Summary:\u00a0 Written for the 2018 Missing Man Challenge.\u00a0 I have always felt that the drama of “To Die in Darkness” would have been intensified if Ben had experienced its situation with a son, rather than with Candy, much as I like him.\u00a0 This challenge seemed like the perfect opportunity to explore that idea.<\/p>\n
Rated:\u00a0 K+<\/p>\n
Word Count:\u00a0 14,833 words<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Together in Darkness <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben Cartwright and his oldest son Adam let their horses set the pace on the final stretch of road back to the Ponderosa.\u00a0 After pushing cattle from dawn to dusk, neither had the energy to urge their mounts to a quicker one, much as they longed to see the familiar log ranch house.\u00a0 A long, unintentional sigh escaped Adam\u2019s lips as it came into sight at last.\u00a0 \u201cLong day,\u201d he said in answer to his father\u2019s inquiring glance.<\/p>\n With a twinkle in his eye, Ben responded, \u201cTrust me, son: they get longer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot that I\u2019m complaining or questioning the way you apportion duties for the day,\u201d Adam said, although, of course, he was, \u201cbut it does seem to me that the younger half of the Cartwright family drew the easier assignment today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t think your brothers worked just as hard, running errands in town, as we did gathering those reluctant beeves?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam arched a skeptical eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cI do not, and, frankly, if either of them has commandeered the bathtub, I may be forced to lift him out bodily and toss him through a window.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben chuckled at the image of his oldest doing that to his middle son.\u00a0 \u201cHoss?\u00a0 You sure you have the energy left for that challenge?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam returned a weak smile.\u00a0 \u201cProbably not.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNor have I,\u201d said Ben, \u201cbut never you fear.\u00a0 I have ways of evening things out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAh!\u00a0 I shall leave it in your capable hands, then.\u201d\u00a0 He directed his gaze toward the front door.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose it\u2019s too much to hope that the boys are back from town, eagerly anticipating the opportunity to stable our horses.\u201d<\/p>\n Snickering beneath his breath, Ben shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cWhen they could be enjoying the attractions of the Bucket of Blood?\u00a0 Or is the Silver Dollar these days?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSince Hoss is along,\u201d Adam suggested with a wry twist of his mouth, \u201cwhichever is offering the largest free lunch.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s grunt acknowledged the truth that formed the foundation for the time-honored, though not totally merited, joke about his middle son\u2019s appetite.\u00a0 \u201cStill,\u201d he said as he pulled his aching body out of the saddle and led his bay Buck toward the hitching rail, \u201con the off chance . . .\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s second eyebrow arch communicated his opinion that \u201coff\u201d perfectly described their chances of his brothers\u2019 actually having resisted the temptations of a cold beer in Hoss\u2019s case and a pretty face in Joe\u2019s; nonetheless, he tied the reins of his chestnut beside his father\u2019s horse and followed him toward the house.\u00a0 One could always hope, after all.\u00a0 Only it really had been nothing but hope, and a dim one at that, as demonstrated by the surprise his face registered when he saw both his brothers stand as soon as he and Pa walked in.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter, little brothers?\u201d he quipped.\u00a0 \u201cHave the saloons of Virginia City suddenly run dry?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Little Joe said, his serious attitude alien to his usual lighthearted demeanor.<\/p>\n \u201cYou finish early?\u201d Ben asked.<\/p>\n \u201cWe didn\u2019t quite finish up, Pa,\u201d Hoss replied.\u00a0 \u201cWe just felt a need to come home.\u201d\u00a0 He sent a pleading glance toward his younger brother.<\/p>\n Though Adam saw it and recognized it for what it was, the traditional passing of the buck of an unpleasant task, Ben\u2019s back was to his younger sons.\u00a0 He laid his curled gun belt on the credenza by the front door and turned to face them.\u00a0 \u201cOh?\u00a0 Something come up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, Pa.\u201d Little Joe moistened his lips as he moved toward his father and extended a small envelope.\u00a0 \u201cI thought you might want to see this.\u00a0 It came in to Sheriff Coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s emotive eyebrows this time drew into a straight line.\u00a0 Little Joe had never been able to hide whatever emotion was surging through him at the moment.\u00a0 From the look on his face, something was, indeed, up, and it was clearly something far outside the ordinary.<\/p>\n Concerned by the troubled look on his youngest son\u2019s face, Ben took the message and opened it; as he read, his face grew even more sober than those of Hoss and Little Joe.\u00a0 \u201cJohn Postley,\u201d he said for the benefit of his eldest.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been released.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReleased?\u201d Adam asked, instantly as disturbed as the other men.\u00a0 His father had been the chief witness against Postley in the trial that had sent the man to prison.\u00a0 Early release from those dour walls, especially when the crime was bank robbery, just didn\u2019t happen.\u00a0 \u201cYou sure you don\u2019t mean \u2018escaped\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReleased,\u201d Hoss verified.\u00a0 \u201cVerdict overturned.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMan in Placerville confessed to robbing the Virginia City bank.\u201d\u00a0 Ben looked stunned as he handed the telegram to Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, no,\u201d Adam murmured as he scanned the lines.\u00a0 While an inmate\u2019s escape from those walls was alarming, the realization that an innocent man had been imprisoned behind them was unbearable.\u00a0 Especially for the man who had played a role in putting him there.\u00a0 Adam automatically stepped to his father\u2019s side and laid a consoling hand on the older man\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cYou had no choice, Pa,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 \u201cYou saw Postley come out of that alley; you had to testify.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was the jury that found him guilty, not you, Pa,\u201d Little Joe said.<\/p>\n \u201cI know, but\u201d\u2014Ben shook his head, dismay painted across his ashen face\u2014\u201ca year and a half.\u00a0 Can you imagine how he must have felt, sitting in prison all those months, knowing he was innocent?\u201d<\/p>\n The hand gripping his shoulder tightened.\u00a0 \u201cPostley must be grateful to be vindicated after so short a stay in that place,\u201d Adam said.<\/p>\n \u201cShort!\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe looked flabbergasted.\u00a0 \u201cIt was a year and a half, Adam.\u00a0 I\u2019ve never stayed in jail more than a few days, and it like to killed me.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam chuffed out a gust of air.\u00a0 \u201cThankfully we don\u2019t all share your measure of impatience, kid.\u00a0 After all, it could have been his whole life.\u00a0 Compared to that, he ought to be feeling pretty lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was innocent, Adam,\u201d Hoss argued.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s gotta make a man a mite bitter, don\u2019t you reckon?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam gritted his teeth.\u00a0 A year and a half was a long time to serve for a crime you hadn\u2019t committed, and of course, it could lead to bitterness; he recognized that as readily as his brothers.\u00a0 What they, however, apparently had lost sight of was the effect of their words on their father.\u00a0 Devastation was too mild a word for the emotion pooling in Pa\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 He needed to believe that John Postley could come out of this still able to weigh the blessing of what had been restored against what had been temporarily taken, that he could emerge from the fire with an unbroken, unembittered spirit and pick up the pieces of his life once again.\u00a0 Silence hung heavy for a moment; then Adam said, in a tone like that men use in prayer.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s up to him, Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ben was waging warfare on the monthly accounts when a knock at the door granted him a reprieve.\u00a0 When he saw who was waiting on the porch, however, he couldn\u2019t help but feel a frisson of fear, and for a moment he couldn\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n \u201cHowdy, Ben,\u201d John Postley said, taking off his hat in the subservient way so typical of the humble, self-effacing man he\u2019d always been.<\/p>\n \u201cJohn.\u201d\u00a0 Ben still didn\u2019t know what to say, how to say what so plainly needed to be said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n A long time.\u00a0 A year and a half and all for\u2014Ben got hold of himself enough to say, \u201cCome in\u201d and step aside so Postley could.<\/p>\n Postley moved into the room ahead of Ben, and somehow the words were easier to say to his back than to his face.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2014uh\u2014got the news about a month ago.\u00a0 Don\u2019t know what to say.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley turned to him with a small smile.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t say nothin\u2019.\u00a0 What\u2019s done is done and ain\u2019t nobody\u2019s fault.\u201d<\/p>\n Though still uneasy, Ben looked relieved. \u00a0\u201cThank you, John.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor making it easy for me.\u201d\u00a0 Much as he meant them, the words were still hard to get out.<\/p>\n \u201cI told you wasn\u2019t nobody\u2019s fault.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s laugh was nervous, but the muscles in his face began to relax.\u00a0 \u201cWell, come on, sit down, have a drink.\u201d<\/p>\n Settling into the burgundy leather chair by the fire, Postley sounded as friendly as he had before the whole catastrophe had happened.\u00a0 \u201cNo, no drink, thank you, Ben.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry I didn\u2019t get by earlier.\u00a0 I meant to; I wanted to come by and tell you there was no hard feelings, but I got busy, up to the diggings this last month.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou doin\u2019 some mining?\u201d Ben asked as he took a seat on the settee, close to Postley.<\/p>\n \u201cLittle bit.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought farming was more in your line,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it was,\u201d Postley admitted, \u201cbut I lost that little piece of land I had.\u201d<\/p>\n Guilt pricked Ben\u2019s heart.\u00a0 He\u2019d only done his civic duty, and he\u2019d testified honestly; still, a man had lost his home because of it.\u00a0 But for his testimony, Postley never would have been wrongfully convicted, never would have lost his land.\u00a0 And Ben had so much, a thousand square miles; the least he could do was share a little of his bounty.\u00a0 Eager to make amends, he hurriedly mentioned that there was plenty of good farming land on the Ponderosa, but Postley refused.\u00a0 He said he was seeing a little color and wanted to keep at the mining for now.\u00a0 He also refused Ben\u2019s offer to stake the mining venture.\u00a0 When his guest rose to leave after his brief visit, Ben said what he was certain were vain words: \u201cAnything you need, you just have to holler.\u201d\u00a0 With every previous offer turned down, he had no reason to expect Postley to accept such a vague, general suggestion.\u00a0 People almost never did.<\/p>\n Postley surprised him, though.\u00a0 \u201cWell, there is one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cName it,\u201d Ben said, excited to discover some way he could help the unfortunate man.<\/p>\n \u201cFood at prison is nothing to shout at,\u201d Postley said, adding with a wry grin, \u201cbut my own is worse.\u00a0 I could sure use an invite to supper some night.\u201d<\/p>\n Such a simple request, yet it carried within it more than a chance to assuage his guilt.