Summary:\u00a0 Fifteen-year-old Little Joe Cartwright is in love and, as usual, it brings a world of trouble.\u00a0 Can big brother Adam save the day or will he too be drawn in by the Painted Lady and lose not only his way, but maybe his life?<\/p>\n
Rating:\u00a0 PG<\/p>\n
Word Count: 29,166<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Chapter One<\/strong><\/p>\n She was the most beautiful thing fifteen-year-old Joe Cartwright had ever seen.<\/p>\n And he had<\/em> to see her, every time he could.\u00a0 If his pa knew that over the last four days he hadn\u2019t been out once<\/em> to help the hands lay the new fence \u2013 or gone fishing with his friend Seth or stayed at the Devlins overnight \u2013 but had put heels to horseflesh and flown southeast to Genoa City in time to make one or both of the theatrical performances at Livingston\u2019s Exchange, he wouldn\u2019t be able to sit down for a month!\u00a0 Maybe a whole year!!\u00a0 But it didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 All that mattered was seeing her.<\/em><\/p>\n His painted lady.<\/p>\n That was what she called herself, or actually what her act was called: The Painted Lady<\/em>.\u00a0 There was a sign out front of the elevated brick building that said so in letters nearly a foot high.\u00a0 Onstage she wore a burnt-orange, brown, and black and white costume that fit her slender figure like a glove.\u00a0 It had a flowing cape attached at the shoulders that alternately hid and highlighted her long shapely legs as she moved.\u00a0 At times she would lift her arms and spread it wide and look just like the pretty butterfly she was named after.\u00a0 Little Joe let out a sigh as he approached the steps that led up and into the Exchange\u2019s saloon.\u00a0 Yesterday morning he\u2019d been in the settlement with Hoss.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen a net hanging on the wall of the mercantile and almost bought it just so he could catch her and keep her from flying away.\u00a0 If she flew away, he didn\u2019t know what he\u2019d do.<\/p>\n Little Joe Cartwright was in love.<\/p>\n He\u2019d decided it was fate and that was what made him bold.\u00a0 After all, he shouldn\u2019t even know she existed.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019<\/em>t have if one of Pa\u2019s ranch hands hadn\u2019t taken pity on him and brought him into Genoa about ten days back.\u00a0 His pa had been watching him like a hawk of late on account of he\u2019d been tossed from a horse and thrown into a fence.\u00a0 He dusted himself off, \u00a0got right back up, and headed for the ornery nag \u2013 just like Adam or Hoss would have done \u2013 and that was when the fireworks went off.\u00a0 JOSEPH FRANCIS CARTWRIGHT COME HERE THIS INSTANT!<\/em> \u00a0Pa must <\/em>have yelled loud enough for the folks to hear him in Hangtown.\u00a0 That was the only explanation he could come up with for the fact that the doctor showed up lickety-split to take a look at him.\u00a0 So what if he cracked a couple of ribs?\u00a0 His brothers had done the same \u2013 and worse.\u00a0 The doctor said he had a moderate concussion too and that sealed the deal.\u00a0 He was sent to bed and hovered over for the next five days like he was on his deathbed or something.\u00a0 One night when he was layin\u2019 there sulking, Adam came in to talk.\u00a0 Being cooped up like that had put him in a pretty foul mood, so he rolled over and ignored him.\u00a0 Older brother stood at his bedside for a minute or two, sighed, and announced, \u2018A horse killed your mama and Pa\u2019s afraid a horse will kill you too\u2019 <\/em>just before he disappeared.<\/p>\n How did a man of the West live with that?<\/p>\n Anyhow, just when he thought he\u2019d been liberated from \u2018prison\u2019, Pa told him he wasn\u2019t allowed to ride.\u00a0 He had to sit in the wagon for another whole<\/em> week until he was completely \u2018healed\u2019.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he was with Angus McCreary in the first place.\u00a0 He\u2019d been pouring his heart out to the Scotsman when Angus suddenly decided Pa wouldn\u2019t mind if they took a load of lumber into Genoa ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n So, it was really all Pa\u2019s<\/em> fault.<\/p>\n Unloading the lumber was hard work.\u00a0 It was a hot day and both of them worked up a sweat and a powerful thirst.\u00a0 As the sun passed its zenith, he asked Angus if they could get a drink somewhere before they headed home. \u00a0\u00a0The Scot slapped him on the back and said he\u2019d done a man\u2019s day of work, so he deserved a man\u2019s drink.<\/p>\n And took him to Livingston\u2019s Exchange.<\/p>\n The patrons and hostesses looked at him mighty funny as they came through the saloon doors.\u00a0 A burly man with a frown big as Hoss put his beer down on the counter and came over to bar their way.\u00a0 Angus gave him a smile and pulled the bouncer aside and bent his ear for a couple of minutes.\u00a0 When he returned, the Scot told him to stand up straight and look as \u2018old\u2019 as he could.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t help when Angus burst out laughing at his first attempt.<\/p>\n In the end everything turned out okay.\u00a0 The stage at Livingston\u2019s Exchange was hosting an international star for two weeks, so there were people of all ages and types came in the door not too long after them for the matinee performance.\u00a0 By one o\u2019clock, he was getting nervous.\u00a0 That morning Pa made him promise to be home before dark and it took a good while to get there from Genoa.\u00a0 When he told Angus he thought it was time to go, the Scot placed his boots on the chair next to him, pulled a passing hostess onto his lap, and ordered another whiskey.<\/p>\n Cassie was real pretty.\u00a0 The hostess, that was.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take Joe long to learn that Angus was a regular and knew most of the girls pretty well.\u00a0 They kept coming over to the table to chat with him. \u00a0Soon enough they started talking to him too \u2013 laughing and smiling, even flirting a little bit \u2013 but most of the time running their fingers through his curls and giving him little pecks on the cheek.<\/p>\n Now, he wasn\u2019t no innocent.\u00a0 He\u2019d been kissed before \u2013 plenty of times \u2013 in the church closet, in the tall grass behind the schoolhouse, and once even in a girl\u2019s parlor when her ma stepped out to get him a slice of pie.\u00a0 A kiss was more \u2018intoxicating\u2019 \u2013 that was one of big brother Adam\u2019s words \u2013 than a glass of beer.\u00a0 But there was something more<\/em> he had yet to experience.\u00a0 Something older men hinted at.\u00a0 Something he knew Angus, and Adam and Hoss knew all<\/em> about.\u00a0 Pa too.\u00a0 He had too, since he had them.<\/p>\n Amorous congress.<\/p>\n Little Joe blew out a breath.\u00a0 He\u2019d arrived just in time.\u00a0 The bouncer saw him and waved a greeting.\u00a0 As he waited in a line to enter, the teenager wondered briefly if he was going to Hell because he was fifteen and welcome at a saloon. \u00a0Not that it would have stopped him.<\/p>\n Nothing<\/em> would have stopped him.<\/p>\n He had <\/em>to see his painted lady.<\/p>\n When he was almost to the door Joe noticed a pair of well-dressed men standing to one side of the porch, smoking.\u00a0 The taller one blew out a ring that came right at him.\u00a0 It tickled his nose and made him sneeze.\u00a0 \u00a0A grizzled cowboy behind him snorted with laughter and shoved him in their direction so that he stumbled and almost ran into them.\u00a0 As he righted himself, Joe heard the taller man say, \u201cDon\u2019t matter if he was dumber than a fence post.\u00a0 Nobody deserved to be put down like that.\u00a0 Stuck like a pig.\u201d\u00a0 The next moment someone caught his arm and pulled him toward the door and the shout went up, \u2018Look who\u2019s here, it\u2019s Mr. Francis!\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n About Francis?\u00a0 Well, that was the first thing that came to mind.<\/p>\n Sad as it was.<\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t use his real<\/em> name, now could he?<\/p>\n The show had started by the time he walked in.\u00a0 There were several acts and the Painted Lady\u2019s was near the end.\u00a0 The poster outside Livingston\u2019s proclaimed that the current \u2018engagement\u2019 lasted only two weeks and today was day twelve.\u00a0 Two more days and his painted lady was gonna fly away and he\u2019d never see her again!\u00a0 He\u2019d been working up the courage over the last couple to ask the thin man with the thick mustache who escorted the singer to the stage each day if he could meet her.\u00a0 Joe grinned.\u00a0 Every time he saw the tall mustached man \u2013 who was really kind of odd \u2013 he\u2019d remind himself of what his brother Hoss would say if he<\/em> saw him.<\/p>\n \u2018That there feller\u2019s so thin, little brother, if he closed one eye someone would mistake him for a needle and start sewin\u2019!<\/em>\u2019.<\/p>\n One of Angus\u2019 friends \u2013 and the Scot had lots <\/em>of them at the Exchange \u2013 told him the thin man was \u2018Professor Nether Blackfold\u2019, a professional hypnotist and mesmerist with his own show who acted as the Painted Lady\u2019s manager.\u00a0 Joe glanced at the ramrod-straight man again.\u00a0 When the professor was performing he wore a gold and blue turban and dressed like a sheik, just as he did in the illustration painted on the side of his wagon.\u00a0 Other times \u2013 like now \u2013 he wore a plain black suit with a string tie and a fat bowler hat pitched forward on his thick black hair.\u00a0 His pale blue eyes were always narrowed and he never smiled.\u00a0 Once or twice that cold stare had landed on him and he\u2019d felt like a bug pinned to a board.\u00a0 Pa had a friend that was an entomologist and he\u2019d done that when he visited the Ponderosa \u2013 gassed and then pinned bugs to a board, all the while exclaiming about how wonderful all the creepy-crawly things he\u2019d found were.<\/p>\n The Professor was creepy-crawly.<\/p>\n Joe took his usual seat near the front just as the Painted Lady took the stage. \u00a0Not only was she the most beautiful thing he had ever seen; she had the voice of an angel!\u00a0 Most of the songs were the bawdy kind Pa thought he\u2019d never heard before, but toward the end there was one even older brother would have approved of.\u00a0 When Adam asked him to sit down and listen to the same kind of thing \u2013 something he called an \u2018aria\u2019 \u2013 he\u2019d shift and scoot and squirm and do just about anything to get out of it.<\/p>\n When the Painted Lady sang hers\u2026it was different.<\/p>\n First thing, she\u2019d cue the piano player.\u00a0 Then, as the citified music filled the air, she\u2019d say a few words, explaining how this was something she \u2018had\u2019 to do\u00a0 and begging the audience\u2019s \u2018indulgence\u2019.\u00a0 Next she\u2019d tell them the story of Lucia \u2013 the lady in the song \u2013 who went mad and stabbed her lover to death on the night of her honeymoon.\u00a0 Just about then the yahoos who hadn\u2019t seen her before would start booing and hissing.\u00a0 Joe loved the Painter Lady\u2019s smile, and it was then she would use it to hold their attention.\u00a0\u00a0 She\u2019d lift one slender arm into the air and keep it there, while she used the other to free her lustrous black hair to fall about her white shoulders.\u00a0 Then \u2013 and this was the part Pa would have had a cow about! \u2013 she\u2019d undo the top laces of her corset and slowly and seductively pull out a bloody knife.<\/p>\n Then she\u2019d begin to sing.<\/p>\n Sometimes that was all she did; remain on the stage and sing.\u00a0 Other times, like tonight, the Painted Lady would descend the steps and spice up her performance by wandering through the crowd.\u00a0 She\u2019d act as if she was searching for someone and, eventually, stop at a table and single out one of the saloon\u2019s patrons.<\/p>\n Little Joe Cartwright swallowed hard.<\/p>\n Tonight, it was his turn.<\/p>\n There were cat calls and hoots as the Painted Lady twisted her fingers in his curls and pulled his head back, and then placed the bloody knife against his throat.\u00a0 Joe should have been afraid, but he wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 He was enthralled.<\/p>\n Pinned, just like one of the professor\u2019s bugs.<\/p>\n When the aria ended, there was a gasp of silence, and then Livingston\u2019s Exchange came alive with shouts and stomping.\u00a0 The Painted Lady took a bow before favoring him with the most amazing smile.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd for my \u2018victim\u2019 tonight,\u201d she announced, \u2018a kiss!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe had to be honest.\u00a0 He a melting moment right then and there and was sure<\/em> glad there was a table between them.<\/p>\n As she turned to leave, Joe felt the singer\u2019s hand brush his.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until she was back on the stage performing one last bawdy tune that he realized there was a folded piece of paper on the chair by his leg.\u00a0 A couple of deep breaths gave him the courage to open it. This time they heard him<\/em> holler all the way over there in Hangtown.<\/p>\n It was an invitation to her dressing room!<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n When Little Joe Cartwright stepped out of the bat-wing doors of Livingston\u2019s Exchange he was strutting like a prize turkey at Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n And just as doomed.<\/p>\n As he emerged a hand gripped his collar, hauled him to one side, and a deep and unfortunately very<\/em> familiar voice boomed, \u201cSo tell me, Mr. Francis<\/em>, did you enjoy the show?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe winced.\u00a0 Then he gulped.\u00a0 Then he managed to stutter, \u201cUh, hi, Adam.\u00a0 What are\u2026you\u2026doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n Older brother\u2019s lips pursed as one ink-slash eyebrow leapt toward the brim of his gray felt hat.<\/p>\n \u201cMe?\u201d the teenager squeaked.\u00a0 \u201cYou mean, you were looking for me?\u00a0 I\u2026I just came to see the show?\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019d meant that last to come out forcefully, as the statement of a man who had a right to do as he pleased, but instead it squeaked out like a girl.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s hazel eyes narrowed.\u00a0 \u201cDid<\/em> you now?\u201d<\/p>\n The men who frequented Livingston\u2019s were starting to stare.\u00a0 Some of them even laughed.<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s nostrils flared.\u00a0 What did Adam think he was doing?!\u00a0 Pa always told them a Cartwright had to have dignity and older brother sure \u00a0wasn\u2019t helping his<\/em> any!!<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, I did!\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t a feller have a right to do a thing he wants now and then?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re only fifteen<\/em>, Joe,\u201d Adam snarled, his voice pitched low.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t have a right to breathe <\/em>unless Pa tells you to!\u201d<\/p>\n He pulled himself up.\u00a0 \u201cWell, as a matter of fact Pa told me to\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t<\/em> try it!\u201d older brother warned.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you even try<\/em> to tell me that Pa knows you\u2019re here.\u00a0 Adding another sin to the long list you\u2019ve already accumulated isn\u2019t going to help you any!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat<\/em> long list?\u00a0 Seein\u2019 a show ain\u2019t a sin!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh?\u201d \u00a0Adam nodded toward it.\u00a0 \u201cI believe the sign over there clearly states that no one under seventeen<\/em> is allowed to enter Livingston\u2019s saloon.\u201d<\/p>\n He had to admit, he had him there.