u2019t.\u00a0 Really!\u201d Joe answered as he was forced to move.\u00a0 After a few steps, he turned back with a frown.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t mean my…mama, do you?\u00a0 \u2018Cause if you do, she\u2019s….\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe stopped.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t entirely sure why.\u00a0 There was something \u2013 a voice in his head, maybe the touch of a hand on his cheek \u2013 something he couldn\u2019t explain.\u00a0 It told him that telling the bad man that his mama was dead was not a good idea.<\/p>\n

In fact, it was a really bad<\/em> idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s what?\u201d the bad man snarled.<\/p>\n

Joe stuck his chin out.\u00a0 It felt funny to say it, but it was the truth \u2013 or it would have been if his mama hadn\u2019t fallen off that horse and died.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s…she won\u2019t have nothin\u2019 to do with you!\u00a0 My mama wouldn\u2019t never leave my Pa, no matter what you do!\u201d<\/p>\n

The bad man caught his shirt in his fingers again and drew him in close.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe will, once she realizes that Ben Cartwright is the one who killed you.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adam caught hold of his coat with his hand and pulled the collar up tighter about his neck.\u00a0 Night was upon them.\u00a0 They had made camp, Hoss was already asleep and the air was growing chill.\u00a0 Earlier there had been a spit of moisture that promised either a cold rain or maybe gave a hint of snow.\u00a0 The teenager\u2019s hazel eyes narrowed as he capped the canteen and hooked it back on his saddle, thinking of his little brother out in this without a coat, shivering \u2013 maybe freezing to death.<\/p>\n

When they found the man that took Little Joe, he was going to kill him.<\/p>\n

Plain and simple.<\/p>\n

Kill him.<\/p>\n

How could anyone steal a five-year-old child from his own room to use him as some sort of bargaining chip?\u00a0 \u2018Find me and we\u2019ll talk<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Talk?\u00a0 About what?\u00a0 There was nothing to<\/em> talk about.\u00a0 There was only a demand.<\/p>\n

Give my brother back!\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

And why the Devil did Joe\u2019s kidnapper insist they bring Marie?\u00a0 If the man knew Marie, he would certainly know that \u2013 if alive \u2013 she would have been out for his blood!\u00a0 Adam kept telling himself that there had to be some kind of logic to the man\u2019s actions, but the more he thought about it, the more it seemed they were dealing with some sort of madman.\u00a0 That fact did not bode well for Little Joe.\u00a0 What would Gabriel Eagle do to Joe when he found out that they didn\u2019t \u2018bring Marie\u2019?<\/p>\n

That they couldn\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n

A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his reverie.\u00a0 Adam turned to find his father standing behind him.\u00a0 Pa looked haggard and nearly at the end of his tether.\u00a0 Over the last few hours he had been aware of an edginess; a growing tension in the older man.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, he was pretty sure he knew the reason.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa, this is not your fault. \u00a0If it\u2019s anyone\u2019s, it\u2019s mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those dark eyes pinned him.\u00a0 \u201cYou are not to think that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, but you are?\u201d<\/em> he snapped.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m the one who was supposed to be watching Little Joe \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a child.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam blinked.\u00a0 \u201cA child?\u00a0 Pa, I\u2019m almost eighteen!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I am almost forty!\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 His father passed a hand over his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, the man was working for me.\u00a0 I hired him!\u00a0 I should have \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat?\u00a0 Been able to read his mind?\u00a0 In God\u2019s name, Pa, why would you have ever suspected that one of the hands you hired would kidnap your son?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou watch your tongue, young man,\u201d his father warned.<\/p>\n

Adam drew a breath and let it out \u2013 very slowly. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Pa.\u00a0 I mean no disrespect to you or<\/em> to God.\u00a0 It\u2019s just….\u00a0 Well, you\u2019re making me mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMad?\u201d<\/p>\n

He paused.\u00a0 This was dangerous territory.\u00a0 \u201cWhat good does it do Little Joe for you to wallow in self-pity?\u201d<\/p>\n

His father bristled.\u00a0 The night had grown cold enough, he was surprised not to see steam come out of his ears.\u00a0 \u201cI am not wallowing in \u2013 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, you are<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 Adam\u2019s voice softened as he repeated it.\u00a0 \u201cYes, you are, Pa.\u00a0\u00a0 Please, tell me, what difference does it make when or how this man took Joe?\u00a0 He took him.\u00a0 We have to concentrate on why<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I don\u2019t know why!\u201d\u00a0 The older man faltered.\u00a0 \u201cI…if…if I knew why<\/em>, maybe I could figure out what to do to keep your brother safe.\u00a0 This has to do with your mother, Adam, but I am afraid, it has more to do with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPa, I think…. Well, it seems to me that Gabe took Joe to force Marie to come to him<\/em>. \u00a0That seems to indicate they didn\u2019t part on friendly terms, otherwise he would have just come calling.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think they parted on any<\/em> terms, Adam.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been thinking hard about it.\u00a0 I am pretty sure I remember him.\u00a0 He was always hanging back, outside the circle of men who openly worshipped Marie.\u00a0 I doubt she even knew he existed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam frowned.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe that\u2019s the problem.\u00a0 Maybe he\u2019s trying to get her to notice him now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd yet, what kind of a madman would kidnap a woman\u2019s son to make her want to be with him?\u00a0 How could Eagle possibly think it would do anything other than make her hate him?\u201d\u00a0 His father almost chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cIf your mother was alive and Little Joe had been taken, Heaven and Earth wouldn\u2019t have stood in her way.\u00a0 She would have found him and the man who took him and….\u201d<\/p>\n

He knew.\u00a0 He knew <\/em>what his father hesitated to say.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe would have killed him.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a moment, the older man nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill you, Pa?\u00a0 Will you<\/em> kill him?\u201d<\/p>\n

His father\u2019s jaw was tight.\u00a0 He looked up.\u00a0 There were tears in his near-black eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI hope it doesn\u2019t come to that, son.\u00a0 I hope, with the other men who are out looking for your brother, that we will be able to come upon Gabriel Eagle unawares and rescue Joseph without violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam waited a heartbeat.\u00a0 \u201cYou didn\u2019t answer my question.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father turned to look into the desert.\u00a0 They had come to the edge of the barren lands where there was little other than dry gorse, predatory animals, and masses of uncaring red rock anchored in sand.\u00a0 They had spoken earlier, acknowledging the fact that they had to pray that Joe was still with his kidnapper.\u00a0 If the tiny boy had tried to escape….<\/p>\n

If Joe took off on his own, there was little chance he would survive.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve killed before,\u201d Pa said at last.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I will again if I have to.\u00a0 If it means your brother\u2019s life….\u00a0 Yes, I will kill Gabriel Eagle and do it with a clean conscience.\u201d\u00a0 The older man paused, and then added quietly, \u201cBut that\u2019s the least of my worries.\u00a0 Adam, son….\u00a0 It\u2019s my greatest fear that we will be too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was his fear too, though now was not the time to admit it.<\/p>\n

Moving to stand beside his father, Adam looked out onto the barren vista that confronted them, his eyes going to the tower of red rock that was slowly fading with the light \u2013 the one the Indians called \u2018God\u2019s Stair\u2019<\/em>, and the Spanish, Eagle\u2019s Promontory<\/em> for the predatory birds that built their nests there.\u00a0 He remained silent a moment and then placed a hand on his father\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you feel her, Pa?\u00a0 I do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He felt his father stiffen.\u00a0 \u201cYour mother?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYes.\u00a0 I think she\u2019s watching out for Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man made a strangled noise.\u00a0 He shook his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember one night, Pa, when I was at the end of my rope.\u00a0 Everything had gone wrong and looked to go even more <\/em>wrong the next day.\u00a0 I was sitting outside the house on the porch table when suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder.\u00a0 It was Marie…Ma.\u00a0 She\u2019d come looking for me.\u00a0 She knew I was upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father stirred and looked at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had that little Bible with her \u2013 the one she brought from New Orleans.\u201d\u00a0 He laughed, remembering the well-worn tome.\u00a0 \u201cIt was about the shabbiest thing I\u2019d ever seen.\u00a0 She sat down in the chair beside me and for the longest time said nothing.\u00a0 Finally she opened her Bible, handed it to me, and pointed to a verse.\u00a0 Then, without a word \u2013 with just those eyes \u2013 she told me to read it out loud.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father was facing him now.\u00a0 \u201cWhat verse was it, son?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsaiah 40:3.\u201d\u00a0 Adam closed his eyes and recited it from memory as he had done on the day of his step-mother\u2019s burial. \u00a0\u201cBut those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.\u00a0 They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.\u201d\u00a0 His fingers tightened on his father\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t want you to lose hope, Pa.\u00a0 Please.\u201d<\/p>\n

His father reached out and cupped his face with his hand.\u00a0 There were tears in the older man\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 \u201cHow can I, with a son like you to remind me?\u00a0 Thank you, Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n

A moment later Pa walked away.\u00a0 After that, Adam stood there for some time, staring at the stars, thinking about his father and all he had endured.\u00a0 As he did, another verse from the Bible came to him.<\/p>\n

His lips trembling, Adam opened them and spoke the words aloud, paraphrasing them a bit from what was written in Samuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this child I pray.\u00a0 Lord give me my petition which I ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep my baby brother safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Little Joe lay, tears streaking his cheeks, his breath coming in short, harsh gasps, curled into a tight ball in the middle of a giant nest of branches and bird feathers.\u00a0 He was shaking from head to foot.\u00a0 Gabe had ordered him to stop as they reached the ledge and when he hadn\u2019t done it fast enough, he\u2019d caught him by the collar, picked him up, and swung him out over the edge.\u00a0 The bad man had held him there while his heart hammered in his chest and his feet dangled over nothing but the night, for so long he was sure he was going to drop him.\u00a0 He\u2019d even shifted his fingers once or twice and let him slip down an inch or two and laughed when he cried.<\/p>\n

Then, suddenly and without warning, he\u2019d swung him back and flung him into the nest where he lay now.<\/p>\n

Gabe was leaning over him, his lips curled up on the ends like he was smiling, only he wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 A while back they\u2019d had a ranch hand that didn\u2019t like taking orders from Adam.\u00a0 The man said Adam was \u2018just a boy\u2019 and he didn\u2019t take no order from boys.\u00a0 He was a great big<\/em> man too \u2013 bigger than Pa.\u00a0 But that didn\u2019t stop Adam.\u00a0 Big brother went right on up to that great big man and told him that he<\/em> was in charge and he could get used to it or get his things and go.\u00a0 That great big man had smiled just like the Gabe was smiling now \u2013<\/p>\n

