Summary:\u00a0 A violent storm, a frightened mare, and the matter of his homecoming.\u00a0 My entry for the 2021 ‘Man in Black’ challenge.
\nRated: PG
\nWord count: 10,999<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
God, he was weary.<\/p>\n
Adam Cartwright chuckled as he pulled the collar of his black outer coat closer about his cheeks and nudged his mount around yet another chuck-hole that the pounding rain had turned into a minor lake.\u00a0 No, \u2018weary\u2019 was an incompetent and incomplete word for what he was.\u00a0 Fatigued, perhaps?\u00a0 Uninspired.\u00a0 Exhausted?\u00a0 Too banal.\u00a0 Maybe something a little less prosaic?<\/p>\n
\u201cHow about bushed?\u201d he asked no one in particular.<\/p>\n
His horse started at the sound of his voice, turned and eyed him, and then snorted out rain water all over his boot.<\/p>\n
Somehow, he\u2019d pictured his homecoming a little different.<\/p>\n
The timing was wrong to begin with.\u00a0 It was late in the year and autumn was rapidly shifting toward winter.\u00a0 He\u2019d meant to arrive home at least a month before, but gotten caught up in a project in a small town along the way and wasted precious time.<\/p>\n
Adam\u2019s upper lip curled.\u00a0 A \u2018project\u2019 named Angelina.<\/p>\n
But that was a story for another day.<\/p>\n
In fact, he hoped to tell it to his father tonight \u2013 in his favorite chair \u2013 after he\u2019d pulled it up close to the hearth and Pa put a snifter of fine French brandy in his hand.<\/p>\n
His horse stumbled even as he did.\u00a0 Both of them righted themselves quickly enough.<\/p>\n
It would be there, right?<\/em>\u00a0 The blue velvet chair by the hearth?<\/p>\n Maybe Joe had burned it.<\/p>\n Adam winced as he patted his mount\u2019s neck and urged it forward, promising it wouldn\u2019t be too long now before they were both dry and bedded down.\u00a0 He knew there was going to be Hell to pay with his little brother for the five years he\u2019d been away.\u00a0 Knowing Joe, all it had taken was one look out of those scorching green eyes to set the wingback on fire.\u00a0 The kid probably laughed as the flames consumed it.<\/p>\n He was being morbid.<\/p>\n Better than being \u2018bushed\u2019 he guessed.<\/p>\n It was his own fault after all.\u00a0 For the first year or two after his departure he\u2019d been diligent in his correspondence.\u00a0 He\u2019d been a lot of places and seen so many wonders that he felt compelled to share.\u00a0 Then life settled down into a more banal \u2013 oh, that word! \u2013 pattern as he got to work on a series of projects and soon living was just that \u2013 living.\u00a0 Up at five, work, lunch around noon, work, supper and then more work, and then maybe a little conversation with his housekeeper or the occasional night at the opera before bed.<\/p>\n Sounded just like the routine he\u2019d had on the ranch \u2013 other than the opera.\u00a0 The routine he\u2019d been so certain he wanted, no, needed<\/em> to escape.<\/p>\n Year two went by and then year three, and then suddenly it was year five and he realized he\u2019d hardly communicated with his family at all.\u00a0 Pa and Hoss wrote in spite of his silence.\u00a0 Joe wrote too at first, asking a myriad of questions that he failed to answer, the result of which was little brother wrote several more letters containing some rather\u2026colorful phrases\u2026and then stopped writing at all.<\/p>\n Yeah, he bet that blue velvet chair was toast.<\/p>\n Unexpectedly his mount halted, jarring him in the saddle.\u00a0 A few of those \u2018colorful\u2019 phrases escaped his own lips as Adam pressed in with his knees and urged the animal forward.\u00a0 It steadfastly refused to budge.\u00a0 He was about to try again, but changed his mind when he realized the horse was smarter than him.\u00a0 Someone was coming toward them.<\/p>\n Fast.<\/p>\n He was on the road \u2013 sort of.\u00a0 Or, at least, he thought he was.\u00a0 Adam glanced at the moon, noting how it had slipped beneath a blanket of clouds, and then at the cast shadows that engulfed him and his mount.\u00a0 Deciding the Bard knew what he was talking about – and that caution was better than rash bravery \u2013 he eased the horse off of the well-worn path and into the trees where he could wait for whoever it was to pass by.\u00a0 It only took a minute for the wagon to appear.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t see the driver clearly, but whoever it was \u2013 unlike him \u2013 had opted for rash bravery and was moving at a rate of speed Pa would have tanned Little Joe\u2019s hide for.\u00a0 The man and team passed him by like greased lightning.\u00a0 Adam waited for it.\u00a0 He winced as he heard one of the wheels hit the chuck hole lake he\u2019d managed to maneuver around and then gasped.\u00a0 Not because the wagon floundered, rightly tossing its incautious driver on his butt and sending the frightened team scattering, but because of the curses that followed.\u00a0 They were Cantonese.<\/p>\n Dear Lord!\u00a0 It was Hop Sing!<\/p>\n Adam shifted his mount onto the road and took a step in the direction of the wagon, but halted a second later. \u00a0Hop Sing was headed for Virginia City.\u00a0 His objective lay in the opposite direction.<\/p>\n Home.<\/p>\n As he sat there, blinking rain out of his eyes, Adam considered his options.\u00a0 Home was indeed calling, but he was weary \u2013 ah, that word again! \u2013 and chilled to the bone.\u00a0 Once upon a time neither of those things would have stopped him, but he was older now and \u2013 if the truth be known \u2013 softer; changed by over half a decade of city living. \u00a0There was no rush.\u00a0 Not really. \u00a0He hadn\u2019t informed the family of his return.\u00a0 Hell, he hadn\u2019t known he was going<\/em> to return until the day he handed the man he worked for his resignation.\u00a0 Within a week he\u2019d vacated the house he was renting and bought the elegant thoroughbred he so aptly named \u2018Vinnie\u2019 \u2013 short for \u2018vindication\u2019 \u2013 that he now rode.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t been all that far away, just in California.\u00a0 Subconsciously, or so it seemed upon consideration, he\u2019d been slowly making his way home for the better part of a year now.\u00a0 Hong Kong to Italy, to France, to England, and finally to the U.S. some three months before.\u00a0 It had hit him as he stood sipping coffee and looking out the window of his rented house in Sacramento, that he had ranged the entire world looking for something indefinable \u2013 some thing<\/em> that would satisfy the deep longing in his heart and give rest to his soul.\u00a0 He\u2019d thought it would be art or literature, or even architecture, but none of that had satisfied.<\/p>\n He was like a man who\u2019d enjoyed a great feast but left the table empty.<\/p>\n Adam scrubbed a hand over his stubbly cheeks and then pulled his hat down to shield his eyes from the slanting rain.\u00a0 It was coming down harder now and he was tempted to stop where he was and make a soggy camp for the night.\u00a0 The wind was ferocious, driving leaves and nettles from the trees; transforming them into stinging missiles that plagued his eyes and wounded his exposed skin.\u00a0 Lightning cracked and thunder boomed.\u00a0 He looked down the road and sighed.\u00a0 If his calculations were right, he had ten, maybe fifteen miles to go.\u00a0 The thought of home, of his pa and brothers \u2013 of a hot toddy by a warm fire and a clean, dry bed \u2013 sounded a siren call like the one heard by lonely sailors standing on the deck of a ship bound for its harbor.<\/p>\n Still\u2026.<\/p>\n The man in black glanced at the sky again.\u00a0 By the time he arrived home, it would be early morning. \u00a0Anyone in the house would be fast asleep.\u00a0 A smile curled his upper lip as he once again considered the idea of making a \u2018grand entrance\u2019.\u00a0 He\u2019d sneak upstairs and hide before Pa, Hoss, and Joe were up, and remain hidden as they went downstairs to take their seats at the dining room table. \u00a0Since Hop Sing was away, Joe would be complaining about their father\u2019s coffee and Hoss, about Joe or Pa\u2019s cooking.\u00a0 They\u2019d jibe and banter and eventually turn to discussing the needs of the day and then \u2013 suddenly and without warning \u2013 he would make an appearance at the top of the stairs, dramatically clear his throat, and ask them what was for breakfast.<\/p>\n Adam laughed.<\/p>\n Was Joe was too old now, he wondered, for Pa to threaten to wash his mouth out with soap when he chose to employ a few of those \u2018colorful\u2019 phrases?<\/p>\n Even as the thought of their combined joy beckoned him forward, the reality of riding a untested horse through the howling wind and stinging rain for several more hours dampened Adam\u2019s enthusiasm.\u00a0 Maybe he would <\/em>stop for the night.\u00a0 If he was lucky, the storm would relent before the sun rose.\u00a0 That would still leave enough time for his surprise.<\/p>\n Yes, that was what he would do \u2013 take pity on his horse and himself.\u00a0 Tonight they would sleep the sleep of the miserable and wet.<\/p>\n But, oh, what a glorious day tomorrow would be!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n II<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After a night spent huddled by a meager fire, Adam emerged from the hollow he occupied stiff and sore.