RIVER BOAT GAMBLER

By JULES

In a very well executed fashion, Seline made sure that the removal of the inert and unconscious hostage of Joseph Cartwright went without a hitch.  He also wanted to be guaranteed there would be no witnessed to see them leaving the hotel.  He could ill afford to leave with his captive only to have someone give away their whereabouts to the local police authority.

It was the dead of night that the move was orchestrated.  Bonnie was the look out and stood at the bottom of the stairs.  When the all clear was given with a wave of her hand, the unconscious form of Joe Cartwright was carried down the stairs, wrapped in blankets.  

This was for two reasons, firstly, to keep him warm and counteract any effects the excessive dose of sedative might have.  And secondly, to mask his identity in case the group was seen before they reached the boat yard some distance away.

Seline had previously organized a driver and carriage to pull up outside the rear entrance to the hotel.    The driver had been given specific instructions as to the time of arrival and the secrecy of their passenger and destination.

The driver used a mostly English cockney accent as he told Seline all was in readiness and to climb aboard.  Bonnie had gotten in ahead of Joe and helped steady his inert form as Edwards and Yeager placed him along one of the awkwardly hard seats within the carriage.

Seline was the last to board the carriage and closed the door securely behind him, still keeping careful check that nobody was watching their activities from the hotel or the surrounding streets.   All was quiet and it was only the snap of the reins on the horses and the sound of the carriage wheels on the roadway that interrupted that silence.

Their kidnap plan almost came undone entirely when they were only a short distance from the hotel itself.   A police officer on routine patrol had ordered the driver and the carriage to stop.   The driver sought instructions from his employer, ready to snap the reins and push the horses into a gallop for a getaway if the call was made.

“Do as he says,” Seline hissed to the driver.   That certainly wasn’t the feeling within the others in the carriage.   Bonnie was fearful, while Edwards and Yeager just wanted to be as far away from the police as they could be.  They didn’t want to risk being caught upon the discovery of Cartwright’s bound figure on the seat beside them.

The officer was on foot patrol on the streets of San Francisco and was gesturing to the carriage driver to pull over to the side of the road.  The driver reluctantly replied, with Seline still whispering harsh words in his ear.   The driver together with Edwards and Yeager thought they were sunk and would be found out.

Seline on the other hand, was playing his cards close to his chest and remained disturbingly calm and collected.   After pondering the potential for this all to blow up in his face, he decided to instead, turn the situation to his advantage if possible.

As soon as he saw the officer approach closer, he was certain that he had things well under control.  The officer was young and his face spoke of inexperience.   Seline had to pray on this notion and calculated that the officer wouldn’t detect the scene of a crime happening right under his very nose.  

“Good evening, Officer,” Seline said politely, getting out of the carriage to enable the policeman a decent look within the confines of the cabin itself.   Edwards and Yeager were inwardly thinking their employer mad and were about to voice their complaints and objections out loud, ready to demand the officer explain his necessity to pull them over in the first place.

“Good evening, sir,” the officer returned, looking up at the driver and then back to Seline.  Trying his best to use the advice his sergeant had given him about taking particular note of people’s descriptions and appearance.  Even if he couldn’t remember their names when called upon, a good description proved just as useful.

“Is there anything I can do for you?” Seline asked, laying his offer of co-operation on as thick as he dared.  

The officer seemed to read a little of this from the man, inwardly causing him to become a little more suspicious.   He didn’t voice such an opinion openly.  “Mam,” he greeted Bonnie, noticing her towards the back of the carriage.  She had yet to utter a word and a flashing glance from Seline told her otherwise.

“I was just curious as to why a carriage would be travelling the streets this late at night,” the officer answered truthfully.  That had been his reason for this area of the city.  Usually the streets were deserted by 11.00pm and attention was drawn to any vehicle or rider out after that time.

“My name is officer Hunter, and it is my job to keep these streets clear of those more unsavoury characters about,” the policeman explained.

