{"id":64634,"date":"2026-07-11T08:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T12:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=64634"},"modified":"2026-08-03T09:13:04","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:13:04","slug":"figures-from-the-past-by-tavia42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=64634","title":{"rendered":"Figures from the Past (by Tavia42)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Old friends and enemies from Joe\u2019s past return to up-end the Cartwrights\u2019 lives.\u00a0 One wants to marry Joe, while others want to kill him.\u00a0 With Ben away, the Cartwright sons \u2013 with a little help \u2013 will have to figure out who is targeting Joe, and how to keep the culprit from finishing the job.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story is set during and immediately after \u201cThe Artist,\u201d and is a What Happened Later for a number of episodes\u2026but those details would be spoilers!\u00a0 It is also part of my\u00a0 AU series.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rating: PG | Word Count: 44,416<\/em><\/p>\n

Lady in the House Series<\/strong>
\nA Visitor from San Francisco<\/a>
\nOlder Brothers<\/a>
\nFigures from the Past<\/a><\/p>\n

1.<\/em><\/p>\n

Joe Cartwright folded his poker hand when Hoss walked into the saloon \u2013 he only had nine-high anyway \u2013 and pushed his chair away from the table.\u00a0 He tipped the chair back and his hat down, and asked, \u201cLooking for me, big brother?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, looking for Pa,\u201d Hoss said, stumping over to the table.\u00a0 \u201cYou seen him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, and we ain\u2019t going to,\u201d Joe said.\u00a0 \u201cGot a message that he\u2019s staying on for a while with his new friend.\u00a0 Apparently the man\u2019s a famous painter or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

It had, all in all, been a strange day so far.\u00a0 They\u2019d finished their cattle run, all four Cartwrights together, sold their beef, and after a couple weeks on the trail, Joe had never been happier to hand a whole lot of animals over to someone else\u2019s responsibility and go get a meal in the best saloon this tiny, dusty town had to offer.<\/p>\n

And then somehow, Pa had got himself into a fistfight with a blind man.\u00a0 Joe could just imagine what his father would have said if he\u2019d<\/em> ever come home and announced he\u2019d fought a man who couldn\u2019t even see him.\u00a0 When he brawled in saloons with perfectly able-bodied, sighted men, he got told he was being childish and irresponsible.\u00a0 But Pa had mixed it up with a blind man who\u2019d plainly been itching for a fight and somehow that was supposed to be a good deed or something, and the man invited Pa over for tea.\u00a0 And now Pa\u2019d sent a message back that he was staying on and that Joe, Hoss and Adam ought to start for home without him.<\/p>\n

It was a good thing Joe trusted his father\u2019s judgment as a rule.\u00a0 Made it a little easier at moments like this to shrug and figure Pa knew what he was doing, whether it made any sense to him or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuh,\u201d Hoss said, face creased in a frown.\u00a0 \u201cWhy didn\u2019t you come to the hotel and tell me when you got the message?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was busy,\u201d Joe said, gesturing towards the poker game.\u00a0 \u201cBesides, wake you up when you\u2019re taking an afternoon nap?\u00a0 I like life too much to try that<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

He expected Hoss to laugh at that, but he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 He just grunted and said, \u201cYeah, guess you got a point there.\u00a0 Don\u2019t really matter anyhow.\u00a0 We\u2019re heading back to the Ponderosa without Pa?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what the message said to do, yeah,\u201d Joe said quietly.\u00a0 Felt like Hoss hadn\u2019t laughed at much he\u2019d said lately.<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam know yet?\u201d Hoss asked, running a hand over his hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, I ain\u2019t seen him either.\u00a0 Probably getting a shave and a bath, if I had to guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMebbe I\u2019ll go look for him and let him know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe waited a beat, waited to see if Hoss was going to suggest he come along.\u00a0 But Hoss turned to go without saying that, and Joe let his chair thump back solidly onto the floor.\u00a0 Fine.\u00a0 That was fine.<\/p>\n

And then Hoss did<\/em> look back, but it was only to say, \u201cHow you doing there, anyway?\u201d with a nod to the poker table.<\/p>\n

\u201cEh, breaking even,\u201d Joe said, and waggled a hand back and forth.\u00a0 \u201cMore or less.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright.\u00a0 Stay out of trouble, now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s the fun in that, big brother?\u201d Joe said under his breath, and he didn\u2019t think Hoss even heard him as he left the saloon.<\/p>\n

He shook his head, scraped his chair back up to the table, said, \u201cDeal me back in,\u201d and stared at his new hand in a gray study once it came.<\/p>\n

Something was going on with Hoss.<\/p>\n

No, that wasn\u2019t it exactly, because big brother seemed perfectly normal in every way except\u2014there was something going on with him<\/em> and Hoss<\/em>.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t define it or explain it, he only knew something felt wrong and had for weeks now.<\/p>\n

It was so vague, it was hard to untangle when exactly it had even started.\u00a0 Everything had been fine when Liza was around.\u00a0 He knew that, but he tried not to think too much about that stretch of weeks.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t succeed all that often, but he tried.<\/p>\n

And then his unexpected, unknown brother Clay had come, and\u2014he didn\u2019t like thinking about that<\/em> period too much either.<\/p>\n

Everything had been wrong with everyone right after Clay left.\u00a0 All he\u2019d wanted to do was get away from the ranch, away from his family, away from everything.\u00a0 So he\u2019d avoided everyone, slacked on his chores, got into a lot of fights in a lot of saloons that meant a lot of lectures about being childish and\u2014yeah, that wasn\u2019t a great time either.<\/p>\n

It hadn\u2019t been a great few months, really.<\/p>\n

But things had been better lately, at least with Pa and Adam. \u00a0He\u2019d taken on that big timber contract, and when everything went wrong there, they were both so pleased to be able to help, and so pleased that he\u2019d asked them for help, that it had smoothed over most trouble.\u00a0 And it had meant a lot to him too, that they\u2019d been there for him when he needed them.<\/p>\n

One brother had ridden away, but he still had the rest of his family.\u00a0 He\u2019d forgotten that \u2013maybe even resented that \u2013 for a while, but it was better now.<\/p>\n

So things ought to be better with Hoss too; he\u2019d been just as involved with the timber project as Pa and Adam, but something still wasn\u2019t right.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t obvious anymore.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t fighting, they\u2019d worked together herding the cattle here, they sat together for meals, they\u2019d even played checkers by the campfire a couple nights ago.\u00a0 It was subtler than that, somehow, in some way that Joe couldn\u2019t put his finger on and definitely couldn\u2019t put into words.<\/p>\n

But why hadn\u2019t Hoss invited him to come along to look for Adam?\u00a0 Why hadn\u2019t he<\/em> volunteered to go along?\u00a0 Why hadn\u2019t the two of them left Adam to his own business and found whatever meagre entertainment this dusty town had to offer?<\/p>\n

They just hadn\u2019t, that was all.<\/p>\n

Joe threw down another hand of cards in disgust.\u00a0 Maybe, riding all the way back home again, he\u2019d be able to figure out what was wrong.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Cartwright sons got out fine in the morning, none of them too sorry to leave the scrap of town behind and head for home.\u00a0 Hoss liked animals, as a rule, but it was a lot easier traveling without<\/em> a herd of cattle to look after.\u00a0 Everything went smooth as could be for the next few days, all quiet, and if it felt a little bit\u2014flat, well\u2026it had been a long trip, and it felt kind of strange, Pa sending them on back home without him.<\/p>\n

They crossed over the border onto the Ponderosa in the late afternoon of the third day, but that left a far enough ride back to the house that they\u2019d need to camp another night.\u00a0 Still, it felt like a significant shift.\u00a0 Maybe that\u2019s why Adam picked that moment to stir things up.<\/p>\n

They\u2019d been riding along in silence for a while when Adam suddenly spoke up with, \u201cSo is one of you going to tell me what\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss and Little Joe both looked at Adam, and Joe said, \u201cWhat are you talking about, older brother?\u00a0 Nothing\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Hoss said, slightly distracted by suddenly noticing that he and Joe hadn\u2019t<\/em> exchanged a glance, a what\u2019s going on with older brother now<\/em> glance.\u00a0 \u201cNothing\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Here we\u2019ve been riding for days, without Pa around, and you two have been model citizens.\u00a0 Nobody\u2019s gotten into any trouble.\u00a0 You haven\u2019t even started any arguments.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMust be because we\u2019ve got you to keep us in line,\u201d Joe joked.<\/p>\n

Adam cracked a smile.\u00a0 \u201cI would have expected the two of you to slip off by now and\u2026let\u2019s see, maybe be mistaken for outlaws, or accidentally get engaged, or wind up accused of murder somehow.\u00a0 The sort of scrapes you regularly get into together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou aren\u2019t really complaining because we didn\u2019t<\/em> do any of that, are you?\u201d Hoss asked.\u00a0 Except he thought he knew what Adam was driving at.\u00a0 He just didn\u2019t want to admit it.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust observing,\u201d Adam said cooly.\u00a0 \u201cIt all seems a little unnatural.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well, I\u2019m gonna ride on ahead and see if I can observe<\/em> a campsite,\u201d Little Joe said, Cochise picking up his pace.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll try not to get married by accident, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe disappeared out of sight through the trees within a few minutes.\u00a0 Hoss waited, and it was only a few beats before Adam started again.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs this still about the new horse?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, come on, Adam, nothing\u2019s wrong!\u201d Hoss protested.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why didn\u2019t you ride up with Joe there?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t ask,\u201d Hoss said flatly, and Adam just stared at him.\u00a0 Hoss let out a loud, gusty sigh.\u00a0 It was no good.\u00a0 Once oldest brother got a hold of something, he didn\u2019t let it go.\u00a0 Especially when he wasn\u2019t wrong.\u00a0 Hoss glared at the nearest pine tree.\u00a0 \u201cYer metaphor<\/em> didn\u2019t account for what happens when the new horse leaves and Joe still doesn\u2019t go back to Cochise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Out loud, none of this appeared to make any sense.\u00a0 Especially since Joe had just ridden away on Cochise.\u00a0 But it was easier to talk about Adam\u2019s horse metaphor than it was to talk about how much Little Joe\u2019s new older brother Clay had seemed to get in between Hoss and Joe, and how, even with Clay gone for weeks now, they hadn\u2019t got back to how it used to be.<\/p>\n

Hoss had tried, after Clay left.\u00a0 He\u2019d been that dadburned angry with Little Joe for trying to leave with Clay, but he\u2019d tried<\/em>.\u00a0 And Joe hadn\u2019t wanted anything to do with any of them for weeks, cutting up and getting into trouble in town with the likes of that Dave Donovan he\u2019d met in some poker game.\u00a0 Then there\u2019d been the big timber contract, and everyone else seemed to think that had smoothed everything over again.\u00a0 Only, Joe\u2019d gone to Pa<\/em> for help, and Adam<\/em> had come up with the solution for the broken flume, and Hoss felt like he\u2019d only just kind of ridden along, and while there\u2019d been a lot of good feeling spread around for a while there, when the dust settled things still weren\u2019t\u2014exactly right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought so,\u201d Adam said, in that calm tone of his.\u00a0 \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure, when we were all busy at home or herding cattle.\u00a0 But we\u2019ve been riding together for a few days now, and it\u2019s become very obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot to Little Joe,\u201d Hoss muttered.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure?\u00a0 Have you talked to him about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, what good would that do if he can\u2019t see it for himself?\u201d<\/p>\n

Now Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cYou want me<\/em> to talk to him?\u00a0 Shake some sense into little brother?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo<\/em>,\u201d Hoss said sharply.\u00a0 \u201cThere ain\u2019t no need and\u2014anyway, it ain\u2019t like that, I didn\u2019t mean to blame Joe.\u00a0 I\u2019m just being\u2014what\u2019s the word, when you get bent out of shape about something small?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPetty?\u201d Adam offered.\u00a0 \u201cNarrow-minded?\u00a0 Shallow?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, yeah, all that,\u201d Hoss interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cI just got to work on that, that\u2019s all.\u00a0 Just because he was kinda distracted by Clay for a while, that ain\u2019t that big a thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd he tried to leave with Clay,\u201d Adam reminded him, as though it was a thing Hoss might forget.\u00a0 \u201cAnd pushed us all away for weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all over and done now,\u201d Hoss said firmly.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll be all right.\u00a0 I just\u2014well, it\u2019ll be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

2.<\/em><\/p>\n

Liza Montgomery looked indifferently at her landlady, who had come in to announce that a gentleman wished to see her.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t going to be the one who counted, so it was hard to get much interest up.\u00a0 \u201cDid he give his name?\u201d<\/p>\n

The landlady sniffed.\u00a0 \u201cNo, he was somewhat mysterious about it.\u00a0 He said you wouldn\u2019t be expecting him, but you\u2019d want to see him because he\u2019s Joe Cartwright\u2019s brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza flinched at the suddenness of that<\/em> name landing in front of her, then felt a ridiculous, absurd rising of hope.\u00a0 Why would one of Joe\u2019s brothers want to see her?\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t imagine a reason for Adam.\u00a0 Hoss might be in the city on business and just felt friendly.\u00a0 Or\u2026\u00a0 No, it was no good speculating.\u00a0 \u201cYou can tell him I\u2019ll be down directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smoothed her hair and her dress, paced the floor a few times just to pass a moment or two and not seem embarrassingly eager \u2013 and to try to find her balance again.\u00a0 It had been four months since she\u2019d left the Ponderosa, and she hadn\u2019t heard from or much about the Cartwrights since.\u00a0 In her job with The Morning Call<\/em>, she had easy access to Virginia City\u2019s Territorial Enterprise<\/em>, but the Cartwrights hadn\u2019t been making any major headlines.\u00a0 There\u2019d been only a couple small items \u2013 a mention of one of their ranch hands being involved in a shooting in the Silver Dollar Saloon (and shootings in Virginia City saloons came up so often she\u2019d nearly missed the one-line item), and a paragraph in the business section about a big timber contract going to the Ponderosa.\u00a0 Nothing more personal than that.<\/p>\n

She would have been embarrassed to admit how carefully she\u2019d been reading the newspaper for any Cartwright references.\u00a0 She had ridden the stage away from Virginia City, and the Cartwrights might as well have become nothing more than figures in a story for all the expectation she had of ever meeting them again.\u00a0 She had thought that was best, safest, the only real option because surely she couldn\u2019t really<\/em> claim what Joe had tried to offer her.\u00a0 They had known each other only two weeks, and she couldn\u2019t believe that a man with so many romances behind him could really be serious about proposing to her.<\/p>\n

And now four months had gone by, and she was still waiting for the day when she was going to stop missing the life she had concluded she couldn\u2019t have.\u00a0 When she was going to stop missing the family she had chosen not to accept.\u00a0 And when she was going to stop missing Joe, but it hurt too much to think about missing him<\/em> so she tried to focus on the barely more impersonal missing of them<\/em>, and she read The Territorial Enterprise<\/em> for mentions of the Cartwrights.<\/p>\n

So it was all very disconcerting, to have a Cartwright appear at her home.\u00a0 She\u2019d prefer Hoss, but even Adam would at least be an emissary from the life she\u2019d left, the one she\u2019d only realized how much she wanted when the opportunity was already lost.\u00a0 But she didn\u2019t know why either Hoss or Adam wouldn\u2019t simply give his name\u2026<\/p>\n

Speculating wasn\u2019t doing any good.\u00a0 She took one last deep breath, then descended the narrow stair to the parlor.\u00a0 And found herself looking at a complete stranger standing by the window.<\/p>\n

Disappointment washed over her and made her voice sharp as she said, \u201cWho exactly are you claiming to be?\u00a0 Hoss or Adam?\u00a0 Because it might interest you to know that I\u2019ve met both of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither, ma\u2019am,\u201d the man said, taking off his hat and giving a polite nod.\u00a0 He was dressed like a city-dweller, like he belonged here in San Francisco, not like someone who had come from the Ponderosa.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m Joe\u2019s brother on the other side, Marie\u2019s son.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t think the name Clay Stafford would signify anything to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was right, the name didn\u2019t<\/em> mean anything \u2013 and didn\u2019t that give the lie to the story at once?\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cNone of the Cartwrights ever mentioned you,\u201d Liza said stiffly.\u00a0 Surely it had to be a con of some sort.\u00a0 Though he\u2019d pivoted to a new and rather creative story quickly, if he had intended to pretend he was\u2026Adam, probably; he didn\u2019t have the build to claim to be Hoss.\u00a0 Unless he\u2019d planned this story all along, but what could he possibly intend to accomplish?<\/p>\n

\u201cThey didn\u2019t know about me, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 I only learned about them recently, and went to the Ponderosa to meet my brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was the kind of improbable circumstance that did seem to happen to the Cartwrights, but that proved nothing.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t see any reason to believe you, and I don\u2019t understand why you\u2019re here talking to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strange man smiled, and she realized for the first time that he was quite good-looking \u2013 and that he had Joe\u2019s coloring, though that still wasn\u2019t proof of anything.\u00a0 \u201cThe explanation for my presence isn\u2019t going to make much sense unless you believe I am who I claim to be.\u201d\u00a0 He reached into a jacket pocket, drew out a locket and offered it to her.\u00a0 \u201cJoe gave me that.\u00a0 He also told me that the prettiest thing he ever saw was you playing with a kitten Hoss gave you.\u201d<\/p>\n

She recognized the locket, and the picture of Joe\u2019s mother inside.\u00a0 Joe had showed it to her one evening when the family had been reminiscing, and the talk had turned towards the boys\u2019 mothers.<\/p>\n

The locket might have been stolen, but it would be hard to come up with that detail about the kitten.\u00a0 Or maybe the wave of longing that crashed over her with the words made it hard to stay suspicious.\u00a0 She wanted<\/em> this man to be telling the truth, as improbable a truth as it seemed to be.\u00a0 \u201cVery well, let\u2019s say I accept your story.\u00a0 You do have Joe\u2019s locket.\u00a0 And\u2026\u201d\u00a0 She looked at him more closely.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026you have Joe\u2019s eyes too.\u201d\u00a0 She sat down in one of the room\u2019s spindly chairs, gestured him towards the nearby settee.\u00a0 \u201cSo explain to me why you\u2019re here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The strange man\u2014Clay\u2014sat down slowly, fidgeted with his hat brim held in front of him for a moment.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s like this, ma\u2019am,\u201d he said finally.\u00a0 \u201cI want to ask you something no one on the Ponderosa could answer.\u00a0 Joe said you turned down marrying him because it was too soon and you weren\u2019t sure and you didn\u2019t believe he was serious.\u00a0 So now that it\u2019s been longer \u2013 what do you think about it now?\u201d<\/p>\n

The sheer audacity of it took her breath away.\u00a0 For a complete stranger<\/em> to come and ask about the most personal matter of her life \u2013 he had no right \u2013 unless\u2026\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Joe wouldn\u2019t handle the situation like that.\u00a0 Of course he wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 But all the same\u2026 \u201cDid Joe send you to ask me that?\u201d she asked, folding her arms over her chest.<\/p>\n

A trace of a smile crossed his face.\u00a0 \u201cNo, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 None of the Cartwrights know I\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course.\u00a0 \u201cThen I don\u2019t see how this is any of your business,\u201d she said flatly, and meant to leave it at that.\u00a0 But somehow a slightly plaintive, \u201cAnd it\u2019s too late anyway,\u201d escaped her.<\/p>\n

Joe Cartwright, the charming Joe Cartwright who wooed all the girls, could not possibly still be thinking about her<\/em>.\u00a0 She missed him every day, but he probably didn\u2019t give her a single thought anymore.\u00a0 He\u2019d probably gone on to some other woman \u2013 or two or three, by now.<\/p>\n

Clay\u2019s smile broadened.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know, I was hoping you\u2019d say that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI beg your pardon?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, ma\u2019am, it seems to me there\u2019s a few possible situations here.\u00a0 Either you\u2019ve thought about it and you don\u2019t want to marry Joe, or you\u2019re still not sure you do, and then I won\u2019t try to persuade you.\u00a0 Joe doesn\u2019t need a reluctant bride.\u00a0 Or you\u2019ve thought about it and you wish you\u2019d said yes, only you think it\u2019s too late now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIsn\u2019t it?\u201d she said, and heard the bitterness in her voice.\u00a0 She had had her chance, but it had all come up too quickly, too suddenly, and by the time she had caught her breath, it had gone.\u00a0 Almost as soon as she came home, she had known it wasn\u2019t really home anymore and never would be, had known where she really belonged now.\u00a0 But the chance had passed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 That\u2019s what I came to tell you, just in case you needed someone to tell you that.\u00a0 It\u2019s not too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know\u2014you can\u2019t know\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that a cheap barroom tune about a lost love had tears in Joe\u2019s eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe cries easily,\u201d Liza muttered.\u00a0 She had heard his brothers tease him about it.\u00a0 And even if it meant something \u2013 just because he got sentimental now and then, it didn\u2019t mean he\u2019d forgive her for not being sure enough soon enough.<\/p>\n

She wanted him to so much that she was afraid to believe he might.<\/p>\n

There was a bigger reason to dismiss the story anyway.\u00a0 \u201cAnd there\u2019s no reason to think it was about me<\/em>.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s loved a lot of women.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were the one he mentioned, when I asked.\u201d<\/p>\n

That \u2013 was not even close to what she would have expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I can\u2019t understand,\u201d Clay continued, \u201cif you needed a little more time, was why you didn\u2019t just wait a while.\u00a0 On<\/em> the Ponderosa, instead of making it final.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza shook her head, made an impatient gesture with one hand.\u00a0 \u201cIt wouldn\u2019t have worked.\u00a0 Joe would have been watching me all the time to see if I\u2019d changed my mind, and I would have been watching him watching me, and he probably would have proposed again after three days or a week, it still would have been too soon, and we just\u2014would have hurt each other worse in the end.\u201d\u00a0 She had said that to Joe even at the time, known that option would have been a disaster for everyone.\u00a0 Even if she couldn\u2019t exactly see how it could have hurt any worse, some other way.\u00a0 \u201cSo I left instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI see.\u00a0 You know, ma\u2019am, I think we have some things in common,\u201d Clay said, setting his hat on his knee and folding his hands over it.\u00a0 \u201cWe both spent a few weeks on the Ponderosa and, speaking strictly for myself, that was long enough to find out that I loved my brother.\u00a0 And then we both left Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

She started.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I<\/em> can\u2019t go back.\u00a0 The fact of it is, I\u2019ve been knocking around on my own for too many years.\u00a0 I\u2019m a card-sharp and a quick draw, and trouble follows me wherever I go.\u00a0 I was only going to bring trouble to Joe if I stayed.\u00a0 I was only going to bring bad things into his life.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why I\u2019m here.\u201d\u00a0 His gaze was intent on hers, and his eyes weren\u2019t exactly like Joe\u2019s but there was<\/em> an uncanny resemblance.\u00a0 \u201cI want to bring something good into my brother\u2019s life, and Hoss thinks you could be the best thing that ever happened to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss said that?\u201d Liza whispered.\u00a0 Good old Hoss.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 But he\u2019s not going to come here and tell you that because Joe doesn\u2019t want him to.\u00a0 So I came, because I don\u2019t have anything to lose.\u00a0 I came to tell you that it\u2019s not too late.\u00a0 That if you didn\u2019t believe Joe really meant it after a couple weeks, well, four months later he\u2019s still all hung up over you.\u00a0 And maybe that makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

He stood up, put his hat back on.\u00a0 \u201cGood day, ma\u2019am.\u00a0 It\u2019s been an honor to meet you.\u00a0 You won\u2019t want to lie to Joe about where I am, so I won\u2019t tell you where I\u2019m going.\u00a0 But you can tell him for me that I wanted to do something good for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was out the door and gone before she had finished reeling from his words.\u00a0 But after a few moments and a few breaths, she stood up.\u00a0 She needed to check the stagecoach times.\u00a0 She needed to find the next one leaving for Virginia City.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

3.<\/em><\/p>\n

Clay paused in the street outside the severely-neat boarding house, glancing up at the window one more time before continuing on his way.\u00a0 He had to hope he\u2019d done the right thing, though he still wasn\u2019t sure which instinct had driven him here \u2013 his more sensible side, or the recklessness he\u2019d never been able to tame.<\/p>\n

But it was finally done, one way or another.\u00a0 He\u2019d been knocking around San Francisco for weeks, trying to find that woman, and had just about given up the idea that he ever would.\u00a0 All he\u2019d had to go on was a name and a city; maybe in Virginia City that would have been enough, but San Francisco was a bigger place.\u00a0 He doubted Hoss had thought about that, when he\u2019d told him just enough to get him here.<\/p>\n

If he hadn\u2019t got a little more help\u2026\u00a0 He had to smile, as he remembered what he had told Miss Montgomery.\u00a0 No Cartwrights<\/em> knew he was here.\u00a0 But he had<\/em> bumped into one less-recognized member of the family the previous evening, as he had come out of a none too savory saloon, enough money won at poker to keep him for a few more days.<\/p>\n

If someone had yelled, \u201cHey, you,\u201d or the equivalent, he might have gone for his gun just as a caution.\u00a0 But as it was, what he heard yelled was, \u201cMister Clay!\u201d\u00a0 Few enough people knew him by name, and fewer called him that<\/em>.\u00a0 Just one person, in fact, so on some level he hadn\u2019t been surprised to turn around and find the Cartwrights\u2019 cook Hop Sing standing on the sidewalk behind him, glaring at him in fierce disapproval.\u00a0 The man was flanked by two others, both Chinese, and both matching Hop Sing\u2019s frown.<\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing,\u201d Clay said, nodding his head and touching the brim of his hat.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re a long way from the Ponderosa.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was ignored, as Hop Sing jabbed a finger towards him.\u00a0 \u201cWhat you do in place like this?\u00a0 You should be at home with family!\u201d<\/p>\n

The man probably didn\u2019t mean<\/em> to stab him in the gut with that reference to his family.\u00a0 To the family he\u2019d left behind.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re<\/em> in the same place I am,\u201d he countered, a very weak argument he wouldn\u2019t have bothered with if he hadn\u2019t been trying to recover.<\/p>\n

If anything, the Chinese cook looked more affronted.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing not<\/em> in saloon.\u00a0 Hop Sing visiting cousins in city.\u201d\u00a0 He indicated the two men with him.\u00a0 Both nodded their heads, but didn\u2019t join the conversation as Hop Sing resumed his tirade.\u00a0 \u201cWhy you<\/em> not go back to family, Mister Clay?\u00a0 Little Joe very sad when you leave.\u00a0 Not good, very bad thing!\u201d<\/p>\n

Clay could feel the weight of Joe\u2019s locket in his jacket, the picture of their shared mother inside.\u00a0 But he had made the only choice he could<\/em> make.\u00a0 \u201cJoe\u2019s better off without me,\u201d he muttered.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d only get him hurt.\u201d\u00a0 He didn\u2019t exactly mean to say more than that, but Hop Sing just looked<\/em> at him, half in sorrow and half in anger, and somehow he found himself saying, \u201cI want<\/em> to make things better for Joe, but I can\u2019t do it by going home.\u00a0 I came to San Francisco to try to help him, but it\u2019s not working out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing\u2019s face took on a knowing expression.\u00a0 \u201cYou come to San Francisco looking for Missy Liza?\u00a0 You try to get her go back home to Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

He hadn\u2019t thought it was nearly that obvious an idea.\u00a0 \u201cHow did you\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing hear things.\u00a0 Hop Sing know things.\u00a0 But you not find Missy Liza?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll Hoss told me was her last name, and it\u2019s a big city\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing sighed.\u00a0 \u201cMister Hoss, he should have said more.\u00a0 He not tell you?\u00a0 Missy Liza work for Morning Call<\/em> with Mister Sam Clemens!\u201d<\/p>\n

Clay didn\u2019t know who Clemens was, but he could find the office of The Morning Call<\/em> easily enough.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t a place it had occurred to him to look for a young woman who\u2019d turned his brother\u2019s head, but he\u2019d go there in the morning \u2013 and if he couldn\u2019t find her there, he could try to wheedle something about where she lived out of someone there.<\/p>\n

It also occurred to him that Hop Sing had revealed a view of his own with this information.\u00a0 \u201cThen you think Liza should go back to Joe too?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe.\u00a0 Think Little Joe chase lots of girls who very bad ideas.\u00a0 Also chase some girls who good ideas.\u00a0 This one maybe good, and this one he keep thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why haven\u2019t you<\/em> gone to talk to her?\u201d\u00a0 At least Hop Sing had met her.\u00a0 He\u2019d probably be able to convince her more easily than Clay could, a complete stranger who could barely prove he knew the Cartwrights.<\/p>\n

Clay found himself confronted with three withering looks from the men in front of him, and Hop Sing said, \u201cYou think it work if Hop Sing go to newspaper office, ask to talk to white lady?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Ask about where she live?\u00a0 Even worse.\u00a0 But you<\/em>, you look right, they let you talk to her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose you make a good point there,\u201d Clay murmured, ashamed without being able to articulate what he was ashamed of.<\/p>\n

\u201cBesides,\u201d Hop Sing said with a shrug, \u201cthen Hop Sing not have to explain to Little Joe, if all go wrong after all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re a very wise man, Hop Sing,\u201d Clay said with a wry smile.<\/p>\n

And it had turned out as predicted \u2013 he hadn\u2019t been able to find Liza at The Morning Call<\/em>, but he\u2019d spun a story about being an old family friend and got her address with little difficulty.\u00a0 Likewise her landlady had been willing enough to let him in the door, and Liza herself had been willing to meet with Joe Cartwright\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n

As for what came next\u2026\u00a0 Clay shook his head as he walked down the street.\u00a0 He had done what he could, and he\u2019d only cause trouble if he tried to do more.\u00a0 Better if he left it alone now.\u00a0 In fact, it was probably time for him to move on.\u00a0 There was a good chance now that Joe was going to find out he\u2019d been in San Francisco, and Clay didn\u2019t want to turn a corner one day and bump into him.\u00a0 That would definitely<\/em> lead to trouble.<\/p>\n

Maybe he\u2019d head back down to Mexico.\u00a0 He still had friends fighting for Juarez, and if he wasn\u2019t going to have a family \u2013 well, at least he could have friends and a cause to fight for.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t want to get too far out of touch though.\u00a0 He\u2019d need to keep an eye on The Territorial Enterprise<\/em>.\u00a0 See if there were any Cartwright wedding announcements.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Even after crossing onto Ponderosa land, it took camping one night and riding most of the next day for the Cartwright sons to reach the main house.\u00a0 They could have made it faster, but they took the route that swung back off the Ponderosa and through Virginia City, to hear the latest news (nothing too exciting) and to send a telegram to Pa to report that they\u2019d traveled fine.\u00a0 There was no message from Ben to tell them when he would be home.<\/p>\n

They continued on to the house from town, though once they were pulling their horses up in the front yard, Joe for one thought they might just as well have stayed in town.\u00a0 The house was dark, with no sign of life anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoggone it,\u201d Hoss grumbled, \u201cI didn\u2019t think about Hop Sing still being away.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t you?\u201d Adam remarked, swinging down from his horse.\u00a0 \u201cI did.\u00a0 We\u2019re early, and he isn\u2019t due back from visiting his relatives in San Francisco for a few more days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could have said<\/em> something,\u201d Hoss complained.\u00a0 \u201cWe could have had a proper meal in town.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat steak you put away at Daisy\u2019s Caf\u00e9 wasn\u2019t<\/em> a proper meal?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, that was just kind of warming up\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

While his brothers bickered in an idle sort of way, Joe said nothing.\u00a0 He was still sitting on Cochise, studying the dark house, feeling a grim wave lapping at his feet and rising.\u00a0 Nothing was wrong.\u00a0 Nothing<\/em> was wrong.<\/p>\n

Everything just felt<\/em> wrong.<\/p>\n

Returning home, walking in through that front door there, that was the safe end of every adventure, every crisis, every journey.\u00a0 This hadn\u2019t even been a journey with any meaningful dangers in it, and it should be fine<\/em> to walk inside with his two older brothers.<\/p>\n

It was just \u2013 with the house sitting there all dark and cold and empty, the picture was too painfully far from the one he wanted.\u00a0 And it made it all too easy to think about the people who weren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

