Summary: \u00a0Adam, alone and hurt in the desert, is comforted by a stranger.<\/p>\n
Rated:\u00a0 K+ \u00a0 WC \u00a01700<\/p>\n
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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters and settings are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.<\/p>\n
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Solace<\/strong><\/p>\n The sun overhead tormented him.<\/p>\n It was December 21 for goodness sake.\u00a0 It shouldn\u2019t be this hot.\u00a0 But it was.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s shirt was so stiff with dried sweat that it had rubbed his skin raw under his arms and belt.<\/p>\n He would have taken his shirt off but he had learned his lesson\u2014painfully\u2014the previous day when he stupidly stripped to the waist to rid himself of the scratchy black cloth and had promptly blistered his back and chest!\u00a0 In fact, there wasn\u2019t a square inch on his torso that didn\u2019t hurt or ooze fluid when touched.<\/p>\n Though the sky was streaked with high clouds, he had fried in the invisible rays of the sun during the day.\u00a0 By night he was shivering, his raw flesh abraded by the gritty sand as soon as he lay down.\u00a0 He should have known better.<\/p>\n He did know better.\u00a0 Hadn\u2019t he taught his brothers how to survive in the desert?\u00a0 Mother of God why had they ever listened to him?\u00a0 Who was he to always be so sure of himself?\u00a0 Here he was alone in Death Valley.<\/p>\n No horse.<\/p>\n No water.<\/p>\n And still so far to where the mountains stood.<\/p>\n Forced to put his horse down after it broke its leg in a freak accident, Adam had trudged on foot for days in sweltering heat.\u00a0 That the temperature was unusual for this time of year was of little consolation.<\/p>\n Crossing Death Valley in the winter was eminently doable.\u00a0 Normally a comfortable mid-70s, the weather had turned unseasonably hot and was reaching nearly 100\u00b0F with colder-than-normal nights.<\/p>\n It seemed the sun had stood still\u2014not moving\u2014for three days.\u00a0 \u00a0It took him awhile to realize it was the winter solace\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0no make that solstice.\u00a0 \u201cHa!\u201c he laughed out loud. \u00a0\u201cThere is no solace in the solstice!\u201d he joked, but he choked on his laugh when it occurred to him that his brain was as fried as his skin.<\/p>\n It was the last thought he had.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u201cEasy, easy,\u201d the disembodied voice said.\u00a0 \u201cNot too much, you\u2019ll make yourself sick.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam gagged on the little bit of water that passed his lips and was sorry for it.\u00a0 He leaned back into the embrace of the stranger, too exhausted to be wary.\u00a0 He was at this man\u2019s mercy he knew, but somehow no longer cared.\u00a0 About anything.<\/p>\n \u201cDo I know you?\u201d he croaked when his throat had received enough moisture to function again.<\/p>\n \u201cUnlikely,\u201d came the response.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHere?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornia.\u00a0 Death Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNope.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere then?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, a little bit of everywhere.\u00a0 And nowhere.\u201d\u00a0 The stranger grinned and then laughed.\u00a0 It was an easy laugh, one that Adam found familiar.<\/p>\n \u201cYou remind me of my kid brother.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe world could be coming to an end and he would see nothing but possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAn optimist, then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you\u2019re the pessimist?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA realist.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI see.\u201d<\/p>\n His companion was a man of few words.\u00a0 Not quite solitary, but reticent to share too much of himself.\u00a0 Adam laughed inwardly.\u00a0 Not unlike himself.\u00a0 Oh, he could and would wax poetic on subjects which interested him most\u2014art, music, architecture, engineering, politics\u2014but he was hard pressed sometimes to find someone who shared his interests\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0an intellectual equal with whom he could spar.<\/p>\n Not that his family were dullards, no sir.\u00a0 His father was well read and traveled and had known the most amazing people\u2014people who often visited the Ponderosa on their journeys.\u00a0 It never ceased to amaze him the people his father knew, from circus performers to dukes; from opera singers to bawdy actresses.<\/p>\n His youngest brother was like that.\u00a0 Joe could ride into a new town a stranger and leave with the keys to the city.\u00a0 People gravitated toward him.\u00a0 Not just the women, but the men, too.\u00a0 Of course, some were downright antagonistic\u2014jealous of the kid\u2019s good looks, way with women, luck at cards, or perceived easy life.\u00a0 But with a grin and a wry sense of humor, Joe could usually win them over.\u00a0 Those he couldn\u2019t\u2014well, he might be \u201clittle\u201d but he was fast and agile and had a mean left hook.\u00a0 He might take a beating in the process, but there weren\u2019t many fights Joe lost.\u00a0 Just as Hoss could read a trail better than anyone in the territory, Joe could read people.\u00a0 Joe would know what he needed right now.<\/p>\n A soft moan escaped from Adam\u2019s lips as he shifted position.\u00a0 Oh, what he wouldn\u2019t give to hear Joe prattle on about\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0anything\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0. anything to distract him from the sting of his raw flesh.<\/p>\n As if reading his mind, his companion launched into a soliloquy on the finer points of campfire cooking.\u00a0 It was mind numbing and just what Adam needed in order to concentrate on something other than his wounds.\u00a0 Eventually, the non-stop chatter soothed him into a deep, if restless, sleep.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n The blackness of the desert night seemed to swallow him whole and he woke with a start, instantly sorry he had.\u00a0 Away from the campfire, he shook uncontrollably; too close and he felt his skin would ignite.