\u00a0 His morning ablutions were of a necessity truncated and it was only a matter of minutes before he was on his way.\u00a0 He\u2019d slept longer than intended.\u00a0 The sun was up and heading toward noon, so he\u2019d lost any element of surprise.\u00a0 Oh, well.\u00a0 The rain had ended.\u00a0 The day was bright and beautiful.\u00a0 That meant the last leg of his journey was guaranteed to be \u2013 if a bit muddy \u2013 altogether more pleasant than the first.\u00a0 He had to admit he was tired.\u00a0 Just about as tired as his horse.\u00a0 He and Vinnie had slept in fitful spurts, their rest as intermittent as the storm had been unrelenting.\u00a0 It had been a long time since he\u2019d seen the rain come down in waves, washing over the land and carrying everything \u2013 leaf, twig, weed and brush \u2013 away with it.\u00a0 For all of its beauty, the West was a harsh mistress.<\/p>\n He would have to remember that now that he was back.<\/p>\n By the time the house he\u2019d designed and helped to build appeared on the horizon, both he and his mount were more<\/em> than ready to call it quits.\u00a0 The road had been treacherous in places, forcing him to move on and off it at regular intervals.\u00a0 One \u2018move on\u2019 had seen the two of them nearly run down by a large covered wagon moving at a quick clip.\u00a0 He\u2019d tried to hail those aboard, but the man in the driver\u2019s seat either didn\u2019t see him or ignored the hail.\u00a0 He\u2019d wondered at the time if they were headed for the Ponderosa.\u00a0 The vehicle had all the earmarks of a chuck wagon.\u00a0 If that\u2019s what it was, it was no wonder the team was moving fast<\/p>\n \u201cA Hoss without food is a Hoss to be reckoned with!\u201d he chuckled to himself.<\/p>\n Even though Adam wanted to go straight to the house, the first thing he needed to do upon his arrival was take his exhausted mount into the barn to wipe it down, feed, and warm it.\u00a0 The man in black winced.\u00a0 What they said was true \u2013 you could take the rancher out of the West, but you could never take the West out of the rancher.\u00a0 Most everywhere he\u2019d settled, the townsfolk had rolled their eyes at the uncompromising manner in which he took care of the animals he owned.\u00a0 Some, with a wink, even accused him of a love affair.\u00a0 Adam reached forward to pat Vinnie\u2019s neck and say a few words to the faithful animal as he dismounted.\u00a0 They were right.\u00a0 What was between a man and his horse was<\/em> a kind of love affair.<\/p>\n One your life depended on.<\/p>\n Adam glanced at the yard as he dismounted.\u00a0 It seemed odd to him that no one had taken note of his arrival.\u00a0 There was no motion in the bunkhouse.\u00a0 No hatless head popped out of a window or door to check on who had ridden in.\u00a0 His gaze shifted to the corral.\u00a0 There was no one watching the gate either, nor anyone moving about in the field.\u00a0 If fact, it was so quiet he could hear the leaves crunch under his boots as he headed for the barn.\u00a0 Halfway there, he halted.<\/p>\n Damn.\u00a0 The cattle drive.<\/p>\n Talk about bad timing!<\/p>\n It was a little late in the season for it.\u00a0 Still, he\u2019d heard in the last town he\u2019d passed through that the herds were thinner this year due to a hot, dry, and trying summer.\u00a0 His father could have decided to allow the Ponderosa steers a little extra time to fatten up before driving them to their next destination.\u00a0 The man in black\u2019s right eye twitched with annoyance as he turned toward the house.\u00a0 He had to admit there was <\/em>an air of abandonment about it, as if someone had left the coop door open and all the chickens had gone missing.<\/p>\n He shook himself.\u00a0 There he went, being morbid again.<\/p>\n Adam scanned the yard once more; his brow furrowing.\u00a0 There was something.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know how he knew \u2013 or what it was \u2013 but there was something\u2026wrong.\u00a0\u00a0 Even if the hands were away on the drive, it was unusual for there to be no one<\/em> left.\u00a0 Pa never took all the men with him. \u00a0He always left someone behind to keep watch.\u00a0 Of course, if his father or one of his brothers had remained, there would be no need.<\/p>\n He chewed his lip.<\/p>\n That must be it.<\/p>\n Satisfied he\u2019d found his answer, Adam opened the barn door and stepped inside.\u00a0 The interior of the large wooden structure was dark.\u00a0 It was late afternoon and the sun was at that odd angle where the trees and mountains blocked most of the light.\u00a0 With narrowed eyes, he scanned the main room, searching each massive post for a lantern.\u00a0 There were none to be found.\u00a0 All of the usual nails were empty.\u00a0 In fact, the barn itself was pretty empty.\u00a0 One skittish brown mare with a couple of white socks occupied a back stall, bucking and straining at the rope that tethered it.\u00a0 Otherwise there wasn\u2019t a horse to be seen.<\/p>\n Cochise. \u00a0Chubb.\u00a0 Buck.<\/p>\n Everyone was gone.<\/p>\n \u201cNow look at who\u2019s surprised,\u201d he said with chagrin.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t the end of the world.\u00a0 Not really.\u00a0 He could always follow his family and enjoy the rather dubious pleasure of a few weeks on the trail.\u00a0 It was just a different kind of homecoming from the one he had envisioned.<\/p>\n \u201cSuck it up, Adam.\u00a0 You\u2019re a big boy now,\u201d he said aloud.\u00a0 \u201cWhat did you expect them to do?\u00a0 Drop everything because you were coming home \u2013 when they didn\u2019t know<\/em> you were coming home?\u201d\u00a0 With a sigh, he turned to Vinnie.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, boy.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get you taken care of.\u00a0 And let\u2019s hope Pa still leaves the front door unlocked.\u201d<\/p>\n By habit, the man in black led his horse to the stall Sport had once occupied, right next to the one where his youngest brother usually stabled Cochise.\u00a0 Just before entering it, his boot made contact with something out of place.\u00a0 Adam looped his mount\u2019s reins through the ring on the wall before bending down to see what it was. The bucket rolled a bit as he touched it.\u00a0 Puzzled, he knelt and took hold of the rim.\u00a0 A thin trail of water led away from it, as if someone had knocked or kicked it over not all that long ago.\u00a0 Adam glanced at the barn door and then at the window in the front.\u00a0 Even with the rain of the evening before, neither was close enough to be the source.\u00a0 \u00a0He remained where he was a moment longer than needed, staring at the floor.\u00a0 He had no idea why, but the sight of that wet trail unnerved him.\u00a0 Pa was a stickler for everything having a place and everything being in it.<\/p>\n Besides, if everyone was gone, just who<\/em> had knocked the bucket over?<\/p>\n Adam opened the clasp on his holster as he rose to his feet and palmed his gun before returning to the main room.\u00a0 His hazel eyes narrowed once more as he searched the shadows, and then opened wide as he moved into them.\u00a0 He was careful to avoid the back stall where the skittish mare was stabled.\u00a0 She was in a state, and he certainly didn\u2019t need to have his noggin cracked open by her flailing hooves!\u00a0 As he passed by, the man in black paused.\u00a0 The light was failing so he couldn\u2019t see all that clearly, but it seemed to him that something had recently been dragged from the stall through the muck and into the back room where they kept extra gear and a cabinet with liniments and such.\u00a0 He followed the trail, weapon at the ready, and was surprised to find \u2013 instead of a vagrant or outlaw \u2013 an empty room.\u00a0 A low table occupied the middle of it.\u00a0 It held a lantern.<\/p>\n The lantern was lit.<\/p>\n His fingers tightened on the trigger of his gun as he moved quickly to extinguish it.\u00a0 The burning lantern added to the overturned bucket were proof positive that he was not<\/em> alone.<\/p>\n \u201cHello!\u201d he called out.\u00a0 \u201cHello!\u00a0 Is anyone here?\u00a0 Hoss?\u00a0 Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n The skittish mare whinnied nervously in response.\u00a0 Otherwise, there was nothing.<\/p>\n Adam glanced that way again.\u00a0 He\u2019d need to see to the her soon, but right now he had other things to think about.\u00a0 Crouching, he fingered one of the dozen unstruck matches strewn about the table\u2019s legs.\u00a0 As he did, he noted an overturned saddle with a blanket curled around it and tucked underneath.\u00a0 Beside it was an empty bottle of Colt Remedy.\u00a0 It looked like someone had made a nest out of the blanket and helped themselves to a rather untraditional drink!<\/p>\n His mouth watered with distaste even as his heart hammered hard.<\/p>\n Just what<\/em> was going on here?<\/p>\n Adam rose quickly and made his way back to the stall where he\u2019d stabled Vinnie.\u00a0 Before he stepped in he turned back to look at the mare, wondering once more at her extreme agitation.\u00a0 \u201cSorry, boy,\u201d he said as he laid a hand on the thoroughbred\u2019s withers.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re going to have to wait a few more minutes before I get that saddle off of you.\u201d<\/p>\n With that, the man in black quickly filled the upturned bucket with oats, tossed some fresh hay on the floor, and made a beeline for his seemingly abandoned home.