The Past Returns
By HelenB
It was late afternoon when Joe Cartwright walked towards the house. He was
tired and sore in fact he doubted there was any place on his body that didn’t
hurt.
When they heard the front door open and the light footsteps across the floor
that they knew to be Joe’s, Ben and Adam looked up from where they were working
at Ben’s desk. Joe slowly walked towards them and then carefully sat down
on the edge of the desk.
Ben smiled as he reached out and patted Joe’s leg. “Looks like you’ve had
a hard day, son. How did it go?”
“Good Pa. Just finished breaking the last of the horses.” Joe replied as
he rotated his shoulders trying to work some of the soreness out.
Ben stood and moved behind Joe. Placing his hands on the young man’s shoulders
he could feel the knots there and began to try and gently massage them away.
Joe, always welcoming of his fathers touch was quick to start to relax.
“Good work Joseph, I wasn’t sure we’d get it completed on time.”
Joe gave a small laugh before replying. “To tell you the truth Pa, I wasn’t
sure we would either but the men worked hard.”
When the Cartwright’s had taken on the contract they had known it would
be a tight schedule, then Adam had strained the ligaments in his right shoulder
and the doctor had been adamant that Adam not do any horse breaking for at
least a couple of weeks. They had a few men helping out but most of the load
had fallen to Joe. Adam had stopped by the corral earlier that morning and
knew that, yes, the men had worked hard but it wouldn’t have been completed
on time if it hadn’t been for Joe.
Adam looked at Joe and said, “It was because of you that it got done. And
I can see by the way your sittin’ that you’re payin’the price for it. I’m
sorry Joe, you shouldn’t have had to do so much on your own.”
Joe was pleased with the praise from Adam and quick to try and assuage Adam’s
guilt. “It wasn’t your fault Adam. It couldn’t be helped. I’m fine, just a
bit stiff.” Joe grinned at Adam and said, “It took a bit out of me this time
‘cause I’m not as young as I used to be you know. These old bones are feeling
it.” They all burst out laughing. At nineteen, they all still though of Joe
as, the kid.
Ben finished working on Joe’s shoulders and ran a hand lightly down his
back. “Feelin’ better?”
Joe stood up “mmm, thanks Pa, that feels great. Think I’ll go upstairs and
lie down for awhile.”
“Why don’t you have a hot bath first son? Might help take some of those
aches away. Hop Sing………..” Ben called the cook to tell him to prepare a bath
for Joe but as usual the cook already knew what was needed.
“Bath all leady Mr. Cartlight.” Hop Sing said as he started to push Joe
towards the door and out to the washhouse.
As Joe walked into the washhouse, he could see that Hop Sing had everything
ready for him. Clean clothes and a towel had been placed on a bench near the
bath. Joe sat on a chair to remove his boots then took off his shirt and
belt placing them in a pile beside the chair. Standing, he undid his pants,
after pulling them down he stepped out of them and into the tub feeling the
warmth of the water. Joe didn’t feel like he had the energy to do anything
other than just sit there but thought he’d better make the effort to clean
up. Grabbing a washcloth he began to wash away the dirt and sweat from his
body and then he lay back to relax.
In the house Ben and Adam continued working on the books. After awhile Ben
looked at Adam, “I think I’ll just go out and check on your brother. I thought
he’d be back in by now.”
Adam stood up. “I’ll go Pa. Knowing Joe he’s probably fallen asleep.” They
both laughed knowing that could well be the truth.
Adam knocked on the door and called Joe’s name. Getting no answer he opened
the door and walked in, his eyes falling on Joe sound asleep in the tub. Walking
over to his brother, Adam gently shook Joe’s shoulder and called his name.
Shaking a bit harder, Adam finally managed to wake him.
Joe’s eyes opened sleepily and he looked at Adam unsure of what was going
on. “Adam, what’s wrong?” he mumbled.
“Nothings wrong Joe but you fell asleep and the waters starting to get cold.
I think you’d be a lot more comfortable sleeping in your bed and we wouldn’t
have to worry about you drowning in there.” Adam joked.
Joe shook his head, trying to clear it from the fog of sleep. “Sorry, I
didn’t mean to fall asleep, just thought I’d close my eyes for a minute.”
Adam laughed. “Yeah, I know, but it only takes you a minute to go to sleep
once you close your eyes. You awake now?” Adam asked, wanting to be sure that
Joe wasn’t still half asleep.
Joe nodded as Adam handed him a towel. “I’ll tell Pa you’ll be in in a minute.”
Adam told Joe as he left.
Adam looked across the room to his father when he returned to the house.
Ben was just clearing up his desk. Adam grinned and then started to laugh.
“Joe’ll be in in a minute, he fell asleep in the tub.”
Ben couldn’t help the laughter that escaped from his lips. “Well we guessed
right.”
It wasn’t long before Joe entered the house. Hop Sing was bringing plates
and dishes to the table in preparation for supper. Adam and Ben were in the
living room, Adam reading a new novel he had just acquired and Ben the newspaper.
Ben put down the paper to talk to Joe “Hoss should be home soon and dinners
just about ready.”
“Pa, I’m not very hungry. Think I’ll just go up to bed if you don’t
mind.”
“If that’s what you want to do, it’s fine son. Are you sure you’re feeling
all right? You don’t feel sick?”
“No, just tired.”
As Joe passed his father on the way to the stairs, Ben stood and patted
him on the back. “Goodnight Joe, sleep well.”
“Night Pa, night Adam.”
“See you in the morning, Joe.” Adam replied.
********************
The next day, Joe woke to a darkened room but knew it had to be later than
it seemed. He looked across to the window and could see that the curtains
had been pulled closed. Stretching, Joe smiled, knowing it was Pa’s way of
telling him that he could sleep all day if he wanted to. Deciding he’d spent
enough time in bed he got up and dressed and went downstairs.
Ben and Adam were once again working at the desk. Adam looked over at him
and said, “Well look who’s awake. We thought you were going to sleep the day
away Joe.”
Joe looked at the clock seeing that it was after 1 p.m. then he looked at
his father and smiled. “Someone closed the curtains. I didn’t know it was
so late.”
“Well I just thought that you might like to sleep in on the first day of
your week off.”
“A week off. Really?”
Ben laughed. “Yes really. You’ve worked hard the past couple of weeks
Joe. When we took the contract to supply those horses, then Adam sprained
his shoulder and Ted got sick, I didn’t think we’d be able to get it done.
We only got it done because of the extra effort you put in, you deserve some
time off.”
A smile lit Joe’s face. He was happy to get a week off but what pleased
him more was the praise by his father. “Thanks Pa, you’re the best.”
Joe rubbed his hands together. “So Pa, my week off starts today?”
Ben laughed. “Have you got plans already?”
“Um, yeah. I thought I might go into town for a while.”
Ben played along with Joe. “What do you need to go to town for Joe? Supplies,
post a letter, get a haircut……….?” Ben paused and he and Joe looked at each
other, then Ben continued, “or maybe a couple of beers at the Silver Dollar?”
Joe laughed. Pa knew him well all right. When Joe had mentioned town, there
had been no doubt in Ben’s mind just which part of town Joe was headed for.
Hop Sing came into the dining room and placed some dishes on the table.
Looking at Joe he said, “You miss breakfast, you late for lunch, you think
I have nothing better to do than wait on you.”
“I know Hop Sing, I’m sorry. I won’t have anything to eat now though.
I was just leaving.”
Hop Sing made a disgruntled noise. “You no eat last night. Must eat now.
Hop Sing make food, least you can do is eat it.”
Adam laughed. “He’ll never forgive you if you don’t eat it, Joe. The Silver
Dollar will still be there in a couple of hours you know.”
Joe held up his hands in defeat. “Okay, okay” And walked over to the table
to eat.
Ben and Adam joined Joe at the table for a cup of coffee.
“So what else are you going to do with your time off Joe?” Adam asked.
“I might go over to Clear Water tomorrow and see Cal. Might be able to talk
Mr. Peterson into giving Cal a couple of days off and we could get in a bit
of hunting.
The Petersons had been neighbors since before Joe was born. The two families
had quickly become friends. Marie had enjoyed visiting with Mary Peterson
and when their babies had been born, Cal just a few months before Joe, the
boys had become the best of friends.
“Well you can try Joe but you know John Peterson is not as easy going as
me.” Ben jokingly replied.
Joe patted Ben on the arm. “Not everyone can have a great Pa like you.”
Ben playfully shoved Joe away. “Oh stop it Joe, you’re not going to wrangle
one week into two.”
Joe laughed. Adam and Ben joined in.
Once he’d finished eating Joe stood and said “Well towns a waiting.”
********************
The Silver Dollar was loud and noisy when Joe walked in, a typical Saturday
in Virginia City. The hands from the outlying ranches were in town looking
for a little fun after a week of hard work. As the day wore on things would
get ever livelier.
Joe stood with his back to the bar, surveying the room, he heard someone
call him and turned to see that Caleb Peterson had just entered the saloon
and was making his way towards him.
Caleb acknowledged the barman and put his money on the counter, buying himself
a beer and one for Joe. Joe put down his empty beer glass and picked up the
fresh one. “Thanks Cal. I’ve been looking forward to this all week.”
“What brings you into town? Thought you’d still be breaking those horses.”
“Finished ‘em yesterday. Pa gave me a week off. What about you, what are
you doing here?
“I just came in to get some supplies, saw your horse tied up outside and
thought I’d come and say hello.”
As the young men talked a man wearing twin pistols moved to the bar and
stood near them apparently only interested in his own beer but listing intently
to the young men’s conversation.
“I was going to come out and see you tomorrow. Thought I might do a little
huntin’ if I can talk someone into comin’ with me.” Joe looked at Cal.
“I’d love to Joe but I’ve got some fencing to fix up in the north section.
I’m going to make an early start on it tomorrow. Now, if a certain someone
who has the week off gave me a hand we could get it done quicker and I might
be able to talk my Pa into giving me a day or two off.” He grinned at Joe.
Joe groaned. “How early were you planning on making this early start?”
Cal laughed before answering, knowing Joe wouldn’t like the answer. “Sunup.”
Joe put his head down on the counter, then, looked up at Cal. “I don’t know
what I’m going to tell Pa. If I tell him I volunteered to go and do fence
work, he’ll think I took one blow too many while I was breaking those horses.”
Both men laughed.
“Want another beer Joe?” Cal asked.
“Yeah, one more. Then I better get home and have an early night if I’m going
to be up early tomorrow.”
********************
Joe’s family were relaxing when he arrived home. Ben looked up from the
paper he was reading when Joe came in. Ben was surprised that Joe was home
already. “You’re home early son. Nothing happening in town?”
“No, just thought I’d come home early. I met up with Caleb in town. I asked
him if he wanted to go hunting with me. He said he has to get some fences
fixed first so I offered to give him a hand in the morning.”
Adam and Hoss both burst into laughter. Adam got himself under control first.
“You volunteered to fix fences?”
Joe rolled his eyes, knowing how much his family were going to enjoy ribbing
him about it.
********************
Joe was up before day break the next morning and headed straight for Clear
Water, the Peterson Ranch. As he arrived at the house, Cal was just walking
over to the barn. “Morning Joe. I’m just going to hitch up the team. Go inside
and have a cup of coffee.”
Joe dismounted and tied Cochise to the hitching rail. He was about to knock
when the door was opened.
Mary Peterson smiled. “Hello Joe. I thought I heard someone ride up. Come
in.”
Joe was always welcome at Clear Water. Mary hadn’t been able to have any
more children after Cal and she’d always enjoyed having Joe around. When Marie
died she’d felt so sorry for the little boy. At the time Mary had known
that Ben was finding it hard to cope and she and John had offered to look
after Joe for as long as need be. But as upset and distracted as Ben had
been he’d still been adamant that Joe would live no where other than on the
Ponderosa. Adam had felt the same way, assuring Mary that he could look after
Joe. As much as she would have loved to have Joe stay with her she knew the
child would have been lost without the love of his family and he’d stayed
where he belonged.
As soon as Joe was in the door Mary Peterson pushed him into a chair and
told him she’d be back in a minute.
“Morning, Mr. Peterson.”
“Mornin’ Joe. Do you want some breakfast?” replied John Peterson looking
up from his own meal.
“No thanks sir. I’m not hungry.”
Mrs. Peterson came back in with a plate and coffee cup, which she placed
in front of Joe. “Nonsense Joe. Come on eat up.”
Mr. Peterson nodded. “There’s no arguin’ with Mary boy.”
As Joe ate Mary asked. “How’s everyone over at the Ponderosa Joe?”
“Good thanks Mrs. Peterson.”
“We’ve missed seeing you around here the last few weeks. Cal said you were
busy.”