\u00a0 Sharing a meal felt more like an offer of renewed friendship, a return to happier times as if there\u2019d been no interruption in their relationship.\u00a0 \u201cWell, how about tonight?\u201d Ben asked eagerly.\u00a0 \u201cNow, the cook\u2019s away, but they say I\u2019m a pretty fair hand in the kitchen.\u201d\u00a0 Postley begged off, saying he had to get his supplies back to the mine, but he was quick to accept the same proposal for the following night.\u00a0 Both men parted with smiles of satisfaction, but if Ben had seen Postley\u2019s face after the door closed behind him, he might have noted that the would-be miner\u2019s seemed a bit grim at the corners\u2014grim and determined.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The four Cartwrights were gathered before the fireplace for their after-dinner coffee, and Ben had just finished describing the afternoon\u2019s visit.\u00a0 \u201cAnd that was the conversation,\u201d he concluded, \u201cand I\u2019ve got to admit to something: it took a load off my mind to see how well he\u2019d come out of it.\u201d\u00a0 His tone conveyed the amazement he still felt, even after hours of mulling it over.<\/p>\n \u201cMine, too,\u201d Adam quickly agreed.\u00a0 The relief he felt, which he was sure his brothers shared, was more for his father than for Postley.\u00a0 Over the past month he\u2019d seen his father\u2019s countenance take on a grayish cast as meaningless guilt ate away at his soul.\u00a0 Already he was looking brighter than he had since they\u2019d first received the news of Postley\u2019s false imprisonment, and Adam had every hope that Pa would soon be his vibrant self again, vigorous enough to work them all into the ground, though in Joe\u2019s case that wasn\u2019t saying much, he thought, grinning into his coffee.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, that man\u2019s got so much pride, he just won\u2019t take any help,\u201d Ben was saying as Adam came out of his reverie.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to give him credit,\u201d Adam said.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, and I\u2019ll tell you another thing we\u2019ve gotta give him is a supper he\u2019ll never forget . . . chicken and dumplings, the works.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss\u2019s face puckered into a pout worthy of a disappointed three-year-old.\u00a0 \u201cChicken \u2018n\u2019 dumplin\u2019s,\u201d he murmured.\u00a0 \u201cDadbern it, Pa, can\u2019t you do it another day?\u00a0 I have to leave first thing in the morning, and it\u2019ll take me two, three days to make all those line camps.\u201d<\/p>\n Though it scarcely seemed possible, Ben\u2019s smile broadened.\u00a0 \u201cWell, now, Hoss, that\u2019s exactly why I sent you on that little mission, to make sure that John gets a chance at the dumplings.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe let loose his famous cackle, rivaling any jaybird in volume and exuberance, but he was quickly silenced when his father added, with a broad sweep of his hand, \u201cAnd having Joe along will just make the time fly by!\u201d\u00a0 As Little Joe slumped in disappointment, Hoss started to laugh.\u00a0 Ben turned toward Adam and gave him a sly wink, and suddenly Adam knew exactly what his father had meant a month earlier when he\u2019d said he had ways of evening things out.\u00a0 At this moment things felt much more than even; he definitely felt he was one up on his brothers.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That John Postley had relished his supper was evident from the way he mopped up every drop of creamy broth from the chicken and dumplings.\u00a0 It did Ben good to see the man eat heartily, but also pinched his heart at the thought of the year and a half of meager food that had produced the appetite.\u00a0 Still, it had been a good evening, one he hated to see come to an end.\u00a0 \u201cHave you seen any encouraging ore sample?\u201d he asked, as much to keep the conversation going as to explore the new miner\u2019s prospects.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know, Ben,\u201d Postley replied.\u00a0 \u201cIt looks good to me, but I\u2019m not sure I know good ore when I see it.\u00a0 All I know is what I read in some books another prisoner left behind.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben flinched slightly at the mention of Postley\u2019s time behind bars.\u00a0 \u201cYou could get an outside expert to take a look,\u201d he suggested.<\/p>\n Postley shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNaw, experts cost money, which I ain\u2019t got much of.\u201d\u00a0 His eyes lit up, as if sparked by a sudden idea.\u00a0 \u201cHey, you used to do a little mining, didn\u2019t you, Ben?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben exhaled in soft disdain.\u00a0 \u201cOh, a little when we first settled here.\u00a0 I\u2019m no expert, John.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you could give me a fair idea, couldn\u2019t you?\u201d Postley pressed.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019d sure be a help to know whether I\u2019m onto something or just diggin\u2019 an empty hole.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cAdam here knows far more about mining than I do; he\u2019s your man.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Postley said, though his excitement seemed to wane a bit.\u00a0 \u201cProbably studied it in college back East, right, Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI studied a little engineering, which can be applied to mining, but most of what I know I learned from the early miners on the Comstock.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI remember you pestering the Grosch brothers to loan you their mining books,\u201d Ben chuckled.<\/p>\n Adam smiled as he nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThey were good enough to do it, too, so, yeah, with one thing and another, I have picked up a fair understanding of mines.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood thing they had the patience of Job, to put up with all your questions.\u201d\u00a0 Ben was still smiling at the memory of those early days on the Comstock.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it\u2019s sure a blessing to me they did,\u201d Postley put in enthusiastically.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll help me, then, Adam?\u00a0 Just a look, that\u2019s all my asking.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, of course, he will,\u201d Ben answered for his son.<\/p>\n Adam arched his eyebrow at his father, but he was smiling as he did, so while Ben felt chagrined by having volunteered his adult son, instead of letting him speak for himself, he knew Adam was willing to accept the assignment.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I\u2019ll really appreciate it,\u201d Postley said, \u201cand\u2014and you\u2019ll come, too, won\u2019t you, Ben?\u00a0 Two opinions is better than one, I reckon.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben laughed.\u00a0 \u201cMine won\u2019t matter much, next to Adam\u2019s, but I\u2019ll come, too, anytime you like.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley beamed with eagerness.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a couple hours of daylight.\u00a0 How \u2018bout right now?<\/p>\n Both Cartwrights laughed, but neither had the heart to refuse, and soon the trio was saddled up and on their way to Postley\u2019s diggings.\u00a0 \u201cThis could be my lucky day!\u201d Postley said with an enigmatic smile.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Peering into the deep shaft Postley had dug in his mine, Adam resisted the temptation to whistle in admiration.\u00a0 If there were one word the man knew the meaning of, it was obviously work, for the shaft was not only deep, but wide, its walls straight and smooth, carved with almost geometric precision.\u00a0 Postley pointed out a rope ladder, hanging over the edge, and said that he\u2019d fetch a lantern while they descended.\u00a0 Adam automatically started down ahead of his father.\u00a0 If the ladder didn\u2019t hold his weight, there was no way it would hold his father\u2019s.\u00a0 He quickly lost that concern, however, for the ladder, obviously newly constructed, felt sturdy beneath his feet.<\/p>\n As Ben came down after him, Adam moved to one of the walls and ran his hands over the smooth surface.\u00a0 The light was too dim in the depths of the shaft to see any sign of ore, but just touching the wall reawakened his boyhood scientific interest in mining and conjured dreams of making a big strike.\u00a0 For John\u2019s sake, he hoped it wasn\u2019t a dream.<\/p>\n His father came to his side.\u00a0 \u201cCan you tell anything?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam snorted.\u00a0 \u201cIn this light?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben snuffled in agreement and turned around to see if Postley was back.\u00a0 He was, but oddly enough, the man, so eager before to have them examine his mine, was just standing there, holding the lantern and staring down at them.\u00a0 That frisson of fear he\u2019d felt a couple of days earlier shivered up Ben\u2019s spine as he called, \u201cJohn?\u00a0 What\u2019re you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n The question made Adam turn and look up, also, and he saw something his father had missed, the rope ladder dangling from one of Postley\u2019s hands.\u00a0 Every suspicious cell in his body clenched with concern, but he prayed he was wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cYou looking for this?\u201d Postley said, raising the ladder.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019re you doin\u2019, John?\u00a0 What is this, some kind of joke?\u201d \u00a0Ben laughed nervously.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, ain\u2019t no joke, Ben; mistake I pulled the ladder up,\u201d Postley said, face flat and expressionless.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to; made a mistake, but we all make mistakes, don\u2019t we, Ben?\u201d<\/p>\n Something in the man\u2019s level tone and the hint at hidden meaning in his words made the hairs on Adam\u2019s neck stand to attention.\u00a0 While he was afraid he knew what that meaning was, he decided to act as though everything were normal.\u00a0 Perhaps, then, Postley would step out from whatever dark shadow had swept over him.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, John,\u201d he urged.\u00a0 \u201cBring the lantern down.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see what sort of color you\u2019ve struck.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, John,\u201d Ben called.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you want to see what you\u2019ve got?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I know what I\u2019ve got, Ben,\u201d Postley said with foreboding calm.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got you.\u201d\u00a0 He turned and walked away.<\/p>\n \u201cJohn!\u201d Ben shouted, and Adam, though he feared the effort futile, joined in.\u00a0 There was no response to their repeated cries until Ben called, \u201cJohn, are you there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here, Ben,\u201d came that calm voice from the dark.<\/p>\n \u201cWe came here as friends, tryin\u2019 to help,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>\n That brought Postley back to the edge of the shaft.\u00a0 \u201cYou and Adam come to help me, did you?\u00a0 I can\u2019t let you do that, Ben.\u00a0 You done enough for me already.\u201d<\/p>\n This time Adam was certain he knew what lay hidden beneath the calm, almost neighborly sounding words.\u00a0 The worm of bitterness they\u2019d all hoped had not left its bite mark on their old friend had all too plainly eaten its way into his soul.\u00a0 But, maybe, there was still a soft spot of humanity residing within.\u00a0 \u201cJohn,\u201d he said, reaching out toward that spot, \u201cwe know how you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Postley grunted.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t know how I feel . . . but you will.\u201d\u00a0 Adam caught the added grimness as he repeated, \u201cYou will.\u201d\u00a0 Postley started to turn away, but Ben\u2019s shout stopped him.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, look, John,\u201d Ben pleaded.\u00a0 \u201cJust drop that rope ladder and let us out of here, and we\u2019ll forget this ever happened.\u00a0 We won\u2019t say a word to anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley\u2019s eyes lit up as if a new idea had penetrated.\u00a0 \u201cBen, will you promise me that if I let you out, you won\u2019t say anything to anybody?\u00a0 \u00a0Now, you promise?\u201d\u00a0 He sounded almost eager to find a way out of this situation.<\/p>\n Ben hesitated only a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley looked at his other prisoner.