Pa and Hop Sing, of course, but they\u2019d be back.\u00a0 That was all right.<\/p>\n

But if things had gone differently \u2013 maybe they would have left Clay at home, and he would have been coming out to meet them, to ask about the trip and speculate on when Pa would be getting back.\u00a0 Or Clay would be with them, four of them riding into the yard to fill up the empty house with voices and work and activity.<\/p>\n

Or\u2014if different<\/em> things had gone another way, maybe he could have walked inside right now and found Liza sitting on the settee \u2013 or rode down the path a little piece to a house of their own, to find her waiting to welcome him home.\u00a0 And she\u2019d smile at him and he\u2019d sweep her into his arms and\u2026<\/p>\n

There\u2019d been plenty of women he\u2019d imagined coming home to, women he\u2019d had to let go of one way or another, but he hadn\u2019t made his peace with this last one.<\/p>\n

If Pa had been with them to take charge of things, if Hop Sing had been home to complain that he wasn\u2019t prepared for supper and why were they home early, if it had been busier and louder and just\u2014more<\/em>, he probably could have pretended that it was enough, and that everything was fine.\u00a0 If not to himself, maybe, then at least to his family.<\/p>\n

But this empty, silent house made everything painfully stark.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss, why don\u2019t you take care of the horses?\u201d Adam said, directing the situation the way he always liked to do.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll go in and get a fire started in the kitchen.\u00a0 Joe\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t wait to find out what oldest brother was going to tell him to do.\u00a0 He just pulled back on the reins, and turned Cochise\u2019s head away from the house.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll do a patrol around,\u201d he threw over his shoulder, \u201cmake sure everything\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe, that\u2019s not\u2014\u201d Adam started, but by then Cochise was already carrying him away, further words lost in the comforting, familiar rhythm of hoofbeats pounding on the dirt.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoss watched Joe disappear around the corner of the barn, frowning, wondering if he ought to go after him.<\/p>\n

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Adam shake his head.\u00a0 \u201cWhen is that kid going to stop trying to wriggle out of work?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s what\u2019s going on,\u201d Hoss said, which didn\u2019t exactly answer the question \u2013 because yeah, Joe still dodged chores sometimes, when he could get away with it.\u00a0 But this didn\u2019t seem like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you talking about?\u00a0 He just rode off when we need to do a dozen different things\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know<\/em>, but\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Hoss shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cDid ya see his face?\u00a0 He had his broody look on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam cast a glance in the direction Joe, now out of sight, had gone.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s been pretty all right lately \u2013 except for whatever nonsense you two have going on.\u00a0 What do you think he\u2019s brooding about?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged again.\u00a0 \u201cI dunno exactly.\u00a0 Maybe a dark empty house hit him all of a sudden-like with who he\u2019s missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam sighed.\u00a0 \u201cYou think he\u2019s still worrying about Clay?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, probably.\u00a0 And about Liza, could be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam\u2019s eyebrows shot up at that.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re kidding.\u00a0 He\u2019s not still thinking about her<\/em>, is he?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he ain\u2019t said anything for a while.\u201d\u00a0 Joe hadn\u2019t said much of anything about anything to Hoss lately, but Hoss didn\u2019t say that out loud.\u00a0 \u201cJust a feeling I get.\u00a0 And you ain\u2019t seen him chasing any other gals, have you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t prove anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI dunno.\u00a0 I just get a feeling.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss looked again in the direction Joe had gone.\u00a0 Maybe he should go after him to see if he wanted to talk.\u00a0 But\u2014Joe wouldn\u2019t ride off like that unless he wanted to be alone, right?\u00a0 Maybe Hoss ought to leave him alone.<\/p>\n

He picked up Chub\u2019s reins, started leading him towards the barn, grimacing.\u00a0 He was pretty sure that pretty recently, he\u2019d found it a whole lot easier to understand little brother than he did right now.\u00a0 Or maybe he\u2019d just lost his confidence in his own instincts.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

4.<\/em><\/p>\n

Something felt distinctly unreal to Liza about boarding the stage for Virginia City.\u00a0 Not the stagecoach itself, which was as all such contraptions are \u2013 crowded, lurching, and more real than she really wanted it to be.\u00a0 But the destination, that<\/em> seemed impossible.\u00a0 For the past few months, she had tried so hard to put the Cartwrights and their world out of her mind (failing entirely), and to accept that that door was closed (more successful at that), that they had begun to feel impossibly far away and unreachable.\u00a0 Even having made this journey before, it seemed incredible that she could simply board an ordinary stagecoach and ride it all the way to Virginia City.<\/p>\n

She managed to get a window seat, and thought the whole business would have seemed even more improbable if she couldn\u2019t at least watch the world go past outside.\u00a0 With four other passengers filling the coach, she put Bronte\u2019s basket below her seat.\u00a0 The black cat had been decidedly put out by the whole business, but had finally deigned to go to sleep, with a sulky air of disapproval.<\/p>\n

Liza watched out the window as they rattled through the streets of San Francisco.\u00a0 They would have to cross the bay by ferry, and then on to the hills beyond.\u00a0 It was a long trip \u2013 but after all, it had taken months just for her to get to this<\/em> point, setting out.\u00a0 Trying.\u00a0 Maybe failing, because maybe Clay was all wrong about everything.\u00a0 But she was trying.<\/p>\n

And she did have at least a little<\/em> other evidence to be working with.<\/p>\n

The newspapers had been remarkably light on any Cartwright news over the last few months, but she still had their one mutual acquaintance \u2013 Sam Clemens, penname Mark Twain, friend of the Cartwrights and her coworker at The Morning Call<\/em>.\u00a0 Though he had a far better job there than she did.<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t wanted to tell him, or anyone, the details of her experience visiting the Ponderosa.\u00a0 It was too painful and too personal to let it become newsroom gossip.\u00a0 And Sam, for all that she did like him, was too fond of telling stories for her to risk telling him something in confidence.<\/p>\n

But because he liked to tell stories, he occasionally dropped a Cartwright story.\u00a0 And one day a month ago, on a rainy afternoon during a lull in the newsroom, she\u2019d managed to casually drift into the circle around Sam as he talked about his days working for The Territorial Enterprise<\/em> in Virginia City.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t even have to mention the Cartwrights.\u00a0 He brought them up, as part of his tale of bringing down a mayoral candidate with well-aimed jokes.<\/p>\n

She had felt terribly daring, though, when she seized a pause in the round of stories to ask, \u201cWhy haven\u2019t any of the Cartwrights ever got married?\u201d\u00a0 She felt as though surely she was blushing at the question, as though the secrets of her own experience in this very particular area had to be written all across her face.\u00a0 But no one seemed to notice anything, or to give her any special attention.<\/p>\n

Maybe that was because Sam had responded immediately with an upraised forefinger and a dramatic inflection as he said, \u201cNow that is because of the Curse<\/em>!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe what?\u201d another writer asked, even as Liza resigned herself to another of Sam\u2019s tall tales with no real answers in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will have noted, of course,\u201d Sam continued, \u201cthat among the Cartwrights we have family patriarch and widower Ben Cartwright, and his three fine, grown, very eligible sons.\u00a0 And yet, not a one of them has a wife.\u00a0 And that is a strange state of affairs indeed, because every time one of them becomes engaged to marry \u2013 disaster strikes.\u00a0 Often the poor unfortunate damsel dies, just like Ben Cartwright\u2019s three wives before her.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not saying the Cartwrights are murdering women?\u201d someone in the crowd asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, of course I\u2019m not saying that,\u201d Sam said, with some heat and apparently genuine indignation.\u00a0 \u201cThe Cartwrights are the most honorable, most upstanding people you could want to meet.\u00a0 I\u2019m saying there\u2019s a curse<\/em>.\u00a0 The Curse of the Cartwrights, if you will.\u00a0 Adam Cartwright was involved with a saloon girl a few years ago who was tragically murdered, as were two different women Joe Cartwright became engaged to.\u00a0 To say nothing of the tragic illnesses that have befallen young woman involved with both Joe and Hoss Cartwright.\u00a0 The Cartwrights are simply doomed to remain unwed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza turned this over, tried to sift between the facts and Sam\u2019s fondness for exaggeration.\u00a0 It was<\/em> true about Ben\u2019s three wives, she knew that; she\u2019d seen the pictures on his desk, heard about how each son had a different mother.\u00a0 But the rest of it \u2013 had those engagement announcements Joe had featured in, the ones that hadn\u2019t led to wedding announcements, ended up far more tragically than she had imagined?<\/p>\n

She wished she had asked him about that.\u00a0 This new possibility didn\u2019t entirely do away with all the other evidence suggesting that Joe fell in love quickly and often\u2026but maybe he took engagements more seriously than she had thought.\u00a0 Maybe it did<\/em> mean something, when Joe asked a girl to marry him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat caused <\/em>the curse?\u201d Liza asked, daring to re-enter the conversation.\u00a0 It was luckier than ever that she hadn\u2019t told Sam her own history with the Cartwrights.\u00a0 She\u2019d never be brave enough to have this discussion if he knew how close she\u2019d come to the supposed curse herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cAh, now that is the mystery,\u201d Sam said, tapping his nose with one finger.\u00a0 \u201cBen Cartwright traveled the world in his younger days.\u00a0 Perhaps he stumbled upon some ancient mystery that has haunted his line to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were glances around the circle, communicating silently that this was an unsatisfying conclusion to the business, and people began to stand up and drift away.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter work on that ending a little more, Sam,\u201d one of the editors advised.\u00a0 \u201cYou might have something if you can get a proper conclusion on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d have to change the names anyway,\u201d Sam said with a shrug.\u00a0 \u201cI promised the Cartwrights not to write about them.\u00a0 But maybe if I try the story in the saloons a few more times, something will come to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza stayed in her place in a chair near Sam\u2019s desk as the rest of the crowd drifted away, back to their work.\u00a0 Finally, when no one else seemed to be listening, Liza said, \u201cMr. Clemens?\u201d<\/p>\n

He glanced up from the newspaper he had begun perusing.\u00a0 \u201cMiss Elizabeth?\u00a0 Something I can do for you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Probably not, but\u2026\u00a0 \u201cYou don\u2019t really<\/em> think the Cartwrights are cursed, do you?\u201d\u00a0 She didn\u2019t believe in curses herself, so she didn\u2019t know what good his answer would do her.\u00a0 But she\u2019d like to know, maybe, just how far Sam Clemens\u2019 invention went.<\/p>\n

He glanced around as though checking for eavesdroppers before he confessed anything, then leaned in closer and said, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t really think so.\u00a0 Ties up a lot of details nicely, though, and puts a sort of flare on the thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen it did all happen \u2013 the women who died?\u201d<\/p>\n

He nodded.\u00a0 \u201cYes, that\u2019s all true enough.\u00a0 But I expect that\u2019s merely the result of living in a dangerous place \u2013 or perhaps the Cartwrights are simply unlucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose the women they fall in love with are even more unlucky,\u201d Liza pointed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that you mention it.\u201d\u00a0 Sam squinted at her, expression going thoughtful.\u00a0 \u201cMiss Elizabeth, when you took that trip out to Virginia City\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cExcuse me,\u201d Liza said hurriedly, rising to her feet, \u201cI believe I\u2019m terribly behind on my copy-editing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t suppose she\u2019d fooled him, but she\u2019d at least avoided saying<\/em> anything.\u00a0 And she had turned the details over in her mind now and then ever since, and told herself that at least she was luckier than she could have been.\u00a0 At least she hadn\u2019t died from a curse.<\/p>\n

And now \u2013 well, if she believed<\/em> in a curse, it would be very foolish to be riding a stagecoach back towards the Cartwrights and their terrible luck when it came to engagements.\u00a0 But she didn\u2019t believe in a curse.\u00a0 This was the 19th<\/sup> century, after all; surely such ideas had gone out long ago.<\/p>\n

She leaned her head against the side of the stage, watching the buildings go by out the window, and thought that there was quite enough stacked up against this ending happily without throwing a curse into the midst.\u00a0 But \u2013 at least she was trying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

5.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hoss hit the horseshoe he was working on with his hammer, checked its shape, and hit it again.\u00a0 The barn where he was working felt quiet today, which was ridiculous when he was banging away with a hammer, and Chub was right over there stamping his feet now and then, and there was even a little breeze whistling through the open doors.<\/p>\n

Only, all the rest of the horses\u2019 stalls were empty, and all the rest of the family were \u2013 not here.\u00a0 The front yard and the house beyond it were standing empty, and usually that would be all right too, but today it itched at him.\u00a0 Adam was in town, and maybe he\u2019d get word on when Pa\u2019d be coming home, and Hop Sing\u2019d be back tomorrow, and Little Joe\u2026<\/p>\n

Hoss frowned, and hit the horseshoe another time.\u00a0 Joe should<\/em> be here; there was plenty of work to do around here, but no, little brother had made some vague excuse and taken off with Cochise.\u00a0 And Hoss had just grunted and pretended that he didn\u2019t know Joe was going to brood on that big rock he liked out by the lake.<\/p>\n

Hoss hoped Pa would get home soon.\u00a0 Maybe things would feel a mite more normal then.\u00a0 Maybe Pa would know how to get through to Little Joe, who\u2019d been brooding all over the place ever since they\u2019d got home.\u00a0 Definitely he wouldn\u2019t stand for him spending all hours cutting out on work to mope around.<\/p>\n

Or maybe Hoss ought to haul Joe off to Virginia City and shove him towards the first pretty saloon girl they saw, and while that might not solve<\/em> anything, it would at least break up the gloom.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019d probably turn him down on a trip to town though.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like he hadn\u2019t tried, right after Clay left\u2026\u00a0 Hoss sighed, because he was pretty sure that now he<\/em> was brooding, and he wasn\u2019t even the brooding type usually.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019d work it out, he always did, and right now Chub wasn\u2019t going to shoe himself.\u00a0 Hoss dropped the horseshoe into a pail of water, steam hissing up in a great cloud, and turned towards his horse.<\/p>\n

And then stopped when he saw the figure standing in the open door.\u00a0 She lifted one hand and even though he couldn\u2019t see the expression on her face very well, with the light behind her, everything in how she was standing said she was uneasy \u2013 and her voice was too when she said, \u201cHello, Hoss.\u201d\u00a0 She laughed a little, but it sounded forced.\u00a0 \u201cSurprised to see me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, guess you could say that,\u201d Hoss said slowly, because he wasn\u2019t sure just what to make of this yet.\u00a0 \u201cHello, Liza.\u201d\u00a0 And then he didn\u2019t know what he ought to say next.\u00a0 Pa or Adam would\u2019ve known, probably, and Little Joe was the one famously good at talking to women \u2013 and he didn\u2019t know what<\/em> Joe was going to say to this one, because Hoss was pretty certain Joe\u2019d been missing her, but why was she here, and what did it mean and\u2026\u00a0 \u201cUh.\u00a0 How have you been?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFine.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Then Liza sighed and walked farther into the barn, saying, \u201cOh, this is silly.\u00a0 I know<\/em> it\u2019s strange, me being here, and maybe I shouldn\u2019t have come at all.\u00a0 But I just wanted to talk to Joe and \u2013 at least tell me you don\u2019t hate me, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

That sounded more like the Liza he remembered \u2013 the one he had always thought could be a real good idea for Little Joe.\u00a0 Right up until she left, but he had thought since then about how it might not be a bad thing at all if she was to decide to come back\u2026\u00a0 \u201cOf course I don\u2019t hate you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally?\u201d Liza whispered, and sank onto a hay bale.\u00a0 She twisted her hands in her lap.\u00a0 \u201cEven though \u2013 I know I hurt Joe, before\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but I never reckoned you wanted<\/em> to.\u00a0 And anyway, I figure you\u2019ve got a perfect right to not marry that no-account little brother of mine.\u201d\u00a0 He eyed her closely, tried a little fishing.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, if you didn\u2019t want to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s why I came back,\u201d Liza said in a low voice, gaze fixed on her hands.\u00a0 \u201cI realized \u2013 that I do.\u00a0 Want to marry him, I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss beamed at her.\u00a0 That was a better fishing catch than he could have hoped for!\u00a0 \u201cYeah?\u00a0 That\u2019s the best news I\u2019ve heard in a long, long time!\u201d\u00a0 If that<\/em> didn\u2019t shake Joe out of his brooding, nothing ever would.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t smile back.\u00a0 \u201cBut \u2013 what if Joe doesn\u2019t want to see me, or\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course he wants to see you!\u201d\u00a0 Hadn\u2019t he been moping around about her?\u00a0 Clay too, but if Hoss had to pick one to come back, he\u2019d\u2019ve gone for Liza.\u00a0 They\u2019d both broken Joe\u2019s heart, but Clay\u2019d been a lot nastier about it, as far as Hoss could tell.\u00a0 Not to mention Liza hadn\u2019t shot anyone in any saloons.\u00a0 \u201cJoe\u2019s pride might make him kick a little bit first, but he\u2019ll get over that.\u00a0 Pride and heart kinda tussle in him, but heart usually wins out.\u00a0 And if he gives you any trouble, you send him to me to shake some sense into him.\u201d<\/p>\n

That got a half-smile at least, though her eyes still looked worried.\u00a0 \u201cIs Joe in the house?\u00a0 I almost knocked, but I could hear hammering in the barn so I looked here first.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNah, he\u2019s out at that rock by the lake he likes to sit on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe one he broods on?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s been real broody lately.\u00a0 But seeing you\u2019s going to cure that.\u201d\u00a0 He reached out a hand to help her up off the hay bale.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, I\u2019ll drive you out that way.\u00a0 You got a carriage outside?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, but \u2013 I really shouldn\u2019t trouble you, and I\u2019d like to walk, after the stagecoach and the carriage ride\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, I\u2019ll walk with you,\u201d Hoss agreed.\u00a0 \u201cWouldn\u2019t feel right, letting you go unescorted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI got all the way here from Virginia City \u2013 from San Francisco, even,\u201d she pointed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, yeah,\u201d Hoss acknowledged, \u201cbut it\u2019s not like I knew about that<\/em>.\u00a0 I\u2019d like a walk too, and I promise I\u2019ll back off once we\u2019re in shouting distance of Joe, all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Because he might be a little muddled about some<\/em> things about Little Joe right now, but he did know little brother wouldn\u2019t want him hanging around for some real important courting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liza wished she had Hoss\u2019 confidence about what her reception would be from Joe.\u00a0 She told herself, as they walked together down the trail, that Hoss ought<\/em> to know.\u00a0 He was Joe\u2019s brother, a much closer one than Clay, with more recent information.\u00a0 What he said tallied with what Clay had said too, and that was reassuring.\u00a0 But somehow the reality<\/em> of it, now that she was here, now that it was happening \u2013 it was terrifying, that maybe they were all wrong after all.\u00a0 That Joe might be brooding about her, but not in a way that meant he wanted her coming back.<\/p>\n

They turned Bronte loose in the barn and the black cat, freed of his basket, took off like a streak towards the hayloft, his first home.\u00a0 She hoped he\u2019d<\/em> forgive her the journey enough to come back, but it wasn\u2019t the primary forgiveness she had to be worrying about right now.<\/p>\n

As they walked out of the yard and along the trail, Hoss kept up a cheerful, aimless, not particularly heavy conversation, clearly trying to ease the awkwardness and the uncertainties of the moment.\u00a0 It reminded her afresh of the Cartwrights\u2019 inherent kindness, if the impression had gone dim at all in the past few months.\u00a0 It was an almost painful clarity, when she didn\u2019t know yet if it was something she\u2019d be allowed to keep.<\/p>\n

True to his promise, Hoss halted when they were coming up on the edge of the trees, where she remembered the pines thinned out into the more open area that held Joe\u2019s rock on one side of the trail by the lake, the meadow where they\u2019d first picnicked on the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cExpect you\u2019ll be all right from here,\u201d Hoss said, and winked.\u00a0 \u201cAnd remember, you send him to me if there\u2019s any trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiled, and said, \u201cThank you \u2013 for everything.\u201d\u00a0 But she wouldn\u2019t be sending Joe to have Hoss convince him to take her back.\u00a0 If he didn\u2019t want<\/em> her back, that was going to be the end of it.<\/p>\n

Hoss lifted his hand in a wave, turned, and started back down the trail towards the house again.\u00a0 Liza took a deep breath and walked on, out through the last few trees, the view opening up before her.\u00a0 It was as she remembered it \u2013 the rock, the meadow, and the great sweep of the lake and the mountains beyond.<\/p>\n

There was no black and white horse, no figure sitting on the big rock.\u00a0 Her gaze scanned quickly across the landscape and \u2013 nothing.\u00a0 She had been keyed up, tense, ready for this so important confrontation, and nothing.<\/p>\n

Over the flood of her own tension and disappointment, Liza also felt badly that Hoss had walked all this way with her, and she was only going to go right back to wait at the house anyway.\u00a0 She was on the verge of turning around, maybe try to catch up to Hoss for the walk back, when her still-roaming gaze snagged on something that didn\u2019t belong.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t remember the big gray rock having a reddish patch\u2014and wasn\u2019t there something, down there in the long grass and shadows at the rock\u2019s base\u2026something green and tan that, although it did blend in with the brown-green meadow grass, wasn\u2019t the right shape or the right shade\u2026<\/p>\n

Her heart started pounding harder before her mind could put together what she was seeing, and she started running before she was sure about what she suspected.<\/p>\n

She dropped down to her knees next to the sprawled, motionless form of Joe Cartwright, stretched across the grass.\u00a0 There was blood\u2014so much red blood that she couldn\u2019t understand how she hadn\u2019t realized immediately\u2014blood smeared down the side of the rock, matting down the brown curls on one side of his head, liberally spread across his green jacket.<\/p>\n

His eyes were closed, the one meagre point of grace in all of this, because the sight of Joe\u2019s green eyes staring lifelessly up at the sky would have broken her into a thousand pieces.<\/p>\n

As it was, her breath was coming in shuddering gasps, she didn\u2019t know when she\u2019d started murmuring, \u201cNo, no, no, no,\u201d and that wasn\u2019t helping, she had to think\u2014<\/p>\n

Head wounds.\u00a0 Head wounds often bled all out of proportion to how serious they actually were.\u00a0 The thing to do was to stay calm, assess the situation, check for a pulse.<\/p>\n

Her nursing training, unofficial though it had been, was apparently enough to lean on right now.<\/p>\n

She pressed two fingers to the blood-sticky side of Joe\u2019s neck, just below the jaw, and\u2014yes, there was a pulse, clear and stronger than it had any right to be, considering, but wasn\u2019t that just like Joe Cartwright\u2014<\/p>\n

She dragged the back of her other hand over her eyes.\u00a0 This was no time to burst into tears.\u00a0 He was alive<\/em>, and that meant he needed help.\u00a0 Quickly.<\/p>\n

Her head snapped up at the thought, turning back the direction she\u2019d come.\u00a0 \u201cHoss!\u201d she shouted with all the breath she could gather.\u00a0 \u201cHoss<\/em>!\u201d\u00a0 If she had to she could run after him, he couldn\u2019t have gone too far\u2014she waited a breath, gaze darting between the trees and Joe\u2014definitely a head wound, and all that blood everywhere made it hard to be sure if he was injured somewhere else, but wasn\u2019t there a heavier spread on his right arm?<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss!\u201d she tried one more time, and was gathering herself to stand when he burst out of the trees.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d he called, gun in one hand.\u00a0 That<\/em> wasn\u2019t going to help, but at least he was trying to act quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s Joe,\u201d she called back, though he had to have guessed.\u00a0 Joe hadn\u2019t stirred through all the shouting, but just in case, she leaned down and said, \u201cJoe, can you hear me?\u00a0 Hoss is coming.\u00a0 It\u2019s going to be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

No response.<\/p>\n

And then Hoss was there, dropping down next to her, face anguished and big hands hovering above his brother as though he didn\u2019t know quite what to do.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happened?\u00a0 Is he\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a good pulse,\u201d Liza said quickly.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know what happened, but his head\u2019s bleeding\u2014check his arm, there?\u201d<\/p>\n

She sat back, fumbled at her skirts so she could get at the first layer of petticoats, and tore a strip off the bottom even as Hoss took on the sleeve of Joe\u2019s jacket.\u00a0 The petticoats didn\u2019t worry her, but the tearing sound of the jacket made her wince.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, another wound here,\u201d Hoss said gruffly.\u00a0 \u201cLooks like a bullet.\u201d<\/p>\n

So that ruled out an accident.\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t slipped on the rock and banged his head, or fallen off his horse\u2014\u00a0 \u201cWas he riding Cochise?\u201d she asked, winding the strip of cloth around Joe\u2019s head as carefully as she could.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Hoss said, squinting around them.\u00a0 \u201cAnd Cochise should\u2019ve stayed with Joe or come home, but he didn\u2019t.\u00a0 I should\u2019ve heard the gunshots\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou were hammering,\u201d Liza said, ripping off another piece of cloth.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ve got to get Joe home\u2014if you go for a wagon\u2014he shouldn\u2019t bump over that trail, but\u2014maybe fill it with hay\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019ll take too long,\u201d Hoss said, shaking his head.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I don\u2019t like the idea of leaving you two alone here anyway.\u00a0 Whoever did this might still be around.\u201d<\/p>\n

That hadn\u2019t even occurred to her.\u00a0 She\u2019d been too worried about what had already<\/em> happened, and what they needed to do, not what else could happen next.\u00a0 \u201cAll the more reason we can\u2019t stay here\u2014we\u2019ve got to get back to the house somehow.\u201d\u00a0 The wagon still seemed like the best bad option.\u00a0 She finished tying the second makeshift bandage around Joe\u2019s arm \u2013 the wounds needed cleaning and better bandages, but for the moment\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cHere,\u201d Hoss said, handing her his pistol as soon as she lifted her hands from the bandage.\u00a0 \u201cJust in case whoever it was shows up while we\u2019re walking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her hand closed automatically around the cold metal.\u00a0 \u201cWalking?\u00a0 And why don\u2019t you keep\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna carry Little Joe,\u201d Hoss said, reaching for his brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s almost two miles.\u00a0 You can\u2019t carry him that far!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch me,\u201d Hoss said grimly, rising to his feet with Joe in his grasp.\u00a0 He adjusted his hold and then, with just the faintest ghost of a smile, added, \u201cLittle Joe ain\u2019t as heavy as a full-grown steer anyhow.\u201d<\/p>\n

That tiny flash of humor felt like\u2014hope.\u00a0 And it was enough to get Liza back onto her feet, and following Hoss down the trail.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should probably know that I don\u2019t actually know how to use a gun,\u201d she said, looking down at the weapon in her hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cHuh,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cWell.\u00a0 Hold it and try to look convincing.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a plan, this was not reassuring at all.<\/p>\n

The distance back to the house felt twice as long as it had seemed walking the other way.\u00a0 But Sam Clemens really hadn\u2019t exaggerated Hoss Cartwright\u2019s strength by much, and the big man\u2019s steps didn\u2019t falter the entire way.\u00a0 Liza was watching his feet, because that was so much easier than looking at Joe, crumpled in his brother\u2019s hold.<\/p>\n

Little<\/em> Joe.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t seem so tall, right now.<\/p>\n

This was not<\/em> how she had imagined coming back.\u00a0 This was not how it was supposed to go.\u00a0 An angry Joe who told her that Hoss and Clay were wrong, that he never wanted to see her again, still would have been better than this<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But Hoss didn\u2019t stumble and no outlaws burst out of the trees.\u00a0 They came at last into the front yard of the ranch house, rounding the barn to see Adam\u2019s red horse at the hitching rail and Adam beside him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Adam demanded, long strides carrying him to Hoss\u2019 side.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong with Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomebody shot him,\u201d Hoss said, only the tight set of his jaw giving any hint that it was any kind of strain, carrying Joe this far.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho?\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t know,\u201d Hoss grunted, \u201cbut we\u2019ve got to get him inside.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then Adam\u2019s gaze landed on Liza, a step behind Hoss, and his face creased with an entirely new kind of confusion.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you\u2014why\u2026?\u201d\u00a0 Then he looked from her to Joe and back again, and it felt very much like he was looking at all the blood on her hands, or maybe the gun\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cI<\/em> didn\u2019t shoot him!\u201d Liza protested.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t thinking that,\u201d Adam said quickly, maybe too quickly.\u00a0 \u201cI just\u2014don\u2019t understand\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI came back to talk to Joe,\u201d Liza said, because that was as much explanation as she could give Adam, especially right now, especially like this.<\/p>\n

\u201cLucky thing, since she found him,\u201d Hoss put in.\u00a0 They were nearly to the front door by now, and Liza hurried ahead to open it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to need a doctor,\u201d Adam said. \u00a0\u201cCan you get him up the stairs?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGot this far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFine.\u00a0 I\u2019ll go for Doc Martin.\u00a0 And the sheriff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then Adam was running for his horse and Hoss was stepping inside and Liza pointed out, \u201cThe guest bedroom\u2019s closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss hesitated, but shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNah.\u00a0 Let\u2019s get him to his own room.\u00a0 Better that way.\u201d<\/p>\n

He started up the stairs, and Liza set down the gun on the sideboard with some relief.\u00a0 She turned towards the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll get some hot water and cloths.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

6.<\/em><\/p>\n

Liza didn\u2019t like nursing.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t like blood and pain and how sometimes you had to hurt someone to help them heal.\u00a0 This was why she had followed her father\u2019s footsteps into journalism, not her mother\u2019s into nursing, even though newspapers were a far less conventional path for a woman.\u00a0 But she did know a few basics of nursing, and could use them when she had to.<\/p>\n

She came into Joe\u2019s room \u2013 a place she would have been very curious about under different circumstances \u2013 balancing a basin of hot water, a stack of cloths, and a bottle of whiskey.\u00a0 She assumed that Hop Sing would forgive the loss of the cloths, and Ben the loss of the whiskey, considering the situation.<\/p>\n

Upstairs, Hoss had got Joe\u2019s jacket and shirt off and started wiping up the worst of the blood.\u00a0 Aside from the stray bruise, they seemed to have already identified the chief injuries \u2013 a gash across the left side of Joe\u2019s head, just above his ear, and the bullet wound in his right arm.\u00a0 Though maybe the head wound was a bullet too, a near-miss.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t know that much about bullet wounds.\u00a0 The nursing she\u2019d seen her mother do had been more in the realm of accidents \u2013 cuts and gashes \u2013 and the occasional cough or fever.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooks like the one in his arm went straight through,\u201d Hoss said, and Liza exhaled in some relief at that.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood.\u00a0 I\u2019ve cleaned wounds before but I\u2019ve never tried to get a bullet out of someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was all terrible anyway.\u00a0 Joe didn\u2019t stir for most of it, until the whiskey hit his head wound.\u00a0 Then he suddenly jerked and thrashed and yelled for his pa, and Hoss had to hold him down and tell him it was all right, ol\u2019 Hoss was here, everything was all right.\u00a0 Liza bit her lip so hard it ached and didn\u2019t say anything because\u2014what good would it do?\u00a0 Joe collapsed back into unconsciousness and mercifully didn\u2019t react again when she cleaned his arm.\u00a0 At least, she hoped it was a mercy.\u00a0 Her nursing knowledge only went so far.\u00a0 But she did<\/em> know that if he died of an infection that would be much, much worse, and if this could help\u2014it had to be worth it.<\/p>\n

When it was all over, even the cleaning up, Liza sank into the chair in front of Joe\u2019s desk and wondered if this was an appropriate moment to have hysterics, or if she\u2019d better put that off a while longer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate to ask you,\u201d Hoss said, gaze fixed on Joe lying in the bed, \u201cbut do you think you could keep watch for a bit on your own?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hysterics later, then.\u00a0 \u201cOf course,\u201d Liza said, because what else was there to say?\u00a0 Then she thought a little more and asked, \u201cWhat are you going to be doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cI want to see if I can pick up the trail of whoever did this, and if we wait too long it\u2019ll be nightfall and too late to track until morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

