Summary:\u00a0 Two sides of the same coin, one looks forward, one looks backward and they both struggle in the present.\u00a0 This post Season 14 story is set in 1879 and includes almost all of the principal cast from the series run.<\/p>\n
Rated:\u00a0 T
\nWC:\u00a0 10,736<\/p>\n
Written for the 2018 Ponderosa Paddlewheel Poker Tournament.\u00a0 The card \u201csuits\u201d were:<\/p>\n
Anatomy (body parts)
\nFears
\nWhat Women Want
\nThings Found in a Saddlebag<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>Then and Now<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter 1 –\u00a0\u00a0San Francisco, California <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Western Union messenger climbed the stoop to the front door of the Victorian row house and rang the doorbell.\u00a0 Surprised when a gentleman answered the door instead of a butler or maid, he stammered.<\/p>\n \u201cT-telegram for Mr. C-cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI am he.\u201d\u00a0 Adam stepped out onto the narrow porch and took the proffered envelope hoping it contained more information as Joe\u2019s first wire of the morning had been annoyingly cryptic.<\/p>\n On the one hand, he was grateful his kid brother\u2019s loose lips had tightened with age.\u00a0 He had spent a lifetime impressing upon Joe the need for discretion when it came to airing family business in a town that thrived on rumor and speculation as much as Virginia City did.\u00a0 On the other hand, Joe\u2019s message had hinted at trouble without elaboration and asked Adam to come Nevada as soon as possible.\u00a0 Without sufficient information on which to base a decision, he had not yet responded.\u00a0 Perhaps this telegram would enlighten him.<\/p>\n He was wrong.<\/p>\n The wire was from Lucinda Gillette, his ex-wife.\u00a0 He perused the message and silently cursed.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you mind waiting?\u00a0 I need to send a response.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, sir, take your time.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Adam stepped inside the house and leaned his back against the mahogany door pushing it shut.\u00a0 The soft click of the latch echoed through an empty foyer.\u00a0 He crossed to the only furnished room on the main floor\u2014a wood-paneled study with a utilitarian desk and chair under the window.\u00a0 The only other piece of furniture was a wing-back reading chair placed next to a cast iron fireplace flanked by two built-in bookcases, mostly empty.<\/p>\n With a heavy sigh he sat down at the desk and read the telegram again.\u00a0 Most people were succinct when sending a wire due to the cost involved.\u00a0 Lucinda\u2019s wordy rant left no room for ambiguity. \u00a0At the close of the school term, their fourteen-year-old son Ethan had left the home of her parents in whose care he had been placed and disappeared. \u00a0Someone thought he may have boarded a train for San Francisco. \u00a0Lucinda cared not for his welfare. Was only notifying him because her lawyer advised her to do so.\u00a0 She had disowned and disinherited Ethan, and hoped never to hear from him again.<\/p>\n Adam took a sheet of paper and envelope from his top drawer and wrote a brief message . . . to Joe.<\/p>\n He removed a bill from his wallet in a denomination that was sufficient to pay for the wire plus a tip for the messenger.\u00a0 After donning his morning coat and bowler hat, he stepped onto the porch, asked the messenger to see that the wire was sent with all due haste and set off himself to the Central Pacific Railroad ticket office.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 2 –\u00a0Virginia City, Nevada <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Jamie Cartwright paced in front of the Western Union Telegraph office waiting for his older brother to conclude business inside. \u00a0The foot traffic on the boardwalk provided little in the way of entertainment.<\/p>\n \u201cWell?\u201d he asked when Joe Cartwright step out the door at last. \u201cWhat did he say? \u00a0Is he going to come?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s going to think about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThink about it! \u00a0Did you tell him that Pa\u2019s\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014Quiet!\u201d Joe hissed, grabbing Jamie\u2019s elbow and steering him toward the alley out of earshot of passersby. \u201cWe don\u2019t need the busybodies around here knowing our family\u2019s business. \u00a0You know that would only cause more problems.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut Joe,\u201d he whispered, \u201chow could Adam not<\/u> come?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s got something more important to attend to. Come on, let\u2019s get back to the ranch before Pa does something stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shouldered his way past his younger brother into the street and hightailed it to where the horses were hitched.\u00a0 Jamie grumbled under his breath while tightening the cinch. \u201cWhat could be more important than losing the ranch?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s eyes narrowed.\u00a0 He leaned over the seat of Cochise\u2019s saddle and whispered, \u201cLosing a son.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Although not a short trip by any stretch of the imagination, the journey back to the Ponderosa used to carry its own reward\u2014a breathtaking view of the Sierra Nevada. \u00a0In the old days Joe would carefully navigate the treacherous descent down Geiger Grade worried more about his horse than himself. \u00a0When he reached smoother ground, he would kick Cochise into a gallop, circle the south rim of Washoe Lake and head up into the pine-laden forests which gave the ranch its name.<\/p>\n Used to. \u00a0<\/em>Now a large portion of the Sierra Nevada range was barren.<\/p>\n Previously, the slopes were covered with pines and the snow runoff fed the Carson river throughout summer and into fall. \u00a0Now, with no shade, the first spell of hot weather melted the mountain snow and sent water rushing down into the valley causing floods that devastated homesteads and communities.<\/p>\n Before, the westerly winds blew over the snow-capped Sierras creating breezes which cooled the Ponderosa and the ranches below. Now, with no timber to block the wind, gusts swept the snow off the peaks in giant swirls like sand from a dune, leaving the land parched.<\/p>\n When there were trees, Joe loved a blustery storm.\u00a0 He took joy in the sound gale force winds made whipping through the pine trees. Standing fast in the yard, face to the sky, he could well-imagine what his father must have experienced on the deck of the Wanderer.\u00a0 Now, he was afraid of storms knowing a torrential downpour would wash soil from the roots of the stumps, laying waste to the land his father loved.<\/p>\n Joe scowled at the thunderheads gathering above Jobs Peak to the south.\u00a0 A quick glance along the ridgeline toward Mt. Rose did nothing to quell his fear.\u00a0 Along with the churning clouds, his mood darkened and he urged Cochise forward trusting Jamie to keep up.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 3 –\u00a0The Ponderosa Ranch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you think you\u2019re doing?\u201d<\/p>\n Startled, Ben whirled to see who had come into the kitchen through the side door.\u00a0 In so moving, his plate tilted sending a steaming cascade of soupy beans to the floor.\u00a0 Hoping to save the steak teetering on the edge of the plate, Ben grabbed the freshly-seared meat with his bare hand, yelping in pain when his flesh touched the crackling fat.\u00a0 The jerk of his hand allowed the crutch under his arm to twist and drop and he would have fallen had Jamie not caught him.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe said you\u2019d do somethin\u2019 stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI had everything under control,\u201d Ben protested as Jamie eased him onto a stool next to the chopping table.<\/p>\n \u201cUh, huh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell I would have if you hadn\u2019t spooked me.\u00a0 I thought you and Joe were in town for the day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCame back early \u2018cause of the storm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2019s Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe headed up to the timber camp.\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s keep this between us, okay?\u00a0 He tends to cluck.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCould it be he learned from the biggest Mother Hen of them all?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHmmph!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, it doesn\u2019t look like you did any damage,\u201d Jamie said after examining the cast surrounding his father\u2019s broken ankle.\u00a0 \u00a0He handed Ben his crutch and helped him rise.\u00a0 \u201cYou rest up by the fire while I clean this floor and start dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben harrumphed again, but grudgingly made his way into the great room.\u00a0 He was not a man used to being sidelined or told what to do by uppity youngsters.<\/p>\n A brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the room for several seconds followed almost instantaneously by a tremendous boom and then the ground shook.<\/p>\n The barn!<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 4 –\u00a0San Francisco, California<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cDoes he have a ticket?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0\u00a0 What would happen if he didn\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUpon discovery, the conductor would remove him from the train at the next stop, probably with just a warning, but he could also turn him over to the local constable for prosecution.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just a boy!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd without a ticket, a trespasser.\u00a0 How old is he?