This is a BONANZA "What Happened Next" story -- My version of what was going on with the boys after Ben rides off with Inspector LeDuque in THE STRANGER
THE SEARCH
(Revised)
By Ginny Flack
Ben Cartwright had considered running for governor when
Ben arrived home from
********
Adam Cartwright leaned against a post outside the Virginia City Jail and watched his father and Inspector LeDuque ride away. His casual posture was at odds with the hard look in his dark eyes. Beside him, his younger brother, Hoss, stood and fought back the tears that had started to form in his blue ones.
As
soon as the two riders were out of sight Adam put a hand on Hoss's
shoulder and turned towards the jail house door. "Let's go get Joe and get out of
here. We have a lot we need to
talk about."
Hoss nodded. “I have a feeling we're going to have our hands full with our little brother. He's taking all of this pretty hard."
Inside the
jail, Sheriff Brady sat at his desk waiting for them, a puzzled frown on his
face. "That inspector from
“It’s a
long story, Sheriff. Maybe our father
will tell you about it when he gets back.
We'll be on our way as soon as
you let Joe out of there”. Adam looked
toward the cell where his youngest brother was being held.
Sheriff
Brady glanced uneasily from Adam to Hoss, then back to Adam. “Sorry, I can’t do that. Your father asked me
not to let Little Joe out until he was well on his way. I promised him that if that's what he wanted,
that's what I'll do."
"I know why my father wanted you to do that," retorted Adam. "But he's not here now, so let the kid out so we can go on home. You have no legal right to hold him here now."
The
sheriff stood and came out from around his desk to stand directly in front of
Adam. “I promised Ben that if that's what he wanted, that's what I'd do."
Adam pinched
the bridge of his nose in a gesture of frustration. He took a deep breath and continued in a
conciliatory tone. “I realize you’re trying to honor your promise to our
father. I’ll take responsibility for
Joe."
Hoss Cartwright cut in. "Sheriff Brady, we won't tell our pa that we made you break your word. He wanted to make sure Little Joe didn’t go off half-cocked and do somethin' else without thinkin'. We’ll make sure he don't".
"All right, boys." Sheriff Brady shrugged and started towards the cell area. “I’ll take your word for it. Just make sure you explain things to your father when he gets back. Little Joe, you're free to go. Here's your gun belt."
Joe Cartwright sat despondently on the bunk, not making a move to get up and leave. Finally Hoss took Little Joe's gunbelt from the sheriff, and went into the cell. He lightly touched his brother's shoulder. "Come on little brother. Let's go home."
Joe roused himself from his brooding
withdrawal, stood abruptly and walked out of the cell. Without acknowledging his brothers, he pushed
past them out the door to the waiting horses.
"Hey, Joe! Wait! Daggone it!"
Adam
followed Hoss out of the Sheriff's office.
"What's wrong?"
"Looks
like Joe didn't want to wait on us."
"Don't worry. He'll be at home waiting for us, or waiting
somewhere along the road. You know how
he is when he's upset. Let's get home."
As they rode, Adam and Hoss discussed their
mutual doubts about LeDuque and his story. Things just didn't add up. Why wait twenty years to come after their
father for the murder of Simon LaRoche? And why insist that he go back to
Now they rode silently
side-by-side. They would wait until they
were home; the three of them together, before speaking more of the situation
that hung over their heads, and which could change their lives. The two men had shared many rides in silent
companionship during their lifetimes.
Today, the silence was a presence hovering between them.
Adam let his thoughts wonder to his
conversation with his father that morning: "Wait here. Look after the ranch and your brothers till I get back, Pa
said. Sorry
Hoss's glanced at his brother: " Old Adam's plannin' somethin'. He's got his poker face on. We're not just gonna go home and do chores and wait for Pa to come home. Wish Adam would have let me try to catch up with Joe. The boy's bein' too quiet. There's gotta be an explosion commin'. Well, maybe Adam's got the right idea. Let Joe go off ahead of us and ride some of it out of his system."
. Joe
pulled Cochise to a halt and looked behind him. Satisfied that he was well ahead of his
brothers, he let his horse continue at a walk.
He had wanted some time alone to try to put his jumbled thoughts into
some kind of order before being confronted by Adam and Hoss: "Pa
said he'd be back soon, but he said it like he was talking to a seven-year-old.
Why did I have to go see LeDuque last night? If
I had come straight home after visiting my mother's grave, instead of giving in
to the impulse to have it out with the man, Pa would be at home now. Instead, he was on his way to
Joe forced his thoughts away from
that direction, to what his father had told them of his mother's past: "Those things couldn't have happened to my mother. What Pa told us was the story of a stranger.