She had been so focused on each next step that she hadn\u2019t thought about the larger picture like that.\u00a0 But of course, they needed to know who was responsible, and why \u2013 but it was an alarming prospect too, because suppose Hoss found<\/em> whoever it was?<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get shot too,\u201d she said, voice suddenly unsteady, \u201cI can\u2019t carry you back here.\u201d\u00a0 Never mind that she wouldn\u2019t even know.\u00a0 She\u2019d just be waiting here until Adam came back and then\u2026Adam wouldn\u2019t be able to carry Hoss either.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be careful,\u201d Hoss said, which wasn\u2019t as reassuring as, say, telling her that of course that wouldn\u2019t happen.\u00a0 He squeezed her shoulder, briefly, then was out the door and clomping down the stairs.<\/p>\n

Liza looked at Joe, face tan and curls dark against the contrast of the white pillow and the white bandage wrapping his head \u2013 a better one now than her makeshift petticoat strips.\u00a0 She let out a slow breath.\u00a0 \u201cLooks like it\u2019s just you and me now.\u201d\u00a0 She bit her lower lip.\u00a0 \u201cFeel free to wake up any time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing.<\/p>\n

Sleep was good, usually, for most injuries.\u00a0 Not always for head injuries, but she didn\u2019t know how to judge that, and if Joe shouldn\u2019t<\/em> be asleep she didn\u2019t know what to do about that anyway, and\u2014<\/p>\n

She stood up and paced, as though that was going to help her outrun her fears.\u00a0 She had no idea how long it would take Hoss to return, but Adam and the doctor would surely be hours yet, and how was she going to get through all that time?\u00a0 Her gaze roamed almost desperately around the room, trying to focus on something<\/em> \u2013 a painting of an Indian chief on one wall, a small portrait of a beautiful woman she recognized as Joe\u2019s mother next to the bed.<\/p>\n

Her gaze snagged on the desk under the window.\u00a0 She shouldn\u2019t <\/em>go poking around in Joe\u2019s things; she had no right at all to do that.\u00a0 But there were a half-dozen books stacked untidily on top of the desk.\u00a0 They were right there, in plain sight (in his private bedroom, but still) and\u2014they were books<\/em>.\u00a0 It was instinctive in her to reach for books in a crisis.<\/p>\n

So she drifted over to the desk and picked up the top two books.\u00a0 Both were slim dime novels, one a slightly-lurid looking mystery while the other had a cover featuring a cowboy on a rearing horse.\u00a0 The book under those was some sort of farmer\u2019s almanac, probably a useful enough thing on a ranch.\u00a0 Nothing very unexpected or terribly distracting in those three.<\/p>\n

But then she got to the fourth book down in the stack, and had to swallow hard and touch the embossed words on the cover to be sure she wasn\u2019t imagining them.<\/p>\n

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bront\u00eb.<\/em><\/p>\n

She turned slowly to look at the man lying in the bed, as though there might be some sort of answer written across his face.<\/p>\n

She knew<\/em> he hadn\u2019t owned this book when she\u2019d been here before.\u00a0 They had talked about it.\u00a0 Joe hadn\u2019t read it, Adam had disdained to own a copy \u2013 and some time between then and now her<\/em> favorite book had ended up on Joe\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n

It couldn\u2019t be a coincidence, but\u2014why did he have it, and had he read it, and what did it mean\u2026other than that he really had been thinking about her.\u00a0 He must have been.\u00a0 Clay had said so, and Hoss had said so, and a book in his bedroom should<\/em> have been a less clear sign than the word of his brothers, and yet\u2014somehow this mute, unfiltered evidence struck her hard.<\/p>\n

She picked up the book, held it tightly.\u00a0 There was so much<\/em> she wanted to talk to Joe about, so much she wanted to say and to ask.<\/p>\n

She lifted her head to look at him again.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t die,\u201d she whispered, eyes burning and voice wavering.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t you dare die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she sank down to sit with her back against Joe\u2019s desk, book clutched in her hands, and cried.<\/p>\n

Sometimes hysterics just happen.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t been the blood, or the feeling of a gun in her hand, or the yelling after the whiskey, or Hoss going out to possibly get shot and leave her really, truly all alone.\u00a0 It was the book<\/em> that had finally undone her, tore apart the last shred of her self-control and brought her to desperate, choking sobs, tears slipping down her cheeks and dropping onto the leather cover of Jane Eyre<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It was the reaction.\u00a0 Everybody had a reaction, and remembering Joe telling her that only made her cry harder.<\/p>\n

But nothing lasts forever, and at length she dug a handkerchief from her pocket and dried her eyes and the book, stood up and set Jane<\/em> Eyre<\/em> back on the desk.\u00a0 It all seemed too confusing, too complicated, too involved to read it right now.\u00a0 The last two books in the stack were old, battered copies of King Arthur and His Round Table<\/em> and The Adventures of Robin Hood<\/em>.\u00a0 She picked up Robin Hood<\/em>, with its hero in green, sat down in the chair again, and tried to settle into keeping vigil.\u00a0 For however long it took.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

7.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hoss spent more than an hour out tracking, and there was no sign yet of Adam or Doc Martin when he got back to the house.\u00a0 He knew how long it took to get to Virginia City and back, but he had still irrationally hoped\u2026<\/p>\n

He shook his head and hurried on inside.\u00a0 Upstairs not much had changed either, which was maybe for the best.\u00a0 Little Joe was still lying in bed, eyes closed, and Liza was still sitting next to the bed, though she\u2019d picked up a book from somewhere.\u00a0 Looked like Joe\u2019s old copy of Robin Hood<\/em>.\u00a0 Hoss could remember when Joe used to read that over and over.\u00a0 Hadn\u2019t thought about it in a long time.<\/p>\n

Liza\u2019s black cat had come inside at some point, was all curled up in a furry ball at the foot of Joe\u2019s bed.\u00a0 Pa didn\u2019t like animals on the furniture, but that was the last thing Hoss was going to worry about right now.<\/p>\n

Liza looked up when he appeared in the doorway, face lighting with relief.\u00a0 \u201cOh good, you\u2019re back.\u201d<\/p>\n

She looked so dang happy to see him\u2014and he knew it was only because of everything going on, but all the same, it struck him that if she looked at Joe with anything like that expression\u2014yeah, if he\u2019d had any doubt about whether little brother was going to be happy to see her, this\u2019d settle it for sure.\u00a0 Who wouldn\u2019t<\/em> be happy to have a pretty gal look at you like that?<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything all right then?\u201d Hoss asked, nodding towards Joe.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing\u2019s changed and\u2014I think that\u2019s good?\u201d Liza said, screwing her face up doubtfully.\u00a0 \u201cI wish\u2014I don\u2019t have any real<\/em> nursing training, so\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably know more\u2019n you think,\u201d Hoss said, because reassuring people came pretty natural to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did you find out?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss sighed.\u00a0 \u201cNot much.\u00a0 Lemme get a chair\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He pulled a big wooden chair over from his own room, sank gratefully down into it.\u00a0 \u201cNear as I could figure, from what signs there were, one rider came in, then went out again leading Cochise.\u00a0 Trouble is, they made straight for the main road, and there\u2019s too much traffic to track beyond that.\u201d\u00a0 Not that he hadn\u2019t tried.\u00a0 He would\u2019ve sworn he could trace Cochise (or any of the family horses) through just about anything, but luck would have it that somebody\u2019d been herding cattle along that same road and churned it all up into something unreadable.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what does that tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot much,\u201d Hoss said again, frowning deeply.\u00a0 He stared at Joe, trying to think through his own troubled thoughts.\u00a0 \u201cNone of this makes much sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d Liza said softly.\u00a0 \u201cWho would want to do something like this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, that<\/em> part I can understand.\u00a0 There\u2019s enough people with grudges against Little Joe, and more people with grudges against Pa or the rest of us.\u00a0 Somebody might\u2019ve just wanted a Cartwright and didn\u2019t care much which one.\u201d\u00a0 He could think of a handful of names with motives, without even trying too hard.\u00a0 None that they\u2019d had any special reason to expect trouble from right now, though he\u2019d worried some about that Dave Donovan Joe\u2019d tangled with recently over that timber contract.\u00a0 He ought to be in jail, but he\u2019d got off when the rival timber company hired fancy lawyers to get out of charges of sabotage.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s the way they went about it that I don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2014if they wanted to kill Little Joe, they didn\u2019t do it very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey shot<\/em> him.\u00a0 Twice!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Hoss grimaced, trying to put this into words.\u00a0 \u201cIt ain\u2019t that it couldn\u2019t get serious \u2013 maybe it is<\/em> serious, I ain\u2019t a doctor \u2013 but it just seems like if you\u2019ve got an unconscious man, a gun, and no one to interfere, it ain\u2019t hard to make a lot more sure that he\u2019s dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what does that<\/em> mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

That was the trouble \u2013 that was the part he couldn\u2019t work out.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe they weren\u2019t very good at this.\u00a0 Or maybe they didn\u2019t actually care that much about killing Joe, only I don\u2019t know what any of this was about, in that case.\u00a0 If they wanted Cochise, there\u2019re easier ways to steal a horse.\u00a0 Or\u2026\u201d\u00a0 And this was the unsettling possibility, the one he really didn\u2019t like, because it was ugly and because it made the odds likely that this wasn\u2019t over yet.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026maybe they just didn\u2019t want to kill Joe fast.\u00a0 Maybe they\u2019d rather he was out in that meadow bleeding for hours, figuring by the time Adam or me found him it would be too late, and we\u2019d know<\/em> that, that if we\u2019d got there sooner\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that didn\u2019t happen, we did<\/em> get there!\u201d Liza said, a sharper note in her voice that Hoss would\u2019ve paid more attention to, if he wasn\u2019t sunk so deep in his own thoughts.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but we more easily might not have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe what troubled Hoss the most was recognizing, not just how bad this was, or even how much worse it could\u2019ve been, but the reason<\/em> it could\u2019ve gotten so much worse.\u00a0 It would\u2019ve been his fault.\u00a0 Little Joe could\u2019ve died, and it would have been because he\u2019d been shot now<\/em>, when Hoss had let things get so strange between them, and then just let it stay that way.<\/p>\n

A few months ago, Little Joe probably wouldn\u2019t\u2019ve been out in the meadow at all.\u00a0 He would\u2019ve been hanging around the barn with Hoss, helping with the work or, depending on his mood, finding ways to get out of helping with the work.\u00a0 Even if he had<\/em> been out in the meadow \u2013 well, they wouldn\u2019t have expected him back until suppertime, which wouldn\u2019t be anything real exciting with Hop Sing away, but he and Adam would\u2019ve rustled up something.\u00a0 And Adam would\u2019ve complained about Joe not showing up, and Hoss would have laughed and gone to go get him, and it all would\u2019ve been later than it had actually been, but still, he would\u2019ve gone by late afternoon and maybe, probably, that wouldn\u2019t have been much worse.<\/p>\n

But today<\/em> \u2013 if Liza hadn\u2019t happened to come along \u2013 Hoss had a sickening feeling that today, Adam would\u2019ve complained and Hoss would\u2019ve shrugged and figured it was Joe\u2019s business whether to show up for supper.\u00a0 And maybe one of them would\u2019ve gone looking after supper, but maybe they would have let it go until they realized in the morning that he\u2019d never come home.\u00a0 And if they went looking in the morning\u2026<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t need to be a doctor, or have any amount of nursing training, to feel sure it would\u2019ve been too late by morning.<\/p>\n

And that was wrong.\u00a0 That was all wrong every which way, that he\u2019d let things get like that with Little Joe.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t<\/em> happened that way, but it could<\/em> have, and that scared him right down to his boots.\u00a0 And all right, Joe\u2019d been involved in how things were too, but that didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 Hoss should\u2019ve fixed it.\u00a0 He was Little Joe\u2019s older brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s horrible<\/em>,\u201d Liza said, and it took Hoss a blink to recognize she wasn\u2019t talking about what he\u2019d been thinking but only the last thing he\u2019d said, about someone wanting to leave Joe out there.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s\u2014hideous and depraved\u2014and I can\u2019t see why\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

She had her arms wrapped around herself and her voice was shaking and Hoss mentally cursed himself for not paying enough attention to what he was saying and who he was saying it to.\u00a0 He should\u2019ve saved all this until he could say it to Adam, he shouldn\u2019t\u2019ve dumped it all on Liza like this.\u00a0 He\u2019d been looking at Joe and he hadn\u2019t been thinking about who he was really talking to\u2026\u00a0 \u201cAw, that might not be it at all,\u201d Hoss said hurriedly, \u201cmaybe somebody just didn\u2019t stop to check, or\u2014maybe they really did just want the horse.\u00a0 Anyway, it\u2019s all right, Joe couldn\u2019t have been out there long at all, and the doctor\u2019ll be here soon and\u2014it\u2019ll all be all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know that,\u201d Liza said in a low voice, but summoned half a smile from somewhere.\u00a0 \u201cBut thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She had already had her flirtation with hysterics, and Liza fought back the temptation to do it again \u2013 not right now, not in front of Hoss, not when he was counting on her to help in this awful situation.<\/p>\n

After all his horrible theorizing, he was trying to reassure her now, and he shouldn\u2019t need to do that.\u00a0 He had enough to be dealing with, with his brother lying unconscious on the bed.\u00a0 But if she stayed sitting here, staring at Joe and thinking about what someone had tried to do to him, she might have hysterics yet.\u00a0 So she stood up, because it might be a little better moving, but she had nowhere to go.\u00a0 She should probably come up with some excuse to go down to the kitchen, look for some way to be useful, but for the moment she just paced the room, rubbing her hands against her skirts and trying to keep a good grip on herself.\u00a0 She\u2019d like to pick up Bronte, but she didn\u2019t want to wake the sleeping cat, who was still touchy from their trip; she figured it was why the cat had chosen the bed instead of sitting with her to begin with.<\/p>\n

She paced a few steps further than she had before, crossed beyond the foot of Joe\u2019s bed and glanced at the corner of the room that had been hidden on the other side of the bed \u2013 and before she could make her excuse about going downstairs, her gaze snagged on a glimmer of green just peeking out from under the bed.<\/p>\n

They had forgotten about Joe\u2019s jacket.\u00a0 They had taken it off him and it had been tossed aside in all the chaos and they\u2019d forgotten about it.\u00a0 She went over now to pick it up, carried it back to her chair with her gaze fixed on the crumpled fabric.\u00a0 The garment was liberally stained with dried blood, a nasty rip torn into one shoulder.<\/p>\n

She sank back into the chair, suddenly newly exhausted.\u00a0 She held up the jacket for Hoss\u2019 view.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to be able to save it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss gave a low whistle.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, that looks pretty done in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza nodded, let it drop back into her lap and ran her fingertips over a cleaner patch of the soft green corduroy again, blinking hard against a sudden burning in her eyes.\u00a0 It was ridiculous to care so much about a jacket.\u00a0 Part of her knew it wasn\u2019t really about the clothing; she was identifying the jacket with the man and the two felt painfully linked in peril right now.<\/p>\n

Though maybe it was a little<\/em> about the jacket.\u00a0 It had caught her eye that very first day when she\u2019d met Joe out riding, and not a day went by during her first visit here that he didn\u2019t wear it.\u00a0 It was how she had always pictured him, all these months since, in his green jacket among the pines.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s too bad.\u00a0 I mean\u2014he must really like it, and\u2014\u201d\u00a0 Her voice caught and she had to swallow.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it\u2019s such a good color on him\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

An unexpected chuckle from Hoss brought her gaze abruptly back to him.\u00a0 He must have seen her surprise on her face, because he quickly said, \u201cSorry, Liza, it\u2019s just\u2014if there\u2019s one thing you don\u2019t<\/em> need to be worrying over right now, it\u2019s Little Joe\u2019s jacket.\u00a0 Here, lemme show you\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss crossed over to the heavy wooden wardrobe in one corner of the room, pulled open the door and revealed\u2026an entire row of green corduroy jackets.\u00a0 Quite a few similar shirts and pants too, but that seemed much less remarkable than the procession of green jackets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Liza struggled to find the right words.\u00a0 Maybe it was just too many shocks today.\u00a0 \u201cWhy<\/em> does Joe have \u2013 what, ten, twelve? \u2013 identical jackets?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cHe really<\/em> likes that jacket.\u201d\u00a0 He sat down in the big chair again, glanced at Joe, and said, \u201cLemme tell you about this trip we took to San Francisco a while back, when Little Joe decided to buy a new jacket.\u201d<\/p>\n

There followed an improbable tale worthy of Sam Clemens himself\u2014and, in fact, featuring Sam Clemens himself\u2014which, knowing the Cartwrights, was probably perfectly true.\u00a0 Joe shifted here and there, but didn\u2019t wake.<\/p>\n

In the quiet that followed the story, Liza and Hoss both contemplated the row of jackets hanging in Joe\u2019s wardrobe.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, it\u2019s funny,\u201d Hoss said at length, \u201cthey make me feel a little better, sometimes.\u00a0 When Little Joe\u2019s got himself into a bad scrape.\u201d\u00a0 He looked away from the jackets, to his brother lying on the bed, undisturbed through all the conversation.\u00a0 \u201cMakes me feel like, I dunno, like he\u2019s sure to be all right.\u00a0 He\u2019s still got a lot of jackets to get through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI like that.\u201d\u00a0 Or maybe it was that Joe was a little like his jackets.\u00a0 He got all battered and bruised, then somehow popped up again and carried on.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

8.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hoss had rarely been so relieved to hear the rattle of buggy wheels out in the front yard.\u00a0 He got up from his seat by Joe\u2019s bed to check out the window and confirm \u2013 yep, it was Dr. Martin, with Adam just now dismounting from Sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was sooner than I thought they could get here,\u201d Hoss remarked.<\/p>\n

\u201cFelt like forever,\u201d Liza murmured from her seat across the room, and Hoss couldn\u2019t disagree.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou stay here with Joe.\u00a0 I\u2019ll go let \u2018em in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr. Martin came in the house with his medbag already in hand and a reassuring air of competence about him.\u00a0 \u201cSo Little Joe\u2019s got himself into trouble once again, eh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYessir,\u201d Hoss said with a nod.\u00a0 \u201cAdam must\u2019ve told you \u2013 Joe\u2019s upstairs\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the way,\u201d Dr. Martin said, \u201cI\u2019ve been out here often enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss felt Adam\u2019s hand on his arm as the doctor ascended the stairs, and turned towards older brother.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s Joe?\u201d Adam asked.\u00a0 \u201cWake up yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been sorta restless, but ain\u2019t woken up properly.\u00a0 You got the doctor fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I met him on the road, so I didn\u2019t have to go as far as Virginia City.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss frowned.\u00a0 It was good the doctor had got here quicker, but that meant\u2014\u00a0 \u201cSo you ain\u2019t talked to the sheriff yet?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I thought it was more important to get the doctor here.\u00a0 You have any luck figuring out who did this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNah.\u00a0 They rode onto the main road and I couldn\u2019t track farther\u2019n that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam sighed, a weary sigh, but just said, \u201cAll right.\u00a0 Liza still here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, upstairs \u2013 she\u2019s been helping me watch Joe,\u201d Hoss said, and watched how older brother\u2019s gaze lingered on the stairs.\u00a0 \u201cHey, I\u2019ll go put your horse in the barn \u2013 you go up and see little brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a beat, Adam nodded.\u00a0 \u201cThanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss moved as quick as he could taking care of Sport, but it was still some time before he got back inside.\u00a0 When he came back in, he found Liza pacing in front of the big fireplace, while the cat had taken up a sentry position sitting in front of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThought I\u2019d give them some space,\u201d she said in explanation when he looked at her.\u00a0 Her glance moved over towards the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe I\u2019ll try to sort out something for supper\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, good idea,\u201d Hoss said, suddenly surprised he hadn\u2019t thought of the subject sooner.\u00a0 There had<\/em> been a lot going on.<\/p>\n

Liza grimaced.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t get your hopes up too high; I can\u2019t actually cook.\u00a0 But \u2013 I\u2019ll see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure.\u00a0 Thanks, Liza,\u201d Hoss said, then headed up the stairs.<\/p>\n

Adam was pacing in Joe\u2019s room, while the doctor secured a new bandage on Joe\u2019s arm.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019s he look, Doc?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter than you boys have looked sometimes when I\u2019ve been out here,\u201d Dr. Martin said.\u00a0 \u201cThese wounds have been cleaned well, no sign of infection.\u00a0 Rest is the key thing now \u2013 let that Cartwright constitution get to work on healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYessir,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cYou think he\u2019ll wake up soon?\u00a0 Maybe he can tell us something about who shot him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The doctor shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cAs I said, Little Joe needs rest and quiet.\u00a0 In fact, with how restless he is, I\u2019d like to give him an injection to make sure he\u2019ll sleep through the night.\u00a0 If he gets agitated, it should be repeated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell \u2013 you\u2019re the doctor,\u201d Hoss said, and glanced at Adam, who was frowning but didn\u2019t comment.\u00a0 If the doc said that was best for Joe, that\u2019s what they ought to do \u2013 but it sure would\u2019ve been nice to get some answers.\u00a0 If Joe had them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The prospects for supper were regrettably bleak.\u00a0 Liza suspected Hop Sing would have known how to whip up something delicious with the limited supplies in the kitchen, but her skills did not extend that far.\u00a0 She found beans and she could manage to heat them up, alongside half a pan of cornbread someone had mixed up earlier.\u00a0 It was pretty evident all over the kitchen that the Cartwright boys had been on their own for food for at least a few days, but she was in no position to significantly remedy that.<\/p>\n

Oh well, no one would starve, at least.<\/p>\n

Focused on getting the oven to warm up, she didn\u2019t realize the doctor was leaving until she heard the rattle of his buggy and the clop of horses\u2019 hooves through the kitchen window.\u00a0 Now that she listened, she could also hear the murmur of voices out in the great room.\u00a0 She moved the tray of cornbread into the hot oven, just to warm it, and, wiping her hands on an apron she\u2019d found in the kitchen, started towards the other room.<\/p>\n

The voices became much clearer as soon as she entered the brief passage between the kitchen and dining room \u2013 no wonder Hop Sing always knew everything going on in the house \u2013 and the words she was hearing made her pause.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see how this all started, but I don\u2019t understand why she\u2019s still here<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 That was Adam, voice pitched in apparent frustration.\u00a0 And while she had missed the beginning of this conversation, Liza had a bad feeling she was the only relevant she<\/em> at the moment.<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 low rumble followed.\u00a0 \u201cCome on, Adam, you know Little Joe would want her here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t<\/em> know that, and Little Joe can\u2019t tell us right now how he feels about a woman coming to stay with us after she broke his heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been moping about her for months\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the more reason why this is complicated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know this ain\u2019t the most important thing right now\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, but I think we should have sent her back to town with the doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can help, Adam.\u00a0 And how would you feel about it if one of the gals who left you<\/em> came back and wanted to think again?\u00a0 Wouldn\u2019t you want us to keep her around?\u00a0 And wouldn\u2019t it make you want to get better in a hurry?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know<\/em>, Hoss, and you\u2019re just throwing theories now\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuppose it was that Shoshone spirit woman you liked so much?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t call her that,\u201d Adam said in clipped tones, \u201cand don\u2019t bring Ruth into this.\u00a0 It\u2019s completely different.\u00a0 She was trying to save my life when she left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Liza probably saved Joe\u2019s.\u00a0 When would we have gone out looking for him?\u00a0 After supper?\u00a0 Tomorrow morning?\u00a0 You would\u2019ve wanted to explain to Pa how Little Joe got shot and we didn\u2019t even check on him until the next day?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a fair parallel\u2014how would you<\/em> feel about it if it was Helen Layton?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that<\/em> ain\u2019t fair, Adam, and don\u2019t you go dragging Helen into this, you know I don\u2019t like talking about her\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Ruth is fair game?\u201d<\/p>\n

This was only getting worse, and Liza knew she\u2019d been listening for too long already.\u00a0 With Joe unconscious and unable to decide this, she had to find some kind of peace with his family\u2014and, really, the way the Cartwrights all moved together, she\u2019d need to do that even if Joe was<\/em> able to say he wanted her here.\u00a0 Assuming Hoss was right that he would.<\/p>\n

Taking a deep breath, she walked forward into the dining room, the conversation stopping abruptly as she emerged into the room.\u00a0 They were both looking at her by the time she got to the end of the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease don\u2019t fight,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cEspecially not about me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss the kind-hearted looked abashed and said, \u201cAw, reckon it wasn\u2019t exactly about you anyway, we\u2019re just sorta keyed up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam looked uncomfortable, but more grim than guilty.\u00a0 \u201cI apologize if I was undiplomatic.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t realize you could hear us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI should have said something sooner,\u201d Liza acknowledged, and went ahead to cross the room to the sofa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe ought to have realized,\u201d Hoss said, \u201cseeing as we\u2019ve all heard Pa in here arguing with one or another of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Liza said, sitting down.\u00a0 \u201cThe question is what we\u2019re going to do.\u00a0 I know<\/em> it\u2019s awkward, me being here.\u201d\u00a0 She looked at Adam on that one, couldn\u2019t tell if he was softening.\u00a0 \u201cBut I\u2019d like to help.\u00a0 Aren\u2019t you Cartwrights big on helping strangers passing by?\u00a0 Don\u2019t you accept help from passing strangers too?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you\u2019re not a stranger,\u201d Adam countered.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re more complicated than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d Liza said, and swallowed.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t do much of anything about it if Adam won this argument, if they ended up by saying she needed to pack up her cat and her things and go back to Virginia City, and they\u2019d let her know when Joe wanted to see her.\u00a0 If he wanted to see her.\u00a0 If he was ever in a position to want to see her.\u00a0 And she didn\u2019t know if she could stand that, to ride away while Joe was lying injured upstairs, to wait and wonder and not know what was happening.\u00a0 To not be able to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou two do<\/em> need help, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 You three,\u201d she amended, with a gesture towards the stairs.\u00a0 \u201cYour father is away, you have a ranch to look after, an injured brother who needs help, and someone has to go after whoever injured him.\u00a0 Two of you can\u2019t do all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss and Adam were exchanging glances, and she didn\u2019t know them well enough to read those glances.\u00a0 \u201cShe ain\u2019t wrong, Adam,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cEven Hop Sing\u2019s away, and the ranch hands\u2019re all out on jobs\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could go to one of the neighbors for help,\u201d Adam countered.\u00a0 \u201cAnd the two of us could handle Joe and the ranch anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d take time to get more help,\u201d Hoss pointed out, \u201cand she\u2019s already here.\u00a0 Doc Martin liked her nursing too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are<\/em> going to go after whoever shot Joe, right?\u201d Liza asked, because that seemed to be missing from Adam\u2019s calculations.\u00a0 \u201cThey could come back, try again\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMight\u2019ve just been a random bushwhacker,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cSaw an opportunity, kept on riding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss frowned.\u00a0 \u201cI dunno, Adam, this close to the house?\u00a0 Seems more likely somebody had an aim.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if it was<\/em> a bushwhacker, they have Cochise, don\u2019t they?\u201d\u00a0 Liza looked between the two faces.\u00a0 \u201cYou have to go after Cochise!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a horse,\u201d Adam said without meeting her gaze, \u201cand this is a ranch.\u00a0 We have a lot of horses.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s Joe\u2019s<\/em> horse,\u201d Liza persisted.\u00a0 He loved that horse.\u00a0 When the world felt wrong, when something upset him, he went out and talked to his horse.\u00a0 \u201cYou know<\/em> as soon as he wakes up he\u2019s going to want to know what happened to his horse.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to tell him you didn\u2019t do anything about finding Cochise?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss rubbed the back of his neck.\u00a0 \u201cYou know she ain\u2019t wrong about that neither, Adam.\u00a0 Little brother\u2019ll just about lose his mind when he hears his horse is missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam sank into the tall blue armchair, pinched the bridge of his nose.\u00a0 \u201cOf course I\u2019d like to get Cochise back for Joe, but as Liza pointed out \u2013 there are two of us, and a lot<\/em> to deal with.\u00a0 We can\u2019t go searching for a horse right now.\u00a0 Especially when Hoss couldn\u2019t even find a trail to follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSorta makes it sound like we ought to keep around any help we can,\u201d Hoss remarked, tone pitched innocently, and Liza was truly grateful that Hoss was taking her side in all this.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, all right,\u201d Adam groaned.\u00a0 \u201cLiza, please accept our hospitality and we appreciate your offer to help \u2013 at least through tomorrow.\u00a0 I\u2019ll need to go to town in the morning to talk to the sheriff and telegraph Pa about what\u2019s going on.\u00a0 And Hop Sing is due back on tomorrow\u2019s stage, so I would have needed to meet him anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you,\u201d Liza said quietly.\u00a0 It all might change again by tomorrow \u2013 they\u2019d need her less, if Hop Sing was back \u2013 but at least they weren\u2019t throwing her out tonight.\u00a0 And maybe, hopefully, by tomorrow Joe would be well enough to weigh in on the question.\u00a0 Even if he told her to leave \u2013 well, it might be worth it, since it would mean he was recovering.\u00a0 And at least she would know<\/em> there wasn\u2019t any future here, instead of being left to wonder.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could ask around about Cochise in town tomorrow too,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cPretty distinctive pattern on that horse, somebody might\u2019ve seen him.\u00a0 Might give us a lead on who shot Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might,\u201d Adam agreed, and frowned.\u00a0 \u201cWhich raises some questions about why someone would steal such a recognizable horse, if they didn\u2019t want to be suspected of the shooting.\u00a0 But yes, I\u2019ll ask around about Cochise too.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9.<\/em><\/p>\n

They divided the night sitting with Joe.\u00a0 Liza wasn\u2019t supposed to have a shift \u2013 Adam had said it wasn\u2019t necessary, and she hadn\u2019t wanted to argue \u2013 but she woke up at four in the morning and, after staring at the ceiling for awhile, concluded she wasn\u2019t going back to sleep anyway.\u00a0 She was in the upstairs guest bedroom this time around, so it was easy enough to put on her robe and slip across the hall.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s door was already ajar, so she eased it the rest of the way open, to find Hoss dozing in the big armchair by the bed.\u00a0 He blinked and straightened up as she came in.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is he?\u201d she asked softly, looking at the shadowed figure lying on the bed.<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged.\u00a0 \u201c\u2019bout the same, I guess.\u00a0 Still sleeping.\u201d\u00a0 He scrubbed at his hair, opened his eyes wide in the manner of one trying very hard to be awake.\u00a0 \u201cIt ain\u2019t dawn yet, you oughta be in bed\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t sleep.\u201d\u00a0 She nudged his shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cYou go get some rest.\u00a0 I can sit with him until morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI dunno\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll need you in the morning too.\u00a0 Go on \u2013 I\u2019ll call you and Adam if anything happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t expect she could have convinced Adam, but Hoss nodded slowly, heaved up to his feet, and shuffled to the door.\u00a0 \u201cYou call us, if anything happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will,\u201d she promised, settling into the big chair.<\/p>\n

And then it was just her and Joe again.\u00a0 It had been, fairly often, the last time she was here.\u00a0 But not like this.<\/p>\n

Liza sat next to Joe\u2019s bed, watching his still face, and wondered, despite all her fine words to Adam the evening before, if she really had any business being here.\u00a0 There was nothing to do<\/em> right now except to watch and to wait.\u00a0 And that made it harder, because there was nothing else to do but think and worry.<\/p>\n

The doctor\u2019s report had been reassuring, but she knew she wasn\u2019t going to feel much easier until Joe was awake and talking.\u00a0 Until she could see for herself that he was going to be all right.\u00a0 And maybe not until she could have a real conversation with him and settle her own strange, uncertain status.<\/p>\n

Joe stirred, shifting in his sleep without opening his eyes.\u00a0 A frown creased his face, as though something was troubling him.\u00a0 Pain, or a dream?\u00a0 His hand, lying by his side, curled into a fist, then uncurled to grasp at the blankets as though he was reaching for something.<\/p>\n

Automatically, Liza reached out, put one hand over his.\u00a0 \u201cShh, it\u2019s all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