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n III<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The porch bell was sounding in the wind.\u00a0 Inside the house, the tall case clock struck six times.<\/p>\n Adam drew a breath before lifting the latch and then pushed the heavy door open and cautiously stepped inside.\u00a0 A quick survey of the great room revealed nothing out of the ordinary, other than the fact that it looked immaculate.\u00a0 He stood for a moment, listening.\u00a0 The house was unnaturally quiet.\u00a0 The only sound was that of the ticking clock.<\/p>\n He cleared his throat.\u00a0 When he spoke, his voice was strained with an unknown fear.\u00a0 \u201cPa?\u00a0 Hoss?\u00a0 Are you here?\u00a0 Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n The clock continued to tick even as his heart hammered in his chest. \u00a0There was no reply.<\/p>\n Why did that make him afraid?<\/p>\n After a moment\u2019s thought, he came to a decision.\u00a0 Holstering his weapon, Adam headed for the stairs and \u2013 taking them two at a time \u2013 mounted to the second floor to begin a search of each room.\u00a0 His father\u2019s was neat as a new pin as always.\u00a0 Hoss\u2019, less so, but had obviously been put to rights for a lengthy absence.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s puzzled him.\u00a0 It was straightened as well, but there was some evidence of recent occupation.\u00a0 A chair was turned into the room.\u00a0 Beside it sat a pair of Joe\u2019s boots.\u00a0 One was knocked over on its side.\u00a0 A fresh shirt and pair of pants lay on the bed, most likely placed there by Hop Sing before he left.<\/p>\n So, his youngest sibling was<\/em> home!\u00a0 Adam returned to the door, ready to call again, but stopped.\u00a0 No. That wasn\u2019t right. \u00a0Joe had<\/em> to be gone.\u00a0 Cochise\u2019s stall was empty.<\/p>\n Maybe Joe had ridden into town.\u00a0 Or, maybe that chuck wagon \u2013 the one that almost ran him down \u2013 had<\/em> come to the house and they\u2019d left together.\u00a0 Could that be it?\u00a0 Had he missed seeing his youngest brother by minutes?\u00a0 That would be his luck!\u00a0 Instead of a companionable ride at his brother\u2019s side, spent catching up on all he had missed, he would be forced to follow Joe\u2019s tracks to find him. \u00a0Adam scowled.\u00a0 It had been quite some time since he\u2019d done that and he wasn\u2019t sure the \u2018knack\u2019 was still there.\u00a0 In fact, the thought of wandering around in the wilderness with his nose to the ground, sniffing out the right path, was nearly enough to drive him to his blue chair and that snifter of brandy.<\/p>\n He\u2019d just wait here patiently for his family to come to him!<\/p>\n Adam chuckled at the imagined scene.\u00a0 Of course, he couldn\u2019t do that. \u00a0He wouldn\u2019t<\/em> do that.\u00a0 He would give Vinnie time to recuperate and then he and his road-weary pal would hit the trail\u2026again.<\/p>\n The man in black paused as he came abreast his old room.\u00a0 He\u2019d noted in passing that his book shelf was still there, replete with the literature of his youth.\u00a0 Why not grab an old favorite and use it to pass the time? \u00a0As he drew abreast the shelf, he happened to glance out the window and saw something \u2018flash\u2019.<\/p>\n Something white.<\/p>\n And black.<\/p>\n Adam grinned as he realized it was Cochise. \u00a0He replaced the book, hurried down the stairs, and ran out of the house shouting, \u201cJoe!\u00a0 Hey, Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n Cochise was by the fence, feeding on grass.\u00a0 The pinto raised his head to stare at him with soulful eyes.\u00a0 There was no little brother in sight.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u00a0 Hey, Little<\/em> Joe!\u201d he tried, thinking maybe he could rile the kid into replying.\u00a0 Knowing Joe, he\u2019d spotted him and was in hiding; intent on prolonging his homecoming agony. \u00a0\u00a0He was obviously somewhere <\/em>nearby as Cooch was missing his saddle.\u00a0 \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n Nothing.<\/p>\n Adam frowned as he headed for the horse.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s beloved and constant companion pawed the ground and snorted at his approach. \u00a0When he reached out, Cochise shied and backed away as if unwilling to be touched.\u00a0 The man in black pursed his lips.\u00a0 Could the horse have forgotten him?\u00a0 He remained where he was and spoke very softly, reminding the animal of who he was and how well they\u2019d known each other.\u00a0 It took a couple of minutes, but finally the paint nuzzled against his hand.\u00a0 Adam caught his lead rope and began to draw him toward the barn.\u00a0 When he glanced back to see if Cooch was following, he got the shock of his life.<\/p>\n Cochise\u2019s side was covered in blood.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been afraid before.<\/p>\n Now he was scared witless.<\/p>\n Instead of heading for the barn, the man in black led his brother\u2019s horse to the rail in front of the house and looped the reins over the well-worn beam.\u00a0 He stared at the animal for a moment, fingered the blood stain, and then turned toward the house.<\/p>\n It was then he saw it. \u00a0What he had missed before.\u00a0 A series of rusty red, round drops, near perfect in their symmetry, leading up to the front door.<\/p>\n Adam knelt briefly to ascertain that they were what he thought they were.\u00a0 A touch of a fingertip to his tongue let him know he was right.\u00a0 His jaw tightened as he rose.\u00a0 Then \u2013 faster than thought \u2013 he bolted across the porch and threw the front door open with such force that it struck the credenza and caused the landscape painting above it to tilt to the right.<\/p>\n Just like his world had tilted.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe!\u201d he shouted.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph Francis Cartwright, you answer me now!\u201d<\/p>\n Adam waited, his heart pounding harder with each silent second that passed.\u00a0 Good Lord!\u00a0 Where could the kid be?\u00a0 The man in black scowled.\u00a0 His hazel eyes narrowed as he took several hesitant steps into the dining room.\u00a0 One of Pa\u2019s Chippendale chairs lay on its back.\u00a0 A drawer in the sideboard hung open; linens cascading out of it and onto the floor.\u00a0 Next to the sideboard lay an empty whiskey decanter.\u00a0 Beside it was Joe\u2019s green jacket.<\/p>\n And even more blood.<\/p>\n Adam knelt and picked up the familiar corduroy garment.\u00a0 He turned it over in his hands, noting that it was filthy and that it too was covered in blood.\u00a0 A second later he rose to his feet and headed for the stairs, certain that somehow he had missed Joe when he checked the rooms.<\/p>\n Then he smelled it.<\/p>\n Fire!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n IV<\/p>\n <\/p>\n By the time he reached the kitchen hall smoke was pouring out of the room, filling it.\u00a0 It was a thick, roiling smoke that smelled of charred flesh and boiled blood.\u00a0 Gagging, Adam reared back.\u00a0 Then he took his brother\u2019s ruined jacket, which was still in his hands, placed it over his nose and mouth and plunged in.<\/p>\n It took a few seconds to identify the fire\u2019s origin.\u00a0 The smoke was rising from a charred pan on the stove-top that held what looked to have been a thick steak once-upon-a-time.\u00a0 It was with relief that he realized the fire was localized and had not spread to the kitchen walls.\u00a0 Adam drew in a breath before shifting the damaged garment from his nose to his hand and used it to take hold of the incandescent iron handle.\u00a0 He felt his skin singe as he carried the pan the short distance to the kitchen door, kicked the door open, and tossed the ruined utensil into the yard.\u00a0 Cochise screamed as the smoking missile flew past him.\u00a0 The paint reared, pulling his reins free from the rail, and dashed off into the trees.\u00a0 Adam stared after the pinto, imagining how upset his baby brother would be if the horse never returned.\u00a0 Then he shook himself and got to work.\u00a0 Crossing to the hearth, he picked up a tin basin and returned outside where he filled it with water.\u00a0 Once back in the house, he used the water to douse the smoking steak.\u00a0 The action caused the ruined meat to hiss like a snake and sent steam rising into the air.<\/p>\n Exhausted, Adam leaned against hearth wall and surveyed the kitchen.\u00a0 Hop Sing was going to have a fit!\u00a0 The room was still smoky and a fine layer of soot coated almost everything.\u00a0 And the smell!\u00a0 Cooking a steak was one thing \u2013 the scent was mouth-watering \u2013 but not when the meat was charred!\u00a0 \u00a0The Asian man\u2019s \u2018palace\u2019, as Joe used to call it, stunk like the field at branding time.\u00a0 The man in black sighed as he pulled off his coat and tossed it over the back of a chair.\u00a0 He\u2019d left the door open so the room could clear of smoke.\u00a0 He needed to open the windows as well.\u00a0 As Adam headed for the one that fronted the house, he wondered once again where his youngest brother was.\u00a0 Joe was obviously injured.\u00a0 It seemed strange that he\u2019d think about eating at such a time. Still, if it was<\/em> the kid who put the steak on to cook, then where the Hell was\u2026.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s heart skipped a beat.