{"id":4721,"date":"2014-04-29T09:36:50","date_gmt":"2014-04-29T13:36:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=4721"},"modified":"2025-02-18T19:12:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T00:12:59","slug":"ten-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=4721","title":{"rendered":"Ten Hours (by pjb)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0<\/span>The Cartwrights struggle to intervene when a disturbed boy holds his classmates hostage–including Little Joe.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rated:<\/span>\u00a0T (10,175 words)
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\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Ten Hours<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Prologue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nobody took Andy Sutton seriously.<\/p>\n

Andy was only thirteen years old, but he was bigger even than most of the fifteen-year-olds, like Little Joe Cartwright.\u00a0 Still, none of the other children were impressed or intimidated by him.\u00a0 He was clumsy and slow, not getting the joke until the others were done laughing, and only then figuring out that what they were laughing about was him.\u00a0 He wasn’t any good at games, but he was still better at games than he was at schoolwork.\u00a0 If he’d lived on a farm or a ranch, he probably could have made a case for quitting school, but the Suttons, father and son, lived in town.<\/p>\n

Enoch Sutton was a pleasant, unassuming sort.\u00a0 He worked for the Millers at the general store, stocking shelves and dusting merchandise and saying, “Yes, sir” and “No, ma’am” to folks all day long.\u00a0 He was a nice enough fellow, but it was easy to forget he was in the room.\u00a0 When there were problems in town, he wasn’t one of the people whose opinions were sought–not like, say, Ben Cartwright, who always seemed to know what to do and how to get people to do it.<\/p>\n

This didn’t bother Enoch Sutton, but it bothered Andy.\u00a0 Nobody knew how much it bothered him.\u00a0 Not until that cold Monday morning in April, when Andy decided that he’d had enough of being ignored and laughed at and not taken seriously.\u00a0 He had made up his mind.\u00a0 The people of Virginia City were going to take Andy Sutton seriously.<\/p>\n

Or else.<\/p>\n

That morning<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Joseph, sit down and be quiet!”<\/p>\n

The sun was barely up, but Ben Cartwright’s head was already pounding.\u00a0 Bad enough that five dozen head of cattle were missing, four hands had quit, and he was going to have to waste half a day going into town to meet with the lawyer about Andrew MacDonald’s ridiculous claim that the land on the northeast side of the Virginia City road was his property when everybody knew full well it was part of the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Joseph, who was still young and foolish enough to believe that hunting for cattle rustlers was exciting instead of frustrating and dangerous, was begging to be allowed to skip school to join the posse.<\/p>\n

“But, Pa!\u00a0 You’re gonna need every available man out there, and I can be a lot more useful out lookin’ for cattle and rustlers than sittin’ in school listenin’ to Miss Jones talk about Sir Walter Raleigh!”\u00a0 Little Joe’s eyes shone with excitement.\u00a0 Talk about killing two birds with one stone.\u00a0 Not only could he get out of school, but he’d have great stories to tell when he saw his friends.\u00a0 He already knew he’d be the one to find the rustlers and the cattle.\u00a0 After that, even Pa would have to admit that he was much more valuable to the ranch as a cowhand than as a schoolboy.<\/p>\n

“You’re not going anywhere except to school, young man, and that’s final!”\u00a0 Ben’s thundering baritone would have stilled anyone except his youngest son.\u00a0 Joe had an amazing aptitude for ignoring anything that didn’t comport with his idea of how things ought to go.<\/p>\n

“But, Pa, if I go, you’ll have enough men to send up through the draw as well as over Rocking Chair Butte, and–”<\/p>\n

“Joseph!\u00a0 That’s enough!”<\/p>\n

“But, Pa–”<\/p>\n

“One more word out of you, young man, and you’re going to ride to school standing up in your stirrups, do you understand me?”<\/p>\n

Little Joe opened his mouth to answer, but before he could offer another ill-advised argument, his big brother, Hoss, caught his eye.\u00a0 Hoss looked at him hard, then deliberately flicked his eyes down toward his own right hand, which was making a small patting motion, as if petting a dog.\u00a0 Joe followed Hoss’ eyes and clamped his mouth shut.\u00a0 It was a signal Adam had devised years ago to try to keep his youngest brother out of trouble.\u00a0 “Pat him down,” was what the signal said.\u00a0 It meant that Joe was agitating Pa, and the boy needed to back off and quiet things down before he found himself on the business end of Pa’s belt.<\/p>\n

“Yes, sir,” said Little Joe reluctantly.\u00a0 He cast a pleading look at Hoss, and Hoss shook his head ever so slightly.\u00a0 This wasn’t a day for Joe to try to win Pa around to his way of thinking.\u00a0 This was a day for all smart brothers to get as far away from Pa as they possibly could.\u00a0 Hoss kept up the patting motion, and Joe forced himself to say, “Sorry, Pa.”\u00a0 But just when it looked as if Ben were slightly mollified, Joe burst out, “But, Pa, I could really help–”<\/p>\n

“Joseph!”\u00a0 The windows seemed to rattle.<\/p>\n

“Gotta go, Pa, see you tonight!”\u00a0 Joe might be oblivious at times, but in the end, he was no fool.\u00a0 He grabbed his hat and jacket and ran out the door before his father could make good on his threat.<\/p>\n

“That boy will be the death of me yet!”\u00a0 Ben slammed his coffee cup into its saucer, breaking both.\u00a0 Coffee pooled around the shattered china and began to soak into the tablecloth.\u00a0 Hoss and Adam exchanged apprehensive looks as their father, still holding the cup handle which was now attached to nothing, bellowed, “Hop Sing!”<\/p>\n

It was not going to be a good day.<\/p>\n

But not for the reasons they thought at that moment.<\/p>\n

Hour One<\/strong><\/p>\n

Afterward, Little Joe wondered whether things might have gone differently if he hadn’t needed to use the privy.\u00a0 He got to school on time, but what with running out of the house as fast as he had, he hadn’t taken the time to attend to certain matters.\u00a0 So, when he reached school, even though he was barely on time, he determined that waiting until lunchtime was not an option, and he proceeded accordingly.<\/p>\n

Which meant that, when he opened the door to the classroom, Miss Jones should have been standing at the front of the classroom, pursing her lips with disapproval as he slipped into his seat in the back.\u00a0 But she wasn’t there.\u00a0 Little Joe didn’t see at first who was at the front, because he had barely entered the room when a shot rang out and its force flung him against the back wall.<\/p>\n

He heard screams, but no one approached him.\u00a0 For a few moments, he was numb.\u00a0 A heartbeat later, his upper right arm felt as if it were on fire, and he reeled from the sudden violence of the pain.\u00a0 Once he was certain he was still standing, he reached up and found his shirtsleeve soaked.\u00a0 He drew his hand away, staring in amazement at the blood on his fingers.\u00a0 Nothing made sense.\u00a0 Pa had specifically said he couldn’t go hunting for rustlers.\u00a0 For an insane moment, he wondered if the rustlers had come for him instead.\u00a0 Then, the roaring in his ears diminished, and he heard a voice.<\/p>\n

“I said, nobody move!”<\/p>\n

Andy Sutton stood at the front of the classroom, a revolver in his hand.\u00a0 Andy’s face was white.\u00a0 His eyes were huge and round, and he looked every bit as scared as Joe felt.\u00a0 Little Joe was willing to bet Andy had never shot anybody before and had no idea what to do next.\u00a0 Strangely reassured, Little Joe tried to gather his wits.\u00a0 He had never been shot, but he’d seen other men hit.\u00a0 He figured that, if he was conscious, this was a good sign that the wound wasn’t serious, even though it hurt like a son of a gun.\u00a0 He took a deep breath, steeling himself against the pain.<\/p>\n

“What’s goin’ on, Andy?”\u00a0 Little Joe tried to sound as casual, like he and Andy were best friends, but even he heard his voice shaking.\u00a0 He started to move to a seat, but he heard the gun click.<\/p>\n

“Are you deaf?\u00a0 I said, nobody move!”\u00a0 A twinge of panic made Andy’s voice squeak.<\/p>\n

“I just need to sit down,” said Little Joe.\u00a0 He was getting dizzy, and he didn’t want to fall over.<\/p>\n

“Andy, Little Joe’s bleeding,” said Miss Jones.\u00a0 For the first time, Little Joe saw her, sitting in one of the front seats, right in front of Andy and his gun.\u00a0 “Let me tend to him, all right?”<\/p>\n

