LOST AND FOUND – PART VI
By D. G. Fisher
UNJUST
Chapter
46
Early the
next morning, Adam came into the front room, yawned, and stretched. Both he and
Matt had been up all night with Thea, doing everything they could to ease her
pain without the use of morphine and it had been a very long night.
Matt poured
them both a cup of coffee and handed one to him when he moved to stand beside
Adam at the front window.
The two men
stood and watched the sun come up as the street before them came to life.They
were just about to turn away when Adam noticed a growing crowd of people in
front of
“Something’s
up,” Adam said.He stood there thinking for a bit then turned away to put his
gun belt on. He tied down the holster, just in case.
After
refilling his cup, he came back to stand next to Matt again. As the two men
continued to watch, the crowd parted and
“Uh oh,
this doesn’t look good,” Matt said.
Adam turned
away, walked over to Thea’s desk then leaned his hips back against it.“No Matt,
it doesn’t,” he answered, and continued to drink his coffee as they waited.
He raised
his hands, “Now all of you can’t come in here.”
Aaron
Mueller, an almost exact copy of his brother Abe stuck out his chin and glared
at the sheriff.“You can’t keep me outta there.I want to hear what that
bastard’s got to say.”
When he
went in Aaron was right behind him, practically walking up his heels. The
sheriff turned and gave the man an irritated look saying, “Shut the door.”
Mueller blinked at him a few times then did as he was told.
Adam was
still leaning against the desk and Matt had moved to stand beside him.
“Good
morning,” Matt said to
“Morning
Matt, Adam,”
Adam nodded
his head at the sheriff. “What’s this about,
Mueller’s
face turned a deep red. “As if you didn’t know!” he said loudly.
Pinning the
other man with a hard stare Adam said, “Keep your voice down, I don’t want my
wife disturbed.”
The other
man continued to glare, but shut his mouth.
“Adam,”
“You don’t seem surprised,”
“Very few things surprise me anymore
Seething
with anger Mueller shouted, “What the hell do you mean by that?”
“I told you
to stay out of this,”
Adam looked
impassively at the older man for a moment. Then in the blink of an eye his gun
appeared in his hand.
“That
doesn’t mean anything,” Mueller started to say, but then clenched his teeth in
frustration and stopped when
“Were you
here all night?” the sheriff asked Adam.
“Yes.”
“Can anyone
verify that?”
“I can,”
Thea said and the four men turned to her. Both Roy and Aaron stared, deeply
shocked; she looked even worse than she had the day before.
Her
half-open eyes fastened on Mueller with contempt, “This is what your brother
did to me.”She held up her heavily bandaged hands.“Would you like me to take
off my robe so you can see the rest of his work?” Thea said sarcastically.
Mueller
turned red again and hung his head to stare at the floor.
Adam was
giving Thea an admonishing look for what she had said. “Theadora, come here.”
She slowly
and painfully walked up to him and he stood to carefully take her in his
arms.“I was here all night with Thea, Roy.None of us got any sleep at all,” he
said looking at the sheriff over his wife’s head.
Matt spoke
up, “That’s true.”
Thea turned
her head to say over her shoulder, “He’s been with me the whole time.”
Mueller’s
head snapped up, “They’re lying!”
Thea turned
around to stare furiously at the sheriff, “Do you actually believe Adam would
do something like that?”
“No, I
don’t, but I still have to do my job,”
Adam put
his hands on her shoulders to turn her back to him. “
Thea nodded
as he let go and stepped around her to move toward the door.
“Where are
you going?”
“With you,”
Adam answered him with a puzzled look. “I AM under arrest, aren’t I?”
“Then let’s
go before the entire town is standing out there.” He opened the door and stood
there waiting.
“I’m not going out that door until HE does,” Adam said firmly.
Aaron was
still staring at Thea, but he turned away and started for the door.
“Mueller,”
Thea said softly and he stopped. All four men looked at her. “If you so much as
touch one hair on my husband’s head you better be prepared to be looking over
your shoulder for the rest of your life. No matter how long,
OR SHORT, that time may be.”
She looked
the man over with cold eyes then turned away to carefully walk back to the
treatment room.Matt was right behind her.
The three
men watched her go then Adam looked down at
Mueller was
shaking with rage and slammed the door shut as hard as he could. Adam smiled to
himself as he and
Not seeing
anything else of significance he moved to the next cell, unlocked the door, and
stepped inside.He turned to toss the key ring to
“Try to
keep it down out there
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No more
than an hour later the din of voices raised in anger woke him. He opened his
eyes and sighed; his friends and family had gathered together sooner than he
had expected. Staring at the ceiling he sighed again, then sat up as he swung
his legs over the side of the bunk.He sat there scrubbing his hands across his
face and yawned again.
He stood to
walk over to the bars and leaned on them with one shoulder. Pa, Joe, Hoss, and
three of his four deputies were all yelling at
Everyone
instantly shut up and turned to look at him. “Hey, I’m trying to get some sleep
back here,” Adam said then laughed at their expressions.Almost as one, the
entire group rushed up to the cell and everyone except Ben started talking at
once again.
“Quiet!” he
shouted and looked at Hoss first, “How’s Thea?”
“Madder
than a wet hen, but Matt says she’s all right,” Hoss answered him.
“Good.Nate
where’s John?”
“Waiting
for the district judge to get here, he’s trying to get you released.”
“I
appreciate his efforts, but it’s not going to work. The judge won’t sign the
order before the prosecuting attorney gets here to either contest it or agree.
Let’s just hope it’s not Dave Jefferson’s turn to represent the people this
time.”
“Is he the
attorney that sent those men to take Olivia back to
Adam
nodded, “If it is, this will not be resolved quickly. He’ll use whatever he can
think of to further his career and make me suffer as long as he can for
revenge.Dave’s always been like that.”
“I don’t
understand this,” Joe said, “Both Thea and Matt said you never left the office,
so what are you doing in here?”
“What Thea
said won’t be taken into account – she’s my wife. But Matt will have to be
questioned by the prosecuting attorney before I can be released or indicted.”
He looked toward the door when he heard it open. John came in and walked toward
the group in front of Adam’s cell.
The young
man’s face showed his frustration and disappointment at not being able to get
the order for Adam’s release. He stopped to look up at his boss.“I’m sorry,” he
simply said.
Adam smiled
at him, “Don’t worry, John.You had to try even though you didn’t have a hope in
hell of it working.” John smiled back for a moment, but then his smile faded.
“I found
out who the prosecutor will be,” he said quietly.
“Don’t tell
me, Dave Jefferson.”
John shook
his head, “No, it’s even worse – Roger Fowler.”
Adam let
his head fall forward and banged his forehead on the bars.
“When did
that crook get back on the circuit?” Nate asked.
“Two weeks
ago,” John answered.
“Damn,”
Adam said then looked up at his father. “
“Who’s
Roger Fowler?” Ben asked, alarmed by what his oldest
son had said.
“Only the slimiest, most corrupt attorney you would ever NOT want to meet,” Adam answered him.
“Adam helped to investigate him years ago, but he paid a lot of people off and witnesses disappeared so he never was prosecuted. But he WAS demoted and still holds him responsible,” Nate explained.
“Damn,”
Adam said again, “I wouldn’t put it past him to manufacture evidence against
me.”
Mike spoke
up, “Then I guess we will just have to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
John looked at him with a scowl. “And just how are we supposed to do THAT genius?”
Mike looked
at Adam and when their eyes met they both laughed.
“It’s
simple – all we have to do is find out who really did it before Fowler gets
here,” Mike said.
“Gee, why
didn’t I think of that?” John said sarcastically as Adam shook his head.
“Well boys,
you have your assignment. Find out who did this before I hang for it.” The
other three deputies stared back at him dismayed. “And if I were you, I’d start
by taking a look in that cell and the area under the window outside,” he
prodded them. Nate and John went into the next cell while Mike and Dylan went out
the back door.
Adam raised
his eyes to heaven then looked at his father. “Pa, I need your help.I want Matt
to be sure to retrieve the bullet that killed Mueller before anything is done
with the body.He’s the only doctor available to do the post-mortem so it
shouldn’t be a problem.”
“Anything
else?” his father asked, ready to go do as Adam requested.
“No, not
right now, but I’m sure I’ll think of something later.”
“I’ll be
back,” Ben said and hurried away.
“Now, as
for you two," Adam said to Hoss and Joe, "I need you to go out there
and talk to as many people as you can. Somebody must have seen something and
maybe they don’t even realize that what they saw was important.But be careful
and let them know we would ‘appreciate’ their help without actually saying a
reward has been offered.” He paused for a moment, “Do
you think you can handle that?’
Joe and
Hoss were nodding as Mike and Dylan came back inside.
“Whoever
shot Mueller must have been short. You can see that something was dragged under
the window then dragged away,” Mike reported.
“Good,”
Adam said.“Get
“Whoever
the short person was, they must have been one hell of a shot. The angle from
the window to the bunk is difficult to begin with, but to hit him with one
fatal shot to the head is amazing.”
“So we’re
looking for a short sharp-shooter,” Adam grinned. “That person shouldn’t be too
hard to find.”
His
deputies grinned back as he turned to his brothers.
“Well,
that’s another thing you can see if anyone has something to say about around
town,” Adam said.“You better both get moving, we don’t have a lot of time to work with.”
“We’ll do
our best,” Hoss said and the two of them left.
“I’m sure
you would have noticed too,
The sheriff
looked back at the man in the cell and said, “I don’t care who solves this or
how – I just want to see you walk out of there a free man.”
“Thank
you,” Adam said and held his right hand out to the sheriff through the bars.
“You’re
welcome,”
The four
deputies stood in a line in front of Adam and waited for him to speak.He
surprised them by saying, “John, if you are going to be my legal representative
you need to withdraw from this investigation right now. I’m sure the acting
director will grant your request.” It took a moment for Nate to realize he was
now the acting director.
“Uh, sure,”
he said as Adam shook his head.
“Since you
are no longer on active duty as of this moment, John, I want you to go to my
house and keep an eye on things there. I also want you three to keep checking
on Thea. Not only to keep her safe, but to keep her out of trouble. If I know
my wife, and I do, she should be up to something soon. Even her injuries won’t
slow her down.”
Realizing
Adam was finished the four men started toward the door, but turned back when he
spoke again..
“Hey, you
idiots be careful.Dealing with family members bent on revenge is the most
dangerous thing you can get into.”
“We will,”
Nate said and the other three just smiled at him before filing out the door.
Adam looked
at
“Did Matt
get the bullet?”
“Yes, he
had it already when I got there, and you’re not going to believe this.That
bullet came from a rifle,” Ben said and watched his son’s expression change as
he got that faraway look in his eyes.He turned away from his father and began
to pace in his cell, deep in thought.
Ben and Roy
glanced at each other. “Does he do this much?”
“Constantly,”
Ben answered.“We better sit down, this could take a while.”
But the two
men had no sooner sat down than Adam stopped pacing and said; “It fits.I
thought I was crazy for thinking this, but if my memory is correct then I know
who killed Abe.” He looked at his father, “But no one will ever believe it.”
“Why not?”
Ben asked.
“I’ll
explain that later,” Adam said. “Bring that chair over here,
I need to poke around in your memory.”He sat down cross-legged on the end of
the bunk facing the bars. Ben brought his chair over and sat down facing him.
They leaned toward each other and Adam spoke first.
“Now I seem
to remember a story I’ve heard only a few times about a death by shooting that
occurred around forty years ago….”
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Thea was
much more than irritable. She was furious because she felt completely useless,
unable to help her husband.All she could manage to do was pace for a little bit
until the pain in her ribs threatened to make her pass out.She had finally
driven Matt out of his own office, and she had done it on purpose.
As soon as
the door closed behind him she started to swear under her breath. She cursed
Abe Mueller with every objectionable word she had ever heard and in every
language she knew. The list was formidable.She finally stopped for breath and
jumped, badly startled when she heard a voice coming from the doorway.
Turning
around she saw two petite old women, so old they almost looked exactly alike.
“My
goodness Sadie,” the one with blue eyes said, “I haven’t heard language like
that since my Abner passed on.”
“I don’t
think I’ve EVER heard language like that, Hannah,” the woman with brown eyes
said admiringly.
“She does
do that very well, don’t you think?” Hannah said and smiled at Thea.
Sadie
nodded and Thea smiled as best she could. “Can I help you?”
“We’ve come
to help you, dear.”Sadie looked at Hannah and their smiles disappeared. “You
see, I’m Gretchen’s mother and Hannah here is Abraham’s mother.”
The younger
woman’s face lost all expression, and she didn’t respond.
“We have
something to tell you, but you have to promise first that you’ll do what we
say.It’s the only way we can think of to keep any more killing from happening,
especially that handsome husband of yours.”
Thea looked
intently from one old face to the other a few times and decided they were
really trying to help.She moved slowly behind her desk and painfully sat down,
then rested her misshapen hands on the desktop.“I promise,” she said and the
two women pulled chairs in front of her desk and sat down.
“We’ve been
hearing the men in our family talking about taking this situation into their
own hands,” Hannah said, her blue eyes sparking with anger.
Sadie
sighed, “And Aaron is the one that’s stirring them up.”
Hannah
nodded, “I hate to say it, but my boys have been nothing but a disappointment to
me for most of my life,” she said sorrowfully. “It’s all
their father’s fault, you know. He taught those boys to be just like
him, then died leaving me to try and keep them in
line. But nothing ever worked with those two.”
“Shouldn’t
we be telling
“No, dear.”
Sadie shook her head, “Men started this mess and as usual, it’ll be women who
are going to clean it up.”
The two old
women leaned forward in their chairs and began to explain to Thea what they
wanted her to do.
By the time
they were finished Thea was looking at them with respect. “You’re right, this is the only way we can stop them without anyone
else getting hurt.”
“We hope
so,” Hannah looked closely at Thea. “Oh Sadie, it just tears my heart out to
see what Abe did to this pretty face.”She hung her head.
“I’m sure
it does,” Sadie said and put her arm around the other woman’s shoulders.“Many’s the time I’ve seen my own daughter looking like
that.”
Hannah
sniffed and looked up at Thea again. “I’m so sorry he did this to you, child.
But he won’t be doing anything to any other helpless woman again now.”
“I’m
sorry,” Thea said quietly.
“No reason
for you to be sorry, you didn’t do anything,” Hannah said, as she seemed to
pull herself together. “And neither did that husband of yours.”
“I know,”
the younger woman smiled at them. “You just leave the rest of this to me,” she
said. “And please stop by the post office as soon as possible on your way home
and ask Barbara to come see me.”
“We will,”
Sadie said and Thea just sat there while the two women left, leaning on each
other.She shook her head as she moved to the office window. The two of them had
just started to cross the street and Thea watched impatiently as they slowly
made their way across, up the sidewalk, and finally entered the post office.
A moment later Barbara came hurrying out the door. Thea turned and went back to her
desk.
When her
friend burst through the front door Thea tried to smile again as the other
woman hurried toward her. “Has something else happened?What’s going on?”
“Nothing
has happened – yet – and that’s what I need your help with.” Thea nodded to one
of the chairs in front of the desk. Slightly out of breath Barbara dropped into
one and looked at the other woman expectantly.
“The
Muellers are planning on breaking into the jail and dragging Adam off to hang
him.”
Barbara
jumped up, “Then what the hell are we sitting here for!”
“Because
Hannah Mueller and Sadie Sharpe would only tell me if I promised to take care
of this their way.”
The other
woman narrowed her eyes as she slowly sat back down. “And just what is ‘their’
way?”
“Ah, that’s
where YOU come in.I need you to be my messenger,” Thea said and proceeded to
tell Barbara the plan the two old ladies had come up with. By the time she was
finished Barbara was smiling and nodding her head.
“Well, I
guess I better get moving. I’ll report back as soon as I can,” the tall woman
said and rushed out the door.
Thea sat
back as she closed her eyes and gritted her teeth against the pain in her
ribs.When she opened her eyes Matt was standing near the open door. “Is it safe
to come in?” he said and Thea nodded.
“I’m
sorry,” she said and tried to stand, but couldn’t.
He came
forward to help her up and tugged her toward the other room. “You need to lay down, you’re not going to get any better like this.”
“I know,
but I’ll have plenty of time for that after Adam is free.”
He looked
down at the battered woman in his arms who could
hardly stand and said, “And just what do you think you can do about it in this
condition?”
Thea
laughed very softly, “You’d be surprised, Matt. Believe me, you’d be
surprised.”
**************************************************************************************************************************************
ALLIES
Chapter
47
Evening had
come and the sheriff’s office was empty except for Adam in his cell.Lying on
his back in his bunk, he had his hands stacked behind his head and was thinking
hard about Abe’s murder and the story he had remembered – the story his father
had verified earlier in the day.
His memory
had been correct.Forty years ago a man had been shot and killed while in bed
asleep. His wife had been next to him, but remained unharmed. She had been left
with two girls to raise and the murder had never been
solved.
One girl
had married a man named Mueller and the other a man named Sharpe. And now
Hannah Mueller’s son had also been murdered in a strikingly similar manner.Of
course this had to be much, much more than a coincidence.
Adam heard
the front door open and he sat up to see Hannah and Sadie enter. He instantly
became fully alert, not completely sure what this visit was about.He got to his
feet and went to stand by the bars.
Smiling he
said, “Ladies, what brings you out tonight?”
The two
elderly women smiled back. “We came to see you, Adam,” Hannah said.
Sadie
nodded, “After all, it’s our fault you’re in here.
Adam stared
at them for a moment, then slowly smiled.He took the key he had stolen from
Roy’s key ring when he had locked himself in earlier in the day from a pocket,
unlocked the door then held it open for them. The two women chuckled at his
cleverness, came in, and settled themselves on his bunk.
Adam
remained standing in front of them as he asked, “So how is it your fault that
I’m in here?”He looked down at them with one brow raised and a half smile.
The one
woman poked the other in the ribs with an elbow, “Would you look at that
innocent expression, Sadie.” Hannah chortled.
“My land,
he looks as though butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.”
They
laughed together then Sadie continued, “Better sit yourself down, sonny, we need to tell you a thing or two.”
Adam
laughed himself and left the cell to bring back a chair. He set it down backward,
straddled it, and leaned on the back as he grinned at the two bright-eyed
women.
“Before you
start, please answer one question for me. Which one of you actually shot your
father?”
“I told you
he was a smart one,” Sadie laughed, “and handsome as the devil, too.”
Hannah
smiled at her sister, “Usually a looker like him doesn’t have enough smarts to
get in out of the rain. That Thea is a lucky girl.”
Adam’s
brows rose, “You’ve been to see my wife?”
“Just this
afternoon,” Sadie answered. “And what a terrible thing Abraham did to her,” she
shook her head.
“What are
you three up to?” he asked anxiously, now that he knew Thea was involved.
“Saving
your life and getting you out of jail.” Hannah answered him.
“And as for
my father,” Hannah continued, “you’ll just have to go on wondering. We’ve never
told a single soul and we never will.”
Sadie
leaned toward him then, “You need to understand that Poppa was beating Momma
something awful.There was no one who would help so we decided to take care of
it ourselves.”
“Oh, he was
a terrible man,” Hannah sighed, “and somehow I married a man almost exactly
like him.I never have understood that.”She shook her head bewildered.
“Tweren’t
your fault,” Sadie consoled her sister, “You didn’t know what he was hidin’
from you.”
Hannah
shrugged, “Doesn’t matter now.”
Adam
suddenly sat up straighter - something had occurred to him. “Wait a minute.If
Abe and Gretchen are your children than that means they are first cousins.” He
couldn’t help an expression of distaste from passing over his face.
“Oh no, dear. We really aren’t sisters we were just raised that way. We’re only
cousins, but Sadie here had no family left after her Momma died, so my Momma
took her in and we’ve been sisters in our hearts ever since.”
Adam
nodded, his sharp eyes looking at them expectantly. “Can you tell me why you
did it?Why you killed Abraham?”
Sadie and
Hannah glanced at each other and when they turned back to him their eyes were
bright with anger.
“He was
killing our grandchildren,” Sadie said simply while Hannah remained silent.In a
moment she hung her head and he could see tears falling.Sadie put her arms
around her and tried to comfort her life-long friend.
When her
tears finally stopped Hannah raised her head to look at Adam. “I brought that
monster into this world and I sent him out again. I should have done it sooner,
but I was too weak. Him attacking your wife was the
last straw for us. He had to be stopped, just like Poppa.”
Not in the
least bit shocked, Adam looked at the two elderly women with respect and
compassion.They had refused to be victims, even though the act of killing the
two men was against the law he couldn’t find it in his heart to condemn them
for it. They had done what they felt they had to do to stop the killing of the
innocent.
All three
of them looked up when they heard
“What’s
going on here?”
“A confession
of sorts,” Adam replied, not looking at
“Oh yes, we
confess everything freely and completely” Hannah said to
“But we
don’t really have time to go over that again,” Sadie said. “Aaron and six of
his cousins will be here soon to take Adam away and hang him.”
“What!”
Hannah
shocked the sheriff by chuckling. “But you don’t have to worry about that, I’m
sure Thea has taken care of everything by now.”
“Oh God,”
Adam said as he stood and looked around frantic with the idea of Thea being in
danger again.
Sadie was just about to reassure him when the front door opened and Barbara came in with Thea leaning heavily on her arm.
Adam
breathed a sigh of relief at seeing her then was out of the cell and picking
her up in his arms in only a few seconds. He carried her back then put her down
on the chair he had been sitting in. He went down on one knee in front of her
and looked up into her face anxiously.
“Are you
alright?” he said noting how her complexion had started to take on a grayish
cast and her eyes were dark with pain.
She nodded
and automatically put out a hand to touch him, but then let her misshapen hands
fall limply back into her lap again. “I’ll be fine once you are out of here and
safe,” she said then looked toward the front door when it opened and three
women came in. No sooner had they closed the door and moved into the center of
the room than it opened again as two more came in.
Adam stood
and looked at the women with narrowed eyes, then back to his wife’s face.She
just smiled at him and shrugged as six more women came in. Then he started to
get the idea and couldn’t help but laugh at the cleverness of their plan.
A steady
stream of women was filling the room and the overflow began to move into the
cell.Barbara had pulled down the shades on all the windows and the room
remained reasonably quiet as the women only spoke in hushed voices.