\u00a0 \u201cHow about you, Adam?\u00a0 You promise, too?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s eyes narrowed warily, but there was only one possible response.\u00a0 \u201cI promise, John.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley laughed, and the ugliest sound the two men below had ever heard went on and on.\u00a0 \u201cNow, that\u2019s funny, and who you gonna tell if I don\u2019t let you out of there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t leave us here to die, John,\u201d Adam said, hoping still to find that single spark of humanity, of sanity and reason, that must yet reside within.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, no, no, no; you\u2019re not gonna die, Adam.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t let that happen,\u201d John said.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s food and water down there, everything a man could want, everything your pa gave me.\u201d<\/p>\n He turned and walked away, and this time no amount of shouting brought him back.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A coyote howl in the distance briefly broke Adam\u2019s concentration with its plaintive reminder that night was falling, but his hands kept probing the wall above him, searching for any rough crag to grip.\u00a0 There were none.\u00a0 Now he knew why Postley had made such an effort to make the walls of his vertical prison straight and smooth and why he\u2019d dug so deep a shaft.\u00a0 Adam was a tall man, but even from his perch atop his father\u2019s strong shoulders, he couldn\u2019t reach the rim of the shaft, and in the dark he couldn\u2019t even see how far above him it was.\u00a0 A pity brother Hoss wasn\u2019t here; his additional height might have been enough.\u00a0 If they\u2019d had Joe, too, he\u2019d have been light enough and agile enough to scramble up a tower of both his older brothers and give them a sure exit.<\/p>\n Adam immediately repented of the thought.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want Hoss here in this hopeless place, and he certainly didn\u2019t want Joe with his endless stream of chatter, much as he suspected he\u2019d come to miss it.\u00a0 He was glad they were safely away at those line camps.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s no use, Pa,\u201d he said with a weary sigh.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to hold onto.\u201d\u00a0 As he came down to ground, he heard his father\u2019s exhausted exhale and realized how his boots much have dug into the older man\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n There was little light left as he slumped against the side of the pit, but he could just make out the shape of the canteen his father handed him.\u00a0 His mouth dry as sunbaked dirt, he drank deeply until his father reached for the canteen.\u00a0 \u201cBetter go easy,\u201d Ben cautioned.<\/p>\n \u201cPostley said there\u2019d be food and water,\u201d Adam reminded him.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, but he didn\u2019t say how often.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded.\u00a0 Pa was right.\u00a0 When a man had as tenuous a hold on reality as John Postley, you couldn\u2019t trust him to act rationally.\u00a0 He might simply forget to provide for his prisoners, or since this was supposed to be repayment for what he himself had suffered in prison, he might make them relive some time there when he\u2019d been left to go hungry or thirsty.\u00a0 Adam remembered his glee the night before, when Pa had fulfilled his promise of \u201cevening things out\u201d between them and his brothers, and he wondered, briefly, if their current predicament was a prime example of a haughty spirit going before a fall, as the Bible cautioned.\u00a0 Hopefully, the territorial prison had provided regular meals, and there\u2019d be no score to even.\u00a0 With a man crazed by bitterness and thirst for revenge, though, you could never tell.<\/p>\n He handed the canteen back to his father and listened as Pa took a small mouthful and swished it around his mouth.\u00a0 Wanting to give the older man some hope, he said, \u201cHoss and Joe will be home tomorrow or the next day; they\u2019ll see us gone and come looking; they\u2019ll find us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCould you find this place, without Postley to guide you?\u201d Ben asked pointedly.<\/p>\n Adam shook his head.\u00a0 Then, realizing that in this darkness he needed to be more verbal with his communication, he said, \u201cThey won\u2019t give up, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, they won\u2019t,\u201d Ben said, but there was more sorrow in his voice than hope.<\/p>\n Of course, Adam realized, Pa would be thinking of them, instead of himself.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t want his younger sons to waste their lives in endless searching.\u00a0 For that matter, neither would he, but he couldn\u2019t help hoping they wouldn\u2019t give up too quickly; Hoss and Joe were, after all, the only hope he and his father had.\u00a0 \u201cSo we wait,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWait and pray,\u201d Ben replied.<\/p>\n Adam nodded, and this time he didn\u2019t bother to voice his thoughts.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t a man as given to prayer as his father, but he just might become one by the time this was over.\u00a0 For now, he aimed a single thought through the ceiling of the mine, far above them: show them the way.\u00a0 Soon, please, for Pa\u2019s sake.<\/em><\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The sun was as bright as the smile on Little Joe Cartwright\u2019s face as he and his older brother Hoss rode up to the ranch house and dismounted next to the hitching rail.\u00a0 \u201cI hope they\u2019re both here,\u201d he said as he wrapped his horse\u2019s reins around the rail.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t wait to see the look on their faces when they see how quick we got those line shacks checked.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss, never as exuberant as his younger brother\u2014who was, after all?\u2014sounded a touch grouchy.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t mind working quick,\u201d he grumbled, \u201cbut I sure do hate to go without breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe you\u2019ll get lucky; there might be some of those chicken \u2018n\u2019 dumplings left,\u201d Joe suggested cheerily.<\/p>\n \u201cThat sounds good.\u201d\u00a0 Whether it was the thought of a good meal or just the contagiousness of Joe\u2019s good mood, Hoss\u2019s outlook changed noticeably.<\/p>\n Having untied his own blanket roll, Little Joe reached for Hoss\u2019s as he headed toward the house.\u00a0 \u201cWell, you put the horses away, and I\u2019ll check on the chicken.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll right,\u201d Hoss said, so contented by now that he didn\u2019t even notice that Little Joe had, as usual, given himself the easier task, while leaving the harder one to him.<\/p>\n Hoss may have been tired from the long ride home, but Little Joe was practically bouncing with enthusiasm as he dropped the two bedrolls on the credenza and unbuckled his gun belt to lay alongside them.\u00a0 \u201cHey, Pa!\u201d he called.\u00a0 \u201cHey, Pa, we\u2019re home!\u201d\u00a0 There was no answer.\u00a0 Glancing at the desk area and finding it vacant, he strode briskly toward the foot of the stairs and called again, \u201cPa?\u201d\u00a0 Again, only silence met him.\u00a0 Scratching his head, Little Joe quickly moved toward the kitchen, the only other place he could think to look.\u00a0 \u201cHey, we\u2019re back early.\u201d<\/p>\n Still silence.\u00a0 As he passed the dinner table, Little Joe noted that it was set for three, and every plate was scattered with crumbs and splattered with thick brown sauce.\u00a0 Chicken gravy?\u00a0 Puzzled, he picked up his father\u2019s dirty plate, just as Hoss came in.\u00a0 \u201cAny of that chicken left?\u201d Hoss asked, moving toward the dining room.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, take a look at this,\u201d Little Joe said.\u00a0 \u201cEverything\u2019s still on the table from dinner last night.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss clucked his tongue in consternation.\u00a0 \u201cAin\u2019t like Pa to leave a mess like this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt sure ain\u2019t.\u00a0 Nobody in the house, either.\u201d\u00a0 Joe nodded toward the stairs.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, they couldn\u2019t be too far off; both their horses are out there in the barn.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss jerked a thumb over his right shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I\u2019ll have a look around,\u201d Little Joe said with a clap of his brother\u2019s brawny arm.\u00a0 \u201cYou check with the boys in the bunkhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n Eight hours later they\u2019d still seen no sign of either Pa or older brother Adam.\u00a0 Little Joe turned away from staring at the clock.\u00a0 \u201cJust doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u00a0 None of the hands saw them this morning; their horses are still in the barn; none of the wagons are missing.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss, ever the optimist, suggested that maybe somebody had driven into Virginia City for some reason.\u00a0 With all the horses and wagons accounted for on the ranch, that wasn\u2019t likely, but neither boy pointed out the obvious discrepancy.\u00a0 They\u2019d reached a point where they needed an explanation badly enough that it didn\u2019t even matter whether it made sense.<\/p>\n Nonetheless, Little Joe said, \u201cEven if you\u2019re right, they would have been back by now.\u201d\u00a0 He raised his palm as he restated what bothered him more than anything else, because it was so far outside Pa\u2019s character.\u00a0 \u201cBesides, what about the dinner dishes?\u00a0 How do you explain that?\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps it was his years at sea, but Ben Cartwright always wanted things shipshape in his home and had schooled his sons to clear up after themselves whenever they finished any task.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d Hoss admitted, as bothered as Joe by that irregularity.<\/p>\n The neighing of an animal startled them both.\u00a0 Hoss was on his feet and headed for the door in an instant, but at the last minute Little Joe pushed through the opening ahead of his larger brother.\u00a0 Hope had surged in both their hearts, and they fully expected to see either Pa or Adam waiting there in the yard.\u00a0 Instead, they saw John Postley, leading his mule toward them.\u00a0 \u201cHowdy, Joe, Hoss,\u201d Postley said.\u00a0 \u201cSorry to come callin\u2019 so late, but I\u2019d like to see your pa for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s not here,\u201d Little Joe said.<\/p>\n Hoss took over.\u00a0 \u201cHe didn\u2019t say anything to you about where he was gonna be today, did he, John?\u201d<\/p>\n Postley looked stunned.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s why I come by.\u00a0 I come to apologize for not coming to dinner last night.\u00a0 I worked so hard at the mine yesterday that I just plumb forgot and fell asleep.\u201d\u00a0 He looked from one young man to the other, as if perplexed.\u00a0 \u201cWhat is it?\u00a0 Something wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know,\u201d Little Joe admitted.<\/p>\n \u201cAnything I can do?\u201d Postley asked.<\/p>\n Manners broke through Little Joe\u2019s anxiety.\u00a0 \u201cNo, no, thank you, John.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley put his hat back on.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I\u2019ll be on my way.\u201d\u00a0 Mounting his horse, he added, \u201cLook, be sure you tell him that I\u2019m sorry about last night, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll tell him, John,\u201d Hoss said.<\/p>\n When John left, Joe said, \u201cLook, I\u2019m gonna ride into town and have a look around.\u00a0 Maybe we\u2019re making a big thing out of nothing.\u201d\u00a0 After a momentary pause, he added, voice shaking, \u201cAt least, I hope we are.\u201d<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ben lay stretched full length on the floor of the mine shaft, listening to his son\u2019s slow, regular breathing.\u00a0 It had been Adam\u2019s suggestion that they needed to take the opportunity to rest more fully than just sitting provided.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not likely Postley will come back until morning, at least, Pa,\u201d the boy had said, and Ben had acquiesced.\u00a0 He closed his eyes, though that was scarcely necessary in the pitch blackness that had descended with the setting sun, and he really had no expectation of sleeping now.