<\/p>\n \u201cSince you seem a bit confused about your transgressions of late, younger<\/em> brother, permit me to spell them out for you.\u00a0 Sin number one<\/em> would be telling Pa you were going one place and going another instead. \u00a0Sin number two<\/em> would be lying to cover up sin number one.\u00a0 Number three<\/em> would be coming to Genoa without permission.\u00a0 Four<\/em>, being underage and entering a saloon.\u201d\u00a0 Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cAnd five<\/em> would be your despicable grammar\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBad grammar ain\u2019t\u2026isn\u2019t a sin!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is in my<\/em> book.\u00a0 And six<\/em>\u2026.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Adam leaned in and sniffed.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t had anything to drink!\u00a0 I swear!\u201d<\/p>\n His brother wrinkled his nose.\u00a0 \u201cBe sure to tell that to Cerberus when you reach the gates of Hades and perhaps he\u2019ll use only one head to eat you.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe was indignant.\u00a0 Both at his overly educated older brother and the fact that he actually knew<\/em> what the Yankee blockhead was talking about!<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to Hell for sitting in a saloon and watching a lady sing!\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s gaze took in the ring of slightly intoxicated men surrounding them.\u00a0 Several were quite amused, including one dressed in black who could have been his brother\u2019s twin and a short, almost fat redhead with a bulbous nose.\u00a0 Adam smiled politely at the onlookers and gave them a nod, and then took hold of his coat and pulled him into the lane that ran between the hotel and the stable.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, Joe.\u00a0 I get it.\u00a0 You\u2019re fifteen and fearless and you think you can handle anything.\u00a0 The truth is you can\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 Adam held up a hand as he bristled.\u00a0 \u201cThe truth is, I couldn\u2019t either at your age and I had a lot more\u00a0 life experience than you do.\u00a0 This is the West \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor gosh sakes, Adam, I know it\u2019s the West!<\/em>\u00a0 I\u2019ve lived here my whole life!\u201d<\/p>\n His brother\u2019s jaw tightened and his eyes grew fierce.\u00a0 \u201cAnd do you know what that means?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure I do!\u00a0 It can be dangerous. \u00a0But if you\u2019re gonna tell me that everyone out here is an outlaw or a murderer\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, Joe, I\u2019m not going to tell you that.\u00a0 What I am<\/em> going to tell you is that some men \u2013 maybe a lot<\/em> of men \u2013 who come West do it to escape something and that makes them dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe thrust his chin out in defiance.\u00a0 \u201cSo what was Pa escaping?\u00a0 Tell me that?!\u201d<\/p>\n Maybe he\u2019d gone too far.\u00a0 The muscle beneath Adam\u2019s eye twitched and that was never<\/em> a good sign.<\/p>\n Older brother sucked in a breath and held it a moment, obviously fighting to control his temper.\u00a0 \u201cGrief.\u00a0 Despair.\u00a0 Maybe himself,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cPa\u2019s strong.\u00a0 He has his faith and it\u2019s kept him going through a lot of trials.\u00a0 There are other men who break.\u00a0 Desperate men.\u00a0 Men who will do just about anything to survive.\u201d\u00a0 Adam\u2019s gaze shot to the street.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s followed.\u00a0 The red-headed man with the fat nose had stopped to stare at them.\u00a0 Adam glared back before pulling him farther into the darkness.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, you have no<\/em> idea what happens in these cities.\u00a0 They\u2019re dangerous places for a boy like you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not a boy!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u00a0 You are!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe was breathing fire, but he knew better than to press it.\u00a0 Besides, he desperately needed to stay on his brother\u2019s good side.<\/p>\n Adam saw his look.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t even ask.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAh, come on, Adam.\u00a0 Nothing happened.\u00a0 Do you have to\u2026.?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTell Pa where I found you?\u201d\u00a0 His brother pinned him with a stare.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you<\/em> think I should do?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe put on his most winning smile.\u00a0 \u201cLet it go because you\u2019re my brother and you love me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause\u2026I\u2026love\u2026you.\u201d\u00a0 Adam shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cIf I really loved you, Joe, I would spell the whole thing out to Pa in letters a mile high so you wouldn\u2019t try it again.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut I won\u2019t, Adam!\u00a0 I promise, I won\u2019t!\u00a0 Please, please<\/em> don\u2019t tell Pa!\u201d\u00a0 Joe stopped.\u00a0 He dropped his head and finished, meaning it, \u201cHe\u2019ll be so disappointed in me.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s lips twisted.\u00a0 \u201cIs that a glimmer of conscience I note?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I just\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Joe glanced at his hand.\u00a0 Clutched tightly in it was the note from the Painted Lady. \u201cShe\u2019s just so beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe?\u00a0 Oh?\u00a0 The singer, you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded.\u00a0 \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my fault, you know.\u00a0 I never would have gone into the Exchange unless Angus took me.\u00a0 You know they never would have let me in!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWould that be because you are a child?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Joe swallowed his pride. \u00a0\u201cI guess so.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that the first time I saw her\u2026.\u00a0 Well, I just haven\u2019t been able to think about anything else since \u2013\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cWhoa.\u00a0 Wait a minute.\u201d\u00a0 Adam blinked.\u00a0 \u201cAngus did what?!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe winced.\u00a0 \u201cPromise you won\u2019t tell Pa\u2026that\u2026either?\u201d<\/p>\n His brother\u2019s stern look told him that was exactly<\/em> what he was going to do.\u00a0 \u201cSorry.\u00a0 You\u2019ve used up all your \u2018promises\u2019 for one day, little brother.\u00a0 Now, I need you to tell me one more thing before I let you go to your horse, wherever you have it hidden, and ride home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne more thing?\u201d he gulped.<\/p>\n His brother held out his hand.\u00a0 \u201cGive it here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt?\u201d Joe squeaked.<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever it is you\u2019re holding.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh.\u00a0 This?\u201d\u00a0 He crushed the note in his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cThis is\u2026nothing.\u00a0 Just a bill from the show.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen you\u2019ll have no trouble handing it over, now will you?\u201d\u00a0 Adam wiggled his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cGive it here.\u201d<\/p>\n He took a step back.\u00a0 \u201cBut it\u2019s mine!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, it is.\u00a0 It\u2019s also your choice as to whether I let this whole thing ride, or I tell Pa exactly where<\/em> I found his fifteen-year-old son and exactly what <\/em>he was up to when I found him.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe gave in with a sigh.<\/p>\n Adam took the note, wrinkled his nose at its condition, and then opened it and read the contents.\u00a0 As he did, his black brows shot up.<\/p>\n \u201cIs this what I think it is?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 It\u2019s a note from the Painted Lady.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrom the Painted Lady?\u00a0 For you?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSure, for me.\u201d\u00a0 Joe stood up as tall as he could.\u00a0 \u201cWhy not<\/em> for me?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam read it again, thought for a moment, and then said, \u201cGo on. \u00a0Get on home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d he asked defiantly.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you gonna do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I am \u2018gonna\u2019 do is take my belt off and tan your backside if you don\u2019t get going!\u201d his brother growled. \u201cDo you understand me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 I\u2019m going.\u201d\u00a0 Joe raised his hands in surrender as he began to walk away.\u00a0 He\u2019d only taken a couple of steps when he turned back.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWill you\u2026.\u00a0 I mean, can you tell the Painted Lady I\u2019m sorry I couldn\u2019t make it and I \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s hand shot out.\u00a0 \u201cGO!\u201d<\/p>\n Sensing he\u2019d pressed his luck just about as far as it would go, Joe turned tail and took off running.\u00a0 As his brother\u2019s angry face receded, he slowed to a more respectable pace and began to whistle as he made his way down the main street of town toward the alley beside the mercantile.\u00a0 He even got a few \u201cGood afternoon, Mr. Francis-es\u201d along the way.\u00a0 Joe was headed for the alley because that\u2019s where he\u2019d left Cochise.\u00a0 She was a pretty noticeable horse and he\u2019d thought it best to make sure no one would spot the mare.\u00a0 The sun was sinking, so by the time he reached the passageway, it was a sea of shadows.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t bother him none.\u00a0 He just plunged right in and began to \u2018swim\u2019.\u00a0 He was about twenty steps in when he heard a noise \u2013 and then someone cried out.\u00a0 The shadows shifted and there was a spark of light near the end \u2013 kind of like what you\u2019d see if an armed warrior was laying in wait and the sun struck the barrel of his rifle.<\/p>\n Every instinct that was in him told Joe to high tail it out of there and find the sheriff.<\/p>\n Every instinct that was, that wasn\u2019t pure Cartwright.<\/p>\n A second cry determined the teenager\u2019s course and he took off at full tilt toward whatever danger awaited.\u00a0 Joe saw a flash of a woman\u2019s face \u2013 pale and terrified \u2013 and caught a glimpse of a large man with dark hair, wearing a gray felt hat.\u00a0 There was another glint of sunlight on metal, closer this time.<\/p>\n Too close.<\/p>\n Joe pivoted on his heel and looked up just as something hard came down on his head.<\/p>\n And then there was nothing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Two<\/strong><\/p>\n Adam shook his head.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know whether to laugh or cry.\u00a0 The Bible said the sins of the father were visited upon the son.<\/p>\n It said nothing about the sins of the mother.<\/p>\n His stepmother had been a beautiful and brilliant light in their lives for a few short years.\u00a0 Marie loved to laugh.\u00a0 He could hear that laugh still at times \u2013 unique as it was \u2013 ringing from the rafters of the Ponderosa house.\u00a0 Marie loved to sing and dance and would do both while accomplishing the most menial tasks.\u00a0 One of his fondest memories was of his stepmother, Hop Sing, and little Joe all singing Frere Jacques at the same time \u2013 in three different languages \u2013 while straightening the kitchen.\u00a0 Sadly, Marie had a dark side as well.\u00a0 She kept it hidden from the younger boys, but he was older and only too aware.\u00a0 The beautiful woman was often sad and could grow melancholy.\u00a0 When threatened, her\u00a0 defenses went up and her common sense went out the door.\u00a0 Marie often said things she regretted later and, while quick to apologize, was just as quick to deflect.\u00a0 Most dangerous of all, she kept secrets.<\/p>\n So did her son.<\/p>\n Marie\u2019s sudden death left them all scarred.\u00a0 There was no way around it.\u00a0 Their father took over a year to come to terms with her loss, and during that time he was often more absent than present.\u00a0 Sometime during that same year little brother learned a dangerous lesson.\u00a0 If the five-year-old acted out \u2013 if he went missing or got into some kind of a scrape \u2013 that<\/em> made Pa take notice.\u00a0 Who could blame the kid?\u00a0 Little Joe needed his father\u2019s attention and was going to get it anyway he could.<\/p>\n Joe was still<\/em> trying to get it anyway he could.<\/p>\n Or, at least, that was what the rancher\u2019s eldest son thought.\u00a0 It made sense.\u00a0 After all, Joe was basically a good kid \u2013 a little spoiled, maybe a little lazy \u2013 but he was the baby and that was to be expected.\u00a0 But this? \u00a0Stealing off to another town for an evening tryst with a painted lady over twice his age?<\/p>\n Adam glanced at the crumpled note in his hand and sighed.\u00a0 He opened it and read the words again, searching for some other motive than a deliberate attempt to rob a young boy of his innocence.<\/p>\n \u201cTo Mr. Francis, an ardent admirer, an invitation.\u00a0 The Painted Lady would be most pleased if you would come to her dressing room at the end of tonight\u2019s performance in order to receive a token of her affection, in gratitude for your continued support.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Adam ran a hand over his chin.\u00a0 \u2018Continued.\u2019\u00a0 Just how long had<\/em> the kid been at this?<\/p>\n He\u2019d known before about Angus Macready and the Scot\u2019s \u2018sudden\u2019 trips to Genoa.\u00a0 He\u2019d chosen to pretend he didn\u2019t since he had no proof the man was drinking and Angus always delivered at the end of the day. \u00a0Little Joe had gone with Macready once or twice and nothing untoward had happened.<\/p>\n Or, at least, nothing he knew about!<\/p>\n He\u2019d thought this latest trip more of the same.\u00a0 Angus whetting his whistle \u2013 and, perhaps, satisfying other appetites \u2013 while Little Joe slept in the back of the wagon after a hard day\u2019s work.\u00a0 Then<\/em> he ran into Mitch Devlin\u2019s father in the settlement and found out they hadn\u2019t seen Joe at their place in nearly two weeks. That led him to the Pruitts.\u00a0 Supposedly Joe had been fishing with Seth one night, but that turned out to be another lie.<\/p>\n Adam halted outside of Livingston\u2019s Exchange and stared at the poster in front of it.\u00a0 In large letters it proclaimed that \u2018The Painted Lady & Company\u2019 would be appearing for two weeks, starting a week ago Saturday.\u00a0 That matched up pretty well with Joe\u2019s wayward wanderings.\u00a0 The black-haired man couldn\u2019t help but stare at the somewhat provocative rendering of the star attraction that adorned the poster.\u00a0 Her stage name was Calliope Abbadon.\u00a0 According to the town gossips she\u2019d once been a woman of some repute and a legitimate opera singer, before mysterious circumstances caused her to fall from grace.\u00a0 Pa received several Eastern newspapers.\u00a0 Calliope\u2019s name had been in them.\u00a0 There were hints of an affair with an older man \u2013 a patron \u2013 that had gone wrong, as well as rumors of an addiction to opium.\u00a0 No one knew if they were true.\u00a0 Still, the rumors explained why a talented singer who had toured the continent to great success was now making the circuit of Western theatres and high-class saloons like the one he had just stepped into.