When the
stream finally stopped Barbara stepped up on a chair and they all turned to
her.“Ladies, they should be here very soon, so please no more talking, stay
alert, and stick with the plan.We can pull this off if we just remember the aim
here is that no one else gets hurt.” The crowd of women nodded almost as one
then turned to face the back door, which had been unlocked and left only
partially closed.
Adam moved
to stand in front of Thea to shield her if anything should go wrong, but she
would have none of that and rose to step forward and stand beside him.He put
his arm around her shoulders and encouraged her to lean into him. She did, and
they all waited in silence.
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When
Mueller and his men reached the back door to the jail they immediately saw that
it wasn’t completely closed. Without stopping to think as usual, Aaron shoved
it open and the seven men rushed inside.The women were waiting and ready.
Each man
was grabbed and pulled into the crowd, his weapon taken, and then he was pushed
and shoved to keep him off balance until each one stumbled into the open area
by the front door.
When the
crowd spit the last man out, all movement ceased and the women just watched the
men with impassive faces for a few moments waiting to see what their reactions
would be.The men stared back, unable to believe what had just happened.
At some
unseen signal, the crowd of women parted and Aaron saw his mother standing in
the cell doorway.Adam was right behind her with his hands on her shoulders.
“Ma?” he
said, unable to understand what was going on.
His mother
slowly walked up to him, then reached up with a strong, work-hardened hand and
slapped him in the face.
“Is this
how I raised you?Stirring your cousins up into helping you kill an innocent
man?”
“He’s not
innocent!He murdered Abe.”
“No he
didn’t, I did, and I’d do it again if I had to.”
Aaron just
stared down at her with stricken eyes. “Ma, how…” he started to say, but
couldn’t even get the words out. His mother just looked back at him
distastefully then swept her hard gaze across the rest of the men.
“Get out!”
she spat at them then turned to walk back through the crowd. The narrow aisle
closed behind her as her remaining son looked on in dismay. When she reached
the cell doorway Adam was still there waiting for her, his face tight with
anger at her son and etched with lines of pain, in deep sympathy for her
own.She stood in front of him with her head down while silent tears of shame
for what her sons had done fell.He put his arms around her and gave her someone
other than Sadie to lean on for the first time in her life.
The crowd
of women began to slowly move forward then, and the seven men retreated through
the front door, dragging a still stunned Aaron Mueller with them.
When the
door slammed shut behind them everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief and
the women looked at each other, not quite believing it had worked. To their
credit, there was no laughter or voices raised in celebration. They just began
to slowly move into the cell to press a hand to Thea’s shoulder or to kiss her
cheek. Her eyes overflowed with tears of gratitude and relief, the first tears
she had allowed herself to cry since she came back to consciousness the day
before. Adam still held Hannah and he nodded his silent thanks to each woman
who paused to meet his eyes.
The crowd
slowly melted away in twos and threes until only the two elderly women, Adam,
Thea, Barbara, and Roy were left.
Adam had an
arm around Hannah’s shoulders as he guided her back to sit next to her sister
and friend when
For a brief
moment Adam almost felt torn, as though he would be abandoning the two elderly
women.But they both looked up at him with eyes that were bright again and
expressions that told him to take care of his wife.He smiled back and leaned
down to kiss each one on the cheek, then turned to pick Thea up and carried her
out the front door with Barbara following closely behind.
Hannah and
Sadie watched them go and when the door shut behind them Hannah said, “If only
I was about 30 years younger.”
Sadie shook
her head laughing at her friend, “You could be 40 or 50 years younger and it
wouldn’t make any difference. Those two are permanently joined and God help
anyone who ever tries to get in the way.”Then she turned to give her friend a
knowing look, “But I did notice you hung on to him as long as you
could!”
Her sister
raised her eyes toward heaven and grinned. “Wouldn’t you?” she asked in a
reasonable tone of voice and the two laughed until they were out of breath.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thea had
laid her head on Adam’s shoulder and ground her teeth against the pain as he
carried her down the street. He was about to stop at the office she shared with
Matt, but she whispered, “Please Adam, I just want to go home,” as tears of
weakness and pain slid down her face.He turned to Barbara and she stepped up to
kiss Thea on the cheek.
“Take her
home, Adam,” she said and stood there for a moment watching them continue down
the street until they reached the house and he carried her in through the front
door.Sighing with fatigue, but with a heart glad that everything had worked out
well, she turned and hurried down a side street to her own home.
Adam didn’t
stop until he had carried her into their room and carefully laid her down on
their bed.Tears of pain were still seeping from the corners of her eyes, but he
knew that removing her restrictive garments would alleviate some of that pain.
He was very careful and soon she sighed in some relief, as she now lay on the
in just her chemise.
He reached
to pull the covers over her, but stopped for a moment, feeling furious again
for each bruise, cut, abrasion, and finger mark that stood out starkly against
her white skin. He sincerely hoped that Abraham Mueller was at that moment
experiencing eternal torment, while at the same time his heart still bled for
Hannah. Shaking his head, he gently pulled the covers over his wife but
carefully kept her arms and bandaged hands outside. He knelt next to the bed,
gently touched his lips to her hand and began to pray that he would never have
to see her cry such helpless tears from pain again.
But in the
morning he had to watch as she cried tears from a different kind of pain when
the news reached them that both Hannah and Sadie had passed on while they
slept, sharing one bunk in their jail cell and holding each other’s hand.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Almost a
month later on a bright sunny afternoon, Thea was standing at the counter in
the kitchen flipping through her recipe book. She couldn’t help but smile
looking down at her now almost completely healed hands.
Once again,
Matt had shaken his head at her speedy recovery. He couldn’t believe it, even
though she had pointed out that her hands had always been very flexible – what
some would call double-jointed. That flexibility had saved them from breaking.
She had
started working with her hands as soon as possible, first in just trying to
take care of herself.Needing help with even the most basic of activities was
more humiliating to her fiercely independent spirit than anything else. So she
had forced herself through the pain and was soon self-sufficient.
After that
she concentrated on building up strength, then moved
on to control by filleting, dicing, chopping, and de-boning everything she
cooked.Now she could cut paper-thin slices of anything. She smiled remembering
how her family had been watching her closely and carefully, actually worrying
that she would cut off a finger! Shaking her head she focused on the book again.
Suddenly
she straightened and turned around, certain that someone was watching
her.Someone was.
Adam and a
large, fluffy white dog stood in the kitchen doorway. Startled, she had taken a
quick, deep breath , then let it out slowly as she put
a hand to her chest. Her husband spoke when she smiled at them both.
“Theadora,
this is Minnie.You two will be spending a lot of time together from now on.”
Thea moved toward them, but stopped while still a good distance from them both.She knew better than getting too close to a strange dog. “Oh, Adam!She’s gorgeous!” Clasping her hands in front of her, she looked down into the dog’s intelligent, friendly blue eyes, then into her husband’s. As usual, Thea lost her concentration and found herself thinking about how beautiful HIS were.
“Thea!” he
said sharply and she started guiltily. When she focused on his face he was
shaking his head. He looked down at the dog.
“Minnie,”
he said and the dog looked up at him alertly, her ears standing up as she
stared at him intently. He beckoned Thea closer saying, “Thea, put your hand
out, palm up.”
The dog
took a step forward and began to sniff Thea’s hand all over then turned her
head to look back at Adam a moment later, questioningly.
“Thea,” he
said carefully, then said her name again. The dog turned her head back to look
at Thea, then back to him again. “Good girl,” he said and patted the side of
his thigh. The dog grinned at them both and took a step back to stand next to
him.
“Minnie is
going to be your protection. Just like Balor guards the twins, she will be
guarding you.” He gave Thea an odd, calculating look. “And that’s not
all.Anytime you want to make house calls, you will come over to the office and
collect Walt. He will drive you anywhere you need to go.” His expression
darkened and his eyes became angry. “You will NEVER go on house calls by
yourself again whether they are in town, or out.You will NOT do something so
foolish again.Do you understand? No house calls of any kind without Minnie and
Walt being with you. No exceptions or excuses. NEVER AGAIN.”
“Alright.”
He looked
at her suspiciously – no argument was not the reaction he had
expected. She smiled.
“Theadora,
what are you smiling about? I mean what I say.”
She nodded.“Oh,
I know you do and you’re absolutely right.No more house calls without Minnie
and Walt.I promise,” she said as her smile widened and his eyes narrowed.
“I’m sorry
I did that and I agree with you – it was a foolish thing to do,” she chuckled
and his eyes narrowed even more. Her quick acceptance of his edict had him
uneasy.
“If you
think you’ll talk your way around me on this it won’t work.”
“I’m not
going to.I appreciate it more than you know Adam, especially because of what it
means.”
He gave her
a skeptical look.“Just what DOES it mean?”
She laughed, “It means you looove me,” she half sang.
His
expression turned dubious.“I’m still angry.”
“I know,
but that’s also because you looove me,” she half sang again. Adam rolled his
eyes as she moved forward and reached up to pull his head down to kiss him.
“Now you’re
being nauseating.I’m going back to the office,” he said when she pulled away
and took one of his hands in both of hers.She started tugging him toward the
back stairs.
“Thea, it’s
only almost
“Mmm hmm, I
know.The babies are taking a nap and everyone else is out of the house,” she
said while giving him a smoky look through her upper lashes.
“It’s the
middle of a work day,” he argued as he found himself allowing her to pull him
toward the steps.
“You’re the
boss, you can take a little time off if you want
to.”She had managed to drag him half way across the kitchen. He almost smiled.
“I’m still
going to be mad,” he warned.
“That’s ok
because…”
He
interrupted, “I know, I know, because I looove you,” he said sarcastically. She
gave him a cheeky grin over her shoulder when they reached the bottom step.
“Just so we
understand each other,” he said firmly.
“Oh, we do,
we definitely do,” she said as she started up.
“Well in
that case,” he said and swatted her on the behind – she squeaked in surprise, then laughed.
“Get up
there girl!” he teased, then chased her up the stairs.As they ran into their
room Minnie entered the hallway and when they shut the door she sighed and took
up her guarding position, lying to the side.
A few
moments later her ears pricked up when she heard Thea giggling. Minnie sighed
again, touched her velvety nose to the door, and then laid her head down on her
front paws as she smiled a very big canine smile.
**************************************************************************************************************************************
WEDDING
EVE
Chapter
48
The day
before Hoss and Dora’s wedding had been a busy one. Everyone had been rushing
around with last minute preparations, and then Reverend Jacob Albright had come
to dinner. They had all lingered at the table listening to the tall, kind-faced
man tell horror stories of other weddings. He had proved to be so entertaining
they were sorry when he finally took his leave, especially Dora.For some reason
the minister’s calm, quiet voice recounting other people’s wedding mishaps in a
dry manner had helped her to relax after being in a nervous frenzy all day.
Everyone else
had gone to bed, but the four Cartwright men were still gathered in Adam’s
office and the hour was getting late.
“I’m still
sorry that Dante couldn’t make it to the wedding,” Adam said. “Dora hasn’t
shown it, but she must be disappointed.”
Hoss surprised
him by shaking his head. “Course she misses her brother, but she told me it
only seemed right and fittin’ that YOU should walk her down the aisle since
you’re responsible for all this.”
Adam
laughed, “Oh no you don’t, it’s too early to start
blaming me.”
Ben and Joe
chuckled, but Hoss just shook his head again and smiled.
The clock
struck the hour and Adam suddenly stood saying, “I can’t believe I almost
forgot this,” and hurried over to his desk. When he came back he was carrying a
sheaf of papers backed in blue. He motioned for Hoss and Joe to come over and
handed the document to his father.
“You three
look this over.I’ll be right back,” was all he said and hurried through the
office door.
Ben held
the document up so all three of them could see, but after reading the first
paragraph they stopped reading and stared at each other.
“Pa, is
that what I think it is?” Joe asked.
Starting to
laugh as he flipped through the pages Ben said, “Yes, Joseph, this is a
partnership proposal and the deed to the entire Jacob King spread.”
Hoss was
grinning, “All of it?”
“All of
it.”
“Dang, no
wonder that land auction kept gettin’ delayed.”
His father
was nodding when Adam returned.
“Well,” he
said as he came through the door. “What do you three think? All you have to do
is sign it, and the land is yours.”
“Yours
too,” Hoss said.
“True, but
you can just think of me as your…silent partner,” Adam
grinned at their expressions.
“How did
you manage to talk Jason into selling you the whole spread?” Ben asked.
“You’d be
surprised at what cash in hand can get you,
Ben laughed
again while Joe shook his head in disbelief, “Cash?”
Adam
answered his youngest brother’s cryptic question. “Yes, I sold my business
holdings in
His father
and brothers nodded.
“Now, I’m
sure you didn’t get to the percentages of sharing in the profits, if there are
any at first, but I’m sure you’ll see them as being fair. They’re on the last
page.”
Ben flipped
to the last page, ran his eyes over the numbers, and gave his eldest son a
sharp look.“This hardly seems fair to you, Adam.”
“Oh but it
is.All I’m putting up is the land.You three will be investing what is known as
‘sweat equity’.Remember, I’m your silent partner.And I volunteer to keep the
books, that is, if you think you can trust me.” He smiled as he looked from
face to face.
“Now you
don’t have to make your minds up right now…” Adam continued, but stopped when
his father stood, went over to the desk, picked up a pen, dipped it in the
inkwell, and signed.Hoss and Joe were right behind him.
Adam
grinned as he unconsciously lifted his hand to stroke his now non-existent
beard – he still missed it sometimes. Then he shook his head and went to bring
a decanter and glasses over to the desk.Pa poured the brandy while Adam
signed.The four men stood around the desk and smiled at each other.
“Gentleman,”
Adam said as he raised his glass, “here’s to our new partnership.” The other
three men echoed the phrase. “And to Hoss and Dora’s wedding,” he paused as
they drank again. “Just remember Hoss, man is incomplete until he marries…and
then he is finished.”
It took a
moment for his father and brothers to fully understand what he had just said,
but when they did Joe started choking from some of the brandy going down the
wrong way.Hoss gave him a helping hand by pounding the young man on the back as
he laughed. Ben just shook his head as he smiled.
“Well boys,
I’m off to bed,” he said as he set his now empty glass on the desktop and
looked first at Adam and then at Hoss. “But before I go, I have to say I could
not be more pleased with the women you two have brought into this family.” He
turned to Joe and reached out to grasp his youngest son’s left shoulder. “Follow
their example Joe, and you will never go wrong.” He gave Joe’s shoulder a firm
squeeze, said “Good night,” and left.
Joe coughed
a few more times, managed to wheeze out his own “Good night” and followed his
father.
Hoss and
Adam looked at each other with serious expressions. Finally Hoss broke the
silence.
“Lordy.I
didn’t expect that, did you?”
“About
Thea, yes, but I didn’t know he approved of Dora just as much. We shouldn’t be
surprised, though.What could he possibly find in Dora to object to? Nothing.”
“That’s
true,” Hoss answered as they moved over the sofa and sat down at opposite ends.
Adam yawned
and propped his feet on the low table in front of him. Then he turned to his
brother and smiled. “Alright Hoss, here’s a stupid question – what’s on your
mind?”
Hoss
chuckled, but kept staring into the fire as he thought for a moment. “I’ve been
watchin’ you and Thea for weeks, tryin’ to figure out how you two make it
work.”
“Our
marriage, you mean?”
“Yep,” his
brother said, then turned his head to look at Adam.“I
know it’s not, but you make it look easy.”
“No, it’s
anything but easy.”Adam’s eyes narrowed and he leaned back as he thought about
the question for a while. “You know, I think the most important thing is that
we are determined to make it.We’re both too pig-headed stubborn to ever let
anything defeat us, or to let anyone or anything get in the way. Neither of us
would tolerate that – from ourselves I mean. Is any of this making sense to
you?”
Hoss
nodded, “Kinda like you’re in a three-legged race?”
Adam put
his head back and laughed. “Exactly!”
“What
else?There’s gotta be more.”
“There is –
friendship is very important too.”
“Friendship?”
“Yes.Couldn’t
you, right now, say that Dora is your friend?”
“My friend?” Hoss thought about that, then smiled. “Yeah, I
guess I could.”
“That is so
important.There are going to be times in your marriage, and I can tell you this
from experience, when it will seem like love just flew out the window. If you
don’t have that friendship to fall back on you will really be in trouble.” He
paused to yawn and stretch.“And then one day, when you’re not looking, love
will fly right back in.”
“It will?”
“Oh
yes.Take my word for it – it will. At least it will if you don’t do something
extremely foolish like looking for it someplace else.And if you ever do, I am
going to come down on you like a ton of bricks.”
The other
man shook his head, aware that his older brother would be only too happy to
accuse him of being unfaithful in revenge. When he turned toward him, Adam gave
Hoss a narrow-eyed look saying, “Ha! I’ll be watching YOU.”
Chuckling
Hoss said, “I guess I’ll have to be real careful I don’t get outta line then.”
“You got
that right,” Adam said with a sharp smile. “Another thing I can tell you is to
always pick your fights carefully. DO NOT fight over petty things.That will be
very hard to do, but find a way, even if it means going out to the barn and
punching the wall to cool off. Do that if necessary.”
“You’ve
done that!”
“Have you
forgotten who I’m married too? Of course I have.I’ve done more damage to my
hands on barn walls than beating on people.”
Hoss
snorted with laughter.
“Yeah,
laugh it up now, but you’ll find out, in spite of your even temper.”
“I bet
you’re right.”
Adam gave
his favorite response, “Of course I’m right.”
Hoss
laughed harder, “Must be awful hard for you to stay so humble.” His older
brother just grinned, but then his expression turned serious. When the other
man was over his laughing fit, Adam sat up and turned toward him.Hoss did the
same.
“Now I have
a question for you.Who do you think is in charge in this house?”
Surprised
by the question Hoss opened his mouth, but at first didn’t know what to answer,
and then made up his mind. “You are.”
“Correct, I
am and don’t ever forget it. But then I’m not heavy handed either.” Adam shook
his head, “I am perfectly aware there are men in this town who think I’m a fool
for letting Thea get away with, well, everything she gets away with.But they
don’t understand. Thea’s spirit is one of the things I love about her the most.
Why would I ever want to break her? That would be ridiculous, yet there are
many men who would feel the need to do just that. Idiots.”
“That WOULD
be stupid.”
“Yes it
would be, and the reason I brought this up is because Dora has an independent
spirit too.There will be many times that you will find you have to put your
foot down with her. But be choosy about which things, be careful how you do it,
and be firm. I know that will be hard for you, but I think you can do it.”
Hoss was
nodding as he thought that over when Adam said, “I can’t believe it’s almost
Still deep
in thought the big man looked up. “What?”
Adam
smiled, “Come on, you can continue your heavy thinking upstairs.”
“Oh…OK,”
Hoss stood and started for the door while Adam put out the lamps and checked
the fire screen.
They went
up the stairs and down the hallway to Hoss’s room. He had his hand on the
doorknob when his older brother reached out to grip his shoulder.
“Your life
is going to be entirely different after tomorrow. But I’ll always be here if
you need someone to talk to. Just remember, my marriage isn’t perfect and yours
won’t be either. I can guarantee you that.”
Hoss looked
down for a moment then met the other man’s gaze, his bright blue eyes shining
as he smiled.He threw his arms around his brother, gave him a bone-crushing
hug, abruptly let go then opened his room door and went in.
Adam
chuckled softly as he turned toward the room he shared with Thea. When he was
at the door, he paused and sighed. “Good luck, Hoss.You’re going to need it,”
he said under his breath then went in.
The silence
that enveloped the house then seemed to be almost thrumming with anticipation,
as though the sleepers were humming the same elemental tune.But that silence
was quietly broken a few moments later when Hoss’s door opened again.
He
carefully poked his head out to look up and down the hallway then stepped
out.Reaching back inside the room he pulled Dora out by the arm, walked her
down the hall, opened her door, and pushed her inside.
When she
turned around with a soft giggle he pointed a finger at her, quietly said,
“Stay!” and pulled the door shut. Only then, as he made his way back to his
room, did he allow himself to smile his widest smile
**************************************************************************************************************************************
MAKE A
JOYFUL NOISE
Chapter
49
Morning had
just come to the cream-colored house, but Adam and Thea had been up for
hours.Today was Hoss and Dora’s wedding day and the already married couple was
in charge of seeing that everything went as smoothly as possible.
Dulcy and
the staff she had brought from the hotel were racing around Thea’s large
kitchen efficiently, keeping one eye on their assigned tasks and the other on
the statuesque redhead.
Barbara was
the first to arrive, dressed elegantly in a blue-green dress that matched her
eyes.She didn’t bother knocking on the front door, no one would today. Stopping
in the front hall to listen she heard the rattles and clangs coming from the
kitchen and the sounds of hurrying feet from above. Recognizing Thea’s quick
footsteps she hurried up the stairs to find her best friend.
Thea had
just come out of the nursery when Barbara reached the head of the stairs.The
black-haired woman turned and when she saw her friend she hurried down the hall
smiling her usual wide smile.
“Dear
Lord!You are absolutely gorgeous!” she exclaimed as she took Barbara’s hands
and stepped back. She whistled appreciatively and the other woman actually
blushed. The dress was made of two layers, the silk under dress was the blue of
tropical waters while the over dress was sheer tissue of silk in a sea-foam
green. The two layers touched and separated when she moved, giving the
impression of rippling water.
Her
honey-blond hair had been pulled into a sleek French twist and she wore
white-gold earrings and a necklace set with glittering aquamarines.
Thea
allowed herself a few more moments to admire the beautiful woman then sighed as
she hugged Barbara carefully, not wanting to crumple the dress.
“How’s Dora
this morning?” Barbara asked when Thea stepped back.
“As skittish as a filly and unbelievably over-eager. We’ve already had to restrain her
from taking off for the church on foot. Then we talked her into taking the
dress off so it wouldn’t get badly creased. I’m hoping that will keep her from
running out the door on impulse, but you never know with Dora!”The two women
laughed at the bride’s endearing impatience.
They linked
arms and walked down the hall toward Dora’s room, opened the door, and went
in.The young woman was pacing in her shift and petticoats as Cassie and Marie
watched her carefully, looking for any warning signs that she might bolt.
When the
two older women came in she turned toward them, her face lighting up at the
enchanting vision that was Barbara.