“I commend you officer Hunter.  You cannot be too careful around these streets this time at night.  I breathe a little easer knowing that the authorities are taking steps to ensure everyone’s safety,” Seline responded.

Hunter nodded his head in acknowledgement, but now caught sight due to the aid of the street lamp of the curled up form of Joe Cartwright.  He could see what appeared to be a young man sleeping on the long seat within the carriage.  His face was turned away from the light, so he was unable to take note of any distinguishing features. 

The officer noted the curly brown hair, and frowned slightly at a small wound just above the ear that was bleeding a little.  The fact that the young man didn’t move and the sight of the blood caused him to become concerned for him.  The youth looked to be dressed in a green jacket but he could no see any other articles of clothing beneath the blankets securely wrapped around him.

Seline noted the officer’s attention on Joe’s unconscious form.  He could see the brows quirk at what appeared to be an odd situation.  He hoped that the officer was not astute enough to guess at anymore about the young man’s identity than what was supplied to him.

“What happened to him?” Officer Hunter asked plainly.

“He had a nasty fall a day or so ago and has a concussion,” Seline admitted, not believing that giving out such accurate information would prove to anyone’s immediate benefit.  “He is still recovering as you can see and needs to be kept

warm at all times in this cool weather.”

“We are moving from the doctor’s office to his home under strict instructions to keep him warm.  He has been given a mild sleeping inducing elixir to prevent any pain during the journey or causing him to become more disorientated.   We are not from this city,” he added, hoping that the officer would leave it at that and not pursue the matter any further upon hearing that he would not see the young man again after this night.

“A doctor has attended to him then?” the officer enquired, pleased to hear such information.  The mild sleeping mixture would certainly account for the lack of movement from the young man.  It looked like these people were caring for him as best they could and moving him as required.

“Yes, sir, officer,” Seline answered.  “We sought medical advice immediately and the young man has been under the supervision of the doctor since his accident.”

Inwardly he hoped that the officer wouldn’t ask further about the doctor’s name or any other identifying information.   The man’s murder was still undiscovered at this point and time and he wanted to be well on his way to New Orleans before any discovery and subsequent investigation was underway.

“Please, sir, every moment we delay further, the air inside the carriage becomes chillier and we risk further illness to the young man,” Seline pleaded with the police officer.  “If you have no further questions for myself or my companions, we wish to depart quickly and get him settled comfortably into a bed.”

“Of course, I am sorry to have delayed you.   I pray that the young man has a rapid and full recovery,” the officer said, a little guilt on his face.   The thing that stuck out in his mind most about the young man was the vivid green colour of his jacket and the small amount of blood visible in his curly hair.

“I will certainly pass on your regards and wishes,” Seline said, climbing back into the carriage, signalling for the driver to wait until the police officer was sufficiently out of harms way before moving on towards the boat yard once more.

Yeager and Edwards scowered the dock yards when the carriage arrived, making sure that there were no witnesses to speak of.   The driver looked around nervously, telling himself that he wanted no further part in this deceit once the passengers were unloaded.  

Seline was still unhappy about the boat that had been secured for the journey.  It certainly wasn’t as auspicious a mode of transport as he had originally intended.  The vessel was a great deal smaller and cramped for space to hide his hostage.

The only fortune they had been afforded was that the journey itself was a relatively brief one.   No longer than twenty-four hours in the river boat and they would then be disembarking at Sacramento and onwards to Saint Louis by railroad.

The train journey had been organised to a point, but the tickets were yet to be purchased upon their arrival in Sacramento.   Seline saw no benefit in setting up plans too far ahead, only to leave an obvious trail behind for Ben Cartwright to follow.  Of course, Cartwright was a sharp enough adversary and would no doubt work out which direction his son was headed in.   Seline took certain measures to ensure that Ben’s efforts were delayed as much as possible.