\u00a0 More because it was his habitual attitude of prayer, and he felt a strong need to pray.\u00a0 The words, however, refused to come.\u00a0 The words from Romans, \u201cwe know not what we should pray for as we ought,\u201d came to mind and struck him as having never in his life been truer.\u00a0 His mind was a whirlpool of emotions: concern for the predicament in which he and his oldest son found themselves; gratitude that his other two boys had been spared from falling into the same trap and from knowing, at least for one more day, the sorrow of coming home to that inexplicably empty house; fear for the precarious edge on which John Postley\u2019s sanity seemed to rest, and finally, perhaps as a product of residual guilt, pity for the man who had placed them here.\u00a0 How did a man pray when the needs branched so many different directions?<\/p>\n Needing guidance, he let his mind run through the many Scriptures he\u2019d memorized over the years.\u00a0 So many precious words of comfort, but which could touch him now?\u00a0 The ones that finally came to mind seemed strangely ill-suited at first: \u201cThere hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.\u201d\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t, after all, fallen into temptation, and what they were experiencing was anything but common to man, thankfully.\u00a0 Perhaps it was the latter half of the verse that was meant to encourage him, to give him hope.\u00a0 His eyes opened, as insight came.\u00a0 Yes, that was it.\u00a0 He knew now how to pray: Lord provide that way to escape, for both of us, if You will, but if not, then at least for my son, who had no part in what happened to John Postley.\u00a0 If You just spare him, I know I\u2019ll be able to bear whatever I must<\/em>.\u00a0 His thoughts began to drift aimlessly, and soon his breathing was as regular as that of the young man lying near him.<\/p>\n A satisfied smile curved Adam\u2019s lips as he heard his father\u2019s soft snore, and he stopped paying scrupulous attention to his own breathing.\u00a0 Perhaps I should have tried for a career on stage<\/em>, he thought, amused.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t easy, after all, to fool as attentive a father as Ben Cartwright.\u00a0 Little Joe had never been able to get away with feigning sleep for even a minute, but then, Joe was a terrible actor.\u00a0 The kid wore every emotion he felt on his sleeve.\u00a0 Kid<\/em>, Adam rebuked himself.\u00a0 I\u2019ve really got to quit thinking of him that way; he really is a man now.\u00a0 Hard, though, when you\u2019ve changed a boy\u2019s diapers, to think of him as all grown up.<\/em>\u00a0 Sometimes he even found it hard to remember that Hoss wasn\u2019t still a kid, especially since the big man, who towered over him now, still retained his childlike heart.\u00a0 He\u2019d miss that big lunk of a kid, if he never saw him again, and that younger kid brother, too.\u00a0 Those weren\u2019t thoughts to soothe a man to slumber, though.\u00a0 With as much discipline as he\u2019d used to fool his father into thinking he was sleeping, he turned his thoughts to more pleasant boyhood memories of his brothers, in hopes of achieving the real thing.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Perched in his bedroom window, Little Joe stared at the sliver of moonlight peeking through the pines.\u00a0 He\u2019d turned down the covers of his bed and rumpled the sheets, just in case Hoss happened to look in the next morning, but he hadn\u2019t even bothered to get into bed.\u00a0 What was the point? \u00a0Even if he managed to fall asleep, he knew, sure as the world, he wouldn\u2019t stay that way, and he didn\u2019t want to wake up, screaming in the throes of the terrible sort of nightmares that had started shortly after his mother\u2019s death.\u00a0 For the longest time after that, he\u2019d been terrified every time Pa went away on business, that he wouldn\u2019t come home again or that, like Mama, he\u2019d ride up to the house and be thrown to his death right in the yard.\u00a0 Eventually, Pa\u2019s faithfulness in returning safely, each and every time, had made the fears fade and the nightmares, at least the worst of them, disappear.\u00a0 What he and Hoss had come home to tonight had dropped the fear right back into his soul, the fear that some nameless menace had taken his father from him.\u00a0 This was worse than his old nightmares, though; in those, at least, older brother Adam had still been there, a bulwark against the encroaching horror.\u00a0 The bulwark was gone now, too, and the flood had rushed in, setting Joe adrift on a turbulent sea, guaranteed to forestall sleep until utter exhaustion set in.<\/p>\n With a sigh he stood and walked softly into the hall.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t hear Hoss snoring, and that was a sound that normally rocked the rafters.\u00a0 Its absence probably meant that his older brother wasn\u2019t sleeping well, either.\u00a0 As he padded down the stairs in his bare feet, however, he was surprised to see Hoss sitting on the low table before the fire, stirring its embers with a poker.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doin\u2019 up?\u201d he asked automatically, feeling foolish as soon as he asked.\u00a0 He knew good and well what was keeping Hoss up that night.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t exactly have a monopoly on worry.<\/p>\n \u201cSame as you, I reckon,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cIt just plumb don\u2019t make sense, Joe, and my mind keeps wrestlin\u2019 to make it make sense.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it just won\u2019t,\u201d Little Joe finished for him as he came to stand by the fire.\u00a0 It was only a part of what he was feeling, but he would never admit, even to Hoss, the deeper fear that was keeping him awake.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t fully ready to admit it yet, even to himself.\u00a0 \u201cRoy said he\u2019d get a search party out looking tomorrow,\u201d he said, instead.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss stood up.\u00a0 \u201cReckon we oughta try to get some sleep, if\u2019n we\u2019re gonna head out at first light.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI reckon,\u201d Little Joe said, but he made no move.<\/p>\n Hoss stood still, staring at his motionless brother and nodded grimly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll put some coffee on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cBetter yours than mine,\u201d Little Joe said with a wry half-grin.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s for dad-blame sure, little brother!\u201d\u00a0 Hoss snorted as he headed for the kitchen.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHow long do you think it\u2019s been?\u201d Adam asked, head resting against one of the straight, cool walls of his prison as he stared upward in thought.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I\u2019m not sure,\u201d Ben answered absently.\u00a0 \u201cHard to tell night from day down here.\u00a0 Day, day and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded, more for his own benefit than his father\u2019s in the dim light.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s about what I\u2019d calculated.\u00a0 The boys should be getting back any time now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Ben agreed, though his tone carried little more than a spark of hope.\u00a0 Needles in haystacks had better odds of being found by chance.<\/p>\n \u201cWater\u2019s running low,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cIf Postley keeps his word about providing food and water, we should be expecting a visit from our \u2018warden\u2019 soon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019ll be here.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019d said it primarily for his son\u2019s sake, but he was fairly certain that Postley would keep his word, if only to ensure that the retribution went on . . . and on . . . for how long only the madman knew for sure.\u00a0 However, Ben wouldn\u2019t have put it past the man to give them a sharp taste of hunger and thirst before he provided sustenance.\u00a0 For Adam\u2019s sake, he hoped that wouldn\u2019t be true, though if he were honest, he might admit that the deprivation would tell sooner on a man of his years than a young fellow like his son.<\/p>\n A rough voice, high above, drawled down at them.\u00a0 \u201cWell, did my friends think I\u2019d forgot about \u2018em?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPostley, let us out of here,\u201d Ben called.<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t be done, Ben,\u201d Postley said, shaking his head.\u00a0 \u201cJustice has gotta be served; you know that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut this isn\u2019t justice, John.\u201d\u00a0 Ben switched to the man\u2019s first name to make it seem more like he was reasoning with a friend.\u00a0 \u201cAt least, not for Adam.\u00a0 Your grievance is with me, not him.\u00a0 Let Adam go.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam jumped to his feet, saying sharply, \u201cNo, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben held a silencing palm toward his son, while keeping his eyes focused on the man towering above them.\u00a0 \u201cAdam\u2019s done nothing,\u201d he continued, \u201cand it isn\u2019t justice to condemn the innocent with the guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n Grasping that his father\u2019s intent was to sacrifice himself for his son, Adam seethed inside, but in the momentary silence imposed by his father\u2019s gesture, he\u2019d also realized that if he could get out, by whatever means, it would ultimately lead to release for both of them.\u00a0 He was young and strong; he could overpower Postley, and even if the man only sent him away at gunpoint, he could get help and return to rescue his father.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, now, Ben, that sounds good,\u201d Postley said, giving both prisoners hope for a second, which was all that passed before he shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cTrouble is, sometimes innocent men do get sent to prison.\u00a0 You remember that, don\u2019t you, Ben?\u00a0 They get sent to prison and jailed right alongside the guilty, same as here, so sorry as I am to say it, Adam\u2019s just gonna have to suffer along with you.\u00a0 Sorry, son, but that\u2019s how it has to be.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have it any other way,\u201d Adam said, resting a hand on his father\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, ain\u2019t that staunch of you?\u201d Postley said, with a hint of mockery.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll be a real comfort to your pa, boy.\u00a0 And it ain\u2019t so bad, is it?\u00a0 You got food and water, and you got each other to talk to.\u00a0 I never had nobody to talk to.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben looked intently at their captor.\u00a0 \u201cJohn, just\u2014just listen for a minute now.\u00a0 It\u2019s not gonna work.\u00a0 They\u2019re gonna look for us, when they get back, Hoss and Joe.\u00a0 They know you were the last one to be with us, to see us and they\u2019re gonna find you and it\u2019ll be all over.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley chuckled dryly.\u00a0 \u201cWell, they don\u2019t have to find me, Ben; I found them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0 Taken by surprise, Ben felt his last thin hope slipping away.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Postley said amiably, \u201cI went by the ranch last night, told \u2018em I was sorry I missed dinner the other night.\u00a0 They\u2019re right worried about both of you.\u00a0 I even offered to help \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll find out,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 He had no idea how, but Little Joe, at least, was as snoopy as they came, and Hoss was the best tracker he knew, outside a Paiute encampment.<\/p>\n \u2018No, I don\u2019t think they will, Adam,\u201d Postley said, \u201cand I\u2019ve had a long time to think about this, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam smiled as he pictured the scene they\u2019d left behind. \u00a0\u201cLook, John, they\u2019ll see the dishes that were left on the table . . . three settings there.\u00a0 They\u2019ll see that; they\u2019ll know you\u2019re lying.\u201d\u00a0 He, too, had had a long time to think about their situation, and he\u2019d realized that those dirty dishes were the best clue Hoss and Joe could find to point them in the right direction.\u00a0 Once they knew to seek out John Postley, they\u2019d be halfway to figuring out the rest.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, well, them dishes,\u201d Postley said.