“Oh my!”
she said as she rushed forward. “Barbara, you look lovely,” she finished
without a trace of the jealousy many other brides would have exhibited at
another woman dressed so exquisitely. Barbara laughed and reached forward to
take the younger woman’s hands in her own and led Dora over to the bed where
they both sat down. The two plunged into a deep discussion about dressmaking
and Thea breathed a sigh of relief.She knew Barbara had done this on purpose to
distract the bride for a while.
She slipped
out the door and went to Alexander’s room next. He had already been dressed in
a miniature suit, exactly like those the rest of the men in the wedding would
be wearing. She had instructed him to stay in his room and be careful to not
mess up his clothes, but when she went in the room was empty.
“Oh God,”
Thea said under her breath. “Where the hell has that boy gotten to?” She made a
frustrated sound through clenched teeth as she shook her head, went back into
the hall, and moved on to Annalise’s room.
The little
girl was sitting quietly with a picture book in her lap - she looked up when
her mother came in.
“Have you
seen Alex?” Thea asked, her expression still marred by an irritated frown.
Annalise
shook her head ‘no’ and wondered for the first time why her brother just
couldn’t ever seem to ever behave himself.
Seeing her
daughter’s solemn expression Thea laughed and hurried forward to pick her up
and swing her around. “Don’t worry, I’m sure your brother is around here
somewhere.But now it’s time to get you ready, lovey,” she said and settled
Annalise on her hip as she went to the closet and pulled out the dress she
would be wearing as the flower girl.
Her dress
was similar to the brides and made out of rose-blush silk. The waist was empire
style, the neckline was high, but square, and the skirt was ankle length,
falling in graceful folds. Thea quickly pulled the dress her daughter was
wearing off over her head then replace it with the silk creation. In a few
moments the child was dressed.
Then she
sat down on the bed and positioned Annalise in front of her to brush out the
little girl’s long, black, curly hair. When she was satisfied her hair was
tangle-free she settled the wreath of small roses made out of the rose-blush
silk on her small head. Long streamers of ribbons in the same rose-blush color
flowed down her back in stark contrast to her shiny black hair.
Her mother
turned her around and smiled into her deep emerald eyes. “Honey, you look like
a princess!”She stood and then smiled when her daughter giggled. “Come on
sweetpea, I’m keeping YOU with me while I get ready,” she said and the two left
the room hand in hand.
A few
moments later Alexander appeared at the head of the back stairs, with a faint
sheen of sweat on his face and his eyes wide. He slowly made his way toward the
room where he knew Hoss and Joe were. He turned the knob and went in without
knocking. Both men turned when they heard the door open.
When he saw
the boy’s expression Hoss said, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t
feel so good, Uncle Hoss,” Alex replied and the big man immediately came over
to pick him up.Joe put his hand on the boy’s forehead.
“He doesn’t
have a fever,” he had no sooner said when his nephew made an odd choking noise
and threw up a bright colored splash down the front of Hoss’s crisp white
shirt.
When he saw
what he had done he started to cry, but stopped surprised when he realized his
uncle was laughing. “You poor kid,” Hoss said and handed the boy to Joe.
“Hoss, this
isn’t funny!” Joe said as he watched his older brother carefully wipe up the
mess with a towel, then shrug out of the shirt.
He turned
back to take Alex from Joe and quietly said, “Go find Thea,” as he sat down on
the edge of the bed and placed the boy in his lap. Joe quickly left.
“Feel
better?” he said looking down into his nephew’s upturned face.
“Uh huh.”
“Good.Now
somethin’ tells me you were down in the kitchen stealin’ sweets. Were you?”
The boy
hung his head. “Uh huh.”
Hoss
chuckled and hugged the boy tightly.
“Are you
gonna tell Pa?” Alex asked anxiously.
Hoss
chuckled again, “Nope, you are.”
Alex sighed
and laid his head against his uncle’s chest. “Yes, sir.”
“Look, your
Pa is goin’ to be a lot less angry if YOU tell him. If I do he’ll be hoppin’
mad.”
The boy
nodded then sniffed.“Are you mad at me?” he said in a small voice.
“No,
accidents happen.‘ Specially
to little boys who don’t do what they’re told.”
“But how
are you gonna get married without a shirt, Uncle Hoss?”
“Don’t you
worry, we’ll think of somethin’” his uncle answered as Thea burst into the room
and rushed up to them. She immediately felt her son’s forehead.
“Joe’s
right, he doesn’t have any fever. What happened?” she said as she picked up the
shirt to see if it could be cleaned.
“Well, this
shirt is a total loss,” she looked at her son. “You ate too much icing, didn’t
you?”
Her son
hung his head.
“Alexander,”
she said with a sigh of exasperation, “I TOLD you to stay in your room.”
“I’m sorry,
Ma.”He looked up at her with a slightly green face and anxious eyes. “Do I have
to tell Pa what I did right now?”
Thea sighed
again, “No, I think that can wait until after the wedding. But I better give
you something to settle your stomach. We don’t want the ring bearer throwing up
during the ceremony.” She came to take him from Hoss’s arms and kissed him on
the forehead.
“Oh Alex,
how do you get yourself into these things?” she said then turned to Hoss.“I’m
so sorry, Hoss. I’ll try to think of something.”
They both
looked toward the door when it opened and Joe came in. He had a white shirt
draped over his arm and the other two adults breathed a sigh of relief.
“I borrowed
this from Charlie.He said it’s a little tight on him so it should fit Hoss well
enough,” he said with a grin.
Hoss
quickly put the shirt on and it was only a little loose.
“Thank
God,” Thea breathed and reached up to pinch Joe’s cheek with her free hand as
he laughed.“All this and brains too!” she said while giving him a quick
one-armed hug then hurried from the room.
When she
shut the door behind her Joe turned to his brother who was now almost
completely dressed.
His
professionally tailored suit was a deep, dark blue and so was the string tie
Joe stepped forward to tie for him. He also wore an ivory colored brocade vest
under his suit coat.
Joe’s suit
was the same except his vest was made of pearl gray brocade. When he was
finished tying his brother’s tie he stepped back and looked Hoss up and down.He
grinned.
“You look
great,” he said and his older brother just smiled. “But how come you’re so
calm, Hoss? I would have thought you’d be a nervous wreck.”
The big man
shrugged, “No reason to be when you know what you’re gettin’ into.And I do.”
“Just
remember that phrase,” Joe laughed as he reached into his suit pocket for the
rings then froze when they weren’t there. Then he quickly reached into the
pocket on the other side and could breathe again.He was determined to prove to
everyone he could just as responsible as his brothers by fulfilling the duties
of best man to the letter.
Hoss
actually laughed and clapped Joe on the back, almost knocking him down as Adam
came in.He smiled at hearing the groom laughing.
“Well boys,
it’s time to go.The ladies can’t come out until we do,” he paused to run his
sharp eyes over both of his brothers and chuckled when Hoss said, “Do we pass?”
“Definitely,”
he answered with a grin. “Are you ready?”
Hoss didn’t
answer for a few beats then grinned back. “’Bout as ready as I’ll ever be!” he
said and the three of them laughed.
“Amen to
that, brother!” Adam said as he opened the door and waved them through.He
paused to raise his eyes heavenward.“Just no more major
accidents, Lord. That’s all I ask,” he said low then stepped into the
hall and closed the door behind him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adam, Hoss,
and Joe entered the church from the back and made their way to the anteroom
behind and to the right of the altar. Joe opened the door he and Hoss would go
through when the ceremony was about to start and turned back to whisper, “I
don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people in church before! Looks like the whole town is out there!”
Everyone
who had received an invitation had accepted; no one wanted to miss seeing one
of the Cartwright sons getting married.
Adam’s four
deputies had the duty of being ushers and were waiting outside the other end of
the church for the rest of the wedding party to arrive. Ben was in charge of
making sure they made it on time and Adam couldn’t help but wonder how he was
doing with the women and the children.
The three
men talked quietly for a while then Joe opened the door to look again and
reported that their father was now seated next to the aisle in the first pew on
the groom’s side with Barbara next to him.
“Well that
means the ladies are here so I better get moving,” Adam said and held his hand
out to Joe who gave him the rings. With Alex as ring bearer they thought it
would be safer for Joe to hold onto them until the last minute.After giving his
youngest brother’s shoulder a squeeze he turned to pull Hoss into a tight
hug.Then he was gone, leaving through the door they had just come in.
Hoss took a
deep breath, slowly let it out then nodded to Joe who opened the door and held
it to let his older brother go through first. When the two of them appeared
Reverend Albright came through a door to the left and stepped up to the
altar.Hoss and Joe moved to take their places to the right as every person in
the room craned their necks to try and get a good look. The sighs from the many
female guests packed into the pews was audible and Joe leaned toward Hoss to
whisper, “Getting’ a little breezy in here, don’t you think? Might
as well have had the wedding outside.”
His older
brother’s lips twitched and he turned his head away from Joe’s grin until he
thought he had the urge to laugh tamped down. Then he turned back and
whispered, “Stop it! I swear I’ll sic Thea on you if you make me laugh.” For
some reason that struck them as being hilarious so they both shook with silent
laughter for a few moments, but sobered up quickly enough when they noticed Ben
giving them a sharp look.
The church
organist finished the hymn he was softly playing and the room became almost
silent as they all waited, looking toward the back of the church
expectantly.The man started to softly play “Sweet Sacrament Divine” and the
twins appeared, Annalise carrying a handled basket of rose petals and Alex
carefully holding a pillow with the two rings fastened to it in both hands. The
two children’s expressions were suitably solemn as the little girl concentrated
on scattering the petals evenly and the little boy focused on keeping the small
pillow level.When the two children had almost reached the altar they stopped
and turned their heads to look at their grandfather with big grins.
Ben quickly
motioned for them to go on and they did while soft laughter swept through the
crowd.Their grandfather just shook his head.They separated at the altar as
instructed with Annalise moving to the left and Alexander moving to the right
to stand next to Joe.His young uncle reached down to put one hand on top of the
boy’s head and leaned down to whisper, “That was just right, Alex.” The boy
smiled hugely at the unfamiliar words.
After the
two children had separated Cassie appeared on John’s arm and the two young
people started down.When they reached the mid point Mike and Marie followed.
Dylan with Dulcy appeared when the first couple reached the altar and
separated.
The men
wore the same dark blue suit, while the women wore
dresses similar to the one Thea had dressed Annalise in. The headpieces they
wore were exactly the same and each woman carried a bouquet of white and pink
rosebuds.
When Dylan
and Dulcy reached the altar and moved to take their places, Nate with Thea as
the matron of honor stepped into the doorway. The women sighed with pleasure
when they saw the rose-blush silk brocade dress she was wearing.Like the others
the waist was empire style and the neckline was square. The long sleeves hugged
Thea’s slender arms closely and the skirt was slightly extended in the back to
give the impression of a train.
When they
reached the altar the organist finished the last few bars and paused before
beginning to play “Panis Angelicus”. Everyone stood and turned toward the door
when Adam with Dora on his arm moved into view.
They
started down the aisle and Thea had to put her hand over her mouth to muffle a
laugh when she realized Adam was pulling back on her cousin’s arm to keep her
from rushing forward. He bent his head down and slightly to the side to
whisper, “Dora, slow down! We’ll get there, I promise.” The young woman’s face
flushed a becoming pink and she quickly gave Adam an embarrassed
smile.She relaxed when he patted the hand she had curled around his arm and
grinned back as they continued down the aisle.
Joe heard
Hoss’s sharp intake of breath, but didn’t turn toward him – he couldn’t take
his eyes off of Dora either. Her long, wavy chestnut hair flowed down her back
unconfined to her waist. Her headpiece was made of ivory-colored silk roses
with a sheer ivory veil attached to the back.The dress was made of the same
ivory silk brocade Hoss’s vest was made of and the design was almost the same
as Thea’s, except the bride’s parted in the front to reveal an underskirt of
white taffeta. The brocade skirt extended further in the back to form a short
train, and the sleeves ended in points that covered the backs of her hands.
When they
reached the altar Hoss moved forward and Adam took the hand Dora was tightly
clutching his arm with in his own. Then he turned to lead her forward and
placed it in his brother’s hand. Hoss nodded his thanks and his older brother
did something unusual then by merely moving to the right to stand next to Joe
and behind his son.
Reverend
Albright smiled and said, “Please be seated,” to the congregation and began the
ceremony.
“Dearly
beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God to join together
this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. Into this holy estate these two
persons present come now to be joined and if any man can show just cause why
they may not be lawfully wed, let him speak now or forever after hold his
peace.” The minister paused, smiling at the couple standing in front of him,
and then continued.“Let us pray,” he said and every person knelt.
When the
sound of muffled laughter swept through the pews Adam looked around trying to
spot the source of their mirth. When he met his father’s gaze, Ben nodded
toward Hoss. Adam leaned back and saw the letters “HELP” written in bright red
paint on the bottom of Hoss’s shoes, two letters on each sole. Then he noticed
his four deputies, who were kneeling to his right, practically choking as they
tried to restrain their laughter. He sighed with exasperation and Hoss turned
his head to give him a puzzled look.
His older
brother leaned over to whisper to Joe who then leaned over to whisper in Hoss’s
ear.When he finished Hoss leaned forward to pin the four deputies with a hard
stare. The four men immediately did their best to try and look innocent, but
failed utterly.The minister cleared his throat and everyone bowed their heads.
“Dear God,
we ask you to bestow on Dorathea and Erik a true love to unite them to each
other; patience to reconcile their differences; forgiveness to cover their
failures; guidance to lead them in the right way; courage to face times of
testing; and Your inner peace to comfort them and uphold them in times of
distress.Bless them in the living of their lives together, and deepen their
love for each other. We ask these things in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.”
“Please be
seated,” he said to the congregation then turned back to the couple in front of
him as the wedding party stood.
“Do you,
Dorathea, take this man, Erik, to be your wedded husband…” he was interrupted
when the bride blurted out, “I do!”
Shaking his
head at her the minister continued, “to live together
in the covenant of marriage?” and was interrupted by the bride saying, “I do!”
again.
The groom’s
shoulder’s were shaking and everyone in the room was desperately trying to hold
their laughter back now, even the minister as he continued in a choked voice,
“Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him…” That was all the further
he got when Dora took a deep breath and opened her mouth again.Whatever she was
going to say never came out because Hoss reached across and covered her mouth
with his right hand.
He nodded
to the reverend who then finished the rest of the
question in a rush, “in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others be
faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”
Hoss took
his hand away and they all waited expectantly for her response, but she didn’t
say a thing.She just continued to stare up at the man until he leaned down and
whispered, “You can say ‘I do’ now.”
“I DO!”
Dora practically shouted, giving the man behind the altar a brilliant smile.Her
husband to be sighed as he put a hand over his eyes and shook his head.
The
minister paused again to be sure everyone had settled down and turned to
Hoss.“Do you, Erik, take this woman, Dorathea, to be your wife; to live
together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and
keep her, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be faithful to
her as long as you both shall live?”
“Well…”
Hoss said and looked up as though considering the question. Everyone smiled as
Dora poked him sharply in the shoulder with her fist – “Alright, alright, I
do,” Hoss said laughingly and the reverend put his head down to bite his lip.
When he
looked up again he said, “May I have the rings please?” Joe bent down to take
them off the pillow Alexander was still holding, stepped forward, and handed
them over. The reverend placed them on the altar praying, “Bless these rings O
Lord to be a sign of the vows by which this man and this woman have bound
themselves to each other, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.”
Both Joe
and Thea stepped forward this time to each collect a ring, and then returned to
their places.The man behind the altar nodded at Hoss who took the ring from Joe
then slipped it on Dora’s finger.“I give you this ring as a symbol of my vow,
and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you, in the Name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” he said in a strong, firm voice
as he smiled down into Dora’s radiant face. She took Hoss’s ring from Thea and
quickly repeated the vow.
“Now that
Erik and Dorathea have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the
joining of hands and the giving and receiving of rings, I pronounce that they
are husband and wife, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Spirit. Those whom God has joined together let no one put asunder.” He
paused, “You may kiss the bride,” he finished and laughed with everyone else
when Dora reached up to lock her hands together behind Hoss’s neck and yanked
his head down to kiss him.He finally had to gently pry her hands apart so he
could straighten up and break the kiss.
Dora stared
up at him with a dazed look and he chuckled as he took her by the shoulders to
turn her toward their guests. Then he took her right hand and tucked it in the
crook of his elbow as the minister spoke.
“Ladies and
Gentlemen, may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Erik Cartwright.”
The crowd
rose to their feet and burst into applause, having been highly entertained by
the ceremony.Hoss grinned and Dora blushed while ducking her head, suddenly
aware of her outrageous behavior.
When the
applause died down Reverend Albright motioned for the people to take their
seats.“Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain seated.Adam and Theadora would like
to take this opportunity to renew their vows,” he said and chuckled at the sea
of surprised looks in front of him. Only Hoss and Dora had been told about
their plans.
The new
Mrs. Cartwright let go of her husband’s arm and the couple separated then
stepped to the side.Adam and Thea came to stand in between them as the minister
quickly plunged into the vows.
“Do you,
Theadora, take this man, Adam, AGAIN to be your lawfully wedded husband; to
live together in the covenant of marriage? Will you love him, comfort him,
honor and keep him, in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, be
faithful to him as long as you both shall live?”
Thea didn’t
answer immediately and when Adam tugged on her hand she turned to look at him
saying, “I’m thinking!” He gave her a narrow-eyed look then leaned down to
whisper in her ear.
She quickly
turned back to the reverend. “I do!I swear I do, with God as my witness, I do!”
she said hastily and the crowd gave up trying to be quiet, laughing outright
this time.
When the
noise died down he repeated the question to Adam.
“This is
against my better judgment,” he answered while giving his wife a disgruntled
glance, “but I have to say ‘I do.’”
Shaking his
head the minister continued, “Now that Adam and Theadora have AGAIN given
themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands, I pronounce
that they are STILL husband and wife, in the Name of the Father, and of the
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Those whom God has joined together let no one put
asunder.”
Adam and
Thea turned around as the crowd began to applaud again and Reverend Albright
said, “Ladies and Gentlemen may I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Adam CARTWRIGHT.”
**************************************************************************************************************************************
AND
REJOICE
CHAPTER
50
While Hoss and Dora’s wedding had been formal, the following celebration was not.Dulcy’s hotel staff had started setting up in the long building behind the church when the wedding had started.So as soon as the wedding party had come through the door she hurried to check their work.Now Dulcy was smiling widely, pleased that everything had come off without a hitch.
The party
was already in full swing when Adam suddenly realized he had no idea where his
wife and children were. Always uneasy at that idea he began to make a circuit
of the room and quickly found the twins with Marie.She had chosen to sit at a
small table in a quiet corner and had pulled her chair back and to the side
while the children sat on the floor in front of her with wide-eyes and open
mouths – Aunt Marie was the best storyteller they knew.
Adam stayed
back for a moment to listen and study Marie’s face. He had noticed her showing
signs of fatigue from standing during the ceremony and she still looked
tired.Since her place at the table was empty he assumed correctly that she
hadn’t had anything to eat or drink yet.He moved off to the buffet and returned
in a few moments to place a filled plate and a tall glass of cold lemonade on
the table just as Marie finished the story.
He came
around to stand behind his children and said, “Alright you two, Marie needs a break. Why don’t you go see what your Uncle Joe is
up to?”
The twins
grinned at each other as they jumped to their feet then hugged Marie before
scurrying off in search of Joe. They knew when their father said that he
actually meant, “Go bother your Uncle Joe.”
Marie let
out a small squeak of surprise, but then laughed when Adam picked her up, chair
and all, then set her down at the table.
“Sometimes
I think Joe isn’t the only one Alex inherited his puckish nature from,” she
said.
“Now who
could you possibly be referring to?” he answered and
she shook her head as she began to eat.
He sat down
across the table from her and the two talked about her tentative plans to visit
family until Thea called for all the single women in the room to assemble – it
was time for the bride to toss the bouquet. When he heard his wife’s voice Adam
automatically glanced back over his shoulder, then did a double take when he
realized Annalise was standing in front of the group of women.
Hastily
saying, “Excuse me,” he hurried off as Marie snorted with laughter. She knew
what he was going to do.
“Hold on a
minute Dora, “ he called as he strode across the open
space in front of the single women, swept Annalise up, and carried her away.
“Oh no you don’t young lady, not until your thirty,” he said.
“But Pa!”
she protested then burst out giggling as everyone within earshot laughed at
him.
When he
reached the other side of the room he turned around to watch. Dora called out,
“One…two…three!” and tossed the bouquet. It sailed across the room, hit the ceiling,
ricocheted to the left and landed in Joe’s hands.He was just standing there
staring down at the bouquet with a surprised look on his face when the women
fell on him and they all crashed to the floor.
The women
quickly scrambled to their feet laughing with one petite redhead holding what
was left of the bouquet triumphantly aloft as they moved away. Joe still lay on
the floor. Nate and Dylan were laughing so hard they were staggering as they
came to haul the dazed young man to his feet and began to brush the crushed
rose petals off him.
Adam and
his daughter were both still laughing as he set her down, gave her a light swat
on her bottom and said, “Go find your brother and try to stay out of trouble.”
Annalise
gave him a huge grin over her shoulder then scampered away. He stood there
watching her nimbly weave her way through the crowd until her brother jumped
out at her and she skidded to a stop with a shriek.
Even from a
distance Adam recognized the way she seemed to vibrate with anger and clenched
her small fists. He was not surprised when he saw her shove Alexander in the
chest so hard she knocked him down.The boy lay there staring up at his sister
with a startled expression as her face turned even redder with
embarrassment.When Alex burst out laughing she relaxed and held her hand out to
help him up. Adam could faintly hear him say, “That was really good Annalise,
come on!” Alex was still holding her hand as the two scurried off.
Adam
grinned.“More and more like her mother every day…” he said to himself then
moved off in search of his wife. He finally found her some time later in a
corner with her arms around Ben. She was leaning into him with the side of her
head resting against his chest.
“Excuse me
sir,” Adam said when he reached them, “but is this woman bothering you?”
Ben grinned
at his son as he continued to lightly rub her back, then laughed when Thea
tightened her arms around him and said, “Go away, I’m busy,” to her husband.
Adam
couldn’t help but smile as he asked, “She grabbed you as soon as she saw you,
didn’t she?”His father nodded.
