A badly wounded Little Joe Cartwright is propelled into an adventure where he meets a beautiful Indian girl who seeks his love…and maybe his life!<\/p>\n
Rated: PG<\/p>\n
Word count: 34,669<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Maiden<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n ONE<\/p>\n \u201cCome on, little brother.\u00a0 Just a little higher!\u00a0 Come on, Little Joe!\u00a0 You can do it!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2026can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss Cartwright swallowed over fear as he stretched his long body out to its full length.\u00a0 He choked as his toe-hold on the rock behind him slipped and he slid forward. He didn\u2019t stop sliding until the upper part of his chest dangled over the edge of the precipitous one hundred foot cliff.<\/p>\n By the time he found his voice again, it wasn\u2019t as strong as he\u2019d hoped.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean \u2018can\u2019t\u2019?\u201d Hoss asked, adopting a cheerful tone.\u00a0 \u201cHow many times have you told me that \u2018can\u2019t\u2019 ain\u2019t in your vocabulary?\u201d<\/p>\n A short pause.\u00a0 A sigh.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I guess it is\u2026now\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n The big man closed his eyes, and then forced himself to look down \u2013 past his extended arm, past the skinny form of his eighteen-year-old brother clothed in his gray corduroy coat and black pants, beyond the spits and starts of cactus, juniper, and pine lining the perpendicular rock face Little Joe clung to, and on to the jagged rocks that lined the bottom of the chasm.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s feet were anchored on a rocky ledge not quite as wide as them itty-bitty black boots of his.\u00a0 That last part didn\u2019t bother Hoss too much.\u00a0 The boy was agile as a cat.<\/p>\n Leastwise, he was when he had his wits about him.<\/p>\n Joseph Francis Cartwright\u2019s angelic face \u2013 the one that could melt their Pa\u2019s steely resolve faster than the sun melted snow \u2013 was turned up toward him and lit by the fading light.\u00a0 The right side of it was covered in blood just like his side and shoulder \u2013 not Joe\u2019s<\/em> side and shoulder, his<\/em>.\u00a0 The warm liquid had soaked clean through the coarse fabric of his tan work shirt.\u00a0 He\u2019d just started to check on how bad it was when little brother started yellin\u2019.\u00a0 Then it didn\u2019t matter no more.\u00a0 His<\/em> boots was firmly planted on the Earth.<\/p>\n Little Joe\u2019s was just a hair away from Heaven.<\/p>\n Hoss shifted, repositioning his foot so it was securely wedged between the rocks that backed him.\u00a0 Then, he puffed out a sigh.\u00a0 He hated what he was about to do, but it had<\/em> to be done.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s spirits was pert near as low as baby brother\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n If he didn\u2019t do somethin\u2019 quick, the boy was gonna give up and die.<\/p>\n \u201cJo-seph!\u201d he snapped.\u00a0 \u201cThere ain\u2019t no more than an inch between my fingers and yours.\u00a0 Stretch out!\u201d\u00a0 Hoss winced.\u00a0 Here it came.\u00a0 \u201cIf you weren\u2019t so dag-blamed short, you wouldn\u2019t have no trouble reachin\u2019 me!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf you weren\u2019t so dag-blamed\u2026fat\u2026you wouldn\u2019t\u2026have \u2018no\u2019 trouble\u2026reaching me!\u201d<\/em> Little Joe snarled a second later \u2013 with a bit of his usual fire.<\/p>\n Trouble was that fire went out right fast.<\/p>\n \u201cGive it\u2026up, Hoss,\u201d the boy whimpered as he leaned his curly head against the mountain\u2019s craggy side.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m done.\u00a0 You know it.\u00a0 I\u2026know it.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss chewed his lip.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know<\/em> it, but he feared<\/em> it.<\/p>\n The big man lifted his head to scan the desolate landscape before him.\u00a0 Somewhere out there in all of that mesquite, creosote, greasewood, and yucca was older brother Adam.\u00a0 Or at least he hoped he was.\u00a0 Adam had remained behind so\u2019s he could lay down a coverin\u2019 fire, lettin\u2019 the two of them make good their escape.\u00a0 Him and Adam, they\u2019d been in this country before.\u00a0 \u00a0Durin\u2019 a lull in the fightin\u2019, older brother done told him to take Joe and head for the cave they\u2019d stumbled on when they was kids.\u00a0 Little brother didn\u2019t know anythin\u2019 about that cave and that was a good<\/em> thing.<\/p>\n Hoss looked down again.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s knuckles shone white against the greasewood root they gripped; his narrow shoulders a-shakin\u2019.<\/p>\n If baby brother had known just how high<\/em> they had to climb\u2026well\u2026he\u2019d of give up a long time before now.<\/p>\n Ever since Joe\u2019d been a little tyke and got lost up there on Eagle\u2019s Nest, the boy\u2019d had trouble with anythin\u2019 taller than a ladder.\u00a0 Wasn\u2019t\u00a0 nothin\u2019 to be ashamed of.\u00a0 Any man in his right mind knew a fall of more than twenty feet was a bad thing.\u00a0 But there was somethin\u2019 else churned up his little brother\u2019s insides when it come to climbin\u2019 rocks and mountains.\u00a0 None of them knew for sure what it was, but they\u2019d sure enough heard him yellin\u2019 about it in the middle of the night.\u00a0 Little Joe bein\u2019 Little Joe, of course, he didn\u2019t tell them nothin\u2019 \u2013 \u2018cept to mind their own business \u2013 and kept right on pushin\u2019; scramblin\u2019 up steep slopes and walkin\u2019 on barn roofs even though he went white as a windin\u2019 sheet and sometimes lost his supper.\u00a0 It puzzled them all until they\u2019d realized just what was goin\u2019 on.\u00a0 It weren\u2019t that Joe wasn\u2019t afraid of heights anymore.<\/p>\n He\u2019d just learned not to look down.<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe!\u201d Hoss commanded, his throat tight with fear.\u00a0 \u201cYou look at me!\u00a0 You hear me, boy!\u00a0 You look at me!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Joe had shifted his position on the ledge and was peerin\u2019 over his shoulder at the vast, desolate, desert landscape painted in tones of purple and red by the dyin\u2019 sun.\u00a0 At his call, the boy looked up.\u00a0 The light was goin\u2019 so Hoss had to squint, but he could read resignation written on his brother\u2019s bruised and battered face.\u00a0 The big man blew out a breath.\u00a0 Seein\u2019 that look was almost enough to make him lose his religion and cuss!\u00a0 It took a whole lot of somethin\u2019 to take the fight out of Little Joe Cartwright.\u00a0 A bullet creasin\u2019 the right side of the boy\u2019s head hadn\u2019t done it.\u00a0 A second one took him in the shoulder and Joe just kept ridin\u2019.\u00a0 Grit and determination kept that boy on his feet when the outlaws shot his horse out from under him.\u00a0 Hoss\u2019 lips curled with affection.\u00a0 Little brother\u2019d even managed to keep it together when he first saw where the cave was.\u00a0 It was when they was almost to the entrance and Joe\u2019s boots slipped on loose rock, that the boy lost his nerve and fell.\u00a0 Hoss sniffed the air and made a face.<\/p>\n He\u2019d lost his nerve then too \u2013 along with a few other things.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it, little brother?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTell Pa\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Joe choked.\u00a0 \u201cTell Pa\u2026I love him\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Jo-seph, you know I ain\u2019t gonna do any such thing.\u00a0 You can tell him yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not gonna\u2026make it, Hoss.\u00a0 Just\u2026leave me.\u201c<\/p>\n \u201cI ain\u2019t gonna do that either.\u00a0 I done promised both Pa and Mama that I\u2019d never<\/em> leave you, and you know me, I ain\u2019t one to go back on a promise.\u00a0 You wouldn\u2019t want me to do that.\u00a0 Now, would you?\u201d\u00a0 The big man blinked his eyes, freeing them of tears as he stretched his fingers out a little more.\u00a0 \u201cBesides, Adam\u2019s gonna be mad as all git-out<\/em> at me if the first thing he sees when he gets to this here mountain is your skinny little carcass gracin\u2019 some big old rock below!\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe looked awful pitiful.\u00a0 One arm was wrapped around his chest and his teeth were chatterin\u2019. \u00a0Hoss squinted.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t sure, but he thought he could just make out a dark pool formin\u2019 beneath Joe\u2019s black boots. \u00a0Little Joe was bleedin\u2019 bad.\u00a0 He needed tendin\u2019.<\/p>\n First, he had to get him off of that dag-blamed ledge and up and into the cave!<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019ll it take to get you to let go of that old greasewood and stretch out your hand proper so you can catch mine?\u201d Hoss\u2019 exasperation showed in his tone.\u00a0 \u201cI ain\u2019t got no cherry pie up here.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s voice was pitiful, but dang it, he was tryin\u2019!<\/p>\n \u201cGot any\u2026pretty girls?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNow that<\/em>, I got!\u201d Hoss lied cheerfully.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a real pretty gal holdin\u2019 onto my ankles right now, otherwise I\u2019d of tumbled right off this ledge and over that curly head of yours.\u00a0 Grab my hand and I\u2019ll haul you up and introduce you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMust be big\u2026as the Washoe\u2026if she\u2019s holding onto you\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe ain\u2019t big, just strong,\u201d Hoss answered as he warmed to his tale.\u00a0 \u201cYou know how it is with them\u2026Indian gals.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s answer was a cough, and then \u2013 in a still weaker voice \u2013 a question.\u00a0 \u201cIndian, huh?\u00a0 What\u2019s\u2026she look like?\u201d<\/p>\n God love him!<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s real <\/em>pretty, Joe, just like I said.\u00a0 She\u2019s got long black hair that cascades down her back like a waterfall.\u00a0 It sort of shines like that silk tie of Pa\u2019s.\u00a0 You know the one Mama got him that last Christmas?\u201d\u00a0 Hoss stretched out a bit farther, mindful of his toes\u2019 precarious hold.\u00a0 \u201cShe\u2019s got eyes blacker than Pa\u2019s, little brother, with long thick lashes, and a plump red lips just right for kissin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss wiggled his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, Joe!\u00a0 Try!!\u00a0 She\u2019s waitin\u2019 for you. \u00a0She wants to take care of you.\u201d<\/p>\n Just like I want to take care of you.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI bet her\u2026pa\u2019d take care of\u2026me right quick!\u201d \u00a0Little Joe snorted, but sobered quickly as his tone grew deathly serious. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m so tired.\u00a0 Honest, Hoss.\u00a0 I don\u2019t\u2026know if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u00a0 Sure you \u2018can\u2019, little brother!\u00a0 Why, anyone will tell you, there ain\u2019t nothin\u2019 Little Joe Cartwright can\u2019t do if he puts his mind to it!\u00a0 All you gotta do is stand on your tippy-toes and reach up \u2013 reach up real<\/em> far!\u201d\u00a0 Hoss\u2019 six-foot-four frame was stretched out just about as far as it could go.\u00a0 He teetered on the edge of a rocky ledge some six or seven feet above his brother.\u00a0 Their fingertips were scant inches apart.\u00a0 All Joe had to do was close the gap and he\u2019d have him.\u00a0 \u201cI tell you what, Joe.\u00a0 You just pretend you made it up here already.\u00a0 That pretty Indian gal\u2019s tall as Winnemucca.\u00a0 You gotta<\/em> go up on tiptoe to kiss her!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWinnemucca\u2019s\u2026not\u2026that tall.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, gosh darn it, Little Joe, you just pretend <\/em>he is!\u201d\u00a0 Hoss whispered a quick prayer and stretched\u2026just\u2026a\u2026bit\u2026more.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe, you do it now!