“No.\u00a0 Not you.\u00a0 You sit right here.\u00a0 Don’t move.\u00a0 I already shot one person.\u00a0 I can do it again.”\u00a0 Andy’s gaze traveled over the room.\u00a0 “You,” he said to Sarabeth Wallace.<\/p>\n

“Me?”\u00a0 The girl’s voice was breathy and much higher-pitched than usual.<\/p>\n

“You,” Andy confirmed.\u00a0 “Wrap something around Cartwright’s arm.”<\/p>\n

“What–what should I use?”<\/p>\n

“Sarabeth.”\u00a0 All eyes turned to Little Joe.\u00a0 “Help me get my jacket off, and you can tear off my shirtsleeve and use that.”\u00a0 He’d heard enough from his brothers to know that this would work for a little while.\u00a0 If they weren’t there too long, it might be enough.\u00a0 He felt himself swaying and pushed back against the wall for support.\u00a0 “Andy, is it okay if I sit down?\u00a0 I’m kinda dizzy.”\u00a0 He didn’t know what made him say it that way, as if they were just a couple of fellows out fishing together, but it seemed to work.\u00a0 Andy considered him for a long moment before nodding his head, and Little Joe gratefully slid into his seat.\u00a0 The seat next to his was empty.\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 Trust Mitch Devlin to be out of school today.\u00a0 If Devlin were here, they could have taken Andy easily.<\/p>\n

Sarabeth slid into the empty seat.\u00a0 Tears ran down her cheeks as she helped Little Joe off with his jacket.\u00a0 He bit his lip hard when she slipped it off his right arm.\u00a0 Starting with the part of his shirtsleeve that had been torn by the bullet, she ripped the sleeve off.<\/p>\n

“How does it look?” Little Joe whispered.<\/p>\n

“No talking!” snapped Andy.<\/p>\n

“I need to tell her what to do,” said Little Joe, using his reasonable voice.\u00a0 If his brothers could have heard him at that moment, they would have been astounded, and they would likely have asked why he couldn’t sound like this all the time, calm and well-reasoned and rational.\u00a0\u00a0Because you aren’t crazy men with guns,<\/em>\u00a0and I don’t have to worry about you killing a bunch of kids,<\/em>\u00a0the boy retorted silently.\u00a0 He thought of the patting-down gesture.\u00a0 If ever anybody needed to be patted down, it was Andy Sutton.<\/p>\n

Deliberately, he tried to keep his voice up so that Andy wouldn’t think he was trying to plan something.\u00a0 “Okay, Sarabeth, do you have anything we can blot up the blood with?”\u00a0 He ignored the gasps and cries from the younger children as he referred to blood.<\/p>\n

“I–well–wait a minute.”\u00a0 She looked fearfully around the room before she reached under the desk.\u00a0 They heard a ripping sound.\u00a0 A moment later, she held a strip of petticoat in her hand.<\/p>\n

Little Joe smiled at her.\u00a0 “Good girl,” he whispered.\u00a0 More loudly, he said, “Good.\u00a0 See if you can wipe off the extra blood–aaaargh!”\u00a0 The arm was on fire.\u00a0 “Barely touch it,” he managed between clenched teeth.\u00a0 Sarabeth held his lower arm and draped the petticoat over his arm.\u00a0 “Hang on,” he whispered, to himself as well as the girl.\u00a0 He didn’t have to look at her to know that she was as white as the petticoat had been a minute earlier.<\/p>\n

When she took the blood-stained material away, he felt gingerly around the area.\u00a0 Almost at the edge of his arm, he felt two holes, one in front and one in back.\u00a0\u00a0Thank God<\/em>.\u00a0 He’d heard his brothers talk about how, if you had to get shot, this was the best way to do it–bullet in and out, nice and clean.\u00a0 He closed his eyes, furrowing his brow as he tried to remember what to do next.\u00a0 He knew he’d heard the stories.\u00a0 He just had to remember.<\/p>\n

Hoss, what do I do?<\/em>\u00a0 Little Joe asked silently.\u00a0 He couldn’t risk losing too much blood and passing out.\u00a0 There was no way to know what would happen if he did.\u00a0 He didn’t even know why Andy Sutton had shot him in the first place, or why Andy had a gun in school at all.<\/p>\n

As if Hoss were listening, Little Joe heard the response in his mind:\u00a0\u00a0pack the wound and wrap it.<\/em>\u00a0 “Sarabeth, I need you to get another piece of your–”\u00a0 He couldn’t make himself refer to her petticoat as such.\u00a0 Gentlemen didn’t speak of such things, especially not in front of a room full of crying children.\u00a0 With tears still running down her cheeks, Sarabeth reached under the desk and tore off another piece.\u00a0 “Okay, now, fold it up and I’ll hold it against the holes while you tie it.”\u00a0 The girl did as she was told, and Little Joe didn’t realize that he’d been holding his breath until she smoothed the makeshift bandage into place and nodded at him.<\/p>\n

“Thanks,” he whispered, patting her blood-stained hand quickly with his left one.<\/p>\n

“Okay, back to your seat!” ordered Andy.\u00a0 Sarabeth cast a frightened look at Little Joe as she slid out of Mitch’s seat.<\/p>\n

Little Joe raised his left hand.<\/p>\n

“What?” barked Andy nervously.<\/p>\n

“I’m sorry, Andy, I was a little late,” said Little Joe.\u00a0 “I don’t quite understand–what’s goin’ on?”<\/p>\n

The gun clicked.\u00a0 Two of the six-year-olds started to cry, and Miss Jones reached over to put her arms around them.\u00a0 Little Joe could see a puddle growing under the seat of one of the seven-year-olds.\u00a0 He still felt dizzy, but his arm felt a little bit better all bound up.<\/p>\n

“What’s goin’ on, Cartwright?\u00a0 What’s it look like?”<\/p>\n

“I don’t rightly know, Andy,” said Little Joe, trying his best to pat the boy down.\u00a0 “Maybe you could tell me, and maybe I can help.”<\/p>\n

Andy looked at the older boy for a long minute.\u00a0 The crying children were starting to get on his nerves.\u00a0 Two more had had accidents, and the room was beginning to smell.\u00a0 This wasn’t going the way he’d planned.\u00a0 He needed to do something else.<\/p>\n

“You.”\u00a0 He pointed the gun at Miss Jones.\u00a0 “Get out.”<\/p>\n

“Andy, I can’t leave these children.”\u00a0 Miss Jones tried to mimic the Cartwright boy’s reasonable tone.<\/p>\n

“Leave or die.”\u00a0 The gun was cocked.<\/p>\n

“But, Andy–”<\/p>\n

He aimed at the floor next to her feet and fired.\u00a0 The little children were wailing now, and some of the older children joined in.\u00a0 “Last chance,” he said.<\/p>\n

Abigail Jones looked around the room helplessly.\u00a0 Her eyes met those of Adam Cartwright’s little brother.\u00a0 “Go,” he mouthed.<\/p>\n

It went against everything in the teacher’s nature to leave her students.\u00a0 She was about to sit back down and risk Andy Sutton’s making good on his threat when she realized what Little Joe was saying:\u00a0\u00a0Go, and get help.<\/em>\u00a0 Never turning her back on Andy, she made her way up the aisle and out the door.\u00a0 Then, she ran like the wind down the street, screaming for help. \u00a0Neither she nor Little Joe knew that this was precisely what Andy Sutton wanted her to do.<\/p>\n

Bring him an audience.<\/p>\n

Hour Two<\/strong><\/p>\n

C Street was unusually quiet when Ben Cartwright rode in.\u00a0 He was still fuming about MacDonald and the rustlers and Little Joe, and he barely noticed how few people were around.\u00a0 He reined in Buck in front of the lawyer’s office and dismounted, his mind far from Virginia City.<\/p>\n

“Ben!\u00a0 Ben!”\u00a0 Clem Foster was running down the street.\u00a0 Normally implacable, the deputy looked frantic.<\/p>\n

“What is it, Clem?”\u00a0 All Ben needed was one more problem to make his day complete.<\/p>\n

“Ben–there’s trouble over at the school,” panted Clem.<\/p>\n

Immediately, Ben’s mind ricocheted back to Virginia City.\u00a0 “What sort of trouble?”<\/p>\n

“As near as anybody can figure, one of the kids brought a gun and is threatening the rest of the class,” Clem said, leaning against the hitching rail to catch his breath.<\/p>\n