Right before he tried to break Adam in half.<\/p>\n

Joe shuddered at the memory.\u00a0 He\u2019d been scared Adam would die.\u00a0 But Pa had come out of the house at just the right time and that great big old bully was eatin\u2019 dust before he knew it.<\/p>\n

The curly-headed boy licked his lips and swallowed over his fear.\u00a0 Pa was comin\u2019 for him too, he told himself.\u00a0 Pa would save him like he\u2019d saved Adam.\u00a0 He knew he would.<\/p>\n

He hoped he would.<\/p>\n

He was afraid he wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look scared, kid.\u00a0 Are you scared?\u201d Gabe asked.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s teeth set in his lip.\u00a0 He shook his head.<\/p>\n

Unexpectedly, the bad man reached out and touched his hair, gently, just like Pa did when he was sick.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a lot like her, you know?\u00a0 Same eyes.\u00a0 Same fire in them.\u00a0 Seems a shame.\u00a0 I could almost….\u201d\u00a0 Gabe drew his hand back abruptly, like he\u2019d been burnt.\u00a0 \u201cNo…. \u201c\u00a0 He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 You\u2019re what ties her here and that cord\u2019s got to be cut.\u201d<\/p>\n

The little boy frowned.\u00a0 He really<\/em> wanted to tell Gabe that hurting him wouldn\u2019t make his mama do anything, cause she couldn\u2019t <\/em>do anything since she was dead.\u00a0 But again, something stopped him.\u00a0 Somehow he knew \u2013 even though he was pretty sure the bad man meant to kill him \u2013 that the only<\/em> thing keepin\u2019 him alive right now was the fact that Gabe thought his mama was alive too.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you…hurt me…she\u2019ll hate you,\u201d he forced out between chattering teeth.<\/p>\n

Gabe stared at him a moment longer.\u00a0 Then he stood up and looked at the sky.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019ll get over it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe wrapped his arms around his body, but it didn\u2019t help.\u00a0 He was so cold.\u00a0 And mad.\u00a0 He was really mad.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow come…how come you don\u2019t just kill me now then?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n

For a moment, his kidnapper said nothing.\u00a0 Then, Gabe turned to look at him.\u00a0 There was a funny light in his eyes.\u00a0 The only thing Joe could think of that he had seen like it before was when that rabid dog had come into the yard and tore right up to the chicken coop while he was gatherin\u2019 eggs.\u00a0 Pa\u2019d been close by.\u00a0 He\u2019d yelled for him to stay still while he went into the house to get his rifle.\u00a0 That left him eye to eye with that big old dog.\u00a0 It had a light in its eyes just like Gabe\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Pa\u2019d had to shoot it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt ain\u2019t time yet,\u201d his kidnapper said at last, as he turned away.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t brought\u00a0 Marie.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

FIVE<\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright stirred and walked to the edge of their camp.\u00a0 The new day was breaking.\u00a0 The sun\u2019s fiery rays struck the towering mountain of rock that rose before him painting it a coppery red, even as it turned the sands that circled the high ridge into a river of molten gold.\u00a0 The sight was breath-taking; as sure a reminder of the majesty of God as anything he had seen.\u00a0 Beyond that tower lay the mountains, and beyond them another stretch of land, and then that land gave way to the mysterious sea he had traveled in his youth.<\/p>\n

And somewhere out there, somewhere in those endless miles of land and water, was one little boy.<\/p>\n

His<\/em> little boy.<\/p>\n

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. <\/em><\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright closed his eyes.\u00a0 He drew in a breath and slowly released it.\u00a0 His arms ached for his son, but he had been reminded by Adam that Little Joe had another <\/em>Father who loved that boy even more fiercely than he did.\u00a0 A Heavenly Father who would hold his son safe until he could be found.<\/p>\n

\u201dPa?\u201d<\/p>\n

The rancher opened his eyes.\u00a0 Adam and Hoss had awakened before him and gone looking for their brother\u2019s trail.\u00a0 Young as he was Inger\u2019s boy, with his affinity for the natural world, was already showing signs of being an astute tracker.\u00a0 The pair had found signs of a single horse\u2019s passage.\u00a0 The burden it carried was heavier than normal, though not that<\/em> heavy \u2013 just about right for an average size man carrying a slender five-year-old boy.<\/p>\n

The trail led straight to God\u2019s Stair.<\/em><\/p>\n

They were waiting on him, his boys.\u00a0 He had a choice to make \u2013 proceed alone, go, and take the boys with him, or wait for Roy Coffee and the other men to catch up to them before leaving.\u00a0 The latter would be the wisest choice, even if its only worth was that he would have someone to leave Hoss and maybe Adam with.\u00a0 But deep down inside there was a voice that urged him on \u2013 one that insisted time was running out.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t sure if the voice was his own or God\u2019s, or maybe even, God bless her, Marie\u2019s.\u00a0 He only knew that he had to listen to it.<\/p>\n

That meant taking these two into danger.<\/p>\n

As if reading his mind, Adam said, \u201cWe\u2019ll be fine, Pa.\u00a0 We need to find Little Joe and quickly.\u00a0 Who knows what that….\u201d\u00a0 His eldest son stopped as if just remembering the other<\/em> little brother who stood beside him, wide-eyed and listening to every word.\u00a0 \u201c…who knows what the kid\u2019s thinking? \u00a0He has to be tired and hungry….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd scared,\u201d Hoss added quietly.<\/p>\n

Ben touched his middle boy\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cYour brother knows we\u2019re coming, Hoss.\u00a0 Little Joe knows we would move Heaven and Earth to find him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss turned and looked at the mountain of rock.\u00a0 \u201cAdam thinks that bad man took Joe up there,\u201d he said, pointing.<\/p>\n

Ben looked \u2013 and shuddered.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGabe is headed straight for it, Pa.\u00a0 You know that rock.\u00a0 There are no places to hide at its base, but plenty high up where you could find shelter \u2013 and have a good look-out on the land below.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben stepped past his son and looked again.\u00a0 The ridge was fearsome \u2013 intimidating even to the best of climbers.\u00a0 \u201cBut why?\u00a0 Why would he take your brother all the way…up…there….\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam looked as sick as he felt.<\/p>\n

It seemed impossible that anyone would take the chance of making such a climb with such a small child in tow. \u00a0And yet, the rancher knew it was all too <\/em>possible.\u00a0 His adventures in the world had, like a sword thrust, driven home the truth of the words Cervantes\u2019 Alonso Quixano or Don Quixote had spoken a century before. \u00a0\u2018I’ve lived for over 40 years and I’ve seen life as it is. \u00a0Pain. \u00a0Misery. Cruelty beyond belief…\u2019<\/em>\u00a0 The world they occupied was a fallen one, peopled by fallen creatures whose only desire was to meet their own needs, no matter how spurious.\u00a0 People, like Gabriel Eagle, who would stop at nothing to have their way and who would willingly<\/em> endanger a child to get it.<\/p>\n

And dispose of that child as unwanted refuse if they did not.<\/p>\n

\u2018Bring Marie\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n

His look was as grim as his words.\u00a0 \u201cSaddle up, Adam.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to find your brother and bring him home.\u00a0 No matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam met his gaze and gave him a quick nod.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, Hoss,\u201d the teenager said as he took hold of his younger brother\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u00a0Before they reached their horses, his eldest turned back.\u00a0 \u201cPa?\u00a0 Do you want to leave the camp as it is?\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded.\u00a0 When they found Joseph, they would need somewhere close to bring him where Paul Martin could look the boy over and make certain there was nothing life-threatening.\u00a0 There was no way of telling what shape Little Joe would be in when they found him.\u00a0 Even if \u2013 if<\/em> \u2013 Gabriel Eagle left the boy unharmed, there were a dozen other things to consider such as exposure and a lack of food and water, to say nothing of the boy\u2019s state of mind.\u00a0 Ben ran a hand over his chin, feeling several days stubble prick his fingers.\u00a0 The physician had pulled him aside shortly after his return to the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Paul had tried to be kind, but there was nothing that could take the sting out of the man\u2019s softly spoken words.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019re only beginning to understand the workings of the human mind, Ben.\u00a0 You\u2019ll have to be patient with the boy.\u00a0 Your…absence, following so closely upon his mother\u2019s sudden death, has left Little Joe with a deep-seated fear of being abandoned by those he loves, whether it be by choice or by death.\u00a0 He may test you \u2013 run away, even, to make you show your love by coming after him.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Paul had gripped his arm to drive home his point.<\/p>\n

\u2018Don\u2019t ever fail to do so.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

As Adam and Hoss pulled up alongside him, Ben reached up to strike away a tear away before accepting Buck\u2019s reins from his eldest\u2019s hand.\u00a0 Once mounted, he moved forward with the two boys trailing behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m coming, son,\u201d the rancher promised as he rode toward the fist of red rock God had raised out of the desert sands.\u00a0 \u201cHear me, Little Joe.\u00a0 There is nothing<\/em> on this Earth that will stop me from finding you. \u00a0I swear on your mother\u2019s memory that I will never <\/em>abandon you again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I will<\/em> bring you home.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe fought to lift his eyelids.\u00a0 They were really<\/em> heavy.\u00a0 Maybe they did have sand bags on them like Adam told him when he put him to bed.\u00a0 At least it felt like it.\u00a0 In fact, they were so<\/em> heavy that he might just go..back…to…sleep.<\/p>\n

Except….<\/p>\n

Something was tickling his nose.\u00a0 Joe wiggled it like a bunny and shifted, turning his face to the side, sure that a goose feather had poked out through the linen case that covered his pillow.\u00a0 Only it didn\u2019t do any good. He just ran into another feather.<\/p>\n