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Night had fallen.\u00a0 Nothing remained of the sun but its slender fingers; hellish red stripes on the brushed sand and scrub below.\u00a0 The crimson light toyed with the tangles of his brother\u2019s chestnut hair and brushed the tip of his up-turned nose.\u00a0 A few seconds more and he wouldn\u2019t be able to see the boy at all.\u00a0 Little Joe would become only one more shadow among many.<\/p>\n Hoss didn\u2019t know how he knew, but he did.\u00a0 That<\/em> was the moment he would lose him.<\/p>\n \u201cDAMN IT, LITTLE JOE!\u00a0 YOU DO IT NOW!!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Ice-cold fingers brushed his.\u00a0 Hoss caught hold of them, but just as quickly lost his grip as the blood-soaked digits slipped out of his hand.\u00a0 The big man sucked in air \u2013 said a prayer \u2013 and then loosed his boot from the rocks and reached down \u2013 just in time to catch his little brother\u2019s wrist and save him from certain death.<\/p>\n Seconds later they was both lyin\u2019 on the ledge, huffin\u2019 and puffin\u2019.\u00a0 Joe was cussin\u2019 and complainin\u2019.\u00a0 Little brother even gave him a weak bop him on the nose.<\/p>\n Didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n Little Joe was alive!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hoss tossed a piece of kindling on the fire.\u00a0 He eyed it for a moment after the wood caught, and then whispered a quick prayer.\u00a0 He was glad the fire was burnin\u2019 clean with no smoke, since a smoke signal wasn\u2019t exactly what he wanted to send up right now.\u00a0 The prayer was for both his younger and<\/em> older brothers.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019d made it, but the boy was all banged up and had a bullet lodged in his shoulder that needed to come out yesterday.\u00a0 Adam, well\u2026.\u00a0 The big man let out a sigh, part frustration and mostly of fear, as he turned to look at the gaping maw of darkness that was the cave mouth.\u00a0 Big brother was out there somewhere.<\/p>\n Alive.<\/p>\n He hoped.<\/p>\n Hoss rose to his feet, shoved his hands in his pockets, and headed for the eight foot slab of stone that partially blocked the entry to the cave.\u00a0 The first time he\u2019d seen this place, it\u2019d looked twice as big.\u00a0 He\u2019d been a young\u2019un then, no older than Little Joe was now.\u00a0 Maybe even a little younger.<\/p>\n Pa hadn\u2019t kept quite as tight a leash on him as he did on Mama Marie\u2019s baby boy.<\/p>\n Him and Adam had been sent on a buyin\u2019 trip to Utah.\u00a0 It was the first time Pa\u2019d let him go alone with his older brother and, whoo-ee<\/em>, had he been proud!\u00a0 Hoss turned to look at Joe where he lay by the fire.\u00a0 The memory made him grin.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019d been mad as a wet hornet when he found out he had to stay home and do the chores for both of them! \u00a0Hoss\u2019 smile widened.\u00a0 They made it up to him though when Pa gave Joe his pick of the horses they brought back from Bader\u2019s ranch that year for his birthday!<\/p>\n Hoss reached down and adjusted the Bowie knife he\u2019d shoved into the top of his boot, before moving past the slab to the edge of the cliff.\u00a0 Once there, he looked out onto the night.\u00a0 The knife was all he\u2019d had time to grab before he and Little Joe took off.\u00a0 The memory made the big man shake his head. \u00a0The three of them had been havin\u2019 such fun!\u00a0 It was Joe\u2019s turn to go to Utah and Pa sent them both along to keep an eye on him.\u00a0 They\u2019d had a grand time travelin\u2019 together and hadn\u2019t got into no arguments or nothin\u2019.\u00a0 Just enjoyed one another\u2019s company.\u00a0 They was talkin\u2019 about stoppin\u2019 early \u2018cause the day was hot.\u00a0 Adam offered to cook while he tended the horses.\u00a0 Little Joe was bouncin\u2019 up and down in the saddle, all excited for the chance to tell them about his new gal.<\/p>\n It was then the outlaws come out of nowhere.<\/p>\n Hoss pursed his lips and blew out a breath.\u00a0 The three of them rode hard and, for a little whiles, thought they\u2019d got away.\u00a0 Joe was out front and then, all of a sudden, come flyin\u2019 back toward them wavin\u2019 his arm and shoutin\u2019 somethin\u2019 he d couldn\u2019t quite make out.<\/p>\n A second later a bullet took Joe\u2019s hat off from behind.<\/p>\n There was more of them layin\u2019 in wait.<\/p>\n Adam reacted fast.\u00a0 Older brother pulled his gun and started shootin\u2019.\u00a0 Their horses was close beside each other and the one he was sittin\u2019 on wasn\u2019t expectin\u2019 that.\u00a0 It shied and nearly threw him.\u00a0 Hoss sighed.\u00a0 He\u2019d managed to get it under control right quick, but had to abandon the poor critter in the end when a bullet cut across its back leg.\u00a0 Joe had almost reached them when another bullet took the boy in the side.\u00a0 And then \u2013 dad-blame it! \u2013 if one of those mean hombres didn\u2019t shoot little brother\u2019s bay right out from under him.\u00a0 Adam was the only one managed to stay mounted, which was why older brother chose to remain behind and run interference so\u2019s he and Joe could get away.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss?\u00a0 You\u2026there?\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe\u2019s voice was weak \u2013 so<\/em> weak it worried him.\u00a0 \u201cSure am,\u201d he said as he returned to the boy\u2019s side. \u201cWhat is it, punkin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe rolled his eyes at the affectionate term before asking his question.\u00a0 \u201cWere you\u2026outside the cave just now?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u00a0 I took a little walk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you hear something that made you go look?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNah.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t hear nothin\u2019.\u00a0 I was just restless and needed some\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss stopped abruptly.<\/p>\n Baby brother\u2019s eyes were wide.\u00a0 \u201cDo you think\u2026it could be Adam?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018I sure hope so\u2019<\/em>, the big man thought.<\/p>\n \u2018You stay put\u2019, Hoss mouthed as he palmed the Bowie knife and rose. \u00a0\u201cI\u2019ll go see whose come callin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019d heard a sound, just like Joe.\u00a0 So far it hadn\u2019t been repeated, but the whisper of leather on rock had brought the hairs on the back of his neck to full attention.\u00a0 The big man\u2019s fingers gripped the hilt of the shining blade as he moved cautiously toward the cave mouth, anticipating trouble.<\/p>\n Then it came \u2013 a light whistle like a Cedar waxwing.\u00a0 Once.\u00a0 Twice.<\/p>\n Three times.<\/p>\n Hoss blew out a breath and sheathed the knife as relief flooded through his large frame.\u00a0 \u201cWhat took you so long, older brother?\u00a0 You stop somewheres to romance some pretty Indian gal?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam smiled as he holstered his pistol.\u00a0 \u201cSure did, but she sent me on my way quick enough.\u00a0 Said I was too old.\u201d\u00a0 Older brother\u2019s eyes narrowed as he searched the darkness in the cave.\u00a0 \u201cYou got someone younger in here she might be interested in?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s gonna be mighty disappointed,\u201d Hoss replied with a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cLittle brother won\u2019t be takin\u2019 a turn on the dance floor any time soon.\u201d<\/p>\n The man in black was instantly alert.\u00a0 \u201cBut he\u2019s all right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDepends on your definition.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs it bad?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cBad enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s keen gaze took in his own bloody sleeve.\u00a0 \u201cHow about you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPshaw!\u00a0 I\u2019m okay.\u00a0 Bullet went in and out clean.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt can\u2019t be too<\/em> clean.\u201d\u00a0 Adam held up his hand.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve got the only canteen.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss eyed the round metal object with desire.\u00a0 \u201cYou got enough for me to take a drink?\u00a0 Or do we need to keep what\u2019s left for Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI found a watering hole on the way here.\u00a0 There\u2019s enough to go around.\u00a0 Just take it easy,\u201d Adam cautioned as he handed it over.\u00a0 Older brother shoved his hat back on his head and looked around.\u00a0 \u201cCorrect me if I\u2019m wrong, but wasn\u2019t there water in here somewhere?\u00a0 Remember, we found it when we were boys?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss ran a hand over his lips to clear them as he returned the canteen to his older brother.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, but that was later in the season and it was a wet year.\u201d<\/p>\n It was hot as Hades this summer and seemed a century since it had rained.<\/p>\n Adam smiled as he capped the canteen.\u00a0 \u201cEver the optimist, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss shrugged again.<\/p>\n \u201cSo exactly where is<\/em> little brother?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m\u2026right here.\u201d\u00a0 There was a cough.\u00a0 \u201cBeing talked about within earshot\u2026like always.\u201d<\/p>\n They both turned to find Little Joe standin\u2019 \u2013 well, sort<\/em> of standin\u2019 \u2013 behind them.\u00a0 The boy was leanin\u2019 on a rock and breathin\u2019 hard.<\/p>\n \u201cDagnabbit, little brother!\u201d Hoss cursed.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you doin\u2019 on your feet?\u00a0 Do you know how long it took me to get that side of yours to stop bleedin?!\u201d\u00a0 His gaze went to the boy\u2019s ribcage, lookin\u2019 for fresh signs, but it weren\u2019t no use.\u00a0 Not only was the cave full of shadows, but little brother had a dark blue shirt on.\u00a0 \u201cYou lay back down, you hear me, and you do it now!\u00a0 You\u2019re gonna start bleedin\u2019 again!\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s forehead wrinkled.\u00a0 \u201cToo\u2026late,\u201d he said as his knees began to buckle.<\/p>\n They were at his side in an instant.\u00a0 \u201cSo where was he lying?\u201d Adam asked as Joe\u2019s head lolled against older brother\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cBack a ways.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss nodded into the cave.\u00a0 \u201cYou remember?\u00a0 Near that place that\u2019s got walls and looks like a room.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe one that leads to the corridor with the drawings?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss chuckled.\u00a0 Leave it to college-educated Adam to remember there\u2019d been art!<\/p>\n The big man scowled as he shifted his grip on their injured brother.\u00a0 \u201cI got a small fire goin\u2019.\u00a0 Little brother here was supposed to be restin\u2019 by it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI was\u2026worried about you<\/em>, you\u2026big galoot!\u201d\u00a0 Joe snarled, indicating he was awake.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re hurt too.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss did a good job of pretendin\u2019 the wound didn\u2019t hurt.\u00a0 \u201cThis little old scratch?\u00a0 It ain\u2019t nothin\u2019.\u201d\u00a0 Fear gripped his innards as he noted the pale blue shade framing his baby brother\u2019s lips.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t take no bullet like you did.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam was looking over Joe\u2019s head and directly at him.\u00a0 Hoss knew what older brother was asking.\u00a0 He shook his head.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 The slug wasn\u2019t out.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t been brave enough to extract a bullet from his baby brother\u2019s shoulder with an eight inch Bowie knife.<\/p>\n Adam closed his eyes for a second, plastered a smile on his face, and then caught Joe\u2019s eye.\u00a0 \u201cWell, buddy, it looks like it\u2019s your lucky day.