Summary:\u00a0 A WHB & WHN for ‘The Last Haircut’, ‘Marie, My Love’, and ‘The Hayburner’ with a nod to ‘The Truckee Strip’ and ‘The Crucible’. Everyone in Virginia City knew Duke Miller had gotten away with murder, but there were few who knew he had done it before. At the heart of his hate lay one man and but a single goal: the complete and total destruction of Joe Cartwright.<\/p>\n
Rated PG-13 for Western brutality and lots of angst and SJS<\/p>\n
Word count: 72,114<\/p>\n
A Man That Studieth Revenge<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u2018This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge keeps his wounds green, which otherwise would heal and do well.\u2019\u00a0 Francis Bacon<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n Interlude One \u2013 Autumn 1862<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, son. Hold on. I\u2019m right here with you. Little Joe\u2026do you hear me? Joseph, you have<\/em> to hold on.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know how he\u2019d made out that one voice. There were a whole passel of them circling him like buzzards on the wing, swooping and diving; coming close and fading away.<\/p>\n Everything was fading away.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat the…happened?<\/p>\n \u201cWhere did\u2026come from? \u2026anyone see?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere! \u2026from there!?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2026.?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026bad…someone\u2026for\u2026the Doc.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026shot\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n Me, Joe thought. Shot\u2026me.<\/p>\n I\u2019m shot.<\/p>\n Something touched his head \u2013 a feather-light touch like a dry, brittle leaf brushing his skin \u2013 the kind that turned to dust.<\/p>\n Dust to dust.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2019s your brother?\u201d one voice rose above the clamor of the kettle of buzzards to ask. \u201cWhere\u2019s Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026went to get\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood Lord!\u201d<\/p>\n Yeah. The Lord was good, and that was a good thing. He supposed he was gonna see Him soon.<\/p>\n That was, after the buzzards got done picking his bones.<\/p>\n Another leaf fell, brushing his shoulder this time.<\/p>\n This one must have been made of lead \u2018cause it hurt like Hell.<\/p>\n \u201cHe moved. Adam, did you see?\u201d<\/p>\n It had to be late in the season, \u2018cause the leaves kept falling. One landed on his forehead.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe\u2026.listen to me. Fight. Damn it! Fight!<\/em> You\u2019re not allowed to\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Die.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what he was doing, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Dying.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why the leaves were turning to dust and everything was vanishing. Someone had shot him and left him like carrion on the street for the buzzards to pick clean. They weren\u2019t hovering anymore. They were right there with him. Their wings beat against his face.<\/p>\n Their breath smelled of death.<\/p>\n His death.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026move aside! Get\u2026my way!\u201d<\/p>\n Whoever that was, was mighty upset. Maybe they didn\u2019t want him to die.<\/p>\n Maybe it was Hoss, but no, Hoss was gone.<\/p>\n Like he\u2019d be gone.<\/p>\n Soon.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you hear me? Little Joe? Blink, if you can hear me.\u201d<\/p>\n He could hear whoever it was, but he couldn\u2019t blink. Not only was everything fading, but everything was shutting down like the Palace after the final show.<\/p>\n Someone had put the lights out.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026serious.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026save him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026in\u2026deep\u2026.bleeding out\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Another leaf fell on Joe\u2019s shoulder. This time it didn\u2019t hurt, even when it sliced open his skin and reached inside.<\/p>\n Nothing hurt. Everything was\u2026<\/p>\n Fine.<\/p>\n \u201cPaul\u2026what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGod God!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph, no!\u201d<\/p>\n He wished he\u2019d had the energy to snort. He\u2019d never been good at following orders.<\/p>\n Opening his eyes, Little Joe Cartwright took one final look at his father and brother. It took all that was left in him, but he managed a smile and a single word.<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ——<\/p>\n Part One – The Set-up, Early Spring 1846<\/strong><\/p>\n ONE<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cOui<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t get it.\u00a0 \u2019We\u2019 what?\u201d<\/p>\n Exasperated, Marie Cartwright rolled her eyes.\u00a0 \u201c\u2019Oui\u2019 means <\/em>\u2018yes\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen why don\u2019t you just say \u2018yes\u2019?\u00a0 Seems to me you could save a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy don\u2019t you <\/em>learn French?\u201d she snapped back.\u00a0 \u201cIt seems to me that<\/em> would save a good bit of time!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow don\u2019t you go getting\u2019 all high-handed and uppity with me, you \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMarie?\u00a0 Is there a problem?\u201d<\/p>\n The beautiful blonde woman turned toward the doorway.\u00a0 Silhouetted in it was her handsome husband of five years.\u00a0 The sight of Ben Cartwright, with his thick head of silver-black hair, velvet-brown eyes, and physically powerful figure never failed to elicit a sigh \u2013 or bring a thrill.<\/p>\n \u201cNon<\/em>,\u201d she replied as she turned back with a little smile of triumph.\u00a0 \u201cMister Maitland was helping me choose a new hat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh?\u201d Ben asked as he stepped into the milliner\u2019s shop.\u00a0 \u201cMay I see it?\u201d<\/p>\n Actually, she hadn\u2019t settled on one yet, though the tall top hat fashioned of pleated green velvet, with its profusion of black and crimson feathers that Mr. Maitland held was calling out to her.<\/p>\n In French<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ben came over to the haberdasher and held out his hand.\u00a0 \u201cMay I?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Barney Maitland quailed in her husband\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n As rightly he should.<\/p>\n \u201cCertainly, Mister Cartwright.\u00a0 Anything for one of my best customers.\u201d<\/p>\n The Maitlands\u2019 shop catered to both men and women.\u00a0 She usually dealt with Mrs. Maitland, who was by far a superior human being to her husband \u2013 and not just because Sarah approved of her.\u00a0 Though that was<\/em> a plus since so many in the settlement did not.\u00a0\u00a0 Sarah was a cultured woman who had been reared in Philadelphia before coming out West.<\/p>\n Which begged the question of why she had married Barney Maitland whose idea of culture was a magic lantern show at the Palace.<\/p>\n \u201cMarie?\u201d<\/p>\n She blinked.\u00a0 \u201cForgive me, mon cher<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Her husband tapped the end of her nose.\u00a0 \u201cRemember what I told you.\u201d<\/p>\n She did, \u00a0some of the time, except when her mind wandered \u2013 which was most of the time.<\/p>\n Marie drew in a breath and said it with him.<\/p>\n \u201cFocus.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben smiled as he took hold of her shoulders.\u00a0 He turned her toward the looking glass on the counter and then picked up the hat. \u00a0A moment later, he put it right back down.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo?\u201d she asked, peering at him in the mirror.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything in its proper order,\u201d Ben replied and then took hold of her shoulders again, spun her around, and kissed her on the lips.<\/p>\n There was a round of applause.<\/p>\n She knew it wasn\u2019t from Barney Maitland.<\/p>\n \u201cYou think maybe we should be expectin\u2019 another baby\u2026er, Little Joe soon?\u201d a young voice asked.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t you think one is enough?\u201d<\/em> a slightly older voice answered.<\/p>\n Marie looked over her husband\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 Two handsome young men occupied the doorway of the shop.\u00a0 For a second, panic seized her. \u00a0Then she realized her mistake \u2013 it was three<\/em> handsome young men.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, let me down!\u00a0 Let me down, Adam!\u201d her son cried.\u00a0 \u201cI ain\u2019t no baby!\u201d<\/p>\n The blonde woman winced as her gaze shot to her husband.\u00a0 Ben was a stickler for speaking correctly.\u00a0 She would have to have a chat with Hoss about his grammar soon \u2013 though if the truth be known, her own suffered a tiny <\/em>bit from her French upbringing.<\/p>\n Her husband opened his mouth, but Hoss beat him to it.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Ain\u2019t \u2018ain\u2019t a word, Little Joe!\u00a0 Don\u2019t you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cTalk about the pot calling the kettle black\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t see no pot,\u201d her son replied.<\/p>\n Marie glanced at her husband.\u00a0 Ben\u2019s look was stern \u2013 but it was faux<\/em> as well.\u00a0 His lips drew into a line and then they began to tremble.\u00a0\u00a0 The poor man\u2019s eyes filled with tears and he began to laugh \u2013 a big hearty laugh that even had the dour Barney Maitland smiling.<\/p>\n Ben knelt and held out his arms.\u00a0 \u201cCome here, you little scamp!\u201d<\/p>\n Adam held her son tightly.\u00a0 As Joseph squirmed, he turned to Hoss and asked, \u201cSo, which<\/em> one of us is the scamp?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019s the scamp!\u201d her petit<\/em> Joseph proudly proclaimed as he wriggled free.\u00a0 Marie gasped as the four-year old\u2019s feet hit the ground, for he almost toppled over.\u00a0 Her smile returned as her little boy dashed across the shop and hurled himself into his father\u2019s arms.\u00a0 \u201cI <\/em>is Papa\u2019s little scamp!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben rose with Joseph in his arms.\u00a0 As he carried their son to her side, Marie heard Adam remark wryly to his brother, \u201cI wonder how many years it will take Joe to figure out just what \u2018scamp\u2019 means?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBeloved,\u201d she said as she ruffled her son\u2019s golden-brown curls.\u00a0 Pressing her lips to his forehead, she repeated, \u201cBeloved.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph wrinkled his nose.\u00a0 Then he rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cNo more kissin\u2019.\u00a0 Big boys don\u2019t gets kissed!\u201d<\/p>\n This time Adam laughed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll have to remember that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI like it when Ma and Pa kiss,\u201d Hoss said.<\/p>\n \u201cMe too!\u201d Joseph proclaimed.\u00a0 \u201cKiss Mama now, Pa!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, Pa!\u00a0 Kiss Ma again!\u201d Hoss shouted.<\/p>\n Ben put Joseph\u2019s feet on the floor.\u00a0 He turned toward their boys and took a bow.\u00a0 \u201cYour wish, my fine young gentlemen, is my command.\u201d<\/p>\n And then he kissed her again.<\/p>\n About ten seconds later Barney Maitland cleared his throat.<\/p>\n Ben swung her around and looked over her at the boorish little man.\u00a0 \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you or don\u2019t you want to buy the hat?\u201d<\/p>\n Her husband frowned.\u00a0 He picked the top hat up \u2013 and put it on his head.\u00a0 Pivoting, he looked at Adam and Hoss.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you think, boys?\u201d<\/p>\n As the pair snickered, Joseph tugged at his papa\u2019s pants\u2019 leg.<\/p>\n Ben looked down.\u00a0 He was careful not to dislodge the hat.\u00a0 \u201cYes, son?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou look funny.\u201d<\/p>\n Her husband cocked his head and looked in the mirror.\u00a0 \u201cReally?\u00a0 You think so?\u201d<\/p>\n Marie sighed.\u00a0 Ben actually looked quite rakish in that green velvet top hat.<\/p>\n \u201cI think mama ought to wear it.\u00a0 She\u2019s prettier than you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe\u2019s right, Pa,\u201d Adam said solemnly.\u00a0 \u201cMarie is <\/em>prettier than you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCritics!\u00a0 Everyone is a critic!\u201d her love said.\u00a0 Then he turned to Barney Maitland, the feathered hat still jauntily perched on his head.\u00a0 \u201cDo you <\/em>have an opinion?\u201d<\/p>\n Barney spluttered.<\/p>\n \u201cThe\u2026the customer is always right?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben thought a moment and then nodded.\u00a0 \u201cTrue.\u00a0 So true.\u00a0 And this customer thinks that this hat is perfect for his fair and lovely lady.\u201d\u00a0 Her husband took the hat off and plunked it on her head.\u00a0 He studied her a moment and then adjusted it a smidgen to the right.\u00a0 \u201cC\u2019est magnifique!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Marie cocked her head and turned to look at the haberdasher.\u00a0 \u201cOui?\u201d<\/em> she asked as Ben opened his wallet and drew out a large roll of bills.<\/p>\n Barney eyed the roll and then eyed her.<\/p>\n \u201cOui<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was later in the day, mid-day, in fact, when Ben Cartwright rode into the yard to find the Ponderosa had visitors.\u00a0 He\u2019d been out in the fields talking to the man he\u2019d put in charge of moving their current stock to fresh pastures.\u00a0 It was also calving season, so there\u2019d been young ones to feed and dry amidst the background cries of their slightly older siblings who were being weaned away from their mothers.\u00a0 Ben couldn\u2019t help but smile.\u00a0 That was something he had never experienced until now.\u00a0 His two older sons had lost their mothers in infancy, so if there was any weaning to do, it had been away from him!\u00a0 With Joseph the Almighty had allowed nature to take its natural course.