My mother was perfect, and angel raised in a convent
school. I can still remember sitting
cuddled in her lap in front of the fire on a cold winter evening. I can still feel the softness of the shawl
wrapped around both of us and the slow back and forth of the rocking
chair. I remember her singing to
me. I wish I could remember the sound of
her voice. Why can I remember her
singing, but not the sound of her voice?
Damn it! What kind of a son
am I? Judging her like that! She had to fend for herself the best way she
could before she met Pa. That no-good cousin of hers, Edward Darcy, wanting to marry her off to one of his rich friends. Then him working
in cahoots with that old witch of a mother-in-law to wreck her marriage to
Jean. Wanted another chance to marry
her off to one
of those fat old men. How could someone do that to his only living
relative? Jean was no better. How could
he do that to his wife? No wonder she wanted to forget what life was like
before. Yep, Joe, you put yourself right up there with Jean and his mother and
Darcy. There I sat last night, beside my
mother's grave. Was I thinking of how
much Pa said she loved me? How much I
love the memory of her? No, all I could think of was why LaRoche
was blackmailing her. Oh God, Pa's
face when he told us. I'll never forget
how desperate he looked, afraid he was breaking my heart. Now wonder Pa didn't want to tell me. I wasn't ready to handle it yet. Pa knew that, but I had to force it out of
him. I wanted to tell him that this morning. I needed to tell him a lot of things this
morning. Especially needed to tell him
that none of what he told me about my mother mattered. I don't love her any less. How could I?
She was my mother. She'd love me
no matter what. I needed to sit there
with my pa's arm around my shoulder and tell him, but LeDuque
hustled him out of there before I had the chance to. I just gotta get the chance to tell
Joe looped Cochise's reins around
the hitching rail and waited tensely for the two riders he knew were right
behind him. He stood fists clenched at
his sides and watched his brothers round the corner of the barn. He didn't wait for them to dismount before
turning on them with the outburst that Hoss had been expecting.
"Well, go ahead! Say what you're
both thinking! You're hot-headed brother
had to go off half-cocked as usual. Pa's in a mess that he might not get
out of and it's all my fault! Well, go
ahead! Let's get this out into the open!"
Hoss swung down from his horse to stand in front of Joe. "That ain't so. We told you that last night, and we meant it. Nobody blames you but yourself."
. "Hoss is right!"
Adam cut in. "I'll admit that was my first reaction. I'll also admit that after I cooled off and thought about it, I
realized that LeDuque must have been thinking all
along of a way to use you to get to
"The last thing we need right now is any bickering and bad feelings
between us. For the first time in
my life, I'm going to go back on my word to
Hop Sing scurried around the kitchen making sandwiches while the brothers quickly filled canteens and gathered bedrolls. "There's only one logical way for them to go." Adam pointed out. "LeDuque doesn't know the country and he won't trust Pa to guide them. They'll probably follow the stage road. They have a good head start, but if we ride hard we can get fairly close by dark. We don't want LeDuque to spot us. For now we're just going to shadow them to make sure that Pa's all right, but be ready for anything."
Adam turned to his youngest brother. "Remember what else I said, you do exactly what I say. Pa's life may depend on it."
"I'm well aware of that! What do I have to do to have you trust me, anyway?"
"Hold your temper, for
one thing! This is just what I was talking about!"
"Just
listen here..." Joe's words were cut off as Hoss shoved his way between
the two, a restraining hand on each of their chests.
"Dadburn it,you two! That's
enough! Little Joe,
Adam's right. You got to hold that temper of yours,
boy. And Adam, Little Joe’s right too. We got to trust him.
Now, I don't want to hear anymore from either of you! Our pa's in trouble
and all you two can do is argue! Let's get
going, or do I have to just leave you fellows here and take Hop Sing?"
The four
rode for hours, speaking very little.
They rode a little apart from each other, each brother’s eyes searching
the horizon for a glimpse of two men and three horses. For miles in all directions was sun-baked
earth, dotted with sagebrush. An occasional tumbleweed
bounced past propelled by an errant gust of wind. Granite boulders, some the size of a small
house, lay
scattered about as though thrown by a giant hand. Nearby, a lizard flicked his tongue at the
intruders and scurried for cover under a rock.