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFourteen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA minor!\u00a0 His parents should be flogged.\u00a0 They have a moral and ethical\u2014not to mention legal\u2014responsibility to oversee their offspring. \u00a0What is your relationship, may I ask?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m his father.\u201d<\/p>\n The ticket agent regarded Adam with disdain.\u00a0 \u201cThen I wish the boy luck,\u201d he said, closing the window and pulling down the shade.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Stunned, Adam left the ticket office and wandered aimlessly through the streets and markets, winding up on a park bench with his head in his hands wondering how life had come to this.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been content to help his father realize his dream but grew restless when his siblings came of age.\u00a0 He left the Ponderosa with the family\u2019s blessing to pursue his own dream.\u00a0 He moved to Boston, worked hard and acquired a solid reputation as an innovative architect, but not a lot of wealth.\u00a0 He subscribed to his father\u2019s principle of saving ten percent, giving ten percent and pouring the rest back into the business.\u00a0 What he did acquire was a long-line of society women anxious to marry him.<\/p>\n Then Lucinda Gillette, only daughter of a prominent Connecticut family, caught his eye.\u00a0 She was\u00a0cultured, well-travelled, educated, witty, and beautiful\u2014tall, full-figured, with hair the color of wheat framing her smoky blue eyes.\u00a0 They met at a charity ball in Boston that she had organized to benefit the widows and orphans of veterans of the War Between the States. \u00a0When he learned Lucinda was herself a war widow with a six-year-old son, he admired her altruism all the more and respected the time she devoted to philanthropic endeavors.\u00a0 They married five months later and he adopted her son Ethan.<\/p>\n A year later they had a daughter they named Elizabeth.\u00a0 It had been a difficult pregnancy, but a normal birth and life settled into a routine.<\/p>\n He expected to love his wife unconditionally and to commit wholly to her and their marriage\u2014something he had admired about his father.\u00a0 And just as Ben Cartwright had accepted Marie\u2019s first born, he accepted Ethan as his own.<\/p>\n What Adam hadn\u2019t counted on was Lucinda\u2019s relentless drive to have the best of everything.\u00a0 Her altruism revealed itself to be a thinly disguised bid for prestige.\u00a0 She demanded a life-style above what he could afford.\u00a0 He took on more projects and worked longer hours to keep the household accounts solvent.\u00a0 He put aside saving or giving.\u00a0 Everything, including the needs of the family, was sacrificed to Lucinda\u2019s insatiable quest for social prominence and the concomitant power in society it commanded.<\/p>\n And then the unimaginable happened.<\/p>\n His precious Elizabeth died of peritonitis following a ruptured appendix.\u00a0 Lucinda withdrew her affections, becoming emotionally distant and even more driven.\u00a0 They separated, a social sin among the upper crust of New England society.\u00a0 Clients disappeared and projects all put dried up.\u00a0 When an opportunity to design and build an expansion to the medical college at Stanford University came to him, he accepted and moved temporarily to San Francisco, all the while supporting his wife and son with a regular stipend.\u00a0 Nevertheless, Lucinda claimed desertion and divorced him\u2014apparently discarding Ethan in the process.<\/p>\n And now his son was missing and, according to Joe, the Ponderosa was in trouble.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 5 –\u00a0The Ponderosa Ranch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cJamie!\u00a0 The horses!\u201d Ben shouted, moving as quickly as he could to the front porch just in time to see his son sprint out the kitchen\u2019s side door toward the barn to set the horses free.<\/p>\n \u201cStay where you are, Pa!\u201d<\/p>\n Heedless of the admonishment or the rain, Ben moved into the muddy yard and pounded on the bunkhouse door to rouse anyone inside.<\/p>\n Flames were already licking up the side of the barn when Candy rode in and catapulted from the saddle before his horse stopped.\u00a0 He quickly headed to the tack room where buckets and extra blankets were stored. \u00a0Two hands from the bunkhouse joined him and they began beating the flames out, while Ben filled the buckets from the trough.<\/p>\n In answer to everyone\u2019s prayers, the rain fell harder and faster and helped to extinguish the remaining flames.<\/p>\n \u201cCandy, Wes, check the hay in the loft and make sure there are no cinders,\u201d Ben shouted.<\/p>\n Both men filled their buckets and went into the barn.\u00a0 A few minutes later the door on the hayloft flew open and several bales were thrown out.\u00a0\u00a0 Ben could see dark spots where the hay smoldered.\u00a0 It was only a miracle that the bales hadn\u2019t ignited.<\/p>\n Joe arrived a moment later.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen the flames from the ridge above the ranch house and made all haste down the trail.<\/p>\n \u201cIs everyone all right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Candy said, wiping his face with his handkerchief.\u00a0 \u201cWe can put a tarp over the hole in the roof and Wes and I will stay in the barn tonight just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded, \u201cI\u2019ll help with the tarp.\u201d\u00a0 He then saw his father\u2019s muddy, sodden cast.\u00a0 \u201cPa, what do you think you\u2019re doing?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I\u2019m getting really tired of being asked that.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 6 –\u00a0San Francisco, California<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Adam considered taking a train East to begin searching for his son, but if San Francisco was Ethan\u2019s destination, he could arrive any time.\u00a0 Then again, he could have been put off a train in any town along the way or fallen victim to unscrupulous hobos.\u00a0 There was only one solution he could think of.<\/p>\n Scrubbing his face with both hands, he rose from the bench, straightened his back and headed for the nearest streetcar.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n The family had used the services of The Pinkerton Agency in the past and the name Cartwright carried some weight\u2014enough to grant an immediate audience with the Agent in Charge, Matthew Townsend.\u00a0 When Adam explained the situation to Agent Townsend, he was escorted to the second floor to plan a course of action.<\/p>\n Route maps of every type of transportation available decorated the walls, along with city maps of metropolitan areas.\u00a0 There were fifty or more agents, male and female, involved in various activities. \u00a0In one area, numerous telegraph keys clacked away.\u00a0 Pins marking locations of persons or objects on maps were moved according to the information received.\u00a0 It reminded Adam of a battlefield command center.<\/p>\n The plan proposed by Agent Townsend included dividing the train route into segments and dispatching an agent to each sector with a picture and description of Ethan.\u00a0 In the event Ethan had remained in the Hartford area, a local agent would investigate other possibilities for his whereabouts.\u00a0 Communication would be by telegraph.<\/p>\n Agent Townsend inquired whether Adam had a call box in his home so that dispatches could be sent directly to him.\u00a0 As he did not, the agent said a messenger would be assigned to handle communications.<\/p>\n Satisfied he had done what he could, Adam decided to return home but before leaving the Agency, he inquired about the call box the agent had mentioned and was handed a paper with the details. \u00a0The telegraph call box system consisted of a circular box containing a glass dial that had ten or twelve selections:\u00a0 doctor, police, fire, messenger, and so on. \u00a0The box connected one directly to the telegraph office.\u00a0 The machinery accurately indicated the location of the signaling box and the nature of the service required.\u00a0 If a doctor was needed\u2014and name and address were on file\u2014he would be notified by a messenger who would then proceed directly to the subscriber\u2019s house to receive further instructions, go for prescriptions, etc. \u00a0\u00a0Ingenious!\u00a0 Adam chuckled to think how many trips to Paul Martin\u2019s office could have been saved over the years if they had only had one of these on the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 7 –\u00a0Virginia City, Nevada<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cJoe.\u00a0 Joe Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n Candy heard the cry from a distance.\u00a0 \u201cHey,\u201d he said, grabbing Joe\u2019s elbow and turning him around.\u00a0 \u201cSomeone\u2019s calling you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey, Clem.\u00a0\u00a0 Haven\u2019t seen you in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe.\u00a0 Candy,\u201d Clem acknowledged.\u00a0 \u201cI was up to Reno to pick up a prisoner who I think belongs to you.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe laughed.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re not missing any ranch hands to my knowledge.\u00a0 They usually don\u2019t go missing until after<\/u> payday.\u00a0 Candy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll present and accounted for this morning when I handed out assignments.\u00a0 What makes you think he\u2019s one of our hands?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSilent type.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t get much out of him, but I found this in his haversack.\u201d\u00a0 Clem handed Joe a miniature daguerreotype.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the blazes!\u201d\u00a0 Joe not only recognized the picture, he had one just like it on his dresser at home.\u00a0 \u201cThis \u2018prisoner\u2019 wouldn\u2019t by any chance be around fourteen years old, would he?