But Clem’s brown eyes were too serious even for such grim news, and Ben felt his stomach lurch.\u00a0 “Is anybody hurt?”<\/p>\n

Clem nodded.\u00a0 “The teacher says–the kid told her to get out, and she came to the office, and–well, Ben–”<\/p>\n

“What is it?” Ben snapped.<\/p>\n

“Little Joe’s been shot.\u00a0 She says–Ben?”<\/p>\n

But Ben Cartwright was already back on his horse and riding toward the schoolhouse as fast as the buckskin gelding would run.<\/p>\n

When he arrived, parents were milling around, looking helpless and panicked.\u00a0 “Roy!” he bellowed.\u00a0 The sheriff turned and waved him over.\u00a0 “Roy, what’s happened to my boy?”<\/p>\n

“Now, calm down, Ben, we’re still trying to sort this out,” said Roy.\u00a0 “According to Miss Jones here, Little Joe’s been hit in the arm, but it don’t seem too bad.”<\/p>\n

“He didn’t lose consciousness, and Andy let somebody bind up the wound,” Abigail Jones said.<\/p>\n

“Andy who?”\u00a0 Ben didn’t even remember Little Joe ever mentioning someone by that name.<\/p>\n

“Andy Sutton,” said the teacher.\u00a0 “I don’t know what happened, Mr.\u00a0Cartwright.\u00a0 He just pulled out a gun for no reason.”<\/p>\n

“How did Little Joe get shot?”<\/p>\n

“He was late coming in.\u00a0 Andy was already holding everybody at gunpoint, and when Joseph came in, he fired.\u00a0 I don’t know if he even realized who was coming in the door.”<\/p>\n

“But that’s why nobody else can go in,” interjected Roy.\u00a0 “Talked to the boy a little bit.\u00a0 He says if anybody tries to come in, he’ll start shooting.”<\/p>\n

“Does anybody know why he’s doing this?”\u00a0 Ben was torn between relief that his son’s wound seemed not to be life-threatening, fury that his son had been injured at all, and alarm that matters could get worse.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know,” said the teacher.\u00a0 “He said something about not being taken seriously, but I don’t know what he’s talking about.\u00a0 It doesn’t make any sense.\u00a0 He just came in this morning, and as soon as I called the class to order, he pulled the gun out of his saddlebag and threatened to kill me if I didn’t sit down.”<\/p>\n

“How many children are in there?”<\/p>\n

“Twenty-three,” she said.\u00a0 “There are several little ones, six and seven years old.”\u00a0 They could hear the children crying from where they stood.<\/p>\n

Ben turned to Roy.\u00a0 “What are we going to do?”<\/p>\n

“Well, Ben, I’ll tell you, I don’t rightly know,” said Roy.\u00a0 “There’s only one door to the schoolhouse, and you’re lookin’ at it.\u00a0 The way they built this place, where you gotta go up them steps to get in, means we couldn’t reach the windows even if it was safe to try goin’ in that way.\u00a0 At this point, though, I wouldn’t even try that.\u00a0 I ain’t fond of the notion of this boy shootin’ another young’un.\u00a0 Bad enough he winged Little Joe.\u00a0 I don’t want anybody else gettin’ hurt.\u00a0 So, if you got any ideas, I’m willin’ to listen.”<\/p>\n

Ben tried to tamp down his panic as he considered the question.\u00a0 His son was already wounded, and even if the teacher said it didn’t seem serious, it was still a gunshot wound in his fifteen-year-old son’s arm.\u00a0 He absolutely would not take the chance of this Sutton boy firing again, at Little Joe or any other child.<\/p>\n

“I don’t know what to do, other than wait him out,” Ben said finally.<\/p>\n

“That’s what I’m thinkin’, too,” said Roy.\u00a0 “I jest wish we could get them little ones out of there.”<\/p>\n

Ben said nothing.\u00a0 Right now, there was only one little one on his mind.\u00a0 “Where’s the boy’s father?” he asked suddenly.<\/p>\n

Roy gestured.\u00a0 “Over there.\u00a0 But don’t expect much.”<\/p>\n

Enoch Sutton stood alone under a tree.\u00a0 Even in this crisis, he appeared to be only mildly upset.\u00a0 As Ben approached, however, he immediately began to apologize.\u00a0 “Mr.\u00a0Cartwright, I’m so very sorry,” he said.\u00a0 “I don’t know what’s the matter with Andy.\u00a0 I didn’t even know he had my gun until Miss Jones told me. \u00a0I don’t know what he’s trying to do.\u00a0 I’m so sorry about your son.\u00a0 I’m sure everything will be all right.”<\/p>\n

“Enoch, you need to talk to your boy,” said Ben.\u00a0 “Make him see that he needs to let those children out of there.”<\/p>\n

“Do you think that will help?” asked Enoch.<\/p>\n

Roy had arrived in time to hear Enoch’s question.\u00a0 “What in tarnation do you mean?” he demanded.\u00a0 “Tell your boy to let everybody leave!”<\/p>\n

Enoch looked surprised, as if the thought had never occurred to him.\u00a0 Agreeably, he walked with Ben and Roy over to the schoolhouse.\u00a0 They stood under the window and looked at Enoch expectantly.<\/p>\n

“What should I say?” asked Enoch.<\/p>\n

“Just tell him to put down the gun and come outside,” said Roy impatiently.<\/p>\n

“But we tried that,” said Enoch.\u00a0 “He wouldn’t do it.”<\/p>\n

“What?”\u00a0 Ben looked from Enoch to Roy.<\/p>\n

“Well, let’s try it again,” said Roy.\u00a0 Loudly, he called out, “Hey, Andy!\u00a0 Your pa wants to talk to you again!”<\/p>\n

In response, a bullet sailed through the window. \u00a0The men ducked as broken glass fell from above them. \u00a0Inside, children screamed.<\/p>\n

“Andy, this is Ben Cartwright,” called Ben.\u00a0 “I don’t know what’s going on here, but you need to put down the gun and come outside to talk to us.”<\/p>\n

Another shot rang through the window.\u00a0 More screams.<\/p>\n

“Ben, I don’t think the boy’s interested in talkin’ to us right now,” said Roy.\u00a0 “Enoch, how many bullets did he take?”<\/p>\n

“A whole box full,” said Enoch helpfully.\u00a0 “I had a brand new box on the shelf, and it’s gone now.”<\/p>\n

“And we need to make sure he doesn’t fire any more of them,” said Ben.<\/p>\n

But if the boy wouldn’t listen to his own pa, they were out of ideas.<\/p>\n

Hour Three<\/strong><\/p>\n

Little Joe slumped in his seat.\u00a0 Even bound up, his arm was burning something fierce.\u00a0 He felt dizzy, and his head was pounding, but he didn’t dare close his eyes.\u00a0 He wasn’t going to pass out if he could help it.<\/p>\n

The little ones were crying and whimpering.\u00a0 Every time they’d settle down, something would happen to get them riled up, like when his pa and the sheriff called from outside and Andy fired a couple of shots through the window.\u00a0 The more the little kids cried, the more agitated Andy got, and the more Little Joe worried.\u00a0 He didn’t want to see what would happen if Andy got really upset.<\/p>\n

So, while Andy paced back and forth, waving his gun around, Little Joe cast about for an idea.\u00a0 Finally, he had it.\u00a0 Pa would be furious, but it was the only thing he could think of.\u00a0 If it didn’t work–well, he’d just have to make sure it did.<\/p>\n

“Hey, Andy,” he said.\u00a0 “Can I talk to you for a minute?”<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

The door to the schoolhouse opened.\u00a0 Children stumbled out into the sunlight, crying.\u00a0 Parents rushed to their sons and daughters.\u00a0 The door slammed shut as soon as the last child ran out.<\/p>\n

“Thank God,” breathed Ben.\u00a0 Frantically, he searched the faces.\u00a0 “Little Joe!” he called over the din.\u00a0 “Joseph!”\u00a0 He fought his way through the chaos, peering at each face.\u00a0 “Joseph!”<\/p>\n

“Ben–”\u00a0 Martha Eldridge took his arm, her daughter still pressed against her.\u00a0 “Ben–”<\/p>\n

“I’m sorry, Martha, but I have to find Little Joe,” said Ben as he pulled away.<\/p>\n