“Yeah. Was breaking some horses. Pa’s given me a week off now though. Joe
looked at John Peterson. “I was hopin’ Cal might be able to get a couple of
days off so we could go hunting.”
John nodded. “Caleb asked me about it last night. As long as that section
of fence is fixed, it’s okay with me.”
Just then Cal stuck his head in the door. “Ready Joe?”
Joe took another swallow of his coffee and stood up. “Yep. Thanks for breakfast
Mrs. Peterson and thanks for giving Cal the days off Mr. Peterson.”
Mr. Peterson nodded at Joe. “That’s alright Joe. I appreciate you helpin’
out today.”
Mary handed Cal a large bundle wrapped in brown paper. “Here’s your lunch.
I made enough for both of you.”
Cal kissed his mother. “Thanks Ma. We should be home by about five Pa.”
“Okay boys, have a good day.”
********************
Later that day after having his midday meal John Peterson headed out to
the barn; as he walked in the door he was shocked to see a man sitting on
a bail of hay, apparently waiting for him. The man had a bandana covering
his lower face and was wearing a twin holster and had one of the guns pointed
directly at him.
As John stood there shocked two more men also with their faces covered entered
the barn behind him. One of them removed John’s gun from its holster.
“Who are you? What do you want?” John Peterson asked.
The man stood up and said “My names Bill Fisher and it’s been a long time
but I’m sure if you think real hard you’ll come up with what we want.”
“Fisher?” John asked, shocked.
Bill nodded. “I see that the name means something to you.”
John tried to recover. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t
know you.”
“No, that’s right.” Bill said. “You don’t know me but you sure knew by brother,
Luke.”
“No, I…….” John started to say but Bill cut him off.
“There’s no point in denying it. Luke’s wife Katherine died two months ago,
her boy’s here,” he nodded towards the two other men, “you must remember Mark
and Sam, well, they were sorting through Katherine’s things and found a letter.
The letter was eighteen years old but it sure made interesting reading. Luke
must have written it just before he was killed. He never had a chance to
post it.”
“Get out. I don’t know what you think this has to do with me but I’m not
going to listen to anymore.”
Bill waved the gun at John. “Oh, you’re going to listen alright. You don’t
have a choice. Besides, aren’t you curious to know what was in the letter?”
Bill asked sarcastically. Bill gave John a hard look and then continued. “Luke
said he’d gotten involved in some cattle rustling. He wanted me to come and
join him, he said he had himself two partners, said they were from the two
biggest ranches around here at the time. Clearwater and the Ponderosa.”
John felt as if someone had punched him, knocking the air out of him. He’d
dreaded this moment coming for years. Always in the back of his mind was the
fear that someday, somehow, someone would find out what he’d done. But still
he was not prepared to admit his part in it. “I don’t know what you’re talking
about. I was never involved in any rustling.”
Mark stepped forward, glaring at John. He spoke for the first time “You
set my father up. You and Cartwright took the profits and made him the scapegoat.”
John shook his head. “No, you have it wrong.”
Bill stood directly in front of John and said “Shut up. You can try and
lie all you want but we know the truth and there’s no way you are going to
get away with this.”
“What are you going to do?” John asked, beginning to fear what the men had
in mind.
Bill spoke again. “We want you to go to the sheriff and admit what you did.
Cartwright’s a big man in these parts now but with you telling your part in
it, we can get him too.”
John decided to admit the part he had played in the events, trying to reason
with them. “I was partners with Luke, that’s true. But I didn’t betray him.
It was just bad luck the cattle were found that day. We hadn’t had time to
move them.”
That only seemed to infuriate the men. Bill snapped, “Bad Luck!” You call
it bad luck that Ben Cartwright just happened to find those cattle on my brother’s
land.”
John started to speak. “Ben……………”
But once again he was cut off. “Shut up. We’ve heard enough.” Bill snapped.
“It’s obvious you need a different kind of persuasion. Just remember that
you’re going to be responsible for what happens next.”
The Fisher’s backed out the door. Retrieving their horses that they had
hidden behind the barn, they made good time away from Clearwater. Sam, who
had remained silent throughout the exchange with John Peterson, signaled
for them to stop. “Why don’t we just take the letter to the sheriff. This
isn’t going to work. You’ll never get him to come forward on his own.”
Bill gave him a long look. “We talked about this. The sheriff would never
believe the letter was genuine. We have no real proof.”
“Well it was pointless coming back here wasn’t it.” Sam snapped. “We’ve
accomplished nothing.”
Bill said, “We came back here to bring Ben Cartwright and John Peterson
down, to shame them before the whole town. To make them sorry that they ever
betrayed Luke. Well, there’s a better way to do that. A way that will bring
them to their knees.”
********************
Joe and Cal had removed their guns and holsters while they worked and hung
them on the buckboard. Despite the heat and the hard work both young men were
in a happy mood, laughing and joking with each other while they worked.
Cal went to the buckboard to get some more nails. He heard a rustle in the
bushes and turning towards the sound he saw someone step into the clearing
holding a gun on him. Cal made a move towards his gun. He heard the trigger
being pulled back and the man spoke. “Don’t even think about it.”
Seeing what had happened Joe contemplated his next move. Before he could
decide what to do the man called out. “Mark, Sam.” Two more men stepped out
of the bushes to stand beside the other.
The man who had appeared first was older than the other two and appeared
to be the leader. He spoke to his two cohorts. “Tie them up – tight!”
Mark and Sam approached Cal first while Bill held his gun on Joe. Once Cal
was tied they turned to Joe. One man grabbed his arms and pulled them behind
him. Joe suddenly lashed out surprising the men. As Joe fought them Bill approached
he swung his arm in a wide arc slamming the gun into the side of Joe’s head.
When Joe fell to the ground he then began to kick Joe not caring where he
kicked him so long as his boot made contact with some part of Joe’s body.
Cal yelled “Stop it, you’ll kill him!”
Sam was the first to react, pushing Bill away from Joe. “Stop it, Bill he’s
had enough. We don’t want to kill him.”
“Yeah you’re right.” Bill looked menacingly at Cal. “We don’t want to kill
anyone……..yet.”
While he lay unconscious, Joe’s arms were pulled behind his back and tied
and then his ankles were tied together. Then the three walked away. Cal wriggled
as close to Joe as he could. From what he could see Joe was a mess. There
was a cut over his left eye and he was bleeding from his nose and mouth. Cal
knew the blows to Joe’s body must also be severe and worried about the damage
he couldn’t see.
While Cal tried to wake Joe the three men who had surprised them held their
own conversation. Bill once again took charge of the situation. “Let’s go,
we’ve only got a couple hours of daylight left. Sam, throw some water over
the Cartwright kid and wake him up. Mark, grab the pinto and one of the horses
from the wagon.
Sam walked over to Joe and Cal. He was beginning to realize what a big mistake
he and Mark had made in coming along with Bill. Sam bent down and poured some
water over Joe’s face.
Cal looked at him and asked, “Who are you?” Why are you doing this?” He
received no answer.
When Joe began to stir Sam helped him to sit up and held the canteen for
Joe to have a drink. “What’s going on?” Joe mumbled, his mind still clouded
about what had happened.
“It’s going to be alright.” was all Sam managed to get out before the other
men appeared. Bill approached them with a knife in his hand. Joe felt sick
as he saw him bend towards him, not knowing what the man intended to do. Then
in one swift movement the ropes were cut from his ankles and he was dragged
to his feet, pulled over to his horse and all but thrown on. The same process
was repeated with Cal.
Joe could hardly sit up on Cochise he felt so ill but he knew he had to
try and find out what was going on. But he got nowhere with his questions.
Each question of who the men were and why were they doing this was met with
silence.
They rode for about an hour and then stopped. Joe and Cal were roughly pulled
from their horses. They were dragged over to a boulder and pushed to the ground.
The man known as Bill stood in front of them and pointed over to a large
tree. Do you boys know who was hung from that tree seventeen years ago?”
Cal nodded. “We’ve heard stories about what happened out here. It was a
man named Luke Fisher. He was a cattle rustler.”
With the swiftness of a snake Bill backhanded Cal across the mouth. “You
watch your mouth when you’re talkin’ about my brother.”
“Your brother?” Cal asked as he spat the blood out of his mouth.
“That’s right, my brother and those two men over there are his sons. So
you see that’s why we don’t hold to Cartwright’s and Peterson’s.”
Joe took a good look at the men. Over the years he’d heard bits and pieces
about what had happened out here all those years ago. “Our father’s had nothing
to do with what happened. They weren’t even here that night.”
Bill squatted down next to Joe and grabbed a handful of Joe’s hair, pulling
his head back. “They may not have been here that night but they sure had something
to do with what happened.”
Before Joe could ask what he meant Bill stood up and walked over to his
horse. He pulled two lengths of rope out of his saddlebag and tossed them
to Mark. “You know what to do.”
Mark walked over to the tree. He climbed up into it and made his way out
along one branch. He then tied one rope to the branch. When he let the rope
go and it swung down Joe and Cal could see that a noose was tied on the end
of the rope. Mark then tied another one next to it.
As Bill started to walk over to Joe and Cal, Sam grabbed his arm. “This
has gone far enough.”
“Oh come on, Sam. It’s just getting good.” Bill then walked over to Joe
and Cal. He looked at them and said, “Well boys, who wants to go first?”
As Joe and Cal looked at him in disbelief Bill laughed but there was no humor
in the laugh, it was cruel and bitter. He continued to taunt them. “Come
on, don’t be shy. Someone has to go first but don’t worry, you’re both going
to have a turn.”
“You’re mad.” Joe yelled at him. “Why are you doing this? You won’t get
away with it. My father will track you down and you’ll be the ones who’ll
hang.”
Bill bent down until he was just inches from Joe’s face and his words poured
out like venom. “Your father’s were Luke’s partners. They were as guilty as
he was and they should have paid the same price but they got away with it
and went on with their lives. Well no more. Since they’re not man enough to
admit what they did you two can pay that price for ‘em. Since ya can’t decide
who wants to die first, I’ll decide for ya.” He pulled his knife and cut
the ropes around Cal’s ankles and roughly grabbed Cal by the arm and yanked
him to his feet.
Joe had been shocked by the man’s words. “No, my father wouldn’t have done
that. You’re wrong. Please you have to believe me you’ve made a mistake.”
Joe tried to get the men to stop what they were doing.
Cal planted his feet and tried to pull out of the man’s grasp. As Cal realized
the
futility of trying to escape he began to beg for his life. “Please my father
will give you anything, please let us go. We won’t say anything, please.”
They reached the horses and still Cal struggled to free himself. Mark joined
Bill and between them they were able to get Cal up on Cochise. Bill put the
noose around his neck. Cal stopped his struggle not wanting to spook Cochise.
Joe’s hands were sticky from the blood dripping down from his wrists, the
skin torn and bleeding from trying to free himself of the ropes. He paid no
attention to that, his concentration solely on getting free.
Sam went over to talk to Bill and Mark. “I think we should stop this now,
it’s getting out of hand. We were only supposed to scare them. We’ve done
that. We shouldn’t have gone this far. These two boys had nothing to do with
what happened back then. They were just little kids.”
Suddenly Bill swung his arm bringing his hand down on the rump of Cochise.
A scream was torn from Joe’s lips. In a moment it was over.
Sam stood shocked at what had happened. Mark stood next to him almost feeling
like his knees would give way. Joe could only stare, too shocked to do anything
else.
Mark grabbed his knife and jumped on his horse intending to cut Cal down
but Bill stopped him, pulling his horse away he said, “Leave him, he’s dead.
There ain’t no point in cutting him down now.” As Mark looked at the now still
body he realized the truth in the words.
Bill stood there with a look of satisfaction on his face while Mark and
Sam tried to come to terms with what he had just done.
Sam was the first to find his voice. “This was your intention all along
wasn’t it. You never intended to let them go.” Bill smiled and that only
served to anger Sam more. “We agreed we were only going to scare them, there
was to be no killin’.”
“We’ll hang if they catch us.” Mark said.
“Then we’ll make sure they don’t catch us.” He turned to Mark, “Get the
horse.” With that Bill walked over to Joe. He pulled his knife and cut the
rope binding Joe’s feet together. Joe could feel the bile rise in his throat,
his stomach was in knots and he was starting to shake. He couldn’t take his
eyes off the body of Cal. Only a few hours ago they’d been laughing and joking
and now Cal was dead. Joe fought to remain calm. Looking around he tried
to plan his next move.
Cochise hadn’t gone far and Mark was back with him in a minute.
Pulling Joe to his feet Bill looked at Mark. “Help me get him on his horse.”
Mark shook his head. “No Bill. I’m not goin’ to help you commit murder and
that’s what you’ve done, you’ve murdered that boy.” Mark nodded at Cal’s body.
Bill was livid. He angrily spat out his next words. “Have you forgotten
what happened to your father?”