And sneezed.<\/p>\n

Hoss must have come in during the night.\u00a0 That was all he could figure.\u00a0 They must of had a pillow fight and he forgot about it somehow.\u00a0 The curly-headed boy frowned as he sniffed back snot and fought another sneeze.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want his Pa to come in and Pa was sure<\/em> to come in if he heard him sneezin\u2019.\u00a0 He\u2019d come in for the sneezes and then he\u2019d see the feathers and then he\u2019d say \u2018Joseph\u2019 in that deep voice of his and\u00a0 shake his head and….<\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019s eyes popped open and he looked around.\u00a0 Yep, he was in trouble.\u00a0 There were feathers everywhere!\u00a0 Some of them were flying in the breeze, but most of them were scattered on the ground around him.\u00a0 He shifted again and went to sit up, but for some reason, he couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 Looking down, he\u00a0 saw that his hands were tied in front of him.\u00a0 The rope binding them ran on down to his ankles and then coiled around his boots like a big brown snake.\u00a0 When he saw a pair of tanned hands tying off the knot, it all came back to him \u2013 the friendly ranch hand at his window, Gabe promising to take him to Hoss, figuring out that the bad man had lied to him and then being brought…here.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t want to, but Joe forced himself to look at the bad man\u2019s face.\u00a0 Gabe\u2019s eyes were masked; hidden in shadow except for a flash every now and then like the glint of sunlight on the barrel of a gun. As he watched, the man who took him reached to the side and then turned toward him with a filthy red bandana in his hand.<\/p>\n

Joe started to squirm.\u00a0 \u201cNo!\u00a0 I don\u2019t want that in my mouth!\u00a0 No!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabe gripped his arm.\u00a0 \u201cListen, kid.\u00a0 For your own good, keep still. \u00a0Real <\/em>still.\u201d<\/p>\n

Something in the bad man\u2019s voice caught his attention.\u00a0 Joe was breathing hard, but he managed to calm himself enough to ask, \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabe\u2019s lips curled with satisfaction, like a fat cat finishing off a fish.\u00a0 \u201cHave you ever set a spring trap?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe blinked.\u00a0 \u201cSet…a strap?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u00a0 A spring trap.\u00a0 To catch a rabbit, or maybe a squirrel?\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, he had.\u00a0 But why was the bad man asking?<\/p>\n

Joe nodded.<\/p>\n

Gabe tilted his head toward the cliff\u2019s edge.\u00a0 \u201cYou see that?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe didn\u2019t want to, but he looked.\u00a0 There was a little sapling near the edge of the rocky shelf that was bent over like an old lady.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t see the top of it because it was hidden by the trunk of a small tree that stuck straight up out of the rock.\u00a0 A thin brown rope, just about the same color as the ground, was tied to the sapling.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t see where the rope came from, but he thought it ended somewhere under him.\u00a0 The other part of the rope was laying on the ground next to the nest he was in.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I see it,\u201d Joe said, showing a little defiance.\u00a0 \u201cSo what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve set traps, kid, you know you have to have bait.\u00a0 Right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019s eyes went from the bad man to the bent over sapling and the rope tied to it, back to his bound hands and feet, and finally to the bandana Gabe held.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo!\u201d he shouted as he began to wiggle, fighting against the ropes, against his fear \u2013 against the awful thing that he knew was going to happen.<\/p>\n

The bad man gripped his arms so hard it hurt.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told you to keep still, kid!\u00a0 You lie still and those ropes\u00a0 stay where they are.\u00a0 You fight \u2013 you try to get out of that nest \u2013 and the trap will spring and sling you right over the side!\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe went still \u2013 very<\/em> still.\u00a0 He\u2019d tried to be brave.\u00a0 He really had.\u00a0 He wanted his Pa and his brothers \u2013 especially Adam to be proud of him.\u00a0 But he just couldn\u2019t do it anymore.\u00a0 Tears streaked down his filthy cheeks as he began to shake.<\/p>\n

\u201cI…want…my Pa,\u201d he said, each word punctuated by a sob.<\/p>\n

The bad man snorted as he pulled the bandana through his teeth and tied it behind his head.\u00a0 He stared at him for several heartbeats and then leaned over and grabbed a blue and red plaid blanket from the ground.\u00a0 Wrapping it around him several times and pulling it up to his chin.\u00a0 Gabe bound his arms and legs tightly before rising and walking to the edge of the rocky shelf where he stood staring out at the desert sands.<\/p>\n

Joe followed his gaze.\u00a0 He could just make out three shapes riding toward them.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what they say, kid,\u201d the bad man said as he turned back to look at him.\u00a0 \u201cBe careful what you wish for.\u00a0 You just might get it.\u201c<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cDo you suppose he\u2019s seen us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam looked at his brother.\u00a0 They rode side by side, trailing a few yards behind their father.\u00a0 Eagles\u2019 Promontory <\/em>loomed before them, a broad expanse of red-brown rock that grew wider and taller with each step they took.\u00a0 If, as he surmised, Gabriel Eagle had <\/em>made hid camp high up on the ridge, Joe\u2019s kidnapper had most certainly seen them and knew they were coming.\u00a0 The question was \u2013 just what <\/em>did he see?\u00a0 It would have been anyone\u2019s guess at a distance as to whether or not one of the approaching riders was a woman.\u00a0 The closer they came, the more apparent it would become that they had not done as requested.\u00a0 That they had not brought Marie.<\/p>\n

What would that mean for Little Joe?<\/p>\n

\u201cI imagine he has,\u201d Adam said, answering Hoss at last.\u00a0 \u201cIt would be kind of hard for him not to with us riding out in the open like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Pa wants<\/em> him to see us?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s lips drew into a knife-thin line.\u00a0 He nodded, but said nothing.<\/p>\n

\u2018There\u2019s no point in hiding, son,\u2019 <\/em>his father had told him.\u00a0 \u2018The only way to get your brother back is to confront this man.\u00a0 I want Eagle to know I\u2019m coming.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

The teenager gnawed at his lip as he corrected his horse, avoiding a rock buried deep in the sand.\u00a0 He had to believe that all was not lost.\u00a0 Gabe couldn\u2019t be certain Marie wasn\u2019t with them.\u00a0 After all, she was a woman and they might have left her \u00a0in the camp for her own protection.\u00a0 In spite of everything, that thought made Adam chuckle.\u00a0 If Joe\u2019s kidnapper really had<\/em> known his step-mother, then he would have been aware that the only way Marie would have stayed in camp with her son in danger was if they had hog-tied her and added a ball and chain.<\/p>\n

\u201cPa ain\u2019t afraid of him, is he?\u201d Hoss asked, his voice ringing with pride.\u00a0 \u201cHe ain\u2019t afraid of Gabe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, he\u2019s not afraid of him,\u201d Adam replied.<\/p>\n

But Pa is afraid of what he\u2019ll do \u2013 or what he\u2019s already done, he thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know what I\u2019m gonna do, Adam?\u00a0 I\u2019m ggonna rush right up to Little Joe when we find him and give him the biggest ol\u2019 bear hug he\u2019s ever had!\u201d Hoss proclaimed.\u00a0 \u201cLittle brother ain\u2019t gonna be able to breathe, I\u2019m gonna squeeze him so tight!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam half-turned toward his middle brother and favored him with an affectionate smile.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019 know,\u201d he said, \u201cI think you\u2019re going to have to move faster than Pa to do that, and I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re fast enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss answered as only a young child completely unaware of the immensity of the situation could.\u00a0 \u201cShucks, Adam, Pa\u2019s old.\u00a0 I could beat him in a race with one leg tied to the other!\u201d<\/p>\n

It felt good to laugh out loud, even if he felt guilty for it.\u00a0 The smile on his lips died a quick death though as his father abruptly reined in his horse.\u00a0 Adam reached over and caught his brother\u2019s reins and brought Hoss\u2019 horse to a quick halt along with his own.<\/p>\n

There was a man walking toward them.\u00a0 An ordinary looking man wearing a brown coat and pants.\u00a0 He moved casually, as if he was taking a Sunday afternoon stroll on a city street.<\/p>\n

It was Gabriel Eagle.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben drew in a sharp breath as he dismounted.\u00a0 He clung to the saddle horn for a moment, steadying himself.\u00a0 It was all he could do to keep from rushing Eagle and taking him by the throat and shaking him until he told him where his child was. \u00a0He had to remind himself that Little Joe\u2019s kidnapper was unsettled.\u00a0 He was a madman with a mind that turned toward games.\u00a0 His young son could be anywhere.\u00a0 Little Joe could be here, or he could be twenty miles away.\u00a0 Every word the man said could be a clue and so he had to let him speak his piece.\u00a0 And then he had to explain.<\/p>\n

He had to explain why he didn\u2019t bring Marie.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d considered lying.\u00a0 He\u2019d considered telling Eagle that Marie was at the Ponderosa and that the only way he would see he was if he<\/em> went to her.\u00a0 But Gabe knew Marie.\u00a0 He was well aware of her fiery, independent nature.\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s kidnapper would know that there was nothing on Earth \u2013 himself included \u2013 that could have stopped her from coming if her child was threatened to plead, to offer herself….<\/p>\n

To offer her life.<\/p>\n

Ben glanced back at his sons.\u00a0 Adam had started to dismount.\u00a0 He shook his head and the boy halted.\u00a0 With his eyes, he indicated Hoss.\u00a0 No words were spoken, but Adam heard them nonetheless.\u00a0 Your younger brother is your responsibility.<\/em><\/p>\n

Joseph is mine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Head erect, spine stiff, Ben walked straight across the sand until he stood directly before the man who had taken his son.\u00a0 He still found it hard to believe.\u00a0 He\u2019d hired this man and then simply forgotten him.\u00a0 If someone had asked him to, he couldn\u2019t have even described him.\u00a0 Gabriel Eagle was just one of a dozen new ranch hands.\u00a0 From this time forward he would never make the same mistake.<\/p>\n

He could only pray that Joseph didn\u2019t pay for his blunder with his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is my son?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n

Eagle didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0 He looked past him, noting Adam and Hoss \u2013 and no one else.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s Marie?\u201d he countered.<\/p>\n

Ben pursed his lips and considered \u2013 as he had a thousand times before \u2013 what reply he should give.\u00a0 In the end, there was only one possible answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriel Eagle\u2019s dull brown eyes fixed him.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re lying,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy<\/em> would I lie?\u00a0 You have my son!\u00a0 Do you think I would do anything<\/em> to jeopardize Joseph\u2019s life?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo keep her?\u00a0 Yes.\u201d\u00a0 The vile man sneered.\u00a0 \u201cYou can always have another son, but there\u2019s only one Marie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s fingers formed into fists.\u00a0 He was a law-abiding man, but if Joseph had been safe in his hands right now, he would have beaten the man to a pulp just to wipe that look off of his face.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obvious you have never had a child,\u201d he countered sharply.<\/p>\n