His fingers clasped onto hers, held on tightly, and she froze, looking at their hands.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t mean<\/em> anything; he didn\u2019t even know who she was.\u00a0 \u201cEverything\u2026is all right,\u201d she said slowly.\u00a0 \u201cOr\u2014will be soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe she should stop talking; if he could even hear her, it would probably only confuse him to hear her<\/em> voice\u2014but as she looked at his face again, the frown was relaxing and he was subsiding back again.\u00a0 So maybe talking actually helped.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019d probably rather be hearing Hoss or Adam right now.\u00a0 But they\u2019re down the hall, just getting some sleep.\u00a0 They\u2019ll have to take care of the ranch in the morning, you know.\u00a0 They can\u2019t stop feeding horses just because you got yourself shot.\u00a0 You probably turned your back on someone you shouldn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was smiling, just a tiny bit.\u00a0 Probably it had nothing to do with anything she was saying.\u00a0 More likely it would have been the same with any voice.\u00a0 People found voices reassuring sometimes, during an illness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt will<\/em> all be all right,\u201d she said, as firmly as she could manage when she was still afraid that it wouldn\u2019t be.\u00a0 The shadowy room, the dark night with the pines outside \u2013 it brought back a whisper of another night, the night she had fallen asleep with Joe on the couch downstairs, and the conversation that had come before it.\u00a0 About how Joe dealt with it, when he was afraid everything was going terribly wrong.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re going to be fine, and when you\u2019re feeling better \u2013 well, they tell me Hop Sing is coming back tomorrow anyway, and I\u2019m sure your father will be home soon too.\u00a0 And then we can all sit around the big dining room table downstairs, and eat Hop Sing\u2019s fried chicken.\u00a0 Just the way things should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was <\/em>a lovely thing to imagine, remembering the warmth and kindness and fellowship that had been so present at the Cartwright table last time she was here.\u00a0 If she felt that as a guest, what was it like to actually belong<\/em> there?\u00a0 She wished she knew.\u00a0 And she hoped she wasn\u2019t mistakenly inviting herself into the picture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish I knew if you\u2019d really want me here,\u201d Liza whispered.\u00a0 \u201cAdam doesn\u2019t think so, but Hoss does.\u00a0 And Clay said you would.\u00a0 So I guess that\u2019s two brothers against one.\u201d\u00a0 It was too bad Ben was away.\u00a0 She knew the Cartwright patriarch well enough to know that he would have made a decision about her and that would have been the end of that\u2014at least until Joe could say anything about it.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose two votes is enough reason to be here for now.\u00a0 But you should hurry up and get better, so that you can tell me if you want me to go.\u00a0 Or\u2014so that you can ask me to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her voice caught, and she brushed her free hand over her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cI would, you know.\u00a0 Stay.\u00a0 If you asked me to.\u00a0 I\u2019d stay here and marry you, if you asked me to.\u201d<\/p>\n

She stayed where she was, holding Joe\u2019s hand and watching his face, until dawn broke outside the window and she heard stirrings from down the hall.\u00a0 It was no real reason to move, but\u2014she imagined Adam coming in and finding her holding Joe\u2019s hand, and the picture was enough to make her extricate her fingers.<\/p>\n

She stood up, paced a few steps, rubbing her hand against her skirt as though that could take away the feel of Joe\u2019s fingers around hers, take away the sense of absence now that they\u2019d let go.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

10.<\/em><\/p>\n

With one thing and another at home, it was late morning by the time Adam made it into Virginia City.\u00a0 He went straight to the telegraph office, intending to send a message informing Pa of the current situation.\u00a0 Instead he was greeted with the news that a message had come in for the Ponderosa, to inform them that Ben was on his way home, though by Adam\u2019s calculations it would be a couple of days at least before he could arrive.<\/p>\n

Adam sent a message to the biggest town on the route home, just on the off-chance it could reach him \u2013 though Pa probably couldn\u2019t get home any faster than he already was anyway.<\/p>\n

That chore done, he turned to the next business.\u00a0 Eating up the blocks between the telegraph office and the sheriff\u2019s office in long strides, halfway there Adam came to a halt so abrupt a man walking behind him stumbled into his back.<\/p>\n

\u201cSorry,\u201d Adam said automatically without turning around, without even blinking.<\/p>\n

\u201cWatch it, will you?\u201d the man said, stepping around Adam.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d he responded, and the man kept going, muttering something under his breath that Adam might have cared about at a different moment.<\/p>\n

But right now, every bit of his attention was focused on the horse across the street, standing in a row of others outside the saloon.<\/p>\n

It was a black and white paint, and as improbable and unlikely as it seemed, it was Cochise.\u00a0 Adam knew his brothers\u2019 horses like he knew his brothers\u2019 faces, and that<\/em> was Cochise.<\/p>\n

He crossed the street, with just enough presence of mind to check for riders or oncoming wagons first, and swung under the hitching rail to look the horse in the face.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Definitely Cochise.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, boy,\u201d Adam said softly, giving the horse a rub on the nose.\u00a0 Cochise responded by pushing his face into Adam\u2019s shirt, warm breath puffing from his nostrils.<\/p>\n

Adam looked the horse over \u2013 not Joe\u2019s saddle, but still definitely Joe\u2019s horse \u2013 and found no obvious signs that Cochise had been ill-treated, although his coat wasn\u2019t at its usual glossy sheen.\u00a0 Adam ran one hand down the horse\u2019s hind leg, feeling the dried mud caked into the hair and the layers of still-wet mud over it.\u00a0 So the horse hadn\u2019t been cared for to Cartwright standards, but not apparently abused either.<\/p>\n

Cochise was twisting his neck around to look at him, nickering.\u00a0 Hoss or Joe probably would have told him the horse was relieved to see a familiar face.\u00a0 Adam guessed that was more projection than anything else.\u00a0 He<\/em> was relieved, because he knew even better than Liza that Joe would have been likely to murder someone if they had to tell him his horse was missing.\u00a0 Or to kill himself trying to go hunt Cochise down.<\/p>\n

Relief was his first emotion, but it was short-lived, swamped very quickly by pure, righteous anger.\u00a0 To leave a man for dead, and then ride into town on his horse, and casually leave that horse hitched up outside the saloon \u2013 that spoke to either the lowest levels of stupidity or the highest levels of audacity, and Adam would bet on the latter.<\/p>\n

With still-wet mud on his legs, Cochise hadn\u2019t been standing here for long.\u00a0 So whoever\u2019d ridden him here hadn\u2019t gone far, and the most obvious destination was the first place to start.<\/p>\n

Adam shoved open the swinging doors of the Silver Dollar Saloon, and strode inside.\u00a0 The place wasn\u2019t busy this early in the day, but a good half-dozen men were inside, at the bar or the tables.\u00a0 \u201cWho was riding the paint hitched outside?\u201d Adam demanded, voice carrying over the low hum of conversation and bringing it to an abrupt halt.<\/p>\n

Anyone who believed that it was the youngest Cartwright who had the temper in the family was about to find out differently.\u00a0 Not that Joe didn\u2019t<\/em> have a temper, but right now, Adam felt just about as angry as Joe on his worst day.<\/p>\n

For a few seconds, silence reigned in the saloon.\u00a0 And then a voice spoke up from the end of the bar, from a man mostly out of sight behind two others, speaking in a casual, provoking drawl.\u00a0 \u201cYou like my new horse, Adam Cartwright?\u00a0 Thinking of buying him?\u201d<\/p>\n

The men in the way weren\u2019t fools.\u00a0 They moved aside quickly, and Adam saw a face he might\u2019ve expected, that he half had<\/em> expected.\u00a0 Dave Donovan.<\/p>\n

It made sense.\u00a0 The man had a grudge against Joe, and the kind of grudge that meant he\u2019d have a special, twisted interest in owning whatever belonged to Joe, horse included.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s Joe\u2019s horse outside,\u201d Adam said flatly.<\/p>\n

Donovan cocked an eyebrow, sauntered a few paces closer, half-full beer mug in one hand.\u00a0 \u201cOnly the high and mighty Cartwrights have the right to own a paint?\u00a0 When was that<\/em> law passed?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know my brother\u2019s horse, and we didn\u2019t sell him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Donovan took a long drink from his beer, smirked, and asked, \u201cWhich didn\u2019t you sell, the horse or your brother?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some men were just asking<\/em> to be shot.\u00a0 But Adam wanted answers, and there was a better way to wipe the smirk off of Donovan\u2019s face anyway.\u00a0 He took two strides forward and used the momentum to carry his fist straight into Donovan\u2019s jaw.\u00a0 The man tumbled over backwards, beer spilling everywhere.<\/p>\n

Adam stood over Donovan, glaring down at the man sprawled on the floor.\u00a0 \u201cSomeone shot Joe yesterday and took his horse.\u00a0 If he dies, it\u2019s murder\u2014and you<\/em> have his horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam grabbed the protesting Donovan by the shirt, hauled him up out of the mess on the floor, then out of the saloon and down the street to the sheriff\u2019s office.\u00a0 The door was open, letting in the fresh air, which meant Adam could drag Donovan straight inside and throw him at Roy\u2019s desk.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere now, what\u2019s this all about?\u201d Sheriff Roy Coffee demanded, rising up from his seat behind the desk, papers scattering as Donovan crashed into it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe attacked me, Sheriff,\u201d Donovan whined, \u201cI didn\u2019t lay a hand on him, and he just hit me and dragged me here\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe\u2019s been shot, Roy,\u201d Adam said shortly, breathing heavy from anger and exertion.\u00a0 \u201cJoe was shot, his horse was stolen, and Donovan\u2019s got the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle Joe was shot?\u201d Roy said, voice rising in alarm.\u00a0 \u201cIs he going to be all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoc Martin thinks so,\u201d Adam said, and gave Donovan\u2019s shoulder a shove.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you\u2019d better hope so, or you\u2019re going to hang for murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a serious accusation he\u2019s making, sheriff,\u201d Donovan said, leaning heavily on the desk and daring to grin again.\u00a0 \u201cAnd just because I have a horse, that doesn\u2019t mean I shot anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere did you get the horse then?\u201d Roy asked, fixing him with a hard stare.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know<\/em> where he got the horse,\u201d Adam growled.\u00a0 \u201cHe shot<\/em> Joe, left him lying out in a field, and took his horse!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow hold on,\u201d Roy said, putting a hand up, \u201cyou know there\u2019s an order to these things, and I have to ask him.\u00a0 Where\u2019d you get the horse, Donovan?\u201d<\/p>\n

Donovan\u2019s grin grew.\u00a0 \u201cI bought it.\u00a0 All nice and legal-like.\u201d\u00a0 Then he reached for his vest, and though Adam\u2019s and Roy\u2019s hands both moved closer to their guns, all he brought out was a folded paper.\u00a0 \u201cGot the bill of sale and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

He handed the paper to Roy, who unfolded it, gaze moving over the text.\u00a0 \u201cRoy, it\u2019s a fake,\u201d Adam said shortly.\u00a0 \u201cIt has to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe,\u201d Roy acknowledged.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe not.\u201d\u00a0 He tapped the paper.\u00a0 \u201cThe date on here is yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Donovan said.\u00a0 \u201cI bought the horse from a stranger yesterday evening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou expect us to believe that story?\u201d\u00a0 Adam shook his head. \u201cAs if you wouldn\u2019t know it was Joe\u2019s horse after all those weeks you were palling around with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe I haven\u2019t got a good memory for horses,\u201d Donovan drawled.\u00a0 \u201cOr maybe I believed Cartwright sold it.\u00a0 Either way, it ain\u2019t illegal to buy a horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is to buy one you know is stolen!\u00a0 Not that it matters, I don\u2019t believe you bought him at all\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAdam, when was Little Joe shot?\u201d Roy interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cYesterday?\u00a0 And it was out on your place?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d Adam said, a new uneasy feeling gripping him.\u00a0 \u201cMid-afternoon, not far from the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy shook his head, folding up the paper.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s no good, then.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how Donovan got the horse, but he couldn\u2019t have shot Joe.\u00a0 He was in my jail yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t got a fancy Eastern education,\u201d Donovan said, grinning in a way that made Adam itch to hit him again, \u201cbut I believe they call that an alibi<\/em>.\u00a0 Ain\u2019t that right, Roy?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam had been so sure<\/em> \u2013 it all made sense<\/em> \u2013 and now the ground had gone unsteady beneath his boots.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s involved, he has<\/em> to be\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou tell him, Roy, you tell him you\u2019ve got nothing to hold me on\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, that\u2019s enough out of you,\u201d Roy said shortly, seized Donovan by the arm and pulled him towards the inner room and its jail cells.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I do<\/em> have enough for conspiracy to commit murder.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got motive and stolen goods.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I couldn\u2019t have done it \u2013 you know I couldn\u2019t have done it!\u201d Donovan protested, even as Roy closed the cell door on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou just cool down in there and then we\u2019ll talk about it,\u201d Roy said over his shoulder, and closed the door leading onto the cells too.\u00a0 \u201cAnd you,\u201d he said, pointing at Adam, \u201cyou cool down too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam hadn\u2019t said anything, so he could only guess what was on his face that had prompted that from the sheriff.\u00a0 Or maybe Roy just knew him well enough to know how much was brewing under the surface.\u00a0 \u201cHe hates Joe, he had Joe\u2019s horse\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, motive and stolen goods.\u201d\u00a0 Roy shook his head, sitting down behind the desk.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019ll be enough to hold him for the day, maybe.\u00a0 Enough to try to get something out of him about how he bought the horse, if he really bought it.\u00a0 But he didn\u2019t have opportunity.\u00a0 He got himself into a fight in the saloon night before last, and I didn\u2019t turn him loose from jail until late yesterday afternoon.\u00a0 Unless you\u2019re going to tell me there\u2019s a secret route from here to the Ponderosa that cuts the time way, way down, he couldn\u2019t have shot Joe yesterday afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I\u2019m not saying that,\u201d Adam muttered.\u00a0 That wasn\u2019t the answer this time.\u00a0 He sank into the chair in front of the sheriff\u2019s desk, pinched the bridge of his nose.\u00a0 \u201cIf he didn\u2019t<\/em> shoot Joe, he still knows who did.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe,\u201d Roy acknowledged, \u201cand I\u2019ll try and get whatever information I can.\u00a0 But we both know I don\u2019t have enough to hold him for long.\u00a0 Not with that alibi.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat very convenient alibi,\u201d Adam said, and even though he had no proof at all, he just knew<\/em> \u2013 Donovan knew who had shot Joe, had known something was going to happen ahead of time.\u00a0 An alibi that good, that convenient, didn\u2019t happen just by chance.\u00a0 \u201cLet me talk to him, Roy, try to find out\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s a good idea,\u201d Roy interrupted.\u00a0 \u201cYou ain\u2019t an officer of the law, and you\u2019re too involved in all this.\u00a0 He\u2019s not going to talk to you, and if you go too far trying to make him, I\u2019ll have to lock you<\/em> up.\u00a0 Let me handle this.\u00a0 It\u2019s my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam thought of arguing.\u00a0 He wanted<\/em> to argue.\u00a0 But he knew Roy was right.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to trust the sheriff to do this job, and he did<\/em> trust Roy Coffee.\u00a0 \u201cAll right,\u201d he said at last.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll let us know what you find out?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course,\u201d Roy said, and was looking at Adam a little more intently as he asked, \u201cI take it Little Joe can\u2019t identify who shot him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 He\u2019s not awake,\u201d Adam said, then added, \u201cYet,\u201d but wished he hadn\u2019t said it.\u00a0 It felt so painfully tacked on that he didn\u2019t blame Roy for looking even more grave.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, you give your youngest brother my best, and tell him I\u2019ll expect to haul him in for busting up the saloon real soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam had to smile at that.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019ll appreciate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The smile faded fast as he stepped out of the sheriff\u2019s office, trying to think through his next move.\u00a0 He\u2019d have to wait for the stage bringing Hop Sing, so in the meantime\u2014<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, Cartwright!\u201d\u00a0 Donovan\u2019s voice slipped out through the prison window, pitched to carry but not sounding like a man who was any too troubled by his situation.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll be seeing you again real soon, Cartwright, because you know they don\u2019t have anything on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam wanted to just keep walking, but he found himself rooted to the spot, held by that insidious voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI ain\u2019t going to pretend I\u2019m sad your brother got himself shot, but I didn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t do it like that, you know.\u00a0 I wouldn\u2019t kill Joe.\u00a0 I\u2019d kill all the rest of you Cartwrights, and leave poor sad Little Joe all on his own.\u00a0 See how big a man he\u2019d be then<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam gritted his teeth, and seriously considered going back inside, marching over to that cell\u2014he forced himself to start walking instead, to keep on going down the street.\u00a0 He told himself it was because he respected the law in the abstract and Roy Coffee in the particular.\u00a0 And it may also have been because he knew youngest brother most definitely would have gone back in hot-headed and raging, and he was the levelheaded<\/em> one.\u00a0 Besides, if he got himself locked up for attacking Donovan, that would leave Hoss holding down everything alone, and he couldn\u2019t do that to middle brother either.<\/p>\n

The way things were going, it wouldn\u2019t have shocked him if Cochise had disappeared while he wasn\u2019t looking \u2013 but no, the horse was still standing right outside the saloon, right where he\u2019d been left.\u00a0 And that was some consolation, as Adam picked up the reins to lead the horse over to where he\u2019d left Sport near the telegraph office.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t go home and announce he\u2019d dealt with the man who\u2019d shot his little brother \u2013 but at least he could bring his brother\u2019s horse back to him.\u00a0 That was something.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At a back table at the Silver Dollar, a lone figure sat and nursed a glass of whiskey, brooding on the encounter between Adam Cartwright and Dave Donovan.<\/p>\n

So Little Joe Cartwright wasn\u2019t dead.\u00a0 Shot twice, blood everywhere, left alone in a secluded meadow, and somehow the boy wasn\u2019t dead.\u00a0 Should have checked, but that would have meant getting close to all that blood, and riding away safely required not<\/em> being covered in Cartwright blood.<\/p>\n

It only made everything worse.\u00a0 It was all part of the charmed life of Little Joe Cartwright, who strolled through gunfights and bar brawls and came up unharmed and smiling while other men lay dead in the dusty street.\u00a0 Men who hadn\u2019t deserved to die, while Little Joe Cartwright went on his untroubled, unconcerned way.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry<\/em>, Little Joe had said, because he knew<\/em> it was his fault \u2013 and yet still he\u2019d walked away.\u00a0 Still he\u2019d made the choices that left one man dead and destroyed a wide circle of lives, and walked away with never a backward glance.<\/p>\n

No, someone had to finally end Little Joe Cartwright\u2019s charmed existence.\u00a0 Someone had to stop him from continuing on, continuing to leave death in his wake.<\/p>\n

Doing this personally hadn\u2019t worked out as planned.\u00a0 It hadn\u2019t seemed as if shooting a man could require all that much skill, not at close range, not when Little Joe wasn\u2019t expecting it and didn\u2019t have his gun drawn.\u00a0 But it was time to enlist someone with more experience.<\/p>\n

Luckily the right person was already at hand, someone who not only knew how to use a gun but intimately knew the layout of the Cartwright house.\u00a0 Because now<\/em> was the time to try again, immediately.\u00a0 Ben Cartwright hadn\u2019t come back through town yet.\u00a0 Adam Cartwright, with any luck, wouldn\u2019t head back home for at least a couple of hours.\u00a0 That left only the big one, the one they called Hoss, at home with his wounded brother.<\/p>\n

So it was the perfect time to end this.<\/p>\n

Decision made and whiskey drained, it was time to act.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

11.<\/em><\/p>\n

Liza surveyed the contents of Hop Sing\u2019s kitchen, and did not feel hopeful about the prospects for lunch.\u00a0 It might be best to just wait until Hop Sing himself had returned \u2013 but even though Adam had left some hours ago, they didn\u2019t expect him back with Hop Sing for a few more, especially if the stage ran late, as it often did.\u00a0 Besides, it seemed unkind to expect Hop Sing to return from a long trip and plunge straight into preparing a meal.\u00a0 Though it also seemed possible he was the type who wouldn\u2019t really feel at home until<\/em> he was mixing something up in his kitchen\u2026<\/p>\n

A gunshot broke through the quiet air and Liza\u2019s musings, shockingly loud and sudden.\u00a0 She dropped automatically into a crouch, head turning and heart pounding, but she couldn\u2019t see outside or judge the direction the sound had come from.\u00a0 After a few seconds of silence, she obeyed her instinct to run and did \u2013 out into the dining room, across the great room towards the stairs.\u00a0 She had just noticed Bronte crouched under the coffee table, hissing, and was passing the settee when a thud rattled the front door \u2013 locked ever since Adam had left.\u00a0 The next gunshot was even louder, and confirmed that this was no innocent hunting or signaling going on outside.<\/p>\n

Hoss was already thundering down the stairs from where he\u2019d been up with Joe, and she met him at the bottom.\u00a0 \u201cOutside\u2026\u201d was all she managed to gasp.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Hoss said, pulling open a drawer from the cabinet beside the stairs, and taking out two handguns.\u00a0 He pressed them into her hands and turned to get a rifle off the wall.\u00a0 \u201cTake these, they\u2019re already loaded.\u00a0 Go up to Joe\u2019s room and lock the door.\u201d<\/p>\n

The guns were cold and heavy in her hands.\u00a0 \u201cI still don\u2019t know how to shoot!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well, point and press the trigger.\u00a0 Aim don\u2019t matter so much up close.\u00a0 And hopefully it ain\u2019t going to come up anyway.\u00a0 I\u2019ll try and hold \u2018em off down here.\u201d<\/p>\n

This did not make her feel better.\u00a0 \u201cRight,\u201d she said faintly.\u00a0 She cast a glance at her cat, nearly invisible in the shadows and in a very defensible spot under the heavy table, and ran up the stairs.<\/p>\n

She pushed Joe\u2019s door closed once she was inside the room, but it only had a simple latch.\u00a0 She locked it anyway, then shoved the big armchair in front of the door.\u00a0 It might slow someone down, at least.<\/p>\n

Her glance darted between the window and the door and then over to Joe\u2019s face on the pillow, and swallowed hard.\u00a0 This was no time to have hysterics.\u00a0 This was no time to lose control.<\/p>\n

Joe was restless, hands moving across the blankets, but it was hard to tell if that was because of the sound of the gunfire \u2013 she flinched at more gunshots, shockingly loud even though she thought they were still down at the front door \u2013 or just because he had been less deeply asleep today.\u00a0 They had thought he might stir a few times, but he hadn\u2019t quite woken up yet.<\/p>\n

And now they had to make sure he \u2013 and they \u2013 didn\u2019t get shot before he had the chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope you don\u2019t mind this,\u201d she said, sitting on the foot of his bed, a decent vantage point to watch both the door and the window.\u00a0 She set one heavy pistol on the blanket next to her, and rested her wrist holding the other pistol on the top of the solid wooden footboard.<\/p>\n

A shatter of glass from a window downstairs, more shots \u2013 she couldn\u2019t tell what was happening, but surely Hoss was firing back.\u00a0 Was it only a lone gunman out there?\u00a0 What were they actually facing?<\/p>\n

Then an even closer shot came, with a much nearer crash of glass, and Liza instinctively threw herself flat, half across Joe\u2019s legs, as the glass fell from the room\u2019s single window.\u00a0 The window looked out on the slope of the lower roof, and just at the edge of the window she could see a man\u2019s shoulder, someone crouching on that roof.<\/p>\n

She aimed the pistol as best she could and fired.<\/p>\n

It was much, much louder when it was her own gun firing, and she wasn\u2019t prepared for the way it would jerk in her hand.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t positive where she had hit, but with no one falling off the roof she didn\u2019t think she\u2019d hit the man out there.\u00a0 She fired again and he pulled back farther \u2013 but it was only a moment before he was leaning closer again, light glinting off a gun barrel of his own.<\/p>\n

She fought every instinct to close her eyes, and kept firing.\u00a0 Just point and shoot, Hoss had said, and if her aim was terrible \u2013 well, there wasn\u2019t much else she could do.<\/p>\n

At least the man outside shouldn\u2019t know<\/em> that she didn\u2019t know what she was doing.\u00a0 Maybe that was why he backed away again \u2013 but he still didn\u2019t leave.<\/p>\n

She dragged a shaking hand across her forehead, looked down at the gun in her hand.\u00a0 He\u2019d retreated but he wasn\u2019t leaving and\u2014how many shots had she fired?\u00a0 Five?\u00a0 Or was it six?\u00a0 The chambers she could see were empty, and if she checked the last one he\u2019d probably try for the window again right at that moment\u2014she pushed the gun behind her and picked up the second one, positioned it again, barely in time as the man outside moved into range again.<\/p>\n

All she could do was fire and hope, but it was only after several rapid shots that she realized \u2013 she should have saved the bullets for a better, clearer shot, assuming she could actually hit him then \u2013 and by that point the trigger was clicking on an empty gun chamber.<\/p>\n

The man outside had been waiting for that.\u00a0 He moved fully in front of the window, a grinning man in dusty clothes, a surely still-loaded gun in his hand.\u00a0 \u201cMy fight isn\u2019t with you,\u201d he said, \u201cso get out of the\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Another shot, and Liza jerked instinctively but\u2014the man at the window was clutching his arm and cursing and that made no<\/em> sense\u2014\u00a0 She looked behind her.<\/p>\n

Joe had picked up the gun she\u2019d put down, was glaring at the man in the window with eyes that didn\u2019t look entirely clear but apparently were lucid enough.\u00a0 \u201cNext one goes between your eyes,\u201d he rasped.<\/p>\n

The man let out a string of expletives, but he was also backing away, sliding down from the rooftop.\u00a0 Liza had a vague feeling she ought to stop him, but she didn\u2019t see how, and she was more relieved than anything else anyway to see him go.<\/p>\n

Joe let his hand, holding the gun, drop back onto the blankets.\u00a0 Something in the movement demonstrated how hard it must have been to hold it up to begin with.\u00a0 Liza sank out of her crouch to sit with her back to the footboard, suddenly breathless.<\/p>\n

It must have been five shots she had fired with the first gun.\u00a0 Which meant\u2026\u00a0 \u201cYour gun\u2019s empty too,\u201d she said faintly.<\/p>\n

Joe cracked some shadow of his usual grin.\u00a0 \u201cWasn\u2019t aiming for his arm either.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza didn\u2019t know if she wanted to laugh or to cry \u2013 probably both, but that would qualify as hysterics so she tried very hard to keep a tight grip on herself.\u00a0 And on the gun, for all the good it was likely to do her now.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlso,\u201d Joe said, head sinking farther back again in the pillow.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m holding you to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo what?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I asked you.\u201d\u00a0 His voice was getting fainter and more slurred, eyes starting to slide closed.\u00a0 It must have taken a heroic effort to stay awake and focused for this long.\u00a0 \u201cSaid you\u2019d marry me.\u201d<\/p>\n

She swallowed.\u00a0 \u201cI didn\u2019t know you could hear me.\u201d<\/p>\n

His eyes were already closed, but he was smiling.<\/p>\n

Liza pressed her empty hand against her mouth.\u00a0 Did it count \u2013 did it mean<\/em> anything really, if he was half-conscious, still drugged on laudanum and whatever effect a head injury had?\u00a0 After\u2014they\u2019d have to talk after, and\u2014<\/p>\n

Pounding footsteps on the stairs and she groaned, turning towards the door now, lifting the gun but it was empty, so\u2014at least if Hoss had given her a rifle it could have made a club but a pistol was so much smaller\u2014could she find anything else\u2014<\/p>\n

The door shook, rattled, then fairly burst open, the chair blocking it sliding halfway across the room.\u00a0 She hoisted the gun higher, but\u2014<\/p>\n

Hoss appeared in the doorway and she had never<\/em> been so glad to see him.\u00a0 He took one look at the scene and raised his hands, rifle in one of them.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just me.\u201d<\/p>\n

So she must have looked slightly convincing, at least.\u00a0 She lowered the empty gun.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m out of bullets anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d Hoss asked, stepping into the room, gaze scanning around.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u00a0 Somebody tried to get in the window, but Joe shot him in the arm.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe<\/em> shot him?\u201d Hoss repeated, casting her a quizzical look as he crossed the room to look out the window.\u00a0 He raised his rifle but lowered it again almost at once, shaking his head.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s just gone around the corner of the barn.\u00a0 Looks like he\u2019s in a hurry to get out of here.\u00a0 I already got the one from downstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did that mean he\u2019d killed him?\u00a0 Liza shivered.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow\u2019d Joe shoot anybody?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe woke up,\u201d Liza said, with a vague gesture at the once-again sleeping Joe Cartwright.\u00a0 \u201cJust for a minute.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHuh.\u00a0 Guess gunshots at close range might get somebody stirring.\u00a0 And Joe never did like to miss a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do we do now?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss frowned, forehead furrowing.\u00a0 \u201cI ought to go after the one who got away, but I don\u2019t want to leave you two.\u00a0 Although it seems like you did all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe, but that didn\u2019t make the idea of Hoss leaving any less terrifying.\u00a0 Liza swallowed, managed to say, \u201cYou should go after him.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only way to end all this.\u00a0 I just need another gun that\u2019s still loaded.\u00a0 Or to reload, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss was still frowning, but said, \u201cYeah, all right.\u00a0 And I\u2019d better make it quick, before he gets more of a lead.\u00a0 Come on downstairs, you can get another gun.\u00a0 That\u2019s fastest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza slid off of Joe\u2019s bed \u2013 only then did it occur to her to wonder what Hoss thought of her sitting there to begin with, but she wasn\u2019t going to ask \u2013 and followed Hoss out the door and down the stairs.<\/p>\n

Downstairs he handed her a rifle and went to the front door carrying another one, but then the situation all changed again when he opened the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, somebody caught him for us,\u201d Hoss said in surprise, looking outside.\u00a0 \u201cLooks like \u2013 yeah, that\u2019s Danny Kidd behind him.\u00a0 And the one Joe shot, that\u2019s Bob Stevens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza hurried over to look out past Hoss, and saw the man from Joe\u2019s window walking back into the yard, hands raised.\u00a0 Behind him, holding a pistol aimed at his back, rode a man she just recognized as Joe\u2019s friend Danny.\u00a0 They\u2019d met briefly the first time she was here.\u00a0 The gunman still didn\u2019t look familiar, and the name Bob Stevens didn\u2019t ring any bells anyway.<\/p>\n

As they walked out onto the porch, she could also see a body lying over near the horse trough, a bearded man, unmoving.\u00a0 She averted her gaze.<\/p>\n

As he drew his horse to a halt, Danny called, \u201cI was riding in for supplies and saw Stevens running away from the house with blood on his arm.\u00a0 I had a feeling you might want him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks, Danny,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cHe and a friend tried to shoot Joe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Danny\u2019s eyebrows rose.\u00a0 \u201cYou still carrying a grudge from being fired last year, Stevens?\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza really would have liked to know more of the story behind all this, and maybe she\u2019d get a chance to find out some time, but not immediately.\u00a0 Stevens just glowered at the world at large and said, \u201cI don\u2019t have to tell you anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss fixed Stevens with a stare that Liza wouldn\u2019t have wanted aimed at her.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, well, our family takes a pretty dim view of anybody trying to kill one of us.\u00a0 So whatever you do or don\u2019t say, this ain\u2019t going to end well for you anyway.\u00a0 And the sheriff\u2019s going to be real interested in your story too.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

From the shadows inside the barn, another figure watched the happenings in the front yard through the barely-cracked barn doors.<\/p>\n

She could have screamed with frustration, if it wouldn\u2019t have given her away at once.<\/p>\n

Stupid, useless, incompetent men.\u00a0 How hard could it really be to kill Joe Cartwright when he was already wounded in bed, with just one brother and some woman to defend him?\u00a0 Not that she didn\u2019t know well that a woman could be deadly too, but still!\u00a0 All they had to do was creep up on the bedroom \u2013 Stevens had known the right window, after his time working for the Cartwrights \u2013 and end <\/em>this thing.<\/p>\n

But no, Little Joe Cartwright\u2019s lucky star just kept protecting him.\u00a0 And now another<\/em> man was dead, and while she didn\u2019t feel any special grief over a hired gun, it was still another to add to the tally.\u00a0 And with Stevens apprehended and Donovan already in jail, she was running low on allies.\u00a0 Though it appeared that it had been a mistake to rely on them anyway.\u00a0 At least she<\/em> had managed to wound Little Joe, and to escape unscathed.\u00a0 They<\/em> hadn\u2019t managed either one.<\/p>\n