\u00a0 The boy was four years old and just beginning to exert his independence.\u00a0 Well, that wasn\u2019t quite true.\u00a0 Joseph had always been independent.<\/p>\n Ben snorted as he pulled up on the reins and brought his horse to a stop.<\/p>\n To put it mildly!<\/p>\n Still, Petit Joseph<\/em>, as his mother preferred to call him, was still attached to his mother\u2019s apron strings.\u00a0 And that was all right.\u00a0 His older sons had missed out on that sense of grounding a woman brought to a child\u2019s life.\u00a0 While fathers were made by God to teach their sons to be good and useful men, to bring them up with an understanding of right and wrong, and to prepare them to take on the world, a mother\u2019s role was different.\u00a0 A good woman was a man\u2019s sanctuary; the place where he knew he was completely accepted \u2013 as he was \u2013 and safe.\u00a0 Joseph was unlike his brothers.\u00a0 He had a need of that.<\/p>\n A deep need.<\/p>\n \u201cYou gonna sit up there on that damn horse lookin\u2019 like a king all day, or you gonna come down here and mingle with us common folks?\u201d a wry voice asked.<\/p>\n Ben met his friend\u2019s cynical stare with a smile. \u00a0\u201cHello, Enos.\u00a0 What brings you out to the Ponderosa today?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI heard tell you got yourself some broken-down old horse meat you\u2019re wantin\u2019 to be rid of.\u00a0 As a friend, I thought I\u2019d take a look.\u201d\u00a0 Enos grinned.\u00a0 \u201cI might just take pity on you and take them off your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n That was Enos Milford.\u00a0 Short, stocky, sandy-haired and ornery as ever.\u00a0 Enos knew full well the horses he had for sale were top of the line.<\/p>\n Ben slid off the saddle and walked his mount to the hitching rail where he quickly tethered him.\u00a0 Turning, he met Enos\u2019 cocked eyebrow with a raised one of his own.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you have a compliment of soldiers at your place?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Enos\u2019 other brow popped up to match the first one.<\/p>\n \u201cHave you gone mad, Ben?\u00a0 What in Tarnation are you talkin\u2019 about?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben was pulling off his gloves.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I figured if you need that much horse \u2018meat\u2019, Cora must be cookin\u2019 up enough mince pies to feed Kearney\u2019s army.\u201d<\/p>\n Enos stared at him for a moment and then burst into laughter.\u00a0 \u201cPalamino pie?\u201d he snorted.<\/p>\n Ben was laughing too.\u00a0 \u201cHow about Pinto pie?\u201d<\/p>\n The older man snorted.\u00a0 \u201cYou ask Cora, she\u2019d tell you she\u2019d be right happy to mince up a thoroughbred.\u201d<\/p>\n The rancher motioned his old friend over to the table on the porch and then indicated they should sit down.\u00a0 There was already a pitcher of cold, clean water on its surface and he poured them both a glass.<\/p>\n \u201cCora still giving you grief over buying that race horse?\u201d Ben said after he took a sip.<\/p>\n \u201cThat old lady ain\u2019t stopped talkin\u2019 about anythin\u2019 else.\u201d\u00a0 Enos affected an air.\u00a0 \u201cEnos Milford, you old fool!\u00a0 You\u2019re gonna get yourself killed, and then what in the world am I gonna do?!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben was smiling.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you tell her?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I told her she weren\u2019t pretty enough to sell herself, so I figured she\u2019d have to take up washing clothes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood grief!\u201d Ben exclaimed.<\/p>\n Enos was nodding his head. \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Anyhow, sleepin\u2019 in the barn a couple of nights was kind of peaceful, if you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben shook his head.\u00a0 Women were a whole <\/em>other country.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyhow, Ben, where\u2019s these horses you\u2019re wantin\u2019 to get rid of?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSell, you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n The sandy-haired man leaned back in his chair.\u00a0 \u201cHow about a trade?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou offering me that race horse?\u201d he asked, knowing full well his friend knew what he thought about a ranch horse that couldn\u2019t pull its own weight on a ranch.<\/p>\n \u201cShe ain\u2019t for sale.\u00a0 Love of my life.\u201d\u00a0 Enos leaned in. \u201cNow don\u2019t you go tellin\u2019 Cora I said that.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben crossed his heart.\u00a0 He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNever.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI just happened me into some supplies the other day.\u00a0 Funny you should mention the army.\u00a0 A load of them boys was goin\u2019 past my place.\u00a0 They were lookin\u2019 to shed some of their goods since they only had a day or two of ridin\u2019 left.\u201d\u00a0 Enos grinned.\u00a0 \u201cI got me a barrel-load of nails and tools, pots and pans, rope and just about everythin\u2019 else you can think of includin\u2019 about a dozen rifles I\u2019ll give you at a good price.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s eyebrow stance matched his friend\u2019s.\u00a0 \u201cRifles?\u00a0 The army let go of rifles?\u201d\u00a0 His head was shaking again.\u00a0 \u201cEnos, I find that hard to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI did too.\u00a0 But they showed me the paperwork signed by their sergeant.\u00a0 Looked official.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLooked?\u201d<\/p>\n Enos was scowling.\u00a0 \u201cWell, I ain\u2019t exactly an expert on army signatures, now am I?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben was thinking hard.\u00a0 He could certainly use the rifles.\u00a0 Many of the ones he\u2019d carried along the westbound trail and brought to the Ponderosa were old and outdated.\u00a0 And the pair of horses Enos was eyeing were surplus\u00a0 stock.<\/p>\n Still, it sounded fishy and he knew Enos was not one to ask questions if the outcome of the conversation was to his benefit.<\/p>\n \u201cEnos, I will be honest.\u00a0 I could use the supplies \u2013 especially those rifles\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m\u2026uneasy about how you obtained them.\u00a0 Are you sure these men weren\u2019t deserters?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy in the name of Sam Hill would a deserter sell off his rifles?\u00a0 Use you noggin, Ben!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben winced.\u00a0 His \u2018noggin\u2019 was hurting.<\/p>\n \u201cHow about this?\u201d he said with a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cYou bring a couple of the rifles and <\/em>the bill of trade, and we\u2019ll discuss it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow?\u201d Enos asked.<\/p>\n Ben thought a moment.\u00a0 \u201cYes, that will do.\u00a0 How about somewhere around ten in the morning?\u00a0 That way we can get it done before noon.\u201d<\/p>\n The older man stuck his hand out.\u00a0 \u201cYou got yourself a deal, Ben Cartwright!\u201d\u00a0 As Ben shook it, Enos rose to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cNow, I suppose I better go get the old woman and head for home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCora\u2019s here?\u201d Ben asked, surprised.<\/p>\n \u201cShe sure is!\u201d\u00a0 He held a hand to his ear.\u00a0 \u201cCan\u2019t you hear her fillin\u2019 the ear of that pretty little filly you found in New Orleans with all of her nonsense?\u201d<\/p>\n Cora Milford was one of the most wonderful women he knew \u2013 and Enos knew it too.\u00a0 The common dynamics between husband and wife never failed to befuddle and bemuse him.\u00a0 Cora and Enos acted, at times, like they would rather be anywhere on the face of the Earth than in each other\u2019s company, and yet he knew they loved one another deeply.<\/p>\n It was a game he and Marie had never learned to play.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are those young\u2019uns of yours, Ben?\u00a0 Seems strange to be at the Ponderosa without at least one of them showin\u2019 their face.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam is helping move the cattle and Hoss is \u00a0assisting Dan with the calving,\u201d he replied.\u00a0 Dan Tollivar had taken his middle son under his wing.\u00a0 Dan was a wrangler but, for him, he\u2019d agreed to take eleven-year-old Hoss into the field.\u00a0 His middle son loved animals and had a natural way with them.\u00a0 It would be good for Hoss to learn the ins and outs of the life cycle of their main source of income. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cDan will bring both of them home later today.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n The boy had been taking a nap the last time he saw him.\u00a0 Joseph had recently moved to his \u2018big boy bed\u2019 much to the chagrin of his mother.\u00a0 Marie had cried for hours the first night Joseph was absent from the room adjacent to theirs.\u00a0 They had moved him down the hall, closer to his brothers.\u00a0 He\u2019d opened the door and gone in for a moment, careful not to disturb him, and watched his son sleep.\u00a0 For once it had been peaceful.\u00a0 Mama\u2019s Petit Joseph<\/em> was prone to restiveness, as if his body and mind continued at a gallop even when his body slowed to a walk.\u00a0 The boy had nightmares as well.\u00a0 But this day, he had been sleeping soundly and looked like an angel with his sweet face and head of golden curls.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph is as \u2013 \u201d\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n He\u2019d learned long ago that making an assumption usually led to disaster.<\/p>\n Today was no exception.<\/p>\n As he answered Enos\u2019 question, Ben headed for the door.\u00a0 At that very moment it opened inward and a white whirlwind exploded outward, roiling like a tempest to strike the back of his knees and send him flying into the air.\u00a0 Most of the wind was driven out of him as he landed hard on his backside.<\/p>\n What remained fled when his four-year-old son landed on top of him; his small fingers clutching his pale blue shirt in a death-grip.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t mean to do it, Papa!\u201d Little Joe cried, tears streaking his powder-white face.\u00a0 \u201cI promise, I didn\u2019t!\u00a0 You gotta save me!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben didn\u2019t know whether to laugh or cry, his son looked so pitiful.\u00a0 He gathered what breathe he had left and managed, \u201cSave you\u2026from\u2026what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere is that little imp!\u00a0 Little Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n Now Cora Milford had an\u2026unusual voice.\u00a0 It put one in mind of nails on a chalkboard, especially when she was upset.\u00a0 She also had a certain tone.\u00a0 Little Joe hadn\u2019t experienced it yet, but his older sons knew it well.\u00a0 Cora sounded like a maiden school teacher in a very bad mood.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I get hold of that boy, I\u2019m gonna\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben turned and looked behind him.\u00a0 Cora was in the doorway.\u00a0 She too was covered in flour.\u00a0 He, of course, could see the slight smile lighting the older woman\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 Joseph, with his head buried in the fabric of his shirt, could not.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t let her eat me, Papa,\u201d he squeaked.<\/p>\n The rancher\u2019s hand went to his son\u2019s head.\u00a0 The poor little fellow was shivering.<\/p>\n \u201cNow come on, old woman, the boy can\u2019t have done anythin\u2019 that bad,\u201d Enos remarked as he came closer.<\/p>\n \u201cThat bad!\u00a0 That bad?<\/em>\u00a0 That little imp not only knocked every sack of flour in the kitchen over, but the shelf that held the honey too!\u00a0 You should see it!\u201d\u00a0 She sputtered a bit at the end.<\/p>\n Ben sputtered too.\u00a0 Not because of the lost flour, but because he knew what Hop Sing would say when he got back from town.\u00a0 Not only would his Asian housekeeper be unhappy that Cora had been in his kitchen, but the fact that it looked like a snowstorm with sticky honey icicles would probably mean no supper for a week!<\/p>\n Turning back, Ben pulled his son a little bit clear of his shirt and asked \u2013 in his \u2018pa\u2019 tone \u2013 \u201cJoseph, is this true?\u201d<\/p>\n The little boy shivered and then nodded his head.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s true, Papa, but I didn\u2019t mean to do it!\u201d\u00a0 Joseph hiccupped with fear.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026was just tryin\u2019 to help.\u201d<\/p>\n He glanced at Cora, who rolled her eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cMama said she needed some flour and I know\u2019d wheres it was,\u201d Joseph said into his shirt.<\/p>\n Mama.<\/p>\n Ben turned back to Cora to ask where his wife was and had to stifle a laugh.<\/p>\n Marie looked very good in white.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph!\u201d his wife said sternly, with a little stamp of her foot.\u00a0 \u201cYou will come to your mama<\/p>\n imm\u00e9diatement<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph\u2019s fingers found his flesh<\/em> this time.\u00a0 \u201cSave me, Papa,\u201d he whispered.<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s eyes did not hold quite <\/em>the smile that Cora\u2019s did.<\/p>\n Ben wrapped his arms around his little boy and rose to his feet \u2013 somewhat slowly.\u00a0 He held Joseph close as he faced down his rather irate wife.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Marie, he\u2019s just \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c \u2019Now, Marie\u2019, my foot!\u201d she exclaimed, stamping hers again.\u00a0 \u201cThis little\u2026coquin<\/em>\u2026found the ladder in the storeroom and while I was busy making pies with Cora \u2013 behind my back \u2013 pushed it up to the shelf above the fireplace, made his way to its top, and then climbed onto the shelf to get the flour!\u201d<\/p>\n Marie was\u2026well\u2026hopping mad to put it mildly.<\/p>\n And amazingly beautiful.