\u201cShould have been mine,\u201d Little Joe\u2019s kidnapper said.<\/p>\n

Ben blinked.\u00a0 \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe boy.\u00a0 He should have been mine.\u201d\u00a0 Something entered Gabriel Eagle\u2019s eyes then \u2013 something fierce and frightening.\u00a0 \u201cJust like Marie should have been mine.\u00a0 Like she will<\/em> be mine.\u201d\u00a0 He raised a hand and jabbed the air with a finger, punctuating every word.\u00a0 \u201cYou go back and get her or you won\u2019t ever see that brat of yours again, Cartwright!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t<\/em> get her!\u201d Ben shouted, losing his patience.\u00a0 \u201cMarie is dead!\u00a0 She died in a fall from her horse over six months ago!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re lying!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy<\/em> would I lie?\u00a0 For God\u2019s sake, Gabriel, you have my son!\u201d\u00a0 The rancher drew a breath, seeking to calm himself, knowing he had to remain the anchor of reason in this sea of madness.\u00a0 \u201cTell me where he is.\u00a0 Let me have Joseph and you can ride away.\u00a0 I promise I won\u2019t send the law after you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man in brown had grown very still.\u00a0 He was standing with his head down, staring at the ground.\u00a0 When he looked up, Eagle\u2019s dull brown eyes sparked with tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cTell me you\u2019re lying,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n

Ben closed his eyes for a moment and willed himself to set aside the fact that this man had taken his son.\u00a0 He needed to be empathetic, to convince this madman that he understood; that they were, God help him, kindred spirits.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabriel, I wish I could.\u00a0 I would give anything if it was a lie, but it\u2019s not.\u00a0 Marie died…in my arms.\u00a0 She\u2019s gone.\u201d\u00a0 He was pleading, but he didn\u2019t care.\u00a0 \u201cTake me to Joseph.\u00a0 Once I know the boy is safe, we\u2019ll go together back to Virginia City.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t believe me, you can ask anyone there.\u00a0 They\u2019ll tell you.\u00a0 They\u2019ll \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been<\/em> to town.\u00a0 No one ever said anything!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you ask?\u201d\u00a0 As he spoke Ben\u2019s gaze went past the man, sweeping the barren landscape, looking for a sign.\u00a0 Where was Little Joe?\u00a0 Where had this monster hidden him?\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s been half a year.\u00a0 No one is going to bring it up, not unless you ask.\u00a0 Why would they?\u201d<\/p>\n

The color had drained from Eagle\u2019s face.\u00a0 His shoulders slumped forward and he was breathing hard.\u00a0 It was as if the truth was leeching the life out of the man.<\/p>\n

\u201cMarie..,\u201d he breathed, his voice robbed of strength.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s…really dead?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 Yes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow?\u00a0 How…did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t want to say it again \u2013 to see<\/em> it happen again within his mind\u2019s eye \u2013 but he had to keep the man talking.\u00a0 He had<\/em> to get him to tell him where Joseph was.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe came into the yard too fast.\u00a0 Her horse stumbled and she fell.\u00a0 If you….\u00a0 You knew her.\u00a0 You know she could be reckless.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Adam\u2019s voice was soft.\u00a0 Ben looked over his shoulder and saw his son incline his head.\u00a0 In the distance there was a cloud of dust. \u00a0Someone was coming.\u00a0 Most likely Roy and the other men.<\/p>\n

He had no idea what Gabriel Eagle would do once he realized it.<\/p>\n

\u201cGabriel.\u00a0 Gabe.\u00a0 You and I \u2013 we have our love of Marie in common.\u00a0 Little Joe \u2013 Joseph is all that is left of her.\u00a0 She would want you to make certain he was safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eagle\u2019s head came up.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s your <\/em>son.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd<\/em> hers.\u00a0 Don\u2019t forget that.\u00a0 You\u2019ve been with Joseph. \u00a0You know how like Marie he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man in brown snickered.\u00a0 Then he laughed out loud.\u00a0 The sound of it sent chills down Ben\u2019s spine.\u00a0 \u201cYou know what, Cartwright?\u00a0 I was gonna have you<\/em> do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben was at a loss.\u00a0 \u201cDo what?\u201d<\/p>\n

Eagle sneered.\u00a0 \u201cKill the boy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKill…?\u00a0 What do you mean?\u201d\u00a0 Ben had to will himself to remain in place. \u00a0He so wanted to close his fingers around the man\u2019s neck!\u00a0 \u201cYou were going to have me<\/em> kill Joseph?\u00a0 I would never do such a thing!\u201d<\/p>\n

Gabriel was staring off into the distance.\u00a0 \u201cI got it rigged,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cEverything is in place.\u00a0 I was gonna wait here with Marie and then when you found the boy and it happened, I was going to take her away.\u00a0 She\u2019d need comforting, you know, and I\u2019d be here.\u201d\u00a0 His head snapped around like a snake\u2019s.\u00a0 The darkness had overtaken his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019d blame you for the boy\u2019s death and she\u2019d hate you, Cartwright.\u00a0 Like I <\/em>hate you.\u00a0 God damn it, Cartwright!\u00a0 I hate you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Three things happened between one heartbeat and the next; so quickly there was no time to react.\u00a0 Gabriel Eagle pulled a gun from inside his brown coat and pointed it straight at him. \u00a0He heard Adam shout.\u00a0 And a gun went off.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t Eagle\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Even as Adam slid from his horse\u2019s back and ran toward \u00a0him, Ben felt the thunder of hooves beneath his boots.\u00a0 Roy Coffee was reining in his mount.\u00a0 The lawman\u2019s mouth was open. \u00a0He was shouting….\u00a0 Shouting….<\/p>\n

Something.<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t hear it.\u00a0 In fact, he couldn\u2019t hear anything.\u00a0 Everything after that second heartbeat had zeroed in on the inconsequential madman in brown who spun and fell at his feet; the nonentity to whom no one had paid attention, who now had his exclusive <\/em>attention.\u00a0 Everything came down to the ordinary, extraordinary Gabriel Eagle who lay on the sand at the heart of a rapidly expanding circle of blood.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Eagle, the only man on the face of the Earth who knew where his five-year-old son was.<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s touch released Ben from a paralysis of terror.\u00a0 Dropping to his knees beside the dying man, he took hold of the lapels of Eagle\u2019s jacket and lifted his body from the sand.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere is he?\u201d he demanded.\u00a0 \u201cWhere is my son?\u00a0 Where is Little Joe?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Gabriel Eagle looked blank for a moment.\u00a0 Then, even as the blood gurgled from between his lips, he managed a smirk.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsk Marie.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

SIX<\/p>\n

Ben Cartwright was a strong man, but any man could be broken.\u00a0 A full day had passed since that no-good-for-nothin\u2019 Gabriel Eagle had died and Little Joe was still missin\u2019.<\/p>\n

Roy Coffee stared over the rim of his half-empty coffee cup at the rancher where he sat on the far side of the fire, his graying head in his hands.\u00a0 Adam was with him, touching his pa\u2019s shoulder, saying things he couldn\u2019t hear but knew right enough.\u00a0 Ben had said them earlier to that other boy of his, the big one with the soft heart. \u00a0\u2018Bout suppertime that other boy, well, he lost all hope and started bawlin\u2019 like a baby.\u00a0 They\u2019d all walked away so as not to shame him and left his pa and brother to tend to him.\u00a0 Hoss was sleepin\u2019 now.\u00a0 He\u2019d done wore himself out with cryin\u2019.<\/p>\n

His pa weren\u2019t far behind.<\/p>\n

Roy shook his head as he shifted back against the boulder he was leaning against.\u00a0 It pained him to think that what that varmint had said to Ben \u2013 telling him to \u2018ask Marie\u2019 where their son was \u2013 maybe meant the boy was already dead. \u00a0Still, truth to tell, if Little Joe was<\/em> alive and he\u2019d been left all on his lonesome somewhere out here in the desert for nigh onto two days….\u00a0 Well, tied up or on his feet, the boy didn\u2019t stand much of a chance.\u00a0 The odds were if he didn\u2019t die of thirst or from the sun, some animal would get him or, worse, savages.<\/p>\n

Anyway you looked at it, it looked like Ben was set to lose both Marie and her boy and he just wasn\u2019t sure his friend could survive it.<\/p>\n

A sound at his side made him look up.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s oldest, Adam, was standing beside him.\u00a0 The boy looked tired.\u00a0 No, more than tired, plumb wore out.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs there any coffee left?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure thing, son.\u00a0 You sit yourself down and I\u2019ll pour it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy eyed him.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I don\u2019t.\u00a0 I want<\/em> to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam stared at him a moment in that way he had, like it took a thousand equations to make one move. Then he nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks,\u201d he said as he folded his long body up and sat on the ground.<\/p>\n

Roy poured the coffee and handed it to him.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s your pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam blew on the hot liquid and then took a sip.\u00a0 He closed his eye as it trailed down his throat, warming him against the desert chill of night.\u00a0 \u201cAbout like you would imagine,\u201d he replied, his tone short.<\/p>\n

They sat in silence for a minute or two after that.\u00a0 The men were exhausted and to a man had settled in early.\u00a0 They\u2019d spent most of the night before and the entire day today combin\u2019 just about every square inch of sand and scrub near that there pile of rocks the Indians thought God used as a stair \u2013 even goin\u2019 most the way up it \u2013 and found nothin\u2019.<\/p>\n

He, Adam, and Ben were the only ones awake.<\/p>\n

Roy took another sip, then he said, \u201cI cain\u2019t say how sorry I am I had to shoot Eagle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam looked directly at him.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, Roy,\u201d he said.\u00a0 At his sour look added, \u201cI mean it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not your fault that Gabe died without telling Pa where Joe is.\u00a0 And if you hadn\u2019t shot him, well, Pa….\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy nodded.\u00a0 Ben would have been dead.\u00a0 There was no way Eagle could\u2019ve missed at that range.<\/p>\n

Again, silence descended as they continued to sip their coffee.\u00a0 A few minutes into it, Ben got up and moved off into the darkness.\u00a0 Roy shook his head as he watched him go.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just ain\u2019t right,\u201d he sighed.<\/p>\n