“Of course
I did,” Thea said in a reasonable tone. “Pa’s the best hugger in town.”
“I see.So
are you saying you have the extensive experience necessary to make that
judgment?”
She smiled
with her eyes closed.“I’ll never tell.”
The two men
exchanged amused looks as Adam managed to pry his wife off his father.She
immediately latched onto him and sighed when he absently began to move both
hands up and down her back, but pulled back a moment later.
“What time
is it?” she asked.
Ben pulled
out his pocket watch.“Almost
“Damn, I
have to go help set up for Dora and Hoss to cut the cake,” she sighed again,
gave her husband a tight squeeze then took off. Both men were smiling as they
watched her go.
“I don’t
know about you,” Ben said, “but I am so glad Hoss and Dora are finally
married.”
His eldest
son laughed.“I’ll say! I was getting sick and tired of being Hoss’s bodyguard.
Can you believe she was actually in his room again last night?”
“No…she
was?” the older man was laughing now.
“Yes, I saw
Hoss taking her back to her room.”
His father
just continued to laugh as Adam smiled and shook his head.
When he
could speak again Ben changed the subject. “How long had you two been planning
to renew your vows?”
Adam moved
closer to his father.“Not for long.John and I have been doing some research on
the legal points of marriage since we were originally married under the last
name of
“That makes
sense.What about your marriage license?”
“I
petitioned to have that changed the day after Joe found me.” He paused to look
around to see if anyone was listening. “I have to be very careful about the
legality of our marriage because I’m really not Thea’s first husband.”
“What!” Ben
burst out loudly and Adam laughed. “Shhhhh!”
He gave his
son an apologetic look and lowered his voice. “Thea was married before?”
Adam nodded
as he frowned, “It’s a long, sordid story, but suffice it to say her father
signed her over to an older man when she was seventeen. She was given no say in
the matter.”
Ben shook
his head, “Is there no end to the coldness of that man’s heart? What happened?”
“The
‘wedding’ was in Westwood Hall and right after the ceremony he dragged her
upstairs.”He paused to glance over his shoulder at the open space. Dora was
dancing with Alex in her arms while Hoss was doing the same with Annalise. Then
he grinned when he saw Mike come to the dance floor with Marie. He picked her
up and began to swing her around, dancing without her feet touching the
floor.Her sweet laughter could be heard all over the room.
When he
turned back he could see his father was impatiently waiting for him to
continue.“She knocked him out cold and ran away.”
“Good for
her!”
Adam
chuckled.“She ran to a good friend of hers, Lady Millicent Danville.She was the
woman that sponsored Thea in
Ben sighed,
his expression concerned, “Were they divorced then?”
“No, when
her father finally found her he said the man had died in battle overseas.”
“So she was
free to marry you.Good.”
“Yes, but I
decided to go a step further and had the marriage annulled, both here and in
His father
gave him a shrewd look, knowing there had to be a good reason for his son’s
actions.“I take it then that you don’t believe the man was dead.”
“No,” Adam
answered with a smile, pleased at how quickly his father had followed his
reasoning.“No one ever saw a body and from what Thea
told me about him I just couldn’t believe he had died in battle. Maybe as he was running away, but definitely not in the thick of
things.”
“Sounds
like you covered every angle.”
“Of course,
but you mark my words. That man will show up again some day. I’m certain of
it.”
“Why?” his
father responded.“Don’t get me wrong, Thea is a beautiful woman, but why would
he after all these years?”
“Money,”
Adam simply said and Ben’s expression said he didn’t understand. “Pa,” he
continued, “as far as money goes I am very well off. Thea, however, is rolling
in it!”
“Ah, I see.Her inheritance.”
“Correct.From her grandmother as well as her father.”
“Well,” the
older man said with a smile, “if he does show up he has a very big surprise in
store for him.”
“Yes, a
very unpleasant surprise,” Adam agreed with a sharp smile and the two men
laughed.
Ben looked
across the room over his son’s shoulder. “Looks like they’re
getting ready to cut the cake.”
Adam turned
around.“Speaking of surprises, you don’t want to miss this,” he said to his
father and the two men began to work their way through the crowd.
A small
square table held the five-tier wedding cake. Hoss and Dora were standing in
front of it with the four deputies lined up, two on either side.They had been
told earlier that they had to be present as members of the wedding party.
Hoss and
Dora carefully cut the first piece, and instead of stopping, went on to cut
three more.Everyone in the room was watching as they each picked up a piece –
expecting them to feed the cake to each other, as was the custom. The couple’s
eyes met and Hoss gave Dora a faint nod. Then they each quickly picked up
another piece, turned around, and smashed the cake into the deputies’ faces.
Everyone in
the room was howling with laughter as Nate and John tried to get back on their
feet – Hoss had knocked them down. Mike was sputtering and bent over with mirth
while Dylan just calmly began to scrape the cake off with a finger and eat it
saying, “Not bad.”
The newly
married couple had their arms around each other, weak with laughter, but being
careful not to get cake on each other. Thea was practically stumbling, she was
laughing so hard when she came to hand out towels.Hoss and Dora stepped back to
wipe their hands off and grinned at each other.
“Whose idea
was this?” Ben asked.
“Mine,”
Hoss said as he smiled at his father, “but Adam helped to set it up.”Then he
turned to the four deputies who were still wiping their faces. “I ain’t always
as dumb as I look,” he said. That set everyone off again.
John had
made it to his feet, but was having a hard time seeing – he had icing in his
eye.Thea came to take him by the hand and lead him toward the kitchen saying,
“Come on, we’ll need to wash that out.”
“Sorry
John,” Hoss called after him.
“That’s OK
Hoss,” the smaller man called back. “You got us good!”
“Yeah, you
did!” Nate said with admiration and held his right hand out to the big man.Hoss
cautiously took his hand and then smiled as they shook. Mike and Dylan came to
shake his hand too, and Dylan clapped him on the back saying, “I never
suspected a thing and that’s hard to do with us.”
The three
deputies moved away then, still breaking out into short bursts of laughter, as
Adam came to whisper something to Hoss who nodded. The couple went into the
kitchen while Dulcy came to finish cutting the cake. Her staff then rushed
around delivering the pieces to the guests. No one had noticed yet that the
newlyweds and their immediate family had disappeared.John was the first to
realize this some time later.
He came up
behind Nate who was standing at the edge of the dance floor talking to the
petite redhead who had snatched the bride’s bouquet out of Joe’s hands. He
poked the taller man in the back.
Nate looked
at him with an impatient frown. John took him by the arm and pulled him a few
paces away.
“Have you
noticed that a few key people are missing here?”
The tall
man’s head came up and he quickly surveyed the room. “Yeah, there are.”
“And what
do you think THAT means?”
Nate looked
down into John’s face. “They’re making a run for it, aren’t they?” The shorter
man nodded saying, “I thought it was strange when Adam told us Hoss and Dora
were spending the night here then catching the train in the morning.”
“You get
Dylan, I’ll get Mike.Damn, we’re not going to have time to do ANYTHING we had
planned. But at least we can see them off,” Nate said and the two men hurried
off.
When the
four of them ran outside they decided to “borrow” the wagon the hotel staff had
used to transport everything. They all piled in, Dylan backed it up, and they
took off as people began to spill out the hall door. The news had gotten
around.
They made
it to the train station just as Dora and Hoss were climbing the steps to the
private car.Hoss laughed and gave them a mocking wave as Dylan brought the
horses up so sharply they almost sat down.The four men jumped down and hurried
over to join the family.
Adam was
laughing when Nate came to stand beside him. “This was your idea, wasn’t it?”
he asked his boss, who shook his head. “No, this was all the best man’s doing.”
The four deputies turned to Joe who grinned at them. “Now WHO can’t keep a
secret?” he said and cracked up at their expressions.
The window
in the back of the private car opened and Dora leaned out to wave.Everyone was
waving goodbye when the train whistle blew a startling blast and she jumped,
whacking her head on the bottom of the window.“Ow!” she said laughingly and
drew back.
A moment
later they all heard her shriek while Hoss yelled something. They gave each
other puzzled looks then mouths fell open with surprise when frogs began flying
out the window. Some jumped out themselves while others were being thrown out.
Hoss appeared in the window with an armful just as the train started to move.
He tossed them out and pointed at the four deputies who were practically
howling along with everyone else.
“I’m gonna
get you for that!” he yelled and the four men began to shake their heads, but
couldn’t find the breath to tell him they hadn’t done it. The train picked up
the pace and the last thing they saw of the young couple was Dora appearing in
the window to toss one last frog out then turning to kiss her new husband.
Adam was
giving his deputies a narrow-eyed look when Nate finally managed to speak.“I
swear, boss, that one we didn’t do!”The others nodded vigorously even as John
fell down, collapsing with laughter, and began to roll around.
“Then who
did?” Thea asked as she wiped away tears of mirth.
Nate just
shook his head as he staggered over to help John up.
“Well,
let’s see,” Adam said.“Whoever did this had to have prior knowledge that Hoss and Dora were leaving
early.Only the immediate family was in on it. So who do YOU think did
it?”Everyone turned to look at Joe who stopped grinning and shook his head. “It
wasn’t me!” he said desperately as he began to back away when the deputies gave
him hostile looks.
“Run Joe!”
Adam yelled and the young man took off with the four deputies in hot
pursuit.Unfortunately for him, Nate had a much longer stride so he caught up to
him halfway down the next block.They picked him up by the arms and legs,
carried him over to the nearest watering trough, and dumped him in.
Joe was
flailing around in the cold water, coughing and sputtering as he tried to get
out when Alexander sidled up to his father. He took Adam’s hand and tugged on
it until he crouched down so the boy could whisper in his ear.“Is that what we
caught all those frogs for, Pa?”
“Yes it is,
Alexander, and yes it is still a secret,” he whispered back and picked the boy
up as he stood.Then he looked down to meet Thea’s suddenly sharp gaze.
“I guess we
better get back to the party now,” he said, chuckled at her suspicious
expression, and began to herd the rest of the family toward the buggy, leaving
Joe to the tender mercy of his four deputies.
**************************************************************************************************************************************
HOMECOMING
Chapter
51
The usual group of Cartwrights and their friends were
impatiently waiting at the train station for Hoss and Dora. The newlyweds had
been gone for two weeks, staying at the Eden House Hotel in
Adam was
pacing back and forth in front of the group, but stopped abruptly when they all
heard the train whistle. Then Thea pushed her way through the crowd to take his
arm, wondering why he was so impatient.Maybe he had missed Hoss and Dora more
than she had thought.
The train
came rushing by then and they all began to move down to the end where the
private car was.The door opened and Dora came out first, closely followed by
Hoss. Everyone pressed forward past Adam and Thea to greet the couple.
Dora was
smiling widely and laughed when Ben reached up to help her down. Hoss paused on
the steps to watch as his wife was passed from person to person receiving hugs
all around. He looked up and spotted Adam and Thea on the edge of the crowd and
he smiled as he met Adam’s gaze.Thea grinned when she felt the tension in her
husband’s muscles ease. Now she understood his previous impatience. Adam didn’t
like it when family members were beyond his reach, beyond his help and his
protection.But his brother and sister-in-law were home now, so he could relax.
Hoss came
down the steps then to wrap his father in a bear hug then turned to do the same
with Joe.Then he took Dora’s arm and they began to make their way toward the
other couple. Adam leaned down to whisper in Thea’s ear.
“Is it my
imagination, or does Hoss look like he lost weight?” Thea bit her lip.
“Looks
tired too,” he continued to speak low and she turned her head slightly to
whisper back, “Stop that!”She felt rather than heard him chuckle.
“I wonder
how much sleep he got, I imagine Dora kept him
hopping.”
“Oh God,”
Thea choked out as she desperately tried to hang on to her composure. When he
leaned back down to whisper again she poked him hard in the ribs with her
elbow.He grunted in surprise then chuckled as a small snort of laughter escaped
her.
Hoss and
Dora had just about made it through the crowd and in a moment were standing in
front of them.Dora quickly threw her arms around Thea and the two women laughed
and cried at the same time.
Adam held
out his right hand and when Hoss took it he pulled his brother into a hug.When
they both stepped back Thea threw herself at Hoss and Dora moved around the two
to stand in front of Adam, hesitating.He laughed at her sudden shyness, picked
her up and swung her around as she squeaked in surprise.
Hoss and
Thea just smiled with their arms around each other when Adam set Dora down then
astonished the young woman further by giving her a resounding smack on the
lips.
“Let’s move
this party to the house, people!” he said, noting that the deputies had gone
into the car to get the newlywed’s bags. He offered Dora his arm and she took
it, her face still flushed a deep pink from his enthusiastic welcome.
Thea took
Hoss’s arm and Marie took Ben’s as the group began to move across and down the
street to the house. The children had been left at home and the twins were no
doubt bouncing around with impatience waiting for their Uncle Hoss and Aunt
Dora to return.
The group
moved down the sidewalk quickly and many other pedestrians smiled and waved,
some calling out their congratulations to the newlyweds. Happy chatter flew
back and forth and they soon reached the house.
The twins
were waiting on the front porch and when they spotted Hoss they rushed down the
steps and through the crowd to latch onto his legs. Thea let go of his arm and
he laughed as he bent down to pick them up. Annalise quickly kissed him on the
cheek as Alex said, “We missed you!”
The crowd
moved into the house, and then into the sitting room where Hoss and Dora were
the center of attention for quite a while, as everyone seemed to be talking at
once.The couple managed to answer as many of the questions they were asked as
they could, then Thea began to herd people toward the kitchen.
Hoss
spotted Adam in the hall talking to the twins so he stood and hurried over.The
children scurried off toward the kitchen and when his brother straightened up,
Hoss nodded toward the front door then led the way outside.
The older
man sat down on the swing and Hoss leaned back against the railing as he
silently pinned his brother with a narrow-eyed stare. Adam waited for him to
speak first.
“Be
gentle,” Hoss said with a disgusted look. “That’s all you could tell me…be
gentle?” he continued as Adam started laughing.
The big man
leaned forward.“Adam that woman dang near tore my ears off. And don’t try to
tell me you didn’t know that was gonna happen. Those two women are too much
alike.”
“God Hoss,
I couldn’t be sure,” Adam managed to choke out.
“You STILL
shoulda said somethin’!” Hoss insisted.
His older
brother was rolling around on the swing, trying to muffle his laughter, but not
succeeding very well.
“I tell
you, I took one step into that room and everythin’ after that is a blur.I have
no idea what happened.”
“Stop it,
Hoss, you’re killing me!” Adam gasped as the big man said, “What kind of a
brother are you anyway?”
“I’m
sorry!” was all the other man could get out as he fell off the swing and lay
there on his back practically howling with both hands over his mouth.
Hoss
continued to give him a disgruntled look until Adam finally managed to settle
down.Then a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth as he reached down with
one hand to help him up. “I take it then that you had a good time,” Adam said
as he collapsed onto the swing with a hand on his aching stomach.
Rolling his
eyes as he folded his arms Hoss said, “Yeah, but that’s not the point.You still
shoulda warned me!”
“I really
am sorry, I guess I should have.” Adam was still chuckling a little as he
asked, “Did you ever even get out of the room?”
The big man
gave an exasperated sigh as he raised his eyes heavenward. “Not much,” he
finally answered and reluctantly began to laugh himself. “I only have one
question for you and this time you better give me a straight answer.Do they
ever slow down any?”
Adam
desperately tried to be serious, but a small snort of laughter still escaped
when he said, “Yes.”
“Good,”
Hoss said and when his older brother looked up and saw his relieved expression
he started laughing helplessly again. This time Hoss joined him.
“I swear
I’ve never been more tired before in my life.”
“Come on
Hoss, give me a break.I don’t think I can stand any more.”
“Well it’s
the truth!”
“I’m sure
it is,” Adam answered when Dora came out onto the porch. He glanced at her then
quickly looked away while biting his lip, hard.
“Thea sent
me out here to get you two,” she said as she gave Adam an odd look.His
shoulders were shaking.
“Be right
in,” Hoss told her and quickly kicked his older brother in the shin when she
turned away.
“Stop
that!” she heard her husband say and Adam saying “Ow!” in a choked voice.She
smiled a knowing smile as she hurried off to report in to Thea - she found her
cousin and now sister-in-law upstairs in the nursery.
“What was
going on out there?” Thea asked as she quickly finished changing Matthew and
handed him to Dora.
“Exactly what we thought. Hoss must have told him everything, Adam couldn’t even look
at me.”
Thea
chuckled.“You ARE going to let that poor man get some sleep tonight, aren’t
you?”
Dora
giggled and the baby in her arms laughed with her. “Of course.I could use some
sleep myself.”
“You
should.I told you to do that on your honeymoon so you would have the upper hand
in the bedroom from the beginning,” the older woman said. “It always works.”
The two
women laughed together as Thea finished changing Thomas and picked up Benjamin,
preparing to take the babies downstairs. The two women moved through the door
then stepped out into the hall when Dora stopped Thea with a hand on her
shoulder. The taller woman leaned down to whisper in her ear.
“I know
it’s too soon to tell, but I’m already late.”
Thea’s head
whipped around so quickly she just barely missed banging heads with Dora.The
taller woman laughed as she quickly stepped back out of reach and out of
danger.
“Really? How late?”
“A week.”
“Hmmm….when
you’re a month late you come and see me. We’ll need to talk,” Thea said
seriously, then smiled her widest smile.
“Oh boy, oh
boy, oh boy,” she chortled, imitating Joe and bouncing the babies in her arms
as she practically danced around her cousin.
Dora
laughed again as she turned to keep her eyes on Thea. “I figured we better get
started as soon as possible. We have a long way to go to catch up with you
two!”
Thea
stopped and continued to chortle as she shook her head. “Don’t say anything to
Hoss until we’re sure. In fact, I wouldn’t say anything to him at all until you
have to.”
Her cousin
leaned her head the side and gave Thea a mystified look.
“Believe
me.Adam was bad enough, hovering and fussing over me.Can you imagine what Hoss
will be like?”
“Oh, I
never thought of that.”
“Well,
think about it.Not to mention Pa, Joe, and Hop Sing.”Thea shook her head, “When
I was carrying the triplets and we were living at the ranch I almost went out
of my mind.The five of them wouldn’t leave me alone for a minute.”
Dora
couldn’t help but laugh at that mental picture then smiled apologetically at
her cousin.“I won’t say anything.”
“Good.Believe
me, you will be glad you didn’t. Just be careful and if Hoss starts acting
suspicious, tell him right away.”
Dora nodded
and the two started down the hallway. Then she couldn’t help but laugh again as
her cousin began to chortle to herself once more as she bounced down the
stairs. “Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy…”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The party
was over and everyone had headed for home hours before. Adam and Thea had gone
to bed early for a change and Thea was snuggled up against her husband with her
head on his chest and his arm around her shoulders. She yawned and her eyes
were just about to flutter shut when he spoke.
“So, did
your pupil follow your instructions to the letter? I’m assuming she did after
what Hoss told me.” He chuckled at her gasp of outrage.
“You didn’t
tell him, did you?”
“Of course not. He never would have believed it anyway. Remember, Hoss thinks you’re
perfect, the poor deluded man.”
Thea
giggled at that.“I think he’s sweet.”
“It’s no
wonder you think he’s sweet, he practically worships you.”
She giggled
again.“So, when did you figure it out?”
“The second day of our honeymoon.”
“And you
let me go on, even though you knew?”
“You bet I
did, I’m not stupid – and I also found it to be highly entertaining.”
“You rat!”
Adam just
laughed in response to her irritation and she rolled away from him to the far
edge of the bed.
“Oh no, you
don’t,” he growled and reached out to drag her to the center then rolled on top
of her.
“Adam, I’m
mad at you.”
“I know,”
he said and smoothed her hair back from her forehead with both hands, then
cupped her face.
“I mean
it.”
“Of course
you do,” he lightly brushed his thumbs across her lips.
“Don’t
think you can sweet talk me into forgiving you,” she warned.
“Never.
Wouldn’t think of it,” he kissed her on both cheeks as he slid his hands behind
her head.
“You should
be ashamed of yourself,” she ground out as she clenched her teeth.
“Yes,
terribly ashamed,” he breathed in her ear and she shivered.
“Now stop
that!” she ordered.
“Yes
ma’am,” he said low as his lips brushed against hers and she reached up with
both hands to hold his head still.
“Adam?”
“What?”
“You talk
too much…”
Their
voices, mingled in laughter, floated out into the hall then seemed to sink into
the very walls, touching each dreamer with a smile as they lay sleeping in the
shelter of the cream-colored house.
**************************************************************************************************************************************
LILLY’S
SON
Chapter
52
Thea and
Marie were in Adam’s tower office one sunny afternoon in June, talking quietly
as they discussed what needed to be done to give the entire tower a complete
cleaning.Adam was in the sitting room next door teaching Annalise a new song on
the piano while Ben, Joe, and Alexander were keeping the babies occupied. Hoss
and Dora, the newlyweds, had chosen to stay at the ranch to no doubt take
advantage of the opportunity to have some time alone.
Everyone
paused in what they were doing when a firm knock sounded on the front door.Thea
called, “I’ll get it,” and her husband turned back to his daughter, but still
listened with one ear to his wife’s quick footsteps coming down the iron spiral
staircase. He heard her move through his office, then the hallway to the front
door. Pulling it open she spoke to someone and a smooth, pleasant male voice
answered her.She must have invited him in because the screen door opened with a
faint squeak of the hinges. He had just made a mental note to himself to oil
them when he heard his wife scream.
Almost
before he was even aware of it, he was over the gate in the sitting room
doorway with Minnie right beside him. He skidded to a halt in front of his wife
while the dog forced a tall man with curly blond hair up against the front wall
with her growling and snapping.
The man
looked down at the dog who was still fiercely growling, at Adam who was eyeing
him furiously, and then at Ben and Joe who had come running to stand next to
Thea on either side. Incredibly, he smiled a wide, pleased smile. Adam blinked
at that then narrowed his eyes as he stared at the man’s face intently –
something about it seemed vaguely familiar.
“Minnie
down,” he said and the dog instantly lay down, but continued to watch the
stranger suspiciously.He tried to take a step forward, but something was
holding him back – Thea was hanging onto the back of his shirt with both hands
as she trembled up against him.