\u00a0 I managed to rescue my saddlebags from my mount before I had to abandon it.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s mobile eyebrows skyrocketed toward the tangle of dirty curls dangling on his forehead.\u00a0 \u201cSince when is\u2026getting a slug taken out of you\u2026lucky<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss hadn\u2019t noticed before.\u00a0 Sure enough, slung underneath the canteen on older brother\u2019s shoulder was a set of dusty saddlebags.\u00a0 Since Little Joe was a mite\u2026accident prone\u2026older brother had started carryin\u2019 a kit containin\u2019 what was needed to take care of business.\u00a0 Once Adam was sure he had hold of Joe, the man in black let go.\u00a0 Adam removed the saddlebags from his shoulder, knelt, and rummaged through their contents.\u00a0 Hoss was expecting the kit.\u00a0 Instead, older brother pulled out a silver hip flask.<\/p>\n The man in black shrugged as he stood up.\u00a0 \u201cI was planning on doing a little celebrating after we closed the deal on the horses.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s eyes went wide with relief.\u00a0 \u201cIs that\u2026for me?\u201d<\/p>\n Older brother\u2019s eyes were wide too \u2013 and misty.<\/p>\n \u201cLike the water, there\u2019s enough for all<\/em> of us.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n TWO<\/p>\n Digging a bullet out of someone you loved was never easy, even with the right tools.\u00a0 Adam had done what he had to do and then excused himself, making his way farther back into the cave and away from the memory of all that blood.\u00a0 He told Hoss that he was looking for the water they\u2019d seen when they were younger, but \u2013 in reality \u2013 what he was looking for was a distraction.<\/p>\n He found it in the ancient drawings on the cave walls.<\/p>\n They were faint, but legible.\u00a0 The images reminded him of hieroglyphics, which was the language of ancient Egypt and something he had studied in school.\u00a0 A long stretch of them led him deeper into the cave.\u00a0 The Stygian darkness, coupled with the light of his hastily rigged torch, brought the drawings to life and, soon, he was imagining who might have made them.\u00a0 Someone like him, he guessed, since many of them were of men and cattle. \u00a0There were others farther along, brushed by the flickering torchlight, that appeared to represent women and children harvesting grain.\u00a0 He thought the grain was corn, but wasn\u2019t sure, since the stalks were outsized and loaded with what appeared to be foot long ears. \u00a0Adam halted and looked up \u2013 far<\/em> up toward the natural vault above his head.\u00a0 Hard as it was to believe, this cave \u2013 positioned a good one hundred feet above the desert floor \u2013 had once been someone\u2019s home.\u00a0 Maybe a lot<\/em> of \u2018someone\u2019s\u2019 homes.<\/p>\n He couldn\u2019t imagine rearing children in such a perilous place, but apparently it had been done.<\/p>\n Since he\u2019d first seen this cave as a young man, he\u2019d been intrigued by the how and why of these ancient cliff-dwelling cultures.\u00a0 A few years after that first trip to Utah, he\u2019d attended a lecture in Carson City given by an English professor schooled in the new science known as an \u2018archeology\u2019.\u00a0 Dr. Alfred Birnan\u2019s specialty was prehistoric Indians.\u00a0 After the lecture, he\u2019d invited the man to supper.\u00a0 As they dined, Alfred told him that the people who occupied the cliff dwellings were known as the Anasazi, and that they had lived and died some nine centuries before.\u00a0 The professor said there was very little left of the culture \u2013 a few pots, some cave drawings, and a handful of bleached bones. \u00a0Alfred added as they parted that, sadly, very few people cared that the indigenous people had lived at all.<\/p>\n Disturbed by the thought, Adam turned to look at the light radiating from the small fire Hoss had kindled near the cave\u2019s mouth.\u00a0 Little Joe lay beside it, tossing and turning; burning with infectivity.\u00a0 If Joe\u2026died\u2026they would mourn, but all too soon it would be as if his vibrant, irritating, bull-headed little brother had never been.\u00a0 If he and Hoss didn\u2019t make it out \u2013 if they<\/em> died here as well \u2013 then they too would soon be forgotten.<\/p>\n Just like the Anasazi.<\/p>\n Thoroughly depressed, the man in black left the ancient drawings behind to return to the light and his brothers.\u00a0 He nodded to Hoss, who was trying to ease Joe\u2019s suffering with a cool cloth placed on his forehead.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s lips wrinkled with wry amusement.\u00a0 Of course, there might be some<\/em> advantage to being forgotten \u2013 at least by the band of desperados who had chased him from the border of Utah to within a few miles of this place.\u00a0 He certainly hoped they\u2019d followed the trail of the borrowed horse whose back-end he\u2019d smacked and sent flying north, instead of his.<\/p>\n If not\u2026.<\/p>\n If not, Little Joe\u2019s cries would certainly bring them here.<\/p>\n Adam sank down on a rocky seat and looked at his middle brother.\u00a0 Hoss had closed his eyes and leaned back, though he kept a hand on Joe\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 He was exhausted.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 They were all<\/em> exhausted.\u00a0 The man in black\u2019s full lips quirked.\u00a0 As usual, Little Joe had to do things the hard <\/em>way.\u00a0 The bullet had entered his brother\u2019s shoulder high on the right side and fairly far away from his heart, which was about as good as it got when it came to surviving a gunshot wound.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it had lodged underneath one of Joe\u2019s upper ribs and he\u2019d had to dig deep to find it.\u00a0 Luckily, it had been his<\/em> saddlebags that had made it to the cave with them.\u00a0 He\u2019d learned long ago to plan ahead for his baby brother\u2019s\u2026mishaps\u2026and carried a kit that included a sharp scalpel Doc Martin had given him, healing herbs from Hop Sing, and a needle and catgut.\u00a0 Adam glanced down at his hands. \u00a0They couldn\u2019t really spare the water to wash them.\u00a0 He\u2019d done the best he could with sand, but his skin was stained with his kid brother\u2019s blood.\u00a0 The man in black swallowed over bile as he returned his attention to his \u2018patient\u2019.\u00a0 They\u2019d poured the remainder of the whiskey into the wound before closing it, hoping to prevent infection, and the kid couldn\u2019t take it.<\/p>\n Little Joe was out cold.<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s gaze shifted back to his middle brother.\u00a0 Too bad there hadn\u2019t been more. \u00a0Hoss sure looked like he could use a shot.<\/p>\n \u201cYou okay?\u201d he inquired.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy Joe?\u201d Hoss asked, opening his crystal clear blue eyes.\u00a0 \u201cWhy is it always Little Joe who gets hurt?\u201d<\/p>\n Adam nodded but said nothing, because he didn\u2019t know<\/em> what to say.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen it coming.\u00a0 Hoss hadn\u2019t.\u00a0 When the first attack came Joe was in front, Hoss was second, and he was in the rear.\u00a0 As soon as they realized what was happening \u2013 that they were being pursued \u2013 they all drew their guns.\u00a0 Little Joe was the first to fire.\u00a0 The kid was fast and accurate.\u00a0 Joe took out two of the outlaws before they had time to draw.<\/p>\n Which made the remaining outlaws \u2013 who were in hiding a dozen yards in front <\/em>of them \u2013 very<\/em> angry.<\/p>\n A hail of bullets followed their appearance.\u00a0 Joe could have easily gotten out of harm\u2019s way, but it wasn\u2019t in baby brother\u2019s character to think of himself in such a situation.\u00a0 Joe was on the move when Hoss\u2019 horse spooked and began to spin.\u00a0 He<\/em> saw it, just like Joe did: one of the outlaws taking aim at Hoss\u2019 back.\u00a0 That was when Joe \u2013<\/p>\n Adam closed his eyes against the image that flashed before them.\u00a0 The first bullet took the kid\u2019s hat off and left a bloody channel across his temple.\u00a0 Seemingly unaware that he\u2019d been wounded, little brother kept moving, riding straight for Hoss.\u00a0 Adam sucked in air.\u00a0 He had to remind himself that there was nothing he could have done.\u00a0 One of the outlaws had trapped him and his horse, cutting him off from his brothers.\u00a0 He shouted, but Joe couldn\u2019t hear him or chose not to.\u00a0 A moment later he watched in horror as one of their attackers calmly took aim and shot Little Joe in the back.<\/p>\n Joe had deliberately<\/em> put himself in harm\u2019s way to save Hoss\u2019 life, not caring if it cost him his own.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know how he was going to tell the big galoot.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u00a0 Did you hear me?\u00a0 I asked, \u2018How come it\u2019s always Joe gets hurt?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust lucky, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss stared at him.\u00a0 \u201cYou know<\/em> somethin\u2019, older brother \u2013 somethin\u2019 you ain\u2019t sayin\u2019.\u00a0 You tell me what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know Joe.\u00a0 He has to be in the middle of the action,\u201d he replied with a twist of his lips.<\/p>\n Hoss moved his hand to Joe\u2019s forehead and brushed back the sodden curls.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t it say somewhere in the Good Book that God looks out for foolish young\u2019uns?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI believe its fools and<\/em> young\u2019uns, or babes.\u00a0 Drunkards too.\u201d\u00a0 Adam took a good look at his baby brother.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s face was nearly as pale as the stone he lay upon.\u00a0 A thin sheen of sweat covered his downy cheeks and the exposed skin of his chest.\u00a0 \u201cI have to admit, there are times when all three of those apply to Joseph Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t think\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n He glanced up at Hoss.\u00a0 \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt weren\u2019t \u2018cause of me, was it?\u201d\u00a0 The big man looked suddenly ill.\u00a0 \u201cJoe gettin\u2019 hurt, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam reached across their baby brother\u2019s prone form to place a hand on the big man\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cEverything happened so fast, Hoss.\u00a0 There\u2019s no way to tell.\u00a0 Just be thankful Joe\u2019s alive and\u2026. He\u2019ll be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss frowned.\u00a0 \u201cAre you tellin\u2019 me the truth, big brother?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, I am,\u201d he lied.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t I always?\u201d<\/p>\n The big man\u2019s gaze went to Joe\u2019s supine form and lingered for several heartbeats before he rose to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cYou keep watch.\u00a0 I need some air.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd just where do you think you\u2019re going to get it?\u201d\u00a0 Adam nodded toward the cave mouth.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re twenty stories up.\u00a0 There\u2019s not much of anywhere to pace.\u201d<\/p>\n When, as youths, they\u2019d first discovered this cave, he\u2019d been amazed. \u00a0He and Hoss had come to the Utah Territory to meet up with a rancher and buy horses from him.\u00a0 Before they left, Pa told them to take a few extra days to enjoy themselves \u2013 much to their little brother\u2019s chagrin.\u00a0 Of course, Joe had no idea that one of the horses was for his upcoming birthday, and that Pa was laying it on thick so he\u2019d be surprised.\u00a0 An old Indian, who went by the name of Patchwork Pete and ran a trading post just north of the horse ranch, told them of some cliff dwellings nearby, which ancient Indians had occupied.\u00a0 He was intrigued.\u00a0 He talked Hoss into it and they spent their free time exploring in and around the caves.\u00a0 Near the end of their short \u2018vacation\u2019, they stumbled on this one.\u00a0 It was set a little higher in the cliff-face than the others, which had kept it pristine.