{"id":27867,"date":"2020-02-21T12:24:25","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T17:24:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=27867"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:39:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:39:18","slug":"last-minute-miracle-by-annie-k-cowgirl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=27867","title":{"rendered":"Last Minute Miracle (by Annie K Cowgirl)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/strong> A WHIB (What Happened in Between) for the episode The Honor of Cochise<\/em>. What was happening back at the camp while Ben was riding as fast as he could to Fort Barry? Read, and find out.<\/p>\n

Rated:<\/strong> T (a strong T for racism, gore, and minor bad language)<\/p>\n

Word Count:<\/strong> 1,313<\/p>\n

Disclaimer:\u00a0<\/strong>All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last Minute Miracle<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s kinda spooky, ain\u2019t it? Hoss said, drawing me out of my thoughts and back to the present.<\/p>\n

\u201cHmm, what was that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI said it\u2019s kinda spooky,\u201d he gestured out into the gloom with one hand; the other was wrapped firmly around the stock of his rifle. \u201cIff\u2019n I didn\u2019t know that them Indians were out there, I\u2019d think that this was just any other ordinary night on the trail\u2014well, I would \u2018cept for the fact that there ain\u2019t no crickets chirpin\u2019 in the brush. It\u2019s too dang quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lifting my arm, I wiped a wayward bead of sweat off of my cheek with the back of my hand. Despite the fact that the sun had long since set, the air was hotter than the fires of hell with no relief to be had for love or money. \u201cYeah, I guess it is,\u201d I said, picking up my bandanna and re-wetting it with the lukewarm water from my canteen before running the cloth across Adam\u2019s brow. \u201cNow that you mention it, I haven\u2019t heard a thing all night.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExactly!\u201d Hoss said, shaking his head, \u201cI don\u2019t like this, Joe, I don\u2019t like it one little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

From the darkest corner of our camp, a familiar, but much less welcomed voice piped up. \u201cI\u2019ve witnessed this before in Arizona. It\u2019s them \u2018Paches; their presence is so unnatural that a coyote won\u2019t even dare howl if one of them red devils is anywhere nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glancing up, I could barely make out the silhouette of the speaker against the darker shadows cast by the large boulder at his back. Ever since Captain Moss Johnson came charging into camp on his foam-lathered horse, he\u2019d been nothing but trouble, and the longer he stayed, the more I disliked him. If it wasn\u2019t for pa\u2019s adamance that my brother and I protect the man with our lives, I would have handed him over to Cochise in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

Now, I had a healthy respect for men in uniform, but something was off about this particular soldier. I couldn\u2019t put my finger on it, but the wild light in his pale, blue eyes coupled with the fool talk that occasionally spewed from his mouth only solidified my growing belief that he wasn\u2019t right in the head. In an odd way, he reminded me of a big, old puma I\u2019d seen a few years ago. The beast had gotten a taste for blood and went berserk. He\u2019d stalked through our meadows, taking down steer after steer, leaving mutilated, bovine bodies in his wake. The strange thing was, he hadn\u2019t eaten a single one of the cows he\u2019d killed, he\u2019d just slaughtered them for the thrill of it. In the end, he\u2019d destroyed a good fourth of our herd before Adam managed to put a bullet between his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo ya think pa\u2019s made it to Fort Barry yet?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n

I opened my mouth to reply, but a harsh cackle cut me off.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201dBoy, you\u2019re a fool if you think your pa\u2019s still among the livin\u2019,\u201d Johnson said, \u201cThese ain\u2019t your run-of-the-mill redskins\u2014no, sir! They\u2019re Chiricahua Apaches, the fiercest injuns ever to roam the face of the earth. And their chief, Cochise…well now, he\u2019s the worst of the whole lot. By now they\u2019ve probably skinned your pa alive or have him staked out on one of those anthills they\u2019re so fond of. There ain\u2019t no one better at torture than them. Why, one time I saw\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss suddenly stood up, looming over the captain, his face flushed red with ill-concealed anger. The muzzle of his rifle swung threateningly in the man\u2019s direction. \u201cQuiet, you!\u201d he growled.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that were the case,\u201d I said, trying to diffuse the situation and tamp down my own temper at the same time, \u201cthen why are we still alive? If he really is dead, then there\u2019s nothing stopping those warriors from swarming this camp and killing us all right now, is there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson smirked at me, \u201cSon, you don\u2019t know them \u2018Paches like I do. They won\u2019t fight at night; they believe that the souls of those killed in darkness will never rest, but rove the earth forever or some such superstitious rot. No, they won\u2019t attack us until dawn…unless you boys go against your word and hand me over to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss snorted. \u201cWell, mister, it\u2019s a good thing for you that my brother and I keep our promises, unlike some. Iff\u2019n we didn\u2019t, we\u2019d have already handed your sorry hide over to that war party quicker than you can say \u2018spit\u2019. It\u2019d be nothing less than you\u2019d deserve after murderin\u2019 defenseless women and children!\u201d Abruptly, he stepped around the fire, leaving a spluttering Johnson in his wake, and made his way over towards me. \u201cIt\u2019s men like that that give the Army a bad name. I swear, Little Joe, every time he opens his big, fat mouth, I\u2019m tempted to knock his teeth in,\u201d he whispered, squatting down at my side.<\/p>\n

