Summary:\u00a0 Adam goes looking for his little brother in the woods on All Hallows Eve and finds more than he bargains for.<\/p>\n
Word count: 2497<\/p>\n
Rated: PG<\/p>\n
When the Autumn Moon is Bright<\/strong><\/p>\n Little Joe was nowhere to be found.<\/p>\n Adam Cartwright pulled up on the reins of his mount and halted at the edge of the forest where his youngest brother\u2019s tracks had taken him.\u00a0 \u00a0He shoved his gray hat back and let out a sigh as his eyes surveyed the dense, tangled mass before him.\u00a0 If the truth were told, he had volunteered to go looking for the thirteen-year-old for one reason and one reason only.<\/em><\/p>\n He wanted to ring his neck.<\/p>\n It was autumn and the chores were never-ending.\u00a0 All of the signs of nature pointed to a hard, if not brutal winter to come.\u00a0 Just laying in sufficient firewood to make it through to March should have been enough to keep the kid busy from dawn to dusk.\u00a0 Pa had specifically told Joe that he was to finish his chores before he took off to join his friends.\u00a0 It was October 31st<\/sup>, All Hallows Eve, and the church in the settlement had sanctioned a dance in hopes of warding off the spirits of the air \u2013 as well as any childish shenanigans.\u00a0 It was all nonsense, of course, occasioned by ignorance and superstition.\u00a0 America was a new country with new ideas, but those who peopled it brought many things with them from the Old including their traditions.\u00a0 Pa\u2019s people had come from England.\u00a0 He remembered, as a young boy, his mother having him put food out on the doorstep to keep the Devil away.\u00a0 His own step-mother, Marie, with her French Creole background, had been prone to\u2026shall we say\u2026rather fanciful notions as well. \u00a0He remembered one All Hallows Eve catching her outside with Little Joe in hand, standing beside a bonfire.\u00a0 She told the kid it was meant to light the way for wandering spirits to the afterlife.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s eyes returned to the woods.<\/p>\n They weren\u2019t on fire.<\/p>\n Yet.<\/p>\n Rising up in the saddle, he called out, \u201cJoe!\u00a0 Little Joe!\u00a0 If you\u2019re in there, answer me!\u201d\u00a0 The black-haired man waited a moment and then tried again \u2013 using his \u2018Pa\u2019 voice this time.\u00a0 \u201dJoseph Francis Cartwright!\u00a0 If you are there, you\u2019d better answer me!\u201d<\/p>\n Adam snorted as he settled back in the saddle.\u00a0 No. \u00a0He didn\u2019t believe in superstitions.<\/p>\n Just in the power of names, it seemed.<\/p>\n He\u2019d gone to the settlement first , expecting to find the boy there, off in some corner kissing girls.\u00a0 When the corners proved vacant, he\u2019d moved on to the area where the attendees were playing games.\u00a0 Spin the Bottle, Blind Man\u2019s Bluff, and bobbing for apples provided ample opportunities for kissing girls as well.<\/p>\n Little Joe wasn\u2019t there either.<\/p>\n Next he sought out Hoss.\u00a0 Big<\/em> little brother was doing his own fair share of sparking, with a girl on each arm. \u00a0But, \u2018no\u2019, he hadn\u2019t seen Little Joe since the boy had gone over to join a cadre of his friends who were huddled outside under a pole embellished with Jack O\u2019 Lanterns.<\/p>\n Apparently holding the dance under the watchful eye of the current reverend wasn\u2019t enough to exorcise the dreaded but anticipated, \u2018shenanigans\u2019.<\/p>\n He doubted it did much to stop the \u2018spirits of the air\u2019 either.<\/p>\n Adam stifled another sigh as he dismounted.\u00a0 He ground tethered Sport and gave his friend\u2019s velvet nose a sociable pat before walking straight into the trees.\u00a0 The spot was not unknown to him.\u00a0 There\u2019d been a blight about the time Little Joe was born and it had twisted the trees in this particular area until they resembled a bale of barbed wire picked up and put down by a cyclone.\u00a0 The thing that puzzled him was that Joe hated this place. \u00a0Once upon a time \u2013 when he\u2019d<\/em> been the unruly and slightly unprincipled teener \u2013 he\u2019d left Little Joe on his own here.\u00a0 The poor kid had been terrified.<\/p>\n So why, he wondered, come here now?<\/p>\n Peer pressure, most likely, was the answer.\u00a0 Joe was thirteen.\u00a0 He was at that age where you grew from a boy to a man, and a big part of that growing was learning to stand on your own.\u00a0 Adam chuckled.\u00a0 He remembered when he\u2019d been that age. Even though he had a man\u2019s responsibilities, he was still a kid.\u00a0 Come to think of it, he\u2019d done something pretty stupid one All Hallows Eve.