\u00a0 \u201cNow, I took the liberty of going back in the house the other night and washing mine up and putting them away. \u00a0It\u2019s a habit I got in prison.\u201d He grinned in satisfaction at the sudden slump of Adam\u2019s shoulders, the look of defeat as he slid to the dirt floor.\u00a0 \u201cNow, why don\u2019t you both stop arguin\u2019 and pleadin\u2019 with me all the time.\u00a0 I did the same thing when I first went to prison, but it don\u2019t do no good.\u00a0 All it does is get you all upset.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0He dropped a flour sack tied to the end of a rope.\u00a0 \u201cHere\u2019s some more food and water for you; I\u2019ll be back in a couple of days.\u00a0 Take it, Ben.\u201d\u00a0 When Ben hesitated, he said more sharply, \u201cTake it!\u00a0 \u2018Course, it don\u2019t compare to that meal you prepared for me, but after a while it gets to taste pretty good.\u00a0 Then, after a while\u201d\u2014he drew out the word to give them a feel for how long they\u2019d be here\u2014”nothing tastes like anything at all. \u00a0Good-bye, fellas.\u201d\u00a0 He turned and walked away, out of sight.<\/p>\n As he was untying the sack of provisions, Ben glanced to his left and saw the rope, still hanging there.\u00a0 \u201cAdam,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, the rope!\u201d<\/p>\n Adam looked up and sprang to his feet.<\/p>\n \u201cWait; make sure he\u2019s gone,\u201d Ben said.\u00a0 The silence was deafening . . . and inspiring.\u00a0 Finally, Ben called out, \u201cJohn,\u201d although the man would have had to be close at hand to hear his soft voice, Ben realized later.\u00a0 He gave the rope a sturdy tug to test it and then said, \u201cYou first; you\u2019re lighter.\u201d\u00a0 As Adam began to make his way up, his father cautioned, \u201cEasy.\u00a0 As quietly as you can.\u201d<\/p>\n Good advice<\/em>, Adam thought, slowing his pace slightly, to keep from scraping his boots against the rock-hard walls.\u00a0 He had almost reached the top when the rope went slack and its cut end fell down over his hands as he plunged to the floor of shaft.<\/p>\n Ben rushed to his side, cradling his son\u2019s head in his hands, searching for response.\u00a0 It was slow to come, but Adam\u2019s eyes fluttered open.\u00a0 Only then did the older man look upward.\u00a0 What he saw horrified and infuriated him.<\/p>\n Postley again towered over them, a lantern in one hand and, ominously, an axe in the other.\u00a0 \u201cYou shouldn\u2019t oughta try to escape,\u201d he said, playing the warden role to the hilt.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m gonna have to put that on your record.\u201d\u00a0 He turned to leave, and this time, damage done, he really did.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hoss sat on the settee, deftly plaiting a rope.\u00a0 He found the simple task relaxing, and goodness knew but he\u2019d needed something to relax him ever since\u2014he looked up as the front door opened and his little brother came dragging in.\u00a0 As Little Joe laid his hat on the credenza to the left of the door, Hoss glanced over, not surprised to see the discouraged look that had become habitual on what had before been a vibrant, almost always laughing face.\u00a0 \u201cNothin\u2019, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNothin\u2019,\u201d Little Joe said with a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cNobody\u2019s seen \u2018em or heard of \u2018em.\u00a0 Two weeks and nothin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about the reward posters?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n \u201cRoy sent \u2018em out to every town within 200 miles.\u201d\u00a0 Joe shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what good they\u2019re gonna do.\u00a0 The news has been in every newspaper from Carson City to Placerville.\u00a0 If anybody had any information, we\u2019d\u2019ve heard by now.\u00a0 All we can do is wait.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss felt like they\u2019d had this conversation or one like it a hundred times in the last two weeks, and it didn\u2019t get any easier to hear.\u00a0 He stood up.\u00a0 \u201cMy turn to cook, I guess.\u00a0 You want a big feed or . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want anything,\u201d Little Joe said.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, listen here, Joseph,\u201d Hoss began, but his younger brother quickly cut him off.<\/p>\n \u201cI said I don\u2019t want anything,\u201d Little Joe snapped.\u00a0 \u201cYou sound like Hop Sing, thinkin\u2019 a good meal solves everything.\u00a0 It don\u2019t solve nothin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss got hold of himself in time to avoid biting his brother\u2019s head off.\u00a0 Paying Joe back, angry word for angry word, never worked.\u00a0 Maybe reason would.\u00a0 \u201cLook here, little brother,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cIf you don\u2019t start eatin\u2019 more\u2019n you have been, you\u2019re gonna plumb pine away.\u00a0 Already lookin\u2019 downright skinny, like when you was a snot-nosed kid.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe snorted.\u00a0 \u201cYeah?\u00a0 Well, I haven\u2019t exactly seen you chowin\u2019 down here of late.\u00a0 Kind of off your feed, too, ain\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss\u2019s nose scrunched up, a sure sign that Joe\u2019s words had hit home.\u00a0 \u201cReckon I am, but there\u2019s a difference, little brother.\u00a0 Doc\u2019s been tellin\u2019 me I\u2019d do better to shed a few pounds; you ain\u2019t got none to shed.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe whooshed out an exasperated gust of air.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, all right.\u00a0 I will if you will.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReckon it\u2019s a bargain,\u201d Hoss said as he moved toward the kitchen to prepare a meal neither of them truly wanted, but each was willing to consume if it would encourage the other to keep up his strength.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Propped against a wall of the shaft, Ben was snoring softly.\u00a0 Adam chuckled under his breath at the sound.\u00a0 It was easy to get their days and nights mixed up down here, but so far, he hadn\u2019t succumbed to that himself.\u00a0 At least, he didn\u2019t think he had.\u00a0 The difference between day and night was a slim one.\u00a0 Even in the so-called day, the light that slanted in through the mouth of the mine was barely enough to see one another\u2019s faces, much less do the work he had assigned himself, but he had to do something.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t sleep the day away.\u00a0 It simply wasn\u2019t in his nature, but then, it wasn\u2019t in Pa\u2019s hard-working nature, either.\u00a0 There just wasn\u2019t any of Pa\u2019s sort of work available here.\u00a0 Adam, who had always preferred work with his brain over labor with his brawn, could still put his mind to work, even in this dark pit.\u00a0 Sometimes he thought it was all that was keeping him sane.<\/p>\n He rubbed at his scruffy beard.\u00a0 It itched.\u00a0 For that matter, he itched all over, but he supposed that was a natural consequence of being unable to bathe for\u2014how long now?\u00a0 Sadly, he\u2019d lost track of the days, and that failure, with its hint that his mind was failing, was more troubling to him than the physical discomfort and the appalling stench of the pit, despite their designating the furthest corner for body waste.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t sure how long he and Pa had spent in this hole.\u00a0 He shook his head, willing his mind to work.\u00a0 If he lost that, he\u2019d have nothing left to live for, nothing, that is, except the duty of standing by his father in this crucible.\u00a0 To assure himself that his wits were still in working order, he again picked up the piece of rock that had fallen into the shaft and began to sketch in the dirt.<\/p>\n Ben woke slowly, and as always, his eyes first sought his son.\u00a0 He needed that reassurance that his boy was still alive and\u2014well, just alive would have to be enough for now.\u00a0 This boy of his was all he had to live for now, him and his two brothers, but Ben was losing hope that he\u2019d ever see Hoss or Joe again.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t sure how long he and Adam had been down here.\u00a0 Long enough to grow an inch or so of scraggly beard, but surely past the point when reasonable men would have given up looking.\u00a0 He shared a secret smile with himself.\u00a0 Not that any of his boys had ever been reasonable.\u00a0 Hard-headed stubborn, the lot of them.\u00a0 The smile disappeared as he realized his younger sons were probably still searching for him and Adam and might be for the rest of their lives.\u00a0 He hoped not.\u00a0 He wanted something better or, at least, something less futile, for them.<\/p>\n He squinted, the better to see his companion in misery.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing there, boy?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Adam sat back, working the ache from his shoulder muscles that came from hunching over the drawing.\u00a0 \u201cTrying to engineer a plan to improve the water flow to Fincher\u2019s Plateau.\u00a0 If we could just get enough water there, we could irrigate, maybe plant a field of alfalfa for extra grazing.\u201d\u00a0 He sensed, more than saw, his father\u2019s dumbfounded look.\u00a0 \u201cIt keeps me from going stir-crazy, Pa, thinking about how long a man can live in these\u2014these conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben sighed.\u00a0 \u201cWith food and water . . . a long time.\u201d\u00a0 He crab-crawled over to Adam\u2019s side and peered at the sketch.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t tell a thing about it.\u00a0 Too dark to see anything as meticulous as his son\u2019s usual sort of work, and he wondered how Adam could possibly see well enough to do it.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t strain your eyes, boy,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cNot enough light here for your technical drawing.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam laughed roughly.\u00a0 \u201cWith nothing but rock and dirt to use, it\u2019s not that technical, Pa.\u00a0 Closer to stick figures, if I\u2019m honest, but you\u2019re right.\u00a0 If there\u2019s anything I don\u2019t want it\u2019s to go blind in the darkness, little as there is to see here and short as the time is each day that we can see anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I think the light\u2019s starting to fade,\u201d Ben said.\u00a0 \u201cI should have saved sleeping for later, but I just drifted off.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t help myself.\u00a0 Too bored to do anything else.\u201d\u00a0 Suddenly, Adam\u2019s sketching, which had seemed so pointless when they\u2019d likely never live to implement it, made sense, and he wished he had something like it to absorb his own mind.\u00a0 But he didn\u2019t, he realized with a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cNow, I\u2019ll find it hard to sleep when I should.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam set aside his rock and yawned.\u00a0 \u201cThink I just about could now, and since you\u2019re feeling wakeful, maybe I could persuade you to tell me one of those seafaring yarns you used to regale me with at bedtime when I was a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cBeen a long time since you asked for one of those. \u00a0I thought you were tired of them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot anymore.\u201d\u00a0 Resting his head on his father\u2019s thigh, as he had when he about five, he made a little boy\u2019s plea, \u201cTell me a story, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben felt his heart surge with affection for his son, and he tenderly stroked the dirt-gritted hair as he spun the most adventurous yarn he could recall.\u00a0 Maybe he couldn\u2019t work out detailed engineering schemes to occupy his mind, but he\u2019d always been able to tell a good tale, and if it helped Adam, he\u2019d tell them \u2018til his throat went dry.\u00a0 Postley had been right about one thing: being together did make the confinement easier to bear.\u00a0 He was almost certain that, had he been left alone in this hopeless place, he would have lost his mind by now, as miserably as had Postley himself.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Little Joe sat at his father\u2019s desk, holding his aching head and poring over a column of figures that just wouldn\u2019t add up right, no matter how many times he ran the sum.<\/p>\n Hoss set a cup of coffee down near his brother\u2019s left hand.\u00a0 \u201cStill stumped?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Little Joe reached for the coffee, his main source of sustenance over the past month.