\u00a0 The state they found it in \u2013 complete with pots and other artifacts, as well as the paintings \u2013 suggested that no one had been in it since its original inhabitants departed.\u00a0 The old Indian was gone now, most likely to his maker, but the rancher was still alive and Pa still bought horses from him.\u00a0 He\u2019d sent Joe this time to make the sale, with them along as chaperones.\u00a0 They\u2019d been on their way to the ranch with money in their saddlebags when they\u2019d been assaulted.\u00a0 Adam wondered if one of them had accidentally let something slip in the last hotel they\u2019d occupied, or maybe in the saloon where they had a drink before heading out of town.\u00a0 Either way, it didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 They\u2019d been<\/em> bushwhacked, the money taken and their rented horses lost, and both Joe and Hoss injured.<\/p>\n Hoss hadn\u2019t moved yet.\u00a0 The big man nodded toward the deeper shadows lining the back of the cavernous room they occupied.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m goin\u2019 that way.\u00a0 You remember, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 How the air blows through that hole in the ceilin\u2019 back aways?\u201d<\/p>\n He did indeed.\u00a0 Even in the desert\u2019s cool season, it had felt like a blast furnace.<\/p>\n \u201cNot a particularly good <\/em>air.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all right.\u201d\u00a0 His younger brother cast a forlorn look at their<\/em> younger brother.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t feel \u2018particularly good\u2019 myself right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s legs were cramping, so he stood up and watched the big man depart.\u00a0 Characteristically, Hoss had his head down and his hands in his pockets. \u00a0The big man felt things deeply, and nothing<\/em> more deeply than the love he had for their little brother.<\/p>\n Obviously, Hoss hadn\u2019t believed his \u2018truth\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n The man in black looked down to find Little Joe\u2019s trembling hand outstretched toward him. Adam bent and took it, and then laid his other hand on Joe\u2019s forehead.\u00a0 He winced at the slight elevation in temperature since the last time he\u2019d done so.<\/p>\n The infection, if left unchecked, would kill Joe.<\/p>\n \u201cHey, little buddy.\u00a0 What can I do for you?\u201d<\/p>\n The boy\u2019s fevered eyes searched the darkness.\u00a0 \u201cWhere\u2019s Hoss\u2026going?\u201d<\/p>\n He smiled.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s getting some air.\u201d<\/p>\n Little Joe winced.\u00a0 He drew a breath and held it, and then let it out slowly.\u00a0 \u201cDoes he\u2026know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDoes Hoss know what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat I\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Joe swallowed hard.\u00a0 His tongue darted out in a feeble attempt to wet his dry lips.\u00a0 \u201cWhat I\u2026did.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam squeezed the fevered hand.\u00a0 \u201cNo,\u201d he replied, keeping his voice low.\u00a0 \u201cBut he suspects.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s look was panicked.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2026\u00a0 You can\u2019t tell\u2026him.\u00a0 Promise?\u201d<\/p>\n He lifted two fingers to his mouth and made a stitching motion.\u00a0 \u201cMy lips are sealed.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe coughed.\u00a0 His usual smile was weak, but there.\u00a0 \u201cJust like\u2026my side\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n It was Adam\u2019s turn to wince.\u00a0 \u201cSorry about that.\u00a0 The bullet was in pretty deep.\u201d\u00a0 He patted his brother\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re gonna be okay, Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure\u2026I am.\u201d\u00a0 The kid snorted and closed his eyes.\u00a0 \u201cAren\u2019t\u2026I always?\u201d<\/p>\n In reality, Adam wondered what<\/em> they were going to do. \u00a0If<\/em> the fever abated, it was still going to take a few days for Joe to recover enough that that they could make the attempt to get him down the side of the cliff.\u00a0 After that, it was at least ten miles back to the last way-station \u2013 on foot and through the desert. \u00a0The only food they had was a handful of jerky and a bag of dried fruit he\u2019d tossed into his saddle bags at the last moment \u2013 and they were lucky to have that.\u00a0 The man in black eyed his injured brother.\u00a0 So long as Joe\u2019s fever didn\u2019t climb to the same heights as the cliff-dwelling they now occupied they\u2019d manage it, he guessed.<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019d thought Joe had lost consciousness.\u00a0 It probably wouldn\u2019t be long before he did.\u00a0 The kid\u2019s words were slurring.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss\u2026lied to me.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam blinked.\u00a0 \u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s pale lips curled with a smile.\u00a0 \u201cI was\u2026afraid.\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t get\u2026off the ledge.\u00a0 Hoss said there was a\u2026pretty Indian girl up here waiting\u2026for me.\u201d\u00a0 Baby brother sighed.\u00a0 \u201cOnly thing I saw\u2026when I opened my eyes\u2026was his ugly mug\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe was out.<\/p>\n Adam snorted.\u00a0 He touched Joe\u2019s cheek and then rose to his feet.<\/p>\n Fools.\u00a0 Drunkards.\u00a0 Babes.<\/p>\n And little brothers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Whispers.\u00a0 All around him.<\/p>\n They brushed his cheek and tousled his curls on their way to his ear, but then \u2013 like a girl at a cotillion who knows you\u2019re looking \u2013 moved just out of reach.<\/p>\n Little Joe Cartwright drew a breath and held it against his confusion.\u00a0 Wherever he was, it was blacker than a raven in a coal mine.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t sure if the place was cold or hot, because he was both things, which was kind of funny.\u00a0 It was sort of like that time he went swimming with his classmates in a watering hole, and Mary Jane Anders came right up and pressed her slim form into his and gave him a kiss.\u00a0 He\u2019d shivered, but felt hot all over at the same time.<\/p>\n Yeah, it was like that.<\/p>\n Sort of.<\/p>\n Joe let the breath out and sat up.\u00a0 Something in the back of his mind told him that he shouldn\u2019t have, or, rather that he shouldn\u2019t have been able<\/em> to do that.\u00a0 He snorted as he tossed aside the light covering that blanketed him.\u00a0 He was eighteen-years-old, for gosh sakes!\u00a0 He could sleep on a bed of rock, wake up and jump to his feet, and set to traveling with no trouble!\u00a0 The teenager frowned as he looked down at his muddy boots.<\/p>\n It looked like that was what he\u2019d been doing \u2013 traveling.<\/p>\n Only he didn\u2019t remember doing<\/em> it.<\/p>\n Hmm.<\/p>\n Joe scratched his head.\u00a0 Then he ran a hand along the nape of his neck.\u00a0 Where the heck was he anyway, and where were Adam and Hoss?\u00a0 He remembered them being there before.\u00a0 Maybe it was his brothers who\u2019d been whispering.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019d moved out of earshot so he wouldn\u2019t hear what they had to say.\u00a0 The teenager scowled.\u00a0 That would be just<\/em> like them!\u00a0 He was of a mind to track them down and give them a piece of his mind \u2013 only he couldn\u2019t.\u00a0 It was so gosh-darn<\/em> black wherever he was that he couldn\u2019t see his finger in front of his face!<\/p>\n But he could <\/em>hear.<\/p>\n He could hear the whispers.<\/p>\n No.<\/p>\n This time he could feel <\/em>them.<\/p>\n A warm breath.<\/p>\n Breath with words.<\/p>\n \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d Joe demanded as his hand moved to the gun belt on his hip, only to find it empty.\u00a0 That\u2019s right.\u00a0 He\u2019d lost his gun when he fell from his horse.<\/p>\n Why\u2019d<\/em> he fall from his horse?<\/p>\n Dang it!\u00a0 It made him angry that he couldn\u2019t remember!<\/p>\n Joe stiffened as he felt, not a breath this time, but a touch.\u00a0 Unseen fingers brushed his wrist even as a glint of light appeared in the distance.<\/p>\n Was it a signal?<\/p>\n Should he check it out?<\/p>\n Joe hesitated as ice coursed along his spine.<\/p>\n He was afraid.<\/p>\n Why<\/em> was he afraid?<\/p>\n Gol-darnit!\u00a0 There was nothing <\/em>to be afraid of!\u00a0 Joe laughed at his fear and winced as the sound of his hollow laughter echoed off the cave walls.\u00a0 It was just an old spot of light, for gosh sakes!\u00a0 It put him in mind of the moon reflecting on the surface of a watering hole.<\/p>\n Whoo-boy!\u00a0 Did he remember that watering hole!\u00a0 Mary Jane Anders\u2019 skin had been cool on his.\u00a0 That was the first time a girl had ever, well, shed her skirts and pressed up against him. \u00a0MJ was a couple of levels ahead of him in school and had a \u2018reputation\u2019.\u00a0 He\u2019d pretended that he wasn\u2019t, but he\u2019d been afraid then.<\/p>\n Just like he was afraid now.<\/p>\n The fingers brushed his flesh again.\u00a0 Then gripped his hand and began to tug.\u00a0 Joe resisted at first \u2013 just like he\u2019d resisted Mary Jane \u2013 but then, slowly, he gave in and allowed himself to be dragged deeper into the darkness.<\/p>\n Whoever it was, they stopped just this side of the light and released his hand.\u00a0 The unseen fingers caught hold of his chin and lifted it up.\u00a0 Joe snorted with relief when he saw what lay above him.\u00a0 So, that <\/em>was it!\u00a0 There was a hole in the stone ceiling. A full moon shone through it, reflecting off\u2026.<\/p>\n The what?<\/p>\n The teenager brushed his unseen guide aside and moved forward until he bumped into a crude stone well.<\/p>\n Water!\u00a0 That\u2019s what!<\/p>\n Joe drew closer, so he could peer into the water that filled the well.\u00a0 The image it reflected back took him by surprise.\u00a0 Gone was his usually tanned skin and robust health.\u00a0 His face was gaunt and ghostly pale.\u00a0 Puzzled, he reached out to touch the dark surface.\u00a0 The image splintered into a thousand fragments of quicksilver that ran around the darkened cave, illuminating its corners.<\/p>\n It was then he saw her.<\/p>\n The Indian girl appeared from out of nowhere, as unlike pale, blonde Mary Jane Anders as she could be.\u00a0 Her hair was blue-black, like India ink, and was fashioned into hundreds of little braids.\u00a0 The girl\u2019s skin was the color of desert sand in shadow.\u00a0 Dozens of strands of glass beads \u2013 red, white, and black \u2013 decorated the neck of her deerskin dress.\u00a0 Cast over the dress was a cloak of rich scarlet wool.\u00a0 At first he thought she had a bird perched absurdly on top of her head \u2013 a great big white bird with out-stretched wings \u2013 but then he realized it was a hat.<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s lips move without sound.\u00a0 He wet them and tried again.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2026who are you?\u201d he asked, his voice strained by an unknown fear.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you want?\u201d<\/p>\n The Indian girl held her hand out and wiggled her fingers.<\/p>\n The teenager shook his head and took a step back.<\/p>\n That wasn\u2019t the answer he\u2019d been looking for!<\/p>\n Unexpected anger sparked in the girl\u2019s black eyes.\u00a0 She wiggled her fingers again.<\/p>\n It was just like Mary Jane Anders. \u00a0She\u2019d been mad too \u2013 so<\/em> mad she\u2019d pushed him under the water and meant to keep him there. \u00a0If Hoss and Adam hadn\u2019t come along, he could have drowned.<\/p>\n He would<\/em> drown, now, in those black eyes.<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Joe whispered.\u00a0 \u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 Then, he regained his voice and started shouting.\u00a0 \u201cNo!\u00a0 No!\u00a0 No!\u00a0 No\u2026.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cHold him down, Hoss!\u00a0 He\u2019s going to hurt himself!\u201d<\/p>\n Tears streamed down the big man\u2019s face.\u00a0 Little brother\u2019s fever was up \u2013 way <\/em>up.\u00a0 He and older brother was tryin\u2019 to hold him still, but Joe was kickin\u2019 and buckin\u2019 like a bronco! \u00a0He\u2019d sat up with Little Joe most of the night so\u2019s Adam could sleep.