“No, of course I haven’t forgotten. I’ll never forget. But these boys had
nothing to do with it. Let him go Bill. Let’s get on our horses and ride out
of here.”
“He knows what we look like.” Bill shook Joe. “How far do you think we’ll
get once he’s talked to his father and the sheriff. They’ll be a posse on
our trail before we know it.”
“I’m not going to be hung for murder Bill.”
“Whether you like it or not, you’re in this as deep as I am. If they catch
us we’ll swing so it won’t make any difference if it’s one murder or two.”
Bill said.
Mark still shook his head, “No, I won’t do it.” Bill continued to drag Joe
over to Cochise, Joe fought against him but the beating he’d endured had taken
its toll on Joe.
Sam tried to stop what was about to happen. “Don’t be so stupid. As soon
as John Peterson finds out what’s happened here, he’ll go to the law and tell
them it was us.”
Bill shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. If he reveals that he knows
it was us, he’ll have to tell everyone why we did it and everyone will know
the truth about him. I think he’ll try to handle this on his own. When he
least expects it, we’ll strike again.”
Joe’s mind raced. He knew he would have only one chance. It was going to
be a slim chance but one he would have to take. There was no choice. As Joe
was thrown up onto Cochise, he tried to set himself in the saddle and moved
his hands so he could hold the back of the saddle. As Bill released Joe and
reached for the noose, Joe spurred Cochise. “Come on boy, go!”
Joe fought on staying in the saddle and steering with his legs. Concentrating
on getting as far away as he could as quickly as possible.
Mark and Sam stood there, unsure of what to do. Bill had no doubts.
He pulled his gun, took aim and fired, hitting Joe squarely in the back.
Joe felt the bullet slam into him, hitting him with such force that it almost
took his breath away. He tried to stay in the saddle but could not get his
mind to control his body. He toppled from the saddle, hitting the ground heavily.
Bill looked at Mark. “Well don’t just stand there. I’ll get our gear together;
you go and make sure he’s dead. If he’s not, finish him off.”
Mark mounted his horse and slowly rode towards Joe. Joe had fallen on his
side. As Mark touched him he could see that Joe was still breathing but his
head was bleeding badly. Pulling Joe over he saw that Joe had hit his head
on a rock when he fell and blood was streaked down the side of his face. Unable
to put a bullet into someone so defenseless and doubting that Joe would live
much longer he whispered “I’m so sorry Joe.” He mounted up and rode back
to where Bill and Sam waited. When he reached them he said, “He’s dead.”
“Good, let’s get out of here.” Bill looked over at Sam. “Are you coming
with us?”
Sam was sickened at the evens of the last few hours but he needed
time to think about what he should do, so he nodded.
As the men rode towards Virginia City, Mark cast a last look over towards
Joe. He felt so guilty about leaving him there to die alone but he felt there
was nothing else he could do.
********************
Back at the Ponderosa Hop Sing was just serving up. “You no wait for Little
Joe?”
Ben walked towards the table. “No, Hop Sing. I dare say that he headed into
town tonight with Cal after they finished work.”
Adam and Hoss joined their father at the table. “Joe and Caleb in town alone
together who knows what trouble they’re liable to get up to.” Adam joked.
Hoss joined in, “I reckon those two have been leadin’ each other into trouble
since before they could walk.”
Ben nodded, trying not to laugh as he remembered some of the mischief Joe
and Cal had gotten in to while growing up. “Well Joe had better stay out of
trouble tonight or I’ll have him back here working so fast that his head will
still be spinning next week.”
Later that night Ben and Adam were reading, Hoss was repairing a harness
when they heard a horse race into the yard. Ben threw down his book. “Joe
knows better than to ride into the yard like that.” He started to cross the
floor to give Joe a piece of his mind but before he reached the door it flew
open and John Peterson rushed in.
“Ben.” Looking around the room he continued, “Thank God you’re all here.”
Ben’s blood froze. Knowing instinctively that something was wrong with Joe,
he grabbed John’s arm, “What’s happened?”
Cal and Joe are missing. We’ve got to find them. Something’s wrong, Ben.
They wouldn’t just go off like that.”
Ben was impatient for answers. “What do you mean, they’re missing?” Are
you sure they haven’t just gone in to town?”
“I’m sure, Ben. They said they’d be home at about five. When they didn’t
arrive, Mary and I were worried so I went to have a look at the fence line
they were working on. I couldn’t see much in the dark but the buckboard and
one horse was still there. The other horse and Joe’s horse were gone.”
Ben grabbed his hat and coat as he continued to talk to John. “There are
no other signs of them?”
“No, not really. Their guns are hanging in their holsters on the buckboard.
I had a look around the area but couldn’t find anything. I thought I’d better
come and get you. If anyone can find tracks, it’s Hoss.”
Ben nodded in agreement. “Yes. Hoss, you get some supplies from Hop Sing.
Adam, go to the bunkhouse and get the men. We’ll need them to help search.”
Adam lay his hand on his father’s arm. “Pa, we can’t search in the dark,
we’ll have to wait for first light.”
Ben was in no mood to listen to talk of waiting. In his heart he knew Joe
needed him and there was no way he was waiting until morning. “No Adam. We
can’t wait. Joe needs us now. I’ll get some lanterns and start saddling the
horses. Let’s go.”
Adam spoke to the foreman. “So, that’s all we know Charlie. Get the men
together. We want to leave as soon as we can.” He left, leaving Charlie to
tell the men while he went to help his father saddle the horses.
In less than half an hour everyone was ready. Ten men were riding with the
Cartwrights as well as John Peterson.
The men rode with lanterns raised, peering into the darkness. Movement had
been extremely slow, the men not wanting to miss Joe and Cal somewhere in
the dark.
When they reached the fence line where Joe and Cal had been working the
men waited while Hoss looked around.
“Pa, there are some tracks headed that way.” He pointed north. “Looks like
five riders. Cochise’s tracks are with ‘em.”
Ben needed to hear no more. “All right everyone, mount up.” With Hoss once
more in the lead they headed out.
Many times they lost the tracks in the dark and had to double back. Hoss
cursed the lost time. The sun was just beginning to peak over the horizon
when the search party made it to Potters Field.
The sight that greeted the men when they rode into the clearing was something
none of them would ever forget. In the dim light a body could be seen swaying
in the breeze. It was hanging from a tree on the other side of the field.
Ben’s heart constricted as he stared at the awful sight before him. The
one thought in his head so terrible that he could not force the words past
his lips. Was it Joe? Ben spurred Buck forward the others quickly following.
“My God.” uttered John Peterson when they reached the body and he realized
it was his son.
Ben felt immense sorrow for John Peterson and over whelming relief that
it wasn’t Joe. At the moment he didn’t have time to try and comfort his friend;
he had to find Joe. “Where’s Joe? Everyone fan out, search the area.”
Ben heard Hoss shout. He looked where Hoss was pointing and saw Cochise
standing near some trees. Hopefully Joe would be nearby. Quickly they rode
towards the horse. As they got closer they could see Joe lying on the ground.
Ben dismounted and ran to him.
Joe was lying half turned onto his side, his eyes were closed and blood
covered the left side of his face. Joe made no sound or movement and as Ben
touched him, Ben was shocked at how cold Joe was. With rising fear, Ben placed
his fingers on Joe’s neck, preying that he would find the pulse of life there.
Ben breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the weak flutter.
Ben’s voice trembled as he said the words Adam and Hoss were waiting to
hear. “He’s alive.”
Adam ran to get his knife from his saddlebags as Hoss untied his saddle
roll to get the blanket and also the bandages and water. Ben sat holding
Joe in his arms murmuring words of comfort that Joe could not hear. Adam
cut the rope that bound Joe’s hands behind his back, noticing as he did how
much the rope had torn into Joe’s skin, a telling sign of how hard Joe had
fought to free himself. Then he saw the wound in his brothers back. “God
Pa, his back.”
Hoss placed the blanket behind Joe and Ben gently lay him down. Turning
Joe on his side so that he could see his back he reached to gently pull the
shirt away from the wound with shaking hands.
Adam reached out and touched Ben’s arm. “I’ll do it Pa.”
“Here Adam.” Hoss said as he handed a wet cloth to his brother. Once Adam
had the blood cleaned away and the wound cleaned as best he could he reached
for the bandages that Hoss passed him.
Leaving the Cartwright’s to tend to Joe, Roy nodded for the others to follow
him and they began a search of the area.
While Adam worked on the wound in Joe’s back, Ben wet a cloth and gently
cleaned the blood from Joe’s face, talking to him as he did so, hoping for
some sign of a response, but there was none, he then bandaged the head wound.
Laying Joe on his back so they could check for other injuries, they could
see the bruises that covered Joe’s chest and stomach and knew that the rest
of Joe’s body was likely covered in the same bruises. Whoever had done it,
had certainly meant to inflict as much pain on the boy as they could. Adam
lightly ran his hands over Joe, searching for any breaks. As he ran his hand
down Joe’s left side, he looked up and said, “It doesn’t feel like any of
his ribs are broken but some are probably cracked or bruised judging by the
marks on him.”
Adam then checked for breaks in Joe’s arms and legs, when he was finished
he wrapped the blanket around Joe and sat back on his heels.
Ben looked up as he heard Roy approach. “How is he Ben?” Ben kept a tight
hold on Joe’s hand as he replied. “Not good. Did you find anything that might
tell us who did this? What happened here?”
“Ben, looks like whoever did this is headed south. Three riders. I’ll take
the men and try and track them but you know what the ground is like that way.
It’s hard and rocky.”
“Pa, we’re going to have to get Joe home as soon as we can. We’ll have to
put him on a horse.”
Ben nodded, trying to pull himself together. Roy touched his arm. “Ben we’ll
do what we can to find whoever is responsible but I think our only hope is
Joe being able to tell us who it was or at least give us a description.”
Hoss knelt next to Joe, brushing a hand down the side of his face. “Do you
think Joe saw what they did to Cal?”
Ben stared at Joe. “I hope not.”
Roy called the men together. “Alright everyone mount up and lets head out.
Ben are you going to be able to manage with Joe?”
“Yes thanks, Roy. Can you send one of the men for the doctor. I want Hoss
to go with you. Adam and I can get Joe home.”
Hoss started to protest but Ben said “Hoss I know you want to stay with
Joe but there is nothing you can do for him and we need to find the men responsible.”
Hoss nodded reluctantly.
As Roy was preparing to ride away Ben thought of something. “Roy, John might
need some help.” Looking over they saw John had managed to cut his son down
and
Roy nodded.
Roy rode over to John and the Cartwright’s saw him help John put Cal’s
body on a horse and then John rode away. Roy returned to the Cartwright’s.
“I offered to have one of the men go with him but he wanted to take Cal home
himself.”
Ben nodded and then turned his attention back to Joe. “Hoss, let’s
get Joe onto my horse.” Hoss reached down and keeping the blanket wrapped
tightly around his young brother, lifted him up. Between them, Hoss and Adam
managed to get Joe up and onto his father’s horse. They held him in place
while Ben mounted.
Hoss took one last look at his brother and then rode out with the posse.
********************
As they stopped in front of the house, Adam quickly dismounted and reached
up for Ben to hand Joe down.
As Ben and Adam entered the front door, Hop Sing came from the kitchen.
“What happen?” he asked rushing forward.
Adam and Ben continued through the room. Adam turned to Hop Sing, “Hop Sing,
Joe’s hurt bad, we don’t know for sure how it happened, the doctor’s on his
way. Can you get everything we need to get Joe cleaned up.” Hop Sing nodded
and rushed off.
Adam quickly carried Joe up the stairs to Joe’s room. He placed Joe on the
bed and unwrapped the blanket. Ben sat on the bed staring at Joe’s blood stained
clothes. Opening Joe’s shirt he saw the bandage was saturated with blood.
Taking a deep breath he said “Adam get a pair of scissors, we’ll cut Joe’s
shirt and these bandages off.”
Adam turned towards the door, stopping to place a hand on his father’s shoulder
he said, “He’ll be okay, Pa.” Adam said the words automatically the way he’d
said them so many times before preying that by saying them again it would
prove to be no different this time. But looking at Joe lying so still on the
bed, Adam felt the cold hand of fear grip his heart.
Adam entered the kitchen to get the scissors, seeing that Hop Sing had everything
almost ready he carried the bowl of water and cloths up while Hop Sing carried
a tray with whisky to clean the wounds and bandages. As Adam once more entered
Joe’s room he placed the bowl and cloths on the table next to Ben and moved
to the other side of the bed. From the time they had found Joe, Ben had continued
to touch him, to talk to him, telling him that everything was going to be
alright now, hoping that some words of comfort would get through to Joe.