Martha reached for him again. \u00a0She held her daughter tight against her, understanding, as only another parent could, the pain she was about to inflict. \u00a0“Ben, Little Joe’s still inside,” she said as gently as she could.<\/p>\n

“What?”\u00a0 She nodded, and his world slammed to a halt.\u00a0 “How do you know?”\u00a0 he managed finally.<\/p>\n

“Annie said so,” said Martha.\u00a0 Eight-year-old Annie Eldridge nodded, clutching her mother.<\/p>\n

Ben sank to his knees beside the child. \u00a0Her big brown eyes brimmed with tears.\u00a0 “Is Little Joe all right, Annie?” he asked softly, trying to mask his terror.<\/p>\n

“Yessir,” whispered Annie.<\/p>\n

“Then what–why–”\u00a0 He couldn’t get the words out, couldn’t form a sentence.\u00a0 Helplessly, he looked up at the girl’s mother.<\/p>\n

Martha nodded at her daughter.\u00a0 “Tell Mr.\u00a0Cartwright, Annie.\u00a0 Tell him everything.”<\/p>\n

The little girl looked at Ben with steadfast sadness.\u00a0 “Andy was gonna shoot everybody, but Joe said that warn’t a good idea, ’cause then somebody’d shoot Andy.\u00a0 Him and Andy talked for a long time, and Little Joe said that if’n Andy would let everybody else out, Little Joe would stay, and that would be good ’cause his pa–you, sir–was real powerful and everybody would listen to him if he had Ben Cartwright’s son.\u00a0 So Andy told the rest of us to get out, and him and Little Joe are the only ones in there now.”<\/p>\n

Ben closed his eyes.\u00a0 This wasn’t happening.\u00a0 It just wasn’t.\u00a0 His son, his baby boy, was being held prisoner by a frightened thirteen-year-old with a loaded gun. \u00a0And he’d actually volunteered to be the hostage.\u00a0 It was as idiotic and foolhardy as anything Ben had ever heard of. \u00a0He fought off a feeling of lightheadedness.\u00a0 He couldn’t fall apart.\u00a0 His boy needed him.<\/p>\n

“But Little Joe’s all right?”\u00a0 he asked.<\/p>\n

“Well–”<\/p>\n

“Well what, Annie?”\u00a0 Ben tried not to snap at the frightened child.<\/p>\n

“He kinda got shot a little bit–”<\/p>\n

“What?”\u00a0 It was all Ben could do not to shake the little girl to make the words come faster.\u00a0 “Where was he hit?”\u00a0 He’d been keeping track of the shots, and he’d thought all of them went out the window, but.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.<\/p>\n

Annie patted her upper right arm.\u00a0 “Little Joe said it wasn’t bad.\u00a0 Andy let Sarabeth Wallace wrap something around it.”\u00a0 Ben breathed a prayer of relief. \u00a0It wasn’t a new wound.\u00a0 Thank God. \u00a0But then, the little girl continued, “Andy said-he said Little Joe would be okay as long as nobody tries to come in.\u00a0 But Mr.\u00a0Cartwright–when he said it–he was holding his gun right up against Little Joe’s head.”<\/p>\n

“Oh, dear God,” Ben whispered.\u00a0 He fought not to retch right there.\u00a0 He took deep breaths, trying to control his panic.\u00a0 Finally, he pushed to his feet, saying, “Thank you, Annie.”\u00a0 As he turned to walk away, Martha caught his arm.\u00a0 Her eyes were filled with tears.\u00a0 She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came.\u00a0 He patted her hand and walked away.\u00a0 He knew what she meant.<\/p>\n

Hour Four<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Pa, you’ve got to eat something,” said Adam, squatting down beside where his father sat and pushing a piece of bread into his father’s hand.\u00a0 He and Hoss had come as soon as they heard.\u00a0 To hell with stolen cattle.<\/p>\n

Ben hadn’t taken his eyes off the schoolhouse since the last of the children had left the schoolyard.\u00a0 His hand took the bread and held it lifelessly.<\/p>\n

“I can’t remember the last thing I said,” he said dully.<\/p>\n

“The last thing you said when?” asked Adam.\u00a0 He tried to push a canteen into his father’s free hand, but it fell to the dirt, unnoticed.<\/p>\n

“The last thing I said to Little Joe before he left this morning,” said Ben.\u00a0 “I was so angry, and I don’t even remember why.”<\/p>\n

“It’s all right, Pa,” said Adam.\u00a0 “Try to eat now.”<\/p>\n

“I yelled at him about something,” said Ben.\u00a0 “I don’t remember what it was, but it was so important to me.\u00a0 So important that I didn’t even say to goodbye to him when he left.\u00a0 All I did was yell.”<\/p>\n

“Pa, he’s going to be fine.”\u00a0 Adam could hear the desperation in his own voice.\u00a0 He’d seen his father deep in grief before, after Inger’s death and Marie’s, but there was something new and frightening about this Ben Cartwright.\u00a0 In the back of Adam’s mind, a thought flickered:\u00a0\u00a0if Little Joe dies, Pa will not survive that loss.<\/em>\u00a0 Firmly, he pushed the thought away.\u00a0 “Pa, you need eat something,” he said again.\u00a0 “When Joe comes out of there, he’s going to need you.\u00a0 You have to be ready so you can help him.”<\/p>\n

“I didn’t tell him to be careful or to study hard,” Ben said tonelessly, as if Adam hadn’t spoken.\u00a0 “I didn’t tell him I love him.\u00a0 I just yelled at him.”<\/p>\n

“Pa, you can tell him all that when this is over,” said Adam.<\/p>\n

Ben’s deep brown eyes brimmed with tears as he watched the schoolhouse.\u00a0 “What if that was my last chance to talk to him?”<\/p>\n

Adam laid his hand on his father’s knee.\u00a0 He felt utterly helpless.\u00a0 “Pa,” he said, moving into his father’s line of vision.\u00a0 Ben craned his neck to look around Adam, but his eldest son blocked the view.\u00a0 “Pa, you have to pull yourself together,” he said.\u00a0 “You can’t worry any more about what you didn’t say this morning.\u00a0 You need to think about what you’re going to say to Joe when we get him out of that schoolhouse.”\u00a0 Ben dropped his head into his hands.\u00a0 His broad shoulders shook.\u00a0 Carefully, Adam moved so as to block him from the sightline of the other men.<\/p>\n

“We’re going to get him out of there,” he murmured, his hand on his father’s shoulder.\u00a0 “I promise.”\u00a0 He stood in the speckled shade of the schoolyard as his father wept, repeating his promise over and over, as if sheer repetition could make it come true.<\/p>\n

Hour Six<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Roy, it’s almost three o’clock.\u00a0 My boy was shot six hours ago.\u00a0 He needs a doctor!”<\/p>\n

“Ben, what are you figgerin’ we can do?\u00a0 You know we done tried talkin’ to Andy half a dozen times now, and all he does is shoot at us.\u00a0 As far as we know, that’s the only time he ain’t holdin’ that gun on Little Joe.\u00a0 I know you’re worried, but I ain’t inclined to get that Sutton boy any more riled up than he already is.”<\/p>\n

“But we have to get Little Joe out of there.\u00a0 We can’t just sit here and wait until Andy Sutton gets tired!”\u00a0 He strode over to the schoolhouse and stood beneath the shattered window.\u00a0 “Andy!\u00a0 It’s Ben Cartwright!\u00a0 I want to talk to my boy!”<\/p>\n

A bullet sailed through the shattered window.<\/p>\n

“Joe!\u00a0 Joseph!\u00a0 Are you all right, son?”<\/p>\n

“Pa?\u00a0 I–aaargh!”<\/p>\n

At Joe’s scream, it was all his father could do not to climb through the windows and choke that Sutton boy with his bare hands.\u00a0 He knew what had happened–Joe had the temerity to talk, and to retaliate, Andy had hit his wounded arm.\u00a0 He could hear his son’s ragged breathing, and he knew the boy was fighting to stay in control.<\/p>\n

“You’re going to be all right, son,” he called.\u00a0 “We’re going to get you out of there.\u00a0 I promise.”<\/p>\n

But Joe’s battle for control failed, and Ben heard his son vomiting.\u00a0 The father’s jaw clenched in fury.\u00a0 He was going to get his boy out of there, alive and whole, if it was the last thing he did.\u00a0 And then, child or not, the Sutton boy would pay for what he had done.<\/p>\n