\u00a0 There didn\u2019t seem to be any relief possible.\u00a0 Then the stranger moved his bedroll between Adam and the fire sheltering him from the intensity of the flames.\u00a0 But still Adam was agitated.<\/p>\n As if sensing the immense darkness of the desert was too overwhelming, the stranger got up, reached into his saddlebag and then\u2014in the sand a few feet from Adam\u2019s face\u2014planted a lit candle.<\/p>\n Adam focused on the tiny flame and the darkness receded.\u00a0 Strange how that one small candle warmed him and stopped the shivering.\u00a0 It calmed the chaos within him and brought solace.<\/p>\n The weather was cooling slightly and during the day Adam rode double with the stranger, sheltered in his arms and at night the lit candle always burned where he could see it.\u00a0 His sleep became more regular and the dreams were good ones of blue water and snowcapped peaks; of fishing in trout-filled streams with his brothers; and of his father\u2019s velvet voice.<\/p>\n He had left the Ponderosa and kept going\u2014where didn\u2019t matter\u2014anywhere to just start living his own life and not the dreams of another.\u00a0 Hoping to avoid a fractious leave-taking, Adam had just headed south one day never intending to return.\u00a0 Now, thanks to the generosity of a stranger, he had another chance.\u00a0 He would return one last time to the evergreens of Tahoe to tell his father and brothers how much he loved them. \u00a0He owed them that.\u00a0 He owed himself that.<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n The room was dark, but the warmth told him it must be day.\u00a0 His hands went immediately to his face and he felt the bandages.<\/p>\n \u201cEasy, fella,\u201d a new voice said.\u00a0 It was older, with a slight accent.\u00a0\u00a0 Missouri maybe, or Tennessee.\u00a0 \u201cDoc bandaged your eyes to protect them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAm I .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0blind?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNaw, just hurtin\u2019 a might.\u00a0 Sun\u2019ll do that to a fella, \u2018specially out here.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSir?\u00a0 Where am I?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cArmy Fort at Bitter Springs on the Santa Fe Trail, and you can call me Sarge.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow did I get here?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYoung fella brought you in.\u00a0 Didn\u2019t seem too anxious to be anywhere near soldiers.\u00a0 I figured him to be a deserter\u2014not that I blame him much in this godforsaken place\u2014but the Cap\u2019n, he done talked to him and said he was OK.\u00a0 Musta been in the army at some time though.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKnew all the lingo and the drill.\u00a0 Those were proper field dressings he put on you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWould you ask him to come in; I\u2019d like to thank him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGone.\u00a0 Stayed long enough to see you were in good hands, then high-tailed it outta here.\u00a0 He left somethin\u2019 for ya, though.\u201d\u00a0 A chair scrapped against the plank floor and Adam could hear shuffling.\u00a0 \u201cOdd.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a stub of a candle.\u00a0 Hardly worth keeping if you ask me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMay I have it, please,\u201d Adam said as he extended his arm and Sarge dropped the small cylindrical object into his hand.\u00a0 It had been softened by the heat of the day and yielded slightly to pressure.\u00a0 Adam brought it to his face and smelled the beeswax and mesquite.\u00a0 He smiled.\u00a0 Just enough left to light his way.<\/em><\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Mr. Cartwright, your skin is healing nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about my eyes, Doc?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow do they feel?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cScratchy, like I\u2019ve got sand in them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMmm.\u00a0 Well, don\u2019t rub.\u00a0 Cold compresses will help with that. \u00a0I\u2019ll take the bandages off but you are to stay in a darkened room during the day and only go outside at night until your eyes stop stinging.\u00a0 Then I\u2019ll give you some dark spectacles to wear.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen can I travel, Doc?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhere are you headed?\u00a0 Not back into the desert I hope?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 North to Nevada.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a wagon train leaving in a few days for Los Angeles.\u00a0 I can arrange for you to go with them.\u00a0 I suggest you take the train north to San Francisco.\u00a0 Your eyes are going to be mighty sensitive for some time to come.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll do that, Doc.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 There\u2019s some people I\u2019ve got to see.\u201d<\/p>\n **********<\/p>\n Epilogue:<\/p>\n As was their habit, over brandy and cigars following Sunday dinner, the Captain and the Doctor rocked on the front porch of Command Headquarters and reviewed the events of the week.\u00a0 In this desolate piece of the Mojave Desert near Death Valley, they had seen more than their share of suffering and broken dreams.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat was the tally on the wagon train?\u201d asked the Captain.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom Santa Fe to here?\u00a0\u00a0 Six dead; one heart attack, a broken back, two heat strokes, appendicitis, and snake bite.\u00a0\u00a0 Two births.\u00a0 Assorted injuries and two cases of food poisoning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbout par then.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYep,\u201d the Doctor replied, taking a sip of brandy.\u00a0 \u201cCartwright made it though, even with all that money on him.\u00a0 Renews my faith in humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n The Captain blew smoke rings at the stars. \u00a0\u201cCartwright was a lucky man all right.\u00a0 His bones would have been picked clean if Canaday hadn\u2019t found him.\u201d<\/p>\n -The End-<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n