<\/p>\n \u201cMon cheri,\u201d<\/em> he tried.\u00a0 \u201cMarie.\u00a0 Joseph is here and safe.\u00a0 Please calm down.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s jaw set as her hands went to her hips.\u00a0 Then, her nostrils flared.<\/p>\n Never <\/em>a good sign.<\/p>\n \u201cCalm down!\u00a0 Calmez-vu?<\/em>\u00a0 He could have been killed!\u201d<\/p>\n While that was true, in fact, he was kind of proud of the little scamp.\u00a0 Such a maneuver took a lot of courage and spunk.<\/p>\n Somehow he didn\u2019t think Marie would agree with that assessment of events.<\/p>\n Looking down, Ben saw nothing but those glorious golden-brown ringlets.\u00a0 The sight about melted his resolve.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph?\u00a0 Look at your papa.\u201d<\/p>\n There was another shudder and then his son did as he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you sorry for disobeying your mama?\u201d<\/p>\n There was a sniff.\u00a0 The curls nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd do you promise you will never do such a thing again?\u201d<\/p>\n Another nod.\u00a0 Another sniff.<\/p>\n By this time Cora was smiling.<\/p>\n Marie, was not.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Joseph, I\u2019m going to put you down.\u00a0 You need to apologize to your mama.\u201d<\/p>\n The fingers clutched his shirt.\u00a0 That little head shook from side to side.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026scared.\u201d<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t blame him.\u00a0 At the moment Marie looked like a stallion ready to defend his brood.<\/p>\n \u201cHow about if I go with you?\u201d he asked.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll put you down and then I\u2019ll take your hand.\u201d\u00a0 He knew his youngest boy was tactile.\u00a0 The touch of his hand would lend him extra courage.<\/p>\n Or so he hoped.<\/p>\n It took a few seconds.\u00a0 There was another nod and then, slowly, the grip on his shirt lessened.\u00a0\u00a0 He placed his son\u2019s feet on the ground and took his hand.\u00a0 When the naughty boy didn\u2019t move, a little pat on his cub\u2019s backside sent him to face\u2026reluctantly\u2026his mama bear.<\/p>\n Joseph stopped directly in front of his mother.\u00a0 He sniffed and then turned his tear-streaked face upward; his glistening green eyes shining through a veil of golden curls.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019s\u2026sorry, Mama.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s jaw twitched.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you sorry for, Petit Joseph?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor getting\u2019 the ladder when you told me not to.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd spillin\u2019 all the flour.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph was thinking hard at this point.\u00a0 He frowned.\u00a0 \u201cFor makin\u2019 Hop Sing mad?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben cloaked his chuckle with a hand.<\/p>\n Marie drew in a breath and let some of her anger out with it.\u00a0 It was a sign of what was to come.\u00a0 Heaven help them when the boy got older and did something really <\/em>wrong.\u00a0 That angelic face, those eyes, and the look out of them were formidable weapons.<\/p>\n They could have melted a glacier.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about making your mama mad?\u201d Marie demanded.<\/p>\n Joseph thought a moment.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry for that too, but I\u2019m sorrier about Hop Sing.\u201d<\/p>\n His wife looked surprised.\u00a0 \u201cQuoi?\u201d<\/p>\n He wanted to know \u2018what\u2019 too.<\/p>\n His son drew himself up to his full but rather petite height.\u00a0 \u201cYou and Papa,\u201d he glanced at him, \u201cwill spank me and send me to bed.\u00a0 But Hop Sing won\u2019t make me no cookies for a whole<\/em> year!\u201d<\/p>\n There weren\u2019t enough hands to stifle the snickers that <\/em>heartfelt comment engendered.<\/p>\n Marie melted just like that glacier.\u00a0 She opened her arms and invited her little boy in.\u00a0 Joseph ran to his mother and dove into the embrace gladly, sending a cloud of flour up and into the air like a smoke signal.<\/p>\n \u201cI love\u2019s you, Mama!\u201d Little Joe declared as he snuggled up against her.\u00a0 \u201cI promise I won\u2019t never do nothing to make you mad ever again. Never!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben sighed.\u00a0 He really was going to have to talk to Hoss about his grammar, though why Little Joe chose to imitate Inger\u2019s boy\u2019s speech instead of Elizabeth\u2019s he would never understand.<\/p>\n Marie was smiling at last \u2013 at him and over their son\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cA promise is made to keep, my petit <\/em>one.\u00a0\u00a0 Do you mean to keep this one?\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYes,\u201d sniff, \u201cmama.\u201d<\/p>\n Cora finished exchanging a glance with her husband.\u00a0 She turned to his young son and said, \u201cLittle Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph peered out from under those curls.\u00a0 \u201cYes, ma\u2019am?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know about Hop Sing, but how\u2019s about you help your mama and me finish up those pies?\u00a0 Then you can have a piece.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf the cherry one?\u201d his son asked, visibly brightening.<\/p>\n \u201cSure thing.\u00a0 You can even pit some of the cherries.\u201d<\/p>\n There was another thing his son had that was going to cause trouble in the future \u2013 his smile.\u00a0 It could stop your heart.<\/p>\n \u201cCan I, mama?\u201d Joseph asked, twisting and looking up at his mother.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a reward for telling the truth,\u201d Marie said, careful to keep her tone stern.\u00a0 \u201cAnd not <\/em>as a reward for doing what you were told not<\/em> to.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy ducked his head again.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, Mama.\u201d<\/p>\n Lessons.\u00a0 They were so hard to learn.\u00a0 Children were born with all the sins of mankind written upon their souls.\u00a0 It was their parents task to wipe that slate clean and engrave upon it all that was necessary \u00a0for them to grow into a responsible, loyal, and loving man or woman.\u00a0 His wife was doing a good job.\u00a0 Marie was there for all<\/em> his boys.<\/p>\n She was as needed as she was loved.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Ben, now that the crisis is over,\u201d Enos said, an ironic twist to his tone, \u201chow\u2019s about you and me go take a look at that horse meat?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben looked down.\u00a0 Like his wife \u2013 and Enos\u2019 wife \u2013 he was covered in flour, and a bit of honey too.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s fine, Enos, but I\u2019d like to change my clothes first, if you can wait.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe pies ain\u2019t even baking yet, Ben,\u201d Cora said.\u00a0 \u201cYou men-folk have plenty of time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPapa?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben knew what was coming.\u00a0 \u201cYes, son?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan I come look at the horses?\u201d<\/p>\n He hated to deny the request as the pair they were going to look at where tame, but there had to be consequences.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you think I should let you?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben watched his youngest son\u2019s great love of horses war with his sensibilities.\u00a0 Finally, he pouted.\u00a0 \u201cI s\u2019pose not.\u00a0 I was bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou did what you weren\u2019t supposed to,\u201d he corrected.\u00a0 Walking over to son and mother, Ben reached out a hand and tousled his son\u2019s curls.\u00a0 \u201cYou are not bad<\/em>.\u00a0 You are a good boy.\u00a0 You just\u2026forgot that for a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOui<\/em>,\u201d Marie breathed lightly as she kissed those curls.\u00a0 \u201cYou are my bon<\/em> boy.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe stuck out a finger and touched his shirt.\u00a0\u00a0 Then he popped it in his mouth and beamed.<\/p>\n Ben looked down at the trail of honey dripping off of the top button.<\/p>\n He really did <\/em>need to change.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n ——-<\/p>\n TWO<\/strong><\/p>\n Marie Cartwright wiped her hands on her linen apron as she left the kitchen behind.\u00a0 It had been quite a job to clean it up and quite necessary to keep the peace in their household.\u00a0 Even though she was sure every speck of flour had been found, she was just as sure that Hop Sing would still manage to figure out what had happened!\u00a0 Petit Joseph<\/em> had been such a dear.\u00a0 The little boy had carried a damp cloth and crawled under every table and chair in order to make sure the floor was without blemish.\u00a0 So determined was her young son to make right his wrong, that he kept working as she saw Cora Milford to the door and bid her goodbye.\u00a0 Ben had changed his mind and decided to travel to the Milford\u2019s home along with the older couple to take a look at the rifles Enos had obtained from the army.\u00a0 Marie could tell something was wrong.\u00a0 Her beloved was preoccupied.\u00a0 He even forgot to kiss her goodbye!\u00a0 Ben mentioned something as he walked out the door about how it seemed odd that the army would let any <\/em>rifles go \u2013 even nearly spent ones \u2013 and he wanted to make sure Enos had not been swindled.\u00a0 After bidding the trio goodbye, she returned to the kitchen. The light was fading by the time she did and as she looked around, Marie panicked.<\/p>\n Joseph was gone!<\/p>\n Or so she thought.\u00a0 Her sweet little boy had fallen asleep under the work table.<\/p>\n She\u2019d picked her son up, kissed his tiny furrowed forehead, and carried him into the great room.\u00a0 After placing Joseph on the striped settee and pulling a blanket up to his chin, she \u2018d returned to the kitchen to complete her work.\u00a0 It took her longer to finish than she\u2019d hoped.\u00a0 By the time she did, the light was nearly gone.\u00a0 She and Cora had made a half-dozen glorious pies with everything from cherries to gooseberries.\u00a0 She did not cook often, but it was something she enjoyed.<\/p>\n She would also enjoy the look on their Asian housekeeper\u2019s face when he sampled her wares!<\/p>\n With one last glance at the kitchen, to make sure it was in proper order, Marie headed for the great room.\u00a0 As she reached the settee she let out a little sigh of relief. \u00a0Joseph was there, laying on his left side with his face to the sofa back.\u00a0 His covers were twisted about his little legs and his thumb was perilously close to his rosebud lips.\u00a0 His papa had forbidden him to suck his thumb and he had done his best to obey, but there were times when need won out over will.\u00a0 She did not mind.\u00a0 Joseph was growing up too fast.\u00a0 Only yesterday he had been an b\u00e9b\u00e9,<\/em> and tomorrow he would be a young man.\u00a0 The time she\u2019d spent married to Benjamin Cartwright had flown fast as light.\u00a0 It did not seem possible that it had been nearly five years.\u00a0 The Almighty had blessed her in so<\/em> many ways, removing her from Hell and giving her Paradise.\u00a0 Marie breathed in a sigh and let it out slowly as she sat beside her boy and reached out to touch his curls.<\/p>\n In her darkest moments, she feared it could not last.<\/p>\n Just as she reached toward Joseph, the beautiful blonde heard a sound.\u00a0 Marie pulled her hand back and rose to her feet.\u00a0 One thing she had learned quickly after coming to the West was the need to be ever wary.\u00a0 They were twenty miles out from the nearest settlement and many came to their door with needs \u2013 some of them legitimate and others not.\u00a0 With a glance at Joseph to make certain he was still sleeping, Marie went to her husband\u2019s desk and opened the bottom right hand drawer. Drawing out a box, she opened it and lifted the small silver derringer from its velvet bed.\u00a0 Ben kept it there just for her.<\/p>\n Just in case.<\/p>\n Pistol in hand, Marie crossed to the front door.\u00a0 She rested her fingers on the latch and listened.\u00a0 There were ranch hands without, coming and going, who should stop any trouble before it reached their threshold, but one could never be sure.\u00a0 From what she had seen when she \u00a0last looked out the kitchen window, the yard had been empty.\u00a0 It was near dusk and the hired men were about their chores.\u00a0 Ben said he would pick up Adam and Hoss on his way home from the Milfords, which meant a detour to one of the higher pastures.\u00a0 Hop Sing had not yet returned.<\/p>\n She was alone.<\/p>\n Except for her son.<\/p>\n Marie drew in a breath and waited.<\/p>\n There it was!\u00a0 The sound.\u00a0 Like someone\u2026crying?<\/p>\n The beautiful blonde bit her lip.\u00a0 Someone was in pain.\u00a0 Or, were they?\u00a0 Could it, perhaps, be a ruse?\u00a0 She and her family were known for their Christian hospitality.\u00a0 They could not abide to see anyone go hungry or without a bed.\u00a0 There could be highwaymen waiting on the other side of the door.<\/p>\n Something fell, or someone stumbled.\u00a0 The crying increased.<\/p>\n It nearly broke her heart.<\/p>\n \u201cMama?\u201d<\/p>\n Marie pivoted to find a little face cresting over the settee back.\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s golden curls were still powdered white, as was his nose.\u00a0 He was rubbing one eye with a fist, also white.<\/p>\n Her son yawned.\u00a0 \u201cMama,\u201d he said, \u201csomethin\u2019 woked me up.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie considered the door and then crossed to her son.\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s eyes went wide as she reached out for him.<\/p>\n \u201cHow come you got Papa\u2019s gun?\u201d he asked with just a trace of fear.<\/p>\n She\u2019d placed the pistol in her apron pocket. The pearl handle was showing.<\/p>\n \u201cRapide, mon petit,\u201d<\/em> she said as she opened her arms and beckoned him into them.\u00a0 \u201cQuickly!\u00a0 There is someone outside.\u00a0 I do not know who it is or what they are about.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph came running.