Ben stood under the window, listening for any indication that Andy Sutton was ready to talk, or any clue as to his son’s condition.\u00a0 After a while, he heard whispering, but he couldn’t make out any words.\u00a0 Finally, helplessly, he returned to where Roy and his sons stood.<\/p>\n

“Any luck, Pa?” asked Adam.<\/p>\n

Ben shook his head.\u00a0 “I don’t know what to do,” he said.\u00a0 “We’ve got to get him out of there, but I have no idea how.\u00a0 I–”<\/p>\n

“Pa?”<\/p>\n

Their heads snapped around at the sound of Little Joe’s voice, barely carrying across the schoolyard.\u00a0 As Ben started to propel himself toward the schoolhouse, Little Joe called, “Pa, stop!\u00a0 Don’t come any closer!”<\/p>\n

Little Joe stood unsteadily in the doorway. \u00a0His eyes were reddened, and he swiped at his nose with his left sleeve. \u00a0All that was visible of Andy Sutton was the gun pressed against Little Joe’s head.\u00a0 Ben felt his stomach lurch at the sight.<\/p>\n

“Joseph?\u00a0 Are you all right?” \u00a0he called.<\/p>\n

“I’m fine, Pa,” Little Joe called back.\u00a0 He cradled his right elbow in his left hand.<\/p>\n

“How’s your arm, son?”\u00a0 Only the gun barrel kept Ben from racing across the yard to his son.<\/p>\n

“Fine.\u00a0 Stings a little bit, that’s all.”\u00a0 They saw Little Joe stumble just a bit, as if he’d been shoved by the gun barrel, and he added, “Doesn’t hurt at all.\u00a0 Really, Andy didn’t hurt me.\u00a0 It’s okay.\u00a0 Don’t worry.\u00a0 The important thing is that you take Andy seriously.\u00a0 That’s real important.”\u00a0 He was doing his best to keep his voice steady, and he was almost succeeding.<\/p>\n

“It’s going to be all right, Joe,” said Ben.\u00a0 “Don’t you worry about anything.\u00a0 We’re going to do whatever we have to do to get you out of there.”<\/p>\n

“Pa, it’s okay, really, you don’t have to worry, I’m just fine, Andy isn’t hurting me at all.”\u00a0 Little Joe was struggling to sound calm and matter-of-fact, just the way Andy said to.\u00a0 “You just have to listen to Andy and take him seriously.”<\/p>\n

“Joe, it’s all right, we’re going to take care of this–”<\/p>\n

“Pa, I’m fine!”<\/p>\n

Then, Hoss saw it.\u00a0 Little Joe met his gaze hard, and then he deliberately flicked his eyes down toward his own left hand.\u00a0 Joe’s left hand was making the patting motion.\u00a0 Hoss nodded, and even from across the schoolyard, he could see the relief on his little brother’s face.<\/p>\n

“Pa,” Hoss said, grabbing his father’s arm.\u00a0 “Pa, come here.”<\/p>\n

“Not now, Hoss.”\u00a0 Ben tried to pull his arm free, but the bigger man held on.<\/p>\n

“Pa, stop!” hissed Adam.\u00a0 He’d seen the patting motion, too.<\/p>\n

Ben glared at his older sons.\u00a0 Little Joe stood in the doorway, slight and pale and impossibly brave.\u00a0 He started to turn back to his youngest son, but Hoss held his father’s arm hard, a level of disrespect he had never shown, and it got Ben’s attention.<\/p>\n

“Pa, you gotta stop right now,” said Hoss with quiet intensity.\u00a0 “You’re making Andy Sutton real nervous, with all this talk about gettin’ Joe out of there.\u00a0 Little Joe’s doin’ jest what he needs to be doin’ now, and you bein’ all worried is makin’ it worse.\u00a0 You stay here where he can see you, but don’t say nothing.\u00a0 Give me and Adam a few minutes to figure somethin’ out.”<\/p>\n

The older Cartwright brothers withdrew a few steps to where the sheriff stood.\u00a0 “Roy, make sure Pa doesn’t say anything,” said Adam in a low voice.\u00a0 “He’s making Andy Sutton nervous.”<\/p>\n

“How in tarnation do you two know that?”<\/p>\n

“‘Cause we know our little brother,” said Hoss grimly.\u00a0 “We need to do somethin’ to get him out of there.”<\/p>\n

“And you want me to babysit your Pa while you come up with some grand plan?”\u00a0 Roy raised his unruly gray eyebrows skeptically.<\/p>\n

“Roy, just–just give us a minute a minute to think, okay?”\u00a0 Adam said.\u00a0 The lawman looked from one brother to the other and snorted his disapproval, but he sauntered over and stood next to his old friend as if it were his own idea.<\/p>\n

The brothers talked quietly for a few minutes before Adam nodded his agreement to Hoss’ proposal.\u00a0 They approached Ben and Roy.\u00a0 “Pa, we’ve got an idea,” said Adam.<\/p>\n

“I’m gonna go in and talk to Andy Sutton,” said Hoss.<\/p>\n

“You?”\u00a0 Roy would have bet his bottom dollar that Adam would be the one to try for the heroics.<\/p>\n

Ben looked from one son to the other.\u00a0 “I don’t understand,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Pa, think about that boy for a minute–Andy, not Little Joe,” said Hoss.\u00a0 “You heard what everybody was sayin’ before.\u00a0 He’s big for his age.\u00a0 He ain’t no good at school.\u00a0 He don’t have no friends. \u00a0I bet he feels like nobody listens when he talks. \u00a0Didn’t you hear what Little Joe said?\u00a0 He kept sayin’ we needed to listen to Andy and take him serious. \u00a0Pa, I know just how Andy feels.\u00a0 There ain’t a lot of people even now who listen to me or take me serious.”<\/p>\n

“But you never did anything like this–”<\/p>\n

“No, sir, I didn’t,” Hoss agreed.\u00a0 “But Andy did, and we’re thinkin’ this ain’t gonna be over until he feels like somebody’s listening.\u00a0 So, Adam and I figgered I should go and listen to him for a while.”<\/p>\n

“But–why you?”\u00a0 Roy looked from one to the other.<\/p>\n

“Because nobody’s better with wild animals than Brother Hoss,” said Adam.<\/p>\n

Hoss nodded.\u00a0 “The way I figger it, Roy, that boy’s no different from a wild critter that’s got itself trapped somewhere and don’t know how to get out.\u00a0 We just gotta ease him out of there.\u00a0 And I’m thinkin’ the way to do that is to go in and listen to him.”<\/p>\n

“Then I’ll go,” said Ben.<\/p>\n

Hoss shook his head firmly.\u00a0 “Meanin’ no disrespect, Pa, but you’re the last person who should go in there.\u00a0 Andy’d know in a heartbeat that you don’t care two licks ’bout listenin’ to him.\u00a0 You’d just be there for Little Joe, and Andy’d know that.\u00a0 No, sir, we need to let Andy see that somebody’s there to hear what he has to say that’s so all-fired important.”<\/p>\n

“He’s got a point, Ben,” said Roy.\u00a0 “About you, I mean.\u00a0 But I don’t like the rest of the plan even a little bit.”\u00a0 He didn’t know if it was Hoss’ size or not, but it seemed like everybody had forgotten that Hoss Cartwright, at not quite twenty-one, was barely more than a boy himself.\u00a0 Roy wasn’t at all happy about sending the middle Cartwright boy in to get between a pair of kids, one of whom had a gun.<\/p>\n

“Well, Roy, if you’ve got a better idea, we’re happy to hear it,” said Adam, crossing his arms.<\/p>\n

“No need for you to get snippy with me, Adam Cartwright,” said Roy huffily.\u00a0 “I’m jest sayin’ I don’t like your plan.\u00a0 It’s dangerous.”<\/p>\n

“Everything about this situation is dangerous,” said Adam.\u00a0 “Right now, there’s a gun pointed at my little brother’s head.\u00a0 It doesn’t get any more dangerous than that.\u00a0 If there’s a chance Hoss can talk this kid out of doing anything stupid, I think we should let him try.”<\/p>\n

Roy looked from Ben to his sons.\u00a0 “How do you plan to get in there?”<\/p>\n

“Ask,” said Hoss.<\/p>\n

Little Joe was still standing in the doorway, feeling sweat run down his face despite the cool day.\u00a0 He saw Hoss break away from the group and saunter toward him, real casual, like they were at a church social.\u00a0 “Hey, Little Brother,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Don’t come any closer, Hoss,” warned Little Joe.\u00a0 The gun barrel was pressing against his head.<\/p>\n