Ben reached to stroke Joe’s face. “Joe we’re going to have you feeling better
soon, you just hang on.”
Adam cut the shirt and bandages away, while Ben cleaned the wound in Joe’s
back. That done he liberally poured whisky in the wound hoping to kill any
infection that might be setting in. Then he re bandaged the wound. As much
as he wanted Joe to wake up he was glad that at the moment Joe couldn’t feel
anything.
The bowl of water had become bloodied and Hop Sing placed a clean bowl and
cloth on the dresser. Adam cut the rest of Joe’s clothes off and Ben finished
cleaning him up while Adam cleaned and bandaged Joe’s head wound.
When they were finished Adam lifted Joe up while Ben threw the dirty and
bloodied blanket on the floor and pulled the bed covers back. Once Joe was
as comfortable as they could make him, Ben pulled the chair up to the side
of the bed and took Joe’s hand in his. Adam found himself pacing the floor
both men thinking the same thing, ‘What was taking the doctor so long?’
At last the Cartwright’s heard the sound of a buggy in the yard. Adam went
to the window and looked out. He saw Doctor Martin get out and head towards
the door. “Doctor’s here.” said Adam as he rushed out the door and down the
stairs. Hop Sing had just opened the door to allow Doctor Martin to enter.
As Adam rushed towards him, Paul Martin said “Sorry I took so long Adam.
I was out at the Thompson ranch. How’s Joe?”
“He’s still unconscious. He hasn’t moved or made a sound since we found
him.” The doctor only needed to look at Adam’s face to see how worried he
was.
“Let’s go and take a look.” Said Doctor Martin heading up to the room he
knew so well. Ben was wiping Joe down with cold water as Adam and Doctor Martin
entered. Ben kept his eyes fixed on Joe.
Paul Martin moved to the opposite side of the bed to Ben. Ben remained seated
next to Joe, never releasing the hand he held tightly in his own.
Paul placed his hand on Joe’s forehead and felt the fever in the young mans
body. “How longs his temperature been up?”
“He started to get hot about an hour ago.” Adam answered as Paul continued
his examination. He felt Joe’s pulse, it was extremely weak, but at least
it was steady, a small sign of encouragement. Lifting Joe’s eyelids, he looked
at each eye then he removed the bandage from Joe’s head to examine the wound
there.
“We think he hit his head on a rock. How bad is it?” Ben asked, speaking
for the first time since Paul had arrived.
“His skull’s fractured Ben and the fact that he’s been unconscious for so
long is a worry.” Reaching for his bag he continued, “This wounds going to
need stitching but I’d better look at his back first.” Looking down at the
bandages on Joe’s back he could see that although Ben and Adam had obviously
been able to slow the bleeding it hadn’t stopped completely. Removing them
Paul saw how bad the wound was and knew Joe must have lost a massive amount
of blood. Paul spent a long time working on Joe, once he removed the bullet
he cleaned the wound before stitching it closed. He then cleaned and stitched
Joe’s head wound. He checked Joe over completely agreeing with Adam that although
the bruising was severe his ribs weren’t broken, he also checked over Joe’s
damaged wrists.
When Paul was finished, Ben picked up the wet cloth and began trying to
cool Joe off again. He looked up at Doctor Martin. “Paul, what are his chances?”
Paul had known the Cartwright family for years. He considered Ben one of
his closest friends. He wanted to tell Ben that Joe would be alright but he
knew the family should be prepared.
“Ben I wish I could be more hopeful. I’ve done all I can for Joe at the
moment. The bleedings stopped. All we can do for now is try and keep his
temperature down and hope he wakes up soon. We’ll know more then.”
Periodically throughout the night, Paul came in the check on Joe. Joe seemed
to be in limbo. His condition didn’t worsen but there was no improvement either.
As dawn broke over the ranch house, Paul once more entered the bedroom to
check his patient. Ben was still seated next to Joe’s bed with Adam sitting
on the other side. He walked over and patted Ben on the back. “Ben, why don’t
you and Adam go down stairs. Have something to eat and then try to get some
sleep.” He knew it was something neither of them wanted to do, but they couldn’t
go on like this. “I know it’s hard to leave Joe, but it’ll do him no good
if you run yourselves into the ground. Go on, I’ll stay with Joe and call
you if there’s any change.”
They were both reluctant to leave Joe but knew they had to get some sleep.
Ben looked at Paul. “You’ll call me if Joseph needs me?”
“You know I will Ben, now go on.”
When Ben woke a couple of hours later he quickly made his way to
Joe’s room. He found Adam and Hoss there. “How is he?”
Adam answered. “No change, Pa.”
Ben sat down and looked at Hoss. “When did you get back, son.”
“Only an hour or so ago, Pa.”
“Did you get them?”
Hoss reluctantly shook his head. “No, Pa. The tracks led us south and then
doubled back around towards Virginia City. We followed them as far as we could.
They mingled in with hundreds of others. Roy’s asking around about anyone
suspicious but he doesn’t hold out much hope.” Hoss looked over at
Joe. “Hopefully Joe will wake up soon and be able to tell us who they are.”
Adam shook his head. “Who on earth would want to do something like this.
It just doesn’t make any sense.”
There was no change in Joe as the morning progressed by midday Ben was beginning
to despair. They’d only managed to get a small amount of water in Joe, unable
to get him to swallow.
Adam was dozing in a chair on the opposite side of the bed to Ben. Ben called
him to wake him up.
Adam woke and immediately looked at Joe. “Any change?”
“No, I want to try and get him to drink again.”
Their movement woke Hoss who was sitting in a chair near the window. He
quickly approached the bed. “What’s wrong?”
Adam was quick to calm him. “It’s alright Hoss. We just want to try and
get him to drink some water.”
Adam and Ben gently rolled Joe over and Adam placed his hand behind his
brother’s head to lift it up while Ben held a glass to Joe’s mouth. The water
trickled out and Adam wiped it away with his free hand. Ben tried again and
this time Joe swallowed. Ben couldn’t hide his relief. “He’s drinking.” Ben
managed to get what he considered sufficient into Joe. They tried to wake
him but there was no response.
Adam lay Joe’s head back down and asked “Do you think we should turn him
back onto his stomach Pa?”
“No, let’s leave him for now. He doesn’t seem uncomfortable.”
Paul came in just then to once more check his patient. Ben told him they
had just gotten Joe to drink.
“Good, hopefully the fact that he’s drinking is a sign he’s coming back
to us.” As Paul continued to examine him they heard a horse ride into the
yard and then someone knocking on the door.
Adam rose. “I’ll go and see who it is.”
Hop Sing had already opened the front door and Tom Matthews was standing
in the great room. When he saw Adam descending the stairs he said, “Adam,
I heard what happened. How’s Joe?”
“Not good Tom. He’s still unconscious. What brings you out here? Is it Martha?”
Martha was awaiting the birth of her first child, she was a very frail girl
and Doctor Martin wanted to be there when the baby came.
“The baby’s comin’. I came out to see if the doc can come. I’m sorry Adam.
I know you want him here for Joe.”
Adam couldn’t deny that fact but he said, “I’ll tell him you’re here Tom.”
Adam went back upstairs and into Joe’s room. “Doc, it’s Tom Matthews. The
baby’s on it’s way.”
Paul glanced across at Ben. This is what Paul Martin hated. He was the only
doctor in the area and he hated the choices he had to make about leaving one
patient for another. “Ben, I’m sorry. I’ll have to go. I’ll get back here
as soon as I can.”
Ben nodded, he wanted Paul to stay just incase Joe needed him but he knew
Paul would stay if he could.
Paul pulled back the blankets, checking the wound in Joe’s back. He pulled
the blankets back up and checked the head wound. “If he wakes up just try
to keep him still and calm. He’ll probably have a really bad head ache and
he may be sick, he’ll probably want to go straight back to sleep but keep
him awake as long as you can.”
“Thank you Paul.” Ben said, not taking his eyes off Joe.
Paul patted Ben on the arm as he went past. “I’ll see myself out.” Paul
Martin went downstairs.
Suddenly Ben leant over Joe.
Hoss looked over. “Pa what is it, what’s wrong?”
“Joe moved,” replied Ben. Leaning close to Joe Ben urged. “Come on Joe,
open your eyes. Come on son. I’m right here. Everything’s going to be alright.”
Joe’s eyes suddenly flew open. The look in them could only be described
as a look of pure terror. As Joe struggled to rise up, Ben held him down.
“It’s alright Joe, It’s alright. You’re home now. Lie still.”
There was no need to ask Hoss to get Paul he was already half way down the
stairs shouting for the doctor. Paul was at the door just about to go out
but he had stopped and turned as he had heard Hoss’ footsteps thunder down
the hallway and then the stairs. “Doc, come quick. Joe’s awake.” He turned
and rushed back up the stairs. Paul quickly followed him.
When they reached the bedroom they found Ben supporting Joe and holding
a bowl. Joe was being violently sick.
“What happened?” Paul asked, taking the bowl from Ben and placing it on
the floor as the vomiting finally stopped. Ben continued to hold Joe and
started to carefully rub his back as he felt him start to shake. Í
don’t know. He woke up and he was sick almost instantly.” As Joe began to
calm down, Ben laid him back on the bed. “Are you okay now Joseph?” he asked
as he rubbed his arm, trying to give Joe comfort with his continued touch.
Joe didn’t answer but his eyes stayed locked on Ben’s.
As the doctor reached to examine Joe, he said, “It’s alright Ben. He’s probably
sick because of the head injury.”
“Joe?” Paul asked. Getting no response he reached over and turned Joe’s
face toward him. “Joe, how do you feel?” Paul was starting to get alarmed
at the lack of response from Joe. Can you talk for me Joe?” Joe remained
silent.
They kept Joe awake as long as they could but when his eyes started to close
Paul said, “Alright Joe, you go back to sleep.” They watched as Joe went quickly
back to sleep. Adam was the first to ask the question that was burning in
everyone’s mind. “What’s wrong with him. Why won’t he speak?”
“Adam, I don’t know if it’s because he won’t or because he can’t.”
“What are you saying?” Ben asked in alarm.
“Ben, Joe has been through a terrible ordeal, he could still be in shock
from what happened……….. and what he saw or” and Paul paused and took a deep
breath before continuing, “it could be more serious, that blow to his head
may have caused some serious damage.” Three sets of eyes turned to look at
him. “Let’s not worry unnecessarily. We’ll let Joe sleep for a while. Wake
him in an hour, we’ll know more then.” The Cartwright’s knew it would be a
very long hour.
Paul felt even worse about leaving now, but knew he had to. After assuring
the family he would be back as quickly as he could he left them to their vigil.
********************
When it was time to wake Joe, Ben put his hand on Joe’s shoulder and stroked
it. “Come on Joseph, it’s time to wake up now. Come on.” Slowly Joe’s head
moved and then once more Joe’s eyes opened with the same look Ben had seen
an hour ago. Placing his arms around Joe, Ben gently lifted him and held his
son too him, rubbing Joe’s back once more in an effort to try and stop the
terror that Joe was feeling. Ben spoke quietly. “It’s alright Joe, you’re
safe now, you’re home with us, it’s alright, we’re right here with you.”
Once Joe was a little calmer Ben lay him back down, keeping a firm hold
on Joe’s hand. Joe’s eyes once more stayed on his fathers face. Adam sat
on the edge of the bed on the other side and Hoss stood next to him.
“Joe” Adam reached over and gently turned Joe’s face towards him,
“we need you to try and tell us who did this. Do you know who it was Joe?
Did you recognize any of them?” Joe turned back to look at his father.
“Don’t Adam” Ben said. “He’s not in any state to answer questions.”
Adam looked at his father. “I don’t like doing it either Pa, but we have
to try and find out who did this.” Once again Adam turned Joe’s face towards
him, this time gently holding his hand to the side of Joe’s face to prevent
him from looking away. “Come on Joe just try, give us something to go on.”
At first Ben didn’t think Joe was going to respond but then Joe slowly reached
for Adam’s hand and said so quietly that they barely heard him “I’ll try.”
Ben felt an over whelming relief at even such a small reaction from Joe. At
least he was communicating with them and they were close to finding out who
had done this.
Joe didn’t want to remember; all’s he wanted was to forget it. But
he knew that as long as he lived he would never be able to forget it. He could
still here Cal’s screams echoing. Joe’s breaths started to come in
gasps as he fought to keep himself under control. Ben gathered Joe into his
arms. “It’s alright Joseph, it’s alright. Come on Joe, you can do this.”
The Cartwright’s knew that if they were to have any chance of catching the
men responsible they needed Joe to give them something, even just a starting
point would help them but seeing the state he was in now, Adam began to worry
that he’d made a mistake in pushing him to remember.