\u00a0 \u201cAre they bad men?\u00a0 Will they hurt us?\u201d he asked as she picked him up.<\/p>\n She shook her head.\u00a0 \u201cNo one will hurt you, mon cher<\/em>, not while your mama is here.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie balanced her son on one hip.\u00a0 She had a thought to leave him on the settee, but the thought was brief.\u00a0 She did not want to be separated from him.\u00a0 She and Ben had discussed it.\u00a0 All of the boys were vulnerable, but Joseph most of all.\u00a0 They were not rich, but they were well off.\u00a0 Ben had showered her with silver and china and many lovely gifts.<\/p>\n There was always the threat of kidnap.<\/p>\n As they reached the door, she said, \u201cMama is going to put you down.\u00a0 You will take my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded and did as he was told.\u00a0 \u201cYes, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie couldn\u2019t help but smile.\u00a0 So formal.\u00a0\u00a0 As she planted a kiss on the little boy\u2019s forehead, she said,\u00a0 \u201cJe t’aime, Petit Joseph<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n His little hand touched her cheek.\u00a0 \u201cJe t’aime<\/em>, Mama.\u201d<\/p>\n The blonde woman sniffed back unexpected tears and then, slowly, opened the door.\u00a0 Outside it was nearly dark. \u00a0It was spring and the days were growing long, so the light was still there, but it was a watercolor wash of purple and pink that did little to illuminate the yard in front of the house.\u00a0 While holding Joseph\u2019s hand, Marie pulled the pistol from her pocket and pointed it at \u2013<\/p>\n She knew not what.<\/p>\n \u201cWho is there?\u201d she called out.\u00a0 \u201cQui?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n For a moment there was nothing.\u00a0 Then she heard someone shift.\u00a0 The movement was followed by a stifled sob.<\/p>\n \u201cS’il vous plait<\/em>, who is there?\u201d<\/p>\n The answer was odd.<\/p>\n \u201cNo one.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie frowned.\u00a0 She could not be certain, but she thought the speaker was a woman.\u00a0 She glanced about the yard and saw no horse.\u00a0 Whoever it was had to be on foot.<\/p>\n On foot in the middle of nowhere.<\/p>\n Marie released her son\u2019s hand and knelt beside him.\u00a0 \u201cYou will stay here, close to the door.\u00a0 Do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n His green eyes were wide.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n She reached out to touch his cheek.\u00a0 \u201cI know you are, mon petit,<\/em> but do not worry, Mama will take care of you.\u201d<\/p>\n He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d her son said, his jaw setting in defiance.\u00a0 \u201cYou need me, Mama.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie blinked.\u00a0 \u201cExcusez-moi?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not gonna let anyone hurt you!\u201d<\/p>\n This time a tear escaped to trail down her cheek.\u00a0 As her son reached up to wipe it away, she met his bold stare.\u00a0 She knew him.\u00a0 If she did not take him with her, Joseph would follow, determined to make certain she was all right.<\/p>\n Marie nodded.\u00a0 \u201cTogether then,\u201d she said as she clasped his tiny hand in hers and, together, they moved to the \u00a0far end of the porch.\u00a0 The voice had come from there, somewhere in or behind the bushes.<\/p>\n Marie stepped off the porch and headed into them.\u00a0 Whoever was there shifted farther back, deeper into the leaves\u2019 embrace.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d the stranger warned.\u00a0 \u201cYou must go away!\u00a0 He\u2019ll know.\u00a0 He will know!<\/em>\u00a0 Please, go away!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho?\u201d Marie asked as she parted the leaves with her free hand to reveal a pale face swimming in a pool of wild black hair.<\/p>\n \u201cLem!\u201d she exclaimed.<\/p>\n Marie couldn\u2019t see her well, but the woman\u2019s blouse was white with some sort of colorful shawl tossed over the shoulders.\u00a0 The golden fringe on the shawl was as tangled as her hair and entwined with all manner of bracken.\u00a0 Her blouse appeared to have been torn.\u00a0 One shoulder was exposed.<\/p>\n The flesh was bruised.<\/p>\n Marie glanced at her son.\u00a0 Joseph was standing beside her, staring at the woman and chewing his thumb.\u00a0 She wished he was in his bed asleep, but the Almighty had not seen fit to make it so.\u00a0 In his tender years he had never been exposed to such a thing<\/p>\n \u201cIs Lem your husband?\u201d Marie asked softly.<\/p>\n The woman hesitated, and then nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cHas he done\u2026this\u2026to you?\u201d<\/p>\n The stranger looked at Joseph before replying.\u00a0 She even reached out toward him.\u00a0 There was a sadness in her eyes that spoke volumes.\u00a0 This was a mother.<\/p>\n This was a woman in need.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSi<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n The next answer would dictate her movements.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes this\u2026Lem\u2026know you are here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2026he\u2019ll track me,\u201d she breathed.\u00a0 \u201cI must go.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie stood up.\u00a0 \u201cOui<\/em>.\u00a0 You must.\u201d\u00a0 She reached out.\u00a0 \u201cTake my hand.\u201d<\/p>\n For a moment the woman was at a loss.\u00a0 Then she allowed herself to be drawn up and out of the leaves.\u00a0\u00a0 While keeping hold of her hand, Marie caught Joseph\u2019s as well and began to draw them both inside.<\/p>\n The woman dropped her hand.\u00a0 \u201cNo!\u00a0 I won\u2019t put you and your family in danger!\u201d<\/p>\n Marie rounded on her.\u00a0 \u201cYou are <\/em>putting me in danger, and my son as well!\u201d \u00a0She glanced at the dark shadows overtaking the yard.\u00a0 \u201cThe longer we remain outside, the better chance of this man arriving.\u00a0\u00a0 Now come inside!\u00a0 My Benjamin is due home soon and he will know what to do.\u201d\u00a0 When she still hesitated, the blonde added softly, \u201cYou are a mother, oui<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n The look out of her eyes was heartbreaking.<\/p>\n \u201cSi, Senorita<\/em>.\u00a0 I had to\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 She sucked in air like a drowning woman.\u00a0 \u201cI had to leave\u2026.\u00a0 I had to leave my son behind with\u2026that madman!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Of its own volition, Marie\u2019s hand reached for her crucifix where it lay hidden beneath the ruffle of her high-necked blouse.\u00a0 \u2018Saints and angels, prot\u00e8ge nous!\u2019<\/em> she thought.<\/p>\n Her next thought was, \u2018Benjamin, come home soon!<\/em>\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben Cartwright ran a hand over his chin and sighed. \u201cEnos, I\u2019m still uneasy about this.\u201d<\/p>\n He was uneasy about other things as well.\u00a0 The ride to the Milfords had taken twice as much time as it should have as the older couple\u2019s buggy had lost a wheel and they\u2019d had to repair it before they could move on.\u00a0 He\u2019d meant to pick up Adam and Hoss long before this and be on his way home.\u00a0 While Marie was quite capable, the rancher never felt comfortable about leaving his young wife home alone after dark.\u00a0 She knew where the gun was and knew how to use it, but Marie was a slender wisp of a thing.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t take much to overpower her physically.\u00a0 And should someone come into the house and threaten Joseph, well, she might lose her head.\u00a0 Marie was impulsive and quick-tempered and prone to leap before she looked.\u00a0 She would meet any threat to their son head-on and likely place herself in danger as he would if it came to any <\/em>of their boys.<\/p>\n Or<\/em> his beautiful wife.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m tellin\u2019 you, Ben, these fellers were right glad to get rid of all this.\u201d\u00a0 Enos pointed to the sacks laying in the corner of his barn and the dozen or so rifles leaning against its rough-hewn walls.\u00a0 \u201cSaid they wanted to travel light.<\/p>\n Enos Milford was a friend of many years.\u00a0 He was a bit of a character.\u00a0 Adam had likened him to a snake oil salesman once and, though he had reprimanded the boy for a lack of respect, he had inwardly smiled at his son\u2019s shrewd assessment.\u00a0 Enos was an honest man who pushed the word to the nth degree of its meaning; just next to its opposite.\u00a0 He was a wheeler-dealer and Ben had seen him \u2013 more than once \u2013 pay out for what ended up being a white elephant.<\/p>\n Ben eyed the rifles.\u00a0 They were clean and fairly new.<\/p>\n Or a fraud.<\/p>\n \u201cWhere did these men say they were heading again?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBack to one of them eastern forts.\u00a0 Kansas, I think.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd they left their supplies behind?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBen, I\u2019m telling you, they had other supplies!\u00a0 These were surplus.\u00a0 They wanted the money and didn\u2019t want to be bothered with carryin\u2019 them!\u201d<\/p>\n The rancher looked around. \u00a0Like him, Enos and Cora lived in the middle of nowhere.\u00a0 But then, just about everyone in the Nevada territory did.\u00a0 The older couple was isolated.<\/p>\n Vulnerable.<\/p>\n \u201cHave you looked inside any of the sacks?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat for?\u00a0 Them soldiers told me what\u2019s in them.\u00a0 Extra provisions and such.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you mind if I take a look?\u201d<\/p>\n The older man eyed him as if he was crazy.\u00a0 \u201cBe my guest,\u201d he said with a gesture of his hand.<\/p>\n Ben crossed over to the nearest pile. There were about a half-dozen sacks.\u00a0 He knelt and lifted one and was surprised by its weight.\u00a0 With a frown, he undid the tie and reached in.\u00a0 At first his fingers encountered nothing but grain, but then, there was something else.\u00a0 He fingered the hard metal before drawing a handful out.<\/p>\n Holding a handful of coins up to Enos, he said, \u201cDo you suppose they forgot where they put this?\u201d<\/p>\n Enos\u2019 mouth was hanging open.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cMoney?\u00a0 There\u2019s money <\/em>in them sacks?\u201d<\/p>\n It was becoming increasingly clear to Ben what had happened.\u00a0 Men, masquerading as soldiers, had relied on Enos\u2019 naivet\u00e9 and used his barn as a holding place for their stash, which meant they were coming back.<\/p>\n And meant as well, that they most likely planned to kill both Enos and Cora.<\/p>\n The truth was dawning on the older man as well.\u00a0 \u201cBut\u2026they was young men, \u2018cept for one.\u00a0 Nice fellows, all dressed up in uniforms.\u201d<\/p>\n If circumstances had been different, it would have been amusing \u2013 the con man being so easily conned.<\/p>\n \u201cEnos, you know as well as I that\u2019s it\u2019s not that hard to obtain uniforms.\u00a0 Were they calvary?\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded.<\/p>\n There had been hundreds of soldiers moving through this region over the last five years, many slaughtered by the Indians.\u00a0 Most likely these outlaws had been in contact with the natives and obtained the uniforms that way.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2026you think they\u2019re comin\u2019 back?\u201d Enos asked, his voice trembling.\u00a0 \u201cI ain\u2019t worried for me, but Cora\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, they were coming back, which meant Ben had a problem.\u00a0 He had sent word by one of the hands to Adam and Hoss that he would meet them mid-afternoon.\u00a0 He was already late and his sons would be wondering where he was.\u00a0 But then Dan was with them, and if he had to trust anyone with his family\u2019s welfare, it would have been Dan Tollivar.\u00a0 He knew the man as well as he knew himself.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you send Cora anywhere?\u201d the rancher asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI ain\u2019t goin\u2019 nowhere, Ben Cartwright!\u201d Cora\u2019s harsh voice proclaimed as she came down the steps that led up to the house. \u201cWhat\u2019s the old fool got himself into now?\u201d<\/p>\n He hid his smile.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, you shut your mouth, old woman.\u00a0 I ain\u2019t got myself into anythin\u2019\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Cora crossed her arms over her chest.\u00a0 \u201cSo, what\u2019re you gonna send me away for then?\u00a0 A week\u2019s vacation?\u201d\u00a0 She shook her head and sighed. \u00a0\u201cI sure could use it, after puttin\u2019 up with the likes of you all these years!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy, you \u2013 \u201d<\/p>\n Ben put up his hands.\u00a0 \u201cEnos. \u00a0Cora.\u00a0 We have more important things to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike what?\u201d she snapped.<\/p>\n He looked at the barn and thought a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cLike setting up our own little con\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Marie had wanted to put Joseph down for the night, but she was afraid.\u00a0 So, instead, she left him sleeping on the settee and took the woman into the dining room.\u00a0 Earlier she\u2019d taken Renate \u2013 that was the stranger\u2019s name \u2013 upstairs to the bedroom she and Ben shared to clean up and laid out some clean clothes for her to wear.\u00a0 While Renate refreshed herself, she\u2019d come back down and put on a pot of coffee. \u00a0When she heard the woman descending the stair she\u2019d brought it, along with some bread, meat and cheese, to the table where they now sat talking.<\/p>\n At first Renate had refused to eat, but then she relented.\u00a0 The poor beleaguered creature filled her plate half-full and began to pick at it, eating between sobs and sighs and furtive glances at the door.\u00a0 \u00a0While she ate, Marie studied her.\u00a0 Renate was about her own age, in her mid to late twenties, though she appeared older.\u00a0 There was an obvious scar at the edge of one eye and a long poorly healed cut along the cheek on the same side.\u00a0 It looked like she had fallen and hit something.<\/p>\n Or something had hit her<\/em>.