“Okay.”\u00a0 Hoss stopped.\u00a0 His tone was so amiable that you’d almost expect him to buy everybody a beer.\u00a0 “Little Brother, do you think I could talk to Andy for a minute?”<\/p>\n

Little Joe seemed to be listening to someone.\u00a0 “About what?” he said finally.<\/p>\n

“Well, it’s like this,” said Hoss. \u00a0“It seems to me like a feller who goes to all this trouble prob’ly has somethin’ he wants to say to folks, and it’s prob’ly real important.\u00a0 So, I thought that mebbe he might talk to me and tell me what it is he wants everybody to know so’s I can tell ’em.”<\/p>\n

Little Joe’s eyes grew round.\u00a0 Relief was evident.\u00a0 This time, Hoss could hear the murmuring that Joe was listening to.\u00a0 Then, the boy’s shoulders drooped slightly.\u00a0 “Why should Andy talk to you?”<\/p>\n

“Well, Little Brother, I–”\u00a0 Hoss started to cough.\u00a0 “Sorry, lots of dust out here.\u00a0 Mind if I come a little closer so’s I don’t have to yell so much?”<\/p>\n

Little Joe listened again.\u00a0 “Two steps.”<\/p>\n

“Okay.”\u00a0 Hoss took two steps and stopped as instructed.\u00a0 He coughed again.\u00a0 “Can you hear me okay?”<\/p>\n

“Pretty much,” said Little Joe.\u00a0 He listened again, and repeated, “Why should Andy talk to you?”<\/p>\n

“I just thought that, since he’s your friend and him and me has a lot in common, mebbe he’d want to tell me what it is he wants ever’body to know, and I can tell them all for him.”\u00a0 Hoss held his breath.<\/p>\n

Little Joe listened for almost a full minute before he spoke again.\u00a0 “What do you and Andy have in common?”<\/p>\n

“Well, Little Brother, it ain’t the kinda stuff a feller like you’d understand,” said Hoss.\u00a0 He could feel the eyes of his father and brother, as well as Roy and the rest of the men, boring into his back as he stood in the schoolyard on a cold spring afternoon, chatting with a boy who refused to be seen.\u00a0 “Like, when I was in school, I couldn’t seem to get nobody to listen to me, neither.\u00a0 It was like they thought that, since I was big, I was dumb or something.”<\/p>\n

“They do,” interjected Andy from behind the door.<\/p>\n

“And I don’t know about Andy, but I never felt real comfortable with the kids at school,” Hoss continued as if Andy hadn’t joined the conversation.\u00a0 “I was always happier out fishing or with the critters or somethin’.\u00a0 Andy strikes me as a feller who’s prob’ly real good at fishin’.\u00a0 Is he?”<\/p>\n

“I’m the best fisherman in school,” said Andy.<\/p>\n

“Now, you see that?\u00a0 I jest knew we had some things in common,” said Hoss, careful not to let his relief show.\u00a0 “Mebbe you’d let me come in and we could talk about fishin’, and mebbe you could give me a tip or two on a good fishin’ place.\u00a0 My older brother knows all about my favorite places, and I need some secret places he don’t know about so’s I can get the biggest fish.”<\/p>\n

Little Joe stood without moving.\u00a0 Hoss couldn’t hear Andy talking.\u00a0 He nodded to Little Joe, trying to comfort the boy without words.\u00a0 Finally, Little Joe said, “Drop your gunbelt.”\u00a0 Hoss did so.\u00a0 “Nobody else comes any closer.\u00a0 You’re the only one who comes in.”<\/p>\n

“That’s fine,” said Hoss.<\/p>\n

“Anybody comes close to the schoolhouse, and Andy’ll–Andy’ll–”\u00a0 Little Joe’s voice broke, and tears started to well up in his eyes.<\/p>\n

“Nobody’ll come close, don’t you worry,” said Hoss hastily. \u00a0He could guess what Andy was saying he’d do. \u00a0He promised, “It’ll just be me, with no guns.”<\/p>\n

“You count to fifty before you come in,” said Little Joe.\u00a0 “We’re gonna be by the teacher’s desk.\u00a0 You don’t come in any further than the very back seat, the one where I sit.”<\/p>\n

“Okay,” said Hoss in his most soothing voice.<\/p>\n

“Make sure everybody knows Andy’s rules,” said Little Joe.\u00a0 Panic was starting to squeeze his voice.\u00a0 “Now, start counting, and count real slow.”\u00a0 A hand grabbed Little Joe’s left arm, and he was jerked out of the doorway.<\/p>\n

Hoss ached to take the boy in his arms and hold him close.\u00a0\u00a0I’m coming in,<\/em>\u00a0he thought.\u00a0\u00a0I’m gonna get you out of there.\u00a0 I promise.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hour Nine<\/strong><\/p>\n

“Roy, what are we gonna do?\u00a0 Sit out here all night?\u00a0 My boys are in there!”<\/p>\n

“I know that, Ben, but if we rush the schoolhouse and scare that kid, somebody’s liable to get hurt.”\u00a0 The sheriff didn’t remind Ben of what Annie Eldridge had said about holding a gun to Little Joe’s head.\u00a0 He didn’t need to. \u00a0Ben had seen it for himself. \u00a0“I say we give Hoss a little more time to try to talk sense into him.”\u00a0\u00a0And pray that somehow, he gets through to that kid before somebody gets killed,<\/em>\u00a0Roy added silently.<\/p>\n

Darkness was falling.\u00a0 It had been nine hours since Andy Sutton had pulled his father’s revolver out of his saddlebag, seven hours since he had released the other children, and nearly two hours since Hoss Cartwright had worked his way inside.\u00a0 Doc Martin was standing by, his medical bag in his hand and his office ready.\u00a0 Adam Cartwright was clutching his father’s arm, trying to keep the older man restrained as they waited.\u00a0 And prayed.<\/p>\n

* * * * * * * * * *<\/p>\n

“Ain’t you hungry, Andy?” asked Hoss.<\/p>\n

“Kinda,” Andy admitted.<\/p>\n

“Y’know, if’n we let somebody come in, they might bring us some food,” said Hoss.<\/p>\n

“Like what?” Andy asked suspiciously.<\/p>\n

“Oh, prob’ly anything you want,” said Hoss.\u00a0 “Mebbe some of that fried chicken from over at Daisy’s Restaurant.”<\/p>\n

“Think they’d bring biscuits and gravy?”<\/p>\n

“I’ll bet they just would,” said Hoss.\u00a0 “In fact, I’ll bet they’d bring a whole apple pie if you said you wanted it.”<\/p>\n

“‘Cause they’re scared of me,” boasted Andy.\u00a0 He tapped the barrel of the gun against Little Joe’s ear.\u00a0 “Just like you, Cartwright.\u00a0 You’re scared of me now, ain’t you?”<\/p>\n

Little Joe’s eyes were glazed.\u00a0 Even in the chill of the darkening room, Hoss could see fevered sweat glistening on the boy’s face. \u00a0Hoss tried to meet his brother’s gaze to telegraph silent encouragement.\u00a0 Joe was bone-tired and hurting badly, and Hoss knew from experience that the boy could get pretty ornery when that happened.\u00a0 He had been holding himself together amazingly well, and the last thing Hoss wanted was for Joe to go mouthing off and make Andy mad.\u00a0 Especially when they were so close.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.<\/p>\n

“Should I be scared?” Little Joe said finally.\u00a0 He didn’t even sound like he cared that much.<\/p>\n

Andy chortled.\u00a0 “I sure would be, if somebody was holdin’ a gun to my head.”<\/p>\n

“I hope somebody does someday, so you know how it feels,” snapped Joe.<\/p>\n

“Joe.”\u00a0 Hoss kept his voice easy, but his eyes cautioned the boy to pat Andy down.<\/p>\n

“Sorry, Andy,” said Little Joe, sounding almost sincere.\u00a0 “You know, your arm must be real tired by now.\u00a0 If you wanted to put that gun down, I wouldn’t go anywhere.\u00a0 I promise.”<\/p>\n