It was with great surprise that Seline heard Joe moan in his drug induced haze whilst being jostled out of the carriage between Yeager and Edwards.  The young man turned his head, as though trying to come more awake.   Yeager started at the movement and the sound coming from Cartwright.   He struggled with one hand briefly, adjusting his grip but losing one of the blankets in the process.

“Watch what you are doing!” Seline snapped, looking around to make sure that they their activities still went unnoticed.   The moans from Joe had now ceased and he had fallen back under the cloud and was asleep again. 

As quickly as they could, Joe unconscious form was taken aboard and below the small river boat.    There were a number of crude bunks against the far wall and it was upon one of these that Joe was laid.  Bonnie had provided a blanket over the hard wood, knowing that the trip would be long and uncomfortable being forced to lay in such a state for hours on end.  Her administrations were taken only on face value and nothing was said by Seline or the other men.

“And just to make sure our passenger doesn’t get the chance to escape,” Seline began, approaching Joe and observing the warmth of his skin and the rhythmic breathing.  The sedative was working just fine, without impeding body temperature or causing any other side effects.

Seline now produced a rudimentary pair of handcuffs from a bag and secured one end around one of the main supports for the belly of the vessel.   The other end slid easily enough over Joe Cartwright’s sleep limp hand and was secured with a “click”

“Surely you don’t think he will be escaping from here,” Bonnie commented, thinking that such restraint methods on a boat were unnecessary.  She had said the words before she realised what she was doing and immediately took a step back.

Her retreat was soon halted by a brutal slap across her face.  She looked back at him timidly and with shock, rubbing the area that was reddened with a hand print.   Tears brimmed in her eyes at the treatment.

“Don’t question my methods again,” Seline warned.   As if playing a man with two masks, he now ran a gentle hand over the reddened print, almost in a soothing caress. “You would be better suited to keeping to what I tell you to do.”

Bonnie nodded her head, not trusting her voice to respond with words.   She was merely thankful that her earlier movements during the day had not been traced by Seline or his henchmen.    She secretly prayed that the message she had left fell into the right hands as quickly as possible.  For now, as they prepared to travel to Sacramento, she knew her own life was at risk.

“For now I want Bonnie to stay with Cartwright until he shows signs of waking up.  One of you will relieve her in watching him during the night.   You will take turns in shifts,” Seline instructed.  

“What if he wakes up and starts squawking?” Yeager asked.

Seline sighed at the lowly education afforded the men he had hired, “If he starts ‘squawking’ as you so put it, we don’t have to be too concerned Mr Yeager.  We will be in open waters before he stirs, so if he does wake and begin to protest, there will be no one but the fishes and the seagulls to hear his calls for help.”

“That stuff going to keep him under that long?” Edwards now asked next.  He didn’t proclaim to know much about medicine or how long it was supposed to work.  Cartwright already appeared to have been asleep because of the drug for longer than he thought was normal.

“Yes it will.    The dose given was strong, but not dangerous.   I want to have him aboard the train bound for Saint Louis before attempting to administer any more.

I hope that he will co-operate sufficiently once we get him to New Orleans.  Until them, we just see what happens,” Seline replied.

“Give the Captain the order to set off, I want to be in open waters by first light.

We have secrecy on our side at present and I wish to keep it that way,” Seline stated and headed up towards the quarters that had been prepared for him. 

This night they would all be forced to sleep in rougher accommodations than the hotel in San Francisco.  All of that would change once they were aboard the train from Sacramento.   He had spared no expense on the train to Saint Louis, knowing that it was vital to have a separate carriage from the other passengers.   It was imperative for success to keep Joe Cartwright out of the public eye until he deemed it appropriate to put the remainder of his carefully executed plan into effect.

Ben Cartwright awoke with a start.  He rubbed at his eyes tiredly for a moment, trying to listen what had caused him to wake.    Adam and Hoss slept sounding in their own beds across the other side of the small room.  There wasn’t any sound outside, not even a breath of air blew across the vacant yard.