\u00a0 \u201cJust can\u2019t get it to balance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWant me to try?\u201d Hoss asked, sounding anything but eager to take on the challenge.<\/p>\n Little Joe snorted.\u00a0 \u201cYour arithmetic\u2019s worse than mine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I know,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cMe and numbers just never could make friends.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you give it a rest, tackle it again in the morning?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI need to get this done,\u201d Little Joe muttered, clenching the pencil tighter.\u00a0 \u201cAdam would have a fit if he saw how I\u2019d slacked off with the bookwork.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss snuffled.\u00a0 \u201cI wish you would slack off, little brother.\u00a0 Plumb wears me out to watch you workin\u2019 yourself into the ground, night and day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone has to,\u201d Little Joe grunted.<\/p>\n \u201cI do my share,\u201d Hoss said.<\/p>\n Little Joe looked up quickly and saw the hurt on his big brother\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t mean you didn\u2019t.\u00a0 We\u2019re both puttin\u2019 in long hours, what with tryin\u2019 to keep up the search and the ranch work, too.\u00a0 Just hard for two men to do the work of four.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDadgum impossible,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe we oughta quit tryin\u2019, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis ranch meant everything to Pa!\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe exploded out of his chair.\u00a0 \u201cIf you think I\u2019m gonna let it run down on him, you got another think comin\u2019, brother!\u00a0 I may not be as good at this as Adam was, but I don\u2019t want either of \u2018em comin\u2019 back to find it in worse shape than they left it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they\u2019re gonna come back to is you layin\u2019 flat o\u2019 your back if\u2019n you don\u2019t ease up some, boy,\u201d Hoss scolded.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t eat; you don\u2019t sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t, either,\u201d Little Joe scoffed, dropping back into the chair and bending again over the ledger.<\/p>\n \u201cMore\u2019n you,\u201d Hoss insisted. \u00a0He exhaled wearily.\u00a0 \u201cNot much more, I admit, but I don\u2019t sit up half the night \u2018cause I\u2019m afraid to let my head hit the pillow . . . or did you think I was too dumb to figure that one out?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe tossed the pencil aside and came around the desk to stand next to his brother.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re the smartest man I know,\u201d he said, laying a hand on Hoss\u2019s muscular arm, \u201cand the best.\u00a0 I\u2019m just sorry I can\u2019t be the brother you deserve, the one you really need, but he\u2019s gone, Hoss, and I can\u2019t take his place.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat what you\u2019re tryin\u2019 to do . . . be Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe.\u00a0 Same way you\u2019re tryin\u2019 to be Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI reckon,\u201d Hoss admitted.\u00a0 \u201cIt ain\u2019t workin\u2019 too good, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 As Little Joe looked into his brother\u2019s face, his chin began to quiver. \u00a0\u201cHoss, we\u2019re kidding ourselves.\u00a0 The only chance we had was that kidnappers were holding them for ransom, and even that\u2019s no good now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Reckon that\u2019s what\u2019s been stickin\u2019 in my craw, too.\u00a0 Just hate to give up, though.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t give up, either,\u201d Little Joe said, \u201cbut you\u2019re right: we can\u2019t keep on goin\u2019 like we have been.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss nodded with determination.\u00a0 \u201cYou got to quit tryin\u2019 to be Adam for me, and I got to quit tryin\u2019 to be Pa for you, but you got to let me be your big brother, you hear?\u201d\u00a0 He pulled Little Joe into his strong arms and just held him, the way he\u2019d done so easily before his little brother got to be a man, the way he\u2019d wanted to ever since this whole miserable business began.\u00a0 He felt the younger man trembling in his grasp and was afraid for a moment that Joe might collapse.\u00a0 Then his brother leaned into his shoulder, and Hoss felt his shirt start to dampen.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s tears released the floodgate of his own, and they both wept openly.\u00a0 When they pulled apart, they looked at each other, unashamed of the exposed emotions, willing for the first time to let the other see the hopelessness brimming inside.\u00a0 And while they looked weaker, in that moment of honesty they felt stronger, more able to carry on, even though their hearts were still weighted with lead.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Postley strolled into the mine, attitude light as air, countenance sunny as a cloudless day.\u00a0 \u201cMorning, boys,\u201d he called affably. \u00a0\u201cBeautiful morning!\u201d<\/p>\n The two men sitting, side by side, in the dark hole below him made no response.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re awful quiet this morning,\u201d Postley remarked, all the more cheerful at seeing their solemn demeanors. \u00a0\u201cI figured you\u2019d be happy to see me.\u201d Knowing the rope stunt wouldn\u2019t work a second time, he just dropped the sack of provisions and wasn\u2019t surprised when it brought no reaction at all.\u00a0 Like he\u2019d prophesied, his pets had got to the place where the food didn\u2019t taste like anything at all, and his smile broadened as he sat down at the edge of the shaft.\u00a0 \u201cHey, I brought a newspaper,\u201d he said amiably, \u201cthought I\u2019d read to you a little bit while you\u2019re having your breakfast.\u201d\u00a0 He laughed in malicious glee at the headline. \u00a0\u201cYes, sir, you\u2019re both famous now.\u201d\u00a0 He looked down at them as if he were conveying some special honor.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, you\u2019re right on the front page.\u00a0 Yes, sir, it says \u2018Reward offered\u2019 for anybody knowing anything about you.\u201d\u00a0 He let loose a throaty cackle.\u00a0 \u201cHeh, heh, heh . . . you sure you don\u2019t want me to read it to you?\u00a0 Well, I\u2019ll read it to you, anyway,\u201d he said, pouring out sociability like it was water.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, it says, \u2018Cartwrights missing one\u201d\u2014he paused long enough to give them a taunting grin.\u00a0 \u201cGuess what it says.\u00a0 Is it a week, a month, a year?\u00a0 Come on, guess, Ben.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben ignored him, except for a slight, disgusted shake of his head, but Adam, looking up, said with calm reason, \u201cYou\u2019re insane, Postley.\u00a0 You know that, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 You\u2019re insane, and you\u2019re trying to drive us insane, but it won\u2019t work.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben caught his son\u2019s spirit and spoke with the same calm logic.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, I feel sorry for you, John.\u201d<\/p>\n Pleased that his father had understood what he was doing, Adam affirmed what he\u2019d said.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I do, too.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley snickered.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re down there, and I\u2019m up here, and you feel sorry for me.\u00a0 I\u2019m free to go anyplace I want to.\u201d\u00a0 Apparently, his prisoners needed a little reminder of just how much difference there was between them and a free man.<\/p>\n Ben chuckled as he shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo, you\u2019re not.\u00a0 You can\u2019t get away from here.\u201d\u00a0 He let his voice drawl out.\u00a0 \u201cYou gotta keep coming back day after day, week after week.\u00a0 You\u2019re just as much a prisoner as we are.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll never be free,\u201d Adam added to emphasize his father\u2019s point.<\/p>\n Unperturbed, Postley grinned.\u00a0 \u201cWell, now, what if I just go away and let you die?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben was past being taunted by his captor.\u00a0 The shoe suddenly felt as if it were on the other foot, and he was quite willing to grind it into Postley\u2019s face.\u00a0 He sounded almost as gleeful as his captor as he said, \u201cOh, you won\u2019t; you can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Relishing the role reversal as much as his father, Adam reiterated the point.\u00a0 \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t have anything to live for.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley refused to take the bait.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re sure of that, aren\u2019t you?\u00a0 You\u2019re real sure?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben nodded with certainty.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re trapped, John,\u201d Adam chimed in, \u201cand you\u2019ll never be free.\u00a0 Never.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley folded the paper.\u00a0 \u201cWell, we\u2019ll see about that.\u201d\u00a0 He stood and walked away, mumbling to himself, \u201cWe\u2019ll see about that.\u201d<\/p>\n Father and son exchanged a look of satisfaction.\u00a0 Then, since they were hungry, Ben began to untie the knot at the top of the flour sack with little expectation that it would reveal anything other than the same steady diet of monotony they\u2019d endured for one . . . day?\u00a0 Obviously, longer than that.\u00a0 More than a week, too, so it was probably a month.\u00a0 A month of misery for him and Adam and equally so for his younger sons, with a large dose of the unexplainable thrown in for them.<\/p>\n The monotony ended abruptly when a lighted stick of dynamite fell between him and Adam.\u00a0 Stunned, Ben simply stared at it, as high above, Postley leaned forward to watch the drama below, tongue held to the top of his mouth in animated suspense.<\/p>\n Adam instinctively flinched when the hissing missile hit the floor of their prison.\u00a0 A brief glance revealed what a short fuse Postley had lit.\u00a0 Only one thing to be done, and being younger and quicker to react, without a second thought, without even a moment to commit his soul to his maker, Adam threw his own body atop the burning stick.\u00a0 He winced as it singed through his shirt and seared the flesh beneath, but he bore it in silence, determined, at whatever cost, to shield his father from the impending blast.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, no!\u201d Ben cried, scrambling toward his son to stop the sacrifice that would destroy all he had to live for.\u00a0 Adam fought him, wanting to absorb the shock of the blast himself, but the desperate father finally succeeded in pulling his son away, just as the fuse fizzled out, and the pit was again silent, but for their heavy breathing.<\/p>\n Adam snatched up the inert stick and broke it open.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s dirt; it\u2019s only dirt,\u201d he said as the contents spilled out.\u00a0 He tossed it away in disgust.<\/p>\n Ben wrapped his arms around his son and held him close.\u00a0 \u201cOh, Adam, how could you?\u201d he chided.<\/p>\n \u201cHow could I not, Pa?\u201d Adam murmured, breathless in his father\u2019s embrace.\u00a0 \u201cHow could I not?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow could I go on without you?\u201d Ben whispered in the boy\u2019s ear, for fear that Postley would hear and devise some new way to make that happen, just to torture him all the more.<\/p>\n Bracing his arms on his bent knees, Postley leaned out over edge.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s insane now, Cartwright?\u201d he taunted.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s insane now?\u201d\u00a0 He left them, satisfied with his morning\u2019s work, but having totally misunderstood both Adam\u2019s motive in throwing himself on the sizzling fuse and the reason behind Ben\u2019s tears.\u00a0 Whatever else happened, Ben felt his life had been well spent, if it had produced even one such boy.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Postley was whistling cheerily as he hauled bucket after bucket of water from the creek to the barrel standing next to his cart.\u00a0 It took a lot of effort to get water up to the mine, so he generally filled several barrels each trip.