Adam had fallen to staring off into the distance again.\u00a0 He stirred and met his gaze.\u00a0 \u201cWhat isn\u2019t right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA man like your pa.\u00a0 I mean, I ain\u2019t met better.\u00a0 It just ain\u2019t right him losin three wives and now….\u201d\u00a0 He stopped just short of sayin\u2019 what they were all afraid to say, \u2018and now losin\u2019 Little Joe too\u2019.\u00a0 \u201cMakes you wonder what the man upstairs is thinkin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s oldest shifted uncomfortably.\u00a0 He sat up and leaned forward.\u00a0 After placing his cup on the ground, Adam locked his hands together and dropped them between his knees.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you ever doubt, Mr. Coffee?\u00a0 I mean, you see the worst of it, working with William Olin like you do, trying to bring some order to the chaos of Eagle Station.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo I doubt God \u2018cause there\u2019s bad in the world?\u201d\u00a0 He shook his head as he too put his cup down and leaned back.\u00a0 \u201cNo, son.\u00a0 I don\u2019t.\u00a0 The Good Book tells us this here world is broken and we can\u2019t expect much but sufferin\u2019 while we\u2019re in it.\u00a0 Now, I ain\u2019t excusin\u2019 them, but most men who go bad have a reason.\u00a0 Most often they done had bad done to them too \u2013 a father who expected too much of them, a ma who ran away and left them \u2013 maybe they was burned out by the Indians and lost everythin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMen have those things happen all the time and it doesn\u2019t turn them into kidnappers and murderers,\u201d Adam countered quickly.<\/p>\n

The boy was soundin\u2019 mighty bitter.\u00a0 Still, he couldn\u2019t blame him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, son, I said I wasn\u2019t excusin\u2019 them.\u00a0 Just tryin\u2019 to understand them.\u201d\u00a0 He paused.\u00a0 \u201cS\u2019posin\u2019 on your way out west, your pa had died.\u00a0 Say you\u2019d been left all alone to fend for yourself \u2013 maybe even had to take care of that little brother of yours \u2013 and \u2018cause of that you fell in with the wrong types.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you\u2019re saying that Gabriel Eagle had something in his background that explains what he did?\u201d\u00a0 Adam snapped.\u00a0 \u201cSomething that explains a grown man taking a five-year-old boy and killing<\/em> him?\u201d<\/p>\n

There it was.\u00a0 He knew he\u2019d have to rile him to get it out.<\/p>\n

Adam paled.\u00a0 He sank back, deflated.\u00a0 A moment later he lifted a trembling hand and passed it through his hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Pa can survive this,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t sure Ben could either, but he was sure as shootin\u2019 gonna make sure Adam did.\u00a0 He knew Little Joe had been taken on his watch and the boy blamed himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cSon, no matter what your pa does \u2013 or what happens to your brother \u2013 you gotta let it go or you<\/em> ain\u2019t gonna survive it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam didn\u2019t look up.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou gotta, boy.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say the worst is true.\u00a0 Let\u2019s say that little brother of yours don\u2019t never come home and your pa breaks.\u201d\u00a0 The teenager had gone rigid as he spoke; his body shouting out the rage he denied.\u00a0 \u201cYou got another brother.\u00a0 Who\u2019s gonna look out for Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam frowned.\u00a0 He cleared his throat, started to speak, stopped, and then finally said, his voice so quiet the words were almost lost on the desert wind.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019m…strong enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy\u2019s heart went out to him.\u00a0 He rose and moved to the other side of the fire to sit beside Adam.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s oldest boy wasn\u2019t one for touchin\u2019 \u2013 not like that young one of his \u2013 but this was one time he felt the boy needed it. \u00a0Wrapping his arm around Adam\u2019s shoulders, he began to talk.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, you ain\u2019t, son. \u00a0None of us are.\u00a0 On our lonesome we\u2019d get lost, and when a man gets lost, he forgets what\u2019s important.\u00a0 He forgets about the people he loves, kind of like your pa did right after your ma died.\u201d\u00a0 Roy felt Adam flinch.\u00a0 He went on.\u00a0 \u201cAnd when\u00a0 a man gets to thinkin\u2019 only about himself and what he don\u2019t have, well, he turns into the kind of man Gabriel Eagle was \u2013 a man willin\u2019 to do whatever it takes to get what he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam was shaking his head.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it\u2019s all been for nothing.\u00a0 Joe…\u201d\u00a0 He choked and fought back tears.\u00a0 \u201cAll for a woman who died not even remembering his name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy squeezed his shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cNow you listen here, Adam.\u00a0 Nothin\u2019s for nothin\u2019.\u00a0 We ain\u2019t privileged to know most times what it\u2019s for.\u00a0 We just gotta trust.\u00a0 Like I said, you can\u2019t do it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the words, Roy.\u00a0 I\u2019ve said them myself.\u00a0 In fact, I said them just a short time ago to Hoss.\u00a0 But that was before…\u201d\u00a0 Adam paused.\u00a0 \u201cIf you\u2019re talking about God, then you\u2019re talking about a God who let a little boy be kidnapped and who hasn\u2019t…led us to him. Who maybe let Joe be…murdered.\u201d\u00a0 He struck the air with his hand.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m just not sure anymore that that\u2019s a God I want to believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many children did you see die on the trail, Adam?\u00a0 On your way out here?\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy scowled.\u00a0 \u201cPlenty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you doubt God then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, but I was a child. \u00a0I\u2019m not a child anymore, Mr. Coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, you ain\u2019t.\u00a0 So for starters, why don\u2019t you call me \u2018Roy\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam looked startled, but nodded.\u00a0 \u201cRoy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think God\u2019s afraid of your questions?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI…\u201d\u00a0 Adam half-smiled.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 Though my father would tell me it was irreligious to ask them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPoppycock!\u00a0 Maybe that\u2019s why your pa near broke when your ma died.\u00a0 Look at Job.\u00a0 He weren\u2019t too happy with the Almighty and he weren\u2019t afraid to let Him know it!\u201d<\/p>\n

That brought a chuckle.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 No, he wasn\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 Adam fell silent for a moment and then said, \u201cThanks, Roy.\u00a0 Thanks for reminding me and thanks…for being a friend.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man lifted his arm and stood up.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019re gonna find that brother of yours alive or not, Adam, but I do know that there\u2019s a reason this happened.\u00a0 Now should worst come to worst, you can bury yourself along with Little Joe, or you can choose to live and make both his life and<\/em> yours count for somethin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam thought a moment longer.\u00a0 Then he nodded.\u00a0 Then the boy turned and looked into the darkness, his eyes following the path his pa had taken minutes before.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I know,\u201d the older man sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m worried about him too.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It had been like sitting on a hill of red ants.\u00a0 He had to be on the move \u2013 had to be doing something<\/em> \u2013 and so, here he was, wearing a rut in the sand, driving bracken and brush and small animals before him in his mad pacing.\u00a0 He was missing something.\u00a0 He knew it.<\/p>\n

Some…thing<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Ben kept going over everything that had happened since the day he had returned to find Adam inconsolable and Little Joe missing, searching for a clue to unlock the diseased mind of Gabriel Eagle. It was a dark and dangerous place to traverse, but he did so seeking to understand a man who would willingly endanger the life of a small boy to impress a woman who wasn\u2019t even aware of his existence.\u00a0 Starting in New Orleans, he went over every move the man had made, stumbling when he came to Eagle\u2019s hiring on at the Ponderosa.\u00a0 The thought of that vile man watching his small son while Joseph went about his normal life \u2013 helping Hop Sing in the garden, trailing after his older brother, laughing and playing with Hoss \u2013 all the while waiting and calculating the best time to snatch him, sent chills down his spine.<\/p>\n

As did the thought that he might never hear that laugh again.<\/p>\n

Ben stopped to run his hands over his face.\u00a0 As he did, his gaze fell upon the high ridge of rock where the eagles made their nests \u2013 the near perpendicular promontory of rock that shot straight up to Heaven.\u00a0 Adam had been so<\/em> sure Gabriel Eagle had made his own \u2018nest\u2019 there as it would have offered him a clear view of the land and anyone\u2019s approach. And yet, there had been nothing.\u00a0 One of the men who had come with Roy had climbed it.\u00a0 He\u2019d returned saying he\u2019d seen no sign of human habitation.<\/p>\n

Of course, he had no way of knowing how high the man had gone.<\/p>\n

Still, there was nothing to indicate that madman had taken his son up there.\u00a0 Closing his eyes, Ben called to mind for the hundredth time the last words Gabriel had spoken \u2013 not his curses, but his words <\/em>concerning Little Joe.<\/p>\n

I got it rigged.\u00a0 Everything is in place.\u00a0 I was gonna wait here with Marie and then when you found the boy and it happened, I was going to take her away.<\/em><\/p>\n

When you<\/em> found the boy….<\/p>\n

Ben started, and then he began to tremble.\u00a0 Gabriel Eagle had wanted<\/em> him to find Joseph.\u00a0 He was going to \u2018wait\u00a0 right here\u2019<\/em> so he could see it.\u00a0 That meant he hadn\u2019t taken the boy so far away it would be impossible to find him.\u00a0 Little Joe had<\/em> to be close by.<\/p>\n

I got it rigged.\u00a0 Everything is in place.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

The frightened father\u2019s eyes returned to the mountainous ridge of rock before him.\u00a0 Yes<\/em>, one of the men with Roy had checked it and found nothing.<\/p>\n

But that man wasn\u2019t Joseph\u2019s father.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Something roused him from sleep.\u00a0 Little Joe blinked several times and slowly opened his eyes.\u00a0 Then he smiled.\u00a0 The stars were shining in the sky and the moon was high and his Mama was there like she said she\u2019d always be.<\/p>\n

Joe lay as quiet as he could, so she wouldn\u2019t know he was awake and he could look at her.\u00a0 His mama was so <\/em>pretty.\u00a0 In fact, she was the prettiest mama there ever <\/em>was.\u00a0 Pa said her hair was spun gold.\u00a0 It looked like it with the moonlight shining on it.\u00a0 The stars had settled around her neck and they were shining too, like jewels.\u00a0 Mama always wore jewels.\u00a0 In the morning, after she got dressed, she would lift her golden hair and Pa would fasten the clasp and then kiss her neck just above his fingers.<\/p>\n

He loved his mama so much.<\/p>\n

If she was here, he was safe.\u00a0 He could go back to sleep.<\/p>\n

He really wanted to sleep \u2018cause he felt kind of funny.\u00a0 Kind of numb and cold.\u00a0 Really cold.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know why he\u2019d be cold unless Hop Sing let the fire go out in his room and since Mama was sitting here beside him, he was sure that hadn\u2019t happened.\u00a0 Mama would have been yellin\u2019 in French at Hop Sing and he would have been yellin\u2019 back in Chinese.\u00a0 In fact, he was so cold it was getting really hard to move.\u00a0 Just about as hard as it was to stay awake.<\/p>\n