“Thea, let
go” he ordered as he tried to move forward again, but she seemed unable to
loosen her grip.He glanced over his shoulder at his father, “Pa?”
Ben had to gently pry her fingers open and when he had, she turned to clutch at the front of HIS shirt as she huddled in his arms, still shaking.
Adam went
to stand right behind Minnie, his eyes never leaving the man’s face.“What the
hell did you do?” he said to the stranger, his expression becoming more angry
with each passing second that his wife continued to shake with what looked like
fear.
The man’s
leaf-green eyes met his stare calmly. “I swear to you sir, I did nothin’. But
since I assume that she is Theadora I believe it is my face that frightened her
so badly.”
Taking a
step closer, Adam’s gaze sharpened and suddenly the connection to a memory in
the back of his mind snapped together. “Dear God, you’re her father come back
in the flesh,” he said deeply annoyed.
The
stranger rolled his eyes and nodded. “Unfortunately sir, that happens to be
almost true. I have cursed the fates every day of my life for bein’ sentenced
to wear HIS face.”
“Who ARE you?” Adam demanded.
“My name is
Allain Theadore Champlain Westwood. Sir Richard Westwood was also MY father,”
the stranger said quietly with the faint echo of some sort of accent coloring
his voice. “Although I use the term ‘father’ as a biological
term only.”
“So you
claim to be Thea’s half-brother. What proof do you have?”
The man
reached into an inside pocket of his suit coat and pulled out a sealed
envelope.He held it out to Adam who took it and quickly tore it open. Adam’s
eyes quickly scanned down the page, and he started to smile. When he reached
the end he laughed then said, “Pinkerton actually made you wait a month to tell
you where Thea was while he investigated you?”
The stranger smiled a charming smile, “Yes sir, but somehow payin’ to have MYSELF investigated just didn’t seem quite right.”
Adam
laughed again and held out his right hand, “If Pinkerton says you’re telling
the truth, then you must be.” The two men shook hands.
“So what name do you go by?” he asked the younger man who was smiling in
relief.
“Ted,” he
said simply and finally allowed himself to glance at Thea who had stopped
shaking and was now facing them, still standing in Ben’s arms.
Looking
down at the dog who had never stopped eyeing the man
suspiciously, Adam said, “Minnie, stand down.” She immediately stood, trotted
over to Thea and nudged the woman’s leg with her nose.When she looked down into
the dog’s worried face she smiled then crouched down to give Minnie a tight
hug.
“Why don’t
we go into my office and you can tell us about yourself,” Adam said as he
walked over to Thea and held out his hand to help her up. When she stood he
slipped an arm around her shoulders and started guiding her toward his office
door.
“This way,”
he said and the man followed, never taking his eyes off Thea.
Adam opened
the office door and motioned for Ted to enter first. Ben and Joe had stayed
back to give them some privacy, but Thea turned back at the door to look at
them questioningly and motioned for them to follow.
Their new
family member chose to sit in the wingback chair that faced the sofa where Thea
was now sitting in between her husband and father-in-law. Joe stood directly
behind her and was leaning on the back. Ted found himself smiling at this
display of protective support from the men in his half-sister’s life. He
couldn’t have been more pleased.
“Go ahead,”
Adam said quietly.Ted took a deep breath, looked directly at Thea, and began to
tell her his story.
“Richard
Westwood came to
“He
just…left?” Thea echoed softly and her brow furrowed when Ted nodded. Her own
lips tightened.“That sounds like him.”
“Yes, that
cold-hearted bastard just walked out on her. No explanations, no reason given,
just one day told her he was leavin’ and was gone before sundown.He broke her
heart and nearly destroyed her.”
“She loved
him that much?” Thea asked dubiously.
“On no, she loved YOU that much,” he closed his eyes for a second and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “My mother, the Queen of New Orleans society, the bluest of the blue bloods, got down on her knees and begged that man to leave you with her. He laughed, picked up your rag doll, threw it in her face and said, ‘This should be just as good.’”
He closed
his eyes again and the muscles in his jaw shook, he was clenching his teeth so
hard.When he looked at her again his eyes were blazing with green fire. He
leaned forward, “I don’t know how you feel about him, but I hate that man with
every fiber of my bein’. And if he wasn’t already dead he would be receivin’ an
extremely painful visit from me.”
Thea had
let go of the hands she had been clutching and was perched on the very edge of
the seat, leaning toward Ted. Now she stood and moved to sit on his side of the
low table in between the sofa and his chair.She reached out and took his hands
in hers.“I understand how you feel,” she said softly.
Ted looked
away from her for a moment and when he turned back she saw the sheen of tears
in his eyes.He quickly blinked them away.“Thea, I did not even know you existed
until I was twenty-one. I came home from college unexpectedly one day and found
my mother curled up on her bed and cryin’ her heart out over that rag doll.
I’ve been lookin’ for you ever since,” his voice broke on the last word and he
cleared his throat.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you and please try to understand why I’m here.I am not tryin’ to push myself into your life.But you ARE my sister and I had to know what that monster had done with you.” He put his head down.“I had to know, Theadora,” he finished softly.“I just had to know, and you’ll forgive me I hope for thinkin’ the worst.”
She leaned
forward and put her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a hug.He put a
hand over his eyes saying, “God Thea, you even wear the same perfume Momma
did.”
“Lilly of
the Valley?” she said in surprise then leaned back to look him in the
eye.“Lilly!” He nodded.
“That’s
right, Lilly was her name. Lillian De Marigny Champlain,” he said as she let go
of him and leaned back.
“Dear Lord,
I remember her.She was very tall wasn’t she? And had the most
beautiful, deep red hair.” He nodded again.“I remembered her, but didn’t
know who she was. Does that make any sense?”
“Yes, it
does.You weren’t quite five when he took you away so that’s understandable. I
would also think at some point you started to wonder if maybe she was your
mother.”
That
startled her and she looked at him wide-eyed. “How did you know that?”
“Sorry,
practicin’ my profession again. Anythin’ to do with the mind and the brain is
my area of interest.”
She stared
at him intently then she smiled. “I can’t believe this, you’re A.T. Westwood.”
He shook
his head and smiled back at her, “You’ve actually read my articles?” At her
nod, he started to laugh.“Well, at least that means three people have – you,
me, and my editor.”
Adam broke
in, “What articles?”
Thea stood
and moved to perch on the arm of Ted’s chair as he answered her husband.“The
articles I’ve written for the medical journals.”
“So you’re
a physician too.”
Ted nodded,
“I have to say the only good thing Thea and I ever got from that monster was
the call to heal.” He glanced up at Joe for a second and his eyes narrowed and
he looked puzzled. Then he lowered his gaze back to Adam.
“Were you
born in
“Yes sir, I
was.But when I was thirteen my mother had had enough of being shunned by
Adam looked
at him puzzled for a second, then his expression
cleared as he understood. “Had a little trouble, did you?”
Ted laughed
again, “Oh yes.All the local boys had to hear was that
All four
men laughed, but Thea was appalled. “That’s terrible!”
“No, that’s
just the way boys are.” Ted looked at her over his shoulder, giving her a
quirky grin. “And that’s not the worst of it, when I’d get home Momma would
cane me for fightin’!”
The men all
laughed harder, but Thea just shook her head. “I swear,
if I live to be a hundred years old, I will never understand you men.” Her
half-brother gave her an incredulous stare.
“Well now,
Momma told me a story about a certain little girl who knocked Willy Thornton
into the creek then sat on him until he almost drowned.”
“I didn’t!”
“You did.”
“Dear Lord,
why?”
“He was tryin’ to do the same thing to a bag of kittens and that just did not sit well with you, no pun intended. It’s a good thing Momma came lookin’ for you. You were sittin’ on his back with your arms folded and yellin’ ‘Let’s see how YOU like it!’”
Thea turned
bright red.
“Oh, and he
still remembers you too. I ran into him when I stopped in
He smiled
at her obvious embarrassment and glanced at Joe again. “Now, why do you look so
familiar?”
Ben
answered him, “Did I hear you say Lillian De Marigny Champlain?”
“Yes sir.”
“Marie De
Marigny was my third wife and Joseph’s mother.”
“Ah!Now I
remember. My mother’s mother had a portrait hangin’ in her house of a De
Marigny ancestor and he had almost the exact same face as you, Joe.” He
chuckled, “I guess that also means I’m your cousin. Distantly,
but still your cousin.” He winked at Joe and gave him that one-sided
quirky grin before turning his head to look at Thea again. “If you don’t mind,
Thea, I’d like to go get the bag I left on your front porch. I have somethin’
for you.”
Thea nodded
so he stood and quickly left the room. He was back in less than a minute.
Ted
carefully set the open bag down on the low table, reached in, and pulled what
at first looked like a bundle of cloth out. When he held it out to her Thea’s
eyes opened wide, “Susan! Her name is Susan,” she said as she took the old rag
doll from him. He smiled as he watched her smoothing down the dolls curly yarn
hair. “I can’t believe you kept this.”
“My
mother’s last thoughts were of you Thea. I promised her I would find you, put
that doll in your hands, and make sure that you were all right. I’ve kept my
promise and now I know she’s restin’ easy, because you could not possibly be
any more ‘all right.’” He turned his head to look at Adam, Ben, and Joe in turn
then sighed as he turned back to his sister.
Thea was
still looking down at the old doll and when she raised her eyes to Ted’s he
could see they had darkened. “He did that on purpose, didn’t he? He left the
only thing that mattered to me behind on purpose.” He nodded reluctantly.
“He had to
punish you, punish you both because you two had the nerve to love each other
and not him.That’s the reason why he left and took you away. He was a sick man,
Thea.Somethin’ was deeply, and terribly wrong with him. In my profession we
would call someone like that ‘atavistic,’ a person without a conscience.Nothing
and no one mattered to that man but himself.Everythin’ he ever did that someone
would see as either kind or noble was just for show. His protective coloration
so no one would know that he wasn’t normal.” He paused and narrowed his eyes as
he stared intently at her bowed head.
“Theadora,
look at me,” he continued. She raised her head to meet his eyes with her own.
“I know you have carried a deep, dark secret of guilt all your life, believin’
that somehow you were responsible for the way he treated you. You thought you
had failed to measure up, to be worthy of him. But that’s not true.Think about
it, did my mother deserve what he did to her? No.And I can’t include myself
because that man never even knew I existed. But if he had I have no doubt
whatsoever that I would have received the exact same lack of feelin’ from
him.Theadora, you weren’t unworthy of him…he was unworthy of you.”
She was
staring at him and he could almost see her taking in his words and examining
them, looking for false logic. But she could find none.
“Now, since
you have read all of my writin’ on the human brain and are no doubt aware of
how brilliant I am, I expect you to bow to my superior knowledge and accept my
diagnosis.”He held his breath, waiting for her reaction.
Thea was
still staring at him almost blankly, but when he raised his eyebrows and gave
her his quirky grin, her lips started to twitch and then she chuckled. Pleased,
he laughed saying, “Thata girl!” and then staggered back when she stood to
throw her arms around him. She seemed to be laughing and crying at the same
time as he hugged her tightly.
“I am so
sorry for what he did to you darlin’, and I wish I had been there to protect
you.”
Adam stood and motioned for Ben and Joe to follow him from the room.The last thing they heard before leaving the brother and sister alone was Ted’s pleasant laugh as he said, “Dear Lord woman was your mother a midget? You are SO short!”
**************************************************************************************************************************************
“ANOTHER
SON”
Chapter
53
Ben, Joe,
and Adam left the office quietly, leaving by the door that led to the sitting
room and when they entered Marie looked up expectantly. She had quietly slipped
into the room from the tower office when the ruckus had started to take charge
of the children. Adam knew this and smiled at her gratefully as he sat down in
his usual chair. Annalise was there in seconds and hopped up into his lap. Alex
was lying on the floor, buried under his three younger brothers who had nodded
off, not in the least bit concerned about the noise. The babies were used to
it.
“Who is
that man, Pa?” Annalise asked, having caught a glimpse of him through the door
when the three men had come in. She had noticed he had his arms around her
mother and that bothered her.
“Well, it
seems he’s your mother’s brother.”
The little
girl’s brow furrowed.“But how can he be Ma’s brother when she didn’t even know
him?”
“He had a
different mother.”
“Oh…just
like you and Uncle Hoss, and Uncle Joe.”
“Right.”
Having had
her curiosity satisfied, the little girl just snuggled up against her father
and relaxed, prepared to listen to the adult’s conversation. She knew her father
didn’t like it when they interrupted too much.
“And not
only that,” Joe said with a laugh, “it turns out he’s my cousin too.”
“An
unexpected and strange turn of events,” Adam said then leaned down to explain
Joe’s comment to his daughter before she started asking questions again.Then
when they heard Thea’s joyful laugh coming from the other room they all smiled,
especially Ben who seemed extremely pleased for his daughter-in-law.
“What do
you think, Pa?” Adam asked his father.
“By all
appearances, I think Ted is going to be an extremely interesting addition to
this family,” Ben laughed. “And I have to add that there never seems to be a
lack of entertainment in this house.”
Adam shook
his head, “I believe I once told Dylan my house has been in a state of barely
controlled insanity ever since we moved here and I can’t exactly explain why.”
“People,”
his father answered.
“People?”
Ben shook
his head, “You can’t have a house this full of people and not have mayhem break
out occasionally.”
“I have to agree
with your father’s hypothesis Adam,” Ted said. No one had heard the door open
or noticed Ted and Thea coming in. “Especially considerin’ the caliber of
people you have gathered around you. Remember, it’s a fine line between
brilliance and insanity.”
Thea
laughed at her brother’s joking and moved forward to pick up Thomas then placed
him in Joe’s arms.Benjamin was given to his grandfather and both babies
continued to sleep. Matthew, however, woke up as soon as she touched him, and
he was not in a good mood.When he heard Matthew’s fitful cry Ted came to put a
hand on the baby’s back.
“May I?” he
said and Thea gladly handed the child over. Ted looked down into Matthew’s face
and the boy stared back with angry eyes at this stranger then scrunched his
face up, ready to start screaming. But Ted merely raised the baby to his
shoulder and began to hum in his ear. Everyone else watched closely to see what
would happen.
Matthew let
loose one short, half-hearted cry of ill temper, and
then tiredly laid his head down on Ted’s shoulder. The man just continued to
hum and rubbed the baby’s back. In a few minutes Matthew was asleep again. He
smiled quietly saying, “I’ve worked a lot of children’s wards in hospitals.
That usually works for me for some reason.”
Alexander
had gotten to his feet and looked up at the tall man with wide eyes.“Wow,” was
all the boy could manage to say.Adam laughed.
“Not only
have you done the impossible by getting Matthew to settle down, you’ve also rendered
Alexander almost speechless!”
Everyone
laughed again except Ted; he was still humming softly into Matthew’s ear.
Thea
motioned for her brother to take a seat on the sofa next to Joe then seated
herself on his other side. She beckoned Alexander to come to her and the child
hurried over, still staring at Ted as she lifted him into her lap.
“Are you my
uncle?” Alex asked as his mother smoothed his unruly hair back from his
forehead.Ted turned his head to look at Thea.
“I don’t
know, am I? Pinkerton never said a word about you and Adam
havin’ children.”
Thea smiled
and hugged her son tighter, making him giggle as Adam answered the question.
“Yes, you
are.”
“All five
are yours?”Ted asked giving him an incredulous stare.
“Yes.”
“A set of twins and a set of triplets?”
Adam was
chuckling now. “Obviously.”
“Do you
have any idea what the odds are against that?” Ted was trying to keep his voice
low so he wouldn’t disturb Matthew.
“Yes, I
do,” Adam was openly laughing at his new brother-in-law now. “You are holding
Matthew, Thea has Alexander, my father has Benjamin, Joe has Thomas, and this
beautiful child in MY lap is Annalise.”
“Pa!”
Annalise protested then ducked her head in embarrassment as her face turned
bright red.Her father just shook his head at her shyness and gave her a quick
squeeze.
Ted was
grinning hugely as he looked from child to child and when he turned his head to
look at Alexander he opened his mouth, but then seemed to change his mind
because he didn’t speak.
“What is it
Ted?You’re a member of this family so you can say whatever you want. Everybody
else certainly does.”
The man’s
expression turned serious. “Well, I was just thinkin’ that this mornin’ I had
no family whatsoever, and now…”
Adam was
nodding.“I think I felt something similar when Joe found me in
Ted started
to nod too, in agreement when Annalise spoke up. “Uncle Ted?There’s something
moving in there,” she pointed toward the bag he had carried in from the tower
office.
“Uh oh, I
guess that means Fred finally woke up,” Ted answered her then looked at
Matthew, not sure of what to do with him.
“I’ll take
him,” Marie said quietly from her chair in the far corner. The young man looked
startled for a moment – he had forgotten she was there. But he stood and
quickly walked over to her before she had a chance to stand herself.He
carefully handed the baby over and gave her a grateful smile saying, “Thank you
very much, ma’am,” then turned to walk quickly back.He went down on one knee
next to the bag and rested his right hand on the edge of the opening.
“Come on
out Fred.No one’s goin’ to hurt you.”
They all
heard a faint rustling sound coming from the bag and a small, triangular black
head popped up over the edge then disappeared again when a giggle escaped
Annalise.She clapped a hand over her mouth when Ted turned his head to smile at
her then put a finger to his lips. “Shhhh, Fred is very, very shy at first.”
“Come on
boy, come on out,” he said and the head slowly reappeared. The tiny dog looked
around cautiously then his mouth opened and long pink tongue lolled out of his
mouth as he slowly placed two white front paws on Ted’s hand and grinned up at
the man. Ted patted his shoulder and Fred quickly hopped out of the bag and streaked
up the man’s arm to settle himself there.
“What the
hell is that?” Adam said trying to hold his laughter back.
“Fred is a
dog.”
“Are you
sure?Are you sure he isn’t really just a big rat that thinks he’s a dog?”
Ted started
laughing himself as he nodded. “Fred, they don’t believe you’re a dog, so work
with me boy – at least bark.” He snapped his fingers saying, “Speak Fred. Come
on, speak.”Fred let out a sharp little yap that startled Balor and Minnie. Both
of the huge dogs stood and came over.
“Don’t
worry, Ted, they won’t hurt him,” Adam was quick to assure his wife’s
brother.Balor gave the tiny creature a quick sniff then Minnie pushed forward
to do the same. The two dogs looked at each other and seemed to be exchanging
amused glances until their master spoke, “Minnie, Balor, go lay down,” he
instructed them and they both moved away.But they chose to lie down next to
each other while being sure to keep facing the man who was still kneeling on
the floor.
“I think
he’s cute!” Annalise said as she slid out of her father’s lap and came over to
get a closer look.“Pa, he’s cross-eyed!” she said in disbelief then started to
reach toward Fred, but then stopped.She had been taught by her father to never
touch a dog she didn’t know.
“It’s ok,
he won’t hurt you,” Ted answered her questioning look and the little girl
carefully reached out to scratch the little dog behind his triangular
ears.Fred’s eyes closed and he collapsed, draping himself over Ted’s shoulder
as he made little grunting noises and his long, thin tail whipped around.
Annalise laughed as she continued to scratch. Then Alexander came to get a
closer look too.
He started
to stroke the little dog’s short, sleek black fur and both children were
startled when the dog suddenly turned to drape himself over Ted’s shoulder on
his back.They both giggled and scratched Fred’s bare pink belly as his tail
continued to wildly wag. The dog grinned with half-closed eyes, let his tongue
loll out of his mouth from the side, and waved his white paws around in
ecstasy.
The adults
couldn’t help but laugh at the little dog’s antics and the children were
delighted.Balor and Minnie were good dogs, but rarely had the chance to play –
they were on duty most of the time.
“Would you
like to see Fred do a trick?” Ted asked the two children. They nodded
vigorously.“Alright, step back then,” he instructed them and the two quickly
did so. He put his hand on the floor saying, “Down Fred,” and the little dog
quickly scampered down his arm then sat down facing his master.
“Say
‘hello’ Fred.”The little dog shifted his front feet and seemed to be trying,
but couldn’t quite get it out. “Come on, Fred, say ‘hello’ to these nice
people.”
The dog
shifted his feet again then pointed his sharp muzzle toward the ceiling as he
howled, “Reh-roooh!”The adults were laughing helplessly at that point while the
children applauded and the other two dogs stared.
Ted snapped
his fingers and the dog looked at him expectantly again. “Fred,” he said then
pointed at him with his index finger and the thumb up. “Put ‘em up, buster,” he
continued and the little dog sat up and raised his front paws over his head as
he stared intently back. “Bang!” Ted said and the dog
threw himself onto his back with all four paws sticking up and his tongue
lolling out on the floor. Everyone, even Ben, was howling at this point when
Ted told Fred to take a bow.
Fred
stretched his front paws out and lowered his head while his rump stuck up in
the air.His tail continued to wave back and forth as he grinned at their
laughter. Then he startled everyone by suddenly turning around, streaking
across the floor, and jumping into Adam’s lap.
Adam merely
picked Fred up with one large hand and held him so they were nose to nose.“I am
STILL not convinced you’re really a dog,” he said calmly then set him on his
shoulder. Fred promptly curled up, gave a huge yawn, and then went to sleep.
Thea was
gasping for breath and couldn’t help letting out one more laugh when she saw
Ted’s surprised expression. “Dogs love Adam,” she said to her brother in
explanation and stood to start gathering up children.Marie came to help and as
the two women and the twins left to take the babies upstairs they were still
breaking out in short bursts of mirth. Minnie and Balor followed them closely.
Ted stayed
where he was as he watched them go then he stood to take his seat next to Joe
again.He stared at Fred sleeping on Adam’s shoulder and shook his head.
“Fred has
never done that with anyone before.”
“Well, dogs
are supposed to good judges of character,” Ben offered.
Joe nudged
Ted with his elbow.“But there’s always at least one exception to every rule,”
he said while grinning at his older brother.Adam grinned back.
“Touché
Joe.So you still remember that.” Joe just continued to grin as his answer then
they all turned to look at Ben when he started chuckling.
“Adam,” he
said with a big smile, “have you realized yet that this lets Alexander off the
hook?”
“No I
didn’t, but I do now!”He gave what could only be described as an evil chuckle
and said, “Welcome to the family Ted.We are doubly pleased to see you!”