\u00a0 It involved a pretty girl, a bonfire, a barn dry as kindling, and a more than irate father.<\/p>\n That being his <\/em>father.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t sit down for a week.<\/p>\n So, he supposed he\u2019d better go easy on the kid when he found him.\u00a0 Not that he was about to let Joe know why, but \u2013<\/p>\n Adam halted.\u00a0 He\u2019d heard something.\u00a0 It was a strange sound, like someone laughing and crying at the same time.<\/p>\n His fingers moved of their own volition, releasing the strap that held his pistol.<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe?\u00a0 Joe, it\u2019s Adam.\u00a0 Answer me!\u201d<\/p>\n There was a growl \u2013 and then the sound of something falling into water.\u00a0 Next a wind gusted through the trees, blowing leaves and bracken about his feet and dust into his eyes.\u00a0 A dark shadow rushed past him, nearly knocking him down, and then he heard it \u2013 a cry.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u00a0 Adam\u2026help\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe!\u201d he shouted, already on the move.\u00a0 \u201cWhere are you?\u00a0 Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy the\u2026stream.\u00a0 Adam\u2026God\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n The moon was high, but the trees hid it; their jostling branches casting weird shadows on the forest floor that danced with a life of their own.\u00a0 He could only assume the sound of something falling in the water had been his brother.\u00a0 Normally that wouldn\u2019t have scared him, but they\u2019d had a lot of rain and the stream was running high.<\/p>\n It\u2019s rushing voice was nearly loud enough to drown out the frantic beating of his heart.<\/p>\n Nearly.<\/p>\n As he broke through the trees Adam halted, his eyes scanning the sheltered area before him.\u00a0 It took a second or two, but he spotted him.\u00a0 Little Joe was clawing his way up the bank.\u00a0 He was covered with mud from his \u00a0curly head to the toes of his now ruined dress shoes.<\/p>\n Dropping beside him, Adam asked, \u201cJoe, what happened?\u00a0 Are you all right?\u00a0 For God\u2019s sake, what are you doing out here?\u201d<\/p>\n His brother\u2019s giant green eyes fastened on his face.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s mouth opened and closed two times before any sound came out.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026stupid,\u201d Joe said, and then again, \u201c\u2026stupid.\u201d\u00a0 A shudder ran through his brother\u2019s lithe body, more than a shiver \u2013 almost a tremor.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s fingers clawed at his shirt.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam\u2026help.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The ride home was a silent one.\u00a0 Joe stubbornly refused to answer any questions.\u00a0 For a while the kid sat up, and then he slumped against him and rested his head against his chest.\u00a0 As they plodded along, with the autumn moon full above their heads, his brother fell asleep.\u00a0 Apparently Joe\u2019s subconscious was less reticent, because the moment he did, he started to talk.<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 Hank\u2026no.\u00a0 I can\u2019t\u2026\u00a0 I won\u2019t\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a dirty trick. The kid was exhausted.<\/p>\n Oh, well.<\/p>\n \u201cCan\u2019t what, Joe?\u201d he prompted.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat won\u2019t you do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026drink it.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam blinked.\u00a0 Was that what this was all about?\u00a0 Teenage boys imbibing in the woods?\u00a0 But no, he hadn\u2019t smelled any liquor on Little Joe\u2019s breath.<\/p>\n \u201cDrink what?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cDrink\u2026no.\u00a0\u00a0 No!\u00a0 Wolf!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe sat up so quickly he almost unseated them both.<\/p>\n \u201cTurn around, Adam!\u201d his brother shouted as he began to squirm and tried to climb down.\u00a0 \u201cTurn around!\u201d\u00a0 Panic entered his voice and Joe began to flail, frightening both him and Sport.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t!\u00a0 I can\u2019t go home!\u00a0 No!\u00a0 Adam! Let me go!\u201d<\/p>\n He did it for his own good.\u00a0 It would haunt him until his dying day.<\/p>\n He hit the kid so hard he put him out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He didn\u2019t tell Pa the truth, of course.\u00a0 How could he?