<\/p>\n Adam nodded a greeting to the big-armed bouncer and inquired of him where \u2018Mr. Francis\u2019 commonly sat, and then took the same seat near the front.\u00a0 There were several acts before the Painted Lady made her appearance, including the current one that consisted of two young women in ruffled skirts with four performing dogs.\u00a0 He watched for a while and then got up, ostensibly to get a drink, but really to get a better view.\u00a0 With his gray felt hat pitched low over his eyes, the eldest son of Benjamin Cartwright leaned on the bar and surveyed the crowd. \u00a0It was made up of miners for the most part, though there were a few cowboys sprinkled here and there, including a one or two who had worked for them once upon a time.\u00a0 At a table to the right of the stage there was a business contingent \u2013 five fat and overly-jolly men who had, no doubt, told their wives they had a late \u2018board meeting\u2019 to attend.\u00a0 The \u2018suit\u2019 that intrigued him the most wasn\u2019t among them.\u00a0 He stood by himself to the side of the stage. \u00a0He was a fairly tall man, rail-thin, with an over-size mustache and a small face that hid behind it.\u00a0 Beneath a tilted bowler hat, the man\u2019s narrowed eyes searched the Livingston\u2019s audience constantly as if looking for something.\u00a0 More than once they settled on the chair he had vacated.<\/p>\n Trouble?\u00a0 Maybe.<\/p>\n Or maybe one missing teenager.<\/p>\n Adam shivered.\u00a0 He felt a sudden impulse to run out into the street, jump on his horse, and make certain his little brother was on the road home.<\/p>\n He shook that off.\u00a0 He was being ridiculous.\u00a0 Most likely the man worked for Livingston\u2019s, or maybe for Miss Abbadon.<\/p>\n Yeah, that was it.<\/p>\n Adam pushed off the bar and returned to his seat as the act with the dogs exited the stage.\u00a0 Two more relatively repugnant entertainments followed before it was time for the main act.\u00a0 When the curtain parted and Calliope Abbadon took the stage, the room erupted into catcalls and whistles.<\/p>\n The lurid poster outside had not exaggerated.<\/p>\n The singer was one of the most stunning creatures he had ever seen, with her ebon hair and ivory skin.\u00a0 She was rather tall; her form slender but full \u2013 in other words, round in all the right places.\u00a0 Her waist was tightly corseted, forcing her ample breasts up and nearly out<\/em> of their fabric cage.\u00a0 Cupped as they were in a nest of brown lace, each resembled a sweet apple dumpling on display in the baker\u2019s window.\u00a0 Miss Abbadon\u2019s costume was a unique blend of orange, black, brown and white, patterned after the markings of the common butterfly \u2018vanessa cardui<\/em> \u2018.\u00a0 Parts of it flowed from her shoulders like wings, while other parts hugged her supple form.\u00a0 She remained still until the noise died down and then lifted one long leg onto a stool and began to sing in a beautiful, full-bodied coloratura soprano.<\/p>\n Just about the most ribald song he knew.<\/p>\n Adam ran a hand over his chin and blew out a short breath.\u00a0 Oh well, Little Joe lived on a ranch, after all.\u00a0 The boy knew about the birds and bees. \u00a0The black-haired man sank back in his chair and winced as the note he\u2019d taken from his kid brother and tucked in his pants\u2019 pocket crinkled.<\/p>\n Hopefully just not too<\/em> much about them.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s gaze returned to the stage and to the painted lady in question.\u00a0 Nah\u2026.\u00a0 Calliope Abbadon was at least his age \u2013 maybe a bit older.\u00a0 Though his brother would vehemently deny it, Joe was still a boy.\u00a0 Perhaps the singer\u2019s thought was to be kind to a love-struck teenager and to give him a moment to remember.\u00a0 A kiss, maybe?\u00a0 The rancher\u2019s son straightened in his chair as his gaze returned to the thin man with the moustache who was staring straight at him.<\/p>\n Maybe a kiss with strings attached.<\/p>\n The mustached man gave him a nod before responding to someone behind the curtain and moving away.\u00a0 Adam decided he had best do the same.\u00a0 \u00a0Just as he rose to his feet it came, halting him in his tracks; one of the most beautiful and mournful sounds he had ever heard.\u00a0 Calliope had stopped singing a short time before and been talking. \u00a0He\u2019d heard her words but been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he\u2019d paid little attention to their content.\u00a0 Now, he realized it had been an apology aimed at the drunken buffoons in attendance \u2013 an apology for bringing a bit of culture into their dreary lives.<\/p>\n An apology from an angel.<\/p>\n Adam fell back into his chair, stunned, as his little brother\u2019s Painted Lady transformed into Lucia di Lammermoor<\/em>.\u00a0 He\u2019d heard the aria sung before, of course, more than once.\u00a0 \u00a0He\u2019d even seen the entire piece performed on a business trip he took to San Francisco.\u00a0 But never had he heard it like this.\u00a0 It was as if Calliope Abbadon became<\/em> the doomed woman.\u00a0 Her rendition of the song was so true, so perfectly phrased, as to be exquisitely painful.\u00a0 The rancher\u2019s son sat mesmerized as the beautiful woman stepped off the stage and began to move through the crowd.\u00a0 He noted with anger the carnal looks of the miners and ranch hands as she passed and watched as they touched her body in ways that suggested what they were thinking.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t they understand?\u00a0 This went far beyond mere fleshy appetites.<\/p>\n This was art!<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n True to the role of an earthly goddess, nothing seemed to phase Calliope Abbadon.\u00a0 She continued the aria unbroken, her rich voice rising in pitch as Lucia\u2019s madness took hold.\u00a0 She wandered for a moment more and\u00a0 then, just as the crescendo of the piece was reached, took her knife and pointed it directly at him.\u00a0 There were a few catcalls, but then the room fell silent as the exquisite creature crossed it and placed the tip of the blade under his chin.<\/p>\n Adam held his breath as she finished her song, and then lost it as she bent down and planted a kiss on his lips.\u00a0 When she stood up, she held the knife aloft and called out, \u201cWhat say you?\u00a0 A round of applause for tonight\u2019s chosen victim!\u201d<\/p>\n Calliope smiled as the miners and cowboys burst into raucous shouts and ballyhoos, and then turned back to meet his gaze.\u00a0 Her skin was white, her lips red, her expansive eyes violet as the sky at twilight.\u00a0 She touched his cheek and turned to go but faltered and almost stumbled at the first step.\u00a0 He was on his feet in an instant, and yet the tall mustached man was somehow there before him, propping her elbow with his hand.<\/p>\n \u201cLadies and gentlemen, that concludes the show for tonight,\u201d he said, his accent English and thick.\u00a0 \u201cMiss Abbadon is fatigued.\u00a0 Please accept our invitation to attend a further performance at half-price \u2013 and see yourselves out the door.\u201d<\/p>\n Calliope leaned over to the mustached man and whispered something in his ear.\u00a0 When he nodded, she smiled again, and then moved to the stage under her own power and vanished behind the curtain.<\/p>\n Adam remained as a rock in the middle of a stream, unmoving as the men in the room flowed around and about him, and out the batwing doors.\u00a0 There was a mystery here; one that needed solving \u2013 one that somehow, unwittingly, his little brother had become a part of.<\/p>\n His little brother\u2026.<\/p>\n Joe!<\/p>\n Terror and guilt struck him like shot as he realized what he had done.\u00a0 He\u2019d become so intrigued by Calliope that he\u2019d left Little Joe to his own devices \u2013 which was never a good thing.\u00a0 He should have seen <\/em>the kid out of town.\u00a0 Adam drew a breath, let it out, and shook himself.\u00a0 It was okay.\u00a0 If Joe was still in town, he would have been here<\/em> \u2013 watching and lusting after his unobtainable Painted Lady.<\/p>\n \u201cExcuse me.\u00a0 Sir?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam started.\u00a0 The mustached man had come up beside him without him being aware.<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA note from Miss Abbadon.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam stared at the tinted stationary. \u00a0There was no name on it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Why\u2019 what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy is she sending me<\/em> a note?\u201d<\/p>\n The Englishman\u2019s face was neutral.\u00a0 \u201cPerhaps if \u2018sir\u2019 were to open Miss Abbadon\u2019s invitation?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam took the note and turned it over in his hands before unfolding it and reading its contents…which were eerily similar to the one in his pocket that he\u2019d taken from his kid brother.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s invited me backstage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIndeed?\u00a0 Sir must be a most special man.\u00a0 It is not often the Painted Lady extends such an invitation.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018No?<\/em>\u2019, he thought sourly.\u00a0 \u2018Just two times in two days to two Cartwrights<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cOh?\u00a0 Really?<\/p>\n \u201cMiss Abbadon is very private.\u00a0 Performances consume her.\u201d\u00a0 The man looked him up and down.\u00a0 \u201cPerhaps she noted that sir appears to be\u2026of a higher cut than the common riff-raff who usually attend.\u201d<\/p>\n The man\u2019s voice was cultured. \u00a0His words carefully chosen.<\/p>\n \u201dShall I go now<\/em> then?\u201d he asked, indicating the curtain through which Calliope had disappeared.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, no, sir.\u00a0 Madame must first take her rest.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded.\u00a0 Good. \u00a0That would give him time to make certain Little Joe had left town.\u00a0 \u201cWhere then?\u00a0 And when?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a door on the right side of the hotel, across from the stable.\u00a0 Be there at,\u201d the man\u2019s enigmatic eyes flicked to the clock on the wall near the bar, \u201cprecisely 7 o\u2019clock.\u201d<\/p>\n That gave him about an hour and a half.\u00a0 As the strange man moved away, the rancher\u2019s son glanced again at the note in his hand and then drew the one from his pocket belonging to his baby brother and held both in front of him.\u00a0 Each was of a similar make and signed in a feminine hand, \u2018The Painted Lady.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPainted lady,\u201d Adam mused as he placed the papers in his jacket pocket and headed for the door.\u00a0 Calliope Abbadon might well look like a butterfly and sing like an angel, but he had a funny feeling about her.<\/p>\n Sort of like the one the fly had when the spider invited him into its web.<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n Adam searched Genoa from one end to the other but found no Little Joe.\u00a0 A man he asked admitted to seeing a young lad of Joe\u2019s description heading in the direction of the mercantile late afternoon but had no recollection of whether or not he\u2019d seen him ride out of town.\u00a0 The woman who ran the store didn\u2019t recognize Joe, but the moon-eyed look her daughter gave him told him that, yes, baby brother had been that way.\u00a0 He went to the feed store next door but had no luck, and then checked at the sheriff\u2019s office \u2013 just in case.<\/p>\n Still no Joe.<\/p>\n Satisfied that the kid had \u2013 for once \u2013 done what he was told, Adam stopped in the barber shop for a quick shave and shine, and then headed back to Livingston\u2019s.<\/p>\n Only to be left standing.<\/p>\n He stood in the lane, waiting for the return of a young man with a hangdog look named Charlie.\u00a0 Charlie appeared when he knocked, asked who he was and what he wanted, grunted something unintelligible, and then slammed the door in his face and disappeared.\u00a0 He\u2019d considered knocking again but doubted it would elicit any better response and so he waited.<\/p>\n And waited.<\/p>\n When the clock on the bell tower struck quarter til\u2019, Adam decided no one was going to show.\u00a0 Disappointed, he turned to leave just as the door opened to reveal not Charlie, but the mustached man, whom he had since learned was a mesmerist by the name of Nether Blackfold.\u00a0 The mystic tipped his bowler hat before brushing by him and vanishing into the dark.\u00a0 Even that brief encounter unnerved him.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that there was something sinister about the man, though he knew the thought was patently unfair.\u00a0 Still, a hard life and early experiences had taught him to be a keen judge of character, and everything that was in him told him this was a bad egg.<\/p>\n In some way.<\/p>\n A moment later the sullen boy reappeared.\u00a0 Charlie said nothing but lifted a hand and indicated he should follow.<\/p>\n So he did.<\/p>\n \u201cPlease come in, Mister Cartwright,\u201d a lush voice said as Charlie opened an inner door and then vanished.<\/p>\n Adam was a bit surprised by the room.\u00a0 It was sparsely furnished and projected a sort of bygone elegance.\u00a0 Apparently Livingston\u2019s reserved the best for their paying<\/em> customers.\u00a0 His little brother\u2019s Painted Lady was seated at a vanity undoing her hair.\u00a0 She\u2019d changed from her costume into a pale cream-colored ruffled gown.\u00a0 From the geegaw that graced the top of the dressing table a line ran across the room to where it was tied off on one of the posts of the bedstead.\u00a0 On it her brown, white, orange and black \u2018wings\u2019 fluttered.<\/p>\n \u201cIt appears you have me at a disadvantage,\u201d Adam said, charmingly.\u00a0 \u201cYou know my name and I have yet to learn yours.\u201d<\/p>\n The singer looked at him over her shoulder.\u00a0 Adam drew a breath.\u00a0 She was magnificent!<\/p>\n \u201cCalliope,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n He smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI meant your real<\/em> name.\u201d<\/p>\n The Painted Lady rose and approached him.\u00a0 Her hair \u2013 a glorious ebon mane, long and thick as a thoroughbred\u2019s tail \u2013 lay spread across the shoulders of her diaphanous gown in a wave.\u00a0 The garment fastened with a tie, though not well, and the translucent fabric did little to conceal what lay beneath.\u00a0 For a heartbeat or three, Adam was overwhelmed by her beauty.\u00a0 Then something else kicked in.\u00a0 Not his sense of preservation, but another sense that was just as instinctual.<\/p>\n That of the older brother.<\/p>\n Would she have greeted fifteen-year-old Little Joe in the same way?<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps I\u2019ll tell you once I know which Cartwright you are,\u201d Calliope said as she moved to a well-worn chaise and took up a seductive pose.\u00a0 The singer laughed at his expression.\u00a0 \u201cOh, don\u2019t look so surprised.\u00a0 Everyone in Genoa knows about you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd about Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe?\u00a0 Oh!\u00a0 Mr. Francis, you mean?\u201d \u00a0She smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI have to admit I noticed him the first day.\u00a0 Such a handsome young man and a cut above the usual riffraff who frequent the establishments of the West.\u00a0 Why, I think he even enjoyed \u2018Lucia\u2019!\u201d<\/p>\n He raised an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cWe are talking about my \u2018Little Joe\u2019, right?\u201d<\/p>\n Calliope crossed her legs and casually tossed the fabric of her robe aside so they were revealed up to the thigh.