<\/p>\n Renate\u2019s waist-length hair was ebon-black with a deep blue sheen, like the coat of the splendid horse Ben had given her for her last birthday and then regretted.\u00a0 The black was a spirited mare with a mind of her own.\u00a0 Sadly, her reluctant visitor appeared to be no such thing, though the fact that she had run from a desperate situation seemed to belie her submissive air.\u00a0 Her large expressive eyes were black as well, blacker than Ben\u2019s.\u00a0 They were set in a face that had once been beautiful, but was now wasted.\u00a0 Renate\u2019s Spanish heritage was apparent, not only in her name but in the cast of her skin, which was tanned by nature.\u00a0 There was about the woman a restiveness, like a caged bird seeking escape.\u00a0 It was all Renate could do to sit still.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you like more coffee?\u201d Marie asked, knowing it was a safe question. \u00a0The woman had refused to answer most others.<\/p>\n Renate looked up.\u00a0 She blinked as if coming back from somewhere.\u00a0 Then she held out her cup. \u201cYes, please.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou said you had a boy?\u201d she suggested as she poured it.<\/p>\n The woman frowned as if she didn\u2019t remember their earlier conversation.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSi,\u201d<\/em> she said after a moment.\u00a0 \u201cOne son.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow old is he?\u201d<\/p>\n Renate\u2019s gaze flicked to the settee where Joseph lay sleeping before returning to her.\u00a0 \u201cHe is ten.\u00a0 Almost eleven.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy son is four,\u201d she remarked as she returned the pot to the table.<\/p>\n \u201cJosef,\u201d the woman repeated.\u00a0 \u201cMy son\u2019s name is Duardo, though his father calls him Duke.\u201d<\/p>\n Renate\u2019s tone suggested she did not approve.\u00a0 \u201cOh?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDuardo means \u2018prosperous guardian\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 She made a face.\u00a0 \u201cHis father would turn him into the beast that steals the treasure.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie thought of Ben, of his gentleness with both her and their sons.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n A tear spilled from her eye.\u00a0 \u201cSo am I,\u201d Renate said softly.\u00a0 \u201cI do not know\u2026if, for the boy, it is too late.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that why you ran?\u00a0 Your husband\u2019s\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Marie winced.\u00a0 \u201cHis brutality?\u201d<\/p>\n Renate pushed the plate away and rose to her feet.\u00a0 She began to pace like a caged lion.\u00a0 \u201cHe would have killed me.\u00a0 When he drinks\u2026.he is even more <\/em>of himself.\u00a0 Lemuel is a cruel man, but he is cruelest when under the influence of el whisky<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHas it been this way since you married?\u201d<\/p>\n Renate stopped.\u00a0 She looked at her.\u00a0 \u201cI did not know.\u00a0 He was\u2026a different man\u2026until the day we wed.\u00a0 Once he owned me\u2026.\u00a0 Querido Dios!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you think of leaving, before this, I mean?\u201d Marie asked.<\/p>\n \u201cMany times, but I have stayed for the boy.\u201d\u00a0 Renate crossed to the settee and looked down at Joseph.\u00a0 \u201cSuch a beautiful boy.\u00a0 My boy was beautiful too\u2026.once.\u00a0 I thought\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 She turned back.\u00a0 \u201cI believed I could save him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut, now, you are not sure?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe boy he does things.\u00a0 Such evil<\/em> things.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie frowned.\u00a0 How could a ten-year-old be \u2018evil?\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cWhat \u2018evil\u2019 things?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDuardo is bold.\u00a0 Callous.\u00a0 When he is angry, he takes his anger out on animals.\u201d\u00a0 The Spanish woman paused. \u00a0\u201cI think he has even killed.\u00a0 I have found birds\u2026hares\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s eyes went wide.\u00a0 \u201cNot on purpose, surely.\u201d<\/p>\n Renate placed a hand to her head as she leaned on the closest chair back.\u00a0 \u201cI am not certain.\u00a0 I\u2026.fear for him.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie shot to her feet.\u00a0 \u201cI am wearing you out with all these questions. Forgive me!\u201d\u00a0 She indicated the door nearby.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve laid out one of my night dresses in the guest room.\u00a0 Please, put it on.\u00a0 Get some rest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGracias<\/em>,\u201d Renate murmured.\u00a0\u00a0 She turned again toward the settee.\u00a0 \u201cYour little one?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think I will have Joseph sleep with me tonight,\u201d the blonde woman replied. \u00a0If the truth be known, not only was she afraid to leave Joseph alone in his room, but she wanted to hold her precious son close \u2013 to feel his heartbeat, to know he was there and safe.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you have only the one child?\u201d Renate asked.<\/p>\n \u201cOf my own.\u00a0 I have two step-sons.\u201d\u00a0 Marie frowned.<\/p>\n \u201cIs something wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 Well, yes.\u00a0 I\u2019m a bit concerned.\u00a0 They should have been home by now, as should their father.\u201d<\/p>\n The other woman paled.\u00a0 \u201cMadre du Dios!<\/em>\u00a0 I pray nothing has happened to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie felt panic rise up within her, but no, she would not <\/em>doubt.\u00a0 Her love and her boys were in God\u2019s hands, even as she and Joseph were.\u00a0 Ben had gone to help Enos.\u00a0 It could have taken longer than he expected, and the boys were with Dan Tollivar, whom she would trust with her life.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure they are fine.\u00a0 Now, you need to \u2013 \u201d<\/p>\n Marie stopped.\u00a0 She\u2019d heard a sound.\u00a0 Renate had heard it too.<\/p>\n Her visitor looked terrified.<\/p>\n She\u2019d locked the door behind them, she was sure of it.\u00a0 Still, just to be certain, Marie crossed to it and took hold of the latch.\u00a0 As she did, a blow fell on the thick wood that made it rock.<\/p>\n \u201cAre you in there bitch?\u201d a harsh voice shouted. \u201cDamn it, woman!\u00a0 How dare you run off?\u00a0 How dare <\/em>you think you could get away from me?!\u201d<\/p>\n Renate was shaking from head to foot.\u00a0 Joseph had awakened.\u00a0 Her small son was rubbing his eyes and looking at her, a puzzled expression on his cherubic face.<\/p>\n As the blows and the vile words kept falling.<\/p>\n ——<\/p>\n THREE<\/strong><\/p>\n Ben shifted uncomfortably behind the bale of hay that hid him.\u00a0 He had been kneeling for some time and was growing weary.\u00a0 Earlier, he and Enos had persuaded Cora to go to the settlement to alert Sheriff Olin and Deputy Coffee as to what was happening.\u00a0 Their main purpose, of course, was to get her out of harm\u2019s way.\u00a0 She had protested mildly, as was to be expected, and then taken off in the couple\u2019s wagon just as the sun set and darkness fell.<\/p>\n That had been a few hours back.<\/p>\n The rancher looked around and then grabbed a small milking stool from close behind him. Sitting on it, he stretched out his legs, massaging the left one whose calf was threatening a Charlie horse.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t do him much good to fall flat on his face when he tried to stand up!\u00a0 Ben looked toward the door and then at the older man sitting beside him, his back propped up against the hay bale.\u00a0 He was softly snoring.\u00a0 Enos Milford was capable enough, but if this was what he suspected \u2013 a band of outlaws and renegades who had left their stash behind with the intention of returning to pick it up \u2013 then his friend would be out of his element.\u00a0 The men would come, no doubt, under the cover of darkness.\u00a0 Perhaps they meant to pick up the money and guns and run. \u00a0Maybe, whoever they were, they had no intention of harming the Milfords.\u00a0 But if they felt threatened, well, things could go bad.<\/p>\n Very bad indeed.<\/p>\n Settling back against the stall wall, Ben thought of his wife and smallest son and how his desire to help his friends had left them vulnerable.\u00a0 It concerned him that there were outlaws in the area.\u00a0 One never knew what they were capable of.\u00a0 At times the temptation of a soft bed and a warm meal was all the incentive it took to prompt desperate men to attack a far flung homestead such as his.\u00a0 He was concerned about his two older boys as well.\u00a0 There was no way of knowing if Dan had camped out with them for the night or decided to head for the Ponderosa. \u00a0If it was the latter, then the three of them were on the road.\u00a0 They might run into the men who had duped Enos.\u00a0 Ben smiled as he ran his knuckles along his extended leg again.\u00a0 He was sure Hoss would have pleaded to remain in the camp.\u00a0 His middle son loved sleeping out under the stars.\u00a0 Adam did too, but he was a thoughtful boy with fine sensitivities and would much rather have been at home with his nose in a book.\u00a0 Adam had begun, of late, to express a desire to go to a college back East.\u00a0 As a father he knew there was more at the heart of that request than a simple desire for an education.\u00a0 His eldest son had been his good right hand all these years, but the boy wanted more.<\/p>\n He feared one day that siren call would lure Adam away and he would never return.<\/p>\n Ben shook himself.\u00a0 \u201cWhat an old fool!\u201d he said softly, to no one but himself.\u00a0 Adam wasn\u2019t quite seventeen and here he already had him traveling the world and falling off the face of the earth.<\/p>\n Of course, that was what he<\/em> had done at just about the boy\u2019s age.<\/p>\n With a glance at Enos, Ben leaned his head back and closed his eyes.\u00a0 It had been a long day and promised to be a longer night.\u00a0 Still, he daren\u2019t fall asleep.\u00a0 \u2018Let the eye of vigilance never be closed,\u2019 Thomas Jefferson had said.<\/p>\n Ben wondered just how many nights of sleep Jefferson had missed!<\/p>\n Just as he settled back, a sound brought him to attention.\u00a0 Ben stiffened and sat up. He listened for a moment and then reached out and gently shook Enos\u2019 shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cHuh\u2026what?\u201d the older man sputtered.<\/p>\n Ben put a finger to his lips.\u00a0 \u201cShh.\u00a0 Someone is coming.\u201d<\/p>\n Enos was awake in a second.\u00a0 He caught up his rifle, pivoted, and then raised up, looking over the bale of hay.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t see anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t imagine you will.\u00a0 Not yet.\u00a0 I heard hoof beats. \u201c\u00a0 The rancher paused.\u00a0 \u201cMultiple<\/em> hoof beats.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou think it\u2019s them outlaws?\u201d the older man asked, his fingers going white against the gray gun metal of his weapon.<\/p>\n Ben was listening,\u00a0 He counted four, maybe five horses.\u00a0 Two had drawn to a halt and the riders were dismounting out front of the barn.\u00a0 They stood talking in hushed tones while the others milled about for a moment and then moved away.<\/p>\n \u201cThem varmints!\u201d Enos declared, a little too loudly.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re headed for the house!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEnos!\u00a0 Lower your voice.\u00a0 They\u2019ll\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Too late.\u00a0 The barn door was opening.<\/p>\n Ben heard the click of a hammer being pulled back and then a man shouted.\u00a0 \u201cWhoever\u2019s in there, throw any weapons you got down and come out with your hands above your heads!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben blinked.\u00a0 He knew<\/em> that voice.<\/p>\n \u201cRoy?\u201d he called back.<\/p>\n A familiar figure entered the barn.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s that?\u00a0 Who\u2019s there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to stand up, Roy.\u00a0 Behind the hay bale.\u201d\u00a0 The rancher did so and then rounded the bale.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s me.\u00a0 Ben Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy cocked his hat back on his head and let out a whistle.\u00a0 \u201cBen?\u00a0 What in Tarnation<\/em> are you doing here hidin\u2019 behind that there bale?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a long story, Roy,\u201d he replied as he approached his friend.<\/p>\n Roy took him at his word.\u00a0 \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t happen to know where Enos Milford and his wife are, would you?\u201d the lawman asked.\u00a0 \u201cWe checked the house and it\u2019s empty.\u00a0 I\u2019m worried \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLeave the worryin\u2019 to the women!\u201d Enos declared as he stood up.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m right here!\u201d<\/p>\n Roy chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cAnd here we thought those varmints had taken the pair of you with them.\u00a0 Good to see you, Enos!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe?\u201d Ben asked as he came forward.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s with you, Roy?\u00a0 Is it the Sheriff?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRobert ain\u2019t here, Ben. \u00a0He\u2019s backtracking the jailbirds we\u2019re huntin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJail birds?\u00a0 Are they escapees?\u201d<\/p>\n Roy nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re a bad lot, Ben.\u00a0 Burned a farmhouse out just over the border.\u201d\u00a0 The deputy\u2019s eyes narrowed as they met his.\u00a0 \u201cHad a woman and boy in it.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s heart plunged to his toes.\u00a0 He pushed past Enos and headed for the door.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI have to get home, Roy.\u00a0 Marie and Little Joe are there alone.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll have to wait a moment.