\u00a0 When they arrived home, he told the older man that Little Joe had gone into the woods with his friends, they\u2019d been fooling around, and Joe\u2019d fallen and hit his head.\u00a0 Pa had given him that \u2018look\u2019, but he hadn\u2019t questioned him \u2013 at first.\u00a0 When he insisted that he<\/em> be the one to keep watch, then<\/em> Pa asked the questions.\u00a0 He fessed up \u2013 lied, really \u2013 that he\u2019d been partially responsible.\u00a0 He\u2019d come upon the kids and frightened them, he said.\u00a0 He felt guilty.<\/p>\n What he really felt was scared.<\/p>\n Little Joe had been like a madman and it seemed the catalyst was home.\u00a0 He was standing by Joe\u2019s bedside now \u2013 hovering over it, really \u2013 pondering that and waiting for the kid to wake up so he could question him.<\/p>\n \u2018No. \u00a0Can\u2019t. \u00a0Won\u2019t. \u00a0Drink. \u00a0Wolf.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n What the Hell<\/em> was that about?<\/p>\n It was after midnight and the moon was high.\u00a0 Its light shone through the window of Little Joe\u2019s room, striping the coverlet he had thrown over his brother.\u00a0 As it touched Joe\u2019s hand, his brother moaned and shifted.<\/p>\n He sat beside him.\u00a0 \u201cJoe.\u00a0 It\u2019s Adam.\u00a0 Can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe moaned again.\u00a0 His eyes opened without focus, closed, and then opened once more as he licked his lips and asked, \u201cAdam?\u00a0 Where\u2026am I?\u201d<\/p>\n The black-haired man winced.\u00a0 He hoped that punch hadn\u2019t been too<\/em> hard.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t you<\/em> tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s eyes roamed the room and then, just as before, he began to panic.\u00a0 \u201cAdam!\u00a0 No. \u00a0You didn\u2019t <\/em>bring me home!!\u00a0 Nooooo\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n He gripped his brother\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cCalm down.\u00a0 Look at me.\u00a0 Joe, look<\/em> at me!\u201d\u00a0 When his brother did as he was told, Adam demanded, \u201cWhat is this all about?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cAdam,\u201d he said, his voice hushed, \u201cI can\u2019t stay here.\u00a0 I\u2019ll\u2026hurt someone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHurt someone.\u00a0 You.\u00a0 Or Hoss\u2026or Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe.\u00a0 Make sense.\u00a0 You would never hurt any of us.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother turned his face into the light.\u00a0 It was pale as the full moon; his eyes shadowed by clouds of fear and pain.\u00a0 Joe swallowed hard.\u00a0 He shuddered.<\/p>\n \u201cI may not have any choice.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam Cartwright pulled up on the reins of his mount and halted at the edge of the forest.\u00a0 \u00a0He shoved his gray hat back and let out a sigh as his eyes surveyed the dense, tangled mass before him.\u00a0 If the truth were told, he had come here for one reason and one reason only.<\/em><\/p>\n To prove his little brother wrong.<\/p>\n The tale Joe told was a fantastic one, worthy of the Brothers Grimm.\u00a0 There was a new boy in town.\u00a0 His name was Hank.\u00a0 Joe didn\u2019t like him, but he was popular with the other boys, mostly because he was trouble.\u00a0 At the dance a group of them had gathered around Hank.\u00a0 Seth had been among them and he\u2019d roped in Little Joe.\u00a0 Hank dared them to follow him into the woods.\u00a0 He said he had something extraordinary to show them.\u00a0 When Joe said they shouldn\u2019t, Hank made fun of him and the kid had caved.\u00a0 The new boy, it seemed, had a book of his father\u2019s; one that contained arcane knowledge.\u00a0 Once in the woods, Hank drew a pentagram on the ground.\u00a0 He spoke a spell and told the boys to step into it.\u00a0 Joe did \u2013 thinking Hank was joking.\u00a0 Little brother hadn\u2019t panicked until the older boy brought a wolf out of the woods on a leash and made it drink at the stream, and then told him to do the same.\u00a0 In this way, Hank said, he would become a wolf too, like him and his father, and know great power.\u00a0 That was enough for the other boys, they ran. \u00a0Joe, being Joe, held his ground, hoping to talk some sense into Hank.\u00a0 A fight ensued.\u00a0 Hank got the better of Little Joe.\u00a0 The older boy caught him and shoved him into the water and made him drink.<\/p>\n Adam passed a hand over his face.<\/p>\n And then, Joe said, Hank turned into a wolf and ran away.<\/p>\n He was standing now on the spot where the dark shadow had passed him, considering his options.