\u00a0 \u201cHe didn\u2019t look so \u2018little\u2019 to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe\u2019s fifteen,\u201d he said stiffly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the note his brother had handed him, and then crossed the room to stand in front of her.\u00a0 \u201cNormally I\u2019d say the kid was a little old to be passing notes, but in this case\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 He tossed the folded paper onto the chaise.\u00a0 \u201cIn this case, I think maybe he\u2019s a little young<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n She looked at it and then at him.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re the older<\/em> brother, I take it?\u201d<\/p>\n He nodded.<\/p>\n Calliope pouted prettily as she looked him up and down.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cLet\u2019s see\u2026Adam or Hoss.\u00a0 Adam, I think?\u201d When he said nothing, she went on.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t worry, older brother, I wasn\u2019t going to seduce your sweet innocent young sibling, just\u2026.\u201d The singer smiled.\u00a0 \u201cJust give the boy a little something to remember.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s lips pursed as well.\u00a0 \u201cHow about me?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow about you\u2026what?\u201d<\/p>\n He produced the other note and dropped it in her lap.\u00a0 \u201cDid you intend to give me \u2018something to remember\u2019 as well?\u201d<\/p>\n The Painted Lady rose and approached him.\u00a0 Her scent was that of orange blossoms and vanilla with a hint of cinnamon, and maybe even bourbon.\u00a0 There was something on her skin that scintillated in the meager lantern light like dew on morning grass.\u00a0 It was near white as snow; her lips rose red and her hair black as embers.<\/p>\n He chuckled.<\/p>\n Calliope looked puzzled.\u00a0 \u201cYou find me amusing?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot you,\u201d he replied.\u00a0 \u201cI just realized my description of you would also fit Snow White.\u201d<\/p>\n She came close enough to press her scantily clad form into his.\u00a0 \u201cDo you see any apples in this room?\u201d<\/p>\n What Adam saw was a beautiful woman with a hidden agenda.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what it was and whether or not it was dangerous.\u00a0 It might be that she\u2019d sought the Cartwrights out to hurt them \u2013 perhaps to kidnap Little Joe and hold him for ransom, or ruin the kid and his reputation in an attempt to get back at Pa.\u00a0 Such things had happened before.\u00a0 On the other hand, it might be that Calliope was a woman in trouble and she knew she could come to them for help.<\/p>\n Whatever her secret was, the rancher\u2019s son knew one thing for certain as he gripped the singer\u2019s waist tightly and she moaned.<\/p>\n He was going to have a jolly good time figuring it out!<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n A sudden banging on the door brought Adam\u2019s head up.\u00a0 Calliope looked up as well and then scrambled to pull her robe closed before rearranging herself on the chaise.\u00a0 He frowned as he buttoned his shirt and headed for the entry to the room.<\/p>\n No more than fifteen minutes had gone by and things were just getting interesting.<\/p>\n The rancher\u2019s son ran a hand through his hair as he reached for the latch and opened the door.\u00a0\u00a0 Charlie stood outside, sullen as ever.\u00a0 The boy\u2019s dull gaze moved to the center of the room, bypassing him for Calliope.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry to interrupt, Ma\u2019am.\u00a0 I got a note.\u00a0 The man said it was urgent.\u201d<\/p>\n Calliope finished tying her robe and then stood up. \u00a0\u201cBring it here.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy shook his head.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSorry, again, Ma\u2019am.\u00a0 It ain\u2019t for you.\u00a0 It\u2019s for Mister Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMe?\u201d Adam blinked.\u00a0 \u201cBut how?\u00a0 No one knows I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n Charlie regarded him as if he<\/em> was the idiot.\u00a0 \u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n Point taken.<\/p>\n \u201cHand it over then,\u201d he said.\u00a0 When the boy appeared reticent, Adam fished in his pocket and produced a coin, which he dropped into Charlie\u2019s outstretched hand.\u00a0 Content, the unlikely messenger turned and disappeared into the shadows leaving him standing, staring at the envelope he\u2019d been given.\u00a0 It was addressed to \u2018Adam\u2019 only, in an elegant if hasty script.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it?\u201d Calliope asked as she came to him and draped her arms over his shoulders.<\/p>\n Her scent was intoxicating, bringing to mind just where they\u2019d been headed when they were interrupted.\u00a0 Adam blinked, dispelling both his expectation and <\/em>desire, before shaking his head.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I haven\u2019t opened it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you waiting for?\u201d<\/p>\n He continued to stare at the envelope as if, just by looking, he could somehow perceive its contents.\u00a0 In spite of Calliope\u2019s assertion that \u2018everyone\u2019 in Genoa knew who the Cartwrights were, there was only one<\/em> person \u2013 who shouldn\u2019t be in town any longer \u2013 who knew him<\/em> well enough to call him \u2018Adam\u2019.<\/p>\n Calliope sighed.\u00a0 \u201cDo you want me <\/em>to open it?\u201d<\/p>\n He glanced at her. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cNo.\u00a0 Sorry.\u00a0 I\u2019m worried it\u2019s from my little brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought you said you sent him home?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam snorted.\u00a0 \u201cI did, but that doesn\u2019t mean he went.\u201d\u00a0 He took a finger and slid it under the edge of the flap and lifted it, and then pulled out the piece of stationary.\u00a0 It was plain but expensive.\u00a0 His gaze flicked to the top where there was something printed.<\/p>\n Then his heart skipped a beat.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s from Doc Creigh,\u201d the singer said<\/p>\n \u201cYou know him?\u201d<\/p>\n She shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cA bit.\u00a0 He came to see me tonight before you did, because I almost fell.\u00a0 He told me I need to rest.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam read the note.\u00a0 Then he read it again.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to go,\u201d he said as loosened her grip and headed for the chair where he\u2019d left his coat and hat.<\/p>\n She followed in his wake.\u00a0 \u201cSo soon?\u00a0 You and I were just getting to know one another.\u201d<\/p>\n He was shoving his arm into the sleeve.\u00a0 A second later his hat was on his head and he was headed for the door.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d<\/p>\n When he looked back he saw, not a seductive chanteuse, but a frustrated woman.\u00a0 She\u2019d been looking for something from him \u2013 something more than a moment of pleasure.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll come back if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe engagement has been cut short,\u201d she said abruptly.\u00a0 \u201cWe leave tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam pursed his lips.\u00a0 \u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor Sacramento.\u201d<\/p>\n Pa was gonna kill him!<\/p>\n \u201cOur spread, the Ponderosa, lies between here and there.\u00a0 Ask anyone in the area and they\u2019ll know it.\u00a0 Tell Pa I told you it was okay to lay over there for a few days so you can\u2026rest.\u00a0 Once I do\u2026what I need to do\u2026that\u2019s where I\u2019ll head.\u201d<\/p>\n He was out the door and down the hall when he heard Calliope call out to him. \u201cAdam?\u00a0 What is it?\u00a0 What\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n What was wrong?\u00a0 His little brother was lying in the Doctor Creigh\u2019s office with a cracked skull.<\/p>\n And not only that, the fifteen-year-old was accused of murder.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Three<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Doctor Creigh, thank God, was not only a competent physician who had been educated in the East.<\/p>\n He was a father.<\/p>\n The older man looked at him over the edge of his wire-rim glasses and then back down at Little Joe who lay silent and still on his medical pallet.\u00a0 Adam didn\u2019t know why it shocked him so to see the kid there.\u00a0 Little Joe never <\/em>did what he was told.\u00a0 Worse than that, if there was trouble to be found, his youngest brother would find it!\u00a0 Perhaps it was the fact that Joe was <\/em>silent and still.\u00a0 If there was a definition of \u2018commotion\u2019, it was Little Joe Cartwright.\u00a0 Or maybe it was the fact that the right-hand side of the kid\u2019s head was covered in blood \u2013 over, on, and beneath the linen bandage that ringed it.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s jaw grew tight with rage.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 None of that was it.\u00a0 What shocked him was the fact that something this brutal had happened to a child.<\/p>\n A fifteen-year-old child.<\/em><\/p>\n Teeth gritted, he demanded, \u201cDo you know who did this?\u201d<\/p>\n The doctor shifted his gaze to the open door that led into his office.\u00a0 Outside of it a stood a man with soldier-straight posture.\u00a0 A guard.<\/p>\n A sheriff\u2019s deputy.<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 It seems your brother\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 He paused.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam recognized what the doctor was trying to do.\u00a0 Give his wounded brother some dignity by naming him.\u00a0 \u201cJust Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems Joe was found near the back of the alley beside the mercantile.\u201d<\/p>\n How long ago, he wondered?\u00a0 Had Joe been there with his head bashed in and lying in a pool of his own blood when he went in to talk to the merchant\u2019s wife?\u00a0 Or had someone moved him there later?<\/p>\n Adam reached out to touch his brother\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cIn this condition?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cActually, I\u2019ve cleaned him up a bit,\u201d the doctor said softly.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s the head wound that worries me.\u00a0 So far I\u2019ve not been able to staunch the bleeding.\u201d<\/p>\n His stomach sickened.\u00a0 His words, when they came out, were robbed of strength.\u00a0 \u201cSomeone must have hit him hard.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, and not with a fist.\u201d\u00a0 The doctor held his gaze.\u00a0 \u201cYour brother was struck full-on with a blunt object.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGood God!\u201d Adam sucked in air.\u00a0 \u201cBut, why?\u00a0 He\u2019s a boy!\u201d<\/p>\n The doctor patted Joe\u2019s hand and smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI imagine it\u2019s a good thing Joe didn\u2019t hear that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow would you know?\u201d he asked with suspicion.<\/p>\n \u201cYour brother has been seen in town with some regularity of late.\u00a0 I believe he told the man at the Exchange that he was seventeen?\u201d\u00a0 The older man smiled.\u00a0 \u201cIt seems that \u2018Mr. Francis\u2019, has many acquaintances among Livingston\u2019s patrons.\u00a0 I hear he\u2019s quite popular among the painted ladies too!\u201d<\/p>\n Good God!\u00a0 How was he going to tell Pa?<\/p>\n What<\/em> was he going to tell Pa?<\/p>\n Adam stared at his brother, guilt and grief warring within him.\u00a0 \u201cTell me straight, Doc.\u00a0 Is Joe going to be all right?\u201d<\/p>\n Doctor Creigh knew better.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t be certain until he comes around.\u00a0 That was quite a knock on the head young Joe took.\u00a0 Enough to scramble his brains for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that an official<\/em> diagnosis?\u201d he snapped.<\/p>\n The doctor\u2019s smile was understanding.\u00a0 \u201cI imagine your brother has a thick skull as do most boys his age.\u00a0 My own son included.\u00a0 The trouble comes with just \u2018where\u2019 the blow is struck.\u201d\u00a0 The older man tapped the front of his head.\u00a0 \u201cHere, not so bad.\u201d\u00a0 His fingers moved to the back of his skull.\u00a0 \u201cHere.\u00a0 Not so good.\u201d\u00a0 The older man sighed.\u00a0 \u201cIt is my professional opinion that whoever struck your brother meant to kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam shook as he turned and pointed to the silent figure outside the door.\u00a0 \u201cThen why the deputy?\u00a0 And why is Joe accused of\u2026murder\u2026if someone tried to murder<\/em> him?\u201d<\/p>\n The doctor had begun to remove the soiled bandage on Joe\u2019s head.\u00a0 \u201cAs I understand it, the charge has to do with how he was found.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd how was that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith an empty gun in his hand and a dead body at his side,\u201d a new voice answered.<\/p>\n The rancher\u2019s son spun toward the door.\u00a0 The man framed in it wore a badge. \u00a0He was a typical Western sheriff, toughened as much by what he had seen and experienced as by the days and night he\u2019d spent roaming the mountains and deserts in search of outlaws.\u00a0 He was about their father\u2019s age and had grizzled hair \u2013 curly like Joe\u2019s but cut tight to his head; once black, now peppered gray and white. \u00a0His face was as tanned as his cowhide vest.\u00a0 He had the look of a man who brooked no nonsense, and yet, when he saw Joe lying on the doctor\u2019s pallet, small and still; pallid, with the first bloom of fever reddening his cheeks, it was like butter under the sun.<\/p>\n The man melted.<\/p>\n Thank God.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d Adam said upon his approach.\u00a0 \u201cJoe wouldn\u2019t kill anyone.\u00a0 And as far as a sidearm, he\u2019s only fifteen.\u00a0 He hasn\u2019t even handled one yet!\u201d<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s eyes narrowed.\u00a0 \u201cHe handled any \u2018women\u2019 yet?\u201d<\/p>\n He was incensed by what the lawman insinuated.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 I mean, he might have kissed a girl or two in the cloak room at church.\u201d<\/p>\n The sheriff\u2019s gaze returned to Joe.\u00a0 \u201cMr. Francis<\/em> here\u2019s become a regular at Livingston\u2019s.\u00a0 Seems most of the fancy girls know him by name.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe\u2019s a natural charmer,\u201d he countered.\u00a0 \u201cHe makes friends like the rest of us drink water.\u00a0 Women love him.\u201d\u00a0 Adam cleared his throat and tried that again.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, they think he\u2019s cute<\/em>.\u00a0 They like to ruffle his curls and pinch his cheek.\u201d<\/p>\n The sheriff raised an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cYou sure that\u2019s \u2018all\u2019 they like to pinch?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam adjusted his stance, prepared to do battle.\u00a0 \u201cLook. \u00a0Let\u2019s get this over with.\u00a0 I want you to tell me exactly what it is Little Joe is accused of.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawman looked him up and down.\u00a0 \u201cYou his father?\u00a0 You seem kind of young.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m his older brother, but I\u2019m all you have.\u00a0 Our father is back at the Ponderosa.\u201d<\/p>\n The man\u2019s grizzled brows lifted.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a Cartwright?\u201d\u00a0 He looked to Joe and back. \u00a0\u201cBoth<\/em> of you are Cartwrights?