<\/p>\n He\u2019d just seen the pair of light brown boots blocking the back door.<\/p>\n Adam rounded the table and dropped to his knees.\u00a0 His kid brother lay prone on the floor, just in front of the dry sink.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s curly head was pressed up against the green check fabric; his neck at an odd angle.\u00a0 There was blood\u2026everywhere.\u00a0 On both pants legs.\u00a0 On his shirt and sleeves.\u00a0 It had congealed along the side of his face and matted his curls to his forehead.<\/p>\n Adam reached for those curls but paused.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s hair\u2026it was silver.<\/p>\n God!\u00a0 How<\/em> long had he been away?!<\/p>\n Tenderly, he took hold of his brother\u2019s head and shifted it so Joe lay flat on the floor.\u00a0 Then he placed his ear on his brother\u2019s chest and listened.\u00a0 Thank God!\u00a0 From the angle he lay at, he\u2019d feared\u2026.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t going to borrow trouble.<\/p>\n Adam let out a small bark of laughter.<\/p>\n He had more than enough without borrowing it!<\/p>\n The man in black ran a hand through his own thinning locks as he assessed his brother\u2019s condition.\u00a0 One leg was whole, the other broken.\u00a0 It bore a make-shift splint.\u00a0 Joe\u2019d done a good job of immobilizing the injured limb with what looked to be part of a chair and a set of leather reins.\u00a0 The accident \u00a0must have happened in the barn and he\u2019d used whatever resources were at hand.\u00a0 Smart kid!\u00a0 Adam glanced out the door and toward the barn.\u00a0 That skittish mare!\u00a0 Maybe she\u2026.\u00a0 He sucked in air as he turned back to his brother\u2019s still form.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter how <\/em>the accident happened, only that it had<\/em> happened.\u00a0 Joe was a mess.\u00a0 He\u2019d taken a blow to the head as well.\u00a0 The cut was deep and dirty and still seeping blood.\u00a0 And his arm\u2026. \u00a0Adam gingerly pushed the brown fabric back to reveal it.\u00a0 God, his arm!\u00a0\u00a0 Joe\u2019s flesh was deeply bruised; his arm crushed and the tips of the bone exposed.<\/p>\n As he began to examine the wound, his brother moaned.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d\u00a0 Taking hold of his chin, he turned the kid\u2019s face toward him.\u00a0 \u201cJoe?\u00a0 Can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n A thin sheen of sweat covered the wounded man\u2019s skin.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s color was high.\u00a0 Both sure indicators of a rising fever.\u00a0 Whatever happened in the barn, it had been bad.\u00a0 Most likely the violent storm spooked the mare, she\u2019d panicked and injured Joe.\u00a0 That explained not only the trail from the stall to the back room, but the empty Colt Remedy bottle and the saddle and blanket on the floor.\u00a0 His brother reeked of urine and horse manure.\u00a0 There wasn\u2019t a hope in hell that some of the stuff hadn\u2019t been driven into the open wounds.<\/p>\n Adam looked for a spot that didn\u2019t appear to be injured.\u00a0 Finally, deciding upon the cheek on the left-hand side of Joe\u2019s face, he tapped it lightly.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u00a0 Come on, Joe!\u00a0 I need you to wake up.\u201d<\/p>\n The command seemed to work.\u00a0 His brother\u2019s eyes opened.\u00a0 Their emerald green depths were clouded with confusion and pain.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Joe.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 It\u2019s not Pa.\u201d\u00a0 Adam paused.\u00a0 He wondered if the kid was coherent.\u00a0 The cut on the side of Joe\u2019s head was deep.\u00a0 \u201cCan you tell me what happened, buddy?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe half-smiled.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSilly\u2026mare,\u201d he breathed.\u00a0 \u201cScared\u2026of a door\u2026and some\u2026lightning\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n So he\u2019d been right.<\/p>\n \u201cThe storm?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Joe winced as he turned his head away.\u00a0 Then he coughed.<\/p>\n Not <\/em>a good sign.<\/p>\n His brother lay silent for a moment.\u00a0 Then, unbelievably, he roused and tried to stand.\u00a0 \u201cNeed\u2026to close\u2026the door. \u00a0Hop Sing\u2019ll\u2026give me hell\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam caught his shoulders and forced him back to the floor.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s okay, Joe.\u00a0 I left it open to let the smoke out.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother blinked.\u00a0 Joe opened and closed his eyes a couple of times and then shut them for so long he thought he\u2019d passed out again.\u00a0 Finally, they opened with more clarity.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2026.?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s me.\u00a0 Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s brows knit together.\u00a0 \u201cAdam\u2019s\u2026dead.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, I\u2019m not.\u00a0 I\u2019m\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 The man in black chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cTo quote an old friend, the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shifted his mangled left arm and winced before reaching up with the right one.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper.<\/p>\n A second later he was unconscious.<\/p>\n Adam rocked back on his heels, his eyes traveling past his brother to the singed stove and sooty furniture.\u00a0 Thank God Joe had passed out and fallen to the floor!\u00a0 The air would have been cleaner down here.\u00a0 All his wounded brother needed was smoke-filled lungs on top of his other injuries!\u00a0 The man in black rose to his feet and stood for a moment.\u00a0 If he hadn\u2019t come home when he did\u2026.\u00a0 If the fire on the stove had been left to burn out of control and reached the walls, they would have lost Joe and the house as well.<\/p>\n Pa wouldn\u2019t have survived it.<\/p>\n Adam rubbed his forehead hard.\u00a0 He had to get control of his emotions and take action!\u00a0 First of all he needed to remove Joe from the damaged kitchen and take him somewhere safe where he could tend to his wounds.\u00a0 Secondly, it was imperative he make a thorough search of the bunkhouse and surrounding fields.\u00a0 His brother was too sick to sit a horse, there wasn\u2019t a wagon or buckboard in sight, and Joe needed a doctor and needed one now!<\/em>\u00a0 Certainly Pa had left someone<\/em> behind besides Joe.\u00a0 The man in black glanced at his brother, who was out for the count, and then rose to his feet and returned to the great room and opened the door to the first floor guest room.\u00a0 Thank the Lord for Hop Sing!\u00a0 As he\u2019d hoped, it was freshly cleaned and prepared for the next unexpected traveler who knocked on the door.\u00a0 The thought of getting the kid up the staircase made him go green.\u00a0 It was going to be hard enough to get Joe out of the kitchen and into bed without causing him great pain.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d he said as he returned to his brother\u2019s side.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, I\u2019ve got to move you.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry, but this is going to hurt.\u201d \u00a0He put an arm under Joe\u2019s shoulders and lifted up.\u00a0 The kid was still slender, but had filled out over the last five years.\u00a0 Lifting him was going to be harder than he\u2019d thought! \u00a0\u201cJoe?\u00a0 Can you hear me?\u00a0 I need you to help.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMm\u2026mm?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe!\u201d<\/p>\n His brother\u2019s eyes opened and fixed on his face, seemingly without comprehension.<\/p>\n \u201cCan you stand?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s reply was a frown.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGive me\u2026a\u2026minute,\u201d he grunted. \u00a0As Adam watched, his brother planted his teeth firmly in his lower lip and edged his way into a seated position.\u00a0 Joe sat for several seconds, panting heavily, and then \u2013 leaning on his arm and into his<\/em> strength \u2013 managed to rise.\u00a0 There was a moment when he thought the kid would go right back down, but he caught himself and managed to balance on his good leg.\u00a0 Joe shuddered, the pain coursing from head to toe, and then shot him a triumphant look.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026made it to the\u2026house\u2026without you\u2026older brother\u2026.\u201d he said through clenched teeth.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I know.\u201d\u00a0 Adam wrapped his arm around his brother\u2019s slender waist and started to move.\u00a0 Joe grunted with each step.\u00a0 \u201cAnd in spectacular fashion, I must say.\u00a0 If I didn\u2019t know better, I\u2019d have thought you lit that signal fire just to guide me home.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe scowled at him as they reached the dining room.\u00a0 \u201cI was\u2026hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou might have considered the size of the fire.\u00a0 You lit one big enough to roast all of the Ponderosa steers at once!