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMight be, although he acts a bit younger.\u00a0 Looks half-starved.\u00a0 Won\u2019t say who he is or where he\u2019s from.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m gonna kill him.\u201d\u00a0 Joe stalked off down the boardwalk towards the jail.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Clem,\u201d Candy said.\u00a0 \u201cHe meant that figuratively . . . I think.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Clem caught up to Joe at the jail.\u00a0 The outer door to the cells was open and Ethan Cartwright sat forlornly on a bunk with one leg tucked under him and the other swinging nervously.\u00a0 Joe noted the sole of his shoe was tied up with rope.\u00a0 The boy\u2019s dirty blonde hair hung in strings and his clothes were filthy, but there was a defiant glint in his green eyes that Joe found familiar.<\/p>\n \u201cOpen the cell, Sheriff.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou cooled off yet?\u00a0 Can\u2019t have prisoners abused while in my custody.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, he\u2019ll get what he deserves and no court in the land will convict me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfraid I\u2019ll have to take your gun.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe removed his Colt and handed it to Clem.\u00a0 \u201cAs long as I have my belt, I\u2019m good.\u201d<\/p>\n During this exchange, Ethan\u2019s eyes widened.\u00a0 He pulled both knees up to his chin and shrank back against the wall as Joe walked into the cell and removed his belt.<\/p>\n \u201cClose the door on your way out, Clem.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure thing, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n The man and boy stared at each other.<\/p>\n \u201cUncle Joe?\u201d\u00a0 Ethan asked in a small voice.<\/p>\n \u201cSadly, yes.\u00a0 I never thought a nephew of mine would do something so monumentally stupid!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sor-ry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you know how many people have been looking for you?\u00a0 What a dangerous situation you were in?\u00a0 You could have fallen under the rails hopping a freight or been murdered in your sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo one cares what happens to me.\u00a0 My mother disowned me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYour father hasn\u2019t.\u00a0 He\u2019s been worried sick.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen why isn\u2019t he here instead of you?\u201d\u00a0 Defiance was edging back into Ethan\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s in San Francisco waiting for you to show up.\u00a0 The information we had said that\u2019s where you were headed.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be here as soon as I wire him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSend for him.\u00a0 I\u2019m not his real son.\u00a0 He . . h-he doesn\u2019t love me.\u00a0 He never did.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes you think so?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Cause he m-moved a-away and left me with th-them.\u201d\u00a0 Once the tears started, they didn\u2019t stop.\u00a0 \u201cAnd, e-even though I was s-scared, it was b-better than being a-alone in that b-big m-mansion.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe gathered the boy into his arms and held him tight.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not alone anymore, Ethan.\u00a0 It\u2019s all right. \u00a0Cry it out.\u00a0 You\u2019re safe now.\u00a0 You\u2019re home and everything will be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n Clem stuck his head through the door and Joe mouthed \u201cwater.\u201d\u00a0 A while later, Clem returned with a tray of sandwiches and two glasses of lemonade from the caf\u00e9 across the street.\u00a0 He opened the cell door and placed the tray on the other bunk, pointing to a wet washcloth.\u00a0 Joe nodded his thanks and continued to rock Ethan.<\/p>\n When the sobs subsided, Joe took the cloth and wiped most of the grime off the boy\u2019s face and hands before handing him a ham sandwich.<\/p>\n \u201cTh-thanks.\u00a0 I\u2019m hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI figured you might be.\u00a0 Me, too.\u201d<\/p>\n When they finished their meal, Joe put his belt back on and said, \u201cYou sleep some and then we\u2019ll head home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHome?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Ponderosa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about my Dad?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll wire him.\u00a0 He\u2019ll come as soon as he can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s gonna kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot likely, but a tanning may be in your future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that why you took off your belt?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll let your father do the honors.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t you be my dad?\u00a0 I\u2019m not scared of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. There\u2019s only one Joe Cartwright and he\u2019s your uncle.\u201d\u00a0 Joe paused.\u00a0 \u201cCan you ride a horse?\u00a0 Be honest.\u00a0 It\u2019s a long ride to the ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n Ethan nodded enthusiastically, but under his uncle\u2019s steely gaze dropped his chin, \u201cIt\u2019s been a while.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll rent a buggy.\u00a0 Get some sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Joe closed the cell door behind him and locked it.<\/p>\n Back in the office, he hung the ring of keys on a peg and plopped down in a chair in front of Clem\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n \u201cYou didn\u2019t need to lock the door, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, yes, I did.\u00a0 Self-preservation.\u201d\u00a0 Clem looked confused.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s run away once.\u00a0 There\u2019d be hell to pay if I let him slip away before Adam arrives.\u00a0 What\u2019ll cost to get the boy out of here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe cost of the train ticket plus a fine for riding without a ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe reached for his wallet.<\/p>\n \u201cPlus $500 bail.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou said it yourself, he\u2019s a flight risk.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n After making a withdrawal at the bank, Joe sent a wire to Adam, and then went shopping.\u00a0 Since a third of the population of Virginia City and Gold Hill was under 18, there were several clothing stores that catered to young men.\u00a0 He found one at the end of C Street near the stable where he rented a buggy.<\/p>\n He was in luck.\u00a0 A customer had a boy with her who appeared to be about the height and weight of Ethan.<\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me, ma\u2019am,\u201d he said, tapping her lightly on the shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cI wondered if you could tell me what size\u2014”<\/p>\n The woman turned and smiled.\u00a0 \u201c\u2014Joe Cartwright, I declare!\u00a0 I never thought to see you in a shop like this.\u00a0 And just who, pray tell, might you be courting that has a son?\u201d<\/p>\n Great, he thought.\u00a0 The biggest gossip in town.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m shopping for my nephew.\u00a0 He\u2019s become fascinated with cowboys of late, so I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014I\u2019d be thrilled to assist you.\u00a0 About William\u2019s size, you say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe culled through the stacks of clothes the woman laid on the counter and selected three items.\u00a0 Boots would have to wait until they could be fitted, but he did add a cowboy hat to the pile. \u00a0\u00a0Mrs. Knight was disappointed that she couldn\u2019t persuade him to select more than jeans, a shirt, and a pair of long johns.<\/p>\n Thanking her once again, he paid for the items and quickly departed.\u00a0 Despite his assurance the clothes were for his nephew, he knew the rumor mill would be working overtime by Sunday.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Ethan was awake when Joe returned to the jail to pay his bail.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks, Uncle Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t thank me.\u00a0 Knowing my brother, you\u2019ll be working off the debt.\u00a0 Now, come on, let\u2019s get you a bath and a haircut before we head home.\u00a0 Bad enough Grandpa has a riverboat gambler for a son, can\u2019t have him seeing you look like a ragamuffin.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 8 –\u00a0The Ponderosa Ranch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The next week flew by for Ethan.\u00a0 Nervous at first, he quickly adapted to life on the Ponderosa, including chores which he\u2019d never done before.\u00a0 At first, he balked at the notion of mucking out stables or weeding the garden or collecting eggs, but quickly understood that everyone played a role in keeping the ranch running smoothly. Even his grandfather with his broken ankle sat and peeled potatoes or snapped beans to help out when he wasn\u2019t doing the books.\u00a0 And when Joe and Jamie came home one afternoon covered in slime and mud from clearing a beaver dam, he understood no job was too menial if it needed doing.<\/p>\n Despite feeling compelled to administer a \u201cnecessary talk\u201d for running away, Ben delighted in having his grandson around.\u00a0 Sans cast, he still needed a cane when walking. To build strength, he and Ethan strolled around the house, barn, and outbuildings after meals while he shared stories of his and Adam\u2019s journey west and caught Ethan up on family history. Occasionally, they rode in a buggy out to view the herds, or down to the corrals to watch Joe gentle the newly broken mustangs.