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes!\u00a0 What\u2019s that got to do with anything?\u201d\u00a0 Realizing how exasperated he sounded, Adam apologized. \u00a0\u201cLook.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired and my brother is hurt\u2026. \u201c<\/p>\n \u201cJohn?\u201d\u00a0 The lawman waited for the doctor who had been sitting by, quietly working, to look up.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know about these young\u2019uns I got workin\u2019 for me now.\u00a0 Looks like I might have to skin a deputy or two who forgot to give me that little detail.\u00a0 You be sure to cut some extra bandages, okay?\u201d\u00a0 The older man\u2019s demeanor completely changed as he turned back.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, son.\u00a0 Let me explain.\u00a0 What it\u2019s got to do with, is that I\u2019m more likely to believe you knowin\u2019 who your Pa is.\u00a0 Now, maybe that ain\u2019t right \u2013 maybe it ain\u2019t even legal \u2013 but it\u2019s true.\u00a0 I\u2019m no stranger to where you come from.\u00a0 Fact is, I got me a sister lives in the settlement.\u00a0 Your Pa, he helped her out a few years back when her husband and son died of fever and she was left alone with five young girls.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam thought a moment.\u00a0 \u201cMrs. Baxter?\u201d<\/p>\n The sheriff nodded.\u00a0 \u201cNow, that don\u2019t mean I can play favorites, but it does put a different spin on things.\u00a0 If you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n He felt hope rise within him for the first time.\u00a0 \u201cSuch as?\u201d<\/p>\n The older man went to Joe\u2019s side where he exchanged a look with the doctor who had begun to wrap a fresh bandage around his brother\u2019s head.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s the boy doin\u2019?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n John Creigh scowled.\u00a0 \u201cThe man who hit him certainly didn\u2019t do him any good.\u00a0 I won\u2019t know the extent of the damage until Joe wakes up.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam heard the unspoken phrase that followed \u2013 \u2018if <\/em>he wakes up.\u2019<\/p>\n The sheriff turned back to him.\u00a0 \u201cYou asked me what knowin\u2019 who you are tells me.\u00a0 It\u2019s this.\u00a0 I know Ben Cartwright\u2019s sons ain\u2019t the kind to associate with the wrong kind of women and more than that, I know they ain\u2019t the kind of men who would take advantage of a woman, let alone kill one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA woman?\u201d\u00a0 Adam was startled.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a woman<\/em> who\u2019s dead?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the girls from the Exchange,\u201d the doctor answered.\u00a0 \u201cA pretty young thing named Cassandra Middleton.\u00a0 Not too much older than your brother here.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam felt a hand on his arm.\u00a0 \u201cSon, you look a little pale,\u201d the sheriff said as he guided him over to a chair.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe you better sit down.\u201d<\/p>\n He swallowed hard as he did.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, Sheriff\u2026\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t get your name?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn account of I didn\u2019t give it to you yet.\u201d\u00a0 The older man held his hand out.\u00a0 \u201cWells.\u00a0 James T. Wells, but most around here just call me Sheriff Jim.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s gaze returned to his brother.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t believe it!\u00a0 \u201cSo, Little Joe is\u2026accused of murdering a painted lady?\u201d<\/p>\n Sheriff Jim said nothing.\u00a0 In fact, he said nothing for so long Adam began to get nervous.\u00a0 Finally the lawman stirred.\u00a0 He looked at Doctor Creigh, who nodded, before walking over to the door and\u00a0 addressing the deputy outside.<\/p>\n \u201cPete, take a walk.\u00a0 About twenty minutes long.\u201d<\/p>\n The young man beamed.\u00a0 \u201cMind if I whet my whistle while I walk?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo long as it\u2019s sarsaparilla, not at all.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 As Pete left the office, the sheriff turned back to him.\u00a0 \u201cAdam Cartwright, right?<\/p>\n He nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard you\u2019re a tight-lipped feller.\u00a0 That true?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam laughed out loud.\u00a0 \u201cSorry,\u201d he said.\u00a0 \u201cI guess I\u2019m a bit overwrought.\u00a0 Ask my family.\u00a0 No one better.\u201d<\/p>\n Sheriff Jim pulled up a chair and sat down.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t for one minute think your little brother there killed poor Cassie.\u201d<\/p>\n His relief was palpable.<\/p>\n \u201cBut other\u2019s do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u201d\u00a0 He drew a calming breath.\u00a0 \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBecause your brother was found beside her dead body holding an empty gun.\u201d\u00a0 At his look, the older man continued.\u00a0 \u201cJeb Pierce went to take a leak in the alley by the mercantile.\u00a0 He spied somethin\u2019 white near the back.\u00a0 Turned out it was poor Cassie\u2019s tail feathers\u2026sorry\u2026her unmentionables.\u00a0 She\u2019d been shot.\u201d<\/p>\n His heart sank.\u00a0 What had the kid got himself into?<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Joe was holding the murder weapon?\u201d<\/p>\n Sheriff Jim gave him a look worthy of Roy Coffee . \u00a0\u201cNow, son, I didn\u2019t say that.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam thought back over their conversation.\u00a0 \u201cYou said Joe was holding a gun.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut\u2026not <\/em>the murder weapon?\u201d<\/p>\n The doctor pulled up a chair and joined them.\u00a0 Before he could ask, the older man said, \u201cThe bleeding has slowed.\u00a0 There\u2019s no sign of consciousness yet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to tell this young man what\u2019s goin\u2019 on, John, or should I?\u201d Sheriff Jim asked.<\/p>\n Doctor Creigh nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll do it.\u00a0 You see, Adam, I\u2019ve examined the bodies \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n He held up a hand.\u00a0 \u201cBodies?<\/em>\u00a0 There\u2019s been more than one<\/em> murder?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTwo in the last two weeks,\u201d Sheriff Jim said.\u00a0 \u201cBoth working girls.\u201d<\/p>\n How did Little Joe do it?<\/p>\n His baby brother had been frequenting the town for those same two weeks.\u00a0 Still \u2013 thankfully \u2013 it seemed neither the sheriff nor the doctor believed Joe had anything to do with the killings.<\/p>\n John Creigh went on.\u00a0 \u201cBoth women left Livingston\u2019s after telling someone that they were to meet a man and both turned up dead.\u00a0 Both were shot, but not with the weapon left at the scene of the crime, which was a small caliber pistol.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo the empty gun was\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 He thought a moment.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a kind of message, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI knew you were a smart one,\u201d Sheriff Jim said.\u00a0 \u201cWe know there\u2019s some meaning to that empty gun, but we don\u2019t have any idea what it is.\u00a0 Adam\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo one knows about this but you, me, and the good doctor here, and I mean to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n Tight lips, and all that.<\/p>\n \u201cYou hope to identify the killer by their special knowledge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Both men nodded.<\/p>\n Adam rose and went to his brother\u2019s side.\u00a0\u00a0 Once there, he took the boy\u2019s hand in his own.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s skin was warm to the touch, so there was fever, but as of yet it wasn\u2019t too high.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about Little Joe?\u201d he asked the sheriff.\u00a0 \u201cIf you know he\u2019s innocent, are you still going to hold him?\u00a0 I understand that if you let him go, the killer may realize you know it\u2019s not<\/em> him.\u00a0 Still\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 The idea of his wounded brother locked in a cold jail cell in his current condition sent shivers along his back.\u00a0 \u201cIf you incarcerate him you\u2019re likely to kill him!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not going to put him in jail, son,\u201d Sheriff Jim assured him.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s a minor under suspicion, with a family that\u2019s known from here to the Grand Tetons.\u00a0 I\u2019m gonna place him under house arrest and send him home.\u201d<\/p>\n Relief washed through him, so much so that he nearly stumbled into a nearby chair.<\/p>\n Then it hit him.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re using my brother as bait to draw out the killer!\u201d\u00a0 Adam snarled .\u00a0 \u201cYou believe the killer thinks Joe can identify him and is going to come after him!\u00a0 That\u2019s despicable!\u00a0 He\u2019s a \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s a suspect in a murder, Mister Cartwright.\u00a0 Maybe two<\/em> murders.\u201d\u00a0 Sheriff Jim came to stand before him.\u00a0 The man\u2019s eyes were sad but determined.\u00a0 \u201cYou want I should lock him up instead?\u201d<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n It was well after midnight and Adam was wide awake.\u00a0 He sat in the doctor\u2019s office at his brother\u2019s bedside, rehashing the choices he\u2019d made over the last few days.\u00a0 He\u2019d known Joe was playing things fast and loose and yet he\u2019d given him his head.\u00a0 He was pretty sure Angus had taken Joe into Genoa more than once, but he was feeling sorry for the kid and let it slide.\u00a0 Since the accident Pa had baby brother hobbled like a prize mare and he knew Joe was chomping at the bit.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until the kid failed to show up for the fourth day in a row to help lay fence that he began to worry.\u00a0 A conversation with \u2013 and a few sly winks and nods from \u2013 some of the younger hands told him that Joe had managed to sweet-talk them into doing his work and saying nothing about it.\u00a0 Joe told the men he was headed out to see his girl in the next town \u2013 a girl his pa wouldn\u2019t approve of.<\/p>\n That<\/em> was the understatement of the year!<\/p>\n So the next day when Joe rode out, he waited an hour or so and then followed him and ended up at Livingston\u2019s Exchange in Genoa just as the matinee let out.\u00a0 The dressing down that followed was obligatory, as was the command to his little brother to get on his horse and go straight home.\u00a0 Up until then he\u2019d done everything right.<\/p>\n After that, everything went wrong.<\/p>\n Adam ran a hand over his face.\u00a0 He had to give the kid some leeway.\u00a0 Sheriff Jim had found Cochise a block or so away from the alley; her reins broken as if she had panicked and run.<\/p>\n The sound of a bullet would do that.<\/p>\n So, apparently little brother had<\/em> intended to go home. \u00a0Not so wisely, Joe had tethered the mare at the back of an alley to avoid detection.\u00a0 No doubt in case one of them came looking.\u00a0 The journey into that alley was what brought the kid into danger.<\/p>\n And close to death.<\/p>\n Doctor Creigh was getting worried.\u00a0 Joe still hadn\u2019t showed any signs of consciousness and it had been over eight hours.\u00a0 He glanced at his brother again, noting the pristine white bandage around his head, over which spilled an abundance of dark brown curls.\u00a0 \u00a0At least the cut on Joe\u2019s scalp had stopped bleeding.<\/p>\n That was one<\/em> small consolation.<\/p>\n The rancher\u2019s son sat up straight in his chair.\u00a0 \u201cPa,\u201d he said aloud, \u201cI have something to tell you.\u00a0 I sent Little Joe home alone and he managed to stumble on a murder.\u2019\u00a0 Adam winced.\u00a0 \u201cPa,\u201d he tried again, \u201cI sent Joe home alone and, well, it looks like he met up with a prostitute in an alley right before someone killed her.\u2019\u00a0 The rancher\u2019s son shifted in his chair.\u00a0 \u201cPa, I admit it.\u00a0 I sent Joe home alone.\u00a0 Apparently he left Cochise in an alley and when he went there to fetch her, someone cracked his skull and left him for dead\u2026beside a dead woman.\u201d\u00a0 He lifted a finger in the air.\u00a0 \u201cOh, by the way she was a painted lady and Joe was holding an empty gun.\u201d\u00a0 Adam lowered his head into his hands.\u00a0 No matter how he phrased it, it always came out in the same accusatory manner.<\/p>\n \u2018I left Little Joe alone.\u2019 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Unable to contain his anger, Adam leapt to his feet and slammed his hand against the wall.<\/p>\n \u201cDamn!\u201d<\/p>\n A low moan returned his attention to his brother.\u00a0 He quickly crossed to the bed. \u00a0\u00a0\u201cJoe?\u00a0 Little Joe?\u00a0 Can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n His reply was a second moan, louder but no more intelligible.<\/p>\n Adam leaned in close to his brother\u2019s lips.\u00a0 \u201cJoe?\u00a0 What are you trying to say?\u201d<\/p>\n The boy shifted slightly.\u00a0 \u201cUh-nnn\u2026hurts.\u201d<\/p>\n He glanced at the bruising on the boy\u2019s face.\u00a0 He bet it did!<\/p>\n \u2018Don\u2019t tell him anything if he wakes<\/em>,\u201d Doctor Creigh had cautioned before he went upstairs to catch a few hours\u2019 sleep.\u00a0 \u2018See first if your brother remembers<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, do you know who this is?\u201d<\/p>\n Baby brother\u2019s brows were as unruly as his curls.\u00a0 They were thick and dark and swept in three different directions, making them both mobile and expressive.\u00a0 The three parts rolled and came together in the middle to form a mountain of confusion.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2026?\u201d Joe moaned.<\/p>\n \u201cI need you to tell me<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 He tapped an undamaged spot on his brother\u2019s cheek.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe, open your eyes.\u00a0 Look at me.\u00a0 Tell me who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy swallowed and moaned again as he struggled to obey.\u00a0 His thick lashes fluttered and both brows plunged.\u00a0 \u201cHurts,\u201d Joe said again, with a little more force.<\/p>\n \u201cI know it does, buddy, but you need to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s lips were petulant as a girl\u2019s.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t\u2026want to,\u201d he pouted.<\/p>\n \u201cDo it!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n The big brother command succeeded where kindness had failed.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s eyes popped open, took him in, and then \u2013 with a cry \u2013 slammed shut again.<\/p>\n \u201cGod!\u00a0 Adam\u2026God\u2026,\u201d he sobbed.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t.\u00a0 The light\u2026.\u00a0 It hurts!!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Adam.<\/p>\n The black-haired man closed his eyes, whispered a quick prayer of thanks, and then reached out to catch hold of his brother\u2019s shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, it\u2019s okay.\u00a0 Joe!\u00a0 Listen to me!\u00a0 You need to calm down.\u00a0 You\u2019re concussed, that\u2019s all.\u00a0 It\u2019s normal for the light to hurt your eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m\u2026hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n The question was so absurd, he almost laughed.