\u00a0 To be honest, he\u2019d dozed now and then, but every time he woke up, he made sure to check little brother\u2019s forehead.\u00a0 Each time the boy had some fever, but it weren\u2019t high enough to worry about.<\/p>\n Until about an hour ago.<\/p>\n Hoss scowled at the memory.\u00a0 He\u2019d nodded off again, but somethin\u2019 woke him up. \u00a0Soon enough he realized it was little brother mutterin\u2019 to himself.\u00a0 After watchin\u2019 Joe toss and turn for a minute or two, he considered rousin\u2019 Adam, but figured there weren\u2019t nothing\u2019 older brother could do that he couldn\u2019t do himself. \u00a0The trouble was, there weren\u2019t much anyone <\/em>could do.\u00a0 They\u2019d used up near all the water they had, so he couldn\u2019t put a compress on Joe\u2019s head or<\/em> give the boy a drink.\u00a0 On his walk, he\u2019d looked for the natural well he and Adam had seen when they was younger.\u00a0 He\u2019d found it too, but it was all dried up.\u00a0 Hoss turned toward the cave mouth, where the light was rising.\u00a0 Soon as the sun was up, Adam was gonna go for water. \u00a0The big man licked his cracked lips. \u00a0They<\/em> needed it almost as bad as little brother did.\u00a0 Hoss looked at his brother again.\u00a0 Not knowin\u2019 what else to do, he\u2019d picked up the cover the boy had shed, replaced it, and pulled it up to Joe\u2019s chin.<\/p>\n That was when he felt the heat radiating off of him.<\/p>\n With his hands trembling, he\u2019d pulled the cover down and raised up little brother\u2019s shirt so\u2019s he could take a look at the wound and found it was angry.\u00a0 The infection was getting\u2019 worse.<\/p>\n The big man snorted.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know why he\u2019d been surprised.<\/p>\n This was <\/em>Little Joe, after all.<\/p>\n It was just about then Little Joe started yellin\u2019.\u00a0 \u2018No!\u2019 the boy shouted, and kept <\/em>shoutin\u2019, \u2018No!\u2019 No! No!\u2019\u00a0 Joe\u2019s shoutin\u2019 woke up Adam, and ever since then the two of them had been hangin\u2019 on for dear life, a\u2019feared the boy would break free and run out of the cave and plunge over the cliff to his death.<\/p>\n Hoss looked at his older brother and saw the same thought flicker in the depths of his hazel eyes.<\/p>\n Adam shook his head.<\/p>\n Damn right!<\/p>\n Over their dead bodies.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n THREE<\/p>\n Hania stirred.\u00a0 He lifted his head and looked to the east where the sun was rising.\u00a0 It was from there the call had come.\u00a0 So far, he\u2019d chosen to ignore it.\u00a0 His bones were ancient as the rock that supported him, and his back crooked as the juniper trees his people had bent to their will to mark this sacred place.\u00a0 Many moons had passed since he\u2019d sat a horse or traveled any distance. \u00a0These things were for younger men such as he had been when he his name was Nubaba.<\/em>\u00a0 Now, he was \u2018Hania\u2019 and he was old.<\/p>\n Too old to begin such a journey.<\/p>\n The aged man closed his eyes as he whispered words of gratitude to Yeii<\/em> for the new day.\u00a0 Next, he lifted his sinewy arms and stretched them out, calling on the wind to walk along the dry desert of his skin, to cleanse him of his dreams. The Holy People had visited him in the night.\u00a0 Their speech was a whisper.\u00a0 Only one word was clear \u2013 Ha’a’aah<\/em>.<\/p>\n East.<\/p>\n His father had been Din\u00e9tah and his mother, Ute, so he was not Din\u00e9tah.\u00a0 Still, it was the Holy People of the Din\u00e9 who spoke to him. \u00a0His mother had called him Nubaba, which meant \u2018snow\u2019 in her people\u2019s tongue, for he was born in a wet season when the white stuff lay on the far distant mountains.\u00a0 His father\u2019s mother, his Din\u00e9tah shin\u00e1l\u00ed<\/em>, gave him a new name.\u00a0 She told him that he was <\/em>Din\u00e9, and that the Holy People had come to her in a dream and told her he would one day be called to serve them.<\/p>\n Long after her death he was<\/em> called to serve but not among the Din\u00e9, for they would not have him.\u00a0 Nor would the Ute.\u00a0 He had seen less than thirty summers when the spirit winds compelled him to leave his home and travel north to the land of the white men called Mormons.\u00a0 There he learned another name for Yeii<\/em> \u2013 Yahweh.\u00a0 Among these white men Yahweh called him to be a healer.\u00a0 There he earned the name his father\u2019s mother had given him when still a boy.<\/p>\n Hania<\/em> \u2013 spirit warrior.<\/p>\n The old man opened his eyes and rose to his feet.\u00a0 The wind did not cease to blow, but lifted the trailing ends of his long white hair and tossed them about his face.\u00a0 In his father\u2019s tribe elders bound their hair, but he did not bind his hair.<\/p>\n It let him know when the spirit of the wind was near, for it had to lift the white strands in order to whisper in his ear.<\/p>\n The Mormons who took him in were kind and welcoming.\u00a0 The man, whose name was David, was a white healer and freely taught him his art.\u00a0 He became one with David and his family and served all those in the settlement where they lived.\u00a0 He stayed there until Yahweh caused a fever to come.\u00a0 Many died.\u00a0 David died.<\/p>\n His welcome died.<\/p>\n Soon, Yahweh\u2019s red and white children began to prey upon one another like the jackal.\u00a0 Food became scarce and his kind were driven out; back into the desert.<\/p>\n Back to Yeii <\/em>and the Holy People.<\/p>\n For many years now, it had been only him and the Holy People.\u00a0 He had been content for it to remain so until he died.<\/p>\n Then, the call had come.<\/p>\n The call to travel east.<\/p>\n Hania gazed upon the cluster of bowls that lay beside him.\u00a0 Each small earthenware vessel was filled with colorful sand drawn from the natural world \u2013 from rocks, pollen, plants, and flowers.\u00a0 They had been carefully prepared and laid them out the night before.\u00a0 It was time.\u00a0 He would request the Holy People\u2019s presence once more and, in their presence, would seek help and healing. \u00a0His spirit was deeply troubled by his dreams.\u00a0 They followed him into the waking world and remained before his eyes.<\/p>\n A dark cave.\u00a0 A flash of light.<\/p>\n A deep well, dry, and then filled with water.<\/p>\n And strangest of all, a white man \u2013 a boy, really \u2013 with thick brown hair curly as the coat of the wild horses that even now ran just beyond his sight.<\/p>\n All of these visions troubled Hania, but none more so than the one that came after.<\/p>\n The one, he knew, who would bring about his end.<\/p>\n The maiden.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cWhy Mistah Ben not eat?\u00a0 Old man grow skinny, skinny! \u00a0Wind blow you away and then what your boys do?!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben Cartwright started and looked up.\u00a0 His cook and friend, Hop Sing, was standing in the opening between his office and the great room.\u00a0 One hand was planted firmly on his hip, while the other one held a spoon, which the Asian man waved like a banner.<\/p>\n The rancher blinked.\u00a0 \u201cI beg your pardon?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou beg pardon?\u201d\u00a0 The other man\u2019s tone rose with each word uttered.\u00a0 \u201cYou beg Hop Sing\u2019s pardon?!<\/em>\u00a0 Hop Sing have no pardon to give!!\u00a0 He work hard.\u00a0 Cook food and put on table.\u00a0 No one come and eat!\u00a0 Maybe he take food and feed it to pigs so they not grow skinny skinny and blow away!!!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben glanced at the table.\u00a0 It was indeed set and filled with food, the alluring scent of which only now managed to penetrate the fog he was in.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you call me to breakfast?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThree times!\u201d \u00a0Hop Sing held up three fingers.\u00a0 \u201cThree times call and three times you no answer!\u00a0 Not know better, think Mistah Ben take boat and go to China!\u201d<\/p>\n The rancher tapped the papers in front of him into a stack, laid them down, and rose to his feet. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Hop Sing.\u00a0 I was\u2026preoccupied.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat stack of papers all about?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben blinked.\u00a0 \u201cThe papers?\u00a0 Oh, that\u2019s just a contract I was sent to look over.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo paper not what \u2018pre-occupy\u2019 Mistah Ben?\u00a0 What he think about then?\u201d \u00a0The Asian man glared at him.\u00a0 Suddenly, his demeanor changed and his tone softened.\u00a0 \u201cYou worry about sons?\u201d<\/p>\n He felt a bit embarrassed.\u00a0 \u201cYes, Mistah Ben worry about sons.\u201d<\/p>\n Joseph had been so excited.\u00a0 He\u2019d promised the boy that when he turned eighteen, he could make the trip to the Utah Territory to purchase horses from Norwood Bader.\u00a0 Of course, eighteen had seemed an eternity away when he\u2019d made<\/em> that promise.\u00a0 Joe hadn\u2019t been too happy at first when he was told that his older brothers would be going along, but the boy had come to peace with it once he realized the three of them were not only making a buying trip, but setting out on an adventure.<\/p>\n Which confirmed just how young<\/em> he was.<\/p>\n \u201cMistahs Hoss and Adam take good care of Little Joe.\u00a0 He be fine.\u00a0 All Mistah Ben\u2019s boys be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019d told himself that a dozen times at least over the last few hours.\u00a0 The rancher had been hard at work on the contract when something \u2013 he would almost describe it as a cold hand \u2013 had clutched his heart.\u00a0 He\u2019d dropped his pen and sat back, only to realize that he was actually panting.\u00a0 \u00a0For a moment, he thought he was suffering a fit of apoplexy.<\/p>\n Then, the feeling passed.<\/p>\n Almost.<\/p>\n It was hard to be a father in the West \u2013 at least a loving one.\u00a0 There were so many things that could go wrong.\u00a0 He\u2019d reminded himself a million times since Adam\u2019s birth that the Almighty was in control and he must and would<\/em> surrender to His will.\u00a0 God loved his boys more than he did.\u00a0 More than he had loved Elizabeth, Inger, and Marie.<\/p>\n So much so, that the Almighty had taken those three beautiful women to be with Him.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYou come eat.\u00a0 You feel better after you eat.\u201d\u00a0 When the rancher failed to move toward the table, Hop Sing let out a sigh.\u00a0 \u201cMistah Ben not live yet for a hundred years, but worry enough for a thousand!\u201d<\/p>\n Ben snorted.\u00a0 A hundred years of this kind of worry would certainly<\/em> kill him!<\/p>\n He\u2019d been accused of being a mother hen by those who knew him well enough to suggest such a thing.\u00a0 It was true.\u00a0 Like the Good Book said, he longed to gather his chicks under his wing and keep them safe.<\/p>\n Why the Almighty had given him boys instead of girls, he would never understand!<\/p>\n \u201cYou come.\u00a0 You eat.\u00a0 Worry less with full belly.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben glanced at the table.\u00a0 \u201cFive minutes?\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing was suspicious.\u00a0 \u201cWhat Mistah Ben need five minutes for?\u201d<\/p>\n He squirmed a bit.\u00a0 \u201cI would like to step out \u2013 get a breath of air.\u201d\u00a0 Ben smiled.\u00a0 \u201cWith your permission, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n Hop Sing glanced out the window that backed his desk.\u00a0 The rancher could feel the morning sun shining through it. \u00a0Their touch was welcome, but even their <\/em>warmth couldn\u2019t dispel the chill that lingered.<\/p>\n Only one thing could.<\/p>\n The spoon was now tapping out a steady rhythm on Hop Sing\u2019s gray silk pants.\u00a0 \u201cPlenty air in ranch house.\u00a0 Why you need go outside?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s put it this way, I will have a better appetite after I breathe in the fresh morning air.\u201d\u00a0 Ben\u2019s smile was feeble.\u00a0 \u201cI promise, when I return, I will dig into those flapjacks with relish.\u201d<\/p>\n The Asian man frowned.\u00a0 \u201cMistah Ben want chopped pickles on pancakes?