Joe’s head whirled with images. He’d known Cal all his life. They’d shared
so many good times while they were growing up. Now the only picture Joe could
conjure up of Cal was the last time he’d seen him when Cochise had………….. Joe
clung tighter to his father, he fought to stop his mind from seeing that image.
As Joe clung to his father he was able to say two words, “Luke Fisher.” He
whispered.
“What?” Adam asked, thinking he couldn’t have heard Joe correctly.
Ben looked down to see that Joe was almost asleep in his arms. Looking At
Adam he replied, “He said Luke Fisher.”
Hoss saw the look that passed between Adam and Ben and he knew the name
meant something to them. In the back of his mind Hoss knew there was an old
memory lurking.
“He’s asleep.” Ben said to his other sons. They all knew that was all they
were going to get out of Joe for now. “Hoss, go and ask Hop Sing to come up
and sit with Joe. I need to talk to you and Adam downstairs.”
“Yes Sir.”
When Hoss left the room, Adam turned to his father. “Pa.”
Ben cut him off. “Not here, Adam. I don’t want to worry Joseph with any
of this.”
Hop Sing was upstairs in a moment, telling Ben “Hop Sing sit with Little
Joe.”
Ben made sure Joe was comfortable before he left the room. “Thank you Hop
Sing. Call me if he wakes up.”
“Yes Mr. Cartlight, I call right away.”
Adam followed his father downstairs. Hoss was waiting on the settee. Ben
sat down but Adam found that now that a memory of an event almost twenty years
previous had been brought to the surface of his mind he was too anxious to
sit down.
Ben was himself, still trying to work out in his mind what it meant.
The memories weren’t as clear for Hoss, he’d only been a child when Luke
Fisher had died. He could feel the tension radiating from his father and brother.
Hoss could wait no longer. “Pa?”
Before Hoss could ask more, Adam interrupted. “We should have realized earlier.
It has to be someone connected to the Fisher’s, but why after all these years?”
“Pa,” broke in Hoss. “What’s going on?”
“Hoss do you remember Luke Fisher and his family?”
“Yeah, I remember them. Not too clearly though. I remember hearing stories
when I was growing up about what happened to him when he was hung …………” Hoss’
voice trailed off as realization hit him. Luke Fisher had been hung in Potter’s
Field.
“Hoss when Luke lived here, he had a wife and two boys, the eldest Mark,
was quiet friendly with Adam they were around the same age, the other boy,
Sam, was a couple of years older than you. There weren’t many ranches in the
area at the time and those of us who were here were all still pretty small.
None of us had a lot of cattle. Then cattle started going missing. I lost
ten head and a couple of other ranches the same. We were all of us worried
about losing any more; we just couldn’t afford it. One day I rode to the
neighboring ranches to speak to everyone and arrange a meeting. I cut across
Luke Fisher’s land. A different way to the way I usually went. Mixed in with
his herd I found some of the missing cattle. A meeting was arranged without
Fisher and it was decided that we’d confront him. There was no law here then,
just the law of the land. We planned on seeing Fisher the next day but that
night some of the other ranchers decided to take matters into their own hands.
Luke Fisher was hung that night in Potter’s Field. The same tree as………” Ben
couldn’t go on but Hoss knew what he had been going to say.
Adam sat down the events of that night rushing back. He’d only been about
thirteen; Hoss had been seven. He knew Hoss recalled little of the events
from then because he’d been shielded from them but Adam remembered and he
began to tell Hoss of those memories.
“Mrs. Fisher came here after it had happened. She was hysterical. We couldn’t
understand what she was trying to tell us at first but we could guess. When
she was finally able to tell us, she said the men had come and just dragged
her husband away. She said one of the men stayed and kept her and the boys
in the house. About an hour later the other returned and told her that her
husband had confessed then they just rode away. Mrs. Fisher and her sons went
looking for him. They found him in Potter’s field.”
Hoss was silent. Thinking about it now, he could remember snatches of conversations
overheard but at the time he hadn’t understood what it was all about.
Ben then took up the story again. “Mrs. Fisher had Sam with her. Mark had
stayed with………” he paused, “Mark had stayed with his father. I left them here
with Marie while I went to see what I could do. I stopped by John Peterson’s
place on the way.”
Hoss interrupted. “He wasn’t………?”
Ben shook his head. “No, he wasn’t with the men who did it. Anyway, we both
went over to the Fisher’s place. There wasn’t anything we could do really;
Mark had already cut him down. We took him back to his house. He was buried
the next day. Apart from his family, only Marie, Adam and I were there.”
Ben shook the memories away. “Within a few weeks Mrs. Fisher had sold the
place, she went to live with her sister back east. I don’t know what happened
to the family after that. As far as I know, no one around here heard from
them again.”
Adam said, “I never did. Mark came over to say goodbye before he left, he
said he’d write but he never did.”
Ben nodded. “They were bitter. I can understand that. Feeling’s were running
high at the time. Matt Watson led the men that night. He said Luke confessed
before they hung him and I spoke to the other men who were there and they
said the same thing but there’s just something about it that’s never seemed
quiet right to me. If he did steal the cattle, I don’t think he could have
done it alone but we were never able to link him with anyone else around here
and the rustling did stop after that.”
Adam walked over to Ben, sitting on the table and resting his hand on his
father’s leg. “So, what do we do now? It has to be someone who wants revenge
for Mr. Fisher’s death, but who? And why take it out on Joe and Cal. They
were babies at the time.” His anger rising once again at what had been done
to his brother, only the thought of Joe asleep upstairs kept Adam from shouting
in anger.
Ben put his hand on Adam’s. “I can only think of three people who would
want revenge for that. Katherine Fisher and her sons.”
I just can’t believe that of Mark, Pa. I just can’t.”
“Adam, I know you think that the boy you remember, the boy you played with,
couldn’t have done this but Adam, it’s been eighteen years. People change.”
“Pa?”
“Yes, Hoss.”
“We don’t know for sure that the Fisher’s are responsible. We can’t be sure
what Joe was trying to tell us. But if they are, like Adam said why Joe and
Cal? I mean, you and Mr. Peterson had nothing to do with it; you weren’t even
there that night. Why wouldn’t they go after someone who was?”
“I don’t know Hoss, I don’t have any answers at the moment.”
Ben sat in thought for a moment and then said, “Adam, Hoss. I want you to
go in and see Roy. Tell him what Joe said and what we think it’s connected
to. Ask him if he can come out here and see me. Then you’ll have to go over
to see John Peterson. I don’t think he and Mary will be thinking too clearly
about anything but ask him if he can come and talk this over with us. Maybe
between us all we can come up with something.”
Ben stood up. “I’m going upstairs to sit with Joseph.” He turned to go up
the stairs.
“Pa.” Adam stopped him. “I’ll send a couple of the hands in.”
“Adam, there’s no need. We’ll be alright here.”
“Pa, whoever they are, they’re killers. You need someone in here with you.”
Ben nodded. “All right Adam. Now you two get going.”
********************
In Virginia City, Bill Fisher sat at a table in the Bucket of Blood. He
knew what everyone in town would be talking about and wanted to hear what
was being said. It wasn’t long until he was storming back to his rented room.
Mark and Sam sat in the room talking; it was their first chance to be alone
since the events that had gone so wrong.
“I think we should just go. If we stay here Bill’s just going to drag us
in deeper. Not that we aren’t already in this deep enough.” Sam looked angrily
toward Mark. “How could you kill Joe like that? Adam was your best friend.
I know it’s been a long time but I still remember all the times we went over
to the Ponderosa to see Adam and we used to play with Joe. Don’t you remember
that?”
“Of course I remember it. I didn’t plan on things turning out like this.
I didn’t plan on any of this happening. Just like you, I believed Bill when
he said we were just going to scare them. Looking back now I realize just
how stupid we were not to know that he was planning to do more than that all
along. Why else wouldn’t he have cared if they knew what we looked like. He
knew they weren’t going to be able to tell anyone. Look Sam, I feel just as
bad about it as you do but we can’t undo it now.”
“I wish we’d never found that letter. I wish we’d never gone to see Bill.
While Ma was still alive she used to warn us about getting mixed up with him.
Who knows what he’ll do to us if we cross him.”
Suddenly Bill walked in the door. Mark said, “What are you doing back here
already?” Then he noticed the angry look on Bill’s face. “What’s wrong?”
“Joe Cartwright is still alive.”
“He can’t be.”
“He is, everyone in town is talking about it. Why didn’t you finish him
off?”
“He was hurt bad. I didn’t think there was any way he’d survive.”
“Well he has. Get your gear. We can’t stay here.” He quickly grabbed his
belongings and walked out.
Sam looked at Mark. “I’m glad you didn’t.”
********************
After Roy Coffee had been filled in on the events, he rode out to Clear
Water with Adam and Hoss.
The three men tied up their horses and walked up to the front door. Roy
knocked and they could hear someone moving around inside, then silence. After
a few moments Roy knocked again, this time calling, “John, it’s Roy Coffee.
I need to speak to you about something.”
The door opened but not far enough to allow Roy, Adam and Hoss to enter.
“What do you want?” John asked.
“John.” Roy said. “We need to talk to you about something. We have some
information about what happened.”
“How? What do you know?” John snapped.
Adam wondered at the way John was acting. “Mr. Peterson, is there something
wrong? You seem……”
“Of course there’s something wrong.” John cut in. “My son’s been murdered.
I don’t want to talk about it anymore, just leave me alone.”
Roy put his hand on the door and prevented it from closing. “John, I’m sorry.
I know this is hard on you but as I said, we’ve discovered something and need
to discuss it with you. Can we come in?”
“No.” Tom shook his head. “Mary’s too upset. I don’t want to upset her further.”
Roy looked at him for a moment.” I was talking to Mrs. Anders earlier today,
she said Mary was staying with her for awhile.”
Caught in a lie, John Peterson was at a loss for words, then he stumbled
as he tried to explain. “Um, yes, well she is. She found it too hard here.
Too many memories.”
Hoss and Adam just looked at each other. John was definitely nervous about
something.
“Can we come in, John?” Roy pushed the door open, leaving John no choice.
John stepped back allowing them to enter. After they had all sat down, Adam
looked at Roy, who nodded for Adam to start.
“Mr. Peterson, Joe’s doing better and he was able to give us some information
today.”
John’s face paled. “Joe. I forgot about Joe” he almost whispered. “What
did he say?”
“He only said two words actually. A name. Luke Fisher.”
John tried to stay calm. “Is that all?”
“Yes, he’s still far from well. We’re hoping he’s going to be able to tell
us more soon. Do you remember Luke Fisher?”
“Of course I remember him.” John snapped. “But that’s not much to go on
is it. Who know’s what Joe meant by that. Fisher is dead so it obviously
couldn’t have been him. Anyway, whoever did it is probably long gone by now.
They wouldn’t stay around after what they’ve done. We’ll never find them.”
“You don’t sound like you want to.”
“Don’t be ridiculous Adam, of course I do. I’m just stating a fact.”
Adam nodded. “Well Mr. Peterson there’s another fact you should be aware
of. Despite what you believe, I don’t think they are going to go away.”
Roy joined the conversation. “I agree with Adam. I don’t think men who would
do something like this would be the type to just up and leave. Until we know
more, I think everyone of you should watch your backs.” He looked searchingly
at John. “You have no idea what this could be about?”
“No.” John replied angrily. “They murdered my son. Don’t you think I would
tell you if I knew something.”
“Mr. Peterson, Pa wants you to come to the Ponderosa so we can all talk
about this.”
“Talking isn’t going to help Adam. It won’t change what’s happened.” John
answered him.
“No, you’re right.” Adam said. “But it might help us come up with
something, anything, to as least give us a clue as to who did this and why.”
John was silent for a moment and then said, “No. I don’t know anything that
will be of any use to you. I can’t help you.”
Adam, Hoss and Roy exchanged glances and then rose to leave.
Adam turned before going out the door. “Mr. Fisher, when’s Cal’s funeral
going to be?”
“Tomorrow morning at ten, Adam. I’m having him buried here at home.” He
looked at Adam sadly. “Tell your Pa that I’m so sorry about Joe. I know he
won’t want to leave Joe right now so I’ll understand if he can’t come.”
Adam placed his hand on John’s shoulder for a moment. “Cal meant a lot to
us too Mr. Peterson, he was a good friend.”
********************
Adam was the first to speak as they rode towards the Ponderosa. “Well, what
do you make of that? He didn’t even want to let us in the house.”
Roy agreed. “He sure was acting like a man with something to hide.”
“But what?” Hoss asked. “What could he possibly have to hide about what
happened to Joe and Caleb.”
Adam had been deep in thought. “I think it goes back further than that.”
“What are you getting at?” Roy asked.
“I’m not sure yet Roy, how it all fits together but I think Mr. Peterson
knows more about what happened to Luke Fisher than he’s telling us.”