\u00a0 \u201cYes, you\u2019re hurt.\u00a0 Don\u2019t you remember?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe tried to shake his head.\u00a0 Instead he gasped and moaned.\u00a0 \u201cNoooo\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n That was to be expected too \u2013 if not hoped for.\u00a0 Doctor Creigh said a blow like one his brother took was enough to knock the memory right out of a man.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it.\u00a0 It\u2019s not important.\u00a0 What\u2019s important is that you lie still and don\u2019t cause yourself any more harm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe licked his lips and swallowed.\u00a0 \u201cI think\u2026I\u2019m\u2026gonna be\u2026sick\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n And sick he was.\u00a0 By the time the doctor returned a few hours later they were both exhausted \u2013 and reeking.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I can see you\u2019ve had quite a night!\u201d John Creigh remarked, way too cheerfully.\u00a0 \u201cI see my young patient awakened.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe was sleeping now, completely worn out from retching.<\/p>\n Adam nodded.\u00a0 \u201cHe knew who I was.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExcellent!\u201d The doctor moved to his brother\u2019s side and took hold of his wrist.\u00a0 \u201cPulse is good.\u00a0 Any memory of what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 He ran a hand over his face.\u00a0 \u201cThe last thing Joe remembers is entering the alley and looking for Cochise.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCochise?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHis horse.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh.\u00a0 Well, that\u2019s to be expected.\u201d\u00a0 The doctor\u2019s hand moved to Joe\u2019s brow.\u00a0 \u201cFever\u2019s no higher, so we can assume it\u2019s just his body fighting to recover.\u201d\u00a0 Creigh looked at him.\u00a0 \u201cI can tell you now, I was worried.\u00a0 A good bit of dirt got into the wound when Joe fell and you know alleys.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, he did.\u00a0 They were as filthy as he was now.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you expect infection to set in?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cAnticipate, not expect.\u00a0 He\u2019s young and healthy.\u00a0 Even if it develops, he should be able to fight it off.\u201d\u00a0 The doctor peeked under the bandage around Joe\u2019s head as he spoke.\u00a0 \u201cThe fact that your brother was coherent when he woke speaks worlds toward a full recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan I take him home?\u201d he asked suddenly.<\/p>\n The doctor frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWell, now, I think that\u2019s a bit premature.\u00a0 Let\u2019s see how Joe is feeling when he wakes up the next time.\u00a0 I know the road between here and the Ponderosa.\u00a0 It\u2019s a rough one and he\u2019s going to have quite a headache.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam rubbed his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cJoe complained about the light when he woke up.\u00a0 He said it \u2018hurt\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid he?\u00a0 Well\u2026that\u2019s not unusual.\u201d<\/p>\n There was something in the older man\u2019s tone.\u00a0 \u201cIs it a bad sign?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt depends.\u201d\u00a0 Doctor Creigh straightened up.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s just wait and see how Joe is the next time he wakes, shall we?\u00a0 There\u2019s no rush.\u201d<\/p>\n No rush, except for their mother-hen of a father who, most likely, was out of his mind by this time.<\/p>\n \u201cPa will be worried.\u00a0 I set out around noon to find Little Joe and \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam, I\u2018m sure<\/em> your father wouldn\u2019t choose to jeopardize his young son\u2019s health just to have him home.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re right,\u201d a strong voice agreed.\u00a0 \u201cI wouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam pivoted on his heel.\u00a0 His father was there, large as life, filling the open doorway.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know whether to be consoled.<\/p>\n Or concerned.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Four<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben Cartwright looked down at his youngest son.\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s head lay against his chest; his mutinous curls spilling over the top of the linen bandage that bound them.\u00a0 He\u2019d spoken at length with Doctor Creigh, whom he judged to be a well-educated and cautious man, before they left Genoa.\u00a0 Together they had agreed the best remedy for the boy was to take him home.<\/p>\n Not least of all, for his own protection.<\/p>\n The elder Cartwright sat in the bed of a borrowed wagon; his back propped against a small mountain of feed sacks.\u00a0 Joseph was in his arms and he was doing his best to protect him from the jolts and bumps of the road.\u00a0 Of course, that meant he was taking the brunt of them and he knew he would feel it the next day.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Nothing mattered but his son\u2019s comfort.\u00a0 Ben glanced to the side where his oldest boy rode guard, his head downcast.<\/p>\n And Adam\u2019s consolation.<\/p>\n Adam was taking it hard, which was not a surprise.\u00a0 If his eldest prized anything \u2013 perhaps, even more<\/em> than his high intellect \u2013 it was his position as protector and defender of his younger brothers.\u00a0 Hoss, who waited at the ranch house blissfully unaware of all that had transpired in Genoa, gave his elder brother little trouble.\u00a0 The rancher smiled as his gaze returned to those curls.\u00a0 This one, Marie\u2019s boy….<\/p>\n Little Joe was as big a handful as his mother.<\/p>\n \u201cHow\u2019s he doing, Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben smiled at his son.\u00a0 An honest reply would have been, \u2018As well as can be expected<\/em>,\u2019 but he said, \u201cFine.\u00a0 Joseph is fine.\u00a0 He\u2019s sleeping.\u201d<\/p>\n The boy frowned.\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t think the doctor gave him too much laudanum, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n They\u2019d discussed that too.\u00a0 He hated to drug his son, but Little Joe was experiencing a good deal of discomfort from the blow to his head.\u00a0 Doctor Creigh suspected a hairline fracture from his symptoms, which included bruising under the eyes and a clear liquid seeping at times from his nose and one ear.\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s eyes were extremely sensitive.\u00a0 Bright light caused him pain and brought on fits of retching. \u00a0Hence the need to keep them closed for the bulk of their daytime journey.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure the good doctor knew what he was doing,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n \u201cMister Cartwright?\u00a0 The horses need a rest.\u00a0 You want I should pull over?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben shifted to look at their driver, Dan Cray.\u00a0 His first sight of the tall, handsome black-haired man had been a bit unnerving as Dan and Adam could have been twins.\u00a0 There were differences, of course, like Dan\u2019s light blue eyes, but the resemblance was uncanny.\u00a0 He worked at Livingston\u2019s Exchange and had come highly recommended.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think it\u2019s necessary,\u201d Ben replied.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d like to get Joseph home as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey just need a short break,\u201d\u00a0 Dan said. Then he grinned.\u00a0 \u201cI gotta admit it, Mister Cartwright, I need one too.\u00a0 To take care of business \u2013 if you catch my meaning.\u201d<\/p>\n He did indeed.<\/p>\n Dan climbed down from the drivers\u2019 seat and disappeared into the trees shortly after they pulled into a shady grove and the wagon came to rest.\u00a0 Adam offered to tend to the animals for him and did so before coming to their side.\u00a0 His eldest\u2019s eyes were haunted; the hazel orbs cradled in shadow, and he knew why.\u00a0 Before leaving town the doctor introduced him to Sheriff Wells and the lawman had filled him in on everything.<\/p>\n He hadn\u2019t slept much at all the night before either.<\/p>\n Adam leaned on the wagon\u2019s side and stared at his brother for several heartbeats before speaking.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t tell you how sorry I am that this happened, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou have<\/em> told me,\u201d he replied quietly.\u00a0 \u201cSeveral times.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was such an idiot!,\u201d his son declared as he straightened up.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know why I let Joe wander off on his own like that!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what you\u2019ve told me, you did not let your brother \u2018wander\u2019 off.\u00a0 You told Joseph to go straight home.\u201d\u00a0 As the rancher looked again at his youngest, who tossed and turned deep in a drugged sleep, his lips curled with an affectionate smile.\u00a0 \u201cFor once he obeyed you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd look where it got him!\u201d\u00a0 Adam swallowed hard.\u00a0 \u201cPa, Joe could have been killed.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben moved his hand to his boy\u2019s head.\u00a0 A few dark curls lay loose against Little Joe\u2019s pallid cheek and he brushed them aside.\u00a0 \u201cBut he wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 \u00a0God was merciful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMerciful?\u00a0 \u00a0A cracked skull?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s alive, Adam.\u00a0 That\u2019s all that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s jaw grew tight.\u00a0 \u201cI was just thinking how hard it might be to keep <\/em>Joe alive.\u201d<\/p>\n The last part troubled him, as it troubled his oldest son.\u00a0 Although Little Joe could not recall the face of Cassandra Middleton\u2019s killer, the man most certainly knew him.\u00a0 Sheriff Wells had offered his protection. He was willing to send along a handful of men who would take up positions outside of the Ponderosa and keep watch.\u00a0 He declined, telling the lawman he had twice that many at his command and could take care of his own.\u00a0 The sheriff hesitated but agreed \u2013 on the condition that Little Joe remain on the Ponderosa until after he was officially cleared of charges. \u00a0The rancher didn\u2019t like it one bit, but he liked the alternative even less \u2013 his youngest, in protective custody somewhere in Genoa.\u00a0 Joseph needed to be home.\u00a0 He needed his brother Hoss and Hop Sing to look after him.<\/p>\n Just as he<\/em> needed to look after his son.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can hope that the man, whoever he is, chooses to run,\u201d he replied.\u00a0 \u201cWhy risk being caught by coming to the Ponderosa when no one knows who you are \u2013 including the witness to the act?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cBecause Joe might <\/em>remember.\u00a0 You know as well as I do, Pa, that any man who has killed two painted ladies would have no trouble silencing a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben clutched his youngest tighter.\u00a0 Yes, he knew it, and it chilled him.<\/p>\n \u201cPa\u2026..\u201d\u00a0 Adam ran a hand along the back of his neck.\u00a0 \u201cSpeaking of \u2018painted ladies\u2019, I might have forgotten to mention something.\u201d<\/p>\n The rancher was instantly alert.\u00a0 How many times had one of his boys used that phrase and disaster followed?\u00a0 \u201cYes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou remember the performer I mentioned, the one known as<\/em> The Painted Lady?\u201d\u00a0 When he frowned Adam went on.\u00a0 \u201cThe woman Little Joe ran away to see?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Marie<\/em>,\u2019 he thought to himself as he adjusted his grip on the sleeping boy, \u2018what am I going to do with this child? Going against my authority?\u00a0 Falling for a painted lady?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNow, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n His eldest seldom looked discomforted.\u00a0 He did now.<\/p>\n \u201cI might have\u2026invited her to the Ponderosa.\u201d<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n It came as no surprise to Adam that Calliope Abbadon\u2019s carriage was parked out front of the house.\u00a0 What did surprise him was the fact that it was accompanied by a mountebank\u2019s wagon with the words \u2018Professor Nether Blackfold, Prophet, Prince and Prestidigitator Extraordinaire\u2019<\/em> emblazoned on its side.\u00a0\u00a0 Above the last word, which ran the length of the wagon\u2019s lower edge, was the image of a mustached man wearing a blue turban decorated with an all-seeing eye.\u00a0 The back door of the wagon opened as he approached and a short stocky man with red hair climbed down the ladder.\u00a0 He waved a greeting as Adam dismounted and disappeared around the other side.\u00a0 The rancher\u2019s son scowled.\u00a0 There was something familiar about the man.\u00a0 He\u2019d just about placed it when the thought was driven out of his head by a backslap that nearly knocked the wind from him.<\/p>\n \u201cBout time you got home!\u201d a cheerful voice remarked.\u00a0 \u201cYou got yourself some mighty peculiar friends, older brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere\u2026are they?\u201d he asked once he had his breath back.<\/p>\n \u201cHop Sing\u2019s got \u2018em upstairs in two guest rooms.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss looked beyond him and frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s Pa and Little Joe?\u00a0 I figured the three of you would ride in together.\u201d\u00a0 The big man grinned. \u00a0\u201cThat is, if little brother can still sit a horse after Pa got done with him.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019d filled the family in before he left on baby brother\u2019s hi-jinks. \u00a0Little Joe had been in enough trouble then.\u00a0 The fact that Pa had a full night and day to build up a head of steam before he followed didn\u2019t bode well for their little brother\u2019s prospects or<\/em> his posterior.<\/p>\n Of course, Hoss had no idea what had happened.\u00a0 How could he?<\/p>\n Genoa didn\u2019t have a telegraph line.<\/p>\n Keen to sense his mood as always, Hoss gripped his arm.\u00a0 \u201cAdam?\u00a0 Is something wrong?\u00a0 What ain\u2019t you tellin\u2019 me?\u00a0 Where\u2019s Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHoss, I\u2026\u00a0 I made a mistake and Joe got hurt.\u00a0 Pa\u2019s bringing him home in a wagon.\u00a0 I came ahead to get Joe\u2019s room ready and \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n His brother\u2019s beefy fingers bit into his arm.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean<\/em> \u2018a mistake\u2019?\u00a0 How bad\u2019s Joe hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cLook, Hoss, it\u2019s a long story.\u00a0 I\u2019ll tell it all to you when there\u2019s time, but right now we to get things ready.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust tell me how bad it is, Adam.\u00a0 I mean, is Little Joe gonna be okay?\u201d<\/p>\n The rancher\u2019s son pursed his lips.\u00a0 \u201cThe doctor seems to think so.\u00a0 Someone hit Joe over the head with something hard.\u00a0 Really<\/em> hard.\u00a0 He\u2019s concussed and may have a skull fracture.\u00a0 We \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone cold-cocked him?\u201d\u00a0 Hoss was horrified.