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben was still chuckling as he took a seat at the table on the porch. \u00a0He sat there a moment, staring in wonder at the sunrise, before quieting his heart and going before his God.\u00a0 He\u2019d thought to ask for his son\u2019s health; for their continued welfare and safety.\u00a0 Instead, he confessed his fear and asked forgiveness for doubting.<\/p>\n It was with a lighter heart that Ben prepared to go inside some minutes later.\u00a0 Joseph would be fine.\u00a0 So would Hoss and Adam.\u00a0 Hop Sing was right.\u00a0 He worried too much.<\/p>\n Or maybe, not enough.<\/p>\n The rancher\u2019s heartbeat increased and the hand of fear returned to clutch his heart as he heard the clip-clop of a horse\u2019s hooves fast approaching the ranch house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hania had seen her.\u00a0 More than once.\u00a0 She came to him in the night as he walked the land of dreams.\u00a0 Yeii had not blessed him with wife or child, but he had watched the children of the Mormons play and tended many of them in their sickness.\u00a0 This one stood upon the precipice of womanhood \u2013 a child and yet, not a child.\u00a0 If asked, a white man would have said she was a \u2018teener\u2019.\u00a0 He did not know for certain the age of the maiden\u2019s body, but her soul was timeless.\u00a0 It walked the desert still, seeking something.<\/p>\n Or someone.<\/p>\n Hania turned into the wind, toward the hard, high rocky wall behind him.\u00a0 Within a hidden cleft lay the place he called home. \u00a0He had found it in his exile and remained there to give aid to any Yeii might choose to send his way.\u00a0 Most of his patients wore feather or fur, but there were others who came clothed in the garments of the white man \u2013 some driven to the desert by need, and others by greed.\u00a0 Hania did not understand this.\u00a0 He wore on his back the sum total of his possessions and had no desire for more.\u00a0 He did not want to leave this place.\u00a0 He told the Holy People he would<\/em> not go.\u00a0 Then, as the sun capped the mountains three days before \u2013 from the east where lay their abode \u2013 a light came.\u00a0 It was as if Ha\u2019a\u2019aah<\/em> gripped a shaft of lightning and threw it to the ground.\u00a0 Where it struck, the maiden appeared.\u00a0 She did not speak.\u00a0 It was not necessary.<\/p>\n The call had come and, try as he might; it was one he could not refuse.<\/p>\n Hania glanced at the completed sand painting.\u00a0 Its colorful whirls, swirls, and sacred lines represented the ones who had created him and controlled his destiny.\u00a0 Soon it, like he, would be gone.\u00a0 All things passed, even as the maiden had passed.<\/p>\n Even as he too<\/em> would pass in the end.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ben\u2019s heart leapt into his throat as horse and rider rounded the barn and made an appearance.\u00a0 He drew a breath to steady himself before stepping down from the porch to greet Virginia City\u2019s current sheriff, Roy Coffee.\u00a0 Roy was not only the town\u2019s lawman, but a friend.\u00a0 They\u2019d known each other for years.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen every expression possible cross that grizzled and sun-baked countenance, including the one Roy wore now.<\/p>\n His friend was worried.<\/p>\n As the lawman dismounted, Hop Sing stepped onto the porch.\u00a0 The pair of them exchanged a glance before Ben went to greet his friend.<\/p>\n \u201cRoy!\u00a0 What brings you to the Ponderosa so early in morning?\u201d the rancher asked with forced cheerfulness \u2013 as if that pretense could somehow dispel the sense of foreboding that had gripped him.<\/p>\n \u201cBen.\u201d \u00a0The other man greeted him with a nod.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing.\u201d\u00a0 Roy glanced around.\u00a0 \u201cJust the two of you here right now?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u00a0 The boys are off on the annual trip to purchase horses from Norwood Bader.\u201d<\/p>\n The lawman chewed on that for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cAll three of \u2018em?\u00a0 Little Joe ain\u2019t here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 No, Joe went with his brothers this year.\u201d\u00a0 He chuckled.\u00a0 \u201cActually, he thinks he\u2019s in charge.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s in Utah, right?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u00a0 Just the other side of the border.\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n Roy drew a deep breath before reaching into his pocket.\u00a0 \u201cThis come into the telegraph office this morning.\u00a0 Lem was there.\u00a0 He thought I should see it before you did, what with you and me bein\u2019 friends.\u201d<\/p>\n His jaw tense, Ben asked, \u201cThe boys?\u00a0 Are they\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 He swallowed.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026alive?\u201d\u00a0 That last word came out with the power of star-nosed mole.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, Ben, don\u2019t you go makin\u2019 more trouble for yourself than you may have,\u201d Roy chided.<\/p>\n \u201cThen you<\/em> tell me!\u201d he snapped.\u00a0 \u201cWhat trouble do<\/em> I have?\u201d<\/p>\n The lawman was used to his anger.\u00a0 Just as he <\/em>was used to the sheriff ignoring it.\u00a0 Others cowered before his wrath.<\/p>\n Not Roy Coffee.<\/p>\n His friend held the telegram out.\u00a0 \u201cThis is from Norwood\u2019s foreman.\u00a0 Seems your boys have gone missin\u2019, Ben.\u00a0 They never made it to Bader\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n The rancher stared at the piece of paper as if it was a rattler waiting to strike.\u00a0 He snatched it and consumed its contents as a starving man would a meal.<\/p>\n \u2018Ben Cartwright. \u00a0Stop.\u00a0 Sons not here.\u00a0 Stop.\u00a0 Did you send?\u00a0 Stop.\u00a0 Please reply.\u00a0 Stop.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n The news was not good.\u00a0 Bader\u2019s foreman would have had to ride to the nearest town to send the telegram as Norm\u2019s ranch was in the middle of nowhere.\u00a0 That meant it had been at least a day \u2013 maybe two<\/em> since it had been written.\u00a0 Surely, the horse trader would have waited a day or two before sending it to see if the boys arrived late.\u00a0 That made it four or five days since Adam, Hoss, and Joe had gone missing.\u00a0 It took about two weeks to get to Norm\u2019s spread from the Ponderosa, riding at a pace, and yesterday marked the beginning of the fourth week since their departure. \u00a0Had his beloved sons even made<\/em> it to the border, he wondered?\u00a0 Of course, Norm could have sent the telegram before <\/em>they arrived.\u00a0 But then, surely, he would have sent a follow-up.\u00a0 The other man knew how much he loved his boys.<\/p>\n And feared for them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat Mistah Cartwright think happen?\u201d a soft voice inquired from close behind him. \u00a0\u201cWhy boys not arrive?\u201d<\/p>\n Ben turned to look at his cook and friend.\u00a0 For all of his sons \u2013 but for Joseph most of all \u2013 Hop Sing had served as a surrogate parent, filling \u2013 as best he could \u2013 the hole left in their hearts and lives when Marie passed.\u00a0 He knew Hop Sing loved them nearly as much as he did and deserved to be treated with respect.<\/p>\n The rancher handed the telegram to the Asian man.<\/p>\n Hop Sing read it once, and then read it again.\u00a0 \u201cWhat Mistah Ben do?\u201d<\/p>\n What would he do?\u00a0 What he always<\/em> did \u2013 make the impossible happen.\u00a0 He would ride to Utah, not in two weeks but one, and he would find his boys no matter where<\/em> they were in that expansive territory.\u00a0 He would take on and survive yet another test of his mettle \u2013 and of his faith.\u00a0 He would beg and plead, pray and protest, and finally, surrender to the will of his God, no matter how unendurable that will might prove to be in the end.<\/p>\n And he would do one more thing.<\/p>\n Never ever<\/em> give up.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FOUR<\/p>\n Adam ran a hand across his dusty lips and spit out dirt as he waited.\u00a0 He\u2019d traveled an hour or so from the cave before stumbling upon a pool of water that appeared to be clean and wholesome. The man in black smiled grimly.\u00a0 That is, at least, there were no bones around it, human or otherwise.\u00a0 Taking a chance, he\u2019d filled his canteen and taken a swig.\u00a0 This was the test.\u00a0 Either the cramps would take him, indicating the water was poisoned or polluted, or not.\u00a0 He counted off two long<\/em> minutes and, when nothing happened, took a second swig before capping the leather-sheathed container and slinging it over his shoulder.\u00a0 It was early morning. \u00a0He\u2019d only been gone a few hours, but already regretted the time away.\u00a0 Joe had been really sick the night before and, even though baby brother\u2019s fever had abated somewhat toward dawn, it was obvious the kid was in a bad way.\u00a0 They needed to move Joe from the cliff dwelling and to take him somewhere civilized where his wound could be looked after properly.<\/p>\n Otherwise, baby brother was going to die.<\/p>\n What he regretted, was that Joe might die without him being there.<\/p>\n The man in black had given himself a mission \u2013 find water \u2013 and a mission usually superseded everything else with him.\u00a0 He\u2019d push his emotions aside, focus on it, and damn <\/em>to Hell anything that got in his way.\u00a0 The problem was, this time the thing getting in his \u2018way\u2019 was his own emotions.\u00a0 He hated emotion.\u00a0 It was messy.\u00a0 Be it anger or love, jealousy or hate, emotion made a man lose control.\u00a0 It wore away at his logic like a corrosive acid, reducing him to a rash, intemperate creature.<\/p>\n He hated being out of control even more than he hated emotion.<\/p>\n And yet, he loved his brothers.\u00a0 There was no way around it.\u00a0 Hoss was easy to love.\u00a0 Joe\u2026.\u00a0 Well, Joe tried his patience at times \u2013 and most of the time he thought the kid needed a swift kick in the pants \u2013 but that did nothing to diminish the love between them.\u00a0 Adam chuckled, sighed, and shook his head.\u00a0 He\u2019d never known his own mother, so the woman he loved was mostly a figment of his own longing and fertile imagination.\u00a0 Inger\u2026dear, sweet Inger, he had known, but oh, so briefly.\u00a0 It was likely he had idealized her as well.\u00a0 She seemed\u2026well\u2026an angel.<\/p>\n And then, there was Marie.<\/p>\n Marie came into his life when he was eleven going on twelve.\u00a0 By that advanced age, he\u2019d barred his heart against loving anyone new.\u00a0 He went through the motions, but he rarely felt <\/em>anything.\u00a0 Feeling meant leaving yourself open.\u00a0 It meant bearing unbearable <\/em>pain, and he was not about to have anything to do with that <\/em>again.\u00a0 So when Pa showed up with his new \u2018ma\u2019, he was not about to have anything to do with her<\/em> either.\u00a0 Adam didn\u2019t know if it was a real or an imagined memory, but he was pretty sure he didn\u2019t say more than \u2018hello\u2019, \u2018good morning\u2019, \u2018good night\u2019 and \u2018please, pass the salt\u2019 for a month or more. \u00a0Marie would smile and return his greeting, pass the salt or hand him a plate, and then go about her business.\u00a0 He should have been glad, but it made him mad.<\/p>\n So then, he started to be rude.<\/p>\n His father\u2019s New Orleans\u2019 bride took that in stride as well and, to his chagrin, continued to be kind.\u00a0 It became his mission to make her miserable.\u00a0 He tried every trick in the book to make Marie go away, but she stayed.<\/p>\n He thought, at the time, just to irk him.<\/p>\n It was around the time Little Joe was born, that things finally changed.\u00a0 He was approaching thirteen and, of course, thought he knew everything.\u00a0 Pa had left him in charge for the night since he was away.\u00a0 Hoss was in bed, and he\u2019d told Marie he was going to go to his room to read.\u00a0 If someone had asked him for his opinion of his stepmother at that time, he would have told them she was a flibbertigibbet, a piece of fluff; a bauble on his pa\u2019s arm. \u00a0Adam snorted.\u00a0 He remembered how surprised he\u2019d been to find he\u2019d fallen asleep reading.