\u00a0 Sure, it lost its coolness fast, but that didn\u2019t matter to his prisoners.\u00a0 It was wet, and it kept \u2018em alive.\u00a0 It was all they needed, all they deserved.\u00a0 He grinned as he remembered how entertaining that stunt with the dynamite stick had been; he\u2019d have to go some to better it, but he\u2019d come up with something.\u00a0 Gave him something to think about in the lonely nights.\u00a0 He had to keep apart; he couldn\u2019t afford to get friendly with anyone.\u00a0 Might raise their curiosity, make \u2018em wonder what he did with his time and come snoopin\u2019 around and find his mine . . . and what was in it.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t have that.\u00a0 So, he\u2019d had to give up sociability, but then, he\u2019d pretty much lost that while he was in prison, anyway, and this time it was by choice and it was worth it.<\/p>\n It only took a moment for all his carefully laid plans to fall apart.\u00a0 He never saw or heard the rattler that spooked his mule, so he had no warning when the animal suddenly reared up, thrashing in its harness and toppling the cart just enough to make a water barrel roll down the ramp he\u2019d set up to make loading by himself easier.\u00a0 Heavy with water, it rushed down fast, and he cried out in sudden, sharp pain as it landed on his legs and pinned him to the ground.\u00a0 For a brief second he lay, staring up into the blazing sun, and then he knew no more.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hoss reined Chubby to a halt and pulled out his canteen for a swig of water.\u00a0 Hot day.\u00a0 He was almost tempted to envy Little Joe his indoor chore with the books.\u00a0 Almost, but he hadn\u2019t plumb lost his senses yet.\u00a0 They\u2019d talked it out, him and Joe, and decided to take turns.\u00a0 One day he\u2019d ride out, scourin\u2019 the countryside for Pa and Adam, while Joe stayed home and tended to ranch business, and the next he\u2019d stay home and Joe\u2019d go lookin\u2019.\u00a0 He drew the line at doin\u2019 the books, though.\u00a0 Joe was as much better at that than him as Adam had been than all of \u2018em, Pa included.<\/p>\n Hoss winced when he realized he\u2019d put his older brother in the past tense, like he was dead and gone, but it was probably true, much as he hated to admit it.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t give up yet, though, even if his pa and brother had been missing a little over a month now.\u00a0 Adam had come back to \u2018em after bein\u2019 missin\u2019 almost as long that time in the desert with that Caine feller, hadn\u2019t he?\u00a0 No, it wasn\u2019t time to give up yet.\u00a0 He capped the canteen, wrapped its strap around his saddle horn and rode on, ranging out further and further from the Ponderosa, since they\u2019d already searched every square inch of that.<\/p>\n Later that afternoon he reached for the canteen again and noticed how low it was getting.\u00a0 Looking around, he remembered there was a creek nearby and figured he\u2019d better refill it while he was close.\u00a0 The last thing he expected was to find another man lying there in a puddle of water, unconscious, trapped beneath a smashed water barrel.\u00a0 As he bent over the crumpled figure, he recognized John Postley.\u00a0 Now, what was the little man doin\u2019 out this way?\u00a0 Hoss shrugged.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 He needed help, and Hoss thanked God, as he had many times in his life, that he had the brute strength needed for the job.\u00a0 Little Joe and Adam might have it over him when it came to bookwork, but he had his talents, too, and they were the ones Postley needed right now.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Adam lifted the canteen and shook it.\u00a0 Frowning at the small slosh he heard, he held it out to his father.<\/p>\n Ben shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not thirsty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLiar,\u201d Adam said, but he took a small sip before handing the canteen over to his father.<\/p>\n With a smile Ben took it this time and swallowed shallowly and then sighed as he shook the canteen.\u00a0 \u201cAll gone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d\u00a0 The look Adam exchanged with his father told him they were both thinking the same thing.\u00a0 This was the first time that Postley had let their supply of water run completely dry.\u00a0 They still had food, only a little, but that wasn\u2019t nearly as critical as water, especially in the heat of summer.\u00a0 Was this some new torment dreamed up by the madman or had their taunts about his lack of freedom hit home in a way they\u2019d never intended?\u00a0 Had he finally decided to just leave them here to rot and die?\u00a0 Die and rot<\/em>, Adam corrected himself.\u00a0 Mustn\u2019t get the cart before the horse<\/em>.\u00a0 He would have laid odds that he\u2019d been right when he said that Postley would have nothing to live for if he let them die, and he still believed it.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t mean the man wouldn\u2019t let them come close, just to punish them for their insubordination and disrespect.\u00a0 Maybe he\u2019d need to factor that in the next time he decided to let his smart mouth run.<\/p>\n Needing a change of subject, both for his own mind and to distract his father from their dire situation, Adam observed, \u201cI wonder how the boys are coping with the responsibilities of the ranch these days?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmm,\u201d Ben mused.\u00a0 \u201cWell enough, I imagine. \u00a0We trained them well, you and I together.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, we tried,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 Then to inject a little levity into a situation that had none, he added, \u201cI just hope Little Joe doesn\u2019t decide to wager half the ranch in a poker game and come home with a Chinese slave girl.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben chuckled at the memory.\u00a0 \u201cI think he has finally learned the difference between a girl and a horse.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam laughed.\u00a0 \u201cI certainly hope so.\u201d\u00a0 The laughter was healing, for both of them, and adding to the warmth of their feeling was the knowledge that, had Little Joe been there, he\u2019d have been laughing right along with them.\u00a0 Warm sentiment turning him suddenly pensive, Adam said, \u201cI keep telling myself that I should quit referring to them as \u2018the boys.\u2019\u00a0 They\u2019re men now, even Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n With a smile Ben nodded.\u00a0 \u201cEven Joe,\u201d he said, and returning to the original question, he added, \u201cHe\u2019ll do all right, but it is a heavy load for those young shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHoss will help,\u201d Adam assured him.<\/p>\n \u201cAll he can,\u201d Ben agreed.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019ll run the ranch work as well as we could\u2014maybe, better\u2014but the business side?\u00a0 That\u2019s going to fall on Joe, and he\u2019ll hate it.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded.\u00a0 \u201cHope he doesn\u2019t forget to have some fun along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI hope so, too,\u201d Ben said.\u00a0 Fun was an alien concept down here, but in that great world out there beyond the mouth of the mine, it must still exist, and he wanted it for the boys\u2014the men\u2014he\u2019d left behind.\u00a0 He no longer prayed for deliverance from this bottomless pit, as deep a hell as the one described in Holy Scripture, but he did pray for those outside it, for Hoss and for Joe.\u00a0 Let them live<\/em>, he implored his maker now, and let them find joy\u2014and, yes, just plain fun along their way<\/em>.\u00a0 If he could know that prayer would be answered, he\u2019d willingly relinquish anything for himself.<\/p>\n As for Adam, he was younger, stronger; he might last a little longer, even if water never came, but not much longer.\u00a0 In desperation, but little hope, he added a codicil to his prayer.\u00a0 Dear God, let them come in time for Adam; do that, and I\u2019ll gladly give my life for him, as surely as he offered his for mine when that fool stick of dirt came hurtling down.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t he deserve mercy for that one act of outrageous love?\u00a0 <\/em>Then, exhausted, he lay down and closed his eyes.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Hoss sat patiently by the bedside with the same concern he would have felt for any hurt critter.\u00a0 And goodness knew, this little critter, this little mite of a man, was hurtin\u2019 bad.\u00a0 You could tell that by the way he moaned off and on.\u00a0 He\u2019d been unconscious ever since Hoss first found him, a mercy, given all he\u2019d been put through since.\u00a0 Postley started to moan louder as he stirred on the bed and his eyes finally cracked open.\u00a0 Hoss quickly reached for the sedative Dr. Martin had left and that he\u2019d kept at the ready for this very moment.\u00a0 Postley didn\u2019t seem to know what he was doin\u2019\u2014maybe he was just thirsty\u2014but he drank the potion down like it was water. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cJohn, you had yourself a real bad accident,\u201d Hoss explained.\u00a0 \u201cBusted your legs up real good.\u00a0 If they\u2019d\u2019ve been hurt any worse, the doc said you\u2019d\u2019ve lost \u2018em both.\u201d<\/p>\n Postley still looked bleary-eyed, confused.\u00a0 \u201cDoc?\u00a0 What doc?\u201d he babbled.<\/p>\n Hoss kept his voice calm and patient.\u00a0 \u201cDoc\u2019s already been here and gone.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s takin\u2019 him back to town.\u201d\u00a0 Hopefully, his little brother was givin\u2019 the doc a whole heap less frantic a ride back than he\u2019d given him comin\u2019 here after Hoss brought Postley in.<\/p>\n Postley still couldn\u2019t seem to follow what was said to him.\u00a0 \u201cWhere am I?\u201d he asked, staring at the unfamiliar room.<\/p>\n Hoss pulled the covers back over the injured man.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re at the Ponderosa, John.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPonderosa?\u201d\u00a0 A look of horror came over Postley\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I can\u2019t be!\u201d\u00a0 He tried to rise up from the bed, but his broken body wouldn\u2019t obey his command.<\/p>\n Hoss pressed him firmly to the bed.\u00a0 \u201cJohn, now you gotta lay still.\u00a0 You got two busted legs, and if you keep movin\u2019 around, they ain\u2019t gonna set proper.\u201d\u00a0 He hated getting rough with a man hurt this bad, but he\u2019d had plenty of experience with his ornery little brother, and he wasn\u2019t about to brook any nonsense.<\/p>\n Postley wasn\u2019t past dishing some out, though.\u00a0 \u201cI gotta get outta here,\u201d he insisted, fighting his body once again and losing the battle, same as before.<\/p>\n Hoss made himself stay patient.\u00a0 \u201cJohn, you ain\u2019t gotta go nowhere, not for another six weeks anyhow.\u201d<\/p>\n The horror with which Postley had heard where he was magnified itself a hundred times over.\u00a0 \u201cSix weeks?\u201d he croaked.<\/p>\n Hoss nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s doctor\u2019s orders.\u00a0 You lay still and let me go get you something to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n As Hoss left, Postley again tried to rise up in bed, but he couldn\u2019t get past the pain.\u00a0 He lay there helpless, staring at the ceiling, torn between two unspeakable alternatives.\u00a0 If he didn\u2019t say anything, Ben Cartwright and his son Adam would soon die; if he did speak up in time to rescue them, what he\u2019d done would become known, and he\u2019d probably end up back to prison.\u00a0 Both were unthinkable; yet all he could do was think.\u00a0 Soon, however, the medicine Hoss had given him began to take effect, and by the time Hoss returned with a plate of food, Postley was fast asleep.\u00a0 It would be more than twenty-four hours before he woke again.\u00a0 For the men in the mine, twenty-four hours of draining thirst.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the second morning after he\u2019d found Postley, Hoss was carrying a tray of food to their guest\u2019s room.\u00a0 He was bound and determined to see that the man ate this time.\u00a0 John had drifted off to sleep before he could take a bite that first night, and then he\u2019d slept all day yesterday.\u00a0 He understood that, of course; a body just naturally craved extra rest when he was hurt as bad as Postley was, but he needed food, too, and Hoss had had plenty of experience in spooning soup down a reluctant throat.\u00a0 He eased into the bedroom and stood there, staring in shock at the empty bed.