Across the yard she could hear Hoss Cartwright demanding answers and Stevens refusing to give any.\u00a0 If he stuck to that \u2013 and he might, because he\u2019d never been very comfortable about the idea that a mere woman was orchestrating all this \u2013 this might not be all bad.\u00a0 Already her mind was turning over the possibilities, organizing and arranging these new factors.\u00a0 She had long experience managing people, managing a business, and in some ways the skills translated.<\/p>\n

Outside the man on horseback was dismounting, and the rest were moving back inside.\u00a0 She retreated across the barn, because they might bring the horse in here, and there was nothing to be learned from here if they moved the conversation into the house.<\/p>\n

Best to get back to town.\u00a0 She could flee, but that would mean giving up, and she wasn\u2019t ready for that.\u00a0 She\u2019d be able to learn more at the saloon as events unfolded.\u00a0 If Stevens identified her she would be in trouble, but there was a real possibility he wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0 And gentlemanly Sheriff Coffee would probably be so uncomfortable arresting a woman that there\u2019d be ample opportunities to escape if it should come to that.<\/p>\n

No, she wasn\u2019t going to give up yet.\u00a0 She\u2019d wait a bit, see how things unfolded, let the Cartwrights relax out of their vigilance.\u00a0 And then she\u2019d act again, try again to do this thing herself.<\/p>\n

It would be more satisfying to kill Little Joe personally anyway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

12.<\/em><\/p>\n

After the upheaval of the morning, the relative quiet of the afternoon was a positive relief.\u00a0 Hoss sent Danny into town with Stevens and the dead man, a job he would have done himself any other time, but he definitely wasn\u2019t leaving Little Joe and Liza alone out here.\u00a0 He could\u2019ve left Danny with them, but he felt better staying himself.<\/p>\n

There were more hoofbeats in the yard an hour or so after they left, too soon for Danny to have got to town and back again.\u00a0 Hoss went to the front door and cracked it open with gun already in his hand.\u00a0 But he relaxed as soon as he saw who was outside, dropping the gun back into its holster and opening the door wide.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t be gladder to see Adam riding back in \u2013 sure could have used him earlier \u2013 with Hop Sing on a second horse behind him. \u00a0Hoss\u2019 grin only got bigger when he saw Cochise trotting on a lead line behind Sport.<\/p>\n

Hoss walked out onto the porch and hadn\u2019t even got a word out before Hop Sing was swinging down from the horse and launching into a tirade in Chinese.\u00a0 When he finally shifted into English it was to ask, \u201cHow Little Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing just fine,\u201d Hoss said quickly.\u00a0 \u201cWoke up for just a minute earlier, but he\u2019s sleeping now.\u201d\u00a0 Getting into the full details\u2026could wait until Hop Sing was calmer.<\/p>\n

The cook glowered at him as though he was personally responsible for the entire situation.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing go away for one little trip, see what happen!\u00a0 Probably no decent nursing while Hop Sing gone \u2013 definitely no decent food!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d Hoss said, and rubbed his stomach, \u201cI am plumb hungry at that\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing flung his hands into the air.\u00a0 \u201cCartwrights all useless!\u00a0 Hop Sing go make supper.\u201d\u00a0 He stomped off towards the kitchen door, but stopped just outside it to ask, \u201cMissy Liza still here?\u201d\u00a0 So Adam must\u2019ve mentioned her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, she\u2019s upstairs with Joe,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 She\u2019d coaxed her cat out from under the coffee table, then carried him upstairs to sit with Joe.<\/p>\n

Hop Sing nodded.\u00a0 \u201cGood.\u00a0 Cartwrights make one<\/em> smart decision.\u201d\u00a0 Then he was slamming off into the kitchen.<\/p>\n

Adam was down from Sport by now, and looping the reins over the hitching rail.\u00a0 He looked tired, face set in a frown that seemed like more than the result of listening to Hop Sing\u2019s tirade.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou found Cochise,\u201d Hoss remarked, because that seemed like a good reason to be cheerful.\u00a0 Especially since Cochise looked to be all right, if muddy around the legs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I found him,\u201d Adam said shortly, leaning on the hitching rail.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo why\u2019re you frowning like that?\u201d Hoss asked, moving to look Cochise over more closely.<\/p>\n

Adam ignored Hoss\u2019 question, just saying, \u201cThe horse is fine.\u00a0 I already checked him over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know,\u201d Hoss said, and went on with his inspection.\u00a0 He ran his hands down Cochise\u2019s foreleg, while the horse nosed at him, warm breath ruffling his hair.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that he didn\u2019t believe Adam, it just felt right to check for himself.\u00a0 And he wanted to be able to tell Little Joe he\u2019d done it.\u00a0 \u201cSo what are you frowning about?\u00a0 And how\u2019d you find Cochise?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDave Donovan had him hitched outside the saloon in town,\u201d Adam said, frown deepening.\u00a0 \u201cRoy arrested him, but he has an alibi for when Joe was shot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHuh,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cDonovan and Stevens must\u2019ve been in it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cStevens?\u201d Adam repeated, eyebrows going tight.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah\u2026\u201d Hoss said, and filled him in on what he had missed.<\/p>\n

It was just as well they were having the conversation outside.\u00a0 There was some yelling involved, and it probably was better not to wake Joe up.\u00a0 Maybe Hoss could make that argument to Hop Sing, when he had to tell him about recent events too.\u00a0 And Pa\u2019d be sure to raise the roof once he heard about all of this \u2013 but even with that to face, he still wished Pa would hurry up and get home.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liza had wondered if Hop Sing\u2019s return was going to shift her own uneasy status as a guest.\u00a0 Once Adam came up to see Joe, she descended the stairs and stood uncertainly in the great room, not sure if she should venture into the kitchen or if that domain was now forbidden.<\/p>\n

She was still standing by the fireplace when Hop Sing emerged from the kitchen himself and fixed her with a harsh stare.\u00a0 \u201cWell?\u201d he demanded.\u00a0 \u201cMissy Liza just stand there, or come help chop food in kitchen?\u00a0 Everyone always expect Hop Sing do everything!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be glad to help,\u201d Liza said quickly, recognizing this for the very generous invitation it was.<\/p>\n

Hop Sing shook his head and stomped back into the kitchen, muttering at length about unreasonable demands, the mess in his (as far as Liza could see) spotless kitchen, and the unlikelihood that anyone had eaten anything edible while he was gone.\u00a0 Liza was handed a knife and a basket of potatoes to peel and chop.\u00a0 She had learned the last time she was here that this was how it worked in Hop Sing\u2019s kitchen \u2013 you accepted the most menial tasks and recognized that being permitted to do them was an honor and a privilege.<\/p>\n

She ate Hop Sing\u2019s excellent stew with Hoss, while Adam sat with Joe, and then went upstairs when Adam descended.\u00a0 There were no further arguments (Hop Sing\u2019s mutterings couldn\u2019t really be counted), no one else shot at the house, Joe remained asleep but his color was improving, and it appeared that, without anything too specific being said, Liza was continuing to stay.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The first thing Joe was aware of, as he woke up to a more clear-headed consciousness, was a low rumbling noise.\u00a0 It was so familiar that he didn\u2019t even have to open his eyes to identify it.\u00a0 Hadn\u2019t he slept down the hall from that sound all his life, not to mention shared any number of hotel rooms and campsites?<\/p>\n

Sure enough, when he did crack open his eyes, squinting against the light, there was big brother Hoss, asleep in the armchair with his mouth agape, loud snore issuing out.<\/p>\n

Joe smiled, then rubbed a hand over his sleep-sticky eyes.\u00a0 The movement felt more difficult than usual, but possible<\/em>.\u00a0 Which was more than could be said after some injuries he\u2019d had.\u00a0 He knew that was what had happened.\u00a0 He\u2019d been through this enough to recognize the signs, both in the situation \u2013 Hoss didn\u2019t usually sleep in his room, after all \u2013 and in his own body.\u00a0 He shifted carefully, checking.\u00a0 There was a low ache in his head, not too bad.\u00a0 And when he moved his right arm \u2013 yeah, that hurt a little, but still not too bad, and he was left-handed anyway.\u00a0 All in all, it had been worse other times.<\/p>\n

He wondered what that meant for how long he\u2019d been out.\u00a0 He could wake up Hoss and ask him, but he glanced at his snoring brother, and thought he\u2019d let him be.\u00a0 He\u2019d like to have a little more clarity in his own mind first too.<\/p>\n

He frowned at the ceiling as he tried to think through the recent past.\u00a0 Everything was a confused jumble of possible events and possible fever or medicated dreams, and the line between the two was a very fuzzy thing.\u00a0 He remembered being out by the lake with Cochise.\u00a0 He was sure that<\/em> was real.\u00a0 And he remembered being shot at out of nowhere.\u00a0 After that, everything got more uncertain.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t really know how he had got back home, though he had the faintest wisp of an idea that Hoss might have got him here.\u00a0 Hard to say if that was memory or just a good guess, but at least it made sense.\u00a0 He had jumbled impressions after he\u2019d got back home.\u00a0 He might\u2019ve heard Doc Martin\u2019s voice in there somewhere, and that made sense too.<\/p>\n

He also had memories he knew had to be dreams, from their sheer unreality, though they\u2019d felt real enough at the time and stood out as clearly as anything else from the past however long.\u00a0 He\u2019d been playing in a meadow with his mother, a pleasant dream that had morphed into a more troubling one of chasing Cochise across field after field, his normally cooperative horse always a little too far away to catch.\u00a0 He\u2019d also fought and refought gunfights and fistfights he\u2019d lived before.\u00a0 John C. Regan and Asa Moran, Vince Dagen and a host of others had appeared to fight the old fights again.<\/p>\n

He even had a memory of shooting someone out his bedroom window.\u00a0 That memory made him frown deeper, because it was more confusing than most.\u00a0 It seemed especially clear, especially solid, but it was pretty unlikely.\u00a0 Not impossible, maybe, except\u2014except for who else was in that memory.<\/p>\n

He sighed, rubbed a hand over his face again.\u00a0 Liza was in that memory.\u00a0 She was in a lot of his recent, blurry memories \u2013 her voice and her face and her hand holding his.\u00a0 And wasn\u2019t that just the sort of dream his mind would<\/em> conjure up?\u00a0 That Liza had come back and wanted to marry him after all.\u00a0 So if he remembered shooting someone at his window while Liza sat at the end of the bed, gun in hand to defend him, clearly that all had to be a dream too.<\/p>\n

Joe turned his head to look at Hoss again, and tried to be glad that it was Hoss sitting there, instead of someone else.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t actually that hard.\u00a0 Hoss wasn\u2019t pretty, but he was still one of Joe\u2019s favorite faces to see.\u00a0 And that rumbling snore was one of the most reassuring sounds in his world.\u00a0 Sure, he\u2019d tease Hoss about it, complain that it would keep the whole ranch awake, but really, deep down, he didn\u2019t mind.\u00a0 Because it always meant that his big brother was somewhere nearby, and that everything was all right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hoss woke up with sunlight pouring in through Little Joe\u2019s window and Joe himself watching him from the bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbout time you\u2019re waking up, big brother,\u201d Little Joe said with a smile, and if his voice wasn\u2019t quite at normal, it was much closer than it had been.\u00a0 His eyes looked normal too, tired but open, and not hazy from fever or laudanum.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of us ain\u2019t been sleeping for two days, little brother,\u201d Hoss retorted back.\u00a0 He shook himself, ran a hand over his hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat long, huh?\u201d Joe said, voice distant, like he was trying to think through something.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but seems like you\u2019re finally back on the same range as the rest of us.\u201d\u00a0 Hoss reached out to tousle Joe\u2019s already-rumpled curls, avoiding the wound on the side of his head and surreptitiously checking that he didn\u2019t feel too hot at the same time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI must\u2019ve been pretty far out of things,\u201d Joe said, smoothing his hair again \u2013 also a good sign, that he was bothering.<\/p>\n

\u201cI dunno, I\u2019ve seen ya worse.\u201d\u00a0 He had a suspicion about what Joe might be trying to think through.\u00a0 \u201cHow much do you remember?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all pretty blurry.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe\u2019s face scrunched up in concentration.\u00a0 \u201cI know I was out by the lake.\u00a0 And somebody jumped me.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure\u2014hey, I rode Cochise out there,\u201d he said, sudden alarm in his voice. \u00a0\u201cDid they get Cochise?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYer horse is fine,\u201d Hoss said soothingly.\u00a0 Liza really did know little brother \u2013 she\u2019d predicted he\u2019d ask about his horse straight off.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s out in the stable, stuffing himself on oats.\u201d\u00a0 They could get into the details of the steps in between later.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t put it past Joe to want to climb out of bed immediately and go check on Cochise himself, if he knew the horse had been missing for a while there.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you remember after that?\u201d Hoss asked, watching Joe closer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure.\u00a0 It all gets hazy.\u201d\u00a0 Little Joe frowned.\u00a0 \u201cI remember some things, but it\u2019s pretty blurry, so\u2014not sure what happened and what was just\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He closed his eyes, shook his head slightly.\u00a0 \u201cI even thought I saw\u2014but I guess that doesn\u2019t really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWho?\u201d Hoss prompted.\u00a0 \u201cWho did you think you saw?\u00a0 And were you happy about seeing her?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe shot him a look.\u00a0 \u201cHow do you know it was a her?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle brother, how many years have I known you?\u201d<\/p>\n

That one got a smile out of Joe.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, all right, good guess.\u201d\u00a0 He heaved a big sigh.\u00a0 \u201cI thought Liza was here, but clearly I was somewhere very far off.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, I\u2019ve got a surprise for you\u2026\u201d Hoss began, but before he could get further a knock at the half-open door interrupted.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss, I have those fresh blankets\u2014oh.\u201d\u00a0 Liza stopped short a step into the room, eyes suddenly going wide as she looked at Joe.\u00a0 \u201cSorry.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t realize\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Little Joe, he was looking at her like she was some kind of miracle.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re\u2014real<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 He reached out without looking away from Liza, grabbed Hoss\u2019 arm.\u00a0 \u201cRight?\u00a0 She\u2019s really\u2014?\u00a0 I\u2019m not\u2014?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, little brother, she\u2019s really here,\u201d Hoss said, grinning.<\/p>\n

So that was a point he\u2019d won over Adam.\u00a0 He knew<\/em> Little Joe would want her here.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

All Liza had wanted for days\u2014months, even\u2014was to talk to Joe.\u00a0 Those few delirious exchanges didn\u2019t really count, but he had a different look now.\u00a0 The laudanum haze was gone and for the first time he was really here<\/em>.\u00a0 And suddenly she felt unprepared.\u00a0 Panicked, even.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to interrupt,\u201d she said unsteadily.\u00a0 \u201cI should let you two\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t go,\u201d Joe said before she\u2019d managed more than half a step back.\u00a0 \u201cStay here.\u00a0 With me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her cheeks burned.\u00a0 He had to hear the echoes, didn\u2019t he?\u00a0 He had to know he\u2019d used the exact same words when he\u2019d asked her to marry him.\u00a0 And he was looking at her\u2014in a very similar way.<\/p>\n

It couldn\u2019t really be this easy, could it?\u00a0 Yes, he\u2019d said some things while he was drugged and possibly bordering on delirious.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t either anymore and it couldn\u2019t be this simple\u2014<\/p>\n

But wasn\u2019t that the kind of thinking that had caused all the trouble between them to begin with?<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d she managed.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll stay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll just be going downstairs,\u201d Hoss volunteered.\u00a0 \u201cMake sure Hop Sing is getting breakfast together all right.\u201d\u00a0 As if Hop Sing ever needed help in that area.\u00a0 The panicked part of Liza wished he would stay, but most of her appreciated what he was trying to do, and she didn\u2019t try to stop him as he went out the door.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should be resting,\u201d Liza said, setting down the blankets and taking Hoss\u2019 vacated chair.<\/p>\n

He ignored that, still looking at her as though nothing else existed.\u00a0 \u201cI thought I dreamed you,\u201d he said softly.\u00a0 He reached out one hand towards her face, stopped with it suspended between them.<\/p>\n

She took his hand, drew it the last distance to touch her cheek, her own hand curled over his.\u00a0 His hand was calloused but his touch was soft.\u00a0 \u201cI came back,\u201d she said, words catching in her throat.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou came back,\u201d he repeated, smiling.\u00a0 \u201cGood.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that was enough, at least, to settle whether Joe wanted her to be here.\u00a0 Whether she ought to stay.<\/p>\n

It was all that was settled, for now, because Adam came up the stairs to see Joe, and then Hop Sing wasn\u2019t far behind with a special breakfast tray, and Joe wanted to know more about what had been happening, and there was the business of the day to discuss, and once that had been thoroughly covered everyone but Joe agreed he needed to rest, and so it was no time for more sentimental conversations.\u00a0 But still.\u00a0 Something had been settled, and it was enough.\u00a0 For now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

13.<\/em><\/p>\n

As though Joe waking up had triggered a change in the entire atmosphere, the (mostly) quiet waiting of the previous day gave way to a flurry of activity today.\u00a0 Hop Sing pressed Liza into service for more meal preparations, and she had just finished peeling potatoes out on the front porch and was teasing Bronte with a long curl of potato peel, when a thunder of hoofbeats brought her gaze up sharply.<\/p>\n

Luckily, before she\u2019d risen to go yell for Hoss and Adam, she could see it was the familiar shape of Sheriff Roy Coffee.\u00a0 She had met him on her previous visit to the Ponderosa, and even if it had been awkward then, she\u2019d much rather see him than a stranger toting a gun.<\/p>\n

He swung down from his horse, tugged the brim of his hat as he approached.\u00a0 \u201cMiss Montgomery, good morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

She dropped the potato peel for Bronte to pounce on, then stood up so she wouldn\u2019t have to look up at the man.\u00a0 She returned his greeting with a nod and, \u201cSheriff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI see Hop Sing has you at work,\u201d he said, gesturing to the potatoes.\u00a0 Perhaps he also was remembering their previous meeting, a trace of awkwardness underlying the friendly words.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to be helpful if I can.\u00a0 I assume you\u2019re here about Joe being shot?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u2019m,\u201d Sheriff Coffee said with his own nod.\u00a0 \u201cHow is Little Joe doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch better.\u201d\u00a0 It was a relief to be able to say it.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s resting, but he was awake earlier.\u201d<\/p>\n

The obvious relief on the sheriff\u2019s face went a long way towards making her feel kinder towards him.\u00a0 \u201cWell, that is<\/em> good to hear!\u201d Sheriff Coffee said.\u00a0 \u201cThat Cartwright constitution, it always pulls \u2018em through.\u00a0 Hoss and Adam around?\u00a0 I\u2019d like to have a word if I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re inside,\u201d Liza confirmed, hesitated, then decided she may as well be direct.\u00a0 It had to be better than wondering, or finding out later.\u00a0 \u201cSheriff, do you think I was involved in shooting Joe?\u201d\u00a0 She didn\u2019t see why he would, but she hadn\u2019t expected him to think she was involved in a bank robbery either.<\/p>\n

His expression of surprise seemed genuine. \u00a0\u201cNo\u2019m, no, no one\u2019s thinking that.\u00a0 No reason anyone would.\u00a0 And I do apologize for any awkwardness I caused on your last visit, suspecting you of that bank robbery.\u00a0 You understand it wasn\u2019t personal \u2013 just looking at the circumstances and doing my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do understand that,\u201d Liza said slowly, because she\u2019d had time by now to grapple with the question \u2013 even if it had been upsetting at the time.<\/p>\n

The sheriff looked relieved about that too.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, it\u2019s not always a comfortable job, being sheriff.\u00a0 I\u2019ve had to arrest the Cartwright boys more than once too, though they never have been guilty of anything serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza half-smiled.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t say it surprises me.\u00a0 Any part of it.\u201d\u00a0 She\u2019d heard more than enough stories to believe they\u2019d got into various scrapes like that.\u00a0 And that they\u2019d been innocent in the end.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo come in,\u201d she said, just as though she had any right to play hostess here, and reached for the bucket of peeled potatoes.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll find Hoss and Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no, let me,\u201d Sheriff Coffee said, hoisting up the bucket before she could.<\/p>\n

They went in through the kitchen, where Hop Sing pronounced grudging approval on the potatoes then shooed them out of the room.\u00a0 They found Adam in the great room, but had barely got past pleasantries before Hoss appeared at the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, is that the sheriff?\u201d he asked, looking down the steps.<\/p>\n

From down the hall behind him, Joe\u2019s voice could distantly be heard calling, \u201cI want to hear what Roy says too!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI see he\u2019s feeling better,\u201d the sheriff said with a grin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may have to tie him to the bed soon to keep him there,\u201d Adam said wryly.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter come on up,\u201d Hoss advised, \u201cbefore he tries to come down.\u201d<\/p>\n

So they all moved upstairs to Joe\u2019s room.\u00a0 Liza wasn\u2019t positive that she was invited, but she wanted to hear what the sheriff had to say too.\u00a0 So she just hung at the back, and felt justified in coming when Joe\u2019s gaze searched her out in the group, and he smiled on seeing her.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re looking well, Little Joe,\u201d Sheriff Coffee said with apparent sincerity.\u00a0 Liza thought he still looked pale, a little worn around the eyes, but much better than he had been.\u00a0 Joe Cartwright awake and talking was so much better than Joe Cartwright unnaturally still, silent, unconscious.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t a man who should be still or silent.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019ll be up and around again soon,\u201d Joe said easily, visibly ignoring the glance exchanged by his two older brothers at the words.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s the news?\u00a0 They tell me you\u2019ve got the man that shot me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe-ell\u2026\u201d Roy said with apparent reluctance, \u201cit seems<\/em> that way.\u00a0 Only it\u2019s a mite complicated.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got Bob Stevens in custody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNasty son of a snake,\u201d Joe said with a nod.\u00a0 \u201cDoesn\u2019t surprise me he\u2019d shoot at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, he\u2019s got motive and opportunity and we know he came shooting at the house,\u201d Roy agreed.\u00a0 \u201cBut he ain\u2019t confessed to shooting you out by the lake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam spoke up.\u00a0 \u201cWhat about Donovan?\u00a0 I know he\u2019s alibied for the first shooting, but he must be involved somehow, maybe knows something.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sheriff was shaking his head.\u00a0 \u201cDonovan and Stevens are both keeping their mouths shut.\u00a0 They won\u2019t admit to working together, but I\u2019ve got Clem searching around for anyone who\u2019s seen \u2018em together.\u00a0 They won\u2019t identify the third man, the one Hoss shot.\u00a0 And they won\u2019t say if anyone else was involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone else?\u201d Liza echoed, feeling a sinking in her stomach.\u00a0 Surely not.\u00a0 Surely everyone was accounted for, dead or arrested, and this whole episode was closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow many people do you reckon want to kill Little Joe?\u201d Hoss asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean,\u201d Adam murmured, \u201cthere\u2019s a few.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot that<\/em> many,\u201d Joe said, glaring at his oldest brother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to find out if you saw anything when you got shot,\u201d Sheriff Coffee intervened before it could become a true wrangle.\u00a0 \u201cCould you identify Stevens or anyone else as the shooter?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe grimaced, and shook his head.\u00a0 Which wasn\u2019t good as an answer, but it was good that he didn\u2019t wince moving his head.\u00a0 \u201cI barely caught a glimpse of whoever it was.\u00a0 I think\u2026they shot my arm first, from behind.\u00a0 I was sitting out on that big old rock out by the shore, and I tried to turn around, get my gun, but\u2026nah, it all goes black after that.\u00a0 I saw somebody standing by a horse, but it could\u2019ve been anybody.\u00a0 He was dressed like a ranch hand, hat pulled down low \u2013 I don\u2019t think I saw his face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sheriff Coffee frowned.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s too bad.\u00a0 If we can\u2019t get something more, I may have to let Donovan go \u2013 but I\u2019ll do my best to keep him while we look for evidence,\u201d he concluded over the immediate objections that arose.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know<\/em> he\u2019s involved, Roy,\u201d Adam said, face dark.\u00a0 \u201cHe has to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLikely so, but we\u2019ve got to have evidence.\u00a0 And he was in jail during both shootings.\u201d<\/p>\n

They might have gone around these circles more times, but were interrupted instead by a new knocking at the door downstairs.\u00a0 The sheriff put his hand on his gun and the Cartwrights all looked tense, which did not reassure Liza at all.<\/p>\n

The sheriff began, \u201cMaybe I ought to\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

But before anyone actually moved to do anything, the knocking was followed by the sound of the door opening and Hop Sing\u2019s voice mingled with another that Liza couldn\u2019t recognize \u2013 but at least it sounded friendly.<\/p>\n

It was more familiar to the rest of the room, who visibly relaxed.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019ll be Doc Martin,\u201d Hoss said, and moved towards the bedroom door.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ll bring him up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to tell you I\u2019m fine and can get up,\u201d Joe predicted.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go on hoping,\u201d Adam said dryly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d better make way for the doctor, then,\u201d the sheriff said, moving to the door, and Liza thought maybe she\u2019d better do the same.\u00a0 Maybe see if Hop Sing needed help with any coffee \u2013 or, if he didn\u2019t need<\/em> help, would permit it.<\/p>\n

She followed the sheriff out to the stairs, and they met Dr. Martin coming up.<\/p>\n

\u201cHello, Roy,\u201d Dr. Martin said, pausing on the landing. \u201cI see the Cartwrights need your services today too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI expect we\u2019re both all too familiar with the trail out to the Ponderosa,\u201d the sheriff said with a chuckle, \u201cthe way the Cartwright boys get into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I see our nurse is still here,\u201d Dr. Martin continued, addressing Liza.\u00a0 \u201cHow\u2019s the patient looking today?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMuch better,\u201d Liza was very glad to be able to say.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe not as well as he thinks.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not really a nurse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the Cartwrights can certainly use whatever nursing skills are available.\u201d\u00a0 And with that somewhat troubling compliment, Dr. Martin continued up the stairs, and Liza continued down the stairs to put her efforts towards coffee instead.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

14.<\/em><\/p>\n

To Joe\u2019s great exasperation, Doc Martin did not clear him to get out of bed immediately, despite his obvious recovery.\u00a0 The doctor even complimented him on his remarkable improvement, which seemed like enough of a reason to get up to Joe \u2013 but not to anyone else.<\/p>\n

However, Joe was an expert at finding loopholes in doctor\u2019s orders (and sometimes family members\u2019 orders).\u00a0 He stayed in bed for the rest of the day because the doctor had ordered it directly, and both his older brothers had backed it up.\u00a0 Even though he wanted<\/em> to go downstairs and find Liza and have a private word and \u2013 well, anything after that would depend on how the private word went.\u00a0 It shouldn\u2019t be impossible to have a private word in his bedroom either, but somehow between Hoss, Adam and Hop Sing coming in and out, and Liza disappearing off to other parts to do something or other, it didn\u2019t happen all day.<\/p>\n

But the next<\/em> day \u2013 well, the doctor hadn\u2019t directly said anything about the next day.\u00a0 Sure, he\u2019d probably thought it was implied, and Joe was reasonably certain Hoss and Adam thought it was, but he hadn\u2019t said<\/em> it.\u00a0 Joe bided his time through the morning, until finally in the early afternoon everyone was off and busy doing something else.\u00a0 Hoss and Adam were out dealing with ranch business, even though both had been quick to make clear they wouldn\u2019t be going anywhere very far.\u00a0 Joe got up and got dressed and from the top of the stairs he could hear Hop Sing banging pots around in the kitchen, so that was another person accounted for.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t so easy to account for Liza.\u00a0 He\u2019d hoped to find her downstairs, but there was no sign of her immediately visible.\u00a0 After some thought, he had to conclude with regret that it wouldn\u2019t be smart to go searching all around for her.\u00a0 He was too likely to get caught at it or \u2013 and this was the more difficult one \u2013 it really would prove too much after two bullet wounds.<\/p>\n

But at least he had other business he wanted to do nearly as much.\u00a0 So he went out to the barn.\u00a0 Nobody saw him go, so nobody could object.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t like it was that far away, and he needed to see Cochise.<\/p>\n

The black and white paint snorted and tossed his head as Joe approached, thrusting his head out over the rail.\u00a0 \u201cHey, boy,\u201d Joe said, reaching out to rub the horse\u2019s soft nose, and offer the apple he\u2019d brought from the house.\u00a0 \u201cYou all right?\u00a0 Feeling better now that you\u2019re home?\u201d<\/p>\n

He had wanted to come the moment Hoss and Adam had confessed that the shooter stole Cochise, that Dave Donovan of all people had been riding him.\u00a0 Hoss had threatened to sit on him if he didn\u2019t stay in bed, and followed up with extensive reassurances that he and Adam had both thoroughly checked Cochise over, that everything was fine, that Hoss had spent a long time brushing and combing and clearing away the mud from the horse\u2019s legs.\u00a0 And it wasn\u2019t like Joe didn\u2019t believe that his brothers could either assess or take care of a horse.\u00a0 But Cochise was his<\/em> horse. So he still checked him over himself, then picked up a brush to run over the horse\u2019s already-groomed side while he talked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI<\/em> feel better that you\u2019re back home.\u00a0 I would\u2019ve gone out looking for you, you know, if you weren\u2019t.\u00a0 Hoss and Adam wouldn\u2019t have liked it, but I\u2019d have done it somehow.\u00a0 But I guess we\u2019re both all right.\u00a0 It could\u2019ve been pretty bad for a while there, but you\u2019re back home and the doc says I\u2019ll be fine.\u00a0 And you know who else is here?\u00a0 Did Hoss tell you that Liza came back?\u201d<\/p>\n

The horse nickered, tossing his head, and Joe smiled.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, surprised me too,\u201d he said, even though he didn\u2019t really believe the horse was saying anything of the sort, or that Cochise even understood him.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 He liked talking, and the horse was a good listener, so he went on, talking out the last few days.<\/p>\n

He fell silent eventually and was just watching Cochise eat, maybe leaning harder on the railing than usual, when he heard the barn door creak open.<\/p>\n

A moment later, probably about the amount of time it took to peer through the relative dim of the barn, Hoss\u2019 voice filled the space.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe, did Doc Martin say you could get up this quick?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe turned his head, gave Hoss his most winning smile.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, my memory\u2019s kinda blurry of the last few days\u2014he could\u2019ve<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss glowered at him, but it was his concerned glower, not his actually angry glower, and stomped closer.\u00a0 \u201cI ought to throw you over my shoulder and haul you back to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m fine<\/em>.\u00a0 And I promise I won\u2019t go any further than this, all right?\u00a0 I just needed to check on my horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou and that dad-blamed horse,\u201d Hoss grumbled, but he leaned on the stall railing too, so that was all right.<\/p>\n

The exchange had reminded Joe of something else.\u00a0 Gaze fixed on Cochise, he said, \u201cLiza mentioned you carried me back to the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cFaster\u2019n getting a wagon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLong walk, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss turned then to grin at him.\u00a0 \u201cYou ain\u2019t that heavy, shortshanks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I remember.\u00a0 Kind of.\u201d\u00a0 He did <\/em>have a vague impression \u2013 probably couldn\u2019t have put it together, if Liza hadn\u2019t given him the story too, but he did sort of remember\u2014just Hoss being there.\u00a0 That everything had been horrible and terrifying and then Hoss was there and that meant it was going to be all right.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah?\u00a0 You seemed pretty far unconscious to remember anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust kind of.\u201d\u00a0 But something in the vague half-memory, and maybe also in the way they were talking now, made him think about\u2014how it had been, these past few months.\u00a0 Things had been strange with Hoss, and right now they weren\u2019t, not that he could even explain the difference \u2013 except he was pretty sure Hoss hadn\u2019t called him \u2018shortshanks\u2019 in a while \u2013 so maybe he ought to leave it alone.\u00a0 Except that getting shot didn\u2019t really seem like the right way to resolve whatever\u2019d been going on.\u00a0 And he still<\/em> didn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n

Joe turned, to lean with his back against the railing, elbows resting on it, and said, \u201cAdam was right, wasn\u2019t he? \u00a0What he said when we were riding home.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a pause, then Hoss\u2019 voice sounded careful as he said, \u201cOldest brother thinks he\u2019s right about a lot of things.\u00a0 Which one do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou<\/em> know,\u201d Joe said, because he was pretty sure Hoss did.\u00a0 Apparently big brother was going to make him say it, though.\u00a0 \u201cAbout something strange with you and me.\u00a0 Because it has<\/em> been strange, hasn\u2019t it?\u00a0 For a couple months or three.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t think you noticed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe squinted at him.\u00a0 \u201cOf course I noticed.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t understand<\/em>, but I noticed.\u00a0 What happened?\u00a0 Were you mad at me or something?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot mad exactly, no,\u201d Hoss said slowly, which didn\u2019t actually sound like a denial.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I was just being sort of petty, getting bothered anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but what\u2019d I do<\/em>?\u201d Joe demanded.<\/p>\n