<\/p>\n \u201cThis ranch was my dream and my sons helped me build it, but the land was here long before us and will be here long after we\u2019re gone. \u00a0We\u2019re just caretakers here, the guardians of tomorrow.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n For all intents and purposes, Joe was now head of the Ponderosa and his choices\u2014including those made in concert with Ben, Jamie, and Candy\u2014weighed heavily on him.\u00a0 He averaged four hours of sleep a night and even when idle, was always watching and thinking.\u00a0 Nevertheless, Joe made time to give Ethan a refresher on riding as promised.\u00a0 He also showed him his father\u2019s and uncles\u2019 favorite places on the ranch, including the secret happy place he shared with Hoss.<\/p>\n \u201cBesides you, the only other person I\u2019ve ever brought here was my wife.\u00a0 Not even your Dad knows about this place.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Jamie took Ethan fishing and on hikes up to the lake.\u00a0 At Joe\u2019s request, he encouraged Ethan to talk about his feelings.\u00a0 It surprised Ethan to learn Jamie was also adopted, and that knowledge spawned a lot of questions which Jamie freely answered.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the end, Ethan, family is more than blood.\u00a0 It took me a long time to learn that, and longer still to believe it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n One day, Ethan cornered Candy and asked him about Joe\u2019s wife.\u00a0 Where was she?<\/p>\n \u201cAlice was murdered,\u201d Candy said.\u00a0 Ethan\u2019s eyes widened. \u201cThey hadn\u2019t been married very long and they were going to be parents.\u00a0 Joe took the death of his wife and baby hard, especially so soon after your Uncle Hoss died.\u00a0 It changed him.\u00a0 Not a subject you want to bring up, Ethan, unless Joe does first.\u00a0 Understand?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Ethan did.\u00a0 He remembered well when his sister Elizabeth died and how it changed his Dad. \u00a0How it changed everything in his life and eventually led him here.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 9 –\u00a0The Ponderosa Ranch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n More than thirteen years had passed since Adam had last been home.<\/p>\n Before, there was an immutability to the Ponderosa that rendered the passage of time moot no matter how long he\u2019d been away.<\/p>\n Now, although he\u2019d kept up to date through regular correspondence, he\u2019d missed out on pivotal events in the family like Jamie\u2019s adoption, Hoss\u2019s death, and Joe\u2019s marriage. \u00a0Letters could relate the facts, but not the nuances of change.<\/p>\n At 75, his father had aged fairly well.\u00a0 His white hair was still thick.\u00a0 He appeared a little thinner, but overall in good health aside from a broken ankle\u2014the origin of which was shrouded in a conspiracy of silence, for every time he asked, someone changed the subject.<\/p>\n Hop Sing appeared ageless, only the silver streaks in his otherwise black queue and a slower trot belied his advancing years.<\/p>\n Few ranch hands remembered him, and he recognized even fewer.\u00a0 As for the foreman, Adam couldn\u2019t read Candy at all.\u00a0 The man slinked.\u00a0 He seemed to be everywhere and nowhere, moving silently, speaking little.\u00a0 Adam didn\u2019t know what to make of the fact that Candy slept in the house, ate meals with the family, and always called Pa \u201cMr. Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n Jamie brought a smile to his lips.\u00a0 The red-headed, freckle-faced lad he\u2019d seen only in pictures had grown into a 22-year-old young man that reminded him of Hoss in some ways and of Joe in others.\u00a0 He was guileless and good-natured with a sharp mind, even if he preferred to talk animal husbandry rather than Shakespeare.<\/p>\n His mercurial kid brother wore his grey hair longer than he remembered, and he remained a study in contradictions\u2014wickedly funny and sentimentally sappy, short-tempered but quick to apologize and forgive.\u00a0 Solid muscles covered a wiry frame that could bench press more than his weight even at age 37.\u00a0 The biggest difference, Adam noted, was the laugh\u2014still infectious but not as forthcoming.<\/p>\n As for Ethan, their reunion could best be described as strained.\u00a0 Although his son had grown since Adam last saw him, it wasn\u2019t the physical changes as much as a wariness of each other that cast a shadow.\u00a0 Adam knew he would have to address the runaway issue but figured that would best be dealt with at home in San\u00a0Francisco.<\/p>\n As much as the genuine affection displayed between Ethan and his father pleased him, Adam was conflicted when he observed the boy with Joe. \u00a0Their interactions were more\u2014intimate, for lack of a better word.\u00a0 More like the relationship Joe had with Hoss than the one Joe had with him.<\/p>\n At dinner the day after his return, Adam announced he and Ethan would be taking the noon stage on Friday to San Francisco.<\/p>\n The explosion could be heard in the next county.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n \u201cLike hell!\u201d Ethan swore loudly.\u00a0 With one swipe of his arm, his plate and everything surrounding it crashed to the floor.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere with you. I hate you!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben was nearly apoplectic.<\/p>\n Jamie retreated to the kitchen to get a bucket and mop.<\/p>\n Joe stood, grabbing the boy by the arm and pulling him out of his chair to swat him on the backside.\u00a0 When he pulled back his arm, Adam halted the swing and pushed Joe hard against the wall, causing a picture to fall and break.<\/p>\n Adam yelled, \u201cEthan, go to your room!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to let him get away with this?\u201d Joe shouted.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s my son, not yours.\u00a0 You had your chance at fatherh\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014ADAM!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s sonorous baritone reverberated throughout the house stopping everyone in their tracks.\u00a0 \u00a0Despite the broken ankle, he bolted upright from his chair, his black eyes flashing. \u201cThat\u2019s enough!\u201d<\/p>\n Deadly silence followed.<\/p>\n Joe stood still, chest heaving, fists clenched.<\/p>\n Candy slid into the space between the brothers, elbows at his side palms out, prepared to keep them apart if necessary.<\/p>\n Adam, bewildered, did not understand his father\u2019s overt chastisement.\u00a0 Only when Joe\u2019s demeanor changed from rage to anguish, and tears tracked down his cheeks did he comprehend.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe pivoted on his heel and stormed out of the house throwing the door into the credenza.<\/p>\n Adam turned to his father.\u00a0 \u201cPa, I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSit. Down!\u201d\u00a0 Ben pointed to the settee.\u00a0 \u201cCandy, go after him.\u201d<\/p>\n Already in pursuit, Candy nodded and closed the door.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand you, Adam.\u00a0 You\u2019ve always been opinionated, and at times a bit imperious for my taste, but you\u2019ve never been deliberately cruel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou didn\u2019t think . . . what?\u00a0 That your words would not cut?\u00a0 That six years was enough time for Joe to get over losing his wife and child?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI lost a wife and child, too.\u00a0 So have you.\u00a0 Why should Joe\u2019s grief be any more profound than ours?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile there is no expiration on grief, I\u2019m talking about cold-blooded murder, not divorce or illness. \u00a0I\u2019ve only suffered that heartache once, thank God.\u00a0 You may have forgotten, but four of the women Joe\u2019s loved were murdered, plus an unborn child.\u201d\u00a0 Ben shuddered and sank back into his red chair.\u00a0 \u201cTo have never cradled your child in your arms is unfathomable.\u201d<\/p>\n Immediately, images of Elizabeth floated across Adam\u2019s vision.\u00a0 All he had of her now were the memories. Her dancing on his toes.\u00a0 Him carrying her on his shoulders. The tea parties they shared. \u00a0Joe didn\u2019t have any memories to savor.<\/p>\n \u201cI am sorry, Pa.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ll talk to him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u201d Ben said sharply, then softened his expression.\u00a0 \u201cNot now, son.\u00a0 Let Candy settle him down first.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA hired hand?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA friend.\u00a0 The friend who was there the night of the fire and pulled him screaming from the burning house.\u00a0 The friend who never left his side as they crisscrossed California looking for the men responsible.\u00a0 The friend who stood by him before, during, and after when his brothers were . . ..\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot here.\u201d\u00a0Adam sighed. \u00a0\u201cMore than a friend then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA best friend like Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe bond is similar, but there will never be another Hoss.\u201d\u00a0 Ben gazed into the fire wondering what he could say to help his oldest son understand how Candy fit into the family dynamic.\u00a0 \u201cAs far as Joe is concerned, Candy is family with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that entails.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd how do you see it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI respect his opinion and rely on him frequently.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou could say that about anyone who has served as foreman.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben knew the words he had spoken weren\u2019t enough to convey the special place Candy held in his heart, especially after their month together in darkness and in the aftermath of Alice\u2019s murder.