********************
Bill, Mark and Sam had ridden out to an old cabin in the mountains. They
had been arguing all the way about what they should do.
“Look Bill, We really have no choice. It’s only going to be a matter of
time until Joe tells them what we look like. I say we get out of here while
we can.”
“I’m with Mark.” Sam added. “It’s foolish to be thinkin’ of doing anything
else.”
Bill was not so easily swayed. “I heard in town he was still unconscious
if he were to die before he woke up our problem would be solved.”
“And what would you have us do?” Sam asked sarcastically. “Just walk in
to the house and kill him. His family are going to be right there with him.
They’ll be no getting to him. On top of that we have no way of knowing when
he’s gonna wake up. For all we know he could be talking to them right now.”
“Look Bill, Peterson is obviously still trying to protect his own hide.
He hasn’t told anyone who we are but even if he did, he doesn’t know what
we look like anyway. If we leave now before Joe tells them anything, we still
have a chance. Peterson only wants to protect himself. There’s no guarantee
Ben Cartwright will do the same thing. Once Joe tells him what we look like
I reckon they’ll be wanted posters for us everywhere. We need to go now before
that happens.”
“Alright, we’ll go. But we make one stop before we leave.” Bill said.
********************
Ben heard the horses ride up to the house and guessed it was Adam and Hoss
returning. He checked Joe once more and then walked downstairs.
Adam, Hoss and Roy were just coming in the front door. Seeing Ben, Hoss
immediately asked, “Pa, how’s Joe?”
He’s much better Hoss. His temperature is down and he seems a lot better.
He’s sleeping peacefully.”
“I’ll go and sit with him Pa, while you talk to Adam and Roy.”
Hoss headed upstairs and Ben turned to his old friend. “Thank you for coming
out Roy.”
“No problem Ben. You know how I feel about Joe. I’m just sorry we haven’t
caught them yet. Once they headed for town though there was just no way to
track them they just mingled in with everyone else and we have no idea what
they look like. We need more to go on, Ben.”
As they sat down Ben asked, “Did you go out and see John?”
“Yes Pa, we did. He said he didn’t know anything that might tell us why
this happened. We asked him to come back here with us to talk but he didn’t
want to. To be honest Pa, it was like he knew something that he wasn’t telling
us. We all felt it.”
“Well it’s only natural that he wouldn’t be himself at the moment.” Ben
said. “This must have devastated he and Mary.”
“You’re right of course, Ben.” Roy said. “But he really did seem reluctant
to help us. I thought he’d be wanting to move Heaven and Earth to find these
killers but he wasn’t like that, he didn’t even want to let us in the door.”
“That doesn’t sound like John, but everyone handles grief differently.”
Roy and Adam shared a look and Ben asked, “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Pa, we know this has got something to do with Luke Fisher. I don’t know
why I think this, maybe it’s just a feeling but I believe Mr. Peterson is
connected to Luke Fisher somehow.”
“What are you saying?” Ben asked Adam angrily. “That John was mixed up in
the rustling with Luke?”
“No, Pa. I’m not saying that. I just think there are a lot of unanswered
questions.”
Roy nodded in agreement.
Just then Hop Sing came out of the kitchen with a pot of coffee.
“Thank you Hop Sing.” Ben said. “We certainly need that. It looks like we’re
going to be here for awhile.”
Ben’s words proved correct. The men went over and over every detail they
knew concerning two deaths eighteen years apart but apparently, somehow, linked.
After hours of talking though they were no closer to fitting the pieces together.
Roy was just about to leave when Hoss came to the top of the stairs and said
“Pa, Joe’s waking up.”
The tree men quickly ran up the stairs. Ben going immediately to Joe’s bedside
and sitting down.
Joe started to murmur and make slight movements and Ben encouraged him to
wake up. “Come on Joseph, it’s time to wake up now. You’re home and you’re
safe, we need you to wake up Joe.” Ben kept repeating the words until slowly
Joe’s eyelids began to flicker and then Joe’s eyes opened.
Joe seemed calmer than the last time he had woken and more aware of where
he was. He tried to speak but his mouth was dry. Ben reached for the glass
of water on Joe’s nightstand and then lifted Joe’s head so he could drink.
After Joe had enough Ben removed his hand from behind Joe’s head and replaced
the glass.
Joe’s eyes filled with tears. “Pa, they killed him.” Joe said it so
quietly they all had to strain to hear. Suddenly the memories were rushing
back to Joe. “Pa, gonna be sick.”
Hoss grabbed a bowl and handed it to Ben. Joe had very little in his stomach
but the retching wouldn’t stop.
Adam carefully rubbed his young brothers back, feeling sick himself at what
it was that Joe was remembering.
When it was over Ben placed the bowl on the floor as Hoss handed him a wet
cloth, he continued to try and sooth Joe with his words and touch as he cleaned
him up. Then he rubbed his hand along Joe’s arm and took his hand again. “I
know Joe. It was an awful thing and nothing will bring Cal back but we are
going to find the men who did this, we’ll do everything in our power to find
them Joe.”
“Pa, I know I have to tell you about what happened but it’s so hard. All
I want to do is forget but I can’t get it out of my head.”
“I know Joe, but we’re all going to help you though this. I know it doesn’t
seem possible now but it will get better. You just have to hold on to that
Joseph, it will get better, I promise it will.”
Squeezing Joe’s hand Ben said, “Joe, I’m sorry son, I know you don’t want
to talk about it but we have to.” He tightened his grip on Joe’s hand. “Joseph,
do you remember telling us a name?”
Joe shook his head, “No.”
“Well, that’s not surprising. You’ve been very sick. You told us a name
Joe, you said, Luke Fisher. What does that mean Joe? What does it have to
do with Luke Fisher?”
Joe tried to steady his breathing. Once he was a bit more in control of
his emotions he said, “There were three men, they said they were Luke Fisher’s
sons and his brother.”
Roy moved in to Joe’s line of sight. “Did they use first names Joe? What
were their names?”
“Mark and Sam, the other man they called Bill.”
Roy nodded. “Good boy, Joe. Can you tell us what they looked like? What
their horses looked like?”
It took awhile and there were times Ben thought Joe wouldn’t be able to
continue but Joe was able to tell them all that had happened. Starting from
when he and Cal had been taken by surprise at the fence line.
The family went through many emotions as they listened, each felt horror
at what Joe had gone through, their blood ran cold when Joe described Cal’s
death and how Joe had been placed on Cochise with the same intention in mind.
Joe was exhausted when he was finished but there was still one more thing
they needed to know.
“Did they say why they were back, Joe? Why they did this?”
Joe became even more upset. “I never believed them. I know it’s not true.
I told them they were lying.”
“Joseph, calm down. It’s alright. We need you to just calm down.” Ben continued
to speak quietly. “What did they say to upset you like this?”
Joe shook his head. Knowing that what he said would hurt his father.
“Please, Joe. You have to tell us everything. It may help.”
Joe took a shuddering breath. “They said that you and Mr. Peterson were
as guilty as Luke and that you should have paid the same price – they said
since you weren’t man enough to admit it that Cal and I would pay that price
for you.”
Emotionally Joe was rung out. It had been an ordeal to go through it all
again. Joe started to cry, sobs ripping through him. Ben held Joe to him.
When Ben had Joe calmed down, Roy said, “You’ve done really well Joe. What
you’ve told us will be a big help.” Then he looked at Ben. “Ben we need to
talk about the allegations they’ve made against you.”
Joe looked at Roy and Ben felt Joe’s hold tighten on him as Joe said, “No.
It’s a lie, you can’t believe them.”
Ben glared at Roy, angry that he had upset Joe again. Roy, trying to help
said, “It’s alright Joe. We just need to talk about why the Fisher’s think
that. I don’t believe you’re Pa was involved.”
His words had no effect. Joe continued to clutch Ben, repeating the same
words over and over. “I know it’s not true.”
Adam and Hoss who had been sitting near Joe while he had talked now reached
for him to offer what comfort they could. Adam said, “Roy, I think you’d better
wait downstairs.”
Roy nodded and quickly left, upset with himself for the way he had handled
the talk with Joe.
Ben continued talking to Joe. “Joseph, son. Shhh, it’s okay. I promise I
wasn’t involved. We’ll sort it all out, I promise Joe. You don’t have to worry.”
Adam walked over to the bedside table and mixed a sleeping powder into a
glass of water, handing it to his father. Ben held the glass to Joe’s lips.
It wasn’t long before the medication started to work. Joe’s eyes closed and
Joe was quickly asleep.
After Ben lay Joe down and covered him, he just sat and watched him sleep.
Adam put his hand on his father’s shoulder and said, “He’ll be alright Pa.
I think emotionally it’s just all caught up with Joe. He’ll feel a lot better
once he’s had a sleep.”
“I hope so Adam.” Taking a deep breath, he said, “I guess we need to go
down and talk to Roy. Try and sort this mess out.”
“You and Adam go on, Pa. I’ll stay with Joe.” Hoss said.
Ben smiled his thank you at Hoss knowing he was leaving Joe in good hands.
When Ben and Adam went downstairs, Roy immediately got to his feet. “I’m
sorry about that Ben. I didn’t mean to upset the boy like that.”
Knowing how badly Roy felt about the reaction he had caused, Ben said understandingly,
“It’s alright Roy. Joe’s asleep now.”
Roy hated to bring up the subject again but felt he needed to clear the
air. “Ben, I’m sorry to have you ask you this but is there any truth at all
in what the Fisher’s told Joe.”
Before Ben could answer, Adam cut in angrily. “Don’t be ridiculous. How
dare you even suggest something like that.”
Ben laid his hand on Adam’s arm. “It’s alright Adam, Roy’s just doing his
job. We can’t fault him for that.” He turned to Roy. “I have no idea why they
would think or say something like that. Things were hard here in those early
years but I would never have resorted to stealing.”
Roy nodded. “ I know Ben. I just had to ask, no hard feelings?”
“You know better than that Roy, of course not. I want the answers to what
has been going on here as much as you do.” Ben replied.
“We’re no closer to any of those answers, it’s like we’re just going around
in circles.” Adam said dejectedly.
Ben shook his head. “No, that’s not true. We may not know why they’ve suddenly
come back like this but Joe’s given us some good descriptions of the men and
their horses. It won’t be long until we corner them.”
“I agree.” Roy said. “I’m going to go back to town now and ask around. Send
some wires out, see if they’ve turned up in any other towns.” He looked at
Ben and Adam as he got up to leave. “Just remember. A cornered man is a dangerous
man. Be careful.”
“We will, Roy. Keep us informed.”
“I will Ben.” Roy shook hands with Ben before leaving.
********************
The next morning found Ben, Adam and Hoss attending Cal’s funeral. After
the service Ben sought Mary and John out. “I’m so sorry for you both.”
“Thank you for coming, Ben. I didn’t know if you would be able to. How’s
Joe?”
“Here’s doing much better, Mary. He’s still a long way from being well though
and emotionally, well ……….” Ben trailed off.
Mary patted Ben’s arm. “I know Ben. I’d like to see Joe if it would be alright,
when he’s up to visitors.”
“I know he’d love to see you Mary.”
“Let me know when Joe’s up too it.”
“I will Mary. If there is anything we can do for you, just let us know.”
Ben said.
“Thank you, Ben.”
As another couple approached Mary to offer their condolences, Ben and John
walked away a little.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do now.” John said.
“Do you want me to send a couple of my men over? They could help you out
here for awhile.”
“No. Thanks for the offer Ben, but no. I’d rather just take care of things
on my own.”
“If that’s what you want. But you let us know if you change your mind.”
“I will Ben. I wonder where Dave Anderson is. I thought he would have come.
I really thought he’d come. I need to talk to him.”
“Are you sure it’s nothing that I can help you with?” Ben asked.
“No it’s alright. Maybe he’ll come by later.”
Adam and Hoss joined their father; Roy Coffee was with them. Roy had attended
the funeral but had been waiting for a chance to talk to John when it was
over.
“John, I know this isn’t the best time to discuss this but it can’t wait
any longer. Now that Roy’s here we need to talk to you about something.” Ben
said.
“What?” John asked, looking around nervously.
“Joe was able to give us a description of the men we’re after. We were right.
It’s Fisher’s sons and his brother.”
“What else did Joe say?” John asked quickly.
“Joe said that they told him that we were involved in the cattle rustling
with Luke.”
John paled and his legs nearly went from under him. Adam grabbed him and
helped him over to the porch where he could sit down.
Mary quickly made her way over to them. “What’s wrong? John are you alright?”
“I’m fine Mary, it’s nothing for you to worry about.” John said.
“It doesn’t look like nothing. What is it?” Mary asked looking at Roy.
Roy took Mary’s elbow. “Let’s go inside and talk.”
“No, tell me now,” she said taking a seat on the porch.