\u00a0 He was fairly certain Joe hadn\u2019t seen what he thought he had.\u00a0 The kid was scared, under duress, and half-drowned.\u00a0 And yet, he couldn\u2019t dismiss what he said entirely.\u00a0 On his way back to the forest he\u2019d run into one of their neighbors.\u00a0 The man had formed a posse of sorts.\u00a0 A pair of wolves had appeared out of nowhere \u00a0just before midnight and decimated his herd.<\/p>\n Big<\/em> wolves.<\/p>\n Adam drew a breath and let it out before reaching into his pocket and drawing out a sterling silver medallion.\u00a0 On its front was the face of Christ.\u00a0 On the back, the words \u2018je suis\u2019<\/em>.<\/p>\n I am.<\/em><\/p>\n The medallion was one of a pair gifted to him by his \u2018fanciful\u2019 stepmother.\u00a0 Marie told him that the silver had been blessed.\u00a0 It was \u2018sacr\u00e9 \u00e0 dieu\u2019,<\/em> or sacred to God, and one day he might have need of it.\u00a0 He remembered looking at her, one skeptical eyebrow pitched upward toward his black locks.<\/p>\n Then she quoted Shakespeare.<\/p>\n \u2018There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Adam, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n Adam ran a hand over his stubbled chin.<\/p>\n He might just prove Shakespeare \u2013 and Marie \u2013 right tonight.<\/p>\n Medallion in hand, Adam moved into the trees and toward the stream where Joe had fallen.\u00a0 He saw the wolves almost immediately.\u00a0 They were waiting for him; their slavering jaws dripping, their eyes red as blood.\u00a0 His own library was extensive and contained books he knew his father would not approve of. Among them was one of secret knowledge \u2013 maybe the same one Hank\u2019s father had.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t entirely sure he believed the creatures before him were transformed humans, but he was sure of one thing.<\/p>\n Joe believed it.<\/p>\n For several heartbeats they faced one another \u2013 silent, unmoving \u2013 and then the larger of the pair charged; the younger only a few feet behind.\u00a0 Two shots rang out.\u00a0 Two bullets formed from the molten metal of Marie\u2019s second medallion flew.\u00a0 Two unholy cries split the night as the wind rose and carried away with it the insubstantial shapes of a man and a boy.<\/p>\n A boy.\u00a0 Just like Little Joe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By the time he reached home, the sun was up and streaming in Little Joe\u2019s window.\u00a0 Adam dropped wearily into the chair beside the bed and reached for his brother\u2019s hand.\u00a0 Opening Joe\u2019s fingers, he placed the remaining silver medallion in it.<\/p>\n \u201cThank you, Marie,\u201d he sighed.<\/p>\n Little Joe must have heard him. \u00a0His brother\u2019s eyes opened.\u00a0 \u201cAre they gone?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Adam nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I\u2019m free?\u201d<\/p>\n The book made it clear.\u00a0 If the lycanthrope who had infected another was destroyed, they were liberated from the curse.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Joe.\u00a0 You\u2019re free.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother stared at him for nearly a minute, as if to divine the truth of his words.\u00a0 Then he snorted.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it, Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI guess you did what\u2019s best.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou guess??\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe shrugged as he pulled the linens up to his chin and rolled over.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know. \u00a0It might have been kind of fun being a teenage werewolf.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tags: Adam Cartwright, brothers, Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright, Marie Cartwright, Wolf<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: Adam goes looking for his little brother in the woods on All Hallows Eve and finds more than he bargains for.<\/p>\n Word count: 2497<\/p>\n Rated: PG<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10058,"featured_media":30474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1091,23,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adam-joe","category-drama","category-halloween","wpcat-1091-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-29-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/e71b37d467d6d03ad02a173175defef9.jpg?fit=450%2C281&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10058"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}