\u00a0 He glanced at the clock, saw it was near one in the morning, and decided it was worth chancing Hop Sing\u2019s ire to raid the ice box.\u00a0 Back then, his room had been closer to his father\u2019s.\u00a0 When he stepped into the hall, he noted the light was still on.\u00a0 Being young, he wasn\u2019t very good at honoring or understanding a need for privacy \u2013 other than his own \u2013 so he went to the door, pressed his ear against it, and listened.<\/p>\n That was when he heard Marie praying.<\/p>\n Marie was Catholic, which was a new thing to him. \u00a0Their pa was Protestant all the way.\u00a0 Glancing through the crack in the door, he saw her kneeling on the floor by the bed. \u00a0She had a rosary wrapped around her slender fingers.\u00a0 As he watched, her lips parted and she let out a sigh, so deep it seemed her heart must break.<\/p>\n \u2018Holy mother,\u2019 Marie breathed as tears streamed down her cheeks, \u2018show me what it is that I have done to hurt my beloved\u2019s precious son.\u00a0 Show me why <\/em>Adam does not care for me.\u00a0 My Benjamin has told me of the boy, of how compassionate he is, and how loving.\u00a0 Please, Holy mother, reveal to me the error of my ways and teach me to be a better mother.\u2019<\/p>\n Her<\/em> ways.<\/p>\n Not his.<\/p>\n He had thought Marie fickle and flighty.\u00a0 He had judged her vain not because she was, but because she was beautiful.<\/em>\u00a0 Adam felt heat rise in his cheeks.\u00a0 The thought of the boy he had been shamed the adult he was.\u00a0 His relationship with Marie taught him many things, chief of which was to look beneath the surface and to mine the darkness for unseen treasures \u2013 to believe in the face of unbelief.\u00a0\u00a0 Marie proved to be a wonderful mother.<\/p>\n Just as Joe was a wonderful brother.<\/p>\n Even if he wanted to ring the kid\u2019s neck most of the time.<\/p>\n Adam sniffed, ran a finger under his nose, and straightened his back.\u00a0 He had two jobs to do.\u00a0 One was already done.\u00a0 The first?\u00a0 Find water.\u00a0 The second?\u00a0 Find a horse or better yet, several horses.\u00a0 There were plenty of wild ponies in the area, although most of them would likely prove too feral to ride.\u00a0 Still, there were others; horses that had been broken, trained, and then set free by the loss of their rider or the luck of escape.\u00a0 It was one of the latter that he needed.\u00a0 There was no chance in Hell that Little Joe could walk a mile, let alone twenty.\u00a0 If he was going to save his little brother\u2019s life, he had to find the kid a mount.\u00a0 It would be tough on him and Hoss to walk, but they could endure the desert.\u00a0 Determination would see them through.<\/p>\n The determination that their little brother was going to make it back to the Ponderosa and live many long years yet to plague them.<\/p>\n This time the man in black laughed out loud.<\/p>\n After all, there was a purpose to plagues.\u00a0 They caused even the most hard-hearted to bend.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Little Joe Cartwright stirred and opened his eyes.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t surprised to find her waiting for him.\u00a0 He wished he knew her name, but she hadn\u2019t told him what it was, so he\u2019d taken to calling her \u2018Cheayka\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n The thing that surprised him the most was that they were no longer in a cave, but in a field.\u00a0 A hard rain fell, driven by a strong breeze that rifled through the tall, soldier-straight stalks of corn surrounding them and turned the land to mud.\u00a0 Joe marveled at the corns\u2019 height.\u00a0 It was nearly three times that of a man.\u00a0 Why, the ears alone were close to the length of one of Hoss\u2019 arms!\u00a0 Cheayka\u2019s fingers brushed each plant as they passed with the reverence of a preacher turning a page in the Good Book.\u00a0 So far as he knew they were alone, though the steady breeze carried more than rain with it.\u00a0 Somewhere ahead a man and woman were arguing.\u00a0 The woman was upset. \u00a0Frightened, even.\u00a0 The man\u2019s voice was cool, controlled.<\/p>\n Unyielding.<\/p>\n Cheayka stopped suddenly to look back.\u00a0 Joe couldn\u2019t find a word for the look on her face. \u00a0He needed Adam.\u00a0 Adam would know the word he wanted!\u00a0 People called older brother \u2018stoic\u2019.\u00a0 There was something of that in the depths of the Indian girl\u2019s black eyes, but there was so<\/em> much more.\u00a0 Sadness.\u00a0 Desperation.<\/p>\n Resignation.<\/p>\n Her lips parted.\u00a0 Cheayka said something he couldn\u2019t catch and then disappeared into the corn. \u00a0In response, the wind howled and the rain increased its fury.\u00a0 Together the elements drove the tall stalks of corn to the ground and blocked his way, as if forbidding Joe to follow.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Nothing<\/em> mattered but Cheayka.\u00a0 She needed <\/em>him. \u00a0Something awful <\/em>was going to happen to her and he was the only one who could prevent it!<\/p>\n Damn it!\u00a0 He was honor-bound as a Cartwright<\/em> to prevent it!<\/p>\n \u201cYou can do nothing, Joseph Cartwright.\u00a0 What you witness has already been.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe stiffened.\u00a0 Whoever had spoken stood behind him.\u00a0 He turned to look, but found that he couldn\u2019t move as his boots had become mired in the ankle-deep mud.<\/p>\n \u201cBut she needs me!\u201d he protested.<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d the man replied.\u00a0 \u201cNot then.\u00a0 Not now.\u00a0 The time is yet to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe struggled as hard as he could to free himself, but to no avail.\u00a0 He was sinking fast.\u00a0 It was as if the mud had grown fingers; tuberous knotty fingers that gripped his ankles and clawed at his thighs, seeking to pull him down, down\u2026.<\/p>\n Down.<\/p>\n Down until he drowned.<\/p>\n Abject fear lent the teenager the strength to twist and look behind.\u00a0 There was a man there; a thin, insubstantial man reaching toward him.<\/p>\n Offering salvation.<\/p>\n Joe closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. \u00a0Much as he wanted to take the man\u2019s hand \u2013 as much as he wanted <\/em>to escape whatever fate awaited him on the other side of the corn field \u2013 he wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know how he knew it, but Cheayka was in mortal danger.<\/p>\n Someone had to help her and, so far as he could tell, he was the only one around!<\/p>\n The teenager gasped as he opened his eyes.\u00a0 The man now stood directly in front of him.\u00a0 Joe was surprised to find that he was Indian; an old Indian with a gaunt, care-worn face surrounded by a halo of white hair, pale as the moon.<\/p>\n \u201cYou will do,\u201d the stranger said.<\/p>\n Just before the mud topped Joe\u2019s curly head.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Hoss had never been so scared in all his livelong days.\u00a0 He\u2019d been tendin\u2019 Little Joe all on his lonesome when baby brother up and took a big, deep breath and then stopped \u2013 breathin\u2019 that is.\u00a0 It was like the boy was preparin\u2019 to go under water and forgot to dive.\u00a0 By the time he realized Joe wasn\u2019t gonna take in no more air, little brother\u2019s lips were turnin\u2019 blue.\u00a0 That was when he started shakin\u2019 him hard enough to winnow seeds. \u00a0A few seconds later, them big green eyes of Joe\u2019s popped open.\u00a0 Little brother looked at him, said somethin\u2019, and then sucked in air and started to cough.\u00a0 By the time he was done coughin\u2019, Joe was done in.\u00a0 They both fell back exhausted and Joe went right to sleep.<\/p>\n Him?\u00a0 An hour had passed and he was still pacin\u2019.<\/p>\n Hoss reached up and gripped his arm where the bullet had passed through.\u00a0 The wound was achin\u2019 and felt like it was on fire.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t told Joe or Adam it was worryin\u2019 him, \u2018cause they both had plenty of other things to worry about.\u00a0 He<\/em> was kind of concerned about it though, on account of he knew he\u2019d need every bit of his strength and more if they was to get Little Joe out of this gol-darn cave! \u00a0It had seemed like a good idea at the time, climbin\u2019 all the way up to get away from them bad men, but now he wasn\u2019t so sure.\u00a0 How they was gonna get little brother back down that hundred foot cliff he just didn\u2019t know, and there wasn\u2019t no way they could leave him behind and go for help.<\/p>\n It was all too clear that it would come too late.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n The big man hustled back to his brother\u2019s side.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, Joe, I\u2019m here,\u201d he said as he knelt and touched his brother\u2019s shoulder.<\/p>\n \u201cYou gotta\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Joe coughed and then wet his lips.\u00a0 \u201cWater?\u201d he asked in a pitiful voice.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry, Joe.\u00a0 We ain\u2019t got none left.\u00a0 Adam went to get some, though.\u00a0 He\u2019ll be back right soon, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe nodded weakly.\u00a0 \u201cO\u2026kay.\u00a0 I\u2019m\u2026okay.\u201d<\/p>\n Tears entered his eyes as Hoss brushed a lock of stray curls off of his brother\u2019s forehead.\u00a0 \u201cSure you are.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s eyes opened again.\u00a0 \u201cBut Cheayka, she\u2026.\u00a0 Hoss, you gotta\u2026help her\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cChee-aay-kah?\u201d he asked.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026girl\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The teenager smiled.\u00a0 \u201cYou got it\u2026wrong\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n It was obvious little brother was delirious, so Hoss figured he\u2019d play along.\u00a0 \u201cGot what<\/em> wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026that Indian girl\u2026.\u00a0 She\u2019s\u2026shorter than\u2026me.\u201d<\/p>\n The big man chuckled.\u00a0 Leave it to Little Joe!\u00a0 \u201cSo Chee-aay-kah is an Indian gal?\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s nod was feeble.\u00a0 \u201cGotta help\u2026her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will, but you gotta tell me where she is afore I can.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother frowned.\u00a0 \u201cIn\u2026.\u00a0 In the\u2026corn field.\u201d<\/p>\n The big man\u2019s amusement turned to concern.\u00a0 \u201cThere ain\u2019t no cornfield nowheres near here, Joe.\u00a0 We\u2019re stuck in a cave, high up in a rock wall.\u00a0 Remember?\u201d<\/p>\n His brother gripped his hand.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s a\u2026cornfield.\u00a0 She went\u2026into it.\u00a0 You\u2026gotta find it!\u00a0 You gotta <\/em>help her, Hoss, \u2018cause I\u2026can\u2019t.\u201d\u00a0 <\/em>\u00a0Joe\u2019s frown deepened into a scowl.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m\u2026buried in mud, so you\u2026you<\/em> gotta go.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs he worse?\u201d<\/p>\n The unexpected voice startled Hoss so that he jumped.\u00a0 \u201cDang it, Adam!\u00a0 What do you think you\u2019re doin\u2019, sneakin\u2019 up on a man like that?!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSorry.\u00a0 Your attention was on Joe.\u00a0 I coughed and stamped a bit, but, apparently, you didn\u2019t hear me.\u201d\u00a0 Big brother crossed to Joe\u2019s other side and knelt.\u00a0 \u201cHow is he?\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss fought back tears.\u00a0 \u201cNot good.\u00a0 I\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 He cleared his throat.\u00a0 \u201cAdam, I done thought I lost him a short while back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLittle Joe stopped breathin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam placed a hand on their brother\u2019s chest.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s hot and his heart\u2019s beating fast.\u00a0 Breathing is a little uneven, but steady.\u201d\u00a0 The man in black looked right at him.\u00a0 \u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n He swallowed over a lump of dismay.\u00a0 \u201cSure, I\u2019m sure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat brought him back?\u201d\u00a0 Adam\u2019s question was sharp.\u00a0 He answered it himself.