\u00a0 He turned to face Adam head on.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d trust him with my life . . . and that of any<\/u> of my sons.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s eyebrow arched and he whistled softly wondering where that left him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve been gone a long time, Adam.\u00a0 Led your own life, married, raised a family.\u00a0 But you are, and always will be, my first-born. \u00a0I was hoping you had returned for good.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Candy stood on the porch and listened for a moment before moving silently towards the barn.\u00a0 No light showed through the crack where the siding met the floor, nevertheless he eased the door open and stepped inside.\u00a0 When his eyes adjusted, he was relieved to see Cochise not only present but unsaddled.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n Candy was a patient man.\u00a0 He waited.<\/p>\n Finally, a choked response, \u201cLast stall.\u201d<\/p>\n He found Joe nestled on fresh straw in the corner.\u00a0 After easing himself down into the small space, he removed a flask from his vest pocket and took a swig before handing it over.<\/p>\n \u201cCome here often?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe accepted the flask with a grin. \u201cUsed to hide out in the barn when I was a kid.\u00a0 Down here when I was too small to climb; up in the loft behind some hay bales later.\u00a0 Took some doing to perfect the layout since the bales weighed more than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone ever find you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHoss.\u00a0 Once.\u00a0 But he kept my secret.\u00a0 Said every creature needed a place to lick their wounds in private.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened to \u2019Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never break me\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah . . . only big brother\u2019s words came close more often than I cared to admit.\u201d\u00a0 Joe coughed, not so much from the whiskey as from the dust in the hay. \u201cThe fort gave me time to sort myself out, figure what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSeems to me Adam blindsided you<\/u> tonight, not the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAh, there\u2019s the rub.\u00a0 I poked the bear.\u201d\u00a0 Even in the semi dark Joe could see his friend\u2019s confusion.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s upset at Ethan, not me. I just got in the way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWant me to beat him up for you?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe broke into a full-on laugh which turned into a coughing fit.\u00a0 He took another swig of whiskey and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, what are you going to do now?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe took one last gulp and handed the flask back to Candy.\u00a0 \u201cNow I try to fix this mess.\u201d\u00a0 As he stood up, he said, \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s me\u2014always good for a laugh.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOr two.\u201d\u00a0 Joe extended his arm to help Candy up and they exited the barn together. \u00a0\u201cOr six.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShut up.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Joe closed the front door softly and threw the bolt.\u00a0 The fire had been banked and the lamp by the staircase turned low waiting for the last one in to extinguish it.\u00a0 He waited for Candy to reach the landing, then blew out the flame and followed up the stairs, stopping first in Ethan\u2019s room.<\/p>\n His nephew was splayed every which way across the top of the covers. \u00a0Joe smiled at the similarity between them.\u00a0 He removed a quilt from the trunk at the foot of the bed and draped it over the boy, then he crossed to the window to raise the sash a few inches so air could circulate.\u00a0\u00a0 When he turned around, Ethan was staring at him with red-rimmed eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, buddy.\u00a0 You should be sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI heard voices.\u00a0 You okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMe?\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0\u00a0 Your Dad and I have been arguing since the day I was born. There\u2019s nothing to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGrandpa was mad at him, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe was?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Said he was \u2018im-impurvious?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cImperious.\u201d\u00a0 Joe chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cThat means arrogant and domineering.\u00a0\u00a0 Yeah, you could say that sometimes your Dad is imperious.\u00a0 But he\u2019s also the smartest man I know.\u00a0 He may take you to task, but he does it because he loves you.\u00a0That\u2019s the way this family works, Ethan.\u00a0 We may fight amongst ourselves now and again but let anyone come between us or up against any one of us, and we stand united.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy appeared nonplussed.\u00a0 Joe sat down in the bedside chair and leaned back, one foot resting on the bed frame. \u201cWhen I was a little older than you, Virginia City was off-limits.\u00a0 It was a wild, crazy boom town then.\u00a0 Nothin\u2019 but mines and businesses that catered to miners.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t allowed to go into town alone.\u00a0 Heck, I couldn\u2019t even tag along with my brothers.\u00a0 Grandpa had to be there or else.\u00a0 I bucked the restrictions like a wild mustang fights a saddle.\u00a0 Raised the biggest ruckuses you can imagine.\u00a0 I was pig-headed, insolent, and disrespectful.\u00a0 Many the time Pa and Adam tanned my hide because of it.<\/p>\n Ethan\u2019s eyes grew round.\u00a0 \u201cMy Dad tanned you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou forget he\u2019s 12 years older than I am. \u00a0When Grandpa had to travel on business, he was in charge.\u00a0 And, believe me, he could be tougher than Pa.\u00a0 Can\u2019t say I was pleased, but I knew he loved me and cared enough to make sure I understood the dangers and consequences of my actions . . . and to hold me to account if I didn\u2019t toe the line.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome.\u00a0 But I pushed the boundaries a lot, including sneaking into town.\u00a0 Grandpa blames his white hair on my many transgressions.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re getting white without kids.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe winced, but let it go.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not easy parenting alone.\u00a0 My pa raised three boys by himself.\u00a0 Give your Dad time to work out what\u2019s best for the two of you, okay?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t care what he says, I\u2019m not going to San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re 14.\u00a0 Your Dad says where you can live, not me, not even Grandpa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll run away again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou do, and your father won\u2019t be the only one you have to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n Ethan thought about that for a minute and then gulped.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s right. \u00a0Next time you break the rules or behave badly, I won\u2019t wait for your father to give you a \u2018necessary talk.\u2019 \u00a0Understood?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s next stop was Adam\u2019s room.\u00a0 He entered unannounced and flopped sideways on the bed propping his head on his palm.<\/p>\n \u201cStill haven\u2019t learned to knock, I see,\u201d Adam said, looking up from the book he was reading.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy start now?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam huffed at his brother\u2019s impudence, then grew serious.\u00a0 He dropped his elbows to his knees and leaned forward in his chair.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t mean\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014sure you did,\u201d Joe interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re Ethan\u2019s father, I\u2019m not.\u00a0 I respect that.\u00a0 But you have to admit, when I was a kid that never stopped you from disciplining me when Pa wasn\u2019t around\u2014or even if he was, for that matter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat was then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDisrespect is now acceptable in a Cartwright?\u00a0 What is wrong with you, Adam?\u00a0\u00a0 Pa would never have tolerated bad language or attitude from me when I was Ethan\u2019s age.\u00a0 And neither would you.\u00a0 If I backtalked at dinner my rear end would be burning before my fork hit the plate.\u00a0 Why let Ethan get away with it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the first thing you\u2019ve said that makes sense since you got here, brother . . . I don\u2019t<\/u> understand.\u00a0 You wanna enlighten me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not going to let this go, are you?\u201d\u00a0 Unable to look at Joe, Adam launched himself out of the chair and crossed to the window but, instead of answers, saw only the reflection of his brother waiting for an explanation.<\/p>\n The six years between him and Hoss never seemed significant, and never posed a problem.\u00a0 With the kid, it was another story.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t just age that made a difference . . . it was circumstance.\u00a0 By the time Marie gave birth the family enjoyed a measure of prosperity.\u00a0 From the moment Adam held that underweight, fiery-tempered, strong-willed baby in his arms, he had been the all-seeing, all-knowing big brother, the one who held the answers to life\u2019s mysteries for his youngest sibling.