\u00a0 Mr. Cartwright, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n The rancher turned toward the new voice. He was surprised to find it belonged to a man in uniform.\u00a0 A sergeant, by his stripes.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t hold me here,\u201d Ben said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve done nothing wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n The soldier\u2019s eyes went to the guns leaning up against the barn wall, and then to the sacks.\u00a0 \u201cYour close proximity to the supply of missing army goods says different.\u201d<\/p>\n The\u00a0 sergeant was about his age, mid-thirties he would have guessed, and seasoned like venison.\u00a0 His hair was prematurely gray; his skin, tough and leathery from a lifetime of exposure to the sun.\u00a0 The soldier\u2019s blue eyes were a narrow fissure.\u00a0 The thought behind them, just as deep \u2013 and just as impassable.<\/p>\n \u201cCome now.\u00a0 You can\u2019t believe I was a part of this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know what to believe, Mr. Cartwright, seein\u2019 as how you\u2019ve been caught with several thousand dollars worth of stolen goods.\u201d<\/p>\n Roy was looking from the one of them to the other.\u00a0 He winked.\u00a0 \u201cYou gotta admit, Ben.\u00a0 It don\u2019t look so good.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoy!\u201d he blustered.\u00a0 \u201cFor goodness sake!\u00a0 You know me better than \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe<\/em> may, but I don\u2019t,\u201d the sergeant said. \u00a0\u201cSo why don\u2019t you explain it to me?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben wanted to strike the man down and march right past him, but he knew his resulting \u00a0trial and imprisonment would do Marie and Little Joe little good.<\/p>\n \u201cBen\u2019s one of our most upstanding citizens,\u201d Roy said.\u00a0 \u201cGot himself a spread outside of town called the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Several hundred acres, cattle, timber, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo you can see I would hardly be wasting my time stealing a few sacks of grain and a half-dozen rifles.\u201d<\/p>\n The sergeant spat tobacco.\u00a0 \u201cMight of done it for the thrill,\u201d he said, one eye narrowing even more.<\/p>\n The rancher drew a breath and sucked in his indignation.\u00a0 \u201cEnos Milford came to me this morning with an offer.\u00a0 He\u2019d bought some supplies off of a group of army men and wondered if I would be interested in trading a pair of horses I have for some of the rifles.\u00a0 I smelled something rotten and came to check it out.\u201d\u00a0 Ben tried to control his temper, but there was a rising fear within him that made his words curt.\u00a0 \u201cWhen I saw what Enos had and discovered money in one of the sacks, I realized the outlaws had used him for a patsy and most likely intended to return under the cover of darkness to retrieve their loot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u00a0 Who you calling a patsy!?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow<\/em>, can I go?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s got you in such an all-fired hurry to get home?\u201d the sergeant asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you must know, I left my wife and my young son home alone.\u00a0 With all that is happening, I am more<\/em> than concerned for their welfare.\u201d<\/p>\n The soldier thought a moment before nodding.\u00a0 \u201cAnd rightly so.\u00a0 These are desperate men, Mister Cartwright.\u00a0\u00a0 Some of them are deserters.\u00a0 They\u2019ve stolen from the army and they\u2019re facing a firing squad if found.\u00a0 They\u2019ve got nothin\u2019 to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood Lord\u2026\u201d he breathed.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Ben, we don\u2019t know that they\u2019re headed your way,\u201d Roy interjected. \u201cOdds are, they aren\u2019t if they\u2019re plannin\u2019 on comin\u2019 back here for what they left.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have a half-dozen men, Mister Cartwright,\u201d the sergeant said.\u00a0 \u201cWe will assist Mister Milford and make sure he comes to no harm.\u00a0 You\u2019re free to return home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d he said and started to move.<\/p>\n \u201cBen, you want I should come with you?\u201d his friend called out.<\/p>\n Ben glanced at Roy and then back to the sergeant.\u00a0 \u201cWould that be all right?\u201d<\/p>\n The soldier nodded.\u00a0 \u201cWe got us another deputy here.\u00a0 Just so the local law\u2019s represented.\u201d<\/p>\n He was curious.\u00a0 \u201cWhy, since these are army men you\u2019re hunting?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOnly some of them are, Ben,\u201d Roy explained.\u00a0 \u201cThey got some outlaws with them too.\u00a0 Not sure why.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWolves run in packs,\u201d he snarled.<\/p>\n \u201cHow far to your place, Cartwright?\u201d the sergeant asked.<\/p>\n \u201cAbout ten miles.\u201d\u00a0 Ben glanced at the sky.\u00a0 By the position of the moon, he knew it was near midnight.\u00a0 If God was gracious, Marie and Joseph were safe and asleep in their beds.<\/p>\n He needed to take a deep breath and try to calm down.<\/p>\n The sergeant was watching him.\u00a0 He must have sensed something.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s about I give you an escort, Mister Cartwright.\u201d\u00a0 He turned and looked over his shoulder and shouted.\u00a0 \u201cJohnston! Get your scrawny hide over here!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI say\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Ben paused, thinking of the best way to say he\u2019d rather not.\u00a0 \u201cI appreciate the offer, but it\u2019s quite unnecessary.\u201d<\/p>\n The sergeant pivoted back.\u00a0 One grizzled eyebrow was raised.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I\u2019m<\/em> sayin\u2019 it is.\u00a0 You look about as jumpy as a long-tailed cat under a rocker.\u00a0 Nervous men make mistakes.\u201d\u00a0 The soldier met his defiant stare.\u00a0 \u201cThese men don\u2019t care much what they do, kill, loot\u2026..\u201d\u00a0 He paused.\u00a0 \u201cThat wife of yours pretty?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben paled.\u00a0 \u201cVery.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat woman in the burned out house?\u00a0 She was pretty too afore they did what they did.\u201d<\/p>\n Point taken.<\/p>\n \u201cLet me check in with Will and I\u2019ll be right back, Ben,\u201d Roy said.\u00a0 \u201cWon\u2019t take me a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n The sergeant turned, his eyes following Roy.\u00a0 The soldier reminded him of a wary old stallion, too experienced to be caught off-guard.<\/p>\n \u201cSergeant?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou didn\u2019t tell me your name.\u201d<\/p>\n The man grinned.\u00a0 \u201cReckon I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben stuttered.\u00a0 \u201cSo\u2026so is it just \u2018Sergeant\u2019 then?\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019d never known of an officer in the United States Calvary that didn\u2019t go by a name.<\/p>\n \u201cWish it was.\u00a0 It\u2019s not.\u201d\u00a0 The man raised a hand and waved one of the soldiers forward.\u00a0 Johnston, at a guess.\u00a0 \u201cName\u2019s Zeke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have a last name, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n Zeke snorted.\u00a0 \u201cHave it.\u00a0 Don\u2019t use it unless I have too.\u00a0 Ain\u2019t too proud of the other men wearin\u2019 it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re not in the army?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cNot exactly.\u201d\u00a0 The soldier snorted.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s Miller. \u00a0Ezekiel Erasmus Miller.\u00a0 Now ain\u2019t that a mouthful!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd your\u2026brothers?\u201d<\/p>\n Young Johnston had come alongside them.\u00a0 He was in his early twenties, tall and lean, with wavy blond hair and a handsome if long face.<\/p>\n \u201cTell the man my brothers\u2019 names, lieutenant.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cElijah, Samuel, Jedidiah and Lemuel.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller nodded.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cAnd tell him what you think of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnston\u2019s unusual gray eyes shot to the sergeant\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cPermission to speak my mind, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n The sergeant nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cVillains, every one of them but Samuel.\u00a0 They\u2019d as soon shoot you as look at you.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a story here.\u00a0 One he did not have time for.<\/p>\n \u201cGuess them Bible names just didn\u2019t do their job,\u201d Zeke said with a sigh.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have a Bible name, sir,\u201d Johnston ventured with a hint of a smile.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I\u2019m just as ornery a cuss as the rest of them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSergeant\u2026Zeke\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Ben interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d would appreciate it if we could get on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n At that moment, Roy Coffee returned.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m ready, Ben.\u00a0 One of the boys is coming with us too\u2026just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n Just in case.<\/p>\n Just<\/em> in case.<\/p>\n In case the worst had happened.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dan Tollivar glanced to his off- side at the bone-weary boy weaving in his saddle, and then to the near side at the one lookin\u2019 straight ahead, so goldarn dead-set in his ways that he should have been in a rockin\u2019 chair, and let out a sigh.\u00a0 Young\u2019uns!\u00a0 Any sensible man with his head hangin\u2019 down like a pantin\u2019 tongue would have looked at the sky, seen the stars smilin\u2019and the moon risin\u2019, and known the best thing to do was call it a night, bed down, and say his prayers.\u00a0 But then, Adam Cartwright weren\u2019t quite a man.<\/p>\n He was a boy, worried about his kin.<\/p>\n Things had started out all right.\u00a0 When their Pa didn\u2019t show, he and the Cartwright boys had decided to make a night of it.\u00a0 They\u2019d pitched their tent and got a fire going. \u00a0Even had time to put a pot on to boil.\u00a0 Both of Ben\u2019s boys liked his stories, mostly because they were about their Pa back when Ben didn\u2019t know how to rope or ride or do much of anythin\u2019 else it took to run a ranch.\u00a0 He\u2019d taught him.\u00a0 Just like he was teachin\u2019 these two.<\/p>\n Dan let out a sigh.\u00a0 Now, if he could just teach that oldest one a little patience.<\/p>\n \u201cI appreciate you doing this, Dan,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cI know you\u2019re tired.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI gotta admit, I do feel limp as a wrung out fiddle string,\u201d he said with a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cCalving ain\u2019t what I do best.\u00a0 All them little wrigglin\u2019 young\u2019uns\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe you should have stayed at the ranch and taken care of Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan turned to look at Hoss.\u00a0 The boy was near big as his brother, but \u2013 at eleven \u2013 he was <\/em>one of them young\u2019uns.\u00a0 The poor kid was plumb wrung out.\u00a0 The older man grinned.\u00a0 At least, now that he was talkin\u2019, he had less of a fear that Hoss would fall right off of his horse.<\/p>\n \u201cI imagine Dan would rather wrestle a dozen calves, at once, with his hands tied behind his back,\u201d Adam said with a smirk.<\/p>\n Those two \u2013 Little Joe and Adam \u2013 they was interestin\u2019 to watch.\u00a0 Adam sure enough loved the boy.\u00a0 You could see it in his eyes and sometimes \u2013 just sometimes \u2013 even in a little smile on his lips.\u00a0 The pair of them was contrary as a black horse in a field of white clouds.\u00a0 While Adam was the calm after a storm, Little Joe was the lightning that struck without warnin\u2019, scatterin\u2019 all the steers.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Adam, don\u2019t you go sayin\u2019 nothin\u2019 bad about little brother,\u201d Hoss countered.<\/p>\n \u201cIf by \u2018bad\u2019, you mean \u2018atrocious or dreadful\u2019, I would have to agree,\u201d Adam replied, just getting warmed up.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cHowever, if you mean \u2018misbehaving and naughty\u2019, I would tend to disagree.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben should never have bought that boy a dictionary.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe ain\u2019t naughty!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy definition, that<\/em> would be \u2013 disobedient and mischievous.\u201d\u00a0 Adam tossed a look at his brother. \u00a0\u201cSeems to me that defines little brother pretty well.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re just an old stick in the mud, Adam,\u201d Hoss pouted.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe just likes to have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike the time he decided he wanted to cook a meal for Marie?\u00a0 When Joe tied on an apron, spilled half of the contents of the kitchen into the fire, and then decided to chase down Hop Sing\u2019s favorite kettle and nearly ended up getting roasted himself?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss was mumbling.\u00a0 \u201cLeastways, Joe knows he ain\u2019t perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I think I am?\u201d Adam snapped.<\/p>\n He ought to stop them.\u00a0 But a little heat was just what the pair needed to warm them up \u2013 and wake <\/em>them up \u2013 enough to make it home before the cows did.<\/p>\n \u201cI know the \u2018definition\u2019 of perfect, Adam,\u201d Hoss growled.\u00a0 \u201cMiss Jones talks about it often enough when she\u2019s handing out ribbons.\u00a0 \u00a0\u2018Excellent beyond practical or theo\u2026theor\u2026\u2019\u00a0 Dang it!