Joe glanced
back and forth between his brother and father. “I don’t get it.”
Adam was
still chuckling.“Ted is Sir Richard’s legitimate son which takes precedence
over a grandson.”
“Oh…” Joe
said as the light dawned and he bit his lip to keep from laughing at Ted’s
horrified expression.
“Dear God no! I don’t want anythin’ from that man!”
“Sorry Ted,
but those are the laws of entailment. The estate is now yours to do what you
will with – barring sale or destruction of course.”
“You mean I
can’t blow the place up, have the stones thrown into the sea, and sow the
cursed place with salt?”
“I believe
that would come under the heading of ‘destruction’,” Adam joked, quite pleased
that he wouldn’t have to deal with the management of the estate anymore.
“Damn,” Ted
said in a decidedly unhappy voice.
“But you
could do other things with it that would make that man spin in his grave,” Joe
said, amused by the possibilities.
“Like
what?” Ted looked at him hopefully.
“How about a wax museum? I hear they’re all the rage in
Ted grinned
while Adam raised his eyes to heaven and Ben shook his head.
“Oh!” Joe continued,
“you could offer the estate as winter quarters for a
traveling circus!”
Laughing,
Ted nodded his head.“I like the way you think cousin.”
“Or you
could let all the tenant farmers and their families live in the manor house.”
Adam joined
in, “Now THAT would definitely annoy him.”
“But we
want to do more than just annoy him.” Joe said as he continued to think.Then he
laughed announcing, “I’ve got it – the perfect thing. Open up a halfway house
for reformed ladies of the evening!”
Ted and Ben
just stared at Joe incredulous for a few moments until Adam spoke.
“Yeah,” he
said sarcastically, “and you could call it ‘Bangtail House’.”
That broke
the other three men up and they were still howling with laughter when Thea
returned.
“What’s so
funny?” she asked as she came into the room.
“Nothing
dear,” Adam said in a choked voice as Ben, Joe, and Ted tried to contain
themselves.
“Hmmm…” she
gave her husband a narrow-eyed look as he turned his head away and raised a
hand to hide his smile. Thea must have decided the question was not worth
pursuing because she turned to Ted and Joe then.
“Joe, I
want you and Ted to go over to the hotel and bring back his luggage, he’ll be
staying here now.”
Ted looked
up at her in surprise and opened his mouth, but was interrupted by Adam.
“Ted, do us
all a favor and just say ‘Yes ma’am.’”
“Yes
ma’am!” he quickly responded with his quirky grin and the two men stood to
hurry out.Then the three still in the sitting room could hear muffled laughter
as Ted and Joe went out the front door.
Thea was
smiling a very pleased smile when she turned back to her husband and
father-in-law.“Now if you gentlemen will excuse me, I think I better get dinner
started. It’s almost
Adam
winced, closed his eyes, and shook his head as his father chuckled saying, “I
can’t believe you said that either.”
“I swear to
you Pa, I have no idea what possessed me to. And I also swear that woman could
hear through solid rock.”
Ben didn’t
even try to hide his amusement at his eldest son’s embarrassment. “It’s that
special hearing ability that most mother’s develop.But
husband’s get caught by it too.”He was smiling a very wide smile when Adam gave
him a dark look.
“You’re
having a really good time today, aren’t you?”
His father
just chuckled as his answer.
Adam opened
his mouth to continue the conversation when they heard a knock at the front
door.
“I’ll get
it!” Thea yelled from the kitchen doorway, but when Adam shouted back, “NO YOU
WON’T!” she just giggled and went back to what she had been doing.
He plucked
Fred off his shoulder and realized he didn’t quite know what to do with him
until his father said, “Give him to me, I want to get a closer look at that
thing.”Adam handed the little dog over and Fred’s eyes opened for a second when
Ben was holding him in both hands.
As Adam
left the room he heard his father chuckle again saying, “Annalise is right,
this dog IS cross-eyed.” He shook his head as he hurried down the hallway to
the front door. Recognizing the silhouette of the person through the frosted
glass he quickly opened the inner and screen doors.
“Stu!
What brings you to town?” he said as he waved the young man in. Stu’s dusky
complexion flushed slightly red as it always did when Adam gave him his usual
enthusiastic welcome.
“Just
finished a job down Unionville way and thought I’d stop and see how you all
were doing.”His shy smile was reflected in his light brown eyes. Realizing he
was inside he quickly took his hat off and his deeply wavy dark brown hair
seemed to spring to life right before Adam’s eyes. He smiled as a lock fell
across Stu’s forehead and the man shoved it impatiently back.
“Stu!”
Thea’s voice came to them from the kitchen doorway and she practically ran down
the hallway to give him a tight hug. The thin young man flushed an even deeper
red, but his smile grew as he carefully and gently hugged her back.
“Dear Lord,
you’re practically skin and bone!” Thea exclaimed. “I can almost count your
ribs,” she continued as she took him by the hand and started dragging him
toward the kitchen. He glanced back to give Adam a resigned smile and a nod,
meaning they would have to talk later.
Thea paused
halfway down the hall. “Marie!Alexander! Annalise!Stu is here!” she yelled up
the stairs and they heard the sounds of doors opening and closing then feet
hurrying.She continued to drag the now laughing young man toward the kitchen.
Adam smiled
an extremely pleased smile as he slowly made his way back toward the sitting
room.He could always depend on Thea being hospitable to whoever showed up at
their door. There seemed to be no limit to the fountain of affection flowing
from her heart and in all the years they had been together he had never once
seen her overwhelmed by a crowd of people. As he was about to turn in at the
sitting room door he stopped as he suddenly realized he preferred his house to
be full and was a little shocked by that thought.But then he smiled and tucked
that revelation away to be examined more thoroughly later.
Ben had
Fred in his lap and was absently running a hand down the little dog’s back – he seemed to thinking deeply about
something.But he looked up when Adam came to sit in the rocking chair next to
him.
“Who was
that?” he asked and continued to pet the small creature.
“Stu
Clayton.He’s someone I’ve hired frequently over the years to do jobs for me. I
guess technically I’d have to call him a hired gun, but he’s no killer. Stu
only uses his gun when necessary. But he’s the fastest draw I’ve ever seen.”
Ben’s brow
furrowed at the term “hired gun” but as usual accepted his son’s estimation of
the man’s character.
“So what
were you thinking about? Is there a problem I can help you with?”
“Oh no, no.
I was just thinking about how much things have changed.”
“Changed
how?”
“For the better, of course. You know that.Once I realized you HAD to do something more
with your life than just work the ranch everything seemed to naturally fall
into place. For the longest time it was just the four of us and I despaired of
that ever changing.Then you came home and everything just exploded.This family
is growing by leaps and bounds all because of you and I could not be more
pleased. With Theadora and the children at first then Dora,
and now Ted.” Ben paused to chuckle; “I’m even starting to think of your
deputies as family members now.”
Adam smiled
as he looked down, surprised that he was almost embarrassed, but shrugged that
feeling off.
“I’m glad
you feel that way Pa, and you’ve just given me the perfect opportunity to
discuss a few things with you I’ve been meaning to for some time.”
“Oh no,
don’t tell me you’re leaving.”
Adam was
genuinely shocked.“No! We’re home and we’re home to stay.We are NOT going
anywhere.”
“Good,” his
father sighed in relief.
The two men
exchanged smiles then Adam’s expression turned serious. “The first thing I
wanted to tell you is now that this region has been officially assigned to my
office I will be hiring a few more deputies. And we will be starting to make
periodic riding inspections of the entire area.What that means to you, Hoss,
and Joe, as the owners of the largest privately owned tract of land, is that
you will receive our services for free. We will be patrolling both the borders
and the interior of the Ponderosa and what was the King spread.This also means
you three and the ranch hands won’t need to ride fence anymore. We will be
surveying that for you.”
His father
was looking at him in surprise as Adam continued. “Of course we will be
patrolling all the other areas as well, but the people I will be hiring will be
doing that almost exclusively.”
“I’ve never
heard of that before,” Ben finally said.
“I
know.This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while and discussing with
my men. Remember, I’ve been given a free hand and I think this will prove to be
necessary for us to ensure the safety of all residents. We have to know what’s
going on in the entire region.”
“That makes
sense.”
“I thought
so, and that brings me to the second topic. I received a letter from Will a few
weeks ago. Things are not going very well for him and it seems to me that
Laura’s aunt’s interference in their marriage is the problem now and has been
from the beginning. Will thinks so too and is considering moving here. He’s
looking for work and is very interested in joining my office as one of the new
deputies.What do you think? I won’t hire him if you can use him to work the
ranch.”
Ben thought
about that for a moment. “Frankly, I would rather not have a distant family
member as an employee. In my experience that sort of thing just does not work
out very well. But if YOU hire him he will really be working for the federal
government, not you.”
“That’s
just what I was thinking. Good, that takes care of that problem.” He paused to
raise his arms over his head and stretched. “Now, when I took this director’s
position it was with the understanding that I would be dividing my time between
the office and my other business interests. This includes taking over the book
keeping for the ranch and the annex. Thea and I are a well-trained team doing
that now and it takes half the time it normally would.”
“The annex?”
“I’m sorry, I picked up that term from Thea. That’s what she
calls the new land. She figures that’s what it is since it adjoins the
Ponderosa and is a little less than about a third in size when you compare the
two.”
“I like
that.We’ll have to clear it with Hoss and Joe, but I think that’s the perfect
name. We can’t keep calling it the King spread.”
“I’m sure
they’ll agree.”He leaned back in his chair and began to rock. “So, getting back
to dividing my time, I will also be available to come out and help during busy
times, or when you’re short handed. Nate, John, Mike, and Dylan are also
willing to help if you should ever need them.They all have experience.” He
chuckled, “And some day I think you will have four grandsons to help work the
place, hopefully with their cousins. Which brings me to the
last topic for our little talk.” He glanced at his father’s expression
and chuckled. “So you noticed too.”
Ben just
grinned and nodded his head. “Looks to me like Annalise and the boys will be
getting a cousin in about six months time.”
“Hoss
doesn’t have a clue, does he?”
“No, I
think he still can’t believe he’s married.”
“Or perhaps
is still in shock?”The two men grinned at each other.
“I wonder
why she hasn’t said anything to him? Or do you think
she doesn’t know either?” Ben mused.
“I’m sure
she knows and I have a pretty good idea why she hasn’t said anything. So I’ll
have to have a little talk with her mentor. Dora needs to tell him even though
I’m sure Thea is right and Hoss will be hysterical for a while.But he’ll settle
down eventually.”He paused to yawn. “Sorry Pa, Thea’s been waking me up even
earlier than usual lately. She’s been fighting off some sort of stomach
illness.” He yawned once more.“And I’m also sorry that it looks like YOUR house
will be in a state of barely controlled insanity for a while.”
“Oh well,
these things happen” his father answered. They exchanged amused looks and
couldn’t help but start laughing again at the mental picture of how Hoss was
going to react. Then they both looked up when they heard Joe and Ted return.
Adam stood.
“I guess I
better show Ted to his room, I’m sure Thea has her hands full in the kitchen,”
he gave his father one more smile then hurried out.
Ben just
sat there quietly, still petting Fred. When he saw the three men go past the
door and up the stairs he smiled a huge smile and his eyes began to sparkle
with happiness.
“Well
Fred,” he said softly and the little dog opened his eyes. “Your master’s sister
was right.All I had to do was step back and be patient. She said he would come
around eventually. Damn, sometimes that woman is so smart it’s frightening.”
Fred sat
up, let out an enormous yawn then made what sounded like a low growl of
agreement as he grinned up into Ben’s amused face. Chuckling softly he scooped
the dog up, stood, and started for the kitchen to try and have a few words in
private with his daughter-in-law.
**************************************************************************************************************************************
“ASSUMPTIONS”
Chapter 54
Adam never
did get a chance to have a private chat with Stu that day; the evening went by
too quickly.
Ben, on the
other hand, did manage to have a little chat with Thea when he followed her up
to the nursery when she went to check on the babies.
She was
just leaning over Thomas and covering him with his blanket when Ben quietly
came into the room.
Thea turned
her head toward him and smiled a welcome. Then she took him by the hand and led
him over to the rocking chairs. After arranging two of them so they faced each
other they both sat down and leaned forward to converse in low voices. Ben got
right to the point.
“You were
right.”
“So Adam
finally got a chance to talk to you?”
“Oh yes.”
“I hoped he
would.That’s partly why I sent Joe off with Ted, to give you two a little
privacy.”
“I thought
you might have.You do a lot of ‘arranging’ things for Adam don’t you?”
She nodded
with a grin, “Yes sir! That’s my job as second in command.” They laughed
quietly together for a moment.
“It’s
funny,” Thea said, “when anyone asks Adam anything about running the house and
taking care of this family he always says he just lives here and they need to
speak to management.”
Ben nodded,
“He’s told me that too.”
“I think
it’s one of his favorite jokes.” She shook her head, “Now as for Adam and the
ranch you just watch. He will continue to liquidate assets in one way or another.
Either by selling outright or offering partners the chance to buy him out.” She
paused for a moment to think.“I only know of one business I’m sure he will keep
and the only silent partnerships he will continue with are the annex, the
hotel, and the club.”
“Does he
have that many partnerships, then?”
“Oh my,
yes, and after he’s finished selling he’ll have more money than even he will
know what to do with.”
“And then
he will be free to concentrate on the regional office and the ranch,” Ben
wasn’t asking, he was just stating a fact. Thea nodded as they smiled very
pleased smiles.
“Just
remember, Pa, I NEVER try to tell Adam what to do. But being the intelligent
man he is he listens to my opinion and takes it seriously.”
“So this is
what you want too?”
“Of course!
This arrangement will keep him happy because he won’t be bored, while at the
same time alleviating some of the guilt I know he felt by forgetting his
obligations to you and Hoss and Joe. But you can be sure of one thing – he
would have done this no matter what anyone else said.He is doing this for his
children.Wealth is one thing that will be handed down to them, but their true
heritage is the land. And you know exactly what I mean.”
“Yes, yes I
do.And I was hoping my eldest son would completely understand what it meant
someday. And it looks like that day is finally here.”
Thea
nodded, smiling her widest smile, her eyes shining in the dim light. Then she
laughed softly.
“What?” Ben
asked, grinning in response to her laugh.
“Have you
ever played chess against yourself?”
“No, I
can’t say that I have.”
“Well, I
haven’t either, I doubt I could. But I bet Adam can.He’s been doing something
very much like that with money for years now. You see he administers my
inheritance most of which is in trust for the children. So of course he
administers his own funds and I’ve known for some time that he wants to catch
up to mine.But since he does both…”She paused as Ben started laughing and said,
“But he can’t catch up with himself!”
Her
shoulders were shaking and she had one hand over her mouth to muffle her
laughter.
“I swear
Pa, some day it will drive him stark, staring mad!”
They
laughed quietly together again then Thea said, “I’m hoping this wholesale liquidation
will do the trick.It’s the only possible solution to his problem.” Still
laughing softly they stood and went into the hall.
She pulled
the door only halfway shut and started down the hallway, but Ben stopped her by
placing a hand on her arm.
“Adam said
you have been ill lately. Do you know what’s wrong?”
“No, I
can’t seem to figure it out because it seems like…but no, it can’t be
that.Anyway, I made an appointment to see Matt tomorrow morning.Maybe we can
figure it out together.”She smiled up into his concerned face.
“Don’t
worry, I’ll be fine,” she said and took his hand again to lead him down the
hall and back down the stairs to the brightly lit kitchen noisy with family and
friends.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone
went to bed much later than was their usual habit, and as had been happening
for a couple of weeks now Thea woke up around
Once she
was sure she could breathe again she carefully slipped out of bed, praying she
wouldn’t wake Adam.She had been trying to be quiet, but his hearing was just as
acute as her own. However, this morning she was lucky and he stayed asleep.
Smiling
with relief, she slipped into her robe and moved almost silently toward the
door.She had just turned the knob and opened it a crack when the darkness of
the hallway suddenly lightened. Peering through the crack she saw Stu’s door
open and her jaw dropped when Marie came out.
She stood
there stunned, watching as Marie turned, put her arms around Stu, and hugged
him tightly.Then she stretched up on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss on the
lips. The two spoke low to each other and the only words she was certain she
heard were, “love you”.
Marie moved
away and turned toward her rooms in the other hallway and as she passed by Thea
held her breath, hoping the other woman wouldn’t notice. Marie didn’t and Thea
relaxed, waiting a few more moments before stepping out into the hallway and
making her way down to the kitchen where she could pace without bothering
anyone.
Since she
had started experiencing this nausea she would usually take this time to go
over what needed do be done during the coming day, but this time she couldn’t
think of anything else but Marie and Stu.
By the time
the sun had risen and she heard Adam starting to move around upstairs she was
only sure about one thing. She would not tell her husband what she had seen
because it qualified as an invasion of privacy.What she had seen had been by
accident and it was really nobody’s business. Nobody’s
business at all.
Having made
her decision she hurried upstairs to get dressed and to get the day started.
When she
went into the bedroom Adam turned toward her as he was shrugging into a red
shirt, her favorite color for him to wear. Before he could start buttoning it
she hurried forward to run her hands over his chest.Then she slipped her hands
around him and rubbed his back under the shirt.
He chuckled
as he wrapped one hand in her hair and pulled to tip her head back.Slipping his
free arm around her waist he slanted his mouth over hers, nudging her mouth
open with his tongue. She sighed with pleasure as the kiss deepened and she
slipped her hands down the back of his trousers.Adam jerked in surprise, then
stepped back to laugh and to pull her hands out of his pants.
“Now stop
that!You behave yourself woman.”
Thea stuck
out her lower lip in an outrageous pout, making him laugh again.
“That
doesn’t work for Annalise and it’s not going to work for you either, young
lady.You know I have to go.”
“Oh well,
can’t blame a girl for trying,” she said and gave him a cheeky grin.
He gave her
a skeptical look then turned away to finish buttoning his shirt then tucked it
in.Just as he was gathering up his hat and vest she slid her arms around his
waist then pressed up against him from behind.He started laughing again as he
grabbed her wrists to keep her hands from getting into more mischief.
“What is
with you this morning?” he asked as he turned back around and took her by the
shoulders to push her back up against the bed and then pushed her down until
she sat.
“Sit!” he
said and started backing away toward the door. “Stay!” he said when she shifted
on the bed to turn toward him. When he was at the door he reached back to turn
the knob, opened it and started to back through.Just before he pulled the door
shut he poked his head back in to say, “Good girl!” and then was gone.
Thea fell
back on the bed giggling helplessly as she listened to him hurry down the
stairs and out the back door, as though she was right behind him. When she
could breathe again, she weakly sat up then stood to get dressed as quickly as
she could.She was already hearing sounds from the children’s rooms and knew she
didn’t have a chance in heaven of them ever being patient.
“Thank God
for Marie,” she said softly to herself and hurried faster, but still smiled a
knowing smile.She was aware of what her husband would be frequently thinking
about today.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
About
midmorning the door to the office Thea shared with Matt opened and she stepped
out then slowly pulled the door closed behind her. A fitful ray of sun managed
to break through the overcast sky and shone on the buggy she had taken this
morning, intending to do some house calls after her appointment with Matt.
She stood
there for a few moments then suddenly ran to the buggy, pulled herself up into
the driver’s seat, and took off heading out of town.
Her
thoughts kept spinning around in her head and she couldn’t seem to get a firm
grip on any of them.When she reached the ranch house, she pulled the horse up
abruptly and jumped to the ground as Ben opened the front door. She ran across
the yard, threw herself into his arms, and just stood there, her entire body
shaking violently.
Ben
tightened his hold on her.“Good God Thea, what is wrong?”
She raised
her head to look at him with tear-filled eyes and gasped out, “I’m a dead woman
Pa,” then buried her face in his chest again.
Her
father-in-law slipped an arm around her shoulders and gently prodded her
through the door.Once they were inside, he led her to a chair then pushed her
down into it. Then he sat down on the low table in front of her and took both
her hands in his own.
“Now,” he
said quietly, “what is this about?”
“Pa, I am a
dead woman and your son is the one who’s going to kill me.” She tightened her
grip on his hands as she started shaking again and hung her head.
“Thea,
there is nothing that you could possibly do that would make Adam do such a
thing.”
She looked
up to meet his concerned eyes. “I’m…oh God I can’t say it.”
“You’re
what?Are you ill? What is it?”Ben was starting to feel real fear for her until
two words burst from her tight throat.
“I’m
pregnant.”
His eyes
opened wide in shock.“Theadora, how can this be, I thought…”
I know,”
she interrupted him.“I thought that too, but seemingly I didn’t understand what
Matt was telling me after the triplets came.”She shook her head as she raised
one hand to wipe away a tear.
“Adam is
NEVER going to believe that was just a mistake. He’s going to think I did this
on purpose.”
“I take it
then that Adam doesn’t want anymore children?”
“Of course
not, you’ve heard the things he’s said.” Another tear rolled down her cheek.
“He’s never going to forgive me for this,” she said in a small voice and looked
down again.
“Thea, I
think you’re over-reacting. Adam wouldn’t…” he paused when he heard voices and
looked up to see Dora and Hoss coming down the hall toward the stairs. They
both stopped when they took in the scene below.
Thea,
facing the other way, also looked up and gasped when she saw Adam pulling his
horse up next to the buggy. Even from inside and through the window she could
see his furious expression. At her gasp, Ben had turned his head to look too.
“I drove
out here alone,” she said in a horrified voice. “Now he really IS going to kill
me.”
Both of
them stood and Thea stayed behind Ben as Adam strode through the front door.He
must have seen her hiding behind his father through the window because he
walked up to the older man and firmly said, “Pa, step aside.”
Ben
instinctively started to, but then briefly hesitated. Adam tipped his head
slightly sideways and gave his father a chiding look.
“Pa…step
aside,” he repeated and his father did. Then he looked at his wife with
narrowed eyes.
“Theadora,
stop that shaking – it’s insulting. You KNOW I would never hurt you.”He paused
to let out an exasperated sigh. “Come here,” he said and when she did he took
her hand to pull her across the room and out the front door. She turned her
head back as they went through to give Ben one last despairing glance then her
husband closed the door.
Adam pulled
her across the yard, through the barn door, then into an empty stall.He
indicated for her to sit down on a hay bale then hauled another over to sit in
front of her. She waited for him to speak first as he continued to stare at her
with angry eyes and a clenched jaw.