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t enlighten you.\u00a0 I can\u2019t explain it to myself, much less you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTry.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam could see there would be no peace, no sleep until he appeased Joe.\u00a0 He turned from the window and began to pace.<\/p>\n \u201cNot long after we married I received a job offer in San Francisco, I asked Lucinda to move west.\u00a0 She ridiculed the idea.\u00a0 We settled in Hartford near her family.\u00a0 I was na\u00efve to think that all it took to make our marriage work was love and commitment. \u00a0All that was important to her was wealth, position, and power.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen our daughter died, Lucinda couldn\u2019t be bothered with Ethan and turned over day-to-day responsibility for his upbringing to her parents.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere were you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWorking.\u00a0 The lifestyle Lucinda demanded required I put in 12-15 hour days if I didn\u2019t want to go into debt or be financially dependent on her father.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYankee granite-headed pride?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe.\u201d\u00a0 Adam shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cProbably.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Perhaps I was distancing myself from her even then, finding any excuse not to be at home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t spend much time around Lucinda at the wedding, but she struck me as . . . cold.\u00a0 I thought it was just a New England thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy ex-wife is a complicated woman.\u00a0 She devoted herself to Elizabeth, but in retrospect perhaps for the wrong reasons.\u00a0 I see now that her life revolved around grooming LizzieB for society.\u00a0 When she died, Lucinda became bitter, vengeful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBee?\u00a0 Oh, for Beatrice.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Her middle name.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat, and because Lizzie was always buzzing around, flitting from one thing to another. Couldn\u2019t stay still for more than a minute,\u201d Adam smiled, remembering.<\/p>\n “‘LizzieB’ is not very ‘upper crust,’ is it.”<\/p>\n Adam snorted.\u00a0 \u201cLucinda detested my pet name for our daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI rather liked the nicknames you and Hoss came up with.\u00a0\u00a0 Buddy, kid, shortshanks.\u201d\u00a0 Joe swallowed hard thinking what he\u2019d give to hear \u2018punkin\u2019 once again.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter the funeral, Ethan ran free\u2014ignored by his mother, undisciplined by his grandparents, and unencumbered by rules.\u201d\u00a0 Adam shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI tried to be the same taskmaster to him as I was to you, but clearly nothing I did worked.\u00a0 As you saw tonight, Ethan is as willful as . . . \u00a0as you were at the same age. \u00a0If you and I were oil and water then, Ethan and I are flint and steel now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPa says we\u2019re two sides of a coin\u2014made of the same metal, with different points of view, but we have always had each other\u2019s back.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s brow knitted together and then slowly relaxed.\u00a0 He nodded.\u00a0 \u201cGood analogy.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe sat up with his arms folded across his chest and took a deep breath before plunging into the abyss.<\/p>\n \u201cPa had three of you to help raise me\u2014Hop Sing, you, and Hoss.\u00a0 Move back to the ranch, Adam. \u00a0Let Pa, me, and Jamie help you raise Ethan.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re serious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe wants to stay here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe told you that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe didn\u2019t have to.\u201d\u00a0 Joe swung his legs around to the side of the bed and stood to dig into his pants pocket.\u00a0 He pulled out the miniature Clem found in Ethan\u2019s belongings.<\/p>\n Adam recognized it right away.\u00a0 It was a picture of him and his brothers taken by an itinerant daguerreotypist traveling through Genoa in 1854.\u00a0 They\u2019d had a large portrait made to give their Pa for Christmas that year, and Adam had miniature copies made for himself and his brothers. \u00a0\u00a0He looked to Joe for an explanation.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s how he knew where to come.\u00a0 Look on the back.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam turned the picture over.<\/p>\n Adam Cartwright, aged 26<\/strong> The Ponderosa Ranch<\/strong> <\/p>\n Adam had believed Ethan boarded that train on a whim or a dare, with no thought of the consequences.\u00a0 To realize that he knew all along where he was headed and had the determination and grit it took to carry out his plan at fourt-. . . .\u00a0 Wait a minute!\u00a0 Fourteen?<\/p>\n He reversed the picture and focused on his kid brother standing straight with his hands on his hips, chest high, chin jutting out.\u00a0 Proud, confident, and cocksure of himself.<\/p>\n \u201cMy God, except for the hair color, Ethan is you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe wants desperately to belong somewhere, to matter to someone.\u00a0 From what you just told me, it\u2019s not the Gillettes, and certainly not in Hartford.\u00a0 He feels safe here.\u00a0 Let him stay on the Ponderosa and learn what it means to be a Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u00a0 So you can be the better parent?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, for God\u2019s sake!\u201d\u00a0 Joe threw up his hands and marched toward the door.\u00a0 He stopped half way and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling.\u00a0 His shoulders dropped as he let out a sigh and made one more effort. \u00a0\u201cFor the last time, that\u2019s your role, not mine.\u00a0 Be his father; pay attention to your son\u2019s needs.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t, you\u2019re going to lose him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think you\u2019d better leave.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t let your past memories of me cloud your vision of Ethan\u2019s future.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cClose the door on your way out.\u201d\u00a0 Adam sat down and pretended to read.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, I always thought you had the answers to everything.\u00a0 It\u2019s quite a shock to discover you don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s head snapped around.\u00a0 He expected to see derision written on Joe\u2019s face.\u00a0 Instead, his brother was smiling.\u00a0 He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s exhausting trying to figure you out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAm I really that much of a mystery to you after all these years?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen and now.\u00a0 An enigma wrapped in a riddle.\u00a0 Always.\u00a0 Now get out of here, kid.\u00a0 I have a lot to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe paused in the threshold without turning. \u00a0\u201cApology accepted,\u201d he said before closing the door behind him.<\/p>\n The next day, Ethan was gone.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 10 –\u00a0Virginia City, Nevada<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Adam spotted the roan on Summit Road above Ophir Ravine and decide to leave the buckboard on A Street and walk up. \u00a0For one thing, he needed to stretch his legs.\u00a0 For another, it gave him time to think on Joe\u2019s advice.<\/p>\n For a man with no children of his own, his brother had an innate understanding of child psychology.\u00a0 When they discovered Ethan had taken a horse and disappeared, it was Joe who suspected what was going on.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s my fault, Adam.\u00a0 I told him how I used to push the boundaries when I was his age.\u00a0 I also told him Pa\u2014and you\u2014punished me because you loved me enough to see that I grew up right. The Gillettes never disciplined him.\u00a0 When he got here, Pa established rules and set parameters.\u00a0 He did well until last night.\u00a0 When I tried to swat his behind for that stunt at the table, and you stopped me, he thought you didn\u2019t care. \u00a0To him, a lickin\u2019 is a sign that you love him enough to set him straight.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Adam found Ethan sitting on the tongue of an old wagon that had one wheel missing. \u00a0He picked a piece of straw out of a crack in the sideboard and put it between his teeth.<\/p>\n \u201cHorse stealing\u2019s a hanging offense in Nevada,\u201d he said lightly.<\/p>\n \u201cAin\u2019t no trees anywheres around that I can see,\u201d Ethan said.<\/p>\n Adam refrained from correcting the boy\u2019s appalling grammar. \u00a0\u201cSeems to me like you had a plan when you ran away from Hartford.\u00a0 What\u2019s your plan this time?\u201d<\/p>\n Shrug.<\/p>\n \u201cHow\u2019s that working for you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot so good,\u201d Ethan admitted with surprising candor. \u00a0\u201cI thought . . . I thought it would be different.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cVirginia City.\u00a0 Uncle Joe said he used to sneak into town at night and raise hell.\u201d \u00a0Ethan shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t look like you could raise much here besides dirt.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam laughed. \u00a0\u201cLife was a lot different here when he was your age. \u00a0Pa tried hard to keep him out of Virginia City. \u00a0It was a pretty wild place then.