His brow furrowed as if a voice inside spoke to him.  For a brief second, it was the same feeling he had had when hearing Joe cry out to him in the bank that day.

On that occasion he had been certain that it was his son he had heard calling his name in pain and fear.   Now, he couldn’t be quite so sure, but the feeling of dread remained and the fate of his son grew more troublesome in his mind.

Ben got up and poured a drink of water from a jug sitting on the dresser.   He lifted the curtain over the window a little, trying to see out across the yard of Peak’s Crossing.  He could make out the distinct shape of the corral and the barn.   The horses in the shadows seemed calm enough, but a feeling of unease was becoming to hard to ignore.

It was about two hours before the stage was due to depart, but Ben knew, despite the long journey from yesterday, they would have an equally long and arduous one they faced today.   Ben would get no more rest tonight, and not until he knew that his son was safe and well.

Hoss was the first to wake of the brothers, and saw his father staring aimlessly out the window.  He realised that Ben must have awoken and not been able to return to sleep because of his worry over Joe.  Hoss was worried too.

Lillian Sullivan had packed them an ample supply of food for the long day ahead.

“Ben,” she said, taking his hands in her own, “I hope you find that boy of yours real soon.”  There were not many words of comfort she could offer.   She knew she could not understand Ben’s anguish and torment as the hours and days passed without word of his missing son.

“Thank you, Lillian and all the hospitality you have shown us on this trip.  Once we find Joseph, we will come back this way and share a meal or two.”   It was the only hope that he had to cling to.  Not that they ‘might’ find Joseph soon.   They had to find him.

Lillian and her husband waved as the dust kicked up from behind the stage coach wheels.   She couldn’t help but feel a sense of fear for that family, and a little bit of grief of her own about a young man who had briefly come into their lives, only to disappear without a trail.

She offered a silent prayer for them all and they both walked back into the cottage, thinking of what had been missing in their own lives all these years.  Family.

It was mid-afternoon when the stagecoach rumbled in to the dirty, smoky streets of San Francisco.   Adam recognized a few of the landmarks and building upon their arrival within the city, but then their route had changed and they now found themselves gazing out at the unfamiliar surroundings.

Ben clearly remembered telling Joe to check into the Plaza Hotel before he had left the Ponderosa.  He had even wired ahead to the hotel and helped made the necessary final arrangements.  At least they had a starting point to work from.

Ben had used the entire trip from Peak’s Crossing to mull over in his head what plans he, together with Adam and Hoss would need to make to trace Joe’s last steps.   Who to talk to that might have had contact with Joe before he had been due to meet the army Major at the bank that fateful morning.

Roy had already contact the local police constable, but because of the hour of their arrival, they needed to book into their own accommodations first, and by then, time would have slipped by and it wouldn’t be until tomorrow morning that they would seek further assistance from the local police authorities.

Ben was still deep in thought when he alighted from the stagecoach.  Adam and Hoss took custody of their luggage and bid the driver goodbye on behalf of their father.  Ben gave a brief mumble in response, not intending to be rude, but his mind clearly on more important matters.   His son Joseph.

“Where do you want to go once we have booked into the hotel, Pa?” Adam asked, already knowing of Ben’s plans to approach the Plaza Hotel.

“I would like to organize some horses for us for tomorrow, Adam,” Ben informed his eldest son.  “We need to cover a large area of this city tomorrow and horseback would be the preferred method.  It will be much quicker and we can split up if necessary.”  

“Let’s go then,” Hoss stated, as he picked up the larger pieces of luggage.  “I can check with the livery stable after we are settled in the room, Pa.”   Ben nodded in appreciation, knowing that his boys would have to draw on reserves of patience with each action they took in the days ahead.

The dust from the stagecoach was difficult to ignore as Ben and his sons approached the front lobby area of the Plaza Hotel.  As they approached the front desk, their tired, bedraggled appearances did not go unnoticed by the Concierge. 