“Why should I believe you?”<\/p>\n

“‘Cause I’m the one who stayed,” said Little Joe reasonably. \u00a0He sounded so tired that Hoss’ heart ached. \u00a0“Remember?\u00a0 I stayed ’cause you wanted people to listen to you.\u00a0 Well, you ain’t been sayin’ much, so maybe you want to put the gun down and go say somethin’ to them.\u00a0 I promise, Hoss and I will sit right here until you’re done.”<\/p>\n

“If I put the gun down, you’ll just take it.\u00a0 You think I’m stupid, don’t you, Cartwright!”\u00a0 Before Hoss could move, Andy punched Little Joe’s wounded arm.\u00a0 The older boy doubled over, gasping, eyes shut tightly against the fresh agony.\u00a0 Instinctively, Hoss lunged, but the clicking of the gun, aimed at his brother, brought him up short.\u00a0 “I wouldn’t try that if I was you,” said Andy.<\/p>\n

“You okay, Little Brother?” asked Hoss.\u00a0 When this was all over, he was going to tan the hide off that Sutton boy.<\/p>\n

Little Joe nodded, trying to catch his breath as he fought back tears of pain for what seemed like the thousandth time.\u00a0 He was so cold, and his arm hurt so much.\u00a0 It felt like he’d been in this room forever.\u00a0 It helped to have Hoss here, but even after two hours of talking, it didn’t seem like much had changed.\u00a0 Little Joe wished he could curl up and go to sleep, and not wake up until this whole nightmare was over.<\/p>\n

Hour Ten<\/strong><\/p>\n

The men crouched in the darkness around the schoolhouse.\u00a0 The light of the lantern was barely visible through the broken window.\u00a0 They could hear Hoss talking.\u00a0 Hopefully, he would keep the kid distracted long enough for them to ease the door open without being seen.\u00a0 If they could just do that much, maybe they could end this whole thing.<\/p>\n

“You jest put that gun down nice and easy, and I promise you, I’ll get you out of here without nobody gettin’ hurt.\u00a0 That’s my solemn promise, from me to you.”<\/p>\n

“But what about after?”<\/p>\n

“What do you mean?”<\/p>\n

“My pa’s gonna tan me somethin’ fierce.\u00a0 I know he don’t look like the tannin’ type, but he is.\u00a0 Can you promise he won’t tan me?\u00a0 You said you wouldn’t lie.”<\/p>\n

“That’s right, I did.\u00a0 I think your pa’s outside.\u00a0 Mebbe we can get him to promise right now, in front of everybody, that he won’t tan you for this.\u00a0 If we can do that, will you put the gun down so we can all go home?”<\/p>\n

There was a long silence.\u00a0 The men held their breath.\u00a0 “Can you make everybody promise not to laugh at me any more?”<\/p>\n

“That’s a tough one,” said Hoss.\u00a0 “I told you, they laughed at me in school, too.\u00a0 It ain’t nice, that’s for sure.”<\/p>\n

“How about if I beat ’em up if they laugh?” offered Little Joe. \u00a0His words were slurred now. \u00a0He sounded so weak that it was hard to imagine him coming out ahead in a fight with a sparrow.<\/p>\n

“That might be okay,” said Andy slowly.<\/p>\n

“Okay, lemme see if I got this,” said Hoss.\u00a0 “If’n we get some fried chicken with biscuits and gravy, and your pa promises not to tan you, and Little Joe beats up everybody who laughs at you–if’n we do all this, you’ll put down the gun and we can all go home?”<\/p>\n

“I dunno.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t understand, Andy.\u00a0 What else do you want?”<\/p>\n

Another long silence.\u00a0 So softly that the men could barely hear, Andy said, “This is the first time anybody ever took me serious.\u00a0 Once we go home, it’s over.\u00a0 Nobody’ll take me serious ever again.”<\/p>\n

“I’ll take you serious,” said Little Joe. \u00a0His voice was fading, and it was getting hard to understand him.<\/p>\n

“That’s only ’cause I got a gun to your head,” said Andy.\u00a0 Roy glanced at Ben, who closed his eyes for a moment.\u00a0 “You ain’t gonna take me serious if I put it down.”<\/p>\n

“Andy, I promise I’ll take you real serious,” said Little Joe.\u00a0 “You get me a Bible, and I’ll swear on it right now.\u00a0 That’s how much I mean it.”<\/p>\n

“I don’t know where the Bible is,” said Andy.<\/p>\n

“It’s in Miss Jones’ top drawer,” said Little Joe.\u00a0 “You go get it, and I’ll sit right here and wait for you, and I’ll swear on it right in front of Hoss.\u00a0 He’ll be the witness.”<\/p>\n

“No,” said Andy.\u00a0 “You get it.”<\/p>\n

“Okay, I’ll get it,” said Little Joe agreeably.\u00a0 He didn’t sound as if he had it left in him to walk even those few steps.\u00a0 The boy was done in, and Ben knew it.\u00a0 He held his breath as his son continued, “You just stay here.\u00a0 I’ll be right back.”<\/p>\n

“Oh, no, you don’t,” said Andy.\u00a0 “You think you’re gonna trick me. \u00a0You think I’m dumb. \u00a0You ain’t takin’ me serious at all!\u00a0 Nobody takes me serious!\u00a0 Nobody’ll ever take me serious!\u00a0 Well, you come on, Cartwright!\u00a0 I’ll show you!\u00a0 I’ll show ever’body!”<\/p>\n

The men heard movement.\u00a0 “Get ready,” whispered Roy as they heard Little Joe protest that he did so take Andy seriously.\u00a0 The men drew their guns and prepared to take the schoolhouse.<\/p>\n

Joe’s scream split the air.\u00a0 “ANDY!\u00a0 DON’T!\u00a0 NO!”<\/p>\n

And over Joe’s scream, Hoss bellowed, “NO!\u00a0 JOE!”<\/p>\n

The crash of bodies colliding, falling.\u00a0 A chair scraping against the wooden floor as if shoved aside.\u00a0 A single gunshot. \u00a0Voices hollering and screaming. \u00a0Bedlam, terrifying and violent.\u00a0 Ben Cartwright charged the door, bursting into the room, and time stopped.<\/p>\n

Blood seemed to be everywhere.\u00a0 In the dim light of the lantern, he saw blood dripping down the chalkboard, blood and something thicker and lumpier.\u00a0 The teacher’s chair lay on its side, flung from behind the desk.\u00a0 Two pairs of boots were visible, the rest of the boys hidden by the desk.<\/p>\n

“Joseph!”\u00a0 The strangled cry escaped the father’s throat.\u00a0 He lunged across the room, Adam on his heels, but Hoss was already there.<\/p>\n

By the time Ben reached the desk, his middle son was lifting Little Joe off the dead boy.\u00a0 Mindless of the blood, Hoss held his trembling brother close as he led the boy away from the front of the room.\u00a0 Only a few steps, and Little Joe’s legs gave way.\u00a0 Hoss caught him, easing him to the floor.\u00a0 He drew his little brother tight against him as their father knelt beside them and wrapped his strong arms around both his sons.<\/p>\n

It had been ten hours since Andy Sutton’s siege on Virginia City began. \u00a0Ten hours since Little Joe Cartwright had been shot for simply walking through a door.\u00a0 Ten mind-numbing hours of knowing that, at any second, Andy’s hand might slip and send a bullet through Little Joe’s brain.<\/p>\n

Ten hours of gut-wrenching terror.\u00a0 Of excruciating pain.\u00a0 Of one boy being braver than any boy should ever have to be.<\/p>\n

It was finally over.<\/p>\n

Held close in the protection of his family’s embrace, Little Joe surrendered at last to the torrent of emotion he’d kept pent up all day.\u00a0 He choked on his tears as he clung to his big brother with what little strength he still had.\u00a0 Hoss held him close, rocking back and forth, murmuring, “It’s over, Little Brother.\u00a0 It’s all over.\u00a0 You’re okay.\u00a0 We got you, you’re safe now.\u00a0 Pa’s here, and we’re gonna go home.”<\/p>\n

“Papa.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.”\u00a0 Little Joe hadn’t used that name since before his mother died, ten years earlier.\u00a0 After that, it was “Pa,” just like his big brothers said.\u00a0 But now, in the cold schoolhouse that smelled of death– “Papa.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.”<\/p>\n

“I’m right here, son.” \u00a0Ben could hardly get the words out. \u00a0All that blood–\u00a0 “Where do you hurt?” \u00a0His callused fingers caressed his youngest son’s blood-smeared cheek.\u00a0 He lifted the boy’s quivering chin, searching for another wound.\u00a0 To Hoss, he said, “Is he hit?\u00a0 What happened?”\u00a0 Adam knelt beside his father and brothers, the anguish of the day plain on his face.<\/p>\n