“What
happened?” he finally said in a voice deepened by his anger. “I want you to
tell me what happened and why you broke your promise to me.”
She met his
gaze and when he saw her anguished eyes his angry expression lessened greatly.
“Theadora,
what is it?” he demanded as she continued to stare at him mutely.
“Adam, I’m
pregnant,” she managed to force the words out as she hung her head and braced
herself for his reaction. The seconds ticked by and she almost started to relax
when he spoke.
“Alright,
NOW I want you to explain to me how that is possible.”
“I
misunderstood what Matt told me after the triplets came. I thought he said he
HAD done a hysterectomy, but he hadn’t. He said he chose to repair the damage
so I wouldn’t suffer any more blood loss.”She looked up and sighed as she
closed her eyes, “I am so sorry, this is all my
fault.”
“Sure it
is.You did this all on your own,” he said sarcastically.Then he reached out to
take her hands and tugged on them so she would look at him. When she opened her
eyes she couldn’t believe that the corners of his mouth were actually turned up
a little.
“Theadora,
if that were true you really would need to be written up in the medical
journals.It takes two people, remember?”Shaking his head he said, “Besides, I
should have discussed it with him myself, you weren’t exactly coherent at the
time.”
“You
weren’t either.”
“I know,
but I still should have talked to him about it. At least I can understand now
why you drove out here by yourself.”
“I thought
you were going to kill me.”
“Why?”
She stared
at him in surprise, “Because you don’t want any more children.”
“I
don’t?Now when did you ever hear those words coming out of my mouth?”
Thea
started to answer and then realized she couldn’t.
“You never
heard me say that.You just assumed I didn’t want any more children. Never
assume something about me again Thea. In fact it’s a good idea to never assume
anything.” She nodded and started to relax.
“And another thing. You didn’t drive out here alone because you thought I was
going to kill you.”
“Yes I did,
I was terrified!”
“I’m sure
you were, but not for that reason.” Tightening his hold on her hands he gently
continued, “Thea, your last pregnancy temporarily ended in death.If that’s not
a good reason to run off in a blind panic, I don’t what is.”
Her eyes
blinked rapidly as she took that thought in then her mouth dropped open when
she realized he was right.
Adam sighed
deeply and his expression showed he was preparing himself for the worst when he
said, “So, do you know how many it’s going to be this time?”
She was
still staring at him in surprise as she lifted a hand up with only one finger
raised.
“ONE? Are
you sure?”She nodded and started to smile in relief.
“I only
have one more question.What does this mean for you?”She didn’t understand what
he was asking.
“Theadora,”
he said in response to her puzzled look, “is your life going to be in danger
again?”
“Oh no, no.
Everything feels normal and Matt isn’t any more concerned than he would be with
any pregnancy.”
Adam gave
her one more narrow look, then sighed. “Thank God it’s
not quadruplets this time, that’s what I would have expected.”
Thea
laughed, “Mathematical progression?”
He nodded
as he stood and tugged on her hands so she would too. Taking her into his arms
he said, “Are you SURE it’s only one.”
She nodded
her head against his chest and he chuckled. “So what’s one more?There’s not a
big difference between having five and having six children. But this is it, I don’t want your life being put in danger again.”
“I know,
and I AM sorry.”
“Just
remember this isn’t all your fault. Hopefully Annalise
will finally get the sister she’s always wanted. I feel sorry for the poor kid
having nothing but brothers.” He put one arm around her shoulders and they
started out of the stall, walking slowly.
“I hope so
too, but we won’t know until January.”
“Ah, and
Dora is due in what, February?”
“Yes she…” Thea started to agree, but stopped and gave him a
resigned look.“How did you know?”
“Pa and I
noticed the same signs.”
“Pa knows
too!”
“Yep.”
“You didn’t
tell Hoss did you?”
“Nope, but
Dora needs to and soon. I know you’re both trying to avoid telling Hoss until
you have to, but he has a right to know.”
“I know,
but he’s going to drive her crazy by hovering over her constantly.”
“Well, all
I can do is have a talk with him myself, but I doubt
it will make any difference.”
“Thank you,
I guess it can’t hurt for you to try.”
They had
reached the front door and Adam looked down into her face with a smile as he
turned the knob and pushed the door open. Thea went in first and he followed,
only pausing to shut the door.
Pa, Hoss,
and Dora were all standing in a group near the desk when Dora hurried up to
take Thea by the shoulders. “Is it true?” she said her face flushed with
excitement. When her cousin nodded she let out a shriek that startled everyone
then threw her arms around Thea and almost lifted her off the floor.
“When?” she
asked as she pulled back.
“January.”
“Only one
month before me!” Dora enthused and hugged her cousin again, but more gently
this time.“That’s not fair,
you were supposed to be finished so we could catch up!”
Adam had
turned to look at Hoss when Dora let her own news slip out. Hoss had been
smiling, happy for his brother and sister-in-law, but when Dora’s words sank in
the smile was wiped off his face and his expression tightened. This was not the
reaction Adam had expected – he was surprised that his younger brother was
angry.He quickly moved forward to draw Thea away from her cousin as Hoss walked
up behind his wife.
Dora’s
expression turned puzzled when Adam pulled Thea back until Hoss tapped her on
the shoulder.When she turned around and saw his face she instinctively took a
step back and clapped a hand over her mouth.
“How long?”
he asked her then his mouth clamped shut and his jaw muscles stood out as he
clenched his teeth.
“Not until
February,” Dora blurted out.
“No, that’s
not what I’m askin’.How long have you known,” he said through clenched teeth as
Dora stared back at him, horrified.
“Um…only a month or two.”
Hoss’s face
turned red.“ONLY a month or two,” he echoed his wife’s words then closed his
eyes. When he opened them Thea was shocked to see how they had darkened with
his anger.She started to take a step forward to tell him it was all her fault
when Adam quickly pulled her back against him with an arm around her waist then
put a hand over her mouth.
“Stay out
of it,” he whispered in her ear and when he looked up Hoss turned his head to
meet his older brother’s gaze. They stared at each other for a few seconds then
the big man abruptly turned around and strode out the front door, slamming it
shut behind him.
“Where is
he going?” Dora almost wailed deeply shaken by this turn of events.
“Probably
to the barn to take some of my advice,” Adam answered her as he took his hand
away from Thea’s mouth.
Dora
hurried over to the window in time to see Hoss going into the barn. She turned
back to look at Ben who gave her a sympathetic smile even as he shook his head
at her. Turning again, she continued to watch out the window until she saw Hoss
come back out and head for the house.Then she hurried over to stand directly in
line with the front door, but several yards back.
Hoss seemed
to have calmed down quite a bit, but they could all see he was still angry.He
stopped right in front of her and as he pointed a finger in her face Adam could
see his knuckles had taken a beating.
“Don’t you
ever keep somethin’ like that from me again. No, don’t
ever keep anythin’ from me again. No matter what it is, you hear?”
Dora nodded
slowly never taking her eyes from his. “I’m sorry and I swear I won’t ever keep
anything from you again,” she said quietly.
Her husband
blinked, not expecting this calm, agreeable reaction from her and let his hand
drop as she stepped forward, put her arms around him, and hugged him tightly.He
sighed deeply as he gave his older brother a sideways look. Adam responded with
raised eyebrows, a pleased smile, and a nod. Then Hoss wrapped his arms around
Dora and squeezed her tightly.
Hearing
someone clearing their throat, they all turned toward the desk where Ben was
now sitting with his elbow propped on the desktop and his chin in his hand.He
turned his bright black eyes back and forth between the two couples a few
times. “Is the show over?” he said with a grin and joined in on the answering
laughter.
He stood
and came toward them, but stopped when both women rushed up to hug him at the
same time.He staggered back a step, put an arm around the shoulders of each
daughter-in-law then gave his two sons a knowing smile. “Congratulations boys,”
he said, “and good luck.I think you’re both going to need it.”
Adam looked
at Hoss with one eyebrow raised and his half smile. “Are we going to let him
get away with that?” he asked his brother who smiled and shook his head.So they
both hurried toward their father as their wives quickly stepped back.
Hoss
wrapped his father in a bear hug as Adam kept going, but was back in a few
seconds with a bottle of champagne in his hands. He shook the bottle and popped
the cork saying, “Stand back, brother!” Hoss stepped away just as the first
spray of champagne doused his father from head to toe.
“Congratulations
Grandpa!” Adam shouted and his father laughed as he wiped champagne off his
face.Then he caught his eldest son by surprise by rushing forward, grabbing the
bottle, and pouring some over Adam’s head.He stepped back as the younger man
started laughing helplessly.
“I think
Hoss looks too dry,” he said and Adam nodded as Ben put his thumb over the top
of the bottle and shook it up again.
“Come here
Hoss,” he said with a wicked grin. “I’m sure you’ll like this, it was an excellent
year,” he continued as he began to stalk his son around the room.
Hoss was
breathless with laughter as he backed away. “Now Pa, take it easy,” he said as
he started to backup toward the front door.Unfortunately, he hadn’t noticed
Thea and Dora standing there. They each grabbed one of his arms and hid behind
him as Ben shook the bottle up again and sprayed the big man all over.
The two
women were leaning against Hoss weak with laughter when he abruptly turned
around and picked both of them up, getting them soaked too. He was still
standing there with the shrieking women in his arms when they heard a gasp.
They all
turned and saw Hop Sing standing there with wide eyes and his mouth hanging
open.He looked from person to person while slowly shaking his head. “Sometime I
think I never understand you,” he said and was still shaking his head as he
backed away toward the kitchen.
The five of
them exchanged embarrassed glances until Hoss sneezed and a fine spray of
champagne came out his nose. That finished them off and no one was capable of
speaking or even taking a deep breath for quite some time.
**************************************************************************************************************************************
GET
TOGETHER
Chapter
55
That evening was the first time the entire local crowd of
friends and family had managed to get together in months. Matt and Cassie had
just come back a week before from his family home in
All four
deputies were present, as was Barbara because her husband Sam was out of town
again on official Post Office business. She was sitting on a love seat sandwiched
in between Nate and Dylan who were making her laugh as they flirted with her
outrageously. Roy and Ben were sitting in chairs next to each other and were
conversing in low voices oblivious to what was going on around them. Alexander
was in
Thea was
sitting cross-legged in a wingback chair with Benjamin in her lap, and Joe was
sitting on a hassock in front of her. Her youngest brother-in-law was telling
her stories from his childhood, making her laugh at his memories of driving her
husband insane. While they talked Thea kept touching Benjamin, tickling his
foot, or stroking his cheek, or rubbing his belly.The baby was silent, enjoying
having his mother to himself and stared up at her in rapt fascination.
His brother
Thomas, however, was busy playing with his new uncle. Ted sat on the floor and
was patiently building tall spires of wooden blocks for Thomas to knock
down.The ten-month-old would chortle with glee when the blocks scattered across
the floor then would sit there patiently waiting for Ted to build them up
again. Neither one looked like they would be tired of the game anytime soon.
Adam was
sitting on the floor in front of Marie while Matthew was climbing all over
him.The two were discussing the trip to visit family Marie would be embarking
on the next afternoon. Adam was managing to keep his son from falling on his
head, but still kept up the conversation.
John and
Mike were near Thea’s chair and also sitting on the floor. They were
eavesdropping on Joe’s stories and trying to not look obvious, but their
muffled laughter gave them away.
Everything
ground to a halt when Annalise startled everyone by letting out a piercing
shriek.The little girl slid out of her Grandfather’s lap and ran up to Dora,
her expression wild with excitement.
“You’re
gonna have a baby?” she practically shouted up at her new aunt. Dora gasped,
turned beet red, and buried her face in her husband’s shoulder as everyone else
except Annalise burst out laughing. Hoss was laughing so hard he couldn’t get a
word out.
The little
girl was practically dancing with impatience for an answer when she heard her
father calling her name. Realizing she had committed a serious infraction of
the rules she reluctantly turned and went to him with her head hanging. But
when she reached her father who was now standing, and risked a quick peek at
his face, she saw he was smiling.
Adam picked
her up and looked at Hoss who was still chuckling, but nodded his head.
“Alright
everyone, yes it’s true. Hoss and Dora are expecting their first child in
February,” he said. Dora had to hide her face again as whistles,
congratulations, and cheers filled the room.Then he leaned his head down to
whisper “Calm down now,” to his daughter who had started to squirm around in
his arms, she was so excited.
When the
room was reasonably quiet again he made sure he had a tight grip on his
daughter as he continued.“But that’s not all folks, Thea and I will be
increasing our family by one in January.” Mayhem then ensued.
Joe laughed
so hard he weakly tipped over and fell to the floor on his side. Barbara leaped
to her feet with a stifled gasp of disbelief and rushed across the room to hug
Thea. Marie was right behind her.Cassie actually started crying tears of joy
for her friend and her new husband couldn’t help but laugh even as he held her
close to comfort her while she sobbed.
The
deputies stared at each other in consternation for a few moments. Then almost
as one they stood and hurried up to clap their boss on the back and laugh in
his face. If he hadn’t been holding his daughter they would have tortured him
further with a few risqué comments as well.
The newest
member of the family, Ted, was sitting there looking stunned as Thomas climbed
into his lap.The child looked around the room for a bit, his dark green eyes
shining as he took in the celebration going on all around him. He started to
laugh himself, then bellowed out “Pa!” over and over again as he vigorously
clapped his little hands.
Ted broke
out into huge gales of laughter and began to applaud too. Soon everyone but the
two couples and Adam were clapping and the noise level became almost deafening.
Adam just shook his head, then smiled at Annalise as
he leaned his head down to whisper in her ear.
“Why don’t
we both keep our fingers crossed that this baby will be a girl?” She stopped
clapping and grinned up at him, her emerald eyes gleaming with delight as she
nodded.
“But we
have to keep that our secret, no one else can know or it might not come
true.OK?” he continued and she giggled as she held up one small hand and said,
“Pinky swear?”
Adam
chuckled as he reached to link fingers with his daughter.
“Pinky swear,” he said solemnly then kissed her on the forehead
before setting her down. She immediately rushed across the room to her mother.
The noise
soon died down but the excitement level still remained high as Adam motioned
for Nate to come with him to help break out the champagne. Hopefully this time
people would end up drinking the fine wine instead of wearing it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few hours
later the party started to break up and people scattered. Nate and Dylan left
to escort Barbara home while Mike, John, and Joe went across the street to the Sage
Brush. Marie hurried upstairs to finish packing and didn’t notice Adam watching
her go up the stairs.Hoss and Dora took the five children up next.The couple
had volunteered to put them to bed, no doubt thinking they could use the
practice.
Thea saw
Matt and Cassie out and after watching them walk up the street until she
couldn’t see them anymore, she took advantage of the warm evening to sit on the
swing and relax.She had just started swinging when the screen door opened and
Ted came out.
“Would you
rather be alone?” he said and she could see the faint gleam of his white teeth
as he smiled.
Thea patted
the swing and waved him over saying, “No, not at all. It’s just so beautiful
out tonight I didn’t want to go back in yet.”
As she
watched him come out the door and move across the porch toward her almost
silently she was struck by the similarities between her brother and her
husband.Both were large men, but moved with masculine grace and control. Ted
was about a half-an-inch taller than Adam, but her husband’s commanding
presence always made him seem to be the tallest man in the room. They were
highly intelligent, witty, compassionate, and unafraid to show affection.She smiled
as Ted sat next to her and without thinking about it they pushed off in unison.
Ted
stretched his long arms out on top of the back of the swing so his sister
scooted a little closer and laid her head on his shoulder. They swung in
silence for a while until Thea spoke.
“What are
your plans now?I mean I don’t know all that much about you yet. Have you even
thought what you would do once you fulfilled your promise to Lilly?”
“Well, yes
I did, but now I can see I’ll have to rethink everythin’.”
“Why?”
He
chuckled, “Theadora, I had absolutely no idea this family would welcome me with
open arms the way you all have. I had decided to practice part time in
“Writing
more articles?”
“Yes ma’am,
but mostly keepin’ in touch with doctors in
“So you’ll
be moving to
“No.”
“No?”
“No.There
is no way under the sun that I am goin’ to move away from this family. You all
are stuck with me now.”
Thea
chuckled and Ted could feel the tension leave her shoulders. He smiled.
“Besides, I
looked around that room tonight and realized I could not ask for better
subjects to observe.Especially that husband of yours – that man’s mind is
fascinatin’. And not only that, where else would I be able to find a set of
twins and a set of triplets in one family? I’m looking forward to watchin’ them
develop.”
“Ted,
you’re not talking about studying my children are you?”
“Oh no!
Not studyin’, just watchin’ and observin’. But Adam’s brain is the one I want
to dig into, figuratively speakin’. And frankly I think he’s already buildin’
up a stock of questions he wants to ask me.He’s been through so much and his
experiences have been pretty damn unique. So I’m hopin’ I’ll be able to help
him get a handle on some of them, to answer some of the ‘whys?’The ‘whys’ are
always the worst Theadora. They’re just like havin’ a burr under your saddle.”
“Oh, so
that’s what’s been going on in the back of his mind today. You
and his worry over Marie.”
“Marie?Why
is he worried about her, is she in trouble or ill?I’d hate to see anthin’
happen to that sweet lady.”
Thea sighed
deeply.“She’s leaving tomorrow to visit family in
“Does he
give any reason why he feels that way?”
“No, he
hasn’t actually said anything, but I know Adam better than anyone and I can
tell.”
“He worries
a lot, doesn’t he?”
“Constantly,”
she answered and sighed again. “I think he probably started worrying the day he
was born and hasn’t stopped since.”
He chuckled
quietly at her outrageous overstatement and tightened his hold on her
shoulders.
“I don’t
mean to deliberately change the subject, but I have a question for you.Why did
everyone react with disbelief to Adam announcin’ you’re expectin’ an addition
to the family? There has to be somethin’ I don’t know.”
“Dear Lord,
this is embarrassing.”
Ted
chuckled again, “Now you HAVE to tell me.” She shook her head, but began to
explain.
“I guess
you could say it all started when I died…” he interrupted her with a startled,
“What!”
She quickly
continued, telling him everything about that miraculous night when the triplets
entered the world. “So this is all my fault. I don’t
know if I really just misunderstood Matt, or if I did that deliberately. I
don’t know for sure, but I do know the fault is mine.”
“So you’re
sayin’ that you and you alone are responsible for this child’s creation?Am I
hearin’ you correctly?”
“God, you’re
saying the same thing Adam said.”
“Really?
Then he must be as smart as I think he is.” His white teeth flashed in the dim
light again as he grinned down at her.
“You’re
teasing me aren’t you?”
“Uh huh.”
“Finally I
have a sibling to tease me! I was so happy when Joe found Adam because I
suddenly had two brothers to torment.But I think they may be a little
intimidated by me – they hardly ever tease me back.”
“Don’t
worry about that with me.I’m not intimidated by you even the littlest bit.”
“Oh good!”
she chortled.
“Just
remember that havin’ a siblin’ is new to me too, unlike Hoss and Joe. And it
seems to me they know everythin’ there is to know about drivin’ your husband to
distraction.”
Thea
laughed fully this time.“I wish you could have been sitting closer this
evening. You just would not believe the things Joe put him through when he was
a child. Adam spent a lot of time taking care of his brothers.”
“Ah…so the
pattern started that early,” Ted said almost to himself and had started thinking
about it when she poked him in the ribs with her elbow.
“Oh no you don’t, Adam just disappears during conversations
and you’re not allowed to.”
“Yes
ma’am,” he answered in mock humility and they laughed together. Then they both
turned when Adam came out the front door. He came across the porch toward them
then stopped opposite the swing to half sit on the porch railing.
“Am I
interrupting anything?”
Both Thea
and Ted shook their heads and Adam smiled.
“Do you
folks get together like that often?” Ted asked and his brother-in-law nodded.
“As often
as we can.”He paused and Ted could just see him frown in the indirect
moonlight. “It gets harder each time with people getting married. And for some
reason I’ve had a feeling all evening that this was the last time everyone will
be together.”
“Don’t know
why, huh?” Ted asked, wishing he could see Adam’s face clearly.
“Nope, no
idea – I just do.”
“You get
feelin’s like that often don’t you? Like somethin’s goin’ to
happen?”
Adam
shrugged then changed the subject. “Where is Stu?Did he take off already?” he
asked his wife and she sat up.
“He left
early this morning.He didn’t say why, but I got the impression he had another
job.”
“I’m sorry
I didn’t get a chance to talk to him. And I’m sure you’re sorry you didn’t get
to stuff him full of food for a few days.”
Thea
laughed, “That boy needs someone to take care of him,” she said and the picture
of what she had seen early that morning came to mind.
“He seems
extremely shy and quiet to be a hired gun,” Ted mused.
“Believe
me, he’s the best,” Adam answered Ted, and they all looked toward the front
door when they heard scratching. He quickly went to let Fred out.
The little
dog rushed across the porch, jumped up into Ted’s lap then climbed up to his
shoulder.He sat there panting, his long pink tongue lolling out, his mouth
stretched in a wide grin.
“Where the
hell did you find that thing?” Adam couldn’t help laughing at the small
creature’s expression.
“Well, I
found Fred during my travels. In fact, someone was usin’ him for target
practice.”
Thea
gasped, “No, who would do something that cruel?”
“This man
wasn’t particularly bright and was truly surprised when I went after him.”He
paused to chuckle, “I still wonder sometimes how long it took him to remove
that gun.”
Adam burst
out laughing as Thea looked at him with her mouth open for a few seconds.When
he grinned at her, she started laughing too.
“They think
I’m jokin’ Fred.”The dog let out a sharp yap, as though agreeing with his
master.
“Did you
really?” Thea asked, not knowing if she should believe him.
“Let me put
it this way,” Ted laughed, “if there is one thing that will set me off its
cruelty to anyone or anythin’. And believe me when my fuse gets lit, you all
don’t want to be around.” He reached up to scratch Fred under the chin and the
little dog sighed.
“Those
“Really?”
Adam said and Thea could hear the deep interest in his tone.
“Oh no!
Don’t you start, I don’t want you talking Ted into
fighting you.”
“Why not?”
They could both see Adam’s white teeth gleaming in the moonlight as he smiled a
sharp smile.