A small pool of water struggled for existence under the hot
“Hey,
Hoss! What’s wrong?” Joe reined in his horse and turned to see his
brother off of Chubb and intently examining the black’s front right hoof.
Hoss let the horse lower his leg back to the ground. “Loose shoe. Dang!” Hoss shook his head. “We should have seen some sign of them by now.”
Adam, who had been riding slightly ahead, rode back to join his brothers. "We couldn't have been that
wrong. This has to be the way they
went.”
Hoss
reached into his saddlebag for a nail and small hammer. Chubb snorted and tossed his head. “Easy, boy. Old
Hoss has to get your shoe tight again or we’re goin' to
be in a fix.” Hoss patted the horse's
nose.
While Hoss
worked on the horseshoe, Adam squinted into the lowering sun then looked around
at their surroundings. He dismounted and
started to unsaddle Sport. “We’ll camp
here tonight. It's going to be sundown
soon, and there’s water. We can fill our canteens before we go on tomorrow.
Joe, after you get unsaddled, break out the sandwiches
Hop Sing packed.”
“Camp here for the night?
What’s wrong with you, Adam? We
have to get to Pa!” Joe rounded on his
brother.
Adam
turned from unsaddling his horse and glared irritability at his brother . “Use your
head. We can’t track them in the
dark. You know that without me having to
tell you.” He shook his head and
continued in a milder tone. “Hoss and I want to get to Pa as much as you
do. It’s not going to do any good to
miss their trail in the dark or even get one of the horses hurt by stumbling
along in the dark. We’ll be back in the
saddle at first light.”
Joe sighed
and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
“You’re right, older brother. It’s just that Pa and LeDuque
got a good head start on us. What if he
makes his move against Pa before we catch up?”
He dismounted and began to unsaddle his own mount.
Adam moved to stand beside his youngest
brother. He patted Cochise’s
nose as he spoke. “That’s a chance we’re
going to have to take. Pa'll be expecting something and not let his guard
down. He’s not going to trust LeDuque. Pa took care of himself for a lot of years before
we came along. Come on, get your horse
taken care of and let’s get at those sandwiches before Hoss beats us to
them. I’ll make the coffee.”
Though dead tired, none of the three men spaced around the low campfire
slept soundly. All through the long
night, one or the other would toss and turn restlessly in his bedroll or jerk
suddenly awake to stare at the star-filled sky.
Towards daybreak, one figure arose to prowl quietly about the camp.
All three rolled out of their bedrolls within seconds of each other as the first rays of the sun bounced of the surrounding rocks. No words were needed between them. They made sure their campfire was completely out, saddled their horses, and rode out into the morning. Their only breakfast was the jerky they ate as they rode.
Like the previous day, they rode all morning in silence. Today, however, the silence was different; more easy and companionable. Sometime during his restless prowling of the night before, Joe took a step towards forgiving himself for his unthinking foolishness of falling into LeDuque’s trap. From there, he could take the next step. He could begin to realize that his brothers and his father would forgive him more readily than he forgave himself.
A little past mid-day, they came upon the remains of a campsite. Joe kicked at the ashes of the campfire, studying them as if they would give him some clue as to who had camped there. “It could have been anybody.” He gave the ashes one last disgusted kick.
"It wasn't just anybody. Come here and look at this set of boot prints." Adam and Joe rushed to where Hoss was hunkered down, and peered over his shoulder to where he pointed. "Look here. The fella that left these prints was draggin' his right leg."
Adam
shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun as he looked at the sky. "Well let's get moving." He mounted and let the way eastward towards
Goat Springs.
"Hey, hold up!" Hoss shouted at his brothers as he reined Chubb to a halt. "Look over there." He stood in his stirrups and pointed to a dust cloud in the distance. As the dust cloud drew near, a shape within it began to take form. Gradually the shape became recognizable as a horse; a horse with dangling reins and an empty saddle. "That's Buck!"
The horse stopped running, sniffed the air tentatively, and whinnied loudly as he caught a familiar scent. He tossed his head and galloped towards his stable mates.
"Easy, boy. Good horse." Joe rode slowly toward the buckskin. He talked softly trying to calm the agitated animal. "Easy, boy. Good horse." He dismounted and poured water from his canteen into his hat and offered it to the horse. He rubbed the golden neck as the horse drank gratefully. He looked anxiously at his brothers as they dismounted then examined the horse and saddle for a clue as to what had happened to their father. They sought for signs of dried blood, a scratch or nick from a bullet, or anything to explain why the horse had left him afoot in this desolate country.