As hard as it was to hang on until his pa found him.<\/p>\n

Joe looked at his mama again.\u00a0 She was just sitting there, not makin\u2019 a sound.\u00a0 Just…waiting.\u00a0 He frowned as he wondered what she was waitin\u2019 for.\u00a0 Maybe for him to get up and go with her.\u00a0 Joe drew a breath and let it out in a long sigh.\u00a0 Pa\u2019d be awful made if he went with mama instead of waiting for him. And sad.<\/p>\n

Real sad.<\/p>\n

But it was…well, he was…so tired and so hungry and so cold….<\/p>\n

Mon petit, you must stay awake. You must hold on. <\/em><\/p>\n

Joe licked his lips.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t like to argue with his mama, but he didn\u2019t think he could do what she asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t….\u201d<\/p>\n

You must, mon petit.\u00a0 Your papa is coming. <\/em><\/p>\n

Joe stared at the vision before him and then moaned and turned his face into the rough woolen blanket that covered him.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t real.\u00a0 Mama couldn\u2019t <\/em>be real.\u00a0 He knew it even if he didn\u2019t want to believe it.\u00a0 His mama was dead.\u00a0 He\u2019d tried to tell the bad man that, but he wouldn\u2019t listen.\u00a0 The bad man left him all alone to go talk to mama and when he found out he couldn\u2019t, he\u2019d go away and then no one would find him.\u00a0 Ever.<\/em>\u00a0 He was gonna go to sleep and die and \u2013<\/p>\n

Something soft touched his cheek.<\/p>\n

The curly-headed boy froze.\u00a0 He shuddered and then rolled over.\u00a0 If his mama was<\/em> here and he could feel her hand, then that had to mean that he was already \u2013<\/p>\n

The face that looked at him wasn\u2019t his mama.<\/p>\n

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

Perched on the side of the great big nest of branches and feathers Gabriel Eagle had left him in was a real<\/em> eagle! \u00a0Joe didn\u2019t move.\u00a0 His pa had taught him that mama eagles were like just like little boy\u2019s mamas.\u00a0 They were real nice unless they thought you might do something to hurt their young, and even though the nest was empty except for him, well, she might be mad that he was in it.<\/p>\n

The little boy swallowed over the lump in his throat and managed to choke out, \u2018I\u2019m sorry, ma\u2019am….\u201d<\/p>\n

That big old mama eagle cocked her head to one side and then reached out with her claws and caught hold of the blanket where it lay next to his head.\u00a0 He wondered what she was doing and was surprised when she kept workin\u2019 at it until she had hold of a piece of the faded blue and red fabric.\u00a0 Her eyes never left him as she jerked back, tearing it free \u2013 along with a small strand of his hair.\u00a0 It hurt, but he was so cold and so tired and so lost that he really didn\u2019t care.\u00a0 Tears formed in his eyes and fell and then his eyes closed.<\/p>\n

And he knew no more.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

His strength was fading.\u00a0 Ben was more than half-way up the side of the ridge and still <\/em>there was no sign that anything other than mountain cats and goats had passed this way.\u00a0 Maybe he was crazy.\u00a0 There were other easier places that madman could have concealed Joseph \u2013 desert caves, dry gullies, even within a rampant patch of tall grasses.\u00a0 The boy was so small it would be easy to overlook him.\u00a0 Maybe he should go back down, now, before he couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 If Adam and Hoss knew what he was doing, they would be half-crazed.\u00a0 Maybe he<\/em> was half-crazed.<\/p>\n

Ben snorted.\u00a0 Or all<\/em> crazed.<\/p>\n

Anchoring himself with a knee hooked around a triangular rock, the rancher stopped to pass a hand before his eyes.\u00a0 Dear God, he was tired!\u00a0 It would be so easy to make a mistake \u2013 one that could lead to him plummeting to his death and leaving his remaining two sons orphans.<\/p>\n

Remaining<\/em> sons.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t know Joseph was dead.<\/p>\n

He feared Joseph was dead.<\/p>\n

He feared what he would find when he reached the end of this stair leading up to Heaven.<\/p>\n

Was his son already there?<\/p>\n

Ben turned his face upward.\u00a0 There were, perhaps, a hundred steps left to reach the summit.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t afraid of heights, but there was something about being up this high, in the dark, without a rope or support \u2013 something unworldly \u2013 as if all a man had to do was reach out a hand and he could touch the face of the Almighty.<\/p>\n

Or take the hand of the woman he loved.<\/p>\n

Ben clung onto the triangular rock as he shifted and propped his back against the rocky wall.\u00a0 Once safely anchored, he closed his eyes.\u00a0 The words he spoke were soft and desperate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHelp me, Marie. \u00a0Show me where our son is.\u201d<\/p>\n

A feather light touch on Ben\u2019s hand made him jump.\u00a0 He opened his eyes and looked down.\u00a0 A piece of cloth lay on the rocks near his hand.\u00a0 In the waning light he couldn\u2019t tell, but he thought it might be red and maybe blue.\u00a0 He picked it up and was surprised to find that it was a scrap of fabric from a well-worn plaid blanket.<\/p>\n

In the middle of the scrap was a strand of dark brown hair, coiled in a perfect circle.<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s heart skipped a beat.<\/p>\n

A breeze rose just then, brushing his cheek and causing him to look up. Ten feet above him an eagle hovered.\u00a0 It dipped its wing toward him and then disappeared into a recess in the rock.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d he breathed to God, to Marie; to the blessed creature who had brought him hope.<\/p>\n

And then he began to climb.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long.\u00a0 A few minutes later, panting and out of breath, the older man pulled himself onto a rocky shelf, which was approximately twelve feet long and about half as wide.\u00a0 The moon had broken free of a bank of clouds and it provided a pale light by which he could see.\u00a0 The eagle was there, perched on the edge of her nest, watching him.\u00a0 The nest was large. \u00a0Four, maybe even five feet in diameter.\u00a0 It was pitched at the back of the shelf, near the edge.\u00a0 To him its position seemed precarious, but to her it promised protection for her fledglings when she was away.\u00a0 Ben stood and waited for his eyes to adjust to the meager light.\u00a0 For a moment he could see nothing and then, there, at the heart of the nest, he spotted something. \u00a0Something wrapped in plaid cloth.<\/p>\n

Something that didn\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

Relief choked him even as fear all but unmanned him.\u00a0 It took a second, but he stumbled forward toward the nest and the precious thing it held.<\/p>\n

Before he could reach it, the eagle spread its wings wide.\u00a0 With a shrill cry, it left the nest and came to rest on the rocky ground before it.\u00a0 For a moment the creature remained still and then it bent its head and began to peck at something on the ground.\u00a0 For a moment he was confused.\u00a0 Then he saw what it was.<\/p>\n

A rope.<\/p>\n

A rope tied to a branch at the bottom of the nest.<\/p>\n

A rope that led to a small bent-over sapling, held in place by another notched branch.<\/p>\n

I got it rigged<\/em>, Gabriel had said.<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s legs went to jelly.<\/p>\n

Good Lord!\u00a0 If he had rushed in….<\/p>\n

Carefully, lest he trigger the snare by accident, Ben made his way to the edge of the cliff and the bent-over sapling. \u00a0He took hold of both parts of the trap and separated them, releasing the tension.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere now,\u201d he said to the mama eagle, his voice shaking.\u00a0 \u201cYour babies, when they come this spring, will be safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I pray mine is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The eagle regarded him.\u00a0 For a moment, something in its eyes struck a familiar chord.\u00a0 For a second, he could almost believe…<\/p>\n

Then it was gone and the eagle took flight.<\/p>\n

For several heartbeats Ben stood, staring at the small, still form at the heart of the feather-lined nest.\u00a0 Images of the boy\u2019s mother\u2019s lifeless body laying on the ground flashed before his eyes, freezing him to the spot.<\/p>\n

Then Heaven took pity.<\/p>\n

Joseph moved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was only as the new day\u2019s light dawned that Adam realized his father had never returned to camp.\u00a0 In spite of himself, he had fallen asleep waiting.\u00a0 He\u2019d settled back against his saddle, intending to keep one eye open for his wandering parent and the other for any sign that Hoss was awake, and drifted off.\u00a0 John Devlin had roused him a short time before and told him the light was rising and they would be resuming the search as soon as they had a bite to eat.\u00a0 There was defeat in John\u2019s voice.\u00a0 It was clear the older man didn\u2019t think they would find anything.\u00a0 It was also clear that John was just about as devastated as they were.<\/p>\n

Sadly, the reality had hit them all overnight that most likely Little Joe was dead.\u00a0 He\u2019d been missing for nearly four days and his kidnapper \u2013 the only man who knew where he was \u2013 was dead.<\/p>\n

Adam closed his eyes, allowing that to soak in.<\/p>\n

Little Joe.\u00a0 Dead.<\/p>\n

Dead, as in, never coming back.<\/p>\n

As in, never driving him to distraction again with his endless chatter.\u00a0 Never at his heels again, peppering him with questions.\u00a0 He\u2019d never get another practical joke pulled on him or get to play that game of cowboys and Indians where the cowboys won.<\/p>\n

Never.<\/p>\n

Dead was…well, dead.<\/p>\n

Unexpectedly, the teenager felt a tug on his shirt tail.\u00a0 It showed how distracted he was that it was hanging out over his trousers. \u00a0He looked around and down \u2013 slightly \u2013 into the face of his eleven-year-old brother who, for the last twenty-four hours, had done little but cry.<\/p>\n

Hoss was smiling.\u00a0 He was also pointing.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, it\u2019s Pa!\u00a0 Pa\u2019s comin\u2019 \u2013 and he\u2019s got Little Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa\u2019s..coming?<\/p>\n

And he has….?<\/p>\n

It hit him, like a bullet passing clean through. Not dead. \u00a0Alive.<\/p>\n

Little Joe was alive!<\/em><\/p>\n

Adam grinned back.\u00a0 Stupidly.<\/p>\n

Hoss was pulling at his hand, urging him to rise.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, Adam!\u00a0 Take a look for yourself!\u201d<\/p>\n

He did and was immediately on his guard.\u00a0 Pa was coming all right, but he wasn\u2019t smiling.\u00a0 Joe wasn\u2019t sittin up that mop of hair flying as he looked everywhere at once; his arms wrapped so tightly around Pa\u2019s neck that you feared the man might choke either.<\/p>\n