\u201d<\/p>\n They were making their way.\u00a0 Slowly.\u00a0 Adam had to stop every so many feet to let his brother catch his breath.\u00a0 Joe coughed several more times, though whether from inhaled smoke or the threat of pneumonia, he had no idea. \u00a0By the time they reached the downstairs bedroom, his brother\u2019s strength was flagging.<\/p>\n \u201cHang on, Joe,\u201d he encouraged.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re almost there.\u00a0 Just a few more steps and you can lie down.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe stopped short.\u00a0 His head turned and he looked around, confused.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2026am I?\u00a0 This isn\u2019t\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 The kid\u2019s eyes closed and he swallowed hard before speaking again.\u00a0 When he did, the words came out on a harsh breath.\u00a0 \u201cThis isn\u2019t\u2026my room.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, it\u2019s not.\u00a0 We\u2019re downstairs, Joe.\u00a0 Remember?\u00a0 This is the guest room.\u00a0 You\u2019re not well enough\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Adam hesitated.\u00a0 If he told the kid he wasn\u2019t well enough to go up the stairs, that was exactly what he\u2019d try to do.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s for me, Joe.\u00a0 I can check on you easier here.\u201d<\/p>\n That brought a pale grin.\u00a0 \u201cOkay\u2026old man.\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t\u2026want\u2026to wear out\u2026those old bones\u2026of yours\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n With some difficulty, Adam angled his brother into the room and onto the bed.\u00a0 Joe sat for a moment on the side, his head hanging down, and then let him almost bodily lift him into it.\u00a0 In spite of his best efforts, he wasn\u2019t able to guard both Joe\u2019s broken leg and his injured arm and his brother cried out in pain.<\/p>\n The strangled sound nearly broke his heart.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, Joe. \u00a0And sorry again.\u00a0 I need to see to your injuries.\u00a0 Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n His brother\u2019s eyes were closed.\u00a0 He was breathing hard.\u00a0 Joe\u2019 skin had gone dry and his cheeks were blooming with color; each a clear indicator that his temperature was sky-rocketing.\u00a0 Adam pulled a chair close to the bed, sat down, and took hold of his brother\u2019s right wrist.\u00a0 He found the pulse and counted.\u00a0 The kid\u2019s heart was racing.<\/p>\n So was his.<\/p>\n He had a decision to make.<\/p>\n Joe needed his wounds cleaned and bandaged, and he needed a doctor.\u00a0 The question was, which came first?\u00a0 He had no idea how long it had been since his brother was injured, but from the look of things he was guessing at least one day.\u00a0 Maybe more.\u00a0 If there was an infection, it had long ago set in.\u00a0 Leaving Joe as he was wouldn\u2019t help, but a few hours longer wasn\u2019t going to hurt either.<\/p>\n Finding a doctor was, on the other hand, a matter of life and death.<\/p>\n Reluctantly, Adam climbed to his feet.\u00a0 He stood for a moment holding his brother\u2019s hand, and then bent to place it on top of the coverlet.\u00a0 As he did, his gaze fell on Joe\u2019s other arm \u2013 the blood-soaked one \u2013 and the reality of everything his brother had endured\u2026alone\u2026shuddered through him.\u00a0 He\u2019d been expecting a joyous reunion \u2013 a happy homecoming with his family.<\/p>\n If he had arrived a few minutes later\u2026.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s fingers found his brother\u2019s and gripped them tightly.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got to go now,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 \u201cI need to find someone to send to town.\u00a0 Joe.\u00a0 I need\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 He drew in a breath that changed his intended words to a prayer.\u00a0 \u201cGod, I need you to keep this bull-headed kid in bed until I get back.\u201d\u00a0 He looked up.\u00a0 \u201cDo you hear me, God?\u00a0 Don\u2019t let him wake up and make things worse.\u00a0 God?\u201d<\/p>\n The wind rose outside, causing the porch bell to clang.<\/p>\n The clock struck quarter to nine.<\/p>\n Adam released his brother\u2019s hand, stood up, and without a backwards glance, walked out of the room.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n V<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He checked the bunkhouse first but it was devoid of life.\u00a0 In fact it was so tidy, if someone had told him all of the men had up and left for good he would have believed them.\u00a0 The lack of even an old geezer, sitting by the woodstove waiting to jaw, continued to puzzle him as he climbed onto Vinnie\u2019s back and urged the thoroughbred out of the yard and into the field.\u00a0 Why<\/em> was there no one to be found?\u00a0 The only explanation he could think of was that the ranks of the men were as thin as the herd.\u00a0 It was possible, he supposed, that many of the transient men his father usually hired had moved on in search of other work when they heard the pickings were slim.<\/p>\n Still, to leave Joe completely<\/em> alone\u2026.<\/p>\n Adam shook his head.\u00a0 He had to face facts and the first one was that Little<\/em> Joe wasn\u2019t so \u2018little\u2019 anymore.\u00a0 That solid body he\u2019d lifted had definitely belonged to a man and not a boy.\u00a0 It seemed impossible that Joe had changed so much in five short years.\u00a0 Then again, when he looked in the mirror, it seemed impossible that he<\/em> had changed so much!\u00a0 His black hair was now streaked with white and had receded back from his forehead, creating what the Bard would have called an \u2018enobled brow\u2019.<\/p>\n The Gods were fickle, of course.\u00a0 Joe still had all of his \u2013 hair, that was!\u00a0 His brother\u2019s curls were, if anything, even more riotous than they had been in his youth.\u00a0 Adam chuckled as he turned his horse to the west.<\/p>\n And they were silver-gray!<\/p>\n Divine justice, perhaps, for the way the kid and his hi-jinks had turned their father\u2019s prematurely white?<\/p>\n When he came to the first boundary fence, the man in black reined in his mount and looked in both directions.\u00a0 There was no one and nothing to be seen, so he had another choice to make.\u00a0 Travel on \u2013 at least as far as the next fence line \u2013 to see if he could find anyone, or turn back and tend to Joe.\u00a0 He hated to leave the kid alone, but hated even more the thought of returning empty-handed.\u00a0 He\u2019d really hoped he would find someone to send to town.\u00a0 Once again, the West\u2019s lack of simple necessities stirred a sense of dissatisfaction within him.\u00a0 A doctor, for God\u2019s sake!\u00a0 One of the most rudimentary needs of mankind.\u00a0 Out here you\u2019d be lucky to find a decent one within a hundred square miles.\u00a0 Back East you couldn\u2019t spit without hitting one.\u00a0 An old wound opened deep within him as he recalled an earlier time when the lack of a physician had nearly cost his baby brother\u2019s life; a time when the fault had been his and all he could do was stand by and watch him slip away.<\/p>\n Nearly too<\/em> far away.<\/p>\n Adam straightened in the saddle.\u00a0 He\u2019d go a just a bit farther, say five miles, and then go home.\u00a0 The sun was slipping toward the horizon and he didn\u2019t want to leave Joe alone after dark.\u00a0 With any luck, Hop Sing had returned from town and found Joe and was tending his wounds.<\/p>\n Luck.\u00a0 That was what you had to rely on in the West.\u00a0 Not communication.\u00a0 Not science.<\/p>\n Just luck.<\/p>\n His baby brother had always been one of the luckiest men he knew.<\/p>\n He hoped Joe still was.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The light was gone by the time Adam returned.\u00a0 Of all things, his horse had thrown a shoe!\u00a0 He\u2019d been nearly halfway home when it happened and had to walk his horse the rest of the way. \u00a0Joe had been in pretty bad shape when he left.\u00a0 He\u2019d hated to go, but believed at the time it was for the best.\u00a0 Now \u2013 coming back as he was, empty-handed \u2013 he felt it had been a waste.\u00a0 What if Joe was worse?\u00a0 Every limping step made him regret his choice not to clean and sterilize his brother\u2019s wounds before he left. How could he have forgotten?\u00a0 This was the West.\u00a0 The brutal, unpredictable, savage West.\u00a0 He\u2019d let his guard down and now he feared it might cost his brother\u2019s life.\u00a0 He\u2019d meant to be gone a few hours at most.<\/p>\n It had been six.<\/p>\n Adam was bone-weary by the time he finished in the barn and headed for the house.\u00a0 He was so weary, in fact, that it took a minute for it to register \u2013 the fact that there was a light on inside his father\u2019s office.\u00a0 Hope sprung into his heart and quickened his step.\u00a0 Could Pa have come home unexpectedly?\u00a0 Or maybe Hoss?\u00a0 But\u2026no.\u00a0 Most likely it was Hop Sing as he\u2019d thought before.\u00a0 Relieved in any case, the man in black entered the house, dropped his hat and gun belt onto the credenza, and turned into the great room.\u00a0 Then he stopped in his tracks.