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTheoretical improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou think you\u2019re better than me and Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n That brought Adam\u2019s horse to a halt.<\/p>\n So much for getting\u2019 Ben\u2019s boys home before dawn.<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s oldest boy, he was close. \u00a0Adam was good at hidin\u2019 what he was thinkin\u2019.\u00a0 Why, he\u2019d be danged if one day he didn\u2019t grow up to make a million playin\u2019 poker!\u00a0 Anyhow, the boy wasn\u2019t hidin\u2019 his feelin\u2019s now.\u00a0 He looked like someone had kicked his shin and walked away without apologizin\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you really believe that?\u201d he demanded.<\/p>\n The eleven-year-old should have been quakin\u2019.\u00a0 He <\/em>would have in the wake of that voice.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re mean to Little Joe, and even though you ain\u2019t mean to me, you\u2019re always\u2026doin\u2019 what you\u2019re doin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what precisely is it that I am \u2018doin\u2019\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat!\u00a0 Makin\u2019 fun of the way I talk.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss\u2019 voice was rising.\u00a0 \u201cCorrectin\u2019 me in front of the hands and makin\u2019 me feel \u2018bout as small as Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI never make fun of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, you do.\u00a0 You just don\u2019t see it, Adam.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss paused.\u00a0 \u201cSometimes I ain\u2019t sure you see anybody but <\/em>you.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s older boy was blinkin\u2019, and probably thinkin\u2019 too.\u00a0 It took a moment before he replied.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m\u2026sorry, Hoss, if you feel that way.\u00a0 Truly I am.\u00a0 I would never\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Adam choked.\u00a0 \u201cI care about you and Little Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss was staring right at his brother.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, I know you do, Adam. \u00a0What I ain\u2019t so sure of sometimes, is if you love <\/em>us.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan was looking from one to the other.\u00a0 Now how in Tarnation<\/em> did he get caught up in the middle of this?<\/p>\n \u201cDefine \u2018love\u2019!\u201d, Adam shot back.<\/p>\n \u201cGosh, Adam.\u00a0 You know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 I don\u2019t. \u201c\u00a0 His little brother didn\u2019t hear it, but Dan could \u2013 there were tears in the older boy\u2019s voice.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIf by \u2018love\u2019 you mean letting you get away with whatever you want to do in spite of any danger, then \u2018no\u2019, I don\u2019t love you.\u00a0 If you mean giving you everything you want, when<\/em> you want it, and damning the consequences, then \u2018no\u2019 again.\u201d\u00a0 Adam straightened in the saddle.\u00a0 \u201cOr maybe it means not caring about how you speak or dress, or what other people think of you because of it, when I know full well how judgmental and cruel the adult world is!\u201d\u00a0 The boy sucked in air.\u00a0 He took a moment to calm his temper.\u00a0 \u201cBut, Hoss, if you mean by \u2018love\u2019, \u00a0that my world would end if anything happened to either you or Little Joe\u2026then, yes, I do.\u201d\u00a0 He sought his brother\u2019s crystal clear blue eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI do love you.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss didn\u2019t hide his feelin\u2019s.\u00a0 He had tears streakin\u2019 down his freckled cheeks.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026Adam\u2026.\u00a0 Adam, I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam stared at his brother a moment before turning to look at him.\u00a0 \u201cDan, you bring Hoss.\u00a0 I\u2019ll meet you at the house.\u201d<\/p>\n And with that he kicked his horse\u2019s sides and took off.<\/p>\n There was silence for a full minute before Hoss spoke. \u00a0\u201cI made him mad, didn\u2019t I?\u201d<\/p>\n Dan made a motion and both of them dismounted.\u00a0 \u201cCome over here, boy,\u201d he said as he took a seat on a downed tree.\u00a0 Hoss joined him a moment later.\u00a0 The old wrangler turned and looked at the boy, who was of his height, and reminded himself that this was a child he was speakin\u2019 to.<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe ever made you mad, boy?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Hoss nodded.\u00a0 \u201cLots.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe ever done somethin\u2019 you knew he should\u2019nt ought to?\u00a0 Somethin\u2019 that would have got him hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n The boy let out a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cLots!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what\u2019d you want to do about it?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss thought for a moment.\u00a0 A small smile curled his lips.\u00a0 \u201cStrangle him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n The boy looked incredulous.\u00a0 \u201c\u2019Cause I love him and \u2018cause I don\u2019t want him to get hurt\u2026.\u00a0 Oh.\u201d<\/p>\n Dan circled the big boy\u2019s shoulders with his arm.\u00a0 \u201cAdam\u2019s a big brother, but you\u2019re a big brother too.\u00a0 You ever think of that?\u00a0 That should give the two of you some kind of understandin\u2019 rather than makin\u2019 you fight like two old women.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss was frowning.\u00a0 \u201cI guess, well, you know, so much of the time it\u2019s just me and Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou think maybe Adam is jealous?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJealous?\u201d\u00a0 There was a lot going on behind those blue eyes. \u201cOf me and Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf how you\u2019ve had time, you and Little Joe, to be together.\u00a0 Adam ain\u2019t quite a man yet in years, but he\u2019s been a man since he was about your age in every way that counts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know Pa counts on him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMore <\/em>than you know.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss nodded.\u00a0 \u201cAdam never got to be a little boy like Little Joe, did he?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam was on the trail out West when he was just a little older than Joe.\u00a0 He had to grow up right fast.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe trail was bad, wasn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Pa\u2019s told me a little bit about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was bad, boy.\u00a0 About as bad as it gets.\u00a0 There\u2019s an awful lot of little boys buried along that trail, that didn\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCause they didn\u2019t have a big brother to look out for them like I did?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe.\u201d\u00a0 He lifted his arm.\u00a0 \u201cAnd maybe, \u2018cause they didn\u2019t know the definition of love.\u201d<\/p>\n They sat there in silence a few moments before Hoss turned to him.\u00a0 \u201cCan we go home, Dan?\u00a0 I\u2019d\u2026.\u00a0 I\u2019d like to talk to Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSoon said as done, boy,\u201d Dan answered as he rose to his feet.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks Dan. Thanks for bein\u2019 our friend.\u201d<\/p>\n The older man nodded, fighting tears of his own.\u00a0 \u201cAlways, son,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll always be here for your brothers and you.\u201d<\/p>\n And he meant it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The moon was high in the sky and the night, bright.\u00a0 All the better to travel fast.\u00a0 Adam Cartwright pushed his horse to reach the Ponderosa in record time.\u00a0 Just short of the house, he reined in his mount and ran a hand over his face.<\/p>\n It was damned hard to ride with tears in your eyes.<\/p>\n What was it about him?\u00a0 Why couldn\u2019t people\u2026see how he felt?\u00a0 The irony was that he was a lover of words \u2013 practically an inamorato<\/em> \u2013 and yet they failed him when it came to expressing his innermost feelings.\u00a0 He loved his little brothers, his father and step-mother, deeply, passionately<\/em>, and yet, he found it almost impossible to tell them.<\/p>\n Maybe he should write them a letter.<\/p>\n Adam snorted as he struck away the last of the tears as if, somehow, he could wipe away the shame he felt with them.<\/p>\n Yes, shame.<\/p>\n It had begun with Inger\u2019s death, this need to shut off his emotions.\u00a0 Pa was always busy and that left him with a growing baby to look after. \u00a0Oh, there was a wet nurse, but she had her own children to feed and most of the time it was just the two of them in the back of the wagon, jostling and bumping across on the unending trail to the West. \u00a0He had to clothe and change Hoss, make sure he was fed \u2013 and that was practically a full time job! \u2013 as well as keep a constant watch out the back of the wagon, looking for trouble.\u00a0 Pa expected him to be a man and all he did was cry.\u00a0 Hour after hour, day after day, he cried.\u00a0 He knew Pa saw his red-rimmed eyes, but then Pa\u2019s were not only red-rimmed but\u00a0 blood-shot from fatigue.\u00a0 Pa was good to him.\u00a0 He gave him all he had.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t the same as a mother\u2019s touch.<\/p>\n The touch he had known so briefly and craved so<\/em> deeply.<\/p>\n And so, one day, he decided enough was enough.\u00a0 They\u2019d stopped in a one-horse town, if you could call a collection of three buildings and a well a town.\u00a0 It was in the middle of nowhere and was there to provide a moment\u2019s respite; a cup of coffee, a bit of company, and a place to refill the empty barrels in the water wagon.\u00a0 He\u2019d spent the last few hours pumping and pumping, bringing sweet fresh water up from the hidden spring, when a thought entered his head.\u00a0 To this day he had no idea where it had come from.\u00a0 Maybe watching the water trickle down the side of the trough while the tears trailed down his face.\u00a0\u00a0 He looked at the well and then up to the heavens and begged God to make his well go dry.\u00a0 He needed to be strong for his pa, for Hoss \u2013 for all the people in the train.\u00a0 He had to be a man.\u00a0 He had <\/em>to stop being that little boy who couldn\u2019t stop crying.<\/p>\n And so he did.\u00a0 He stopped crying and became a man.<\/p>\n At the age of seven.<\/p>\n Hoss didn\u2019t understand.\u00a0 How could he?\u00a0 He\u2019d been a baby on the trail, and known a certain amount of security once they reached Nevada and built their first homestead.\u00a0 And Little Joe?\u00a0 Little Joe was the child of his father\u2019s old age, doted on, and born to privilege and comfort.<\/p>\n Adam sucked in air as he nudged his mount to start moving again.\u00a0 There were times when he envied them both \u2013 resented <\/em>them even \u2013 but the moments were brief and usually came when he was tired after a long day of a man\u2019s work.\u00a0 Hoss and Little Joe hadn\u2019t written his history, that was God.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s lips quirked at the ends.\u00a0 And that<\/em> was something he intended to take up with the Almighty when they met at last.<\/p>\n There was something else, he realized as he rounded the stable, that he was going to need to take up with God.<\/p>\n The front door of the ranch house stood open. \u00a0Light spilled out of it and onto the yard where there were men moving about.\u00a0 \u00a0And inside\u2026.\u00a0 Inside\u2026.<\/p>\n His stepmother was screaming.<\/p>\n —–<\/p>\n FOUR<\/strong><\/p>\n Fifteen minutes before Adam Cartwright arrived at the Ponderosa to find the front door standing wide open, the scene inside his home had been very different.<\/p>\n Marie stood with her back to the closed and bolted door.\u00a0 She\u2019d known when she took Renate in that there was a risk the woman\u2019s husband would come looking for her, and that he might well be enraged.\u00a0 She\u2019d had no idea that her charitable\u00a0 action would place not only her life in danger, but her son\u2019s. \u00a0\u00a0Renate had retreated, moving as far away from the door as she could.\u00a0 She stood with her back up against the hearth, her fingers entwined and her lips moving in prayer.<\/p>\n Marie fingers sought and found the crucifix that hung about her neck.\u00a0 She closed them around it and did the same before asking the frightened woman, \u201cYou know who it is, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSi, Senorita Cartwright!\u00a0 It is my marido<\/em>, Lemuel.\u00a0 You must not let him in!\u00a0 He will kill <\/em>us!\u201d<\/p>\n Renate was terrified and, while she had no intention of letting whoever was without the house come within, Marie wasn\u2019t quite sure how she was going to stop them.\u00a0 Hands and boots continued to strike the heavy wooden door, demanding access.\u00a0 Harsh words accompanied the blows; words with the power to make her blush and she was no innocent.<\/p>\n Renate was not the only one who was terrified.<\/p>\n \u201cMama?\u201d<\/p>\n She\u2019d been heading toward the office.\u00a0 Marie stopped and turned back.<\/p>\n \u201cI want Papa!\u201d her petit <\/em>Joseph cried as he started over the arm of the settee.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s Papa?!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStay where you are!\u201d she ordered, her tone harsh.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph!\u00a0 Do not move!\u00a0 Listen to Mama!\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph was a sensitive child, quick to pick up on other\u2019s emotions.\u00a0 He stopped what he was doing, looked up at her through a fringe of golden curls, and began to cry.\u00a0 She so<\/em> wanted to go to him, but first she needed to secure the small gun she had foolishly returned to her husband\u2019s office.\u00a0 As Marie turned away, her son began to sob.<\/p>\n \u201cDo what you have to do,\u201d a voice grown suddenly strong said from behind her.