\u00a0 \u201cNever mind.\u00a0 I know.\u201d\u00a0 Those hazel eyes pinned him.\u00a0 \u201cI think we both<\/em> know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMe?\u201d\u00a0 The big man shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cPa would say rightly that it was God.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe.\u201d\u00a0 Older brother smiled.\u00a0 \u201cWith a little help.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA-dm?\u201d<\/p>\n They both looked down.\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s eyes were open again.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, Joe,\u201d Adam replied.<\/p>\n \u201cSave her.\u201d<\/p>\n Big brother looked at him.\u00a0 \u2018Save who?\u2019 he mouthed.<\/p>\n \u201cHer name\u2019s \u2018Che-aay-ka\u2019,\u201d Hoss replied aloud, and then mouthed as well, \u201cWhoever that<\/em> is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCheayka?\u201d\u00a0 Adam scowled.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s Din\u00e9tah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDin-ah-what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNavajo.\u00a0 One of the Utah tribes.\u201d\u00a0 Older brother leaned in close.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n Little brother\u2019s head bobbed\u2026just a little.<\/p>\n \u201cWho is Cheayka?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIndian\u2026girl.\u00a0 Needs help.\u201d\u00a0 Without warning, Joe levered an arm and tried to push himself up and off the cavern\u2019s floor, startling them both.\u00a0 \u201cGotta go.\u00a0 Gotta<\/em> find her\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, you can\u2019t \u2013\u201d<\/p>\n Hoss went silent as Adam held up a hand.<\/p>\n \u201cJoe, you\u2019re hurt,\u201d he said as he placed a hand on their brother\u2019s chest, \u201cyou can\u2019t help her.\u201d\u00a0 When little brother moaned, older brother added, \u201cBut I<\/em> can.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got water and a horse.\u00a0 I can find Cheayka and rescue her, but you have to tell me where she is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou really got a horse?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n Adam looked up and grinned.\u00a0 \u201cI got two.<\/em> \u00a0Two pretty ponies with coats brown and curly as little brother\u2019s hair. \u00a0They\u2019re tethered below.\u201d<\/p>\n That meant they could ride \u2013 all<\/em> of them.<\/p>\n Pa must be praying awful<\/em> hard.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026promise?\u201d Joe breathed.<\/p>\n \u201cI promise,\u201d older brother replied, \u201cand you know I always keep my promises.\u00a0 Now, where is Cheayka?\u201d<\/p>\n When Joe failed to reply, Hoss answered.\u00a0 \u201cJoe said she was in a cornfield, Adam. Only there ain\u2019t no cornfield in this here place.\u201d\u00a0 He lowered his voice.\u00a0 \u201cThe boy\u2019s out of his head.\u201d<\/p>\n The man in black had a funny look on his face.\u00a0 Adam stood up and turned toward the back of the cave. \u201cMaybe, and maybe not.\u00a0 You wait here, Hoss,\u201d he said as he lit a torch and moved into the darkness.\u00a0 \u201cMake sure Joe stays put, even if you have to sit on him!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are you<\/em> goin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n Older brother grinned.\u00a0 \u201cTo harvest some corn.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Adam didn\u2019t know what he expected to find \u2013 certainly not a damsel in distress \u2013 but Joe\u2019s words had rekindled the memory of the paintings of the fantastic corn stalks he\u2019d examined the first night they\u2019d spent in the cave.\u00a0 To begin with he\u2019d put their size and nature down to a fanciful imagination.\u00a0 Now he remembered reading that the corn, or maize, grown by ancient Indians was said to have been two to three times the size of current varieties.\u00a0 The paintings left behind by some long-dead cliff-dweller might <\/em>be fanciful, or they just might represent a real field of maize at harvest time.\u00a0 While he knew there was little sense in paying attention to the ravings of a fevered mind, something niggled at him, gnawing away at his skepticism and insisting there might be something more to his brother\u2019s vision.\u00a0 Their father was known for his uncanny \u2018knack\u2019 of sensing things others could neither see nor feel.\u00a0 It could be hubris, but he was pretty sure he had inherited that \u2018knack\u2019.<\/p>\n That, along with the deadpan look he had worked decades to perfect, were what made him an ace at poker.<\/p>\n There was<\/em> something here \u2013 some mystery at work in this cave.\u00a0 He\u2019d sensed it the first time he and Hoss explored it.\u00a0 It was part of the reason he\u2019d told his brothers to make for this place \u2013 not that he would ever let them<\/em> know that!\u00a0 Whatever that mystery was, it called to him now in a voice that was almost audible.<\/p>\n A feminine voice.<\/p>\n Adam raised his torch to light the wall and ran his fingers over the first of the crude paintings before quickly moving on to the ones that showed women working the harvest. The first stalks of maize they tended were tall as a house; their branches laden with fat, chubby ears.\u00a0 As he followed the cave art deeper into the earth, the stalks withered and fell away as if with a blight.\u00a0 By the time he reached the end of the corridor and<\/em> the pictographs \u2013 the last one showed a young woman with her arms outstretched \u2013 his torch sputtered and went out.\u00a0 He should have been afraid, but he wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n Because it wasn\u2019t <\/em>dark.<\/p>\n Before Adam a single shaft of light cleaved the darkness like a sword.\u00a0 The man in black sucked in a breath as he recognized it.\u00a0 He\u2019d been here before.\u00a0 This was the grotto where the air rushed in.\u00a0 When young, he and Hoss had stumbled upon it and been amazed to find a well at its center.\u00a0\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know why he hadn\u2019t seen the cave paintings leading to this place before.\u00a0 Maybe because the darkness masked it.<\/p>\n Or, maybe, because it wasn\u2019t time.<\/p>\n It was time now.<\/p>\n What Adam Cartwright found when he leaned over the edge and peered into the depths of the empty well was something he could never <\/em>have expected \u2013 and would never forget.<\/p>\n Her name was Cheayka.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n FIVE<\/p>\n Joe groaned as Adam applied a hand to his brother\u2019s back and helped the sick man shift position.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s it, buddy,\u201d the man in black cooed.\u00a0 \u201cCome on.\u00a0 You can do it.\u00a0 Open your eyes and look at me.\u201d<\/p>\n The kid blinked. \u00a0\u201cUh\u2026\u00a0 Is that\u2026you, Hoss?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou get an \u2018E\u2019 for effort, Joe.\u00a0 It\u2019s Adam,\u201d he replied with a chuckle as he tapped his little brothers\u2019 fingers with the edge of the plate he held.\u00a0 \u201cHoss is catching a few winks.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAdam?\u00a0 What are you\u2026?\u00a0 Oh.\u201d\u00a0 Joe reluctantly accepted the plate. \u00a0It contained a meager ration of field greens and a portion of rabbit stew. \u00a0\u201cIs it already time for supper?\u201d he asked as he wrinkled his nose.<\/p>\n \u201cMm-hm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou mean, I fell asleep again<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s all I seem to do.\u201d \u00a0Baby brother sighed as he leaned his head against the rock at his back.\u00a0 \u201cThat and bounce around on a horse.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam hid his smile. \u201cWell, you have to admit, it\u2019s hard to sit a horse correctly when you\u2019re half-awake.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe glanced at the plate again and shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m not hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know you\u2019re not hungry, but you need to eat.\u00a0 You have to keep up your strength.\u201d\u00a0 Adam drew in a breath and let it out slowly as his keen gaze took in their surroundings \u2013 sand, dust, dirt, dry grass and gorse\u2026and more sand.\u00a0 \u201cWe have a long way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe looked too.\u00a0 \u201cWhere are we?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTwo hours farther into the desert than the last time you asked.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe had been going in and out of consciousness all day.\u00a0 Travel on horseback was an exercise in strength, stamina, and skill at the best of times.\u00a0 Adam chuckled softly to himself.\u00a0 It was a good thing he\u2019d found only two<\/em> horses.\u00a0 Joe would have insisted on riding alone <\/em>if there\u2019d been three, and then half of their journey would have been spent picking him up and dusting the desert floor off of him.\u00a0 As it was, the two of them shared the smaller of the curly ponies, while Hoss rode the bigger one.\u00a0 The horses had proven to be surprisingly good mounts.<\/p>\n \u201cYou should have left me behind.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam took a good<\/em> look at his brother and didn\u2019t much like what he saw.\u00a0 It had been a risk, removing Joe from the shelter of the cliff dwelling and beginning the long road home, but it was one he\u2019d felt they had to take.\u00a0 After his\u2026discovery\u2026at the bottom of the well, the cave had become oppressive; its atmosphere even more ominous than before.\u00a0 At first the open vista of the desert with its broad expanse of sky above had revived them all, but of late Joe had gone pale and grown quiet.<\/p>\n And a quiet Little Joe Cartwright was as sure a sign of trouble as a sailor\u2019s red sky in the morning.<\/p>\n \u201cHoss and I considered it,\u201d he replied.\u00a0 \u201cIn the end, the pros outweighed the cons.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe\u2019s look was sharp. \u201cWhat \u2018cons\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n He smiled. \u201cPa not skinning us alive.\u00a0 Hop Sing not roasting us.\u201d\u00a0 The man in black paused and then did something he rarely did \u2013 laid a hand alongside his baby brother\u2019s face.\u00a0 \u201cJoe, you know we\u2019d never leave you behind.\u00a0 We\u2019d die first.\u201d<\/p>\n His brother\u2019s jaw grew tight beneath his fingers.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s what I\u2019m afraid of.\u201d<\/p>\n The kid was hot \u2013 not as hot as he\u2019d been, but still too<\/em> hot.\u00a0 Hoss wasn\u2019t saying much, but both of his brothers were carrying infectivity.\u00a0 Adam glanced at the big man where he lay asleep in the shade of a boulder with his ten gallon hat pulled over his face to muffle the snoring.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t want to admit it, but they were in a bad way.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll make it. \u00a0All three <\/em>of us,\u201d Adam said as he rose to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cThere\u2019s no other option.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJust like that.\u201d<\/p>\n He looked back at his brother.\u00a0 \u201cYeah.\u00a0 Just like that.\u201d<\/p>\n The teenager closed his eyes and sighed.\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSaying it doesn\u2019t make it so<\/em>, big brother,\u201d<\/p>\n Adam bit his lip \u2013 and his tongue.\u00a0 The kid was sick, so he needed to go slow.\u00a0 Saying it might not make it \u2018so\u2019, but long ago \u2013 on the long road out west, actually \u2013 six-year old Adam Cartwright had learned the power of words.\u00a0 He\u2019d watched as a few well-chosen words spoken with authority by the wagon master united a band of disparate people too weary to go on.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen their power when the preacher who traveled with them invoked God\u2019s blessings and reminded them of His promises after yet another <\/em>death.\u00a0 And he\u2019d observed his father \u2013 dead tired, sick himself, and too weary to stand \u2013 go on in spite of the fact that common sense should have dropped him in his tracks, and all because he told<\/em> himself he could.<\/p>\n