Hoss patted Buck's rump and sighed. "I sure do wish you could talk, boy." As if to answer, the horse nudged the big chest beside him and looked over his shoulder to the others.
Joe swung back into his saddle holding Buck's reins. He looked expectantly at Adam and gestured toward the direction Buck had come from. "We go that way now? Pa could be lying out there hurt or even dead!"
"I
think we should keep going to Goat Springs.
There wouldn't have been any reason for Pa to have gone that way. There's nothing but more of this."
"
Hoss urged his horse toward the
road to Goat Springs. "Come on, little brother. We're going to the stage station. It's not that far now, and it's the likely
place for them to be, or to get word about them. If nobody who sounds like it
could be them has shown up there, we'll backtrack and head north. Pa's bound and determined to get to
With both older brothers insisting that the best thing was to go on to Goat Springs, Joe had no choice but to fall in behind them, Buck in tow.
Dusk was almost upon them when the three worried, exhausted, dusty riders approached the Goat Springs Stage Station. As they rode up to the small weather-beaten building, one of the occupants of the two shabby rocking chairs on the small porch rose and stepped down to meet them. "Well, what are you three doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay put?" Ben greeted his sons, the smile on his face and shine in his eyes belying his words.
He was instantly overwhelmed with shaking hands, slapping backs, clasping shoulders, and the voices of his two older sons, both speaking at once: "Pa!" "Are you all right?" "Dang, we were worried!" "Where's LeDuque?" "What's going on?" "Why was Buck runnin' loose?"
One pair of hands and one voice was absent from the greetings. Little Joe was uncharacteristically hanging back. Ordinarily, he would have been the first one to his father. However, he just stood there, clutching Buck's reins and staring fixedly at the ground.
Ben took the reins
from Joe's hand and turned Buck over to the station keeper for water and feed. He slipped an arm around his youngest's shoulders and pinned him with a firm gaze until
his son looked up and met his eyes.
Ben's quick squeeze was answered with a wry smile.
"Henry has stew and biscuits ready,
boys. You're probably ready to eat a
horse. I'll explain everything while we
eat."
"Stew and biscuits? Hot diggity! What are we waitin' for?" Hoss clapped his father on the back and rubbing his hands together, led the way to the cabin.
During supper, Ben told them of the Indians stealing
their horses, his and LeDuque's trek to the stage
station, and LeDuque's
confession. "I wanted him to go
back to
Now they
sat together on the porch with cups of Henry's strong
coffee, just enjoying being together. Adam stared briefly into his cup, then turned to his father.
"What are you going to do about Inspector LeDuque? Is Paul Lloyd still practicing law in
"I'd rather just let it go. LeDuque's career was ruined years ago. He was looking for somewhere to place the blame. It's only human. He blamed his crippled knee for ruining his career and in turn blamed me for giving him that crippled knee. He also confessed that he was jealous of the fact that I had had a young beautiful wife; in fact, had had three beautiful wives, who gave me three fine sons. He also blamed that on his crippled knee. In his place, I may have harbored a grudge too. We don't know what we would do put in someone else's life. He was stunned that I just didn't leave him out there to die to save myself. I think, and I hope, that his confession helped him rid his soul of some of his bitterness. He still has plenty of years ahead to make a good life for himself. I wish him luck.
"Now, declared Ben, looking mock-sternly at his sons. "I believe that we have the matter of three disobedient sons to discuss. And the first thing I want to say is…" Ben's visage broke into a smile …. "I am certainly glad you did disobey my wishes in this case. But don't make a habit of it. Let's get some shut-eye. We have a long ride home in the morning."
"Did you have to remind us?" Adam groaned. He slowly rose and rubbed the small of his back. He headed for the barn, Hoss following; the two bantering about who would sleep in the spare stall and who would sleep in the loft. Joe started after his brothers, but Ben caught his arm and held him back.
"Son," he said softly. "Is there something you need to say to me now that we're alone? Seems like all evening you've been on edge. You haven't said two words and only picked at your supper." He turned his son to him and could see the anxiety in his youngest reflected in those green eyes. They were the same eyes as the beloved woman who had been at the center of the turmoil of the past few days. A tear tracked its way silently through the dust on his face and Ben gathered him into his arms. That was all it took for the tear to turn into a flood as Joe sobbed out his feelings of fear and guilt into his father's broad chest.
Ben gently stroked his son's hair. "It's all right now. It's all over with. I promised you that I'd be home soon, and you know I've never broken a promise to any of my sons."
G.F.
Revised