\u00a0 Littering the floor from the door of the guest bedroom to the office was a line of overturned furniture, shattered pottery, and broken glass.<\/p>\n And blood.<\/p>\n \u201cGood Lord!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n The sight that greeted Adam as he entered the office brought him up short.\u00a0 Joe was seated in the barrel chair that was habitually butted up against their father\u2019s desk.\u00a0 His brother\u2019s left arm hung at his side and was hidden in shadow; his splinted leg stretched out to one side.\u00a0 More than half of the contents of Pa\u2019s bookcase were strewn on the floor about him.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s face was flushed.\u00a0 Sweat dripped from his chin and ran from his curls, marring the surface of the darkly polished wood.\u00a0 His brother\u2019s thick eyebrows \u2013 which were somehow still impossibly brown \u2013 formed a \u2018v\u2019 of concentration as Joe traced a line on the printed page with one finger; his trembling lips mouthing the words silently.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, buddy,\u201d Adam said softly, tenuously.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doing out of bed?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe started at the sound of his voice, shuddered, and continued reading.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat have you got there?\u201d \u00a0Adam could see as he moved closer that the book was some sort of medical text.\u00a0 Their father kept several on his shelves.\u00a0 They\u2019d served as their doctor more times than he could recall when they were boys.\u00a0 \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n His brother was muttering fast and low \u2013 and oblivious to him.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, Joe turned toward him.\u00a0 He bit his bottom lip, sniffed, and then sort of smiled.\u00a0 A moment later the kid began to recite, almost mechanically, the words he had just read.<\/p>\n \u201cThe infection of gangrene\u2026runs its course more\u2026severely in some\u2026cases.\u00a0 Swelling with\u2026dusky redness and a deep seated\u2026pain.\u00a0 Death almost\u2026invariably ensues in three or four days.\u00a0 Any attempt to\u2026save\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 His brother choked, swallowed, and went on.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026to save any part of\u2026may be hopeless.\u00a0 The patient\u2019s only\u2026chance may lie in\u2026ampu\u2026ampu\u2026tation.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe closed his eyes.\u00a0 When he opened them again, his brother looked at him without recognition.<\/p>\n And without hope.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, no.\u201d \u00a0Adam took hold of the textbook, intending to remove it.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s only been a day or two.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be fine.\u00a0 Come on now.\u00a0 We need to get you back to bed so I can tend to your wounds.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s hands came down on the book and pinned it in place.\u00a0 He shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 It\u2019s a\u2026good book.\u00a0 It\u2019s a good book\u2026to explain why\u2026the disease\u2026runs its course more\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam reached out to take his brother\u2019s chin in his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cJoe!\u00a0 Look at me.\u00a0 It\u2019s Adam,\u201d he said, forcing him to.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m telling you, you don\u2019t have gangrene!\u00a0 You\u2019re hurt, yes, but you\u2019re going to be fine!\u00a0 Now, come on\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 The man in black halted. \u00a0His brother was laughing.<\/p>\n Laughing.<\/p>\n He took a step back.\u00a0 \u201cGood Lord, Joe!\u00a0 What is there to laugh about?\u201d<\/p>\n The sound of it was slightly hysterical.\u00a0 It became even more so as his brother shifted and painfully dragged his injured arm up and onto the table.<\/p>\n \u201cShows what you know, older brother,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The limb was barely recognized as human.<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s lower arm had blackened and was swollen to twice its normal size.\u00a0 Blisters had erupted on the taut flesh and oozed a putrid pus. \u00a0His brother stared at it, sniffed again, and then turned hollow eyes on him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s gonna have to\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 His baby brother\u2019s jaw tightened.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, you\u2019re\u2026gonna have to\u2026cut it off.\u201d<\/p>\n He took a step back.\u00a0 \u201cJoe\u2026. \u00a0No.\u201d<\/p>\n Tears streamed down the kid\u2019s face, tearing at his heart.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, please\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Joe\u2019s words were a whisper, breathed as he lost the battle and slid from the chair.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cAdam\u2026please\u2026you gotta promise\u2026me\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n He caught him before he hit the floor and held his brother there, in front of their father\u2019s desk.\u00a0 He was startled by the heat radiating off of him.\u00a0 In the time he\u2019d been gone, infectivity had taken control.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s jaw tightened as tears filled his eyes.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t for his brother but for himself and the crushing guilt he felt, that all but overwhelmed him.<\/p>\n He denied them.<\/p>\n If guilt and its erstwhile companion grief were to be rightly laid on his shoulders, there would be time for that later.\u00a0 Right now Joe was all that mattered.<\/p>\n Joe and the fight to save his life.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam lifted his head from the book he was reading and listened.\u00a0 He was in the great room in the big red chair beside the fire.\u00a0 His favorite, the blue velvet one, remained empty.\u00a0 He had to admit he\u2019d come to regard the idea of sitting in it \u2013 sipping that brandy and staring across the table at his kid brother bundled up on the sofa, safe and alive \u2013 as a kind of reward; one that was to be savored once this crisis was past.\u00a0 He\u2019d left Joe sleeping in the spare room and come to the hearth to peruse the stack of medical books he\u2019d found in his father\u2019s library.\u00a0 Each and every one offered various remedies and tonics for just about everything from a hang nail to pneumonia.\u00a0 Unfortunately, each and every one of them offered only one \u2018cure\u2019 for gangrene.<\/p>\n A \u2018cure\u2019 he refused to administer.<\/p>\n The man in black closed his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.\u00a0 Of course, it had<\/em> to be Joe\u2019s left arm that was affected!\u00a0 Why couldn\u2019t the damn horse have stepped on the right one?!\u00a0 The thought of Joe without his dominant arm \u2013 without the ability to rope and shoot and maybe even ride \u2013 was beyond conceiving.\u00a0 And yet, Joe had asked him to do it.\u00a0 To\u2026amputate.\u00a0 The kid had to know what it would mean.<\/p>\n Or did he?<\/p>\n Adam put the book down on the table before rising and walking to the bedroom.\u00a0 Once there he leaned on the jamb.\u00a0 He\u2019d left the door open as there was no one else in the house to disturb his brother\u2019s sleep.\u00a0 One of the books had recommended a poultice of tea and tobacco be applied to the wound.\u00a0 He\u2019d done that several times and, while it hadn\u2019t done much to slow the progress of the disease, it had seemed to ease Joe\u2019s pain.\u00a0 His brother was sleeping.\u00a0 Fitfully.\u00a0 Restively.\u00a0 But sleeping.<\/p>\n God, he looked so young.<\/p>\n The poultice would<\/em> work, he told himself as he turned and moved slowly toward the kitchen where a fresh batch was brewing.\u00a0 The next time he looked, the necrosis would be arrested and the swelling would have gone down.\u00a0 When he reached the stove, Adam lifted the lid and used a spoon to swirl the linens about that he\u2019d dropped into the brown liquid earlier.<\/p>\n After all, a concoction this foul smelling had to do something, didn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n The man in black made a disgusted noise as a bit of the remedy splashed out of the pot to land on the floor.\u00a0 As he reached for a towel to wipe it, his gaze fell on the square wooden table that squatted not three feet away.\u00a0 He\u2019d put what was left of the thick piece of beef Joe had attempted to fix for supper into the ice box and then driven the tip of the butcher\u2019s knife into the table\u2019s top.\u00a0 The firelight struck the blade and the metal flashed before his eyes \u2013 along with a horrific vision.\u00a0 Little Joe \u2013 not the man of twenty-eight he was now, but the small boy of four he had been \u2013 sitting before him with his arm stretched out on the table. \u00a0Little Joe looked at him, his green eyes wide with love and trust \u2013 even as the blade fell, cleaving his arm from his body.<\/p>\n And then, Joe screamed.\u00a0 God, how he screamed!<\/p>\n Adams eyes shot open.<\/p>\n No.\u00a0 Joe was screaming.<\/em><\/p>\n Now.<\/p>\n He\u2019d never turned a corner so fast in his life.