Hoss didn’t look up from the boy in his arms.\u00a0 “Andy turned the gun on himself,” he said simply.\u00a0 Tears streamed down the big man’s face, glistening in the dim light.\u00a0 Grief cracked his voice.\u00a0 “Pa, I tried.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.”<\/p>\n

“I know you did, son,” Ben murmured.\u00a0 “You did just fine.\u00a0 Nobody could have done better.”\u00a0 He rested his cheek on Little Joe’s damp curls as he rubbed Hoss’ broad shoulder.<\/p>\n

Behind him, Ben heard the hoarse cry of Enoch Sutton.\u00a0 He heard men murmuring.\u00a0 He heard walking and thumping, and he drew his sons closer so that they wouldn’t see Andy Sutton’s body being carried out.<\/p>\n

Doc Martin approached so softly that they didn’t hear him at first.\u00a0 “Ben, I need to have a look at him,” he said. \u00a0He squatted next to the Cartwrights and rested his hand against Little Joe’s forehead, frowning.\u00a0 “I need to look at your arm, Joe,” he said quietly.\u00a0 The boy nodded as he tried to choke back his sobs.\u00a0 His father held his hand, and he burrowed his face against his big brother’s chest.<\/p>\n

Adam held the lantern close to his brother’s arm.\u00a0 With swift gentleness, the doctor unwrapped the makeshift bandage, murmuring apologies as he pulled saturated fabric from the drying edges of the wounds.\u00a0 Fresh blood trickled down Little Joe’s hot, swollen arm as the doctor examined the bullet holes.\u00a0 He nodded to Ben.\u00a0 “Bring him down to the office when you’re ready,” he said.\u00a0 “I’ll get the arm cleaned up and bandaged and give him something for the pain and fever.\u00a0 You can probably take him home tonight.\u00a0 Are the rest of you all right?”\u00a0 When the others nodded shakily, the doctor rose and left the room.\u00a0 He knew when his patients needed something more than medical care.<\/p>\n

Finally, everyone else had left, and the room was still.\u00a0 Joe was still weeping, but more quietly.\u00a0 Ben kissed the boy’s forehead and turned to Hoss.\u00a0 “Are you ready to go?” he asked gently.\u00a0 Hoss nodded wordlessly.<\/p>\n

Slowly, stiffly, with Adam’s help, they got to their feet.\u00a0 Almost immediately, Little Joe’s knees buckled.\u00a0 As if lifting a child, Hoss caught him up and cradled the boy in his arms.\u00a0 Little Joe reached for his father, and Ben grasped his youngest son’s hand.\u00a0 The father’s other hand rested on Hoss’ strong shoulder.\u00a0 On Hoss’ left side, Adam held his middle brother’s arm, his other hand on his youngest brother’s knee.\u00a0 The Cartwrights walked out together, so close that, in the dark of the schoolyard, it was impossible to know where one ended and another began.<\/p>\n

Epilogue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Adam came slowly down the stairs.\u00a0 He felt as if he’d aged a thousand years since that morning.\u00a0 Every time he thought of how close he’d come to losing his brothers, he had to sit down, because his legs refused to hold him.<\/p>\n

Hoss was on the settee, elbows on his knees and forehead on his fists.\u00a0 Once Little Joe had been settled in bed, Ben sent his middle son downstairs to get something to eat. \u00a0“You took real good care of him today,” Ben said gently.\u00a0 “It’s my turn now.”\u00a0 Reluctantly, Hoss allowed Hop Sing to guide him from the room, and the door closed quietly behind them.<\/p>\n

A plate of sandwiches and a cup of coffee sat untouched on the table. \u00a0Adam regarded the scene for a minute.\u00a0 Then, he fetched a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, and he sat down next to his younger brother.<\/p>\n

Hoss looked up, his blue eyes exhausted and rimmed with red.\u00a0 “How’s Little Joe doin’?”\u00a0 he asked.<\/p>\n

“Sound asleep,” said Adam.\u00a0 “That was a pretty powerful sedative Doc gave him.\u00a0 He’ll probably sleep through the night.”\u00a0 That much was a mercy.\u00a0 Little Joe had been known to have violent nightmares with much less reason.\u00a0 At least this way, the boy would get one good night’s rest.\u00a0 “Pa’s still with him,” he added unnecessarily.\u00a0 They both knew Pa would sit by Joe’s bed all night, even though there was no reason to believe the boy would waken before morning.<\/p>\n

Adam poured two shots and handed one to Hoss.\u00a0 He rested his hand on his brother’s broad shoulder.\u00a0 “You saved his life.”<\/p>\n

Hoss turned the glass around and around.\u00a0 “Do you know what our little brother did?\u00a0 Jest before Andy shot himself?\u00a0 That danged little fool tried to get the gun away from him.”\u00a0 He tossed back the whiskey and set down the glass. \u00a0“Can you believe that?\u00a0 All day long, Andy Sutton held him at gunpoint and kept hittin’ his wound, and when Little Joe had finally had a chance to get free, all he did was try to keep that kid from killing himself.”\u00a0 Tears filled his eyes again.\u00a0 “If he’d had two good arms, he might’ve pulled the gun away from Andy.\u00a0 He could’ve been killed.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.”\u00a0 Terror and anguish spilled over as Hoss knew again how very near he had come to losing his little brother.<\/p>\n

Adam sat quietly beside Hoss as the big man wept.\u00a0 The fire crackled, and the comforting scent of woodsmoke encircled them.\u00a0 The lamps glowed softly.\u00a0 The bowl of apples sat in its usual spot, in the middle of the table.\u00a0 The room looked just as it had that morning, when cattle rustlers and land titles had seemed so important.<\/p>\n

“How old do you think he was?” Hoss asked finally.\u00a0 “Thirteen, mebbe?”<\/p>\n

“Andy Sutton?\u00a0 I don’t know,” said Adam.\u00a0 “I don’t remember Joe ever talking about him.”<\/p>\n

“All that boy wanted was for somebody to listen to him,” said Hoss.\u00a0 He sounded as sad as his older brother had ever heard him.<\/p>\n

Adam shook his head.\u00a0 “It was a lot more than that, Younger Brother,” he said gently.\u00a0 “Lots of people want to be listened to, but they don’t pull a gun on a schoolhouse full of children to get attention.\u00a0 Andy Sutton had some troubles that nobody knew about, and there was only so much you could do to help him.”\u00a0 He patted his brother’s knee.\u00a0 “You kept Joe safe,” he said, his throat thick with emotion.\u00a0 “You brought him back to us.\u00a0 If it hadn’t been for you.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.”<\/p>\n

The brothers sat side by side on the settee.\u00a0 Adam poured another round, and another.\u00a0 Upstairs, Little Joe slept, unaware that his father sat by his bed, holding his hand and giving thanks for inexplicable mercies and extraordinary grace.<\/p>\n

In a small house on C Street, a teacher knelt in prayer by her bed.\u00a0 Two blocks away, a mother began stitching a new petticoat to replace a torn one. \u00a0A sheriff and a deputy sat silently across a battered wooden desk from each other, a bottle of whiskey in between them.\u00a0 An undertaker nailed the top onto a pine box firmly, so that no one would ever see the tragedy that lay inside. \u00a0In town, and on farms and ranches for miles around, parents tucked their children into bed with extra hugs and kisses.\u00a0 And one father sat beside an empty bed and wondered how everything had gone so terribly wrong.<\/p>\n

Everyone had finally taken Andy Sutton seriously.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Disclaimer:<\/span>\u00a0All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/g><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0The Cartwrights struggle to intervene when a disturbed boy holds his classmates hostage–including Little Joe.<\/p>\n

Rated:\u00a0T (10,175 words)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":14916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[16],"class_list":["post-4721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","tag-joe","wpcat-23-id"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":3857,"today_views":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/schoolhouse.jpg?fit=259%2C194&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12750,"url":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=12750","url_meta":{"origin":4721,"position":0},"title":"A Modern Cartwrights Story #3 – A Quarter\u2019s Worth of Glory: Joe in the Infernal Machine (by Robin)","author":"profrobinw","date":"January 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Summary:\u00a0 Headlines ripped from the daily newspaper in this modern era tale of the Cartwrights. 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