\u00a0 Not quiet like it is now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cQuiet? \u00a0I can hardly hear myself think.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s less noisy than before. \u00a0Only a few stamp mills working now.\u00a0 But trust me, it\u2019s like a ghost town compared to what it was twenty years ago when it was primarily a tent city with cheap wooden structures and plenty of saloons.\u00a0 Three-quarters of the city burned down in \u201975. That was a blessing in disguise as it rid the city of the shoddy construction.\u00a0 They used brick to rebuild.\u201d<\/p>\n While they sat, Adam pointed out features of the Comstock\u2014explained the street layout, how to tell where the mines were by the tailings and slag heaps, showed where St. Mary\u2019s was and the hospital, Piper\u2019s Opera House, the train depot, and of course the stamp mills.\u00a0 He talked about The Territorial Enterprise, Mark Twain and other colorful personages that had visited the city in its heyday.<\/p>\n What captured Ethan\u2019s imagination the most, however, were tales of the three Cartwright brothers, like the time they chased Jigger Thurman\u2019s bull over half the county, or when Hoss and Joe were wanted for bank robbery. \u00a0Adam poured it on thick and was rewarded with genuine smiles and peals of laughter from his son.<\/p>\n The rays of the afternoon sun warmed their backs as much as the retelling of old memories did.\u00a0 Adam became aware of an inner serenity he hadn\u2019t experienced in quite some time.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want to live in San Francisco, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n Ethan shook his head.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI want to stay on the Ponderosa with my Grandpa and Uncles . . . and you.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s heart did a little flip.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d like that, too.\u201d\u00a0 He put his arm around Ethan\u2019s shoulders and drew him close.\u00a0 \u201cYou understand you got a punishment coming for taking the horse without permission.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI do,\u201d Ethan said, with just a hint of a smile that did not go unnoticed by Adam.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, if we\u2019re going to be ranchers, what say we go down to C Street and buy us some clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd go to a saloon?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam laughed and squeezed the back of his son’s neck.\u00a0 \u201cBoundaries, boy, boundaries.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy\u2019s wry grin told him Ethan would be pushing those boundaries as hard as Joe ever did.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 11 –\u00a0The Ponderosa Ranch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dressed once again in his familiar black pants, shirt and cowboy boots rather than a business suit and balmorals, Adam felt strangely liberated.\u00a0 The demands of ranch work had trimmed his waist while simultaneously restoring his appetite.\u00a0 He felt better than he had in years and slapped his chest with both hands at the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n Adam slowed his descent as soon as he saw Joe sitting forward on the settee, elbows on his knees, with his head in his hands. \u00a0From the landing he could see a wrinkled shirt and stained pants which meant Joe hadn\u2019t changed clothes, either because he was indisposed to do so\u2014unlikely\u2014or more than not, hadn\u2019t slept.\u00a0 In a flash, Adam recalled how Joe had embraced him so fiercely the night he arrived that he couldn\u2019t breathe. But before he could ask what was wrong, Joe had bolted, leaving Adam with the inescapable feeling that waters now ran deep within him.\u00a0 It appeared the time to still those waters had come.<\/p>\n \u201cTrouble?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe rubbed the area above his eyebrows with his fingertips.\u00a0 \u201cYou could say that.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sat down on the plank table in front of his brother. \u00a0Proximity had always worked before and he hoped it would now.\u00a0 He leaned forward and put his hand on Joe\u2019s knee.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you think it\u2019s about time you explained why you sent me that first telegram.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou remember when Pa got into a fight with Josh Tatum and tried to hide it from us.\u00a0 What was it you said?\u00a0 Something about a man always believing he was as good as his best day.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomething like that, yes.\u00a0 Pa been fighting again?\u00a0 Is that how he broke his ankle?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe covered his right fist with his left and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 Tilting at windmills is more like it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExplain.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGus Tatum was killed last night.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBar fight?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 He worked for us at the Willow Creek timber camp.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGus is no lumberjack.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 As a hired gun.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHired to do what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDefend our property.\u201d<\/p>\n Defend the Ponderosa?\u00a0 <\/em>Adam sat up straight and took stock of his brother, noting that his right hand trembled. \u00a0Fear? <\/em>There was a smudge of gray under his eyes and taut lines around his jaw.\u00a0 \u201cI noticed the clear cuts on the Eastern Slope coming back from Virginia City yesterday.\u00a0 I was going to ask you about that when we got home but you weren\u2019t here.\u201d<\/p>\n Candy walked in from the kitchen with Jamie who was carrying a tray with a coffee pot and mugs for all.\u00a0 \u201cWe were up at the camp all night fighting off poachers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re right, Adam,\u201d Joe said. \u201cI should have told you, but you had more important things to deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNothing is more important than family, Joe.\u00a0 Right?”<\/p>\n “Ethan’s your family now . . . and you’re leaving . . . so, don’t worry about it.\u00a0 We’ll manage.\u00a0 We always do,\u201d\u00a0 Joe said, too tired to hide the bitterness he felt.<\/p>\n Although Joe kept his head down, Adam could see his lower lip trembled.\u00a0 He looked to Candy for help.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Comstock started harvesting Tahoe timber back in \u201972,\u201d Candy said.\u00a0 \u201cMost of the Sierra south of the ranch is denuded.\u00a0 They left us alone as long as there was public land to harvest, but they\u2019re coming after Ponderosa timber now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow much have we lost?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMillions of board feet,\u201d Joe said, swiping his eyes with the palms of his hands.\u00a0 He stood and started pacing in front of the fireplace, fingers tucked behind his back in his belt.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing our best to defend against . . . \u2018poachers\u2019 is as good a word as any, I guess.\u00a0 Men who come in the night and cut down the trees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re trespassing,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cDoes the Sheriff know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, but if you don\u2019t catch \u2018em in the act, how you gonna prove it\u2019s a Ponderosa pine?\u00a0 It\u2019s not as if the log has a brand on it.\u00a0 And there aren\u2019t enough men on the payroll to handle the cattle and timber, let alone guard the perimeter of the Ponderosa.\u201d<\/p>\n No wonder the kid is exhausted<\/em>.\u00a0 Since his brother had beaten him to the breakfast table every morning, he\u2019d thought Joe had turned over a new leaf . . . instead he\u2019d been burning the candle at both ends dealing with this crisis.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s not your fault, Joe,\u201d Adam said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, but it\u2019s on my watch.\u201d Joe sat at the other end of the settee.\u00a0 \u201cAnd what about Gus?\u00a0 \u00a0How many trees are worth a man\u2019s life?\u00a0\u00a0 One? Ten? A thousand?\u00a0 What if the next man to die is Jamie or Candy?\u00a0 How do I live with that?\u00a0 How do I live if anyone dies?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben had been listening from the passage between the kitchen and dining room.\u00a0 He realized the condition of the Sierra forests, of course, but didn\u2019t know Ponderosa timber was now endangered, accepting at face value Joe\u2019s assurance that everything was fine.\u00a0 Sometimes the only way to learn the depth of an issue was by listening covertly.\u00a0 He moved into the great room and sat next to Joe, putting a hand on his back.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s up to God when someone dies, not us.\u00a0 But you\u2019re right, Joseph.\u00a0 We protect people first and then do what we can to protect the land.\u00a0 We\u2019ll replant as we always have, only instead of one for every tree cut down, we\u2019ll plant three.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, Pa.\u00a0 We could plant fifty trees a day and it wouldn\u2019t be enough,\u201d Joe said, his voice quavering. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no need to apologize, son.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s your dream and I failed to protect it. I\u2019m so sorry.\u00a0 I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam thought Pa was tilting at windmills.\u00a0 Planting was an exercise in futility.\u00a0 \u201cJoe\u2019s right, Pa.\u00a0 Some of those pines are centuries old.