\u201cForget about him for a second,\u201d I said, and then gestured to Adam\u2019s prone form. \u201cHelp me sit him up, I need to change his bandages.\u201d<\/p>\n

He complied.<\/p>\n

As I peeled back the stained cloth, bile burned the back of my throat and I barely managed to keep from emptying my stomach into a nearby cholla. My oldest brother\u2019s side was a swollen mess of torn flesh that slowly continued to ooze blood no matter what I did to try and stop it. The bullet was still inside of him, and judging by the heat rolling off of him in waves, infection had set in too. As swiftly as I could, I swapped out the soiled bandages for new ones, and with Hoss\u2019 help, we settled him back on his make-shift bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if he made it to the fort by now or not, but I…I don\u2019t think pa\u2019s going to make it back here in time,\u201d I said, trying to ignore the sound of Adam\u2019s pain-filled, ragged breathing.<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 head came up, and he stared at me, mouth agape. \u201cWhat? Now, don\u2019t tell me all that nonsense that idiot over there\u2019s been spoutin\u2019 about Indians has gotten to you, \u2018cause\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that, well, not just that, anyway\u2026.Look, Adam\u2019s not\u2026,\u201d I ran a hand through my rumpled curls as I struggled to rein in my emotions.<\/p>\n

Adam always did make self-control look so easy<\/i>, I shook the stray thought aside and took a deep breath before I continued. \u201cHe\u2019s not doing so good, Hoss. I-I just don\u2019t know how much longer he can hold on. Except for the occasional moan, he hasn\u2019t made a sound since he got shot and that was a long time ago. Too long.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a five hour ride to the fort…if<\/i> what Johnson\u2019s saying is true, we\u2019ll be dead before pa can bring us some help.\u201d<\/p>\n

My big brother tugged his hat off and fingered the dusty brim. \u201cIt was always gonna be a long shot, pa makin\u2019 that trip, I know that. But, Joe…I gotta have faith that he\u2019ll make it. It just ain\u2019t in me to give up, not now. Besides,\u201d he gave me a lopsided grin, \u201cpa\u2019s pulled off his fair share of miracles before, whose to say he won\u2019t do it again this time?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be one hell of a last minute miracle,\u201d I said, giving him a wan smile in return.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re darn right it would,\u201d he replied, then frowned. \u201cI never figured I\u2019d die protectin\u2019 a no good murderer.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a sobering thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither did I.\u201d<\/p>\n

I glanced up at the pitch black sky, eyes searching for that first hint of gray that heralded the coming dawn, and at the same time praying I wouldn\u2019t find it.<\/p>\n

With a sigh, I stood. \u201cIf you\u2019ll sit with Adam, I\u2019ll take the next watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

~ Finis<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Author Notes (PLEASE READ):<\/strong> Despite what I have written, I am not racist<\/strong>; creating dialogue for the crazy bigot Captain Moss Johnson was incredibly difficult for me, and something I never plan on doing again if I can help it. I actually deleted a lot of his lines because I was too sick to post the garbage he was spouting. That being said, I have to give props to DeForest Kelley for his excellent acting abilities. I’ve observed that the most talented actors are the ones who – when playing a bad guy – can make you hate the character they are portraying so very much.<\/p>\n

This story was written for a writing prompt on Bonanza Boomers. I was given the song title “Last Minute Miracle” by the Shirelles and was supposed to come up with a story based solely on the song title itself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags: Adam Cartwright, Captain Moss Johnson, Hoss Cartwright, Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: A WHIB for the episode\u00a0The Honor of Cochise. What was happening back at the camp while Ben was riding as fast as he could to Fort Barry? Read, and find out.<\/p>\n

Rated: T (a strong T for racism, gore, and minor bad language)<\/p>\n

Word Count: 1,313<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":159,"featured_media":5963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[1009,23,41,61,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-brothers","category-drama","category-hurtcomfort","category-missing-scene","category-whn","wpcat-1009-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-41-id","wpcat-61-id","wpcat-13-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Moon-Blind.jpg?fit=640%2C480&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}