“You
haven’t fought anyone for a long time and you might hurt him,” she answered
with some heat.
“Theadora…”
he started to argue with her.
“NO!I won’t
have it Adam Cartwright. You almost hurt Hoss, and you’d already battered your
four deputies around first!” Ted opened his mouth to protest too when she
turned to him.
“Don’t you
start either,” she said to her brother firmly. “I don’t often put my foot down
about anything, but I am NOT going to budge on this one.”
Adam was
desperately trying to not laugh when she turned back to him.
“If you two
sneak around behind my back and fight believe me you
will be very, very sorry.” She stood, stomped over to the door, and pulled it
open. “I mean it, damn it!Don’t you dare!” she practically shouted at them then
went inside, slamming the door shut behind her.
Ted was
looking at his new brother-in-law and realized the moonlight was shining
directly on them and he could see the man’s face clearly. He expected him to be
angry and was surprised when Adam lost the struggle and had to let his laughter
out.He smiled and just waited for the other man to get himself under control.
“Oh God,”
Adam gasped, “that woman is so damned funny!”
“But she
was absolutely furious!”
“Ah, she
always gets like that when she’s pregnant – hot tempered and mean. Even more than usual.”
“And you’re
not angry?”
“Hell no!
That’s one of the things I admire about her the most,” he paused to laugh one
more time then took a deep breath. “I told my cousin Will once that Thea
doesn’t take any crap off of anyone, except me, and he would do well to
remember that. Of course that was AFTER she smacked him in the back of the head
so hard she drew blood.”
“She did!”
“Oh yes.But
Thea knows I will do as I see fit, no matter what she says. That’s why she
shouted.”
“So she
never tries to get her way by placating you?”
“Placate
me?” Adam shook his head and chuckled. “Never.You’ve
got a lot to learn about your sister Ted, that’s just not Thea’s style at all.
She’s a fighter and that’s how she managed to survive when she was attacked
some months ago.”
Ted plucked
Fred off his shoulder, sat up, and set the dog down under the swing as he
leaned forward, his eyes wide with fury. “Tell me.”
Adam sighed
deeply then plunged into the story, including his attack on Mueller, his own
arrest, the aborted lynching, and Thea’s ultimate recovery.
When he
finished, his new brother-in-law was sitting back in the swing again, his
expression thoughtful.“When you’re right, you’re right.I DO have a lot to learn
about Theadora.”He looked up to meet the other man’s gaze.“I have a lot to
learn about you, too.”
Tipping his
head slightly to the side, Adam’s eyes suddenly became intense and briefly
flared with something like cold fire as he looked deeply into Ted’s eyes in the
moonlight.That look was calculating, remote, and unnerving. Just as the younger
man had to suppress the urge to shiver, the look was gone and he was back to
normal.
“I guess
you do,” Adam said quietly then nodded as though making up his mind about
something.“Alright, I know you’ve been waiting for this so let’s get started. I
have a question for you and I’ve only ever discussed this with one other person
– my brother Hoss. But you also need to understand what the situation was with
my family before I left for the last time.”He paused as though taking the time
to choose his words carefully.
“He may not
seem like it now, but my father has always had a very forceful personality, and
he attempted to rule the three of us with an iron fist. Of course if you had
known us back then you would have understood why.” Ted smiled at the idea of
anyone trying to rule this man, father or not.
“But I have
to admit I always felt torn – torn between loyalty to my father and wanting
more than just working the ranch. I managed to escape for a while when I went
to college, and I came back determined to settle down and always be there for
him.” He chuckled and shook his head as he stood and turned to look up at the
moon.
“I’m sure
you’ve figured out by now that things just didn’t turn out that way.The longer
I stayed the more resentful I became.And so now we come to the question.”He
turned around again and came to sit next to Ted on the swing.
“In your
professional opinion, doctor, do you think I lost my memory on purpose?”
“No.”
Adam
waited, expecting the other man to continue and when the silence stretched on
he began to smile and then bit back a chuckle.
“Care to
explain why?”
Ted shifted
on the swing and brought one bent leg up until he was almost facing the other
man.
“Adam…what
those two men did to you was so horrific, so incredibly awful that your mind
HAD to do somethin’ to protect itself. So those memories had to be put away,
under lock and key, until you were ready – physically, emotionally, and
mentally ready. If not, you would have gone insane. I have no doubt about
that.”
The other
man turned further toward him and thought that over for a while. “I think
you’re right.”
“Yes I am,
and of course you had already come to that same conclusion yourself.”
Adam
nodded.“We seem to agree on that point, so let me ask you another question.”
“Don’t
bother, I know what it is. And again my answer is no, you didn’t deliberately
NOT remember. You would have remembered eventually, and for one main reason. Children.”
“Now,
you’re going to have to explain that one to me.”
“Think
about it.What do we ultimately have to pass on to our children, besides
tangible things? The intangible things – family, tradition, a
sense of who they are and where they came from. This is a basic human
need we all have, no matter what culture or time we live in.How could you pass
those things on to your children when you didn’t know who YOU are?”
The other
man’s brows rose as he considered this point, then his eyes narrowed as he
thought about it more deeply.
Ted
laughed.“Here, I’ll prove it to you.After the twins were born did you start to
have more trouble sleepin’?
“Yes I
did.”
“Did you
frequently wake up knowin’ that your dreams were disturbin’, but couldn’t
remember them or why you felt that way?”
Adam nodded
still thinking.
“And did
they increase as the twins became older, started walkin’ and talkin’? When they
became small people instead of just babies?”
Smiling
now, the other man nodded again.
“You
see?You would have remembered eventually, Joe findin’ you just pushed you into
it head first, no pun intended.” Ted reached out to put a hand on Adam’s
shoulder. “Now if you hadn’t cared about your children, that wouldn’t have
happened. But you do, your children mean everythin’ to you and no matter how
painful it was you were already draggin’ those memories into the light. You had
to…for them.”
Ted fell
silent then, letting Adam consider his words for a while. He watched carefully,
gauging the other man’s thoughts by his expression. He was delighted when the
older man sighed deeply, relaxed, and leaned back in the swing.
“You’re
right and I thank you,” Adam said quietly and Ted chuckled softly.
“You are
more than welcome, and of course I’m right, I’m always right.” He grinned his quirky grin when Adam quickly turned his head to
look at him.
“Something
tells me Thea has been filling you in about me.”
“Uh huh.”
Adam smiled
that special smile he always did when talking or thinking about his wife.His
brother-in-law was delighted again to see it.
“You really
do love her that much, don’t you?” he asked
“It’s more
than that Ted.Thea is the best thing that ever happened to me, or ever will. I
owe everything to her – my life, my sanity, my children, everything.”
The younger
man sighed, “Hope I find someone like that some day.”
“You will,
Ted, you will.I told Hoss the same thing and he didn’t believe me. But he does
now.”
“He’s a
very lucky man, Dora is a lovely woman in every way.”
Adam
started laughing.“You may not believe this, but she took one look at him and he
might as well have been tagged and bagged.He never stood a chance of getting
away, and it’s to his credit that he was smart enough to not try.”
“Hmmm…I
have a feelin’ that Hoss is a lot smarter than most people give him credit
for,” Ted said as he stood and stretched. “I think it’s time for me to head on
in. You comin’?” he asked and Adam shook his head.
“No, you go
ahead.I’m still wide awake so I might as well take advantage of the peace and
quiet to do some more thinking.”
“You don’t
get very much peace and quiet, do you?”
“No,” Adam
answered him with laughter in his voice.
“Good night
then,” Ted said as he walked over to the door and opened it.
“Good
night,” the other man responded and Ted paused to look back. Adam had stretched
his legs out and folded his arms as he leaned back in the swing, making a long,
lean silhouette in the moonlight. He was about to call Fred when he saw a
small, black shadow scamper up the other man’s legs then climb up onto his
shoulder.
“Hello
Fred,” Adam said softly.“You know, you still haven’t convinced me you’re really
a dog.” Ted smiled and resisted the urge to laugh as he silently went inside,
carefully shut the door, and went upstairs to bed.
**************************************************************************************************************************************
DEPARTURES
Chapter
56
The next
morning Adam was up as early as usual and arrived at the regional building at
the same time he always did. Dylan was waiting in front of his office door with
the bag he had packed last night for his trip sitting on the floor at his feet.
The young man remained leaning against the wall until his boss unlocked the
door and then the two went into Adam’s office.
Dylan sat
down in one of the chairs in front of the desk while Adam went around to stand in front of the painting that hung in between the
two bookcases. He quickly released the latch, swung the painting to the side,
opened the safe and removed the document case he had prepared a few days
before.
After
closing the safe, he spun the dial then swung the painting back, making sure
the latch caught.He handed the document case to Dylan before sitting down in
his desk chair.
“Everything
you need is in there and I don’t anticipate any trouble with your
testimony.Since you’ve been called as an expert witness your part of the trial
should only take a day or two. But if that should change, send me a telegram as
soon as you know.”
The
handsome young man smiled and nodded, but Adam could tell he was still feeling
a little nervous.This would be his first time testifying at trial as an expert.
Adam
smiled, “This case could not possibly be more cut and dried Dylan. I’m not
saying that the defense won’t try to trip you up, but I think you can handle
this.Just be sure to be as clear and concise as possible.The less you say, the
better – just relate the facts as you know them then give your opinion.That’s
all you’ll need to do.”
Dylan had
been listening and nodding, his eyes never leaving Adam’s and the older man
could tell he had relaxed some. He bit back a smile at the sight of his usually
confident deputy being nervous about anything.The only other time he had seen
the young man nervous was when Dora slipped into his room by accident.Of course
then Dylan had been terrified Hoss was going to kill him. Adam just had to
smile at that memory then firmly turned his attention back to the man sitting
in front of him.
“Considering
his size and age most would think that your prisoner wouldn’t be any trouble
transporting, but let me warn you Morty can be very tricky. You’ll need to keep
a close eye on him at all times. And make sure he doesn’t set anything on fire
before you hand him over.”
“How long
do you think he’s been an arsonist?”
“Probably since he was a young man. Unfortunately, he’s been so good at not leaving a
trail it would be hard to say just how many fires he has set. Especially since he’s close to seventy now. And I want you
to know the work you did on this investigation was the best I’ve seen.I know it
was difficult and time consuming to follow his trail across five states, but
the overwhelming circumstantial evidence you gathered was the only way to bring
him down.”
Dylan was
actually turning slightly red. He wasn’t used to his demanding boss giving
anyone unstinting praise. “But the idea was yours, I
just did the leg work.”
“You did
much more than that and you know it.” Adam paused to note his deputy’s pleased
expression. “I think you’ve found your niche, Dylan. You seem to enjoy this
work much more than infiltrating groups. Even though you were
one of the best at that, too.” He stopped to glance at the clock hanging
on a sidewall.
“Well, it’s
time to get Mr. Morton Wheeler out of his cage and on his way to prison,” he
said with a smile and stood. The younger man quickly got to his feet.
“I guess
it’s to the little guy’s credit that no one was ever injured or killed during
his long career,” the deputy said while shaking his head.
“But we
only can be sure that is true about the fires we are aware of. I have a feeling
if we went far enough back we’d find injuries and more than a few deaths.”
“No doubt
you’re right,” Dylan’s expression had become somber.
“No doubt,”
Adam agreed as the two men left the office and headed down the long front
hallway to the cells in the back.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After
seeing Dylan and the gnome-like arsonist off on the train Adam went home,
hoping to catch Marie alone for a few minutes.
He went in
the front door quietly, not wanting anyone to know he was there and possibly
distract him.After quickly climbing the stairs to the second floor he hurried
over into the far hallway to Marie’s door.When he knocked he was pleased to
hear her voice calling out, “Come in!”
Adam opened
the door and paused in the doorway to think again about how pleasant Marie’s
small sitting room was with the mid-morning sun shining through the sheer
curtains hanging in the tall windows. The room was tastefully furnished, not
cluttered and overwhelming as was the current fashion, something Adam disliked
intensely.
Marie
turned to give him her usual sweet smile then motioned for him to come over as
she sat down on a brocade-upholstered love seat. Adam hurried across the room
to sit next to her. He opened his mouth to try and talk her out of making this
trip, but realized there was nothing he could say that he hadn’t already said.
Drumming the fingers of his right hand on his knee he searched desperately for
one solid reason he could give her for staying. Marie smiled at the familiar
gesture and knew it meant he was frustrated and at the point of becoming
irritated. So she spoke first.
“I know you
don’t want me to go on this trip,” she said quietly. “But my brother needs me
and you know I have to go.”
Adam nodded
then sighed.“If I can’t talk you out of going and you won’t let anyone go with
you, at least promise me one thing – if there is any sign of trouble, you send
for me right away.”
She looked
up at his concerned expression and smiled again. “You really are worried,
aren’t you? But it’s been almost six months since any blacks in that area have been harassed.”
“I know,”
he sighed again.
“And the
reports all say that the group responsible has been broken up.”
“Yes they
do,” he acknowledged unhappily.
Marie put a
hand on his left arm and he placed his right hand over hers. “Promise that you
will send for me at the first sign of any kind of trouble. Any kind of trouble
and no matter how small – promise me.”
“I
promise,” she said low and he lifted his arm over her head and she leaned into
him as he gave her a one-armed hug. They stayed that way for a while until they
heard Thea’s quick footsteps coming down the hall.
They both
sighed then laughed together as they stood.
“Don’t you
forget,” Adam said giving her a stern look, “no matter how small,” he finished
then went to open the door for his wife.
Thea rushed
in, seemingly not noticing who had opened the door, and hurried across the room
to throw her arms around Marie. “I’m going to miss you soooo much!” she said
and Marie chuckled as she hugged her friend back.
“You people
are acting as though I’m going to be gone for years instead of just two months!I’ll be back home before you know it.”
“It’ll seem
like years,” Thea said with a sniff then stepped back as she shifted her
thoughts into ‘practical’ gear. “Are you finished packing?”
Marie
nodded.
“Good.Lunch
will be ready in a half hour.You’ll have just enough time to eat and get to the
train,” she said as she hurried through the door. Adam could just see the quick
sheen of tears in his wife’s eyes as she rushed past.
“Why don’t
you go down to the kitchen and keep her company while I take your bags down to
the front hall,” he said. “I’m sure she would appreciate it – you know how much
Thea hates ‘good-byes’, even temporary ones.”
The petite
black woman gathered up her hat and the light cashmere shawl she had been given
for Christmas.“I’m not terribly fond of ‘good-byes’ of any kind myself,” she
said softly as she walked toward the door.She stopped in front of Adam and
looked up at him earnestly.
“You DO
understand I have to go, don’t you?”
He nodded
and quickly bent down to kiss her on the cheek then turned away and started
gathering her bags up.
Marie
smiled, quietly said, “I’ll miss you too,” then went out the door and started
down the hallway toward the back stairs.
The next
two hours flew by and Marie felt touched when the three deputies showed up at
the door to carry her luggage to the train. Adam offered her his arm while they
were standing on the front porch and they went down the steps together followed
by the deputies, each man carrying one bag.
When they
reached the train the three carried the luggage into the private car, then came
trailing back out to gather around Marie. Ignoring the stares of the other
people boarding the train, each man stepped forward to give her a hug in
turn.Then Adam helped her up the steps and into the car.
He gave her
another quick hug then said, “Remember!” and was gone. She walked over to the
window to watch as he hurried toward his three deputies. The whistle blew and
she waved at the four men who began waving back. Then she had to laugh when she
saw Stu’s long, lean form running down the board sidewalk for all he was worth,
one bag in his hand.
He stopped
to say a brief word to Adam then galloped to the car steps and bounded up, two
at a time.The train started to move when he came in the door so he hurried over
to the window to wave good-bye too.Just as the train lurched one more time Adam
saw Stu reach out to take hold of Marie’s arm to steady her.He smiled; glad
that the young man would be with her until they reached
The two
moved to the end window and continued to watch until they couldn’t see the four
men anymore.Then Stu stepped back and held his arms out to Marie. She gladly
stepped into his embrace with a broad smile then they both started laughing.
“See?” he
said as he hugged her tightly. “I told you there wouldn’t be time for questions
if I showed up at the last minute.”
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Later that
afternoon Adam was in the barn giving Onyx an unnecessary grooming, something
that usually seemed to help take his mind off nagging problems and give him a
little peace.However, this time it wasn’t working.His thoughts kept jumping
from Marie, to Dylan, then to Bentwood Junction, then to the coming birth of
their sixth child. He was so preoccupied he didn’t notice Onyx nibbling at his
shirt pocket at first, looking for sugar.But when he did he stepped back and
put his hands on his hips to give the horse a stern look.
“Now, what
makes you so sure I brought you any?” he asked the horse seriously. Onyx just
nodded his head vigorously and stretched his neck out so he could nudge Adam in
the chest with his nose. He shook his head and the horse responded by nodding
his own again then reached out to nibble on the pocket.
Adam held
it open.“See? Nothing in there,” he said and laughed when Onyx nodded his head
again, nudged him in the chest harder this time, and then began to sniff and
pull at his other pockets.
“Alright, alright! If you tear any more of my clothes Thea will come out here
and beat you with a wooden spoon,” he said and reached into a back pocket to
pull out four cubes of sugar.
He offered
them to the horse on a flat palm and Onyx carefully picked up one with his
front teeth and began to munch. Adam rubbed in between the Morab’s mis-matched
eyes with his free hand as he said; “You have a better sense of smell than a
blood-hound.” The horse just nudged him the chest one more time then picked up
another sugar cube.He laughed.
When the
sugar was gone Onyx shook out his mane then stood quietly, waiting for his
master to continue brushing down his gleaming black coat. Adam bent down over a
pile of brushes and combs then quickly stood and turned in one fluid motion to
point the barrel of his gun right in the face of the man who had been trying to
sneak up on him. The man’s pale blue eyes opened wide in shock, then he began to grin as Adam smiled and shook his head.
“That was
absolutely pathetic, Blake. You’ve been sitting behind a desk too long.” He ran
his eyes over the man, noting the addition of a few pounds, a paler than usual complexion,
and deepened worry lines around his eyes and mouth.
“I never
should have taken this damn job,” the other man said as he ran his hands
through his thinning brown hair that was now liberally sprinkled with gray.
Adam
laughed as he tucked his gun back in the holster of his gun belt that had been
lying next to the pile of grooming tools. Then he turned back to the shorter
man. “I take it you’re here to fill me in on Bentwood Junction.” Blake nodded
and began to speak quietly as Adam leaned against the stall wall, intently
listening.
“Well,
everything seems to be on track at this point, so you won’t be
needing us to come down and lend a hand.”
“No, I
don’t think so, but you never know with this group. I still can’t believe that
just about every merchant in that town is in on the deal.When they pull up
stakes and take off the town will be almost crippled commercially.”
“Probably,”
Adam shook his head.“So do you know when this exodus is supposed to start?”
“No, not
yet, but our inside agent believes it will be either tomorrow night or the
following night.”
“Good, it’s
about time that merry little band of thieves was brought in.”
The two men
began to move toward the back barn door where Blake’s horse was tethered.“I’ll
certainly be glad when this is over,” Blake sighed tiredly.
“I will
too,” Adam responded, “but for a different reason.” The other man chuckled.
“Revenge
for what they did to your cousin?”
“In a way.
I just want the criminal element around here to know that no one gets away with
doing anything to my family.”
“And if
this operation hadn’t been approved by the division office…?” Blake asked with
a grin.
Adam’s now
dark eyes flared briefly with cold anger. “Then I would have taken care of it myself.”
Blake
mounted his horse and looked down, “Something tells me those idiots don’t know
how lucky they are that we’ll be taking them down and not you.”
When Adam
didn’t respond beyond smiling his wolfish smile, Blake laughed heartily,
spurred his horse into motion, and took off across the fields heading east.
Laughing,
he watched Blake speeding away for a while then went back into the barn.But as
soon as he stepped through the door and closed it behind him he sensed another
presence – a hostile presence.
Adam began
to move slowly and silently in the dim light, keeping close to the walls as he
headed for his gun belt that was still lying on the floor in Onyx’s stall.He
was just about to enter that stall when someone grabbed him from behind.
Quickly latching onto the man’s forearm he bent down and forward to flip him
over his shoulder.The man hit the ground hard and rolled into the stall,
bumping into the Morab’s back legs. He instinctively curled up into a ball.
The nervous
horse automatically lashed out and Adam couldn’t stop his headlong rush toward
the smaller man in time. One metal shod hoof glanced off his head, just behind
his right ear, and he slid bonelessly to the stone floor.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The sun had
gone down hours before, but lights were still shining brightly in most of the
downstairs windows of the cream-colored house. Thea was sitting at the table in
the kitchen with her head in her hands, her eyes bright red from the countless
tears she had cried ever since it became clear that Adam was missing.
When she
had realized that her husband had been in the barn for hours she had trotted
across the yard and gone in. Her sharp eyes had immediately zeroed in on a few
details that made her feel decidedly uneasy.
Adam would
never have left his gun belt in Onyx’s stall, or left the combs and brushes in
a pile.He also never would have left his horse only partially groomed and the
stall door open. Fear rose in her throat and she hurried to give the barn a
thorough search and found nothing else.Not knowing what to think she wandered
toward Onyx’s stall then nearly fell when her foot slipped on a wet patch.She
was about to turn around and go back to the house to look for him there when
she noticed a streak of bright red on the hem of her skirt. Trembling and with
wide eyes she crouched down to touch the dark patch on the stone.When her fingertips
came away covered with blood a scream stayed frozen in her throat as she closed
her eyes and gasped until she could breathe again. Then she stood to race
across the street to the regional office and Adam’s deputies.
The sun had
just started to rise when she became aware of the silence. She was so stiff it
seemed to take a monumental effort just to raise her head.Everyone, all their
family and friends were standing around the table, watching her with
pain-filled eyes and grief-stricken faces.
“No,” she
managed to choke out as an anguished moan while more tears began to flow
silently down her cheeks. Ben came pushing through the crowd to go down on one
knee next to her chair. When he reached up with one hand to turn her face
toward him she resisted at first then suddenly slid out of the chair and into
his arms as she passed out.He slipped one arm under her knees and stood.The
crowd parted to let him through and he held her closely as he crossed the
kitchen and carried her up the stairs.
Adam had
disappeared – and without a trace.
TO BE
CONTINUED….