Hoss sighed, and sat down on one of the hay bales alongside the stalls.\u00a0 And that was a relief, because it meant Joe could sit down on another one.\u00a0 He was<\/em> feeling tired, though he would\u2019ve walked to Virginia City and back before he\u2019d admit it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt started when Clay was here,\u201d Hoss said, voice reluctant.<\/p>\n

Joe stiffened, because he didn\u2019t like talking about Clay.\u00a0 He drew in a careful breath.\u00a0 \u201cWhy?\u00a0 What happened then?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 face twisted up.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s sort of easier to explain with a\u2014a metaphor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s eyebrows shot up, because that was not a word he expected out of middle brother.\u00a0 \u201cA metaphor<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss frowned at him.\u00a0 \u201cHey, I can use fancy words too!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, sure\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd\u2014Adam may\u2019ve sort of come up with the thought\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUh-huh,\u201d Joe said, carefully keeping his face blank.<\/p>\n

Hoss studied him for a moment, then sighed again and said, \u201cSo, imagine Pa gave you a new horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d Joe said, though he didn\u2019t see what this had to do with anything.\u00a0 \u201cWhy\u2019s Pa giving me a new horse?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI dunno.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s your birthday.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a good<\/em> horse, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, I should hope so.\u00a0 Pa wouldn\u2019t give me a bad horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but it\u2019s, you know, really good.\u00a0 You\u2019d get pretty excited and start riding it a lot, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, you have to work with a new horse.\u00a0 Get to know it and everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it would be more\u2019n that\u2014if you had a fancy new horse, you\u2019d probably want to sleep in the barn with it the first couple nights or something\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s that<\/em> good of a horse?\u00a0 Hey, do you think Pa would actually get me a horse that good?\u00a0 I mean, he might, but\u2014wait.\u201d\u00a0 Joe frowned at Hoss, because for a minute there he\u2019d gotten sidetracked trying to picture a horse that fine and whether or not he might actually get one someday, but what was the point of all this?\u00a0 \u201cWhy\u2019re we talking about horses?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss pointed a finger at him.\u00a0 \u201cWhen you were getting excited about the idea of a new horse\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He shifted aim to the stall behind Joe.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026how much were you thinking about Cochise?\u201d<\/p>\n

Not even a little bit.\u00a0 \u201cWell\u2014you had me talking about a new horse, and Cochise hasn\u2019t got anything to do with\u2014I mean, if it was real, sure, I\u2019d be a little distracted, but I wouldn\u2019t\u2014I\u2019d eventually\u2026\u201d\u00a0 And then suddenly he got it.\u00a0 He stared at Hoss, thunderstruck.\u00a0 \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like that when Clay showed up.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t forget<\/em> about you!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss rubbed the back of his neck, looking uncomfortable.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s dumb, I know that.\u00a0 Only, lotta times, it\u2019s you and me, ain\u2019t it?\u00a0 Riding together, or getting into trouble, or agreeing with each other when Adam\u2019s got some different notion stuck in his head.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d Joe said, because he knew what Hoss meant.\u00a0 Sometimes it was all three of them, sometimes it was Hoss and Adam, sometimes it was him and Adam.\u00a0 But a lot of times, it was him and Hoss.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen along comes Clay and suddenly you\u2019ve got this\u2014brand new brother who\u2019s all charming and polished and exciting and\u2014guess it made sense, you spending more time with him.\u00a0 And that was all right, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe Joe would\u2019ve believed it was all right, if Hoss hadn\u2019t tried to say it was.\u00a0 But Hoss had never been a good liar and everything in the way the big man was sitting, in the hunch of his shoulders, said it hadn\u2019t been.\u00a0 And he, Joe, hadn\u2019t even noticed.<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged and said, \u201cAnd then you started pushin\u2019 everybody away, after Clay left.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Joe said, and that was when he had<\/em> started to realize something was wrong between him and Hoss in a way it wasn\u2019t with the rest of the family.\u00a0 \u201cI was running off to town and getting into fights and everything.\u00a0 That was my fault.\u201d\u00a0 He kicked one heel against the bale of hay he was sitting on.\u00a0 \u201cBut I guess I sort of\u2014thought you would\u2019ve come after me.\u201d\u00a0 He hadn\u2019t seen it any too clearly at the time, but with the vantage point of looking back, he thought it had made things worse when his big brother didn\u2019t stop him.\u00a0 Maybe that was when the problem had started on his<\/em> side.<\/p>\n

Hoss shot him a look that was hard to read.\u00a0 \u201cI did <\/em>go after you.\u00a0 Me and Adam pulled you outta that saloon fight with Dave Donovan, and you were ready to pound us for interferin\u2019\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, I didn\u2019t mean like that<\/em>, coming in with Adam.\u201d\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know just exactly what he did mean.\u00a0 But Hoss treating him like a troublesome kid wasn\u2019t it.\u00a0 \u201cI just\u2014I know I was pushing everyone away, but I wouldn\u2019t\u2019ve thought you\u2019d let me push you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSeemed to be what you wanted,\u201d Hoss said gruffly.<\/p>\n

Joe ran his hand through his hair.\u00a0 \u201cGuess it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was silence for a long moment, broken only by the horses continuing to chew on their hay.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe part I didn\u2019t understand,\u201d Hoss said at length, \u201cthe part I still <\/em>don\u2019t understand, is how you could try to leave with Clay.\u00a0 Just\u2014off in the night without even saying good-bye.\u00a0 Why was he more important than Pa, or Adam\u2014or me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not,\u201d Joe protested, jolted.\u00a0 Had Hoss really been thinking about it that way, all this time?\u00a0 \u201cThat wasn\u2019t\u2014I knew you\u2019d all be here, on the Ponderosa.\u00a0 And I knew if Clay rode away\u2014I\u2019m probably never going to see him again.\u00a0 If I had gone with him\u2014it wasn\u2019t about leaving all of you, I knew where you\u2019d<\/em> be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cWhat if I wasn\u2019t?\u00a0 What if you rode off for months, and I took a notion to go somewhere too?\u201d<\/p>\n

The words sent a stab of purely instinctive fear through Joe that felt all out of proportion to the probably idle words.<\/p>\n

But suddenly he was six years old again, waking up in the dark middle of the night, afraid as only a small child can be that everyone might be gone.\u00a0 His mama was gone away to heaven, and his oldest brother had gone off to college in the mysterious East that felt almost as far away, and Pa was down the hall but he was so sad about Mama that it was almost like he was gone, and Little Joe was just so\u2014afraid.\u00a0 So more than one night he\u2019d crept out of his room and gone next door and crawled into Hoss\u2019 big bed.<\/p>\n

And Hoss had grumbled sleepily and pulled the blanket up over him and Little Joe had whispered in the night, \u201cPromise you\u2019re not ever going away?\u201d<\/p>\n

And his big brother had whispered back, \u201cPromise.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever ever never?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNever ever never.\u201d<\/p>\n

And here, in the present, sitting in the barn, Joe found the idea of Hoss<\/em> leaving just as awful as it had always been.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou went out to the barn, that night Clay left,\u201d Joe said in a low voice, looking at his boots.\u00a0 \u201cAnd Pa went out after you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u00a0 What about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI stayed awake.\u00a0 Until you both came back in.\u201d\u00a0 The memory was flooding over him again \u2013 he\u2019d pushed it away along with all the other horrible parts of that really horrible night.\u00a0 But there\u2019d been that moment in there, when Hoss had seemed mysteriously angry, possibly with him, and had gone stomping off towards the front door and he had really thought\u2014that here was another brother, about to leave.\u00a0 That Clay didn\u2019t want to be around him anymore, and now Hoss was storming off somewhere too.<\/p>\n

But Hoss had come back.\u00a0 Because Hoss was\u2014he was Hoss<\/em>, he was the one who stayed.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re not<\/em> going anywhere, are you?\u00a0 Adam talks about the East sometimes, but you\u2019re<\/em> not going anywhere, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss looked at him, sighed, and then reached out to tousle his curls \u2013 carefully, considering the bandage.\u00a0 \u201cNo, I reckon not, little brother.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t mean I like the idea o\u2019 being left.\u00a0 Or o\u2019 being replaced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe ducked his head down, hunching his shoulders.\u00a0 It was easy to look at big, tough Hoss and think he must be just as tough on the inside.\u00a0 But Joe knew better.\u00a0 He knew how big his brother\u2019s heart was, knew how bad he could feel, and he\u2019d been too wrapped up in his own feelings to even notice.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Hoss,\u201d he said, and swiped one hand across his suddenly burning eyes.\u00a0 He always did cry easy \u2013 when he was happy, when he was sad, when he felt guilty.\u00a0 He cleared his throat.\u00a0 \u201cAnd nobody\u2019s ever going to replace you, big brother.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry\u2014that I ever\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNah, it\u2019s alright,\u201d Hoss said, and this time he sounded like he meant it.\u00a0 He gave Joe\u2019s good shoulder a shove, so much lighter than the force he could have put behind it.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a little brother\u2019s right to take advantage sometimes, ain\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe threw a punch back at Hoss\u2019 arm.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, but you\u2019re supposed to shake some sense into me when I\u2019m doing it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlright, next time you\u2019re bein\u2019 an idiot, I\u2019ll tell ya.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

15.<\/em><\/p>\n

Doggone if Adam hadn\u2019t been right.\u00a0 Hoss could see now that he should\u2019ve talked to Little Joe weeks ago, but\u2014well, at least they\u2019d finally done it, even though it shouldn\u2019t\u2019ve taken Joe getting shot to make it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, I got an idea,\u201d Hoss said, rubbing his hands together.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing made donuts earlier, and they\u2019re just sitting there in the kitchen now.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go sneak ourselves a couple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe looked doubtful.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know, big brother.\u00a0 Hop Sing\u2019s cooking fried chicken tonight, and he might change his mind if we mess around in his kitchen and get him upset.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, but just think how upset he\u2019d be if nobody even bothered to steal one of his donuts.\u00a0 It\u2019d be plumb insulting!\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam might\u2019ve told him that was a ridiculous argument \u2013 and he would\u2019ve been right about that \u2013 but Little Joe chuckled and said, \u201cAll right, all right.\u00a0 But if we get caught, it was your<\/em> idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss slung an arm around his little brother\u2019s shoulders as they headed back to the house, both because it felt good and because it meant he was in the right position to catch Joe if all this exertion turned out to be too much.\u00a0 But Joe was still on his feet when they stepped in the door of the empty kitchen \u2013 empty except for a big plate of golden donuts on the counter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, dadburnit,\u201d Hoss said, screwing his face up.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing didn\u2019t put any powdered sugar on \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, \u2018cause he probably got tired of washing it out of your shirts.\u00a0 You know how that stuff sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss sighed.\u00a0 \u201cThey just ain\u2019t the same plain, but I guess I\u2019ll have to make do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, wait a minute,\u201d Little Joe said in a different tone, \u201cI bet we could put sugar on \u2018em ourselves.\u00a0 It can\u2019t be that hard, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing won\u2019t want us messing with his baking\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe won\u2019t know if we eat the evidence.\u201d\u00a0 Joe was scanning the shelves, pointed towards a canister on an upper level.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s the powdered sugar, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Let me get it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHold on, you got a bullet through your arm\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can grab it with the other one,\u201d Joe said, rolling his eyes.<\/p>\n

Hop Sing must\u2019ve used a chair or something to get to that shelf, the way Joe had to stretch up for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me, little<\/em> brother,\u201d Hoss said, stepping in and reaching up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got<\/em> it, Hoss,\u201d Joe protested.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, I can do it easier\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

They both grabbed at it at once, and the canister shifted and tipped on the shelf.\u00a0 Joe danced backwards and Hoss tried to save it and it all might still have been fine if the lid had been on tighter\u2014but as it was, the canister came crashing down and powdered sugar came bursting out in great white clouds.<\/p>\n

\u201cDadburn<\/em>it,\u201d Hoss muttered, trying to wipe the fine powder off of his face.<\/p>\n

Then he realized Little Joe was staring at him, mouth twitching.\u00a0 Somehow he\u2019d<\/em> avoided the worst of it, which wasn\u2019t fair at all.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow don\u2019t you laugh at me, Little Joe,\u201d Hoss warned, pointing a finger at him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just\u2014your face<\/em>\u2014\u201d\u00a0 Joe erupted into chuckles that grew into chortles and swiftly escalated into a full-blown cackle \u2013 what Hoss and Adam called Joe\u2019s hyena laugh, usually with irritation, especially when they were the cause of it.<\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019s high-pitched laugh rang through the kitchen, fairly bouncing off the walls \u2013 and Hoss realized he hadn\u2019t heard that particular laugh in a long<\/em> time.\u00a0 Definitely not since before Clay had left.\u00a0 Maybe not even since before Liza had left.<\/p>\n

That meant he wasn\u2019t really<\/em> angry about it \u2013 but there was a matter of honor at stake.\u00a0 \u201cI warned ya, Little Joe,\u201d he said, and scooped up a fistful of sugar from one of the drifts.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey\u2014you wouldn\u2019t,\u201d Joe gasped between laughs, \u201cI\u2019m wounded\u2014<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

He was fine when he wanted to go out to the barn, but now<\/em> he was suddenly needing special treatment?\u00a0 Nope, Hoss\u2019d been an older brother too long to go for that one.\u00a0 He flung the handful of powdered sugar at Joe, liberally dusting his hair and face despite his efforts to get his arms up in a block.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, now you\u2019ve done it \u2013 I\u2019ll get you for that\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe made a lunge for Hoss, who stepped back out of the way, without looking to see where he was going \u2013 and he smacked right into a barrel of dried beans, knocking it over and scattering its contents across the floor, into the swirls of sugar.\u00a0 Suddenly they were both scrambling to keep their footing on the rolling beans \u2013 Hoss flailed, tried to grab at something for balance, and only succeeded in knocking down a row of hanging frying pans in an ungodly crash and clatter as his feet slipped out from under him and he went down onto his backside.<\/p>\n

Joe kept up only about two seconds longer before thumping down onto his back among the mess.<\/p>\n

That did<\/em> worry Hoss a little \u2013 if Joe came down on his bad arm, or bumped his head \u2013 \u201cHey, you all right?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe snickered, sprawled on his back, and busted up into laughter again.\u00a0 Hoss gave up and gave in to a gale of his own laughter \u2013 because it was<\/em> pretty dang ridiculous.<\/p>\n

Liza appeared in the passage out to the dining room, a worried frown on her face that dissolved into confusion as she looked around.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2026happened\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam was only a few steps behind her.\u00a0 \u201cI heard a big crash, what\u2026\u201d\u00a0 He also trailed off, looking around the kitchen.\u00a0 Then he leaned against the wall, a satisfied smile on his face.\u00a0 \u201cSo I see you two are finally back to normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss\u2014wanted\u2014donuts,\u201d Joe managed between chortles, sitting up unsteadily.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2014thought of\u2014the sugar,\u201d Hoss countered, trying to swallow his guffaws.<\/p>\n

But then a much more alarming prospect appeared behind Adam \u2013 Hop Sing, carrying two chickens, eyes going wide.\u00a0 He pushed past Adam, looked wildly around the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happen?\u00a0 What you do to Hop Sing\u2019s kitchen?\u201d<\/p>\n

That sombered Hoss up pretty quick.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re sorry, Hop Sing \u2013 we didn\u2019t mean to\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

The cook waved his arms, a few feathers flying from the birds.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing out getting chickens \u2013 but Hop Sing not cook when kitchen big disaster!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAw, no,\u201d Joe protested, real alarm on his face, \u201cHop Sing, you promised!\u00a0 I\u2019ve just been dreaming<\/em> of your fried chicken\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou no use flattery,\u201d Hop Sing said, shaking a finger at Little Joe.\u00a0 \u201cIt not work!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, it ain\u2019t flattery, I mean it!\u00a0 And we\u2019re real sorry about the kitchen, really\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just because your donuts are so good,\u201d Hoss tried, \u201cwe just had<\/em> to come in\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing not make donuts anymore either, just cause trouble!\u201d<\/p>\n

The general shouting was broken by a sound not heard all that often in the Ponderosa ranch house \u2013 a distinctly feminine giggle.\u00a0 Liza had one hand over her mouth as though she was trying to keep it in \u2013 but after a moment she gave up, dissolving into laughter.<\/p>\n

That set Little Joe off again, which made it real hard for Hoss to keep a straight face too.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing, we\u2014\u201d\u00a0 He coughed.\u00a0 \u201cWe really didn\u2019t\u2026\u201d\u00a0 It was no good, he was losing the fight against the laughter trying to crawl up his throat.<\/p>\n

Liza was laughing so hard by now that she slid down to sit with her back against the wall.\u00a0 Joe, clutching his side with his good arm, wheezed, \u201cStop, I can\u2019t\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Lucky he hadn\u2019t hurt his ribs \u2013 this time \u2013 or he might have been doing some new damage.<\/p>\n

Hop Sing flung his arms wide.\u00a0 \u201cCartwrights crazy!\u00a0 Cartwrights all crazy, and Hop Sing crazy to cook for crazy Cartwrights!\u00a0 Should have stayed in San Francisco!\u201d<\/p>\n

And in the middle of this scene, Ben Cartwright\u2019s deep baritone voice sounded, demanding, \u201cWhat in the sam hill is going on in here?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ben had traveled back to Virginia City unaware of any news from home on the way.\u00a0 It was only when he arrived in town that he was met by the sheriff, who informed him that Little Joe had been shot.\u00a0 Roy had also assured him that Dr. Martin had been out, that Joe was recovering nicely, and that everything would be fine.<\/p>\n

This had not greatly calmed his alarm, or his guilt that his<\/em> son<\/em> had been gravely injured and he hadn\u2019t been there.\u00a0 And after all, Roy\u2019s information was a day out of date.\u00a0 Anything could have happened by now.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d ridden back to the Ponderosa as fast as his horse could carry him, accompanied all the way by fearful imaginings about what he would find when he arrived.\u00a0 He pictured a house wrapped in silent, sickbed vigil.\u00a0 Or worse, one echoing with the delirious shouting of his youngest son, probably calling for his absent father.<\/p>\n

The worst<\/em> possibility, the image of only two sons to greet him, bereft at the loss of the third, was unbearable.<\/p>\n

All in all, none of that prepared him for the scene of laughter and shouting and general chaos going on in the kitchen.\u00a0 And once he had a moment to think, he was going to be overwhelmed with relief and gratitude that the situation was so vastly better than he had dreamed it could be.\u00a0 But for this first moment, he was baffled and thrown off course and felt slightly ridiculous for his own fears.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey\u2014hey, Pa,\u201d Little Joe greeted him between chortles, lifting one hand in greeting from where he sat on the floor of the kitchen.\u00a0 A bandage cut across his strangely white-stained curls, and why was he even out of bed<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\u201cRoy told me you\u2019d been shot<\/em>,\u201d Ben said, the words almost accusing, as he stared at his youngest son.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell\u2014only a little bit,\u201d Joe allowed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can you be a little bit shot<\/em>?\u201d Ben roared.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t that bad,\u201d Joe said.\u00a0 \u201cDoc Martin said so, and Hoss and Adam and Liza pulled me through all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

That last name made Ben blink and wonder if Joe\u2019s head injury was serious after all.\u00a0 But then he looked around a little more and\u2014Hoss was sitting on the ground next to Joe, covered in white powder, and Hop Sing was standing by the counter, glowering at the room at large, and Adam was standing by the passage to the dining room, and sitting against the wall \u2013 what was<\/em> everyone doing on the floor anyway? \u2013 was, inexplicably, Liza Montgomery.\u00a0 Roy hadn\u2019t mentioned her<\/em>.<\/p>\n

She lifted a hand in a small wave when his gaze stopped on her.\u00a0 \u201cHello, Mr. Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before he could try to make sense of that<\/em> development, Hop Sing spoke up.\u00a0 \u201cMr. Cartwright, you see what boys do in Hop Sing kitchen! Very bad, big mess!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll clean it up, Hop Sing,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cBut you know Little Joe\u2019s got his heart set on that fried chicken, and it was really all my fault anyway\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, Cartwright brothers stand together,\u201d Joe said, waving one hand.\u00a0 \u201cIt was my fault too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBad boys, both of you!\u201d the irate cook snapped.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing not fry chicken for big clumsy galoots!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben suddenly found himself struggling very hard not to break into laughter himself.\u00a0 He always tried to avoid laughing at Hop Sing, as it generally only made matters worse.\u00a0 Hop Sing and Adam had that in common; Hoss could usually see the joke, and Joe could too, if he wasn\u2019t too<\/em> caught up in his own head.\u00a0 Right now, though, laughing wasn\u2019t going to help \u2013 but it was hard to resist, and it wasn\u2019t really about Hop Sing anyway.\u00a0 It was because the relief was catching up to him \u2013 Little Joe was so much better off than he\u2019d dared to hope, his other boys were smiling, and nothing was more important than that.<\/p>\n

Though he also rated Hop Sing\u2019s fried chicken pretty highly.\u00a0 \u201cHow about frying chicken for a tired man who traveled a lot of miles to get here and is very<\/em> glad to see everyone still alive and well?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing frowned, but did seem to take the words on board.\u00a0 He glanced at Little Joe, or maybe the bandage on his head, and said, \u201cVery well.\u00a0 For Mr. Cartwright, Hop Sing will cook.\u00a0 But only if Little Joe go rest until supper, Mr. Hoss clean up kitchen, and everyone else go away and let Hop Sing work!\u201d<\/p>\n

Little Joe\u2019s face screwed up in an expression he\u2019d been using in just this situation since childhood.\u00a0 \u201cAw, I don\u2019t need to rest\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust take it, little brother,\u201d Hoss interrupted, heaving up to his feet.\u00a0 \u201cYou ain\u2019t going to get a better offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss extended a hand to his younger brother, who took it without hesitation, and something in the gesture or the way they exchanged a glance, warmed Ben\u2019s heart too.\u00a0 His boys liked to think they could hide things from him by not talking about them, but he knew full well something had been wrong between his two youngest for some time now.\u00a0 From the way they looked now \u2013 and from the trouble they\u2019d very evidently got each other into \u2013 something had finally shifted.<\/p>\n

And then he was caught up in the general tide as Hop Sing shooed everyone but Hoss out of the room, and Ben caught Adam\u2019s eye with a meaningful glance.\u00a0 Because as good as things seemed to be, he wanted to know just exactly what had been happening while he was away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

16.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whatever Hop Sing\u2019s feelings might have been in the afternoon, he didn\u2019t let them interfere with his cooking.\u00a0 The fried chicken was excellent, as delicious as Liza remembered, every accompanying side perfect.\u00a0 Ben sat at the head of the table, Adam and Hoss on one side, and Liza sat next to Joe on the other.\u00a0 The conversation was lively, the lantern light cast a warm glow over everyone, and it was all as idyllic as Joe had described such a scene, all those months ago, or as she had pictured just a few days past.<\/p>\n

And\u2014they had both mentioned fried chicken specifically, hadn\u2019t they?\u00a0 It suddenly struck her partway into the meal that this was exactly why Joe had been so set on fried chicken tonight.\u00a0 He had wanted exactly<\/em> this scene.<\/p>\n

Which brought up the question of whether he actually remembered her saying anything about it.\u00a0 Or her saying she would marry him, if he still wanted her to.\u00a0 Comments made while still in drugged delirium couldn\u2019t really prove anything.<\/p>\n

When she glanced his way she found he was looking at her\u2014and when their gazes met, he just smiled, unself-consciously and unconcerned.\u00a0 She blushed and looked away.<\/p>\n

He had been warm and friendly and charming and they hadn\u2019t actually talked<\/em> about\u2026the future, or what they were doing, or why she had come back and why she was still here.\u00a0 Which, well\u2014she was the one who hadn\u2019t wanted to move too fast before.\u00a0 But it did make things precarious.<\/p>\n

So after supper, when Ben and Adam were still at the table discussing the finer points of Matthew Raines\u2019 paintings, and Hoss was sitting in one of the big armchairs by the fire apparently dozing, and Liza was trying to decide if and where she ought to sit down \u2013 the couch?\u00a0 The other armchair? \u2013 it felt somewhat momentous when Joe beckoned her towards the side door off of his father\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s take a walk,\u201d he said in a low voice, glancing back towards his father.\u00a0 And then, when he looked at her and apparently read the hesitation on her face, quickly added, \u201cJust a short one.\u201d<\/p>\n

He probably should be resting, but she wanted<\/em> to go take that walk.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t certain this was wise, but she could square a short<\/em> walk with her conscience.\u00a0 \u201cAll right.\u201d<\/p>\n

As she passed Hoss, he murmured, \u201cHoller if you need me to carry \u2018im back in,\u201d and winked.<\/p>\n

It made her smile even as Joe shot Hoss an exasperated look, then took her arm and they slipped out the side door into the moonlight.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Maybe he shouldn\u2019t have said that, about carrying Little Joe, but Hoss couldn\u2019t really regret it.\u00a0 Liza had smiled and Joe\u2019s exasperated look had been\u2014well, the right<\/em> kind of exasperated.\u00a0 The kind he\u2019d been giving Hoss since he was a kid, and desperately plagued by the terrible fate of having two older brothers.\u00a0 It was the comfortable kind of exasperated.<\/p>\n

Couple minutes more went by before Pa looked up from talking to Adam and realized Joe had made his escape.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe go upstairs?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss hesitated.\u00a0 There was covering for a brother, and then there was lying to Pa\u2026\u00a0 \u201cNah, he went outside with Liza.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that brought on Pa\u2019s worried frown.\u00a0 \u201cShould he be outside on his own?\u00a0 I know he seems well, but that brother of yours never admits when he isn\u2019t<\/em> well.\u00a0 Maybe one of you ought to go out too, just in case.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pa was just about the wisest man Hoss knew, but sometimes he could get the wrong end of a thing when he was worrying about his sons \u2013 and doggone if Adam, who was generally pretty smart, was standing up as though he meant to go outside.\u00a0 \u201cPa, he ain\u2019t on his own,\u201d Hoss said patiently.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s outside with Liza<\/em>.\u00a0 And that means Joe don\u2019t want one of us<\/em> hanging around.\u201d\u00a0 That wasn\u2019t going to get him just an exasperated look.\u00a0 That\u2019d probably start a full-on blow-up between them.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d Pa said, the situation visibly dawning on him.\u00a0 \u201cOh.\u00a0 Of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, he ain\u2019t going to walk too far,\u201d Hoss said with a grin.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe ain\u2019t good at limits but he ain\u2019t stupid either, and he won\u2019t want to collapse in front of his girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf that\u2019s what she is,\u201d Adam muttered.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course she is,\u201d Hoss said, surprised.\u00a0 Adam had<\/em> had a bur under his saddle about Liza ever since she came back, but he couldn\u2019t be that<\/em> confused about things.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was<\/em>,\u201d Adam said.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know what the situation is now?\u00a0 Do they?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, mebbe that\u2019s what Little Joe\u2019s hoping to figure out.\u00a0 And he don\u2019t need you and me around trying to help with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Joe breathed in the cool, pine-scented air, Liza\u2019s hand warm in his as they walked, and felt better than he had in days\u2014weeks\u2014months, even.\u00a0 And he knew full well that had more to do with Liza\u2019s fingers curled around his than it had to do with the night air.<\/p>\n

It had a little to do with Hoss\u2019 teasing too.\u00a0 While on the one hand, he didn\u2019t want Hoss pointing out that he might collapse, especially<\/em> in front of Liza, on the other hand\u2014well, it was exactly the kind of comment Hoss hadn\u2019t been making lately.\u00a0 They\u2019d been too careful with each other, he realized now, and it had all felt wrong and strange.\u00a0 So the remark tonight felt as right as it did annoying.<\/p>\n

And the actual point Hoss was making wasn\u2019t entirely wrong either, so he didn\u2019t try to walk too far.\u00a0 He\u2019d like to go out to the meadow where they\u2019d had that first picnic, where he\u2019d proposed, where Liza\u2019d found him just a few days ago\u2014which made for a complicated mix of events, but somehow, still, it was the place where all the most important <\/em>things had happened to them.\u00a0 So it felt like the right place, but\u2014it was two miles by the road, and he was feeling good in one way but physically he had<\/em> been shot (twice) recently, so\u2026better not push it.\u00a0 Better to just aim for the bench only a little piece away from the house.<\/p>\n

They sat down there, Joe careful not to move as though he needed<\/em> to sit down.\u00a0 He rested one arm along the back of the bench and she leaned into him and they sat together without speaking for a while, and he thought this could be a really nice way to spend a really long time.\u00a0 But it wasn\u2019t exactly what he was aiming at tonight, and now that Pa was back home to worry and hover over him, he might not get a good chance again for a while.\u00a0 He just wasn\u2019t perfectly sure where to begin.<\/p>\n

While he was still thinking, Liza spoke first.\u00a0 \u201cThat was a nice supper tonight.\u00a0 One of the nicest I\u2019ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n

That had been exactly the goal, when he\u2019d talked Hop Sing into the menu this morning.\u00a0 And he\u2019d had this<\/em> moment in mind at the time.\u00a0 \u201cDefinitely one of the best we\u2019ve had in a long time too.\u201d<\/p>\n

He could hear the smile in her voice when she said, \u201cThe fried chicken lived up to its reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

And when he shifted just enough to be able to look into her face, he knew he didn\u2019t need to remind her about why it had been that<\/em> menu, or about that night they\u2019d sat talking on the settee, and she\u2019d fallen asleep with her head on his chest\u2026<\/p>\n

He swallowed, mouth suddenly dry, and wished he could be sure about that other<\/em> memory, the one that had maybe just been part of the fever.\u00a0 \u201cIt wasn\u2019t\u2014really about the fried chicken, you know,\u201d he said, voice low, and when she tilted her head and kept looking into his eyes like she was really<\/em> listening, it was easier to say the next thing.\u00a0 \u201cIt was always about the people at the table.\u00a0 That was always what really mattered, whenever I got into a dark place and tried to picture how life ought to be \u2013 how it would<\/em> be, when it all got better again.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last few months had been full of dark places \u2013 less dramatic ones than being held hostage, mostly, but still a lot of hard ones.\u00a0 \u201cThe thing of it is, I\u2019ve been trying for months to get that picture right, and\u2014I couldn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 It never felt right, because you weren\u2019t in it.\u00a0 And I wanted <\/em>you there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Probably he was moving too quickly again.\u00a0 But hang it all, he didn\u2019t know what timeline they were on now.\u00a0 Where was he supposed to count from?\u00a0 From when Liza came back?\u00a0 From when he woke up and knew she was back?\u00a0 Or\u2014and this was the math he liked better\u2014from when they had met the first time?\u00a0 That one felt the most real somehow, the most true.<\/p>\n

If Hoss or Adam rode off down the road tomorrow and stayed away for months, they\u2019d still be his brothers.<\/p>\n

Clay did<\/em> ride away \u2013 but he was still his brother too.<\/p>\n

And this thing between him and Liza, it felt that way too.\u00a0 Different, obviously, but somehow like the distance hadn\u2019t changed things.\u00a0 Like they\u2019d always belonged to each other, somehow, all along.\u00a0 At least\u2014he hoped she saw it that way too.<\/p>\n

Her gaze had dropped, but she didn\u2019t move away, and he knew he had to ask\u2014\u00a0 \u201cWhy did you come back, Liza?\u201d\u00a0 He thought he remembered an answer from a dream, there was an answer implied just in her being out here with him, but he needed to hear it, to make sure.\u00a0 Because he didn\u2019t really fancy the idea of proposing and getting turned down twice<\/em>.<\/p>\n