In fact, Little Joe wasn\u2019t moving at all<\/p>\n

By the time Adam found his feet, his father had entered the camp.\u00a0 A crowd quickly formed around him.\u00a0 Roy.\u00a0 John Devlin.\u00a0 And pushing to the front, Doctor Martin.\u00a0 The teenager watched, his heart in his throat, as Paul reached for Joe, pulling back the tattered blanket that all but covered him.\u00a0 He held his breath, waiting for the two words he needed<\/em> to hear.<\/p>\n

They got three.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s alive.\u00a0 Just.\u201d<\/p>\n

After that, everything was a blur.\u00a0 Paul Martin swept Pa and Little Joe away so he could tend him.\u00a0 John Devlin went flying back to the Ponderosa to let Hop Sing know what had happened, while Roy and his men headed for Eagle Station with Gabriel Eagle\u2019s dead body tethered to one of the extra horses. The neighbors who had joined in the search made certain there was nothing more they could do, and then one by one they drifted off, returning to their homes to lock their windows a little tighter, question the men working for them a little closer, and hug their wives and children.<\/p>\n

And the three of them?\u00a0 Once Paul said it was all right, they began the long, slow ride home.\u00a0 After letting Hoss sit with their little brother for a bit, to reassure him that Joe indeed was<\/em> alive, Pa scooped the tiny boy up and headed for his horse.\u00a0 Though it was all he could do to keep his own saddle, their father insisted on carrying Little Joe all the way home.\u00a0 The entire time, Joe never moved or made a sound.<\/p>\n

The crisis wasn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n

Not by a long shot.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben reached out a trembling hand to touch the curly-headed boy who lay so still in his bed.\u00a0 Paul Martin had come back to the ranch with them but left a short time before to attend to other patients.\u00a0 He\u2019d had to admit there was little he could do. \u00a0Time was the only remedy he had to offer, along with a prescription for lots of love and a fair shake of patience.\u00a0 Physically, Joseph was suffering from exposure and a lack of food and water.\u00a0 Abrasions, cuts, and scrapes gave mute testimony to the ordeal he had endured.\u00a0 Paul said these would heal quickly, considering the boy was young and healthy otherwise.<\/p>\n

The wounds he had suffered emotionally were another matter.<\/p>\n

The rancher leaned back and ran a hand over his stubbled chin.\u00a0 He could only begin to imagine what the boy had gone through \u2013 and he shuddered at the places his imagination took him.\u00a0 His young son, barely more than a baby, held for days by a madman.\u00a0 What had that Gabriel Eagle said to him?\u00a0 Had he let the boy in on his plans?<\/p>\n

Had Joseph lived in fear of his life all those hours?<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s eyes returned to his son.\u00a0 The boy was sleeping peacefully now.\u00a0 That had not been the case earlier.\u00a0 Before returning to consciousness, his son had whimpered and moaned, thrashing from side to side while tears ran down his cheeks.\u00a0 He\u2019d sat and cradled him until he had quieted.\u00a0 Each thing a man experienced \u2013 no matter how young \u2013 left its mark.\u00a0 Little Joe was so young and yet he had suffered so much \u2013 the loss of his mother, his own abandonment of the child after his wife\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

And now, what happened on Eagles Nest.<\/p>\n

Yes, that was what he had begun to call it.\u00a0 God had answered his prayers, preserving his child and keeping him safe.\u00a0 As he sat there in that nest, holding Little Joe, waiting for enough light to descend the perpendicular slope, a verse from Deuteronomy had come to him.<\/p>\n

\u2018Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

If not for that mother eagle looking out for his<\/em> chick, he would have tripped the snare set by Gabriel Eagle and sent his son over the edge to his death.<\/p>\n

I got it rigged,<\/em> Eagle had said.<\/p>\n

No.\u00a0 No, he hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

It was God<\/em> who had it rigged.<\/p>\n

Ben saw the small form stir under the covers.\u00a0 Joe had awakened before, but been far from lucid.\u00a0 This time when those deep green eyes looked at him there was recognition in their depths.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome back, son,\u201d he said softly as he shifted to sit beside Joe on the bed.<\/p>\n

The boy\u2019s eyes closed and then opened again.\u00a0 His pink lips curled up in a lazy smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, yourself, lazy bones.\u00a0 It\u2019s about time you woke up.\u201d<\/p>\n

It had been two days.\u00a0 Two very long<\/em> days.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s small fingers found his, searching and then latching on.\u00a0 He was silent a moment.\u00a0 Then, with a frown, he said, \u201cI had a bad dream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben closed his larger ones over them.\u00a0 \u201cOh? \u00a0Care to tell your papa about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

His son\u2019s small face puckered.\u00a0 \u201cCan\u2019t. \u00a0Don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t….\u201d\u00a0 Ben paused.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph, what\u2019s the last thing you do <\/em>remember?\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy curled up on his side.\u00a0 His curly head ducked beneath the covers.\u00a0 Just before it did, he saw tears glint in those eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll be mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben pulled the cover back and ran his fingers through the thick curls.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I won\u2019t.\u00a0 I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

It took a second, but Little Joe rolled over and looked at him.\u00a0 \u201cI…was bad for Adam. \u00a0I…threw things \u2018cause I was mad.\u00a0 He sent me to my room.\u00a0 \u00a0I….\u00a0 I wanted to see Hoss to make sure he was okay, so I…I….\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben held his breath.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes?\u00a0 You…?\u201d<\/p>\n

The boy thought a moment longer.\u00a0 His head shook.\u00a0 \u201cI…don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Could they be<\/em> so blessed?<\/p>\n

When he failed to speak, tears welled in his son\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 \u201cIs Hoss okay?\u00a0 He was real sick. I \u2013 \u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss is fine, Joseph.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFine…as…frog…hair!\u201d a cheerful voice proclaimed.\u00a0 Ben turned to find his other sons standing in the doorway, watching them.\u00a0 There was a tray with a steaming cup of something on it as well as a glass of milk and some toast in Adam\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

God bless Hop Sing.\u00a0 Always prepared and always<\/em> expecting the best outcome.<\/p>\n

The rancher watched joy break across his youngest\u2019s face at the sight of his brothers.\u00a0 Little Joe struggled to sit up, seemed puzzled that it was difficult, and then leaned back on the pillows and spread his arms wide.\u00a0 As Hoss jumped on the bed \u2013 making it groan just a bit \u2013 Adam came alongside them.\u00a0 He put the tray on the bedside table, picked up the steaming cup, and held it out to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing sent this for you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scent of the freshly made coffee made his mouth water.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you, son,\u201d he said as he accepted it.<\/p>\n

Adam remained silent a minute, watching Hoss and Little Joe, then he asked \u2013 quietly, \u201cHow\u2019s Joe doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben rolled the coffee around his mouth and then swallowed.\u00a0 He savored its warmth and flavor for a moment and then rose and hooked his finger to draw Adam over to the door.<\/p>\n

Looking back at Joseph, he replied, \u201cYour brother doesn\u2019t remember anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

His son blinked.\u00a0 \u201cNothing?\u00a0 You mean, Joe doesn\u2019t remember any <\/em>of it?\u201d<\/p>\n

He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cThe last thing he remembers is that you were mad with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam frowned, apparently troubled that his brother\u2019s last memory of him would have been a bad one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe little scamp was worried about Hoss \u2013 and you,\u201d his son said in explanation.\u00a0 \u201cJoe decided that being underfoot was the best way to get my attention.\u00a0 I had a lot to do.\u00a0 I got..angry and sent \u2013 well, I confined him to his room.\u201d\u00a0 The teenager\u2019s eyes misted as he looked at his younger brother.\u00a0 \u201cIf only I had known….\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben\u2019s fingers pressed his son\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe\u2019s here.\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing physically wrong with him that a few days of rest won\u2019t cure.\u00a0 And it seems his mind has blocked out the ordeal.\u201d\u00a0 Ben let out a sigh as he lifted his hand.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s over, son.\u00a0 Really<\/em> over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam didn\u2019t respond as he expected.\u00a0 His glanced at his brothers before his eyes returned to him.\u00a0 \u201cIs it, Pa?\u00a0 Is it really?\u201d he asked softly before joining his brothers.<\/p>\n

Ben stepped out into the hall, pulling the door closed behind him.\u00a0 He walked to the landing and then descended into the great room.\u00a0 Passing through it, he opened the door and went outside.\u00a0 The night was cold. The sky was an onyx slab hung with diamonds.\u00a0 Winter was upon them.\u00a0 The snow would fly soon and their exile would begin.\u00a0 A this point, he thought that was a good thing.\u00a0 By the time they made it back into the settlement, what had happened to his son would be old news.\u00a0 As soon as Hoss came down he would have to talk to him \u2013 try to explain to the boy that there were times when it was best to let sleeping dogs lie.<\/p>\n

It was<\/em> a blessing Joseph didn\u2019t remember, he told himself.\u00a0 The boy was so young, so vulnerable, there was no way he could process what had happened.\u00a0 No way for him to understand.<\/p>\n

The truth would soon be buried as deeply as the boy\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n

The rancher walked to the spot where his wife had fallen and then turned back to look at his home.<\/p>\n

\u2018Is it, Pa?<\/em>\u2019 his son had asked.\u00a0 \u2018Is it really?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

Ben sighed.<\/p>\n

It was over for now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

EPILOGUE<\/p>\n

Ben remained still, waiting on his son.\u00a0 Joseph hadn\u2019t moved.\u00a0 He sat with his back pressed up against his pillows and his knees slightly raised; a riot of chestnut curls framing a face lost in thought.\u00a0 For some time the only sound besides his son\u2019s ragged breathing was the ticking of the tall case clock in the hall downstairs.\u00a0 If Joe had been five years old, he would have slipped into the bed and gathered him into his arms and held him.\u00a0 While holding him tightly, he would have spoken loving words, assuring Joe that he was safe and that nothing could harm him.<\/p>\n

That Pa would make it all right.<\/p>\n

But Joe wasn\u2019t five.\u00a0 Joseph Francis Cartwright was a man in his twenties and, this time, he had to make it \u2018all right\u2019 for himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I knew,\u201d Joe admitted with a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cNot all of it, but some.\u201d\u00a0 His youngest stirred and looked at him.\u00a0 \u201cYou know that dream I kept having, the one where I fell off the cliff?\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I fell, I kept getting smaller.\u00a0 By the time I hit, I was just a kid again.\u201d\u00a0 He frowned.\u00a0 \u201cYou think it\u2019s because that…man almost did that to me?\u201d<\/p>\n