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, Little Joe\u2019s just a kid!\u00a0 Who\u2019d do a thing like that to a kid?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf I knew, don\u2019t you think I\u2019d tell you?!\u201d he snapped and instantly regretted it.\u00a0 \u201cSorry, Hoss. \u00a0Sorry.\u00a0 I know you\u2019re worried about Joe.\u00a0 I just\u2026.\u00a0 Well, I haven\u2019t slept much for two days.\u00a0 The first night it was touch and go, and then last night, with Pa\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother looked contrite.\u00a0 \u201cNah.\u00a0 I\u2019m<\/em> the one who should be apologizin\u2019.\u00a0 I know whatever happened you done the best you could.\u00a0 You look beat.\u00a0 Why don\u2019t you go sit down while I get little brother\u2019s room ready?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll rest after Joe\u2019s settled.\u00a0 I\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Adam paused as the image of his baby bother lying on the doctor\u2019s table \u2013 deathly pale \u2013 flashed before his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI need to know he\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n The big man placed an arm around his shoulders.\u00a0 \u201cWell then, come on, older brother.\u00a0 There\u2019s no time like the present.\u201d<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n They saw no sign of their guests as they mounted the steps and went to their younger brother\u2019s room.\u00a0 Hop Sing soon joined them and, together, the three of them made certain it was prepared.\u00a0 The last thing Adam did was walk to the window to draw the curtains closed so the light wouldn\u2019t hurt Joe\u2019s eyes.\u00a0 When he reached it, he noticed the wagon containing his family rolling into the yard.\u00a0 He turned to tell Hoss, but the big man must have seen it too because he was already on his way out the door with Hop Sing close on his heels.\u00a0 Adam waited until the pair appeared below to draw the curtains and then turned to follow.<\/p>\n Only to find his way blocked.<\/p>\n \u201cCalliope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHow\u2019s the little cutie?\u201d the singer asked.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe will be okay,\u201d he said forcefully in an attempt to make himself believe it.\u00a0 Then he changed the subject.\u00a0 \u201cI have to admit I\u2019m a bit surprised to see you.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think you\u2019d take me up on my offer.\u201d<\/p>\n She shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cWe agreed.\u00a0 What better remedy could there be than a day or two spent in the bosom of a loving family?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe being Nether and you?\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cAdam Cartwright, I think you\u2019re jealous.\u201d\u00a0 When he said nothing more, she continued, \u201cNether is always with me.\u00a0 He\u2019s my manager.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs that all<\/em> he is?\u201d<\/p>\n Calliope frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWhat difference does it make?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry.\u201d \u00a0Adam ran a hand over his eyes. \u00a0\u201cThat was rude of me.\u00a0 It\u2019s really none of my business.\u201d<\/p>\n The singer moved into the room.\u00a0 Her scent was just as intoxicating as it had been that first night; the sight of her, enthralling.<\/p>\n \u201cWould you like it to be?\u201d she asked as she ran a finger along his chin.<\/p>\n He caught it and held it captive.\u00a0 \u201cCalliope, you\u2019re a beautiful woman, but\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you\u2019re worried about your brother and it\u2019s selfish to think of your own pleasure at this time?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWell, yes. \u00a0That and \u2013 \u201c<\/p>\n Before he could finish his thought, the ravishing woman had raised up on her toes and kissed him.<\/p>\n A second later his father\u2019s voice \u2013 strident, commanding \u2013 called out, \u201cAdam!\u00a0 Adam, I need you!\u201d<\/p>\n Calliope kissed him again \u2013 this time nipping his lip with her teeth. \u00a0\u201cGo to your family. \u00a0They need you more than I do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust like that?\u201d he asked, slightly shaken.<\/p>\n \u201cJust like that,\u201d she said, and stepped out of his way.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u00a0 You comin\u2019?\u201d\u00a0 It was Hoss this time.<\/p>\n \u201cI have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCan I see you?\u00a0 Later?\u00a0 Will he\u2026Nether\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNether is a powerful man, but he has no power over me,\u201d the singer said.\u00a0 \u201cI do as I want.\u00a0 Take care of your little brother first.\u00a0 I can wait.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam watched her go with longing and a deep burning in his loins.<\/p>\n And wondered if he<\/em> could.<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n Ben\u00a0 nodded to his middle son as Hoss took a seat beside his injured brother, and then walked to the window and pulled the drape aside so he could look out on the yard.\u00a0 His eldest was there, leaning on the fence, looking out toward the horizon.\u00a0 He had three sons.\u00a0 People thought Marie\u2019s boy the most sensitive of them.\u00a0 He begged to differ.\u00a0 In his mind, Adam won hands down.\u00a0 While Joseph was vociferous, his oldest boy suffered in silence.\u00a0 Heaven help the lad, with both parents coming of New England stock!\u00a0 Joseph\u2019s emotions were his outlet.\u00a0 When he was happy, he laughed.\u00a0 When he was sad, he cried.\u00a0 When he was angry, everyone knew it.<\/p>\n With Adam, it was like shaking a bottle.\u00a0 One wondered which would happen first \u2013 the cork pop or the glass explode?<\/p>\n He was so deep in thought it took Ben a moment to sense the familiar presence at his side.\u00a0 Hoss had his hands thrust deep into his pockets and was chewing his lower lip.<\/p>\n The rancher was immediately afraid.<\/p>\n \u201cJoseph?\u201d<\/p>\n The big man shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cPunkin\u2019s fine, Pa.\u00a0 He\u2019s sleepin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n The childhood nickname tickled a smile from his lips.\u00a0 \u201cHow can I help you, then?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss\u2019 fingers dug in deeper.\u00a0 \u201cI know it ain\u2019t important, Pa, but I was kind of wonderin\u2019 if you could tell me what happened?\u00a0 I mean, how\u2019d Little Joe end up like this?\u00a0 Adam said someone cold-cocked <\/em>him?\u00a0 Gol-darn-it, he\u2019s just a kid!\u201d\u00a0 His son frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWas Little Joe mouthin\u2019 off or somethin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n He barely understood it himself, though he\u2019s had ample opportunity while in Genoa to discuss the matter with both Sheriff Wells and Doctor Creigh.\u00a0 There had been two killings in less than two weeks.\u00a0 Each time the victim was a hostess or painted lady.\u00a0 Both young women had been lured to a remote location, shot, and then abandoned like so much trash.<\/p>\n The older man shuddered.<\/p>\n It could have been Little Joe.<\/p>\n \u201cI assure you, son, that your brother committed no greater transgression than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.\u201d\u00a0 He scowled.\u00a0 \u201cThat is, other than disobeying a direct order to stay on the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Adam found Joe at Livingston\u2019s and ordered him to ride home.\u00a0 It seems that was what Joseph was doing when he was attacked.\u00a0 He\u2019d gone to fetch Cochise, whom he\u2019d tether at the end of an alley.\u00a0 No one knows for certain what happened next.\u00a0 Shortly after that, a man found Little Joe lying near its end.\u201d\u00a0 Ben hesitated, momentarily overwhelmed by the image of his young son lying in a pool of his own blood.\u00a0 \u201cThere was a dead saloon girl beside him and an empty gun.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss paled.\u00a0 \u201cGosh, Pa!\u00a0 Adam mentioned someone died, but he didn\u2019t say it was a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe was one of the girls from Livingston\u2019s exchange.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t much older than your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI guess\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 The big man turned to look at the still, small figure on the bed.\u00a0 \u201cI guess we\u2019re lucky, aren\u2019t we, Pa?\u00a0 I mean\u2026whoever it was, they could have killed Little Joe too.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben returned to his injured son\u2019s side and sat down.<\/p>\n \u201cNot lucky, son,\u201d he said as he took hold of the boy\u2019s feverish hand.\u00a0 \u201cBlessed.\u201d<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n There was a fly on his hand.<\/p>\n Joe wanted to brush it off, but it seemed like too much trouble.\u00a0 He was sick again and felt as churned up and wasted as the mud under a herd of steers\u2019 hooves.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t think he could manage to open his eyes even if Mary Jane Miller told him she\u2019d let him kiss her if he did.<\/p>\n He liked Mary Jane.\u00a0 She was real pretty and he really<\/em> wanted to kiss her.<\/p>\n But not that<\/em> much.<\/p>\n Someone\u2019s fingers brushed his forehead.\u00a0 They were cool, so he wondered if they\u2019d been pressed against the windowpane or maybe been holding a glass before they touched him.\u00a0 It had to be winter, \u2018cause just a while back he\u2019d been so cold he was like to die.\u00a0 Then Hop Sing must have lit the fire.\u00a0 Now he was so hot, he wanted to throw off all his clothes and run buck naked out into the snow.<\/p>\n Or he would have, if he\u2019d had the energy.<\/p>\n But he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t even have the energy to throw off the coverlet.\u00a0 Right now, he was so tired all he wanted to do was lie in bed and sleep while everyone else took care of everything else in the world.\u00a0 One upshot of bein\u2019 sick was getting to do that.\u00a0 Pa didn\u2019t give them many days off.\u00a0 When he wasn\u2019t in school, he was usually knee-deep in muck, cleanin\u2019 out stalls, or high up on a ladder fixing shingles, or maybe \u2013 if he was lucky \u2013 preppin\u2019 a fierce wild horse so brother Adam could mount and ride it until it was tame.<\/p>\n Adam.<\/p>\n There was something about\u2026Adam.<\/p>\n What was it?<\/p>\n Dang!\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t going to be able to sleep until he figured it out.<\/p>\n Adam was angry.\u00a0 He could hear older brother yelling about something.\u00a0 He\u2019d been mighty angry too.\u00a0 That must be it. \u00a0They\u2019d gotten into a fight.\u00a0 He stormed off and headed for the alley where he\u2019d left Cochise and then\u2026\u00a0 Then he saw something.\u00a0 A flash of white.\u00a0 A woman.<\/p>\n And then a man.<\/p>\n Adam.<\/p>\n How did older brother do it?\u00a0 How did he beat<\/em> him to the alley?<\/p>\n Here it came!\u00a0 Another lecture about being irresponsible and trying to get away with murder.<\/p>\n Joe moaned and tossed his head.<\/p>\n Murder.<\/p>\n Someone got away with\u2026.<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s head came up from the book he was reading.\u00a0 He\u2019d sent Hoss to get something to eat and taken up the vigil at his youngest son\u2019s side.\u00a0 It had been more than an hour since the big man departed and in all that time the room had remained eerily quiet. \u00a0Just now, he thought he\u2019d heard something.\u00a0 The rancher waited.\u00a0 No one knocked or entered in the room.\u00a0 Could it have been\u2026?<\/p>\n Ben looked at his son.<\/p>\n Joseph\u2019s thick black lashes fluttered\u2026once\u2026twice\u2026and then the boy groaned.<\/p>\n Hallelujah!<\/p>\n Ben put the book on the bedside table and leaned in to grip his son\u2019s arm.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph?\u00a0 Little Joe, it\u2019s Pa.\u00a0 I\u2019d reall<\/em>y like to see those big green eyes of yours.\u00a0 Can you open them for me?\u201d<\/p>\n The boy\u2019s lips parted and his tongue licked out in an attempt to wet them.<\/p>\n The much-relieved father was on his feet in a second and back with a basin and cloth in less than thirty.\u00a0 He wet the cloth, rung it out a bit, and then applied it to his son\u2019s parched lips.\u00a0 Next he turned it end for end, dipped it again, and ran the edge of it along the boy\u2019s forehead.<\/p>\n His reward was the tiniest smile and a word.<\/p>\n \u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI bet it feels good,\u201d Ben said, his voice somewhat shaky.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re pretty hot, young man.\u00a0 We need to see what we can do about bringing down that fever.\u201d\u00a0 Sadly, as the doctor had feared, a mild infection had set into the wound.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s fever was under control, but he\u2019d be happier when it was gone.<\/p>\n \u201cCovers,\u201d Joe said as his fingers feebly pushed at them.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026off.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben pulled them right back up.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s just leave them where they are, shall we? \u00a0We wouldn\u2019t want you to take a chill.\u201d\u00a0 When the boy failed to respond, he hesitated and then shook him gently. \u201cJoseph?\u201d<\/p>\n It took a second.\u00a0 \u201cSorry\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean, son?\u00a0 You have nothing to be sorry about.\u201d<\/p>\n His boy\u2019s precious face, so battered and bruised, wrinkled with pain.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026Adam\u2026no\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s he talking about, Pa?\u201d a concerned voice asked.<\/p>\n Ben looked up.\u00a0 \u201cHow long have you been there?\u201d he asked his eldest.<\/p>\n \u201cJust a minute.\u201d\u00a0 Adam advanced into the room.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know what\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 Your brother is awake but he\u2019s not aware.\u201d\u00a0 Turning back to the sick boy, Ben said, \u201cAdam\u2019s here, Joseph.\u00a0 Do you want to talk to him?\u201d<\/p>\n The reaction he got was not the one he expected.\u00a0 Joe eyes shot open, his body became rigid\u2026.<\/p>\n And he screamed.<\/p>\n ~~~~~~~~~~~<\/p>\n Hoss Cartwright had tried his best to rest like his pa told him to \u2013 really, he had \u2013 but rest just wouldn\u2019t come. \u00a0\u00a0All he could see when he closed his eyes was his little brother walkin\u2019 into that alley and bein\u2019 hit over the head.\u00a0 Joe was such a little thing \u2013 no bigger than a minnow wigglin\u2019 on a line \u2013 and it hurt him bad to think of someone doin\u2019 that to him.<\/p>\n Hurt him and made him right angry.<\/p>\n He\u2019d gone to get somethin\u2019 to eat like he was told.\u00a0 While he was waitin\u2019 on Hop Sing to rustle up a plate with all the fixin\u2019s, he\u2019d started pacin\u2019.\u00a0 Then he started stompin\u2019.\u00a0 And then he started bangin\u2019 pots and slammin\u2019 lids until Hop Sing done tossed him out \u2013 food and all!\u00a0 Seein\u2019 the little man go red in the face was kind of funny, but he\u2019d managed to keep from laughin\u2019.<\/p>\n At least until Hop Sing went back inside.<\/p>\n After that he headed to the barn.\u00a0 He had some chores to do and thought bein\u2019 busy might help him keep his thoughts where they belonged, but that didn\u2019t work either.\u00a0 He\u2019d wrap his fingers around the \u00a0handle of the rake and all of a sudden realize that his knuckles was white, \u2018cause he was imaginin\u2019 it to be the throat of that there varmint what hurt his little brother.