She sighed, studying her hands in her lap, fiddling with the folds of her skirts.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve been expecting that question \u2013 I expected we\u2019d have this conversation much sooner, but, well\u2026\u201d\u00a0 But things had happened.\u00a0 \u201cSo.\u00a0 When I went back to San Francisco, before.\u00a0 I thought I would\u2026be sad for a while, and then sort of slip back into my old life.\u00a0 But I couldn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 It was like my picture was wrong too, but not just one part of it.\u00a0 The whole thing.\u00a0 And I began to think I\u2019d made a very, very big mistake, but\u2014by then I was sure it was too late.\u201d<\/p>\n

She gave a small laugh, a not very funny one.\u00a0 \u201cOr maybe that was my excuse to myself, because I was still scared.\u00a0 I was<\/em> scared, you know, before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, if I\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, no, I didn\u2019t mean\u2014it wasn\u2019t something you did, it was\u2014well, I suppose it was<\/em>, but it wasn\u2019t something you should apologize\u2026\u201d\u00a0 She closed her eyes briefly, drew in a breath, hands knotted together.\u00a0 \u201cI am saying this so badly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not that bad,\u201d he said softly, though to tell the truth, he wasn\u2019t positive he was<\/em> following wherever she was going.\u00a0 He\u2019d got that part back where she thought she\u2019d made a mistake though.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing important has ever been given to me easily.\u00a0 I tend to be suspicious of anything that\u2019s offered, especially if it\u2019s too good and too easy.\u00a0 And you were offering me the best thing anyone ever has, so\u2014of course that scared me, but it\u2019s still not exactly something to apologize for.\u00a0 But because I couldn\u2019t trust the offer, all those other girls made a very convenient reason<\/em> to not trust it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t that<\/em> many girls,\u201d Joe felt compelled to protest.\u00a0 She finally looked up at him, but her expression was incredulous, and he had to amend, \u201cWell, maybe it was.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t mean anything about us<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u00a0 I know that, now.\u00a0 Anyway, I thought it was too late, because I did<\/em> still think you\u2019d probably moved on long since, and I was going to try to just live with that, somehow.\u00a0 But then\u2026\u201d\u00a0 She hesitated, and he thought she was weighing some words, although when she finally spoke it wasn\u2019t a remarkable phrase.\u00a0 \u201cThen a friend convinced me that maybe it wasn\u2019t too late after all.\u00a0 That if I<\/em> could fall in love in a couple of weeks, then maybe you had too.\u201d<\/p>\n

God bless her friend, whoever they were.\u00a0 Later, maybe, he\u2019d ask, but that wasn\u2019t the important part of the story right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I came back,\u201d she concluded.\u00a0 She was looking up at him again, and now her eyes glimmering in the moonlight.\u00a0 \u201cI came back here.\u00a0 I came back\u2014home.\u00a0 Just to find out.\u00a0 And if you want me to go, I will.\u00a0 But\u2014if\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He leaned that last bit closer, pressed his forehead against hers.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t go,\u201d he whispered.\u00a0 \u201cStay here with me.\u00a0 Stay here and marry me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d she breathed.\u00a0 \u201cYes, yes\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

And anything beyond that was lost as he kissed her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This was Liza\u2019s picture.\u00a0 Joe\u2019s was sitting around the table at supper, and that was lovely too, but this<\/em>\u2014kissing Joe Cartwright on a moonlit, pine-scented evening\u2014this was her<\/em> picture.<\/p>\n

Hoss and Clay had been right after all, more right than she\u2019d dared to hope.\u00a0 She hadn\u2019t expected shootings and illness and all the rest to interfere before they could settle the important questions, but now, finally, everything was at last how she had wanted it to be.\u00a0 How it should<\/em> be.<\/p>\n

And for a little while, that was all, and more than enough, to just sit in the moonlight together, reacquainting themselves in this particular way after months apart.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t very long before the rest of the world intervened again, if far more harmlessly than a gunman at a window.\u00a0 It was only Joe leaning back a bit, and saying, \u201cHey, we have to go in\u2014tell everyone the news.\u201d His eyes were alight as though this was nothing but the next exciting stage of the evening.<\/p>\n

The soaring thrills of the past few minutes faded and Liza thumped back down into the world again.\u00a0 \u201cOh.\u00a0 I guess we do,\u201d she said unenthusiastically, heard how bad that sounded, and tried to soften it too late with a smile.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that she didn\u2019t like Joe\u2019s family.\u00a0 She adored Joe\u2019s family.\u00a0 She just wasn\u2019t sure anymore how mutual that was.\u00a0 Hoss liked her, yes, and they\u2019d all been lovely at supper, yes, but welcoming her to supper was a very different proposition from inviting her into the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d Joe asked, then proved he could guess by immediately following it with, \u201cThey\u2019ll be thrilled.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe they would have been before,\u201d Liza said.\u00a0 \u201cBut it\u2019s more complicated now.\u201d\u00a0 If she hadn\u2019t been able to guess that for herself, Adam had certainly made it abundantly clear.\u00a0 \u201cI mean, I turned you down once.\u00a0 That complicates things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot to me, and if it doesn\u2019t to me<\/em>, why should it matter to them?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause they care about you.\u201d\u00a0 And while Joe might forgive her for hurting him, she wasn\u2019t so sure his family would.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd they like you,\u201d Joe continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoss<\/em> likes me,\u201d Liza corrected, and tried to laugh.\u00a0 \u201cBut I suppose Adam never liked me to begin with, so maybe that doesn\u2019t change anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

She had said it casually, or tried to, but it was apparent on Joe\u2019s face that he hadn\u2019t taken it that way.\u00a0 \u201cNo, that\u2019s not true.\u00a0 Adam doesn\u2019t dislike you.\u201d\u00a0 A pause, then a more wary, \u201cI mean, he didn\u2019t say anything, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

And that just seemed like proof, because he never would have imagined that Hoss<\/em> might have said something disapproving he was unaware of.\u00a0 Only she couldn\u2019t exactly say that Adam had either.\u00a0 It seemed perfectly clear, but there weren\u2019t words<\/em> exactly that she could point to.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t sure she\u2019d want to if she could, either, if it was only going to make trouble between Joe and his brother.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s just sort of a feeling,\u201d she said finally, and watched Joe relax.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, that\u2019s just Adam being Adam,\u201d Joe said earnestly.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019s sort of stiff-necked and unemotional sometimes.\u00a0 It\u2019s how he is.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t mean anything.\u00a0 I mean, sometimes people think he doesn\u2019t like me<\/em>, and that\u2019s not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

She smiled, and half-meant it.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose you\u2019d know.\u201d\u00a0 She hoped so, anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll see, Adam\u2019ll be fine.\u00a0 And Pa\u2019ll be happy as long as I am.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her next smile was far more real as she asked, \u201cAnd are you happy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very<\/em> happy,\u201d he said in a low voice, leaning in to kiss her again.<\/p>\n

It was a few minutes more before they actually went back inside, but it had to be done.\u00a0 And it played out much as Liza might have guessed.\u00a0 Joe announced their news with great excitement, to be met with immediate, equal and apparently unfeigned excitement from Hoss.\u00a0 Liza thought she saw just a second\u2019s uncertainty on Ben\u2019s face, perhaps a second more of a searching look directed at his son, and then he was everything a gracious and happy host and patriarch could be.\u00a0 Adam\u2019s face gave nothing at all away, but he was entirely pleasant and polite.\u00a0 Liza found herself hugged by Hoss, hugged by Ben, and before she\u2019d even begun to catch her breath, Hop Sing entered the room carrying a cake.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig news needs big celebration,\u201d the cook announced, beaming as he set the frosted cake on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing, how\u2019d you manage to have a cake already ready?\u201d Joe asked.\u00a0 \u201cI only just proposed!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing only shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cCake baked hours ago.\u00a0 Hop Sing knew would need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you couldn\u2019t know,\u201d Joe protested, \u201cI<\/em> didn\u2019t know\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, little brother,\u201d Hoss rumbled, clapping him on the back, \u201cbut everybody else<\/em> knew!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

17.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ben stopped in the open doorway of his youngest son\u2019s room, hand raised to knock on the doorframe, and paused to look at Little Joe instead.\u00a0 He was stretched out on the bed, hands tucked behind his head, still except for his feet twitching in black socks.\u00a0 Ben had seen his son in that position many times over the years, brooding over things.\u00a0 He\u2019d seen it too often in the past few months.<\/p>\n

And now here he was, in that same position, only there was a difference.\u00a0 Tonight, Joe was smiling.\u00a0 Not the devil-may-care grin that gave Ben white hairs, but just a soft, happy smile.\u00a0 He still had a bandage wrapped around his head, a reminder of how close he\u2019d come to not being here at all \u2013 but he was<\/em> here, smiling.<\/p>\n

It made Ben want to walk away without saying anything, to leave Joe be.\u00a0 But wasn\u2019t it a father\u2019s job to say the hard things sometimes?<\/p>\n

He let his fist fall against the doorframe, rapped lightly.\u00a0 \u201cMind if I come in, son?\u201d<\/p>\n

It took a few seconds for Joe\u2019s gaze to focus on him, to come back from whatever visions he was seeing.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, sure, Pa,\u201d he said cheerfully, shifting as though he meant to get up.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, that\u2019s all right,\u201d Ben said, coming in and sitting on the side of the bed, patting Joe\u2019s leg.\u00a0 \u201cYou looked like you had a lot you were thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe leaned back again, smiling up towards the ceiling.\u00a0 \u201cYeah, Pa.\u00a0 Ain\u2019t it amazing the difference a day can make?\u00a0 Turn everything upside-down on a person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Ben had had days like that himself, that started in one world and ended in another.\u00a0 Some had been good changes.\u00a0 Some hadn\u2019t.\u00a0 He knew what Little Joe thought this was, but\u2026\u00a0 \u201cDoes it seem a little\u2014too much, for one day?\u201d<\/p>\n

Nothing overtly changed about Joe\u2019s posture, but Ben could feel his leg tense beneath his hand, could see his smile start to fade.\u00a0 \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell.\u201d\u00a0 Ben rubbed the back of his neck.\u00a0 There was no good way to say this, was there?\u00a0 \u201cDo you think this might be moving too fast at all?\u00a0 I mean, Liza only came back a few days ago, and you spent part of that time unconscious.\u00a0 I understand you feel a great deal of gratitude towards her for her recent actions \u2013 we all do \u2013 but does this seem rather quick for an engagement?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about gratitude<\/em>.\u00a0 And it\u2019s not as though she\u2019s a stranger,\u201d Joe said, smile gone now and a definite edge in his voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, but she is a woman who hurt you rather badly before\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, here it comes,\u201d Joe said, shaking his head and shoving himself up to a sitting position.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, Liza was worried about this, but I told her, no, it\u2019ll be fine, Pa\u2019ll be happy<\/em> for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am<\/em> happy for you, son,\u201d Ben protested.\u00a0 \u201cI just wanted to be sure you had thought this through\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been doing nothing but<\/em> thinking for months and months!\u201d\u00a0 Joe\u2019s face had gone tight, his eyes starting the tell-tale glimmer.\u00a0 \u201cI tried, Pa.\u00a0 I kept<\/em> trying<\/em> to come up with reasons I shouldn\u2019t want her anymore, and I couldn\u2019t do it.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t convince myself it was a bad idea.\u00a0 The only reason that mattered was if she didn\u2019t want me, and she came back, Pa.\u00a0 She came back<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben looked into his son\u2019s passionate, stormy eyes, and knew no words from him were going to make any real difference.\u00a0 But he worried for his sons, and this one in particular lived life with so much intensity\u2014\u00a0 \u201cIf she wasn\u2019t sure enough before\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was taking time to think!\u00a0 You\u2019re telling me<\/em> to take time to think, so how can you blame her<\/em> for doing that?\u201d\u00a0 Joe squeezed his eyes shut, opened them again on more tears but somehow a calmer expression.\u00a0 \u201cI know what you all think.\u00a0 Little Joe, he\u2019s so impetuous, acts without thinking, always chases the wrong women.\u00a0 This is different, Pa.\u00a0 This is right<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in the end, only Joe could decide that, and only time was going to prove it one way or the other.\u00a0 \u201cAll right, son,\u201d Ben said quietly, and patted the boy\u2019s leg again.\u00a0 \u201cAll right.\u00a0 If you say there\u2019s no problem here, there isn\u2019t one.\u00a0 And I am<\/em> happy for you, as long as you\u2019re happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am, Pa,\u201d Little Joe said, smile finally starting to creep back onto his face.\u00a0 \u201cI really am.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s all I want for my sons.\u201d\u00a0 He stood up, looked down at his youngest boy \u2013 a man, even if his father\u2019s heart hated to admit it.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s talk in the morning about plans\u2014for you and Liza.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe nodded.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019d like that, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben moved to the door.\u00a0 \u201cGood-night, Little Joe.\u00a0 Don\u2019t stay up too late.\u201d\u00a0 That last, fatherly admonition slipped out almost unintended, and made Joe roll his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, Pa,\u201d he said in teasing tones, and then softened on, \u201cGood-night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben closed the door behind him as he left, descended down the stairs and out the front door to the yard, where his two older sons were standing by the corral outside the barn.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, Pa?\u201d Adam said as soon as he was within a few steps.<\/p>\n

Ben leaned on the railing between his two older boys.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe is very sure about what he wants and what he\u2019s doing.\u00a0 And to tell the truth, I can\u2019t say that he\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, come on, Pa,\u201d Adam protested, \u201cyou don\u2019t really think this is a good idea!\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know that it\u2019s a bad one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI<\/em> think it\u2019s good,\u201d Hoss put in, face set in his stubborn expression, \u201cand I don\u2019t think we ought to talk Little Joe out of something good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou<\/em> always liked her,\u201d Adam snapped off, as though it was an accusation.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I did,\u201d Hoss agreed, \u201cand I do.\u00a0 What\u2019s wrong with that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou saw the way she hurt him before!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not like she wanted<\/em> to.\u00a0 And she saved his life, coming back when she did and finding him out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t give her credit for coincidence of timing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMebbe not,\u201d Hoss conceded, \u201cbut I can<\/em> give her credit for everything she did to take care of him.\u00a0 And you<\/em> didn\u2019t see her when the house got attacked, and she was crouched at the end of Joe\u2019s bed with a pistol, ready to shoot anybody who wanted to hurt him.\u00a0 Any gal who\u2019ll do that<\/em> is all right by me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut she didn\u2019t<\/em> shoot anyone \u2013 Joe<\/em> did,\u201d Adam countered, and it was more than obvious that he had dug into a position and was going to hold it, no matter the consequences or the arguments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat ain\u2019t the point,\u201d Hoss began, but Ben intervened before this could go any further.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll right, that\u2019s enough, boys,\u201d Ben spoke up, before one or both of them said something they\u2019d end up regretting.\u00a0 \u201cAt the end of the day, this is not up to us.\u00a0 We need to respect Little Joe\u2019s decision about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t as though objections from him, or any of them, were going to change Joe\u2019s mind.\u00a0 If anything, it was more likely to make him more stubborn on the subject.\u00a0 Ben had learned that<\/em> all the way back in the troubled days of Julia Bulette, and had tried very hard not to object out loud to any of Joe\u2019s romances since.\u00a0 He\u2019d been tested more than once.\u00a0 The one who thought she was a witch \u2013 that one had been a challenge.\u00a0 But he\u2019d given his approval, and when the woman blessedly left anyway, Joe hadn\u2019t gone chasing after her.<\/p>\n

If this was a mistake, Joe was going to have to conclude that for himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess that\u2019s it then,\u201d Adam said, sounding as though the words were ground out.<\/p>\n

He stomped off back to the house, and Ben watched him go, wondering if he ought to go up and talk to his oldest son before he went to sleep too \u2013 or if he\u2019d already done enough damage for one night and it was best to just leave it all alone until morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be all right, Pa,\u201d Hoss said after a moment.\u00a0 \u201cAdam just wants to protect Little Joe.\u00a0 Only he\u2019s never exactly got over thinking he knows best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben let out a breath in a long sigh.\u00a0 \u201cYes, I suppose that\u2019s so.\u201d\u00a0 He had likely put too much responsibility on Adam when he was too young.\u00a0 Sometimes it was hard to see his youngest as a man, and sometimes he thought he had seen his oldest as a man too soon.\u00a0 He turned to the son in front of him, his big middle son who somehow stood between his brothers and reached to both of them.\u00a0 \u201cYou really think Liza will be good for Little Joe?\u201d\u00a0 He had thought so himself, before.\u00a0 Everything had happened so fast today, he\u2019d hardly had time to work out just what he thought about it now.<\/p>\n

Though he had to admit, he liked the image of the woman defending his bedridden son, ready to hold off all comers with a pistol if need be.\u00a0 It was the kind of thing Joe\u2019s mother would have done.<\/p>\n

Hoss\u2019 face split in a wide grin.\u00a0 \u201cPa, I think she\u2019s goin\u2019 to be real good for him.\u00a0 For all of us.\u00a0 \u2018Bout time we had a woman around here, and Liza\u2019s got good sense and a good heart.\u00a0 This\u2019ll be just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ben felt himself beginning to smile too.\u00a0 Two of his sons were happy, at least.\u00a0 It was enough to be hopeful with.\u00a0 \u201cI hope you\u2019re right, son.\u00a0 I hope you\u2019re right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll see, Pa,\u201d Hoss said.\u00a0 \u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

No one paid any attention when Dave Donovan strolled into the Silver Dollar and started talking to the newest saloon girl.\u00a0 It was the most ordinary of circumstances, just a cowboy and a saloon girl sharing a drink.\u00a0 And they didn\u2019t discuss anything of importance until they were well settled into a back corner, with no one at the nearest table, and the noise of voices and tinny piano music covering their conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the sheriff let you out of jail?\u201d she observed, even though it was pretty obvious.\u00a0 He wouldn\u2019t be here if he\u2019d escaped instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that alibi worked a real treat,\u201d Donovan said, leaning back in his chair and looking as puffed with pride as though the whole plan had been his idea.\u00a0 Which it hadn\u2019t.\u00a0 \u201cStevens and me kept our mouths shut about ever even meeting each other, and since I was in jail during both shootings, they couldn\u2019t pin anything on me.\u00a0 Worked real nice to confuse things and keep me out of jail.\u201d<\/p>\n

It would have worked even better if, as intended, Joe Cartwright had died in either shooting.\u00a0 Or if Stevens had managed to avoid getting caught, leaving the sheriff with no suspects except the man who\u2019d been sitting in his jail at the time.\u00a0 That would have confused everything much better.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the sheriff doesn\u2019t suspect my involvement?\u201d she pressed further, even though surely Roy Coffee would have been in here to arrest her if he did.\u00a0 Still, best to confirm that nothing had slipped out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, no way would Stevens or me let anything slip about you when we might still be able to take Little Joe out,\u201d Donovan said, and she wondered if he realized the implication \u2013 that if Little Joe was already dead, he wouldn\u2019t have nearly as good a reason to protect her.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t expect loyalty beyond the most pragmatic kind from her allies.\u00a0 She also wouldn\u2019t give it, so that made them even, whether they realized it or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood,\u201d was all she said aloud.\u00a0 \u201cThen we can start planning our next attempt.\u00a0 Not the house this time.\u00a0 It\u2019s too well-defended.\u00a0 We\u2019ll need to catch Little Joe separated from his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, that\u2019s the way,\u201d Donovan agreed.\u00a0 \u201cWe can handle him easy, without his family to back him up.\u201d<\/p>\n

She knew better than most how deadly Joe Cartwright could be all by himself.\u00a0 But it was still a better plan than taking on the entire Cartwright clan at once.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019ll keep a watch.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll seize our next opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

18.<\/em><\/p>\n

When Liza emerged from her bedroom the next morning, Joe\u2019s door was firmly closed but she could hear voices downstairs.\u00a0 She started down the stairs and found Ben, Hoss and Adam by the front door, donning hats and gunbelts, while Hop Sing cleared breakfast dishes from the dining table.\u00a0 She was going to need to get used to earlier wakings, to adjust to ranch timing.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood morning!\u201d Hoss called up as she descended the stairs.\u00a0 \u201cLittle Joe still asleep?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think so \u2013 his door was closed,\u201d Liza said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood,\u201d Ben said, \u201cwe\u2019re letting him sleep because there will be no making him rest once he wakes up.\u00a0 We have some work to get to, but we\u2019ll make sure one of stays in shouting distance, if you need anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust breakfast, I think.\u201d\u00a0 When she had visited before, they had all gone out of their way to make sure she was escorted and entertained all the time.\u00a0 This more relaxed attitude felt somehow validating.\u00a0 More like she was simply one of them, responsible for her own time.\u00a0 Maybe they just assumed that once Joe was up, that would account for the rest of her day, but they still weren\u2019t working to bridge the gap.<\/p>\n

\u201cBreakfast is Hop Sing\u2019s department,\u201d Ben said, glancing over towards the cook.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood morning, Missy Liza!\u201d Hop Sing said from near the table, smiling broadly.\u00a0 \u201cCome, come, join Hop Sing in the kitchen.\u00a0 Have coffee, breakfast.\u00a0 You miss breakfast with family, but I save some for you.\u00a0 Not put all in front of Mister Hoss, or all will be gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDadburnit, I have to keep up my strength!\u201d Hoss protested, and they went out the front door laughing.<\/p>\n

Liza smiled too, following the Chinese cook into the kitchen.\u00a0 \u201cThank you, Hop Sing, that was very kind.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSit, sit,\u201d he urged, pointing her to a chair at the small kitchen table, and whisking around to produce a tea cup and a plate of toast, bacon and eggs.\u00a0 An empty bowl on the floor in one corner was evidence that even Bronte had made it down for breakfast ahead of her.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing very happy you have returned.\u00a0 Little Joe very sad for long time.\u00a0 Rest of family all very worried.\u00a0 So it good you have come back.\u00a0 Everyone be happy now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope so.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing set the plate in front of her with a thud and fixed her with a suddenly intent gaze.\u00a0 \u201cAll happy, if you remember one thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t as though the man was threatening<\/em>, exactly.\u00a0 But Liza did feel her shoulders tense suddenly, and she realized she may have missed something.\u00a0 She had known when she came back \u2013 before she ever left \u2013 that marrying Joe meant marrying into his family, and the Cartwrights were as tightly-knit a family as they came.\u00a0 Joe wanted to marry her and Hoss already liked her.\u00a0 She had reached some sort of d\u00e9tente at least with Adam, and she believed that Ben was open-minded and, as long as his sons were happy, would be happy too.<\/p>\n

But she had forgotten about one family member.\u00a0 Hop Sing accepted wages and had a different last name, but he was still a member of the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2026would that be?\u201d she asked carefully.\u00a0 \u201cThat I should remember?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHop Sing in charge of kitchen,\u201d he said, rapping the tabletop for emphasis.\u00a0 \u201cI cook for Cartwrights.\u00a0 I know how to run kitchen, make meals, manage house.\u00a0 You marry Little Joe, very good, but your job not to run kitchen.\u00a0 You have your own house, you do what you like, but in this<\/em> house, Hop Sing in charge of kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza let out a breath.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t sure what she had expected, but this?\u00a0 This she could handle.\u00a0 \u201cHop Sing, I can\u2019t tell you how glad I am to hear that,\u201d she said, with considerable warmth in her voice.<\/p>\n

Hop Sing blinked, apparently expecting something quite different.\u00a0 \u201cMissy Liza\u2014glad?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d she said fervently.\u00a0 \u201cYou see, I don\u2019t know how to cook.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know anything about running a kitchen.\u00a0 I could make toast, but you can\u2019t live on toast.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been living in a boarding house, and I didn\u2019t even have<\/em> a kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hop Sing seemed faintly staggered by this notion.\u00a0 \u201cWhat you eat then?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBoarding house food,\u201d Liza said heavily.\u00a0 \u201cRestaurant food.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, Missy Liza,\u201d Hop Sing said, sitting down opposite her and patting her hand.\u00a0 \u201cIt good you here now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, it is.\u00a0 And I wonder\u2014I know you\u2019re very busy, and I don\u2019t want to impose.\u00a0 But maybe you can help me with something.\u201d\u00a0 She put her other hand over Hop Sing\u2019s, and she wasn\u2019t making this up, she really did need help.\u00a0 Though if she judged Hop Sing right, this was also the best tactic to endear herself to him.\u00a0 \u201cYou see, I do want to be able to cook for Joe \u2013 in our <\/em>house, <\/em>when we have a house.\u00a0 Maybe \u2013 do you think you could teach me just a few things?\u00a0 Only if you have time, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n

She knew she\u2019d judged rightly when the man\u2019s eyes lit up.\u00a0 \u201cMissy Liza, Hop Sing teach you everything<\/em>.\u00a0 Then you know right way to do things!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you sure?\u00a0 I know I\u2019m never going to cook as well as you,\u201d Liza said, and it was probably true.\u00a0 \u201cI mean, just look at Hoss \u2013 he\u2019s basically a testament to your cooking!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrue, true,\u201d Hop Sing agreed, \u201cbut you work hard, you learn.\u00a0 Never could fatten up Little Joe, but we do our best.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlways,\u201d Liza agreed, satisfied that she could count one more family member on her side.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liza was sitting on the rocking chair on the front porch, a book in her hands, thinking more than reading, when Joe finally emerged from the house late in the morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, there\u2019s my girl,\u201d he said cheerfully, bending down to kiss the top of her hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood morning,\u201d she replied, smiling up at him, feeling the familiar flutter go through her at the sight.\u00a0 It still seemed incredible that she was here, that everything could be so right<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cBarely still morning,\u201d Joe said, stretching.\u00a0 \u201cCan\u2019t believe I slept so late.\u00a0 Or that Pa let me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou did<\/em> get shot recently,\u201d Liza pointed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure, sure,\u201d Joe said with a wave of one hand, as though this was a minor issue, easily dismissed.\u00a0 \u201cHey, let\u2019s go out for a ride before somebody in my family turns up and says I need to rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza wavered.\u00a0 \u201cI<\/em> should really be telling you to rest\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

And there went the charming Joe Cartwright smile.\u00a0 \u201cBut you won\u2019t, will you, honey?\u00a0 Come on, we\u2019ll take a buggy and a picnic blanket, that\u2019s practically resting anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should tell someone,\u201d Liza said, which was halfway to an agreement.\u00a0 \u201cI think Hoss and your father are working just behind the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo tell Hop Sing while I go hitch up the buggy,\u201d Joe said, already heading towards the barn.\u00a0 He did seem to be walking with something closer to his usual energy.\u00a0 And she really didn\u2019t have it in her to protest too much.<\/p>\n

By the time she came back out from the kitchen, vaguely reassured that Hop Sing had made only a token grumble about the plan and then filled a basket of food to press on her, Joe had the buggy out of the barn, two horses pulling and Cochise on a lead rope behind.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought you were riding in the buggy?\u201d she said, setting the basket in the back and eying Joe\u2019s pinto.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am.\u00a0 Cooch is just coming along for the exercise.\u201d\u00a0 Joe stepped closer, caught her around the waist and pulled her closer still.\u00a0 \u201cBesides, he missed you while you were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

She arched an eyebrow.\u00a0 \u201cOh, Cochise<\/em> missed me?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSure.\u00a0 It\u2019s like they say, never marry a girl your horse doesn\u2019t like.\u201d<\/p>\n

So that made Hoss, Hop Sing and Cochise on her side.\u00a0 Not too bad a team.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

19.<\/em><\/p>\n

One minute, it was a picture-perfect afternoon, out on a picnic with the girl he wanted to marry, who had even agreed to marry him too.\u00a0 While it wasn\u2019t the first time Joe\u2019d been in that situation, something he wouldn\u2019t mention to Liza for worlds, it had never felt better.<\/p>\n

Right up until a gunshot rang out, bringing Joe abruptly out of his light doze, sitting up and reaching for his gun even as he told himself it was surely only someone out hunting.<\/p>\n

His hand was barely brushing the holster when Dave Donovan\u2019s voice said, \u201cHold it there, Cartwright.\u00a0 The first one was a warning, but don\u2019t try anything.\u00a0 Take off that gun belt nice and slow.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked and found Donovan emerging out of the shadows of the pines, another, smaller man behind him.\u00a0 Joe looked at Liza, sitting next to him on the blanket, and found her looking back at him with wide eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be all right,\u201d he said, not because he had any idea how that would be true but because it was the thing to say, and very carefully unfastened his gun belt to drop it on the blanket.<\/p>\n

He set his gaze on Donovan.\u00a0 \u201cRoy already arrested Stevens.\u00a0 You could be in the clear on this whole thing, but you really think it\u2019s a good idea to get\u2026involved in this\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

His voice trailed away because he was distracted by the second person behind Donovan, the slighter one, who was pushing back a hat and\u2014\u00a0 \u201cSylvia Anne?\u201d Joe blurted.<\/p>\n

She smiled, a cold, glittering kind of smile.\u00a0 \u201cHello, Little Joe.\u00a0 So you bothered to remember me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course he remembered her.\u00a0 He remembered every girl he\u2019d liked as much as he\u2019d liked Sylvia Anne \u2013 something else he wouldn\u2019t mention to Liza.\u00a0 But Sylvia Anne stood out too for how very badly the whole affair had gone, romantically if not in other ways.\u00a0 He had been so proud to be named acting sheriff of Rubicon, and so sincere courting Sylvia Anne, the pretty mayor\u2019s daughter, even bringing her passages from Shakespeare.\u00a0 And the whole job had all been a trick, only offered to him because Sylvia Anne\u2019s father and her boyfriend wanted an incompetent sheriff who wouldn\u2019t interfere with their criminal activities.\u00a0 Sylvia Anne\u2019s interest in him had been no more genuine, just another part of the plot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI assume this is about Brock?\u201d he said, naming Sylvia Anne\u2019s boyfriend.\u00a0 Joe\u2019d outsmarted him at least, prevented his crime, though it had led to a shoot-out that ended up with Brock dead.<\/p>\n

Her lip curled.\u00a0 \u201cYes, it\u2019s about Ab Brock.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry, Sylvia Anne<\/em> \u2013 that\u2019s what you said to me.\u00a0 And then you just walked off all smiles with your family, while the man I loved lay dead in the street!\u201d<\/p>\n

He remembered that moment as more somber, and Ab Brock had died while trying to murder someone else, so it wasn\u2019t a death that weighed heavy on his conscience.\u00a0 But maybe he should have paid a little more mind to Sylvia Anne.<\/p>\n

He didn\u2019t like the way both of them were standing over him, so he carefully got to his feet, with no sudden movements that might alarm the people holding guns.\u00a0 He offered a hand to Liza, and kept holding her hand once she was standing too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am<\/em> sorry about Brock, Sylvia Anne,\u201d he offered, because who knew, maybe a little of the Joe Cartwright charm, in its most sincere brand, would get him somewhere.\u00a0 \u201cI never meant for him to be killed.\u00a0 But I had to stop him from committing murder.\u00a0 You knew that was wrong too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to stop him to save<\/em> him,\u201d Sylvia Anne said, \u201cnot so he could end up shot down!\u00a0 And did you ever even think of him again?\u00a0 Or me, after you destroyed my life?\u201d<\/p>\n

Truth was, he hadn\u2019t felt much responsibility towards Sylvia Anne, not after realizing she\u2019d only ever romanced him because it fit Brock\u2019s schemes.\u00a0 \u201cYou weren\u2019t alone.\u00a0 You still had your father.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father<\/em> is in prison,\u201d Sylvia Anne spat, \u201cfor being part of Ab\u2019s plans.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t even keep his businesses.\u00a0 And even though I ran<\/em> his saloon and hotel, all anyone could see when I tried to find a job was that I was a saloon girl<\/em>.\u00a0 And there you were off on the Ponderosa, never thinking about all the damage you\u2019d done.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a sad story, but Joe still didn\u2019t see that it was his fault, and it didn\u2019t look like apologies or sympathy was going to get him very far with her anyway.\u00a0 He changed tack and target.\u00a0 \u201cSo how\u2019d she rope you into all this?\u201d Joe asked Donovan.<\/p>\n

Donovan smiled the slow and easy smile that had seemed pleasant when they were friends and felt very ominous now.\u00a0 \u201cOh, I didn\u2019t need convincing.\u00a0 I\u2019d rather kill your family and leave you to your lonesome, but I\u2019ll settle for killing you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t hard, Little Joe,\u201d Sylvia Anne said, \u201cto find other people who wanted you dead.\u00a0 Other lives you ruined!\u201d<\/p>\n