Roy didn’t want to upset her further on today of all days but he knew it
wouldn’t take long for the news to spread and she would hear about it anyway.
“Joe was able to give us some more information. It’s Luke Fisher’s sons and
brother that we’re after. They told Joe that John and Ben were involved in
the cattle rustling that went on years ago.”
Mary turned on John. “It’s your fault. Now I know for sure. Our son is dead
because of you.”
John attempted to stop her tirade at him and tried to comfort her. “Mary,
you don’t know what you are saying.”
Mary pushed him away. “Oh, I know alright. I suspected it was something
to do with you and Dave Anderson and your damn secrets and lies. I hate you
for what you’ve done. I’ll never forgive you, never.” Mary broke down crying.
The mourners who were still there looked on in stunned silence. Roy Coffee
tried to calm things down. “Mary, we don’t know why they’ve said these things,
I’m not accusing John.”
Paul who had attended the funeral came over and helped Mary to her feet
and started to steer her indoors but she just said, ‘No, please take me back
to town.”
“Mary please, we need to talk.” John tried to grab her hand but Mary just
walked away.
The other mourners quickly left feeling embarrassed about the scene they’d
just witnessed, leaving just the Cartwright’s and Roy with John.
The uncomfortable silence stretched and then Roy asked what they all had
on their minds. “John what was that about? What did Mary mean?”
John shook his head. “She didn’t mean it, she was just upset. Don’t take
any notice of what she said, she didn’t know what she was saying.” John left
them there and went inside.
“What do you make of it Ben?” Roy asked.
Ben gathered his thoughts before speaking. “There’s no doubt John is hiding
something. I don’t think we are going to get anything out of him. The only
thing we can do is talk to Mary and see what she’ll tell us.”
“How does Dave Anderson fit into it though?” Roy asked.
“Dave used to work for us.” Adam said thoughtfully.
“Did he? When?”
The Cartwright’s looked at each other and then Ben said, “He was working
for us when Luke Fisher was killed.” Ben swung on to Buck. “Let’s get back
to the ranch we can discuss it there. Ben had left Hop Sing with Joe and a
couple of hands watching the house but felt he had been away too long and
wanted to get home to check on Joe.
********************
John Peterson’s nerves were starting to get the better of him. He carried
a rifle wherever he went. He knew the Fisher’s would be back. As cautious
as he was though he still wasn’t cautious enough. Walking in the door after
feeding the stock in the barn he found the Fisher’s waiting for him.
Bill pointed a gun at him. “You’re making this too easy for us Peterson.
One pull of this trigger and it would be all over for you.” He walked up to
John and took his gun.
John Peterson felt his body stiffen in anger. “You killed my son.”
Bill nodded. “Yes I killed him but you’re the one responsible for it. If
you’d done like I told ya and gone to the sheriff and told him what you did
then your kid would still be alive.”
I wasn’t responsible for what happened to Luke. I told you that.”
“Don’t lie to me.” Bill shouted. “We have the letter. We know Cartwright
was in it with you.”
John Peterson shook his head. “No, he wasn’t.”
Mark pulled the letter from his pocket. “Then why does Pa say his partners
were from Clearwater and The Ponderosa.”
“Our partner was from the Ponderosa only it wasn’t Ben. His name’s Dave
Anderson, he worked for Ben.” John said.
This was news the Fisher’s hadn’t expected. There had been no doubts in
their minds that Ben had been involved.
“Where is he now?” Bill snapped.
When John didn’t answer, Bill pointed his gun at him and said, “You might
as well tell us, if you don’t I’ll just ask around and find him anyway.”
“He has a small place just north of here, the Double D.” John answered.
Still holding the gun at John Peterson, Bill said, “You two stay here. I’m
going to pay Davy boy a quick visit, then we’ll finish things here and get
going.” He looked at John. “I’ll save you until later.”
Sam said, “What are you going to do? We said, no more killing.”
“I’m not asking you to do any killing. I’m just telling you to wait here.”
With that Bill Fisher left.
As soon as Bill left, John tried to work on Mark and Sam but nothing he
said could get them to release him. They were too afraid of what Bill would
do if they did.
********************
When they arrived at the Ponderosa house Ben was assured by the hands that
everything was fine, the Cartwright’s and Roy went inside while the hands
attended to the horses.
Ben said, “I won’t be long” as he went upstairs. There was no need to ask
where he was going; they knew Ben wouldn’t relax until he had checked on Joe.
When Ben returned a few minutes later he answered Adam and Hoss’ questioning
looks. “Hop Sing said Joe hasn’t woken up since we left this morning.”
“Is he still upset with me?” Roy asked, still feeling awful about the way
Joe had reacted to his questioning the previous day.
“No, don’t worry about that Roy. I had a long talk with Joe last night and
he’s not worried about that anymore.” Ben replied.
Roy was relieved. “Well, I’m thinking we have all come to the same conclusion
here. There is definitely a connection between John Peterson and Dave Anderson.
How long did Anderson work for you, Ben?”
“About ten years. Dave Anderson was one of the first men I had working for
me, later when he wanted his own place, I helped him get started.”
Roy nodded. “You trusted him then?”
“Of course I did, do you think I would have kept him on if I’d had any doubts
about him?” Ben said sharply.
Roy spoke calmly. “Ben, I’m only asking because it does look like he and
John Peterson are linked to the rustling that went on back then.”
Ben slowly shook his head. “No there must be another explanation.”
Adam and Hoss looked at their father, knowing how hard this was on him.
Adam spoke, “Pa, I think we have to face facts.”
Deep in discussion they didn’t hear the arrival of a buggy in the yard and
were interrupted by a knock on the door.
Adam opened the door, all were shocked at who it was. “Mrs Peterson, come
in.” Adam said.
Ben stood and helped her to a seat.
“I need to talk to you Ben. I’m leaving on tomorrow’s stage.”
“Leaving?” Ben asked. “Where are you going?”
“I have a sister in San Francisco. I’m going to stay with her for a while.
To be honest, I don’t care where I go as long as it’s away from here.”
“What about John?”
“I never want to see him again.” Mary said with bitterness.
“Mary, is this something to do with what happened to Caleb and Joe?”
Mary nodded, tears springing into her eyes. “It’s John’s fault. I can’t
tell you how sorry I am Ben.”
“What do you mean that it’s John’s fault?” Ben asked.
Mary looked in to Ben’s eyes and started her story. “Ben, when the cattle
rustling was going on, I suspected that John was involved. He tried to keep
it from me but I got suspicious. I felt he was involved.”
“What made you think that?”
“It was just little things. Dave Anderson started coming over a lot and
he and John would talk outside. John was always really quiet after a visit
from Dave and he wouldn’t tell me what they’d been talking about.” Mary took
a deep breath before continuing. “When we found out Luke had been killed,
that night John got drunk.” Mary looked at Ben. “You know, John. He’s not
a drinking man.”
Ben nodded.
“He was so drunk I don’t even think he knew he was talking out loud. He
said it was his fault; that he’d been supposed to move the cattle but just
hadn’t gotten around to it. We argued about it the next day and John promised
that he was through with it.”
“So he confessed to you that he was involved in the cattle rustling with
Luke Fisher and Dave Anderson?” Roy asked.
Mary nodded.
Ben was shocked. “I can’t believe it. All these years we were friends. I
never considered for a moment that John and Dave were involved. I’d have trusted
John with my life.” Ben said angrily.
“Please Ben, I know it was wrong but you have to understand. John’s felt
so guilty about it all these years. I don’t think a days gone by that he hasn’t
regretted it. That day when I finally got him to talk to me he told me just
how badly things had been going with the ranch. We were stretched to the
limit, I know it’s no excuse, but John just couldn’t see any other way.”
Ben was beyond angry. “We were all going through hard times. Not all of
us stole from our friends.”
Adam shook his head. “And Dave too. How could either of them have looked
us in the eye and called us friend. All of that was a lie.”
“No Adam.” Mary said. “Please don’t think that. John has always considered
you his friends. He’s spent a lot of years trying to make up for what he did.”
Mary looked down ashamed and then she looked at Ben. “I know I should have
come to you, the guilt has just eaten at me all these years but he’s my husband
Ben, and I loved him. We never talked about it after that day……….until now.
I had to move into town, I just couldn’t stand being in the house any longer,
every where I turned there were memories of Caleb. But the only thing I did
in town was think about him anyway. I couldn’t understand why someone would
do that to Caleb and Joe. In my heart I think I knew it had something to do
with Luke Fisher but I just didn’t want to believe that because if I was right,
it would mean knowing that John did play a part in what happened to our son,”
she paused and looked at Ben, “and yours. The truth of it is, it’s my fault
too. If I had come to you all those years ago and told you what John had
been doing then Caleb would still be alive today.”
Adam and Hoss looked at each other, feeling sorry for Mrs Peterson but also
feeling that what she said was true, she was partly responsible for it.
Ben had the same feelings but still sought to offer her comfort. “Mary,
I can’t deny that I’m angry but I do understand the difficult position you
were in.”
“It doesn’t make it right.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Ben replied.
Mary looked at Roy. “What will happen to John?”
“I don’t know, he may go to prison, that’s not for me to decide.” Roy said.
Mary suddenly thought of something. “Am I in trouble for not coming forward
sooner?”
“No, I think you’ve already been through enough.” Roy said.
“Thank you.” Mary said quietly. “I wanted to clear all this up with you
before I left.”
“Does John know that you’re leaving?” Ben asked.
“No he doesn’t. I don’t see the point. He’d only try and talk me out of
it and we’ll both end up saying things we shouldn’t. It’s better this way.”
She paused for a moment. “Ben, if it’s alright I’d like to see Joe before
I leave.”
“Joseph would be upset if you left without seeing him.” Ben rose offering
his arm to Mary.
When they walked into the bedroom, Hop Sing rose from his seat and left
the room.
Ben sat on the edge of the bed not really wanting to wake Joe but he thought
it would be good for Joe to talk with Mary. Ben gently shook Joe’s arm. “Joseph,
it’s time to wake up.” He had to repeat it a few times before Joe’s eyes sleepily
opened. Ben asked quietly, “How are you feeling?”
“Better.”
Ben smiled and took Joe’s hand. “Joe, Mrs Peterson is here to see you.”
Mary walked to the other side of the bed and sat in the chair near Joe so
that he could see her.
Joe turned his head in her direction as she said, “Oh Joseph, I’m so glad
you are going to be alright.”
Tears suddenly came to Joe’s eyes and he said, “I’m so sorry, I’m sorry
I couldn’t help Cal.”
Joe squeezed his father’s hand tighter and Ben began to wonder if he had
made a mistake. It wasn’t good for Joe to be getting so upset again.
Mary picked up Joe’s other hand and looked into his eyes. “Joe, you are
not to blame for anything that happened. It was not your fault. You mustn’t
blame yourself.”
“But I ……”
Mary shook her head at Joe’s interruption. “There are no but’s Joe. Through
some miracle you survived and I don’t want you to ruin the rest of your life
by blaming yourself for Caleb’s death. You didn’t do anything wrong, Joe.
Don’t feel guilty for surviving. I thank God you did.”
Joe smiled slightly. “Thank you.”
“Joe, I wanted to see you today because I’m leaving town tomorrow.”
“For good?” Joe asked.
Mary nodded.
“Why? Is Mr Peterson going too?”
“Your father will tell you all about it later. It’s a long story and you
look tired.”
“I’m alright.”
“Hmm, well I think your father would agree with me rather than you.”
“It’s two against one son.” Ben joked.
“I’m moving to San Francisco Joe. When your feeling up to it, I’d love a
visit from you.”
“We’ll both go won’t we Joe.” Ben said.
“Yes, Id like to go. Thank you for coming to see me Mrs Peterson. It means
a lot to me.”
“You mean a lot to me, my dear.” Mary stood up, “I’ll keep in touch and
will look forward to your visit.” She bent over and kissed Joe. “Goodbye
Joe. You remember what I said.”
Joe nodded and smiled. “I will.” Joe’s eyes slowly closed and within minutes
he was asleep. Ben and Mary quietly left the room.
Once downstairs, Mary collected her things and as she prepared to leave
she handed Roy a piece of paper. “If you need me for anything that’s my sister’s
address.”
Roy nodded his thanks.
“Thank you for coming out Mary. I know how hard it must have been to tell
us about John and I really appreciate you talking to Joe. I think it helped
him a lot.”
“I’m so glad Ben. I meant every word I said.”
The Cartwright’s walked Mary out to her buggy. After saying their goodbyes
and seeing her off they went back inside to talk to Roy.
As Ben took a seat he said, “John Peterson and Dave Anderson,” he shook
his head, “I just can’t believe it.”
“What do we do now?” Hoss asked.
“I’m going over to Anderson’s place and then we’ll go and see Peterson again.