It was his turn to frown.\u00a0 \u201cAlmost did what to you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s lashes brushed his cheeks.\u00a0 He smiled that shy little smile he had.\u00a0 \u201cI guess you didn\u2019t tell me that, did you?.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t have known.\u201d\u00a0 Ben drew in a sharp breath, realizing how much closer to death his son had come than he had ever known.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph, what all have you remembered?\u201d<\/p>\n

His son shrugged.\u00a0 When he spoke his tone was flat, almost as if he was speaking of someone else\u2019s life.\u00a0 \u201cNot all of it.\u00a0 But as you told the story, there were…flashes.\u00a0 Gabe\u2019s kind of a blur \u2013 a big brown<\/em> blur really.\u00a0 But, I…\u201d\u00a0 The rancher noted his son\u2019s hands.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s knuckles had gone white where they clasped the coverlet.\u00a0 His agile fingers opened and closed a few times and then he looked directly at him.\u00a0 \u201cGabe said he was gonna kill me so mama would go away with him.\u00a0 She wouldn\u2019t have….\u00a0 I mean….\u201d\u00a0 Joe\u2019s eyes shone with unspent tears.\u00a0 \u201cShe couldn\u2019t….\u00a0 Could she?\u201d<\/p>\n

It stunned him to think that his son could even contemplate such an act of betrayal by his mother.\u00a0 But then he had to remember, Joseph had no real memories of his own.\u00a0 Oh, perhaps the boy remembered Marie tucking him in at night \u2013 perhaps he could recall her scent or the sound of her footsteps on the stair \u2013 but for the most part the woman his son knew was a picture drawn by others.<\/p>\n

Ben hesitated.\u00a0 Then \u2013 as if his son were<\/em> still five \u2013 he slipped from the chair onto the bed beside him and put an arm around his shoulders.\u00a0 There were tears in his eyes too.<\/p>\n

Joe didn\u2019t miss them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Pa.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t have \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n

He touched his son\u2019s hand.\u00a0 \u201cIf anyone has<\/em> a right, son, it\u2019s you.\u201d\u00a0 The rancher paused, searching for the words to convey what he was feeling.\u00a0 \u201cI can only imagine what torment you went through while you were with that madman, Joe.\u00a0 I am so sorry I wasn\u2019t there for you when you needed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe looked stunned.\u00a0 \u201cYou haven\u2019t got anything to be sorry for.\u00a0 You couldn\u2019t have know what that man meant to do when you hired him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNot then.\u00a0 After your mother died.\u00a0 When I…left you.\u201d<\/p>\n

His son squeezed his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cPa.\u00a0 Don\u2019t.\u00a0 I understand.\u00a0 When Laura died, I….\u201d\u00a0 There it was again \u2013 that smile with such sadness wrapped up in it.\u00a0 \u201cIt hurt so bad to lose her, I didn\u2019t want to go on living.\u00a0 And we weren\u2019t even married.\u201d<\/p>\n

The older man sighed.\u00a0 That kind of loss was one thing he wished his young son did not <\/em>understand.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour mother, Joseph…Joe,\u201d he smiled, choosing to refrain from using his \u2018you-are-in-trouble-young-man\u2019<\/em> name.\u00a0 \u201cHow can I describe her?\u00a0 She was beautiful as a sunrise and just as fiery.\u00a0 Fierce and independent and yet completely dependent, and perhaps the gentlest, most fragile soul I have ever known.\u201d\u00a0 He sighed.\u00a0 \u201cI know you get tired of me saying this, but I see so much of her in you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The smile deepened.\u00a0 \u201cNo, Pa.\u00a0 I don\u2019t get tired of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat day,\u201d he began, \u201cwhen I read the note Gabriel Eagle left behind, demanding that I \u2018bring Marie\u2019, you can imagine what ran through my mind.\u00a0 As a ransom demand it was unusual and, of course, completely impossible.\u201d\u00a0 Ben thought a moment.\u00a0 \u201cMy first reaction was fear.\u00a0 My second was disappointment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDisappointment?\u201d<\/p>\n

He chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cThat your mother was not<\/em> alive.\u00a0 I\u2019ve warned you boys about mama grizzlies \u2013 how fierce they are in protecting their young.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled at the memory of his wife and her tiny frame that had housed the biggest spirit he had ever known.\u00a0 \u201cIf your mother had thought her \u2018cub \u2018was threatened, well, let\u2019s just say the law would have been the last thing Gabriel Eagle would have had to worry about.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t have stood a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou couldn\u2019t have stopped her, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were everything to her.\u00a0 She would have given her life to save you.\u00a0 Joe, I don\u2019t know what that man told you about your mother, but it was all a delusion.\u201d\u00a0 He paused.\u00a0 \u201cSon, look at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe had been staring out the window at the rising light.\u00a0 The new day was almost upon them.\u00a0 He turned away from it to face him.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cIf that man had harmed you, your mother would have killed him.\u201d\u00a0 He didn\u2019t like to admit it, but it was true.\u00a0 He would have tried to stop her, but Marie would have found a way \u2013 and ultimately paid the price for it.\u00a0 \u201cShe would never <\/em>have gone with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe was silent a moment.\u00a0 Then he nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s what I told him.\u00a0 Just before he told me….\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The boy hesitated.\u00a0 \u201cJust before he told me that…you<\/em> would be the one to kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n

His fingers tightened on his son\u2019s hand.\u00a0 \u201cOh, Joe….\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s okay, Pa.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t understand then, but I do now.\u00a0 And I understand about the nightmares.\u00a0 It\u2019s been there all these years, just under the surface, trying to come out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rancher frowned.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry we never told you, Joe.\u00a0 At first you were too young and then, too old, it seemed.\u00a0 I guess we were afraid you would be angry with us for keeping it from you all these years.\u201d He waited a moment and then asked, because he had to.\u00a0 \u201cAre you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe was silent for a long time and when he spoke, it had nothing to do with his question.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw her that day.\u201d\u00a0 His son said quietly.\u00a0 \u201cShe was there with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe laughed at his expression.\u00a0 \u201cMama.\u00a0 She told me I had to stay awake.\u00a0 She said I had to hold on because you were coming.\u201d\u00a0 His son paused and then his eyes sparkled, just like Marie\u2019s had done when she was feeling impish.\u00a0 \u201cAnd then she turned into a big old mama eagle!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben looked at his hand.\u00a0 He could still feel that bit of plaid cloth landing on it \u2013 the bit of cloth that had led him to his boy.<\/p>\n

It seemed, in the end, that they did indeed bring Marie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Ben Cartwright,\u00a0ESA,\u00a0ESJ,\u00a0Grief,\u00a0Hoss Cartwright,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright,\u00a0JPM,\u00a0kidnap,\u00a0Marie Cartwright<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: A WHB or prequel to ‘Between Heaven and Earth.’ Have you ever wondered what happened when Little Joe climbed Eagle’s Nest as a five year old boy that could have been so traumatic it resulted, not just in a fear of falling, but in total amnesia that lasted for nearly 20 years? This is my take on what happened when Ben Cartwright was told to ‘Bring Marie’.<\/p>\n

Rated PG-13<\/p>\n

Word Count:\u00a0 31,167<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10058,"featured_media":30509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7,23,30,616],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-u","category-drama","category-prequels","category-whb","wpcat-7-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-30-id","wpcat-616-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":2510,"today_views":2},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Littlest-Little-Joe-scaled.jpg?fit=1989%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13823,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=13823","url_meta":{"origin":16310,"position":0},"title":"Between Life and Death (by JennyD & HelenB)","author":"JennyD","date":"February 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 A WHN for Between Heaven and Earth Rating:\u00a0 T\u00a0\u00a0 (15, 170 words)","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Promises-to-Keeep.png?fit=759%2C568&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Promises-to-Keeep.png?fit=759%2C568&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Promises-to-Keeep.png?fit=759%2C568&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Promises-to-Keeep.png?fit=759%2C568&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13824,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=13824","url_meta":{"origin":16310,"position":1},"title":"Between Life and Death (by HelenB & JennyD)","author":"HelenB","date":"February 27, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 A WHN for Between Heaven and Earth Rating:\u00a0 T\u00a0\u00a0 (15, 170 words)","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Promises-to-Keeep.png?fit=759%2C568&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Promises-to-Keeep.png?fit=759%2C568&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Promises-to-Keeep.png?fit=759%2C568&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Promises-to-Keeep.png?fit=759%2C568&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30607,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=30607","url_meta":{"origin":16310,"position":2},"title":"Eagle’s Nest (by Sierras)","author":"Sierras","date":"October 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 It is spring, and the winter has passed. Five-year-old Little Joe wanders off to find his mama who died a couple of months earlier. This is about the incident that is referenced by Ben to Little Joe in the episode \"Between Heaven And Earth\" written by Ed Adamson Rating\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Night-Sky-by-Skeeze-from-pixabay.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Night-Sky-by-Skeeze-from-pixabay.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Night-Sky-by-Skeeze-from-pixabay.jpg?fit=640%2C425&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12008,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12008","url_meta":{"origin":16310,"position":3},"title":"Camping at Eagle’s Nest (by pbeaking)","author":"pbeaking","date":"June 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 This story branches off from the Episode entitled \u201cBetween Heaven and Earth.\u201d In that episode Ben mentions to Joe that he had a scary experience when he was five years old at Eagle\u2019s Nest. This story is about that experience and what made Joe afraid of heights. Rating:\u00a0 G\u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/The-day.jpg?fit=400%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":36476,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=36476","url_meta":{"origin":16310,"position":4},"title":"Second Son (by Sierras)","author":"Sierras","date":"May 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Marie feels fear after the birth of her son, Joseph. Can she hold him forever? Rating: G Word Count: 764","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12365,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12365","url_meta":{"origin":16310,"position":5},"title":"Go Tell it on the Mountain (by JennieA & DebbieB)","author":"JennieA","date":"December 24, 2000","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary: \u00a0It's Christmas Eve and Little Joe tries to make a trade with the Virgin Mary. Rated: \u00a0G (6,050 words)","rel":"","context":"In "Drama"","block_context":{"text":"Drama","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?cat=23"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16310","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\/10058"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}