\u00a0 \u201cI will take care of the little one.\u201d<\/p>\n Renate moved to the settee and picked Joseph up.\u00a0 As she spoke soft, comforting words to him, he buried his little head in the pale fabric of her blouse and grew quiet.\u00a0 Marie whispered a quick prayer of thanks as she turned back and headed into her husband\u2019s office.<\/p>\n A moment later the gun was in her hand.<\/p>\n After making certain it was primed and loaded, Marie headed for the door.\u00a0 Once she reached it she paused, waiting for a moment of silence.\u00a0 When it came, she gathered her courage and shouted, \u201cMy husband has men watching this house.\u00a0 They will shoot you where you stand!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean that young\u2019un and the two old geezers?\u201d a harsh voice replied.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re dead!\u00a0 Just like you\u2019re gonna be dead if you don\u2019t send Renate out!\u201d<\/p>\n Marie glanced at the woman holding her son.\u00a0 Renate dropped her head, unable to meet her eyes.<\/p>\n Dead?\u00a0\u00a0 Jim and Thom?\u00a0 Young Josh?<\/p>\n It was more than her heart could bear.<\/p>\n Something struck the door again, making her jump.<\/p>\n \u201cOpen the door!\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to force me to take it down!\u00a0 You ain\u2019t got anyone here to protect you!\u201d<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s temper flared.\u00a0 She opened her mouth to remind the man that her husband would be home soon and that, once Ben knew what he was about, the villain would regret the day he was born!\u00a0 But, she thought better of it.\u00a0 Ben would have Hoss and Adam with him.<\/p>\n Her beloved husband, his boys\u2026they could be killed.<\/p>\n Marie took a step back and pointed the gun at the door.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m armed! \u201c she called out as the door shuddered from another withering blow.\u00a0 \u201cIf you enter my house, I will shoot you where you stand!\u201d<\/p>\n She held her breath, waiting for the man\u2019s reply.<\/p>\n Laughter.<\/p>\n It was\u2026laughter.<\/p>\n The next blow to the door backed her further away. \u00a0<\/em>This time, it came from something other<\/em> than a hand or foot.\u00a0 Perhaps a sawed log from the woodpile or a fence rail wielded as a battering ram.\u00a0 Even as her lips began once more to move in prayer, Marie realized it was only a matter of time before the door gave way.<\/p>\n Then, a thought occurred to her.\u00a0 What a fool <\/em>she had been!\u00a0 The chance was slim, but \u2013 perhaps \u2013 they could escape out the back!\u00a0 Why, oh why, had she not thought of it before?\u00a0 Pivoting on her heel, Marie headed for the woman holding her son.\u00a0 It was a good thing too.<\/p>\n Otherwise she would have been crushed as the hinges gave way and the door was thrust in.<\/p>\n Marie froze as a small army of men poured into the house.\u00a0 They spread out quickly, like a blight; several running up the stairs to the second floor, while the remainder moved about the first and headed into the kitchen wing.\u00a0 A single man followed the inrush.\u00a0 He halted just inside the door and sought her gaze before removing his sidearm from its holster and pointing it \u2013 not at her \u2013 but at Renate.<\/p>\n Renate, who was holding her son.<\/p>\n Marie deliberately stepped between them.<\/p>\n The man sneered as he faced the small pistol she held.\u00a0 \u201cThis it?\u201d he asked one of the men coming down the stairs.<\/p>\n \u201cSeems like it.\u00a0 Upstairs is empty.\u00a0 It\u2019s just the two women and the boy.\u201d<\/p>\n Their leader was a tall unpleasant-looking man with raven-black hair and skin burnt nearly as dark as Renate\u2019s from the sun.\u00a0 There was something about his eyes.\u00a0 They were too close together and put her in mind of a jackal or coyote.\u00a0 His mouth was a thin cruel line bordered by a scruff of hair she supposed to be a mustache.\u00a0 He was the only one not wearing a uniform, and was full of swagger and of himself.<\/p>\n His whiskey-brown eyes narrowed as he approached her.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re Cartwright\u2019s woman.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a statement, not a question.<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s hand was shaking.\u00a0 \u201cOui.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n The man, whom she assumed to be Lemuel Miller, took his eyes off her and deliberately looked around the room, slowly taking in everything they owned from their fine silver to the expensive rifles in the gun cabinet.<\/p>\n \u201cSeems to me there\u2019s a lot I could take,\u201d he remarked casually, as if he was discussing the weather, \u201cbut there\u2019s only one thing I want.\u00a0 Here\u2019s what you\u2019re gonna do, Mrs. Cartwright.\u00a0 You\u2019re gonna give me that gun and then you\u2019re going to give me my wife\u2026.\u201d \u00a0The point of the gun shifted from the woman behind her to her son who was wide-eyed in Renate\u2019s arms.\u00a0 \u201cIf you know what\u2019s good for you and your boy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMadre de Dios<\/em>,\u201d Renate breathed as she gathered Joseph closer.\u00a0 \u201cS\u00e1lvnos!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Mother of God.\u00a0 Save us!\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n \u201cRenate is not yours to take, like a piece of silver!\u201d Marie countered.<\/p>\n \u201cBut that\u2019s where you\u2019re wrong, Missus. \u00a0Renate is<\/em> mine.\u00a0 She\u2019s Mrs. Lemuel Miller, my lawfully wedded wife.\u201d \u00a0The outlaw came to her and held out his hand.\u00a0 Marie considered shooting him, but in the end surrendered the\u00a0 small weapon knowing it would do her little good against a half-dozen men.\u00a0 Lemuel sneered as he tucked it behind his waistband and moved past her, heading for Renate.\u00a0 When he arrived at his wife\u2019s side, the outlaw surprised her by reaching out and taking hold of several of Joseph\u2019s curls.\u00a0 The evil man shifted her son\u2019s head back before planting the nose of the pistol under his chin.\u00a0 \u201cCute kid,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cBe a shame if anything happened to him.\u201d<\/p>\n For the first time, fear nearly undid her.<\/p>\n \u201cLooks soft,\u201d the man pronounced as his attention shifted to her visitor.\u00a0 \u201cNot like our little Duke, eh, Rena?\u00a0 Duke\u2019d make mincemeat of this one right quick.\u201d<\/p>\n Marie couldn\u2019t help herself.\u00a0 \u201cLeave my son alone! \u201c she demanded.\u00a0 \u201cHe is just a little boy!\u201d<\/p>\n Miller snorted.\u00a0 He removed the gun from under her son\u2019s chin and returned it to his holster before heading back to her.\u00a0 Once at her side \u2013 when he was so close she could smell the whiskey on his breath \u2013 Lemuel fell to studying her.\u00a0 He reached out to touch her hair and fingered the chain around her neck.\u00a0 Marie held her breath as the seconds passed, uncertain of his purpose.\u00a0 It became clear a moment later when the outlaw caught hold of the front of her blouse with both hands and tore it open, exposing her underpinnings.\u00a0 Then he placed his hands on her breasts.<\/p>\n Marie gasped.\u00a0 God, help her, she uttered a cry!<\/p>\n That was all it took for her tiny son.\u00a0 Joseph wriggled free.\u00a0 Within seconds his tiny boots were kicking Lemuel\u2019s shins.<\/p>\n \u201cYou let my mama go!\u00a0 You made my mama cry!\u201d her petit<\/em> one shouted as his fists flew and he pounded the man\u2019s knee.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a bad <\/em>man!\u201d<\/p>\n The outlaw caught Joseph by the back of his collar and effortlessly lifted the little boy off his feet.\u00a0 Lemuel held him at arm\u2019s length, laughing as her brave little boy continued to fight.<\/p>\n Until he struck Joseph across the face, drawing blood.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard tell you were a hellcat,\u201d Lemuel sneered as he looked over his shoulder at her.\u00a0 \u201cGuess it\u2019s in the blood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLem,\u201d Renate begged, finding her courage at last.\u00a0 \u201cI will go with you.\u00a0 Let the boy go.\u00a0 Por favor<\/em>, let them both <\/em>go!\u201d<\/p>\n He was still looking at her.\u00a0 \u201cYou gonna let that stand, Mrs. Cartwright?\u201d<\/p>\n Marie blinked back tears.\u00a0 What could<\/em> she do?\u00a0 It was her Christian duty to intervene \u2013 to help \u2013 but her son\u2019s life was at stake.\u00a0 She could aid Renate later by telling the sheriff all she knew and setting the law on the villain\u2019s tail.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease,\u201d Renate said softly, \u201clet me go.\u00a0 It is not worth the beb<\/em>\u00e9\u2019s<\/em> life.\u201d<\/p>\n Nothing <\/em>was worth her son\u2019s life.<\/p>\n She nodded.<\/p>\n Marie felt more than saw the beleaguered woman move past her.\u00a0 She had eyes only for her son.\u00a0 Lemuel Miller had dropped Joseph to the floor where the little boy lay shaking and crying.<\/p>\n She knelt and held out her hands.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph, come to your maman<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Her son started to respond, but the outlaw put his boot on his back and stopped him.<\/p>\n \u201cNo. \u00a0I don\u2019t think so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s slender form went rigid.\u00a0 \u201cYou will release him. \u00a0You will <\/em>give me my son!\u201d<\/p>\n Lemuel Miller caught hold of Joseph\u2019s collar again and pulled him to his feet. \u00a0He circled the little boy\u2019s waist with his arm and lifted him up.\u00a0 Blood dripped from her son\u2019s nose and lip where he had been struck and he had gone silent.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve grown pretty fond of this little pup.\u00a0 I think I\u2019ll just take him along.\u00a0 He\u2019ll make a good buddy for Duke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou will not <\/em>take my son!\u201d Marie declared.<\/p>\n The outlaw pointed his gun directly at her.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d like to see you try and stop me.\u201d\u00a0 When she said nothing, Lemuel turned and called out to his men, who by this time had dispersed throughout the house to loot\u00a0 it. \u00a0\u201cTime\u2019s up!\u201d he shouted, and then said to the closest one, \u201cTake Rena with you and mount up.\u201d\u00a0 As the man pushed the terrified woman out the door, Miller returned his attention to her.\u00a0 He eyed her exposed breasts with a lascivious sneer.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve grown mighty fond of you too, little lady. \u00a0Maybe I should take you along as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Her eyes were on Joseph.\u00a0 He seemed to be stunned.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cYes,\u201d she breathed.\u00a0 \u201cTake me with you.\u00a0 I will do whatever you want me to.\u00a0 Just don\u2019t hurt my child.\u201d<\/p>\n Lemuel considered it.\u00a0 He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNah.\u00a0 One hellcat is enough.\u201d\u00a0 And then, without warning, the outlaw backhanded her so hard he sent her crashing into the settee.\u00a0 She let out a shout as she fell.<\/p>\n The last thing Marie Cartwright heard was her son, screaming out her name.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam dismounted quickly. Careful to hug the shadows, he moved toward the house.\u00a0 He was beside the stable when something tripped him and caused him to fall to the ground.\u00a0\u00a0 His stomach lurched when he realized it was one of their hands lying face-down in the shadows.\u00a0 Adam gripped his shoulder and gently turned him over.\u00a0 It was Josh Barnes.\u00a0 Josh was nineteen.\u00a0 Only a little more than a year older than him.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been shot.<\/p>\n Not knowing if the man was dead or alive, Adam leaned in close and whispered, \u201cHey!\u00a0 Can you hear me?\u00a0 It\u2019s Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n His reply was a moan.<\/p>\n Feeling like a heel, he shook the wounded man gently.\u00a0 \u201cJosh, it\u2019s Adam.\u00a0 Can you tell me what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n At the mention of his name, Josh stirred.\u00a0 He moaned again and one eye opened.\u00a0 \u201cA\u2026dm\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0 He glanced up, checking.\u00a0 No one seemed to have noticed he was there.\u00a0 \u201cYes, it\u2019s Adam.\u00a0 I need you to tell me\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam inhaled sharply as a cry rang through the night.\u00a0 It was his baby brother calling out for his Mama.\u00a0 The teenager rose and stepped over the wounded man, unbuckling the strap on his holster as he did.\u00a0 He pulled his sidearm out and began to move, but was stopped by a feeble grip on his ankle.<\/p>\n \u201cMen\u2026Adam,\u201d Josh panted.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s\u2026there\u2019s a lot\u2026of them.\u00a0 You can\u2019t hope\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Josh\u2019s fingers fell away.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know if he had passed out or passed on.\u00a0 Leaving the wounded man lying where he was, Adam hugged the shadows as he worked his way along the fence to a better position, where he could see what was happening.<\/p>\n He\u2019d spotted two or three men before, but now he could see that Josh was right.\u00a0 There were at least a half-dozen in the yard.\u00a0 Most were in uniform.\u00a0 All were mounted.\u00a0 Someone gave a curt command and they all began to move.<\/p>\n All but one.<\/p>\n He was a civilian.\u00a0 He\u2019d just come out of the house and was carrying something.\u00a0 The man stood for a moment, staring back into their home, and then turned and headed for his horse .\u00a0 As he did the moonlight struck him and he stood fully revealed.\u00a0 Adam clamped a hand over his mouth to stifle his exclamation.\u00a0 The \u2018something\u2019 in the man\u2019s arms \u00a0was his little brother.<\/p>\n The fact that Marie was not in the doorway screaming for him to stop nearly had the power to stop his heart.<\/p>\n Adam raised his gun, placed his finger on the trigger, and took aim.\u00a0 Unfortunately, he was so angry, his hand was shaking. \u00a0If he was going to shoot, he had to be