I want to know what else he’s hiding.” Ben said.
Adam stood up. “We’re going with you.”
“Ben, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Roy said. “You’re angry. Give yourself
time to calm down before you see either of them. Let me go and talk to them
first.”
“No amount of time will make me calm down.” Ben turned to Hoss. “Hoss I
want you to stay here with Joe.”
Hoss nodded his acceptance.
********************
Arriving at The Double D Ben, Adam and Roy looked carefully around. Things
looked quiet. Going up to the house Roy started to knock on the door but when
he did the door pushed open. He looked at Ben and Adam, calling, “Dave?” Getting
no answer he stepped into the house, Ben and Adam behind him.
Roy stopped suddenly, Ben and Adam turned to look at what the sheriff had
seen. Lying in a pool of blood on the floor, obviously dead was Dave Anderson.
Roy walked over and touched him. “He hasn’t been dead long, looks like we
just missed ‘em.”
“They’ll probably be heading for John Peterson’s place next.” Adam said.
“They might have already been there.” Ben said, nodding towards Dave Anderson.
“Who else could have told them about him.”
“Let’s go.” Said Roy.
********************
Ben, Adam and Roy were riding towards the Peterson house when a shot rang
out. Jumping off their horses they ran for any available cover.
Inside the house Bill Fisher glanced away from the window where he’d just
fired a shot and said, “We have company.”
Mark and Sam moved to other windows and Sam asked, “Who is it?”
“Ben and Adam Cartwright and the sheriff.”
“What the hell do we do now? We’re trapped in here.” Sam yelled.
“Well we’re not the only ones.” Bill replied as he looked over at John Peterson
who was tied to a chair.
“It’s the Fisher’s Ben. Watch out.” John yelled before he could be stopped.
“There’s no way out so you might as well give your selves up. Throw out
your guns and come out with your hands up.” Roy called.
The answer was a shot that just went over Roy’s head where he was ducked
down behind a water trough next to Ben.
Adam was beside the barn, out of sight from the house and signaled to his
father that he was going to circle around to the back of the house.
Ben and Roy nodded their agreement.
“Is John Peterson alright?” Roy called to the men inside the house.
“He’s fine. Just a little tied up at the moment.” Bill laughed at his own
joke.
Roy tried to reason with the men. “We know the truth about Luke Fisher.
This isn’t getting you anywhere. Come out and we can talk about it.”
“Talk about it!!” Bill screamed. “It’s too late to talk about it. Did anyone
stop to talk about it before they hung my brother.”
“What about what you did to Joseph and Caleb?” Ben said, his anger rising.
“At the time I thought it was you who had been partners with Luke and Peterson
here. I’m sorry about your boy. I’m not sorry about the other one though,
he paid for what his father did.”
“Bastard.” John spat, trying to get the ropes free.
Mark worked his way over to Sam and they had their own whispered conversation.
“What are we going to do? They’re not going to let us walk out of here and
if we give ourselves up, we’ll be hung for murder.” Sam said.
Mark shook his head. “How did we let him talk us into this.”
Adam had reached the back of the house, he was surprised that his movement
hadn’t been detected but Mark and Sam were busy trying to decide what to do
rather than paying attention to what was happening outside.
Adam saw his chance and took it. When he had a clear shot at a figure behind
the window he fired. Sam was hit in the arm and went down.
Bedlam broke out inside the house. “Sam’s been shot.” Mark screamed across
to his uncle.
Mark was down on the floor trying to help his brother, defense of their
position completely forgotten.
Bill turned to see what was happening. Adam fired once again, striking his
target square in the chest. Bill was dead before he hit the ground.
Adam slowly came in the door, his gun at the ready but there was no need
for it. Bill was dead and Mark and Sam made no attempt to reach for their
guns.
Adam called out, “Pa, Sheriff, it’s alright to come in.”
Roy and Ben rose to their feet and went inside. As they came in they both
noted the body on the floor.
Adam knelt down next to Mark and checked out Sam’s wound. Seeing that it
wasn’t too serious he said, “He’ll be alright.”
Mark looked at Adam. “Does it matter? As soon as he’s well enough they’ll
hang us.”
Adam couldn’t deny the truth of that statement. After a moment he said,
“It’s been a long time Mark. I wish we could have met up for a different
reason than this.”
“I’m sorry Adam. I don’t know how it all went so wrong. How’s Little Joe?”
“Do you care?” Adam snapped.
“Yes I do.” Mark put his hand on Adam’s arm. “Bill said we were just going
to scare them, a warning to Peterson of what we could do if he didn’t confess
that he’d been a part of it too. I swear Adam, Sam and I would never have
gone along had we known what Bill had planned.”
Ben and Roy had untied John Peterson and now they stood listening.
“Why now? Why did you come back now after all these years?” Roy asked.
“Ma died a couple of months ago and we found a letter. I have it in my pocket.”
Roy nodded for him to get it out. After Ben and Roy had read it, they passed
it to Adam.
Once he had read it Adam handed it back to Roy as he said, “So you assumed
your father’s partner on the Ponderosa was my father?”
Mark nodded. “More than that. Since it was your father who found the cattle,
Sam and I thought he’d set our father up. We thought if we could get Peterson
to confess then he would turn your father in, but he refused to go to the
Sheriff. He said we couldn’t prove it and that made Bill angry. Bill had been
in the saloon when Little Joe and Caleb were there and he heard them say
where they were going to be the next day.”
Mark nodded at John Peterson. “When Peterson refused to do what we had asked
that was when we went after Joe and Cal. Bill said it would teach Peterson
a lesson.”
The words hit Ben as he realized what they meant. No one had as yet said
anything to John Peterson but Ben now turned angry eyes on him.
“You knew the Fishers were here and you left Joe and Cal out there. You
put the protection of your secret above the life of my son,” Ben almost yelled
at him, “above the life of your own son.” Ben spat.
“It wasn’t like that Ben. I had no way of knowing what they were going to
do. Do you honestly think I would have let my son be killed had I known what
was going to happen.”
Ben looked at John Peterson in disgust. “I don’t know what you’re capable
of anymore John. You stole from me and for all these years you’ve covered
it up. Maybe I could forgive you for that but I can’t forgive you for your
part in what happened to Joseph. Even after we’d found Joe and Cal, you still
kept quiet. You knew who’d done it but you were prepared to let them get away
rather than reveal yourself for the thief you are.”
Ben turned away no longer able to stand the sight of the man he had once
called a friend. “Adam ,I want to get back to Joe now that this is all over.
Can you help Roy get them into town.”
“Sure Pa. You get going.”
As Ben started to leave John Peterson called out to him. “Please Ben, I
need your help. Dave and I, we just did it that one time, I swear. Please
Ben, I’ve lost everything, you have to help me.”
Ben looked at him coldly, “I don’t have to do anything for you.” Ben said
before closing the door behind him.
********************
Two months later……………..
Ben had worried that the trial would be too much for Joe but with his family’s
love and support Joe had handled it well. With that behind him he was able
to concentrate on just getting well.
Mark and Sam were both sentenced to twenty years. Joe had been truthful
in his evidence and told the court that it had been Bill Fisher who had actually
hung Cal.
It was decided that no charges be brought against John Peterson. He had
paid a high enough price – the death of his son, the loss of his wife and
his reputation in ruins. He found himself ostracized from the community.
Joe had not yet fully recovered. Returning to the house for dinner Adam
and Hoss were surprised to see Joe run into the house, Ben called after him
but Joe didn’t stop.
Dismounting Adam looked at his father’s worried face. “What’s wrong?”
“Paul Martin was out here earlier.”
Before Ben could say anymore, Hoss interrupted, “Is Joe alright?”
“Yes, physically he’s fine. There’s nothing to worry about there. Paul says
he’s doing remarkably well. It’s just that Paul told Joe he could begin to
ride again. I thought it would make Joe happy but it’s had the opposite effect.
I just asked if he wanted to go for a ride with me and, well, you saw the
result of that. I don’t understand it, usually we would have had a hard time
keeping him off Cochise, now it’s like he doesn’t want to ride him.”
“I think that’s it Pa.” Adam said.
“What?” Ben asked in confusion.
“I don’t think it’s that Joe doesn’t want to ride, I think it’s that he
doesn’t want to ride Cochise.”
Understanding hit Ben. “Potters Field.” He whispered, upset with himself.
“I should have realized Joe would feel like this. I should have talked to
him about it.”
“Pa,” Adam placed his hand comfortingly on Ben’s arm, “I don’t think there’s
anyway we could have known. Joe’s been fine until now. He’s been going out
to the barn everyday to see Cochise. It’s obviously not Cochise that bothers
him just the thought of riding him. Joe probably doesn’t understand his feelings
himself.”
“What do we do about it? Hoss asked. “Maybe he’d be okay if he rode a different
horse.”
“Maybe,” Adam nodded thoughtfully, “but I don’t think that’s the answer.
The longer this goes on before Joe admits there’s a problem and lets us help
him deal with it, the harder it will be.”
“I agree Adam.” Ben said. “The simple solution would be to let Joe ride
a different horse but if he does that now, I doubt that he would ever ride
Cochise again and that’s not helping him to deal with the memories, he has
to be able to put this behind him. I think if we can just get Joe past the
hurdle of riding Cochise for the first time I’m sure he’ll be fine. There
are a lot of happy memories for Joe tied up with that horse. I think a couple
of hours out riding him will bring those memories back.”
“But how? We can’t force him to do it.” Hoss said.
“Let’s not mention it again today. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow. I’ll
talk to him then. Joe loves that horse. I hate the thought of never seeing
Joe on him again.”
********************
When Joe came down the next morning, Adam and Hoss had already eaten and
had gone outside to do something for Ben. Ben sat with Joe talking about nothing
in particular. Joe knew his father had something on his mind and thought
he could guess what it was. It wasn’t long before Ben broached the subject.
“Joseph, I want to talk to you about what happened yesterday.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Joe I’m not going to let you bluff your way out of this. We need to talk
about it or it will keep eating away at you.”
Joe shook his head and stood up not wanting to talk about it at all.
Ben wouldn’t let it go, he reached up and grabbed Joe’s arm. “Joseph, I
know how hard it must be to think about riding Cochise after what happened
to you………..”
“No,” Joe yelled, cutting his father off angrily, “you don’t know.” Pulling
his arm free and quickly turning away from Ben’s hold, Joe made his way for
the stairs.
In a surprising display of agility Ben beat Joe to the stairs and blocked
his path. It was then that Ben saw the anger had left Joe, sadness replacing
it.
“Joseph,” Ben said softly, reaching once more for his son. This time Joe
allowed himself to be held by his father. “It’s going to be alright. It’s
only natural to feel this way. To remember what was happening the last time
you were on him.”
Held in his father’s arms Joe finally gave voice to the feelings that seemed
to him like they were tearing him apart. Joe lifted his head from Ben’s shoulder
and looked at his father as he shook his head. “You don’t understand. It’s
not me I think about, it’s Cal.” Joe looked away from his father’s eyes and
put his head down again.
“Oh Joseph.” Ben was at a loss as to what to say to help his son.
“I know it’s not Cochise’s fault, he didn’t know and I know it’s stupid
to feel like this but I can’t help it. I don’t think I can ride him again.”
“Joe, as difficult as it is you need to try and get past this. For your
sake you need to try. I’ve asked your brothers to saddle our horses. Why
don’t you and I go for a ride?”
“I don’t want to.”
Ben pulled away from Joe; putting his fingers under his chin he lifted Joe’s
head up so that he could look in his eyes. “I think the problem is Joe that
you do want to but are afraid to try.”
Joe shook his head. “I can’t.”
“All I ask is that you try. You’ll never know what you can do unless you
try. Please Joe, for me, just try.”
Joe nodded.
“Come on then.” Ben said encouragingly. He led Joe outside before Joe could
change his mind.
Buck and Cochise were saddled and tied to the hitching rail. Adam and Hoss
were standing next to them.
Ben untied his reins and mounted Buck. Joe stood there for a moment. Adam
undid Joe’s reins and handed them to Joe, giving his brother a gentle push
forward.
At first they didn’t think Joe was going to do it but after another moment
he mounted. It wasn’t his usual confident swing mount the others noted but
at least he had gotten on.
Ben and Joe rode out at a sedate pace. Joe’s head was down; he was clearly
not enjoying the ride.
Adam and Hoss stayed around the yard area, finding excuses to do things
that didn’t need doing so that they could be there where Ben and Joe returned
home.
Two hours later at the sound of hooves they looked up to see Joe racing
their father, Joe clearly ahead. Normally riding into the yard at that speed
would not have been tolerated by their father but it appeared that today
Ben had encouraged it. The look on the faces of both riders said it all;
it was a look of pure happiness.
September 2002
The End
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