<\/p>\n By the time he reached the bedroom, Joe was thrashing from side to side with such fury that he feared he would fall from the bed and injure himself further.\u00a0 Thank god he\u2019d had the foresight to bind the wounded limb to his brother\u2019s side!\u00a0 Adam sat on the bed and took hold of the kid\u2019s shoulders and thrust him back to the sheets.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe.\u00a0 Joe!\u00a0 Listen to me.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to calm down.\u00a0 Joe!\u201d<\/p>\n At first, Joe fought like a tiger.\u00a0 He seemed not to hear him.\u00a0 Then, slowly, he began to respond.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s it, Joe.\u00a0 It\u2019s me, Adam.\u00a0 I\u2019m here.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to be okay.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s eyes flew open and his right hand shot out to grip his shirt.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d he panted.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, that\u2019s right.\u00a0 It\u2019s me.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother whimpered.\u00a0 He turned his head into the pillow and groaned.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it, Joe?\u00a0 Is the pain worse?\u201d<\/p>\n Another whimper.\u00a0 Then those green eyes, wide as that four-year-old child\u2019s, fastened on him.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, you gotta get him\u2026off of me\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n The man in black frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWho?\u00a0 Joe, there\u2019s no one here but you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s breath came faster.\u00a0 It was like he was running.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, you gotta\u2026. Get him off of me!\u00a0 Adam!\u00a0 I\u2019m shot\u2026.\u00a0 I\u2019m shot\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam swallowed hard as the long-buried grief resurfaced yet again, forcing him to participate in the scene Joe\u2019s raging fever had rekindled.\u00a0 Montpelier Gorge.\u00a0 Another day when he\u2019d forgotten to think things through.<\/p>\n Another day when he\u2019d acted unwisely and nearly got his little brother killed.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, that was a long time ago,\u201d he said, his voice weak with grief.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s no wolf here.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe drew in air and pointed.\u00a0 \u201cThere is!\u00a0 He\u2019s\u2026behind you.\u00a0 I can\u2026see him!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Joe.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 It\u2019s the fever.\u00a0 Do you hear me?\u00a0 It\u2019s the fever!\u201d\u00a0 The kid was strong.\u00a0 Joe was actually trying to sit up.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, stop it!\u00a0 You\u2019re going to hurt yourself!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t let him get me, Adam!\u00a0 Don\u2019t\u2026\u201d\u00a0 His brother went rigid.\u00a0 He drew in a sharp breath and looked at him with terror in his eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it, Joe?\u00a0 What?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s lips formed a single word without sound.\u00a0 Then his eyes rolled back in his head and the kid pitched forward into his arms.<\/p>\n \u2018Why?\u2019<\/p>\n <\/p>\n VI<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Why?<\/p>\n Why, God?<\/p>\n Why\u2026me?<\/p>\n Adam ran a hand across his bleary eyes and then thrust the medical text away in disgust. \u00a0If he\u2019d read the passage on gangrene once, he\u2019d read it a hundred times.\u00a0 Just like he\u2019d applied that damn poultice of tea and tobacco a hundred times with little or no result. \u00a0He rose to his feet and began to pace with restless energy, walking the length of the great room several times before he stopped outside of the room where his brother lay sleeping.<\/p>\n Joe was sick.\u00a0 Real<\/em> sick.<\/p>\n The infection in his brother\u2019s arm was raging and Joe\u2019s fever had grown dangerously high.\u00a0 All too soon it would be too late.\u00a0 The progress of the disease would be irreversible.\u00a0 There would be nothing he could do.\u00a0 There was<\/em> something he could do\u2026now<\/em>\u2026but he couldn\u2019t bring himself to do it.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t\u2026.<\/p>\n He just couldn\u2019t<\/em> cut off his brother\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n Adam snorted.\u00a0 He supposed that made him a coward.\u00a0 Hell, he knew it did!\u00a0 Joe had more courage than him.\u00a0 The last time the kid had awakened, he\u2019d practically begged him to do it, citing the words in that damn medical book as if he knew them by heart.<\/p>\n \u2018Gangrene.\u00a0 The infection runs its course more severely in some cases\u2026death almost invariably ensues in three or four days.\u00a0 Any attempt to save any part of the injured limb may be hopeless.\u00a0 The patient\u2019s only chance may lie in amputation.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNow, he learns how to memorize!\u201d he scoffed.<\/p>\n Adam entered the room and stood at his brother\u2019s side.\u00a0 Since reliving the nightmare of Montpelier Gorge, Joe had not awakened. \u00a0The kid was dead to the world.\u00a0 If he was going to\u2026do it\u2026now was the time.\u00a0 He\u2019d found another book that detailed every part of the procedure, from how to apply the tourniquet around the limb before starting to cut, to how to reduce bleeding and where and how to discard the damaged limb when done.\u00a0 Adam rubbed sweat from his upper lip and swallowed hard.\u00a0 Once the limb was gone, there were arteries that had to be tied off using either horsehair or silk. \u00a0Before he began, he\u2019d have to decide whether to use the circular or flap method to finish off the procedure.\u00a0 The circular was faster but took longer to heal.<\/p>\n A scalpel was needed to cut through the skin, and then a knife to cut the muscle.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to have a saw to cut the bone itself.<\/p>\n The room faded and Adam cursed.<\/p>\n He\u2019d nearly passed out.<\/p>\n One hand shot out to grip the bedpost.\u00a0 \u201cSorry, Joe,\u201d he breathed.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, I\u2019m sorry\u2026.\u00a0 I have to get some air.\u201d<\/p>\n The man in black didn\u2019t walk, he ran.\u00a0 He ran fast and hard and didn\u2019t stop until he reached the barn.\u00a0 Once inside Adam Cartwright \u2013 the man who prided himself on his cool, calm demeanor and stoic countenance; the older brother who was never at a loss for words or<\/em> an opinion; the man who knew it all<\/em> \u2013 dropped to his knees and blubbered like a baby.<\/p>\n God, he prayed.\u00a0 God, help me!<\/p>\n Even if he could <\/em>bring himself to do as Joe asked, there was no way he could<\/em> do it \u2013 amputate, that was.\u00a0 Performing an amputation wasn\u2019t as simple as taking a cleaver and cutting off an infected limb.\u00a0 It required the skill of a surgeon.<\/p>\n A skill he didn\u2019t have.<\/p>\n His brother was going to die.<\/p>\n Adam righted himself so he was sitting and then dropped his head to his knees.\u00a0 A minute.\u00a0 He needed\u2026another minute.\u00a0 He knew what he had to do.\u00a0 He would return to the house and sit at his baby brother\u2019s side and be with him until he passed.\u00a0 He\u2019d promised Marie years before that he would always take care of her petite Joseph; that he wouldn\u2019t leave Joe until Joe left him.\u00a0 When the kid\u2026left him\u2026he\u2019d take him and bury him near the lake at her side.\u00a0 After that he\u2019d come home and sit in the blue chair by the fire and wait for his father and Hoss to return, only to find that the surprise homecoming hadn\u2019t been his.<\/p>\n It had been Little Joe\u2019s.<\/p>\n Adam jumped as a hand landed on his shoulder.\u00a0 Startled, he sucked in a breath and looked up.<\/p>\n Into a big beautiful beefy face.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d Hoss asked.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u00a0 Is it you?\u201d<\/p>\n From behind his brother came another familiar voice.\u00a0 \u201cHoss, did you find Joe?\u00a0 Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n The big man turned.\u00a0 \u201cPa, I found \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n Adam rose to his feet and dusted himself off.\u00a0 \u201cNo, Hoss.\u00a0 Let me.\u201d<\/p>\n His father was speaking as he walked toward the barn.\u00a0 \u201cI found Cochise.\u00a0 There\u2019s blood on his coat.\u00a0 Your brother\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Pa stopped, shocked, just as he appeared in the doorway.\u00a0 The older man\u2019s face went slack with disbelief and then burst into a wide grin.\u00a0 His father started forward, but halted as he noted the condition he was in.\u00a0 The man in black knew what he saw.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t shaved for days.\u00a0 The stench of Joe\u2019s sickness clung to him, as did his baby brother\u2019s blood.<\/p>\n The question came as a whisper, formed on lips of fear.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been asking for you, Pa.