\u00a0 So, finally, he decided to take a ride.\u00a0 He\u2019d let the foreman know where he was goin\u2019 so\u2019s Pa wouldn\u2019t be worried, and then headed out southwest toward the lake.<\/p>\n Little Joe weren\u2019t the only one who came up here to talk to Mama.<\/p>\n Upon his arrival the big man dismounted and tethered his horse to a tree.\u00a0 The walk to the grave was a short one.\u00a0 Little brother\u2019d done thrown a fit around a week before and come flyin\u2019 up here, so it was nice and clean.\u00a0 Joe\u2019d cleared all the weeds away and there was a bunch of faded flowers pressed up against the stone. \u00a0The big man knelt and removed them, gently laying the bouquet to the side, and put the fresh batch he\u2019d brought in their place.\u00a0 Then he stood back and took his hat off in respect.<\/p>\n \u201cHow ya doin\u2019, Mama?\u00a0 I hope you\u2019re enjoyin\u2019 Heaven.\u00a0 I\u2019m sure it\u2019s a sight better than this world.\u201d\u00a0 The big man looked around and up at the tall grasses, the whispering pines, and the myriad stars in the sky.\u00a0 \u201cThough, I\u2019m thinkin\u2019 it must look an awful lot like this \u2018cause there ain\u2019t nothin\u2019 more beautiful.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss sighed as his eyes returned to the grave.\u00a0 \u201cWell, that ain\u2019t quite right, \u2018cause there weren\u2019t nothin\u2019 more beautiful than you.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss knelt down and traced the words written on the stone with a finger.\u00a0 \u2018Marie Cartwright, beloved wife of Benjamin Cartwright and mother to three sons.\u00a0 Gone, but never forgotten.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n \u2018Pa got it right when he wrote those words\u2019, he said aloud.<\/p>\n He\u2019d been a little tyke when his stepmother passed, just ten years old, but his memories of Marie were crystal clear as the waters of Lake Beigler behind him.\u00a0 The first time he saw her, stepping out of the carriage and takin\u2019 Pa\u2019s hand, he\u2019d knew he loved her.\u00a0 It was like one of those times you were in the forest and you was afraid on account of it was pitch-black, and then all of a sudden a beam of light would slip through the cover of leaves above your head to remind you the sun was up there and everythin\u2019 was right in the world.\u00a0 From day one she\u2019d treated him like he was her own.\u00a0\u00a0 Brother Adam had been shy around Mama, but not him.\u00a0 It weren\u2019t no time before they was laughin\u2019 and dancin\u2019 and singin\u2019 French songs whether they was workin\u2019 or playin\u2019.\u00a0 Mama loved to make things with her hands, \u2018specially at Christmas, like popcorn strings and paper chains and tinsel stars.\u00a0 \u00a0Of course, none of them was the best thing she made.<\/p>\n That was Little Joe.<\/p>\n Hoss drew in a breath, held it, and let it out with regret.\u00a0 \u201cI came to tell you I\u2019m sorry, Mama.\u00a0 I let you down.\u00a0 Little Joe, well, he got hurt pretty bad, and I wasn\u2019t there to stop it.\u00a0 I shouldn\u2019t ought to have let him go off with Angus to Genoa.\u00a0 Now, I know you\u2019d say I couldn\u2019t have done nothin\u2019 to stop it, but that ain\u2019t true.\u00a0 I knew what he was up to.\u00a0 I knew he was makin\u2019 up stories to cover somethin\u2019 and he wasn\u2019t with Mitch and Seth, or even Mary Jane.\u00a0 I thought\u2026.\u00a0 Well, I don\u2019t know what<\/em> I thought, but I should have known better.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled a bit.\u00a0 \u201cNow don\u2019t take this the wrong way, Mama, but Little Joe\u2019s a lot like you.\u00a0 He gets a notion in that curly head of his and, well, there\u2019s not much a man can do but let him see it out and try to make sure he don\u2019t get hurt while he\u2019s doin\u2019 it.\u201d\u00a0 The image of his baby brother lying in his bed, battered and bruised, rose before his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI swear I ain\u2019t ever gonna let that little scamp out of my sight again.\u201d<\/p>\n Except he knew he would, just as he knew it would never be enough.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t enough with Mama.<\/p>\n The big man rose.\u00a0 He stood for a moment longer, head bent, and then placed his hat on his head.\u00a0 \u201cWell, Mama, I best get goin\u2019.\u00a0 I got me chores to do and I want to see how little brother\u2019s doin\u2019.\u00a0 I\u2019m hopin\u2019 to high Heaven he\u2019s woke up by now.\u201d\u00a0 With one shift of his fresh bouquet to make certain it was perfect, Hoss turned and headed for his horse.\u00a0 Chubb was there waitin\u2019 patiently.\u00a0 He patted his black nose and said a few words, and had just lifted his boot to mount, when he heard something.\u00a0 A voice, he thought, maybe two.\u00a0 The big man dropped his foot, drew his gun, and stepped away from his horse and into a clump of tall grasses just as two shadowy figures emerged from the trees on the opposite side of Marie\u2019s grave.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is as far as I go,\u201d the taller of the pair said.<\/p>\n Hoss squinted against the encroaching darkness.\u00a0 There was something funny about the man\u2019s voice. \u00a0It was almost as if he had an accent he was hiding.\u00a0 The way he held himself was familiar too.\u00a0 Tall and all dignified-like.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019d been introduced once or shared a drink at the bar.<\/p>\n Or maybe he was imagining it.<\/p>\n \u201cI aim to go a lot farther<\/em> if you don\u2019t pay up,\u201d the second, shorter man replied.\u00a0 \u201cNow, where\u2019s my money?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no need for threats of violence.\u201d\u00a0 The first man reached into the pocket of his overcoat and pulled out what looked to be an envelope.\u00a0 \u201cI have it here.\u201d<\/p>\n The other man snatched it and opened it.<\/p>\n \u201cI assure you it is all there.\u201d<\/p>\n There was a laugh.\u00a0 Short.\u00a0 Derisive.\u00a0 \u201cLike I\u2019d believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss shifted in an attempt to get a better look.\u00a0 The last of the sun\u2019s rays were low over the mountains and there was very little he could see.<\/p>\n \u201cI told you that you have nothing to fear.\u00a0 Your secret is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSome secret.\u00a0 I was seen.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrue, and while I agree it is impossible for two to keep a secret, in this case it doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 The boy remembers nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss went rigid.\u00a0 \u2018The boy.\u2019<\/p>\n What?<\/p>\n \u201cNow.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean he won\u2019t remember later.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA flash of a face in the dark?\u201d\u00a0 The tall man sniffed.\u00a0 \u201cPerhaps the unfortunate smell of cheap tobacco and sweat?\u00a0 Both might indicate any one of a thousand men in this territory.\u00a0 Besides, with the money in your hand, you can go anywhere; put half the country between him and you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMe and his family<\/em>, you mean.\u00a0 I ain\u2019t scared of any kid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPerhaps.\u201d\u00a0 The tall man turned away.\u00a0 \u201cI am leaving.\u00a0 I suggest you do the same.\u00a0 It would be wise for you to be on your way. Otherwise I might have a change of heart and decide that it is impracticable for \u2018three\u2019 to keep a secret.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss shifted forward in an attempt to catch a glimpse of the man\u2019s face.\u00a0 It was useless. \u00a0The light was gone.<\/p>\n \u201cWon\u2019t it look suspicious if I just up and leave?\u201d<\/p>\n The tall man turned back.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll tell them you were called to town.\u00a0 No one will suspect anything.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay.\u00a0 Yeah.\u201d\u00a0 The second man moved in the opposite direction but halted at the edge of the tree line.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about her?\u00a0 What if it happens again?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBe assured it won\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 He tipped his hat.\u00a0 \u201cNow, good day.\u00a0 And may I add, I hope to never see the likes of you again.\u201d<\/p>\n Seconds later they disappeared into the shadows.<\/p>\n Hoss stepped out of the tall grass and looked in both directions.\u00a0 It was obvious the two men were party to something no good and it sounded like it might have to do with what happened to Little Joe.\u00a0 Still, neither had mentioned a name or place connected with \u2018the boy\u2019.\u00a0 It could have nothing to do with his brother.<\/p>\n Hoss sighed deeply, unsure of what to do.\u00a0 Should he go home and get his pa and Adam or go after one of the men, and if he did, which one?\u00a0 It could be one of them was headed to the Ponderosa since it was the closest homestead.<\/p>\n If they was, what did that <\/em>mean?<\/p>\n Hoss stood for a moment with the wind whistling through the trees.\u00a0 In it he heard a voice.\u00a0 He knew it for what it was \u2013 Mama\u2019s \u2013 and he understood what she was saying.<\/p>\n The man with the money was the one who hurt \u2018the boy\u2019.<\/p>\n And he wasn\u2019t about to let him get away with it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chapter Five<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe!\u00a0 Joseph!\u00a0 Son, listen to me!\u00a0 You\u2019re safe!\u201d<\/p>\n The words might as well have been shouted through water for all the good they did his boy who was drowning in a nightmare world of disorientation and pain.<\/p>\n Joseph had come awake with a start and immediately been sick, which set his wounded head to pounding and made him sick again.\u00a0 On top of that he seemed to be caught in the throes of a night terror from which he could not wake.\u00a0 Doctor Creigh had warned him there could be residual effects from the heavy dose of laudanum used to soften the journey home and Ben was afraid he was seeing them now.\u00a0 Most mysterious of all, whatever horror the boy was experiencing, it seemed his older brother was at the heart of it.\u00a0 Joseph kept crying out to Adam over and over again.<\/p>\n Begging him not to hurt him.<\/p>\n \u201cPa?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam turned his grief-stricken face toward him. \u00a0His eldest was sitting on the side of the bed, physically restraining his brother. \u00a0All three of them were soaked in vomit and sweat and reeked.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Nothing mattered but getting through to Little Joe.<\/p>\n \u201cTry again, Adam,\u201d he urged.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s you<\/em> Joseph needs to know is here.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam shifted his grip from his brother\u2019s wrists to his upper arms.\u00a0 Little Joe might be slender, maybe even slight, but he was strong and had come close to escaping from the bed several times.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe!,\u201d his eldest said, his tone firm and almost scolding.\u00a0 \u201cJoe!\u00a0 It\u2019s Adam.\u00a0 I\u2019m here.\u00a0 Open your eyes!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s head thrashed from side to side. \u00a0\u201cNoooooo!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPlease.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0A gentle voice spoke, startling them.\u00a0 \u201cLet me try.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben didn\u2019t know when she had arrived, but Genoa\u2019s Painted Lady stood on the threshold of the room.\u00a0 He watched as she moved to Adam and placed a hand on his shoulder.\u00a0 His eldest shook his head, but Calliope gently insisted, taking him by the shoulders and moving him out of the way.\u00a0 She smiled at him and then sat down and took Joseph\u2019s hand in hers.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Francis, how lovely of you to accept my invitation.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben\u2019s brows shot toward his graying hair as he eyed his oldest boy.\u00a0 Adam ducked his head in response.<\/p>\n Apparently he hadn\u2019t all<\/em> of the story yet.<\/p>\n \u201cMr. Francis?\u201d the singer repeated.<\/p>\n At first it seemed Joseph took no note of her presence.\u00a0 He continued to toss and turn and moan.\u00a0 When she spoke again, he grew still.\u00a0 A moment later his thick brows drew together and he frowned.<\/p>\n Calliope kept her voice even, her tone pleasant.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m so glad you came.\u00a0 I have so<\/em> looked forward to meeting such an ardent admirer.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph\u2019s lips formed a word.\u00a0 For a moment it chilled Ben to think it was \u2018mama\u2019, but then he realized it was \u2018ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n Dear Joseph.\u00a0 Ever polite!<\/p>\n The beautiful woman leaned forward and laid her hand alongside his poor boy\u2019s bruised cheek.<\/p>\n And then, she began to sing.<\/p>\n Ben had heard human nightingales before, chief among them Jenny Lind, whom he\u2019d the pleasure to see on a trip to New Orleans to settle his late wife\u2019s affairs.\u00a0 It was said of Lind that \u2018The extreme burst of her voice in the upper portion of its register is far beyond the ordinary range of sopranos, and she has acquired the power of molding the higher notes entirely at her will. By this she is enabled to produce some of the most astonishing effects upon the listener<\/em>.\u2019\u00a0 Calliope Abbadon was no different.\u00a0 The spell her rich voice wove took in not only his agitated son, but him and Adam as well.\u00a0 A sense of tranquility descended on the room.\u00a0 Joseph stopped struggling, his tense muscles eased, and soon he was fast asleep.<\/p>\n As he shifted out from under the boy and carefully laid him down, Ben heard his eldest say, \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI heard your brother crying out,\u201d Calliope replied.\u00a0 \u201cIt nearly broke my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you have any children of your own?\u201d the rancher asked as he eased the blanket up and over his son\u2019s shoulders.<\/p>\n The beautiful woman turned to face him.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u00a0 I chose a life on the road.\u00a0 It is no place for a child.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I don\u2019t know.\u201d\u00a0 He smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI think Adam turned out all right.\u201d<\/p>\n Calliope cocked her head and looked at his son.\u00a0 \u201cYour road?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe trail West,\u201d Adam answered.\u00a0 \u201cIt was just Pa and me.\u00a0 If I turned out \u2018all right\u2019, I\u2019ve got him to thank.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you for coming in,\u201d Ben said with an inclination of his head that took them into the hall.\u00a0 As he pulled the door to, leaving a small gap, he added, \u201cI wish I knew why Joseph became so agitated.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI heard him calling for Adam.\u00a0 That\u2019s what brought me in.\u201d\u00a0 Calliope favored them with a brilliant smile.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201cI must admit I was heading down for a snack.\u201d\u00a0 Leaning in, she added with a wink, \u201cDon\u2019t tell Nether.\u00a0 He thinks I snack too much.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam missed the smile.\u00a0 He was too deep in thought.\u00a0 \u201cThe thing is, Joe wasn\u2019t so much calling for<\/em> me as yelling