\u00a0 How on earth?<\/p>\n Setting the tray on the bedside table, he hurried downstairs, calling, \u201cJoe . . . Joe!\u00a0 Postley\u2019s gone.\u201d\u00a0 He spotted his brother, sitting in Adam\u2019s blue chair this morning, as he often had since the disappearance.\u00a0 Still trying to take Adam\u2019s place the best he could, Hoss figured, or maybe he took comfort from it, the way Hoss himself did from Pa\u2019s big chair.<\/p>\n Hoss\u2019s near-frantic call brought Joe to his feet, though.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean, Postley\u2019s gone?\u201d he demanded.\u00a0 \u201cHow could he get out of bed with two broken legs?\u201d\u00a0 He was tempted to lay a hand across his brother\u2019s forehead to check for fever.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Hoss said grimly, \u201cbut he did.\u201d\u00a0 With long strides he crossed the room and flung open the front door.\u00a0 Little Joe was right behind him.<\/p>\n They both rushed into the yard, but Hoss was the first to spot Postley, trying to pull himself up at water pump.\u00a0 \u201cJohn!\u201d he cried, running to him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat in tarnation got into you, anyways?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWater, gotta get \u2018em water,\u201d Postley babbled, clinging to the pump. \u00a0Sometime in the night he\u2019d decided that he couldn\u2019t let his prisoners die, but he didn\u2019t want to go back to prison, so he\u2019d tried to fetch them water himself, so no one else would know.\u00a0 This was as far as he\u2019d gotten before his broken body betrayed him.\u00a0 The threat of prison no longer seemed important now, though, not with life or death on the line.\u00a0 \u201cYou gotta help \u2018em; you gotta help \u2018em. \u00a0God help me, I don\u2019t know why I did it.\u201d<\/p>\n Fever-touched<\/em>, Hoss thought, still trying to pry the man\u2019s fingers from the pump.\u00a0 Looking at his brother, who had knelt down behind Postley, he said, \u201cLet\u2019s get him in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe started to help him, but Postley protested so sharply they both stopped.\u00a0 \u201cNo!\u00a0 They\u2019ll die!\u201d Postley raved.\u00a0 \u201cI never meant \u2018em to die.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJohn, what are you talking about?\u201d Little Joe asked in bewilderment.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019ll die?\u201d<\/p>\n The pain was so severe by this time that Postley had trouble getting anything out.\u00a0 \u201cYour pa . . . brother,\u201d he panted.\u00a0 \u201cIn the mine.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe looked at his brother, dazed by disbelief, but unable to resist the pull of the single, impossible thread of hope just handed him.\u00a0 \u201cPa?\u00a0 Adam?\u201d he asked, eyes fixed on Hoss, lower lip trembling.<\/p>\n Hoss, always quicker to believe the impossible than any other Cartwright, demanded, \u201cWhat mine?\u00a0 Where?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll show you,\u201d Postley said. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019ll show you.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe jumped to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll hitch up the team,\u201d he said and sprinted toward the barn.<\/p>\n \u201cHurry!\u00a0 Hurry!\u201d Postley cried.<\/p>\n Hoss raced the wagon, abandoning his own steady pace of managing a team for something more resembling Little Joe\u2019s reckless way of careening down a road, while Little Joe rode in the back to steady Postley on the wild ride.\u00a0 It had to be giving the man pain, but neither he nor Hoss could think past what might be waiting in that mine.\u00a0 Pa . . . Adam!\u00a0 Alive or dead?\u00a0 All they\u2014or Postley, for that matter\u2014could think about was getting there, in time to prevent tragedy striking all over again.<\/p>\n Hoss had barely reined the team before the mine entrance when Little Joe vaulted over the edge of the wagon, canteen in hand, and charged toward the mine.\u00a0 Taking time only to grab a second canteen, Hoss ran after him.\u00a0 Little Joe raced to the edge of the deep shaft, and his heart plummeted at the sight of the two men, sprawled on the floor.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t moving.\u00a0 Had they come too late?\u00a0 Tossing the rope ladder into the pit, he scrambled down.\u00a0 As if drawn by a magnet, he moved first to Pa, and his hand trembled as he turned over the unresponsive body of the man who was his rock, his world.\u00a0 Hoss, too, was drawn first to his father\u2019s side, where he bent over the other two: watching . . . waiting . . . praying.<\/p>\n \u201cThank God he\u2019s alive!\u201d Little Joe said.<\/p>\n With that assurance Hoss went immediately to Adam, who roused more quickly and grabbed hold of the life-giving canteen with both hands.<\/p>\n Little Joe held his canteen to his father\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n Ben swallowed a gulp and then voiced his greatest concern.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s all right,\u201d Hoss called.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s gonna make it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCome on,\u201d Little Joe said tenderly to his father.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s get you out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n Out of here.\u00a0 They were the sweetest words Ben could ever recall hearing.\u00a0 God in His mercy had answered his prayers and rescued, not only Adam, for whom he\u2019d pleaded, but himself, as well.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t comprehend how Hoss and Joe had found them, but for now all that mattered was getting out of here, getting home, rising from this graveyard of dead hope to the promise of new life.<\/p>\n Weakened by their ordeal, both Ben and Adam needed help in climbing the rope ladder, and they continued to lean on the strong arms of the younger Cartwrights as they were led out of the mine into light so bright that their long-deprived eyes could not bear its intensity.<\/p>\n With his eyelids narrowed to mere slits, Ben raised his face to let the warmth wash over him.\u00a0 \u201cAh, the sun feels good,\u201d he said as he collapsed on a slag heap outside the mine. \u00a0\u201cHow did you find us?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPostley,\u201d Little Joe said, his heart too full to say anything more.<\/p>\n Despite the glaring light, Ben opened his eyes in bewilderment.\u00a0 \u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPostley,\u201d Little Joe repeated as he nodded toward the wagon. \u00a0\u201cHe told us.\u201d<\/p>\n Weak as he was, half-blind as he was, Ben hauled himself upright. More blinded by hate than by the blistering sun, he staggered toward the man lying in the back of the wagon.\u00a0 He wanted nothing more than to close his hands around that scrawny, taunting throat and squeeze the life out of the man who had brought such agony of body, mind and soul upon him and, what was worse, upon his oldest son.\u00a0 When he reached the wagon, however, some unseen hand seemed to restrain him.\u00a0 Something made him take a close look at Postley.\u00a0 The man he saw didn\u2019t even resemble the man who had tormented them, and all Ben could do was stare at him.<\/p>\n Postley hung his head in shame.\u00a0 \u201cI wanted you to feel what I felt,\u201d he said, \u201cto know the darkness and the loneliness.\u00a0 Heaven help me; I don\u2019t know why.\u201d<\/p>\n In that moment compassion overcame the anger surging in Ben\u2019s heart, and his hate-blinded eyes were able to see clearly again.\u00a0 He reached out to squeeze the broken man\u2019s shoulder in a grip that conveyed both understanding and forgiveness.\u00a0 All thoughts of vengeance vanished, lost in the gratitude of a hard battle won, a battle for control over his own heart.\u00a0 Ben knew now that he would never suffer from the bitterness that had possessed John Postley and driven him to the brink of insanity.\u00a0 He\u2019d come close to it, but he\u2019d emerged from that dark cave unvanquished, not only a survivor, but a conqueror.<\/p>\n Looking back at Adam, he prayed that his son, too, had survived without the canker of bitterness taking root.\u00a0 If the boy wasn\u2019t there yet, somehow Ben would help him, as well, to find the peace that came not only from forgiveness of a man\u2019s own sins, but from its extension to one who didn\u2019t deserve it, no more than any man deserved forgiveness for his wrongs.\u00a0 With the help of his youngest son, he climbed into the wagon alongside Postley, and it was he who steadied his former tormentor on the ride home.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The hour was late, and the house dark, its inhabitants all asleep, save one.\u00a0 His days and nights still muddled, all the more so due to the rapid debilitation of the last couple of days, Ben had fallen asleep as soon as they reached home and Hoss and Joe had seen to baths for everyone and settled them all in bed.\u00a0 Now he was awake in the middle of the night, ready to indulge in a ritual long denied him.\u00a0 He stopped first in Adam\u2019s room, and his heart welled up at sight of the young man sleeping so soundly after the hellish ordeal.\u00a0 He\u2019d loved that boy from the moment he first drew breath, but never had he been so cherished and never had Ben felt more proud.\u00a0 They had, indeed, been through hell together, but the journey had only brought them closer.\u00a0 Adam had always shied away from being touched, but in that dark pit, when their other senses had often been curtailed, he\u2019d come to welcome it, and Ben had accepted it as a gift, one he hoped and believed would endure.\u00a0 He brushed his hand lightly across the boy\u2019s curls and left, closing the door soundlessly behind him.<\/p>\n He moved into Hoss\u2019s room, shaking his head at the sonorous snores that greeted him.\u00a0 Yet they were music to his ears, music long denied him.\u00a0 He had yet to learn what this big-hearted man and his younger brother had suffered during the long weeks apart, but Hoss, the most open of all his sons, would tell him.\u00a0 In him was no dissemblance of the sort Little Joe so often sought refuge in and Adam had perfected to an absolute art.\u00a0 Thanks be to God, they had days and days ahead for frank conversations about what each had endured in the nightmare they\u2019d all been put through.\u00a0 He turned his middle son onto his side, to quiet the snores, at least for a little while, and moved to the room next door.<\/p>\n Ben almost laughed aloud when he saw Little Joe spread-eagled on the bed, every limb sprawled a different direction, the covers turned all but inside-out.\u00a0 His youngest had always been a restless sleeper, as if even in sleep he couldn\u2019t stop the boundless energy that characterized every waking moment.\u00a0 As soon as he\u2019d leaned on Joe, coming out of that mine, Ben had felt the ravages emotional suffering had made on this most sensitive son.\u00a0 He was thinner, clear evidence of a loss of appetite, and once Ben could open his eyes he\u2019d seen the dark circles under Joe\u2019s that spoke of a loss of sleep.\u00a0 Well, they were all pretty much in the same fix, all in need of decent rest and good, solid nourishment.\u00a0 Thank goodness Hop Sing was due back from his annual visit to his family in China within the week, according to the date the younger Cartwrights had cited to him, when asked.\u00a0 Their faithful cook would rant as he banged pots in the kitchen, but he\u2019d soon feed them all up again.<\/p>\n Untwisting the sheets, Ben tucked his youngest boy in and, knowing nothing less than an earthquake would wake this son, he risked dropping a kiss onto his forehead.\u00a0 The smallest of gestures, but to Ben, it represented life as it should be, as he\u2019d feared it would never be again.\u00a0 They\u2019d all been through darkness together, he and Adam literally, the other members of the family in spirit with them, and they would come through whatever lay ahead the way the Cartwrights always did\u2014together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The End<\/p>\n \u00a9 June, 2018<\/p>\n Notes:<\/p>\n Based on To Die in Darkness, <\/em>written by Michael Landon, in answer to the Missing Man Challenge to incorporate Adam into a late-season episode, as if he\u2019d never left the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n The following Scriptures are referenced in this story: Proverbs 16:18; Romans 8:26; I Corinthians 13:13.<\/p>\n Passing references are also made to the Bonanza episodes, Day of the Dragon<\/em> and The Crucible.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Angst,\u00a0Ben Cartwright,\u00a0Hoss Cartwright,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright,<\/p>\n