\u00a0 I\u2019m so glad you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow bad?\u201d<\/p>\n A single tear coursed down his cheek.\u00a0 Words failed him.<\/p>\n His father stepped forward to place a hand on his shoulder.\u00a0 Pa looked at him and then pulled him into a close embrace.<\/p>\n \u201cWelcome home, son,\u201d he said as he released him.\u00a0 \u201cNow, take me to your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Even though Hoss took off that instant to fetch the doctor, Paul was a long time in coming.\u00a0 Despair, fear, remorse and guilt could do nothing to shorten the twenty miles between the Ponderosa and town. The seven hour wait was agonizing, and more so for his father than him.\u00a0 Pa, of course, had absolved him of any wrong doing, but would have none of it as far as his own guilt.\u00a0 Joe surfaced once or twice during the long night; long enough for Pa to put two and two together and figure out that baby brother\u2019s injuries occurred at practically the same moment he and Hoss rode away.\u00a0 What made it worse was that Pa had left his pipe behind and almost come home to fetch it.\u00a0 In the end he\u2019d decided that it would take too much time to backtrack, and getting the drive underway was too important.<\/p>\n \u2018More important\u2019, the older man had sighed as he took Joe\u2019s swollen and discolored hand and covered it with his own.\u00a0 \u201cMore important than my son\u2019s life.\u2019<\/p>\n Adam was sitting by his brother\u2019s bed.\u00a0 He put the book he was reading down and looked at Joe.\u00a0 The kid lay swaddled in an old comforter that Hoss had magicked from somewhere, with barely more than his curls showing.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t quite a crazy quilt, but its colors were as vibrant as Joe\u2019s skin was gray. \u00a0He thought he remembered it being on their parents\u2019 \u2013 on Pa and Marie\u2019s bed \u2013 once upon a time.\u00a0 It had been a gift from a group of church ladies if he remembered correctly.\u00a0 The man in black\u2019s lips curled with irony.\u00a0 No doubt an attempt at an apology for the less than warm reception their father\u2019s New Orleans\u2019 bride had received upon her arrival in the settlement. \u00a0Joe was resting peacefully at last with a pinprick on his hip and a head of morphine-induced dreams.\u00a0 He\u2019d been in the room when Paul Martin made the pronouncement that both he and Joe had been correct.\u00a0 It was gangrene.\u00a0 The physician went on to tell them that the book they\u2019d used as a reference was out of date, as were many of the methods cited in it, and it was a good thing they had not followed through.\u00a0 It had been just about all he could do to hold his tongue.\u00a0 In the midst of the crisis, checking for a copyright date had been the last thing on his mind!<\/p>\n Still, he knew what he was getting his father for Christmas!<\/p>\n A sense of movement drew Adam\u2019s attention back to the sickbed and his brother who had managed to wiggle out from under the quilt enough to breathe.<\/p>\n \u201cHow are you feeling?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n Joe smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026fleell fnn,\u201d he slurred.<\/p>\n \u201cI just bet you do.\u201d\u00a0 Adam leaned over to place a hand on his brother\u2019s head, noting again the silver curls with wonder.\u00a0 \u201cYour fever\u2019s down.\u201d<\/p>\n The kid didn\u2019t say a word; just continued to stare at him.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe?\u00a0 Are you okay?\u00a0 Should I get the doc\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n The silvered head was shaking.\u00a0 His brother closed both eyes for a moment, and then opened them with more clarity. \u00a0Joe wet his lips before asking, \u201cReal?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cReal?\u201d\u00a0 What was he on about?\u00a0 \u201cThe accident?\u00a0 Yes, it really happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Again his brother\u2019s head shook.\u00a0 \u201cNo\u2026you<\/em>.\u00a0 Real?\u201d<\/p>\n So that was it.\u00a0 \u201cMe?\u00a0 Real?\u201d\u00a0 he chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cAt least the last time I checked.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThought\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Joe winced as he shifted.\u00a0 \u201cThought I was\u2026dreaming.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow\u2019s he doin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam turned toward the familiar voice.\u00a0 Hoss had picked up weight in the last five years, but it seemed the big man had shed at least half of it from his face during the last night of worry.<\/p>\n Joe grinned his silly grin.\u00a0 \u201cHey\u2026nig\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He blinked lazily.\u00a0 \u201cBig brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey, yourself, shortshanks,\u201d Hoss growled as he moved to the side of the bed, half with mock indignation and the rest with relief.\u00a0 \u201cYou owe me, Joseph!\u00a0 You done scared me outta ten years of life, you know that?\u201d<\/p>\n Baby brother pouted like the four-year-old he had been.\u00a0 \u201cSsrry.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss was a giant, with hands that could span a hundred-year tree.\u00a0 He reached out with infinite care and gentleness to lay one on Joe\u2019s rampant curls.\u00a0 \u201cHeck, punkin.\u00a0 I\u2019m just funnin\u2019 you.\u201d\u00a0 Their brother winked and then looked right at him.\u00a0 \u201cOld Adam and me knows you\u2019d do just about anythin\u2019 to get out of a round-up.\u00a0 Ain\u2019t that right, older brother?\u201d<\/p>\n It felt right.\u00a0 The banter.\u00a0 The camaraderie.\u00a0 Heck, even Joe laying injured in bed with the two of them commiserating over whether or not he would live to see the high side of twenty felt right.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s gaze went to the silver curls.<\/p>\n Make that thirty.<\/p>\n \u201cOr haying season,\u201d he said softly.<\/p>\n Hoss returned his grin, but Joe had grown serious.\u00a0 That encouraged him to check the kid\u2019s forehead again for rising fever.\u00a0 Paul had warned them that a renewed infection was a very real threat.\u00a0 Unexpectedly, Joe reached out to catch his hand.\u00a0 Their fingers locked and remained locked for several heartbeats before his brother released him.<\/p>\n \u201cThanks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Adam chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cFor what?\u00a0 Not panicking when I didn\u2019t know what the Hell<\/em> to do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor\u2026being here.\u201d\u00a0 Joe paused to draw a breath.\u00a0 \u201cWould have\u2026been alone.\u201d<\/p>\n The possibility of that shivered through the man in black.\u00a0 Could his brother have survived if he had faced this crisis alone?<\/p>\n Adam glanced at Hoss and then favored his little brother with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re tough, kid.\u00a0 You would have made it.\u00a0 Somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe let out a long sigh.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe rolled his eyes.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026always\u2026calling me\u2026kid\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n He reached out to ruffle those silver curls.\u00a0 \u201cThese don\u2019t make you older than me.\u00a0 At least not until you lose half of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss ran a hand over his own thinning hair.\u00a0 \u201cSo how come Joe got more hair as he growed up and we done lost half of ours?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cMust be that hard head of his.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe was staring at him.\u00a0 The man in black raised an eyebrow to ask the question.<\/p>\n \u201cAre\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Joe cleared his throat, which had grown suddenly tight.\u00a0 \u201cAre you going to stay?\u201d<\/p>\n The storm of several nights before heralded a change.\u00a0 As of this morning a light dusting of snow lay on the ground.\u00a0 Winter had come to stay at the Ponderosa and so it seemed had he.<\/p>\n For a while, at least.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough the winter.\u00a0 After that\u2026we\u2019ll see.\u201d \u00a0Adam pressed a hand to his aching back and straightened up.\u00a0 \u201cAfter all, I promised Marie.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe had been half-asleep.\u00a0 The kid perked up at the mention of his mother.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019d you promise Mama?\u201d<\/p>\n The man in black kept his face sober.\u00a0 \u201cThat I\u2019d look after you until you were old enough to look after yourself.\u00a0 Obviously, we\u2019re not quite there yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHey!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou gotta admit, he\u2019s right, Little<\/em> Joe,\u201d Hoss added with a twist of his lips.<\/p>\n Shortly after that, the pillows began to fly.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tags:\u00a0 Adam Cartwright,\u00a0Angst,\u00a0ESA,\u00a0Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright,\u00a0SJS<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n