\u00a0 Reforestation will take decades. \u00a0Full growth won\u2019t be reached in our lifetime. \u00a0Maybe not even in Ethan\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s more than pines.\u201d\u00a0 All eyes turned to the young man on the stairs.<\/p>\n \u201cSon, you shouldn\u2019t eavesdrop on\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014Adam,\u201d Ben interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cThis is his heritage we\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 Come down here, Ethan.\u00a0 We . . . all of us . . . want to hear what you have to say.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy descended cautiously, avoiding his father\u2019s dark gaze.\u00a0 He was uncertain where to go until Ben patted the cushion to his left.\u00a0 Relieved, Ethan moved next to his grandfather and drew courage from the arm around his shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, what we\u2019re you about to say?\u201d Ben asked.<\/p>\n \u201cJust . . . well.\u00a0 You\u2019re talkin\u2019 about trees that have been . . . have been\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014harvested,\u201d Adam interjected.<\/p>\n \u201cHarvested.\u201d\u00a0 Nods all around encouraged the boy to continue.\u00a0 \u201cWhen Jamie and I went for a hike the other day, there was all kinds of trees growing on the hills, not just pine trees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGo on,\u201d Ben said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell.\u00a0 If pines take so long to, ah\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2014mature,\u201d Jamie helped.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, that.\u00a0 Why can\u2019t you plant more of the trees that will grow faster?\u201d<\/p>\n No one spoke as the significance of Ethan\u2019s statement sank in.<\/p>\n Finally, Adam placed both hands around his son\u2019s face, and kissed him on the forehead. \u201cBrilliant!\u00a0 My son is brilliant.\u00a0 We re-seed the pines like Pa says, but we also plant aspens.\u00a0 Lots of them.\u00a0 They\u2019re fast growing, two-three feet a year and they have a formidable root system that will hold the soil.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they thrive in full sun without a canopy to shade them,\u201d Jamie added.\u00a0 \u201cYou see plenty of them in burn areas until the conifers come back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCandy,\u201d Ben said, \u201cget the maps.\u00a0 Bring them to the dining room.\u201d<\/p>\n They all crowded around the table looking at the topographic maps of the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Adam explained the symbols to Ethan and pointed out where the various stands were and the camp locations where they conducted their logging operations.<\/p>\n Joe traced the outer boundaries with his finger. \u201cIf we pull back our men from the perimeter to defensible positions here, here, and here, we have the best chance of protecting the old growth forests.”<\/p>\n Candy concurred, and Ben added, “If we\u2019re lucky, the Comstock will go bust sooner rather than later.\u00a0 It may be the only thing that saves the Sierras.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow much of Ponderosa capital is tied up in mining?\u201d Adam asked.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve sold off most of our shares,\u201d Ben said.\u00a0 \u201cBut we still have stock in the Consolidated Virginia.\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEthan and I were in town yesterday.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t like what I heard or saw.\u00a0 The Comstock is dying.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe said, \u201cIt\u2019s been dying before, but it always comes back. The Big Four keep pouring money in to raise stock value and just when you think it\u2019ll crash, damn if there isn\u2019t another bonanza.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd the railroad makes it profitable to mine lesser grade ore so they can afford to keep going,\u201d Jamie added, \u201ceven with lower yields.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, you\u2019re the one with the engineering and mining experience,\u201d Ben said, \u201cDo you believe another Bonanza is possible?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam considered what he knew.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like there was an undiscovered vein lurking around the corner.\u00a0 Dan DeQuille had once posited that ore on Sun Mountain was like raisins in a bread pudding and now the raisins were all gone.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cMy sense is that the end is near.\u00a0 I\u2019d sell those shares, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Chapter 12 –\u00a0The Ponderosa Ranch<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Winter came to the Sierras in September bringing heavy snows that prevented harvesting of any timber.\u00a0 The reprieve gave the Cartwrights time to complete their plan for defense and reforestation.<\/p>\n On New Year\u2019s Eve family and friends gathered to reflect on what they\u2019d gained and what they\u2019d lost in the past year.<\/p>\n Toasts were made all around, some funny, some sad, some raunchy enough that Ben put his hands over Ethan\u2019s ears to everyone\u2019s amusement.<\/p>\n When it was Adam\u2019s turn to toast, he raised his glass.\u00a0 \u201cMany years ago, my brothers and I tried to put Pa out to pasture\u2014a bit prematurely as it turned out.\u201d<\/p>\n Hearty laughter filled the room.<\/p>\n \u201cTurned out, it was my brothers and I that needed rescuing that day and so did Jack and Gus Tatum. Afterwards, their father Josh told my Pa \u2018raising kids sure ain\u2019t easy.\u00a0 Guess I got me a wolf pup that I need to knock some sense into providin\u2019 y\u2019all can help me.\u2019 \u00a0Well, he did and we did.\u00a0 Jack, here\u2019s to you and your brother Gus for having the good sense to listen to your father.\u00a0 You grew into fine men he would be proud of today.\u00a0 We, all of us on the Ponderosa, are grateful to Gus for his sacrifice and saddened by his loss.\u00a0 We\u2019d like you to know that we filed papers with the assessor\u2019s office to rename Willow Creek.\u00a0 It\u2019ll now be known as Tatum\u2019s Ridge.\u201d<\/p>\n Amid quiet murmurs, everyone raised their glass in acknowledgement.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019d just like to add that I agree with Josh’s sentiment.\u00a0 Raising kids sure ain\u2019t easy.\u00a0 So here\u2019s another toast,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cTo my brother Joe, the flip side of my coin, who always has my back, especially in raising my own wolf pup.\u201d<\/p>\n Cheers and laughter again echoed around the room, and the Grundy boys started up the music for dancing.<\/p>\n Later, Candy sidled up to Adam and suggested that he might want to have a few words with Joe, then quietly slipped away\u2014a move Adam was not only becoming accustomed to, but had begun to appreciate.<\/p>\n Joe was sitting at the table on the front porch with his feet propped up on the railing.\u00a0 A full moon shown on the freshly fallen snow illuminating a carpet of diamonds in the yard.\u00a0 \u00a0Adam placed two glasses and a bottle of brandy on the table before sitting down and burying his chin in his Sherpa jacket and tucking his hands under his armpits.<\/p>\n \u201cPa\u2019s good stuff?\u201d\u00a0 Joe asked as he filled each glass to the brim.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n They sat, sipping the amber liquid, listening to the music and laughter pouring out the windows which had been opened for ventilation.\u00a0 The brothers chuckled at overheard bandy jokes and rolled their eyes at absurd flirtations.<\/p>\n They were on their third round when Joe finally said, \u201c1880.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYep,\u201d Adam drawled.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m older now than Hoss ever was.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam pondered the observation for a time before responding. \u201cYou thinkin\u2019 it isn\u2019t right or fair.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 It\u2019s strange knowing that every day of my life now is one he never lived then.\u201d<\/p>\n Once again, Adam faced the knowledge that he did not possess the answers to life\u2019s mysteries for his brother or anyone else.\u00a0 Instead, he reached across the table and placed his hand on top of Joe\u2019s, offering the only comfort he could.<\/p>\n \u201cThen make every day from now on count double.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe rotated his wrist and grasped Adam\u2019s hand so firmly he could feel their blood pulse in tandem.\u00a0 With his free hand, he raised his glass, and choking back tears whispered, \u201cTo Hoss.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTo Hoss,\u201d Adam replied.<\/p>\n *****<\/p>\n Between the champagne and brandy consumed that night, Joe was in his cups well past midnight.\u00a0 As Adam helped him to bed, he took advantage of his inebriated sibling\u2019s loose tongue and asked, \u201cso, how did<\/u> Pa break his ankle?\u201d<\/p>\n Among a jumble of syllables, the only words Adam could distinguish were \u201cClementine\u201d and what sounded like \u201ctrap.\u201d<\/p>\n Or was that trapeze?<\/em><\/p>\n ~~The End~~<\/p>\n Author\u2019s note:\u00a0 The bonanza mines paid their last dividends in 1879 and 1880. \u00a0It was reported that sometimes one could walk down C street and not see a living soul.<\/p>\n May 3, 1881, fire broke out in the mines.\u00a0 The 150 million board feet of lumber that propped up the rock under Virginia City burned for three years.\u00a0 Mining stopped and Virginia City stopped with it.<\/p>\n The cards (words\/phrases) dealt to me were:<\/p>\n A broken ankle <\/p>\n
\nEric Cartwright, aged 20<\/strong>
\nJoseph Cartwright, aged 14<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n1856<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nA fear of storms
\nCommitment
\nTo be loved
\nA daguerreotype<\/p>\n