That wasn\u2019t a line of conversation that was going to go anywhere good, so Joe kept focused on Donovan instead.\u00a0 \u201cYou know they\u2019ll pin this on you if I turn up dead,\u201d he said steadily, even as Liza\u2019s grip on his hand tightened at the words.\u00a0 \u201cStevens is in jail, so Roy\u2019s going to be looking straight at you.\u00a0 And Sylvia Anne, you might think no one will suspect you, but Donovan here\u2019ll turn on you when the cards are down.\u00a0 Take it from me, you can\u2019t trust him to be loyal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think we haven\u2019t thought of any of that?\u201d Donovan said, far too untroubled for Joe\u2019s taste.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s why we ain\u2019t just going to shoot the two of you.\u00a0 We have a plan<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s hand tightened on Liza\u2019s, but he didn\u2019t want to look at her to see how her face was taking in Donovan\u2019s words.\u00a0 \u201cLeave Liza out of it.\u00a0 Your problem\u2019s with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut she\u2019s a witness now,\u201d Sylvia Anne said, \u201cand according to the rumors in town, she\u2019s also the reason you didn\u2019t die out by the lake to begin with, which would have saved us all a lot of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

Watching Sylvia Anne, wearing men\u2019s clothes, something suddenly clicked for Joe.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019re the one who shot me, aren\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0 He had only had a glimpse of the shooter, but something that hadn\u2019t felt right came together now.\u00a0 \u201cI thought it was a small man, but it was you<\/em>.\u00a0 I should have figured it out \u2013 Stevens is too tall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd too incompetent, apparently,\u201d Sylvia Anne said.\u00a0 \u201cNow get back in your buggy.\u00a0 We\u2019re taking a little trip.\u00a0 The two of you are about to have a terrible accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

There didn\u2019t seem to be anything to do but follow directions.\u00a0 Donovan and Sylvia Anne both still had their guns out, and both were too far away to jump.\u00a0 He finally looked at Liza again, and she met his gaze with a shaky smile that wasn\u2019t convincing at all.\u00a0 But it was better than hysterical tears.\u00a0 She had been uncharacteristically silent, but if that was how she was dealing with this, well, there were worse ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be all right,\u201d he told her again, even though any way for that to happen seemed to be getting increasingly unlikely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liza eyed the dark opening of the mine, a sharp contrast to the sunny day outside.\u00a0 It was only very slightly less terrifying than the guns held by their captors.\u00a0 \u201cDo people try to kill you in mines regularly?\u201d she asked Joe, an attempt at a bravado she wasn\u2019t feeling.\u00a0 The idea had come up the last time she visited the Cartwrights too, at the Ophir Mine.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot that often,\u201d Joe said, voice steady and face grim.<\/p>\n

\u201cInside,\u201d the woman, Joe had called her Sylvia Anne, ordered, gesturing with her gun.\u00a0 \u201cStart walking, don\u2019t stop and don\u2019t look around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe shook his head but started walking, so Liza stayed in step with him, hand tightly grasping his.\u00a0 He was a Cartwright.\u00a0 They were good at this sort of thing.\u00a0 Surely, somehow\u2026<\/p>\n

They\u2019d walked perhaps a hundred paces, maybe more, when there was a thudding noise behind them.\u00a0 Joe looked back, and in the dim light Liza could see his eyes widen.\u00a0 \u201cThe bracings at the entrance\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

He ran back only a few steps before a rumble and shaking filled the entire world.\u00a0 Dust and dirt spewed from the direction of the mine entrance and Liza instinctively flung herself down, arms wrapped over her head, as though it would do any good if the mountain collapsed on top of them.<\/p>\n

But the rocks overhead, at least where they were, managed to hold, and after a terrifying interval the thunders and crashes from the entrance faded into silence, broken only by the pounding beat of her own heart.<\/p>\n

Liza slowly pushed herself up to sitting, stunned by the suddenness and the darkness.\u00a0 She\u2019d hit the rocky ground hard, but nothing seemed to be hurt in a serious way\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cLiza?\u201d\u00a0 Joe\u2019s voice, with an alarmed pitch that penetrated her brief daze \u2013 but it was such a relief to hear him too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m all\u2014\u201d\u00a0 She coughed on the dust in the air.\u00a0 \u201c\u2014all right.\u201d<\/p>\n

A rustle of movement, and then a hand brushed her shoulder.\u00a0 He pulled her towards him and she sank willingly against him, clutching the already-familiar fabric of his green jacket.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre you hurt?\u201d she asked, voice muffled against his shoulder.\u00a0 He had been a few steps closer to the disaster than she had.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d he said, firmly enough that she had to believe him, in the absence of any other evidence.\u00a0 \u201cBut\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The words trailed away, unfinished.<\/p>\n

But<\/em> the world was so black that there could be no doubt the mine entrance was blocked.\u00a0 But they were trapped here, under a mountain.\u00a0 But no one knew they were here, except for the people who had trapped them.\u00a0 But there might be no way to get out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe we should have shot them before we collapsed the entrance,\u201d Donovan said, frowning at the wall of rubble blocking the way into the mine.<\/p>\n

Sylvia Anne barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes.\u00a0 \u201cAnd then if the bodies are ever found, they have bullets in them, which defeats the whole point of making this look like an accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah\u2026but just to be sure, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they\u2019re not dead already from the roof falling in, they\u2019ll still die soon enough,\u201d she snapped.\u00a0 She wouldn\u2019t mind if it took some time.\u00a0 Why should Little Joe Cartwright have an easy death?\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re done here; let\u2019s get back to town.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t bother pointing out what was obvious to her \u2013 that the best they could do now for an alibi, just in case, was to be very visible in town today.\u00a0 If Little Joe\u2019s body was found a week from now, much better if dozens of people had seen her in the saloon the afternoon he went missing.\u00a0 Even though she didn\u2019t intend to still be in town a week from now.\u00a0 She\u2019d leave immediately, if it wouldn\u2019t be more suspicious.<\/p>\n

She had no idea what Donovan was planning to do with the rest of the day, and didn\u2019t much care.\u00a0 He could look after himself or not; it didn\u2019t matter to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll drive the wagon away from here and then turn the horses loose,\u201d Donovan said, as though they hadn\u2019t already discussed it.\u00a0 He went over to Little Joe\u2019s pinto, reached to pat the horse only to have it shy away from him.\u00a0 \u201cSure wish I could keep this one.\u00a0 Joe always put a lot of stock in this horse.\u00a0 I\u2019d sure like to have it for mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

It had been stupid of Donovan to take the horse after the first shooting, when he had an ironclad alibi.\u00a0 It would be downright suicidal now.\u00a0 This time Sylvia Anne did roll her eyes; Donovan was looking at the horse anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh well, too risky,\u201d Donovan said, and slapped the horse on the flank.\u00a0 \u201cGo on, get out of here.\u00a0 Go join some wild herd or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

As if what happened to the horse was important.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s go, then,\u201d she said impatiently, as the horse disappeared between the trees.\u00a0 \u201cThe sooner we get back to town, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Liza and Joe considered and rejected trying to explore farther into the mine.\u00a0 \u201cI remember this digging,\u201d Joe said, as they discussed the possibility.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s too small for multiple exits, and just big enough that we\u2019d get turned around in the dark and not be able to find our way back to here.\u201d\u00a0 While Liza didn\u2019t like the idea of doing nothing, wandering around in the depths of a mountain sounded terrifying.<\/p>\n

Instead of that, Joe tried to shift the rocks blocking the entrance, but it was an impossible task in the perfect blackness.\u00a0 And when rocks shifted and fell and brought new ones down, they both agreed it was too dangerous to continue.\u00a0 He was more likely to bring the ceiling down than to open up the way out.\u00a0 For someone who could see what they were doing, for someone on the outside who had tools and bracings, it could be possible to dig out, but not like this.\u00a0 Joe burned one of the three matches he\u2019d had tumbling around in a pocket to get back to where Liza was sitting against one rocky wall.<\/p>\n

The brief, flickering light was barely enough for Liza to see that he\u2019d likely been honest about being uninjured \u2013 dusty, yes, but at least with no new injuries that were readily apparent.\u00a0 He sat down beside her again just as the match burned out, and put an arm around her in the renewed darkness.\u00a0 She leaned into him, cheek against his shoulder, feeling the already-familiar cloth of his jacket.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Joe whispered, and though it was far too dark to see tears, she could hear a trace of them in his voice.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNone of this is your fault.\u201d\u00a0 She didn\u2019t fully understand the story of what had gone on in the past, between Joe and Sylvia Anne, or with Dave Donovan, but she was still firm in her conviction that Joe Cartwright could not possibly have done anything to justify all of this.<\/p>\n

But Joe\u2019s thoughts, apparently, were down a different track.\u00a0 \u201cI never should have proposed \u2013 I tried<\/em> to swear off romance, and I never should have \u2013 especially tempting fate twice<\/em>, when you\u2019d already left once\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza blinked, even though it was nearly meaningless in the darkness.\u00a0 \u201cWhat does that<\/em> have to do with any of this?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause every time<\/em> that I think, this is it, it\u2019s really going to work out this time, something goes horribly wrong!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Curse of the Cartwrights.\u00a0 The words swam back into her mind, and for just a moment she wondered if maybe, after all\u2026\u00a0 But no.\u00a0 That was ridiculous.\u00a0 Even Sam Clemens didn\u2019t really believe the story, and he was the one telling it.<\/p>\n

A little part of her wondered just how many times Joe had thought this was it<\/em> \u2013 but that kind of thinking had never been helpful, and wouldn\u2019t be now either.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe,\u201d she said, and made her voice as firm as she could manage, \u201ctell me about what happens when we get home from this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t \u2013 honey, I can\u2019t\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease, Joe.\u00a0 Tell me what happens when we get home.\u201d<\/p>\n

She both felt and heard him draw in a long, slow breath.\u00a0 \u201cWell.\u00a0 I guess \u2013 we get out of this, some way or other.\u00a0 And we go home.\u00a0 We come into the yard and, let\u2019s see, Cochise is probably already running for home, so he\u2019ll be in the barn by then, right where he\u2019s supposed to be.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll go into the house and \u2013 probably be coming up on suppertime, so Pa\u2019ll maybe be at his desk, grumbling about the accounting, and Adam\u2019ll be reading some big dusty book by the fireplace.\u00a0 Hoss\u2019ll be hanging around the table, getting into Hop Sing\u2019s way until supper\u2019s ready.\u00a0 And then\u2026we\u2019ll all sit around the table.\u00a0 And even though Hop Sing already made fried chicken once this week, we\u2019ll call it a special occasion and have fried chicken again, and it\u2019ll all\u2026it\u2019ll all be\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the way it should be,\u201d Liza finished in a whisper.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d Joe said, tightening his arm around her and pressing one cheek against the top of her head.\u00a0 They were silent for a moment, but the world felt just a little less hopeless.\u00a0 And then, in a different tone, Joe suddenly said, \u201cHey.\u00a0 Cochise is probably already running for home.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

20.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hoss frowned, stroking the velvety nose of the black and white pinto, and said, \u201cI\u2019m telling you, Adam, Cochise is upset about something.\u00a0 I think Little Joe\u2019s in some kind of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paint had come into the front yard alone just a few minutes before, moving at a steady trot, so it wasn\u2019t like he was running full speed or lathered up.\u00a0 But there was something off, the way he was tossing his head, the way he\u2019d gone straight up to Hoss where he was chopping wood instead of to the hitching rail or the barn.<\/p>\n

Adam, sitting on the porch edge, shook his head.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t know, Hoss.\u00a0 If Joe\u2019d gone out riding him, yes, it would be a bad sign if Cochise came back alone.\u00a0 But we know he took the buggy out.\u00a0 Could be he and Liza just got distracted and the horse decided to wander on home.\u00a0 And Joe won\u2019t want us interrupting his outing with Liza.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJoe\u2019d notice if Cochise was wandering off.\u201d\u00a0 Even if he was distracted by a girl, even a very special girl.\u00a0 \u201cYou know how he feels about his horse, and he brought him along on purpose even though he had the buggy.\u00a0 If he didn\u2019t stop Cochise taking off, there\u2019s gotta be a reason for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was some logic to it, the best argument he could manage to make because Adam liked logical arguments.\u00a0 And even more than logic, Hoss just had a feeling<\/em>.\u00a0 He knew his little brother, and something was wrong here.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019d been shot only a few days ago.\u00a0 It didn\u2019t make Hoss inclined to ignore uneasy feelings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna get Chub and try to backtrack Cochise,\u201d Hoss decided.\u00a0 \u201cCan you let Pa know?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam nodded slowly.\u00a0 \u201cAll right.\u00a0 I\u2019ll get Pa.\u00a0 Give us a couple minutes to saddle up Buck and Sport too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoss blinked.\u00a0 \u201cThought you didn\u2019t think anything was wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n

Adam just shrugged.\u00a0 \u201cPa\u2019s bound to get worried and want to go too.\u00a0 And I\u2019d hate to miss Pa letting into Joe for worrying him over nothing, or to miss a share of the glory when we rescue him.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was impossible to judge time in a dark mine.\u00a0 Liza sat with her head on Joe\u2019s shoulder and could only guess time was passing because the cavern seemed to be getting colder.\u00a0 The side that wasn\u2019t leaning against him felt a growing chill, until she found herself shivering.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh \u2013 here,\u201d Joe said, shifting away.\u00a0 There was a rustling of cloth, and a moment later Liza felt his jacket dropping around her shoulders.<\/p>\n

She clutched uncertainly at the corduroy.\u00a0 \u201cAre you sure?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m all right.\u00a0 It\u2019s not that cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t want him to be cold, true, but it was more than that.\u00a0 \u201cIt just \u2013 seems like a big thing, giving me your jacket.\u201d\u00a0 This<\/em> jacket, the one he wore all the time<\/em>.\u00a0 The fact that he had a dozen just like it and even this one was a replacement for the one bled on a few days ago didn\u2019t change the strangely momentous feel of the idea.<\/p>\n

There was a trace of a laugh in his voice.\u00a0 \u201cThis<\/em> is a big thing?\u00a0 I already proposed<\/em> to you, twice, but this is big?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was big too,\u201d she protested.\u00a0 \u201cI ran away before because it was too big and I didn\u2019t think you thought it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI did,\u201d he said, fortunately without apparent bitterness, \u201cand just because it had happened before doesn\u2019t mean it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe it was being trapped in a mine, maybe it was just having had a lot more time to confront the idea, but it really didn\u2019t seem to matter as much as it once had, that other women had heard proposals from Joe Cartwright before.\u00a0 She was the one he\u2019d asked now, and the one sitting here in the darkness, sliding her arms inside the sleeves of his jacket.\u00a0 \u201cI suppose,\u201d she said, making her voice light, \u201cyou\u2019ve offered your jacket to any number of girls before too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo\u2026\u201d Joe said slowly, \u201cI can\u2019t actually think of a time that I have.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah,\u201d he said, wrapping an arm around her again.<\/p>\n

It was nice to be first at something, and it would even better to be last.\u00a0 As long as it wasn\u2019t because they never got out of this mine.\u00a0 She had been trying not to let her mind go too far down that path and she tried to pull it back again, but it might have been inevitable \u2013 so it was a breath-taking relief to hear a voice from beyond the tumbled rocks, shouting, \u201cLittle Joe?\u00a0 <\/em>Can you hear me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe surged up to his feet, hollering back, \u201cWe\u2019re in here, Hoss!\u00a0 We\u2019re in here!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t worry, son, we\u2019ll get you out of there!\u201d\u00a0 Ben\u2019s voice, if the son<\/em> hadn\u2019t been tip-off enough.\u00a0 \u201cIs Liza with you?<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, we\u2019re both here \u2013 we\u2019re both all right,\u201d Joe answered.\u00a0 \u201cDid Cochise bring you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza could only shake her head when they received an affirmative response.\u00a0 It seemed that even Cartwright horses were remarkable.<\/p>\n

The Cartwrights worked with what was probably remarkable speed as well.\u00a0 It was difficult to judge time and in some ways it felt as though this last portion stretched on and on, but in reality they had the rocks moved in short order, enough at least for Joe and Liza to scramble their way out.\u00a0 Then it fell to a round of explanations, plans and an inevitable argument.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going after Donovan and Sylvia Anne, I\u2019m coming too!\u201d Joe insisted, voice hitting the highest volume yet on his third repetition of this sentiment.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoseph,\u201d Ben said sternly, \u201cyou\u2019ve been shot, trapped in a mine\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe shooting was days ago and I didn\u2019t even have any rocks fall on me!\u00a0 I\u2019m fine<\/em>!\u00a0 Ask Liza, she knows.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then suddenly everyone was looking at her.\u00a0 Liza hesitated, with a distinct presentiment that this sort of thing could be coming up a lot in the future, getting caught between what Joe wanted and what good sense actually told her.\u00a0 \u201cWell,\u201d she said slowly, \u201cit is<\/em> true we weren\u2019t under the cave-in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see?\u201d Joe said with a triumphant grin.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd,\u201d she continued, in a sop to her conscience, \u201cif we go into town, Joe can stop in to see Dr. Martin too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a good idea,\u201d Ben said, nodding.<\/p>\n

Joe was frowning, but he just sighed and said, \u201cYeah, all right, fine.\u00a0 Now let\u2019s get going before Donovan and Sylvia Anne light out for Mexico or something.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sylvia Anne was not at her most focused in the saloon that afternoon.\u00a0 As the hours wore on towards evening, the crowd grew livelier and she managed a reasonable show of joining in.\u00a0 Donovan at least seemed to be having a grand evening, with nothing more on his mind than his next glass of whisky.\u00a0 But Sylvia Anne\u2019s mind was back at the caved-in mine.\u00a0 Had Little Joe been dead since the roof fell in?\u00a0 Or was he dying right now?<\/p>\n

She had thought she\u2019d left him for dead once already, but surely this time \u2013 surely even Little Joe Cartwright couldn\u2019t fight a mountain falling on him.<\/p>\n

She tried to believe it had nothing to do with her, when Sheriff Coffee came into the saloon with one of his deputies.\u00a0 He was a proactive man when it came to law enforcement, and usually made rounds in the evening, just to see what was going on and if any trouble was brewing.\u00a0 But there was a tension in the sheriff\u2019s stance that wasn\u2019t usual, and he was scanning the crowd like he was looking, not for any general concern, but for something or someone very specific.<\/p>\n

So it wasn\u2019t entirely a shock when Ben Cartwright entered just behind the sheriff and deputy, followed by the biggest of his older sons.\u00a0 But when Little Joe came in behind them, barely more than dusty, Sylvia Anne sank down into the nearest chair, too overcome with despair and betrayal to even bother trying to come up with a new plan of escape.<\/p>\n

Donovan didn\u2019t take the same view.\u00a0 If the fool had tried to bluff his way out he might still have made it, but before the sheriff took more than two steps towards him he broke for the back stairs.\u00a0 He shoved through the crowded saloon, knocked over a table with poker chips flying, and drew his gun as he hit the stairs.\u00a0 He fired once, only shattering a bottle behind the bar, and sending most of the room diving for cover.\u00a0 Sylvia Anne didn\u2019t move from her seat; she was well out of the line of the firing, and what was the point anyway?<\/p>\n

The sheriff and Ben Cartwright both fired back, but Sylvia Anne would bet it was a Cartwright bullet that got Donovan in the leg, so that he crumpled down halfway up the stairs.\u00a0 The sheriff charged up to seize him, and Sylvia Anne rose from her seat to approach Little Joe.\u00a0 He watched her coming, his biggest brother looming glaring behind him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy are you so hard to kill<\/em>?\u201d Sylvia Anne hissed, and lifted one hand to slap him.<\/p>\n

He caught her wrist before she made contact.\u00a0 \u201cJust born lucky, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

She wrenched her hand away, even as the deputy stepped up and took her arm.\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ll be needing to come with us, miss.\u201d\u00a0 She didn\u2019t bother fighting it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry, Sylvia Anne,\u201d Joe said, voice thick with sincerity, and when she looked at his face, his eyes fairly shone with sadness.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t know why he thought that should make anything better.<\/p>\n

The deputy took her outside, and just beyond the doorway she saw the Cartwrights\u2019 oldest son, standing alongside the woman who\u2019d been on Joe\u2019s little picnic, Joe\u2019s green jacket around her shoulders.\u00a0 They must have been watching from the door.\u00a0 Of course.\u00a0 Nice<\/em> girls like this didn\u2019t go into saloons, and girls who did go into saloons, even if their father owned the business, even if they were basically running the saloon, couldn\u2019t be nice.<\/p>\n

Sylvia Anne halted in front of the girl and the deputy didn\u2019t immediately tug her on.\u00a0 \u201cHe destroys the people around him, you know,\u201d Sylvia Anne spat.\u00a0 \u201cHe\u2019ll get you too.\u00a0 He\u2019ll break your heart or you\u2019ll wind up dead.\u00a0 People are always dying around Little Joe Cartwright.\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl didn\u2019t appear bothered by the idea.\u00a0 \u201cYou know, I\u2019ve had my life threatened three times already since I met him.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t think that was Joe\u2019s fault.\u00a0 And if there really is some kind of curse \u2013 some people are worth taking a risk for.\u00a0 I tried running away already, and I\u2019m not trying it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

She glanced then at the oldest Cartwright son, who was looking thoughtful.\u00a0 \u201cThis all might work out then,\u201d he said quietly.<\/p>\n

Sylvia Anne did not care even the slightest particle whether things all worked out<\/em> for the Cartwrights, and the deputy was pulling her on now anyway.\u00a0 Which was fine.\u00a0 Because apparently all she could hope for at this point was to never see any of them again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

21.<\/em><\/p>\n

Arresting Sylvia Anne Goshen and Dave Donovan seemed to bring a close, remarkably quickly in fact, to the whole unpleasant affair.\u00a0 Once they were both in jail cells alongside Bob Stevens, all three were quick to turn on each other, giving Sheriff Coffee all the information he needed and then some, as well as the assurance that no one else was mixed up in the plot and still at large.\u00a0 The Cartwrights seemed prepared to move on at once, and Liza was also relieved to turn away from it all and towards the future instead \u2013 although that was a little daunting too, when Ben announced the next morning that he\u2019d like to talk to her and Joe.<\/p>\n

Liza studied Ben covertly while Joe pulled a couple of chairs over to the front of his father\u2019s desk \u2013 positioning them close enough to hold hands while they sat \u2013 and if the Cartwright patriarch had reservations about her, he was hiding it well.\u00a0 Everything seemed to be goodwill and pleasant expectations.<\/p>\n

Ben clasped his hands on the desk, smiling at both of them.\u00a0 \u201cAs I\u2019m sure you both recognize, getting married is a very big step indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s fingers tightened around hers, and Liza glanced at him \u2013 but he was looking at his father, and only said, \u201cYes, sir,\u201d in an even tone.\u00a0 But she wondered what they\u2019d said to each other when she wasn\u2019t around.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that means a great deal of planning,\u201d Ben continued, \u201cnot just for a wedding but for life after.\u00a0 Fortunately, we have a few resources we can call on.\u00a0 As you already know, Joseph, I always intended to leave the Ponderosa to my three sons some day, when I\u2019m gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHey, don\u2019t talk that way, Pa,\u201d Joe protested.\u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019ll be decades from now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we can hope so,\u201d Ben allowed.\u00a0 \u201cBut I also know that young people starting out like to have some independence for themselves.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve always considered that if one of you boys got married, we could set you up with your own piece of land.\u00a0 Of course we can still be good neighbors, but you could run your own ranch your own way.\u00a0 What do you think about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe glanced at Liza, who gave him a slight nod.\u00a0 They had talked this over yesterday, out picnicking, before the more dramatic later events had overtaken them.\u00a0 They\u2019d even talked about it months ago, before anyone was talking seriously about marriage.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, Pa,\u201d Joe said slowly, \u201cwe\u2019ve decided that\u2019s not really what we want.\u00a0 The Ponderosa is kind of a family business, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 And a family responsibility.\u00a0 And I\u2019m a Cartwright, and Liza\u2019s about to become one, and we don\u2019t want to carve off a piece of the Ponderosa for ourselves.\u00a0 We want to live and work on the Ponderosa as<\/em> the Ponderosa, working with you and Hoss and Adam.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a long moment before Ben spoke, but Liza could see the way the older man\u2019s shoulders were slowly relaxing as a smile came onto his face.\u00a0 \u201cDo you know, Little Joe, I think that\u2019s a wonderful idea,\u201d he said at last.\u00a0 \u201cNot what I was expecting, but a wonderful idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to build our own house, though,\u201d Joe said, and brought up a grin.\u00a0 \u201cAnd I\u2019ll need a raise on my wages, Pa.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m not giving you room and board anymore, I suppose that\u2019s reasonable,\u201d Ben said heartily.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not going to cut me off from Hop Sing\u2019s cooking, Pa?\u201d Joe said in tones of mock horror.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I expect to see you two at dinner regularly.\u00a0 Now where are you thinking you\u2019d like to build a house?\u00a0 Got a lot of land to choose from.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know that little meadow, a couple miles north, by the edge of the lake?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat one where you go to brood?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s face twisted while Liza tried to stifle her laughter.\u00a0 \u201cI don\u2019t brood<\/em>,\u201d Joe protested.\u00a0 \u201cAnyway, I think<\/em> on the rock, not in the meadow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very pretty spot for a house,\u201d Ben said, glancing at Liza.\u00a0 \u201cAnd it will make things easy if you need to kick him out of the house when he gets sulky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even Joe managed a chuckle then.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re sure you want somewhere so close, though?\u201d Ben asked.\u00a0 \u201cWe have a big spread out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut who wants to ride twenty miles just to go to supper?\u201d Liza pointed out.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr to start work in the morning,\u201d Joe added.<\/p>\n

Ben rubbed his hands together.\u00a0 \u201cWell, then.\u00a0 I think this is going to work out just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

They talked through more plans, immediate ones and long-term ones, for a wedding and a honeymoon and a house.\u00a0 And if Ben Cartwright had any doubts about her marrying his son, Liza felt some reassurance that he was at least burying it under a multitude of apparently enthusiastic, well-intended plans.<\/p>\n

As the conversation seemed to be reaching an end, Joe flashed his father what Liza already recognized as his most winning smile and said, \u201cSeems like maybe Liza and I should go out to the meadow and start planning where we\u2019d put a house, don\u2019t you think?\u00a0 Best use of the day, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly Ben had been seeing through his son\u2019s charm for years, but he smiled and said, \u201cAll right, get out of here, you young scamp.\u00a0 But don\u2019t overdo it.\u00a0 You were<\/em> shot recently, remember.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe jumped to his feet, seizing Liza\u2019s hand.\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Pa.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t that bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether to prove that or just to get out of sight before Ben could change his mind, Joe seemed determined to make it a rapid exit.\u00a0 They were well-down the path behind the house before Liza caught her breath again from running and laughter.\u00a0 She kept smiling as she thought back on the conversation.\u00a0 \u201cI think your father really liked the idea of you still working on the Ponderosa.\u00a0 It\u2019s funny, though, I don\u2019t think it even occurred to him we might go somewhere else instead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe looked faintly puzzled.\u00a0 \u201cGo where?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know \u2013 San Francisco.\u00a0 New Orleans.\u00a0 New York.\u00a0 Anywhere.\u201d\u00a0 The puzzled look didn\u2019t seem to be lifting from Joe\u2019s face, and Liza laughed.\u00a0 \u201cIt didn\u2019t occur to you either, did it?\u201d<\/p>\n

He shrugged, tugged her hand to pull her closer, and with a smile that had a little edge to it she didn\u2019t know how to read, he said, \u201cI guess I\u2019m just Ponderosa through and through.\u201d<\/p>\n

She reached up with her free hand and touched his face.\u00a0 \u201cWhy did that make you sad?\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked away.\u00a0 \u201cIt didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Not exactly.\u00a0 Just\u2014someone I used to know said that to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clay.\u00a0 Liza would have bet money he meant Clay, just from the way he said that.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t talked about Joe\u2019s half-brother.\u00a0 No one had even mentioned him, but she had known they\u2019d have to, probably sooner than later.\u00a0 It was in some ways even more daunting than entering a dark mine, but maybe it was best to just plunge in.\u00a0 \u201cWas it your brother Clay?\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe actually stopped walking to stare at her.\u00a0 \u201cHow did you guess \u2013 how do you even know<\/em> about him?\u00a0 Did Hoss say something?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 Liza took a careful breath.\u00a0 \u201cRemember I said that a friend told me I should come back and talk to you again?\u00a0 It was Clay.\u00a0 Clay came to see me in San Francisco, to tell me it wasn\u2019t too late if I wanted to come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cClay,\u201d Joe said flatly, and then his face twisted into a frown.\u00a0 \u201cWhy would he care?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he\u2019s your brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother who left<\/em>,\u201d Joe said, with a bitterness Liza had never heard in his voice before.\u00a0 \u201cAnd when I offered to go with him, to give up everything else, he just wanted to get rid of me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Liza didn\u2019t know exactly what had happened between Joe and his brother, but she thought she could see how a few of these pieces fit together.\u00a0 \u201cBecause you\u2019re Ponderosa through and through, like he said.\u00a0 Clay knew you belonged here.\u00a0 I think\u2026\u201d\u00a0 She hesitated, because she didn\u2019t know for sure, but it just seemed to make sense.\u00a0 \u201cI think he was trying to do the best thing by you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know him.\u00a0 You barely met him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u00a0 I talked to him for all of five minutes, but he still managed to tell me that he loves you.\u201d\u00a0 Another piece slipped into place.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe he wanted me to come back partly so I\u2019d tell you that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joe was silent for a long moment.\u00a0 But he resumed walking again, and finally, with eyes suspiciously bright, he said, \u201cThanks.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know that.\u201d\u00a0 He sighed, a slow breath, and asked, \u201cDo you know where he is?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u00a0 It seemed like he was leaving San Francisco, and he didn\u2019t say where he was going.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFigures,\u201d Joe muttered, then seemed to shake some darker mood off.\u00a0 With a probably deliberate shift in tone, he said, \u201cYou know, when he said that about me being Ponderosa, we\u2019d been talking about you.\u00a0 I think I\u2019d just said something about how you were as pretty as snow on pine trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, really?\u201d Liza said, a smile growing on her face.<\/p>\n

\u201cI may have had a few drinks at the time, possibly explaining the ridiculousness of\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, I like that about you, honey,\u201d Joe said, leaning in, a breath away from a kiss.\u00a0 \u201cYou seem to like all my most ridiculous qualities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The End<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For those who enjoy knowing episode references, Clay appeared in \u201cThe First-Born,\u201d Dave Donovan is from \u201cThe Quest,\u201d and Sylvia Anne was in \u201cThe Tin Badge.\u201d\u00a0 Bob Stevens and Danny Kidd tangled before in \u201cThe Friendship.\u201d\u00a0 Adam fell for Ruth, the Shoshone spirit woman (sort of), in \u201cThe Savage,\u201d and Helen Layton broke Hoss\u2019 heart in \u201cThe Courtship.\u201d The show never explains how Joe\u2019s jacket always appears undamaged after shootings, rips and getting lost at least twice, but my story \u201cThe Man in Green<\/a>\u201d is all about how he ended up with a dozen identical jackets in his closet, ready for whenever they\u2019re needed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Old friends and enemies from Joe\u2019s past return to up-end the Cartwrights\u2019 lives.\u00a0 One wants to marry Joe, while others want to kill him.\u00a0 With Ben away, the Cartwright sons \u2013 with a little help \u2013 will have to figure out who is targeting Joe, and how to keep the culprit from finishing the job. Part of my continuing Lady in the House AU series.
\nRating: PG | Word Count: 44,082<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12522,"featured_media":64636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[2,7,23,1008,3,13],"tags":[1342,1327],"class_list":["post-64634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actionadventure","category-a-u","category-drama","category-family","category-romance","category-whn","tag-the-artist","tag-the-quest","wpcat-2-id","wpcat-7-id","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-1008-id","wpcat-3-id","wpcat-13-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/S04.03_Artist-1.jpg?fit=1591%2C1189&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12522"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/64636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}