The same elderly clerk stood before the three eldest Cartwright’s that had frowned on Joe’s dusty and torn clothes upon his arrival a week ago.   He had no way of knowing that the men were connected in anyway.  But he rolled his eyes with the same look of disdain and contempt that he had given to Little Joe upon his arrival.

Whilst Joe had felt too tired, and too sore to return any sharp comments about the man’s downward cast on his appearance and apparent lack of breeding, Ben was not ready to accept such a gesture of welcome, no matter how tired he felt.  He did not appreciate people who thought they were better than others merely by the position they held.    He intended to say a few words of his own to the clerk.

“I believe you have a reservation for my two sons and myself,” Ben said in a tone

of voice that suggested he wasn’t in the mood for jokes. 

“That, Sir, would depend on what your name would be,” the man said, not interested in serving the men any longer than he had to.

“My name, Sir, is Ben Cartwright.   I made a reservation with this establishment and I expect a little more courtesy out of you for the money that you intend charging me to stay in these accommodations.  If the room is not adequate or to our liking, we will take our business elsewhere.”

“Just a moment, please,” the man over dramatised.  “Do all of you Cartwright people, come to hotels in such a state,” he mumbled under his breath, his mind recalling back to Joe once more.

 Although Ben didn’t miss the man’s snide remarks, it was Adam who picked on the connection to his brother first.   “What did you just say?” he asked, his voice dropped low in warning as he stepped closer to the front desk and the clerk.

In return, the clerk took a step back, a little taken off guard by the man’s sudden interest in the comments he had not meant them to hear.

“Have you had another Cartwright stay here recently?” Ben asked quickly, his dislike of the clerk instantly forgotten as he grabbed a hold of the first real clue they had stumbled across since arriving in the city.

“Yes, we had a young man come here about a week ago.   He approached me dressed a little like you are, with mud all over his clothes and smelling of horse.”

“Did you hear that, Adam,” Hoss said excitedly, “he remembers Joe,” he said as he slapped his brother on the back with sheer joy.   He didn’t care how his brother arrived here, or what he looked like.    At least they knew that he had arrived at the hotel alive.

Ben smiled at Hoss’s exuberance, but knew they didn’t have all the pieces to the puzzle just yet.   “That young man is my son, Joseph.   He came here to San Francisco to sell some horses.   He was supposed to meet a Major from the army the next day, but he has disappeared.”

“And that’s why you are here now,” the clerk assumed, losing all of his snideness and remembering how long it had been since he had seen the young man.

“Yes,” Ben said as he was relieved to see that this man was at least willing to help them.   “Can you spare us a few minutes of your time to tell us what you know about his arrival?”

“Certainly, Mr Cartwright.  I apologize for my abrupt and rude behaviour earlier.

I am saddened to inform you that I had the same attitude of your son when he arrived, but he didn’t have any challenge to my words.  Maybe he should have,” the clerk said.

“Gee, short shanks must have been real worn out when he got here.   Any other time he would have given you a hotter reply than my Pa just did,” Hoss commented.

“If you like, I can offer you his room.  It hasn’t be occupied since his arrival, his belongings are still in there.   I didn’t have any way of knowing if he would be back or not.  Another day or two and I would have had to declare the room to be deemed abandoned.  His belongs would have been placed into storage and a fee demanded for the costs of the room and their release,” the clerk explained.

“Do you wish for me to pay for the outstanding account now?” Ben asked, thinking that was were the clerk’s speech had been heading, that the room had yet to be paid for.

“Oh, no, Mr Cartwright.  Your son, paid the account until the end of last week.  I assume that’s how long he thought he would be staying.  But now that you are here, and with the explanation you have given for his not returning to the room, I wouldn’t think of asking you for any further monies.  Consider the account settled in full,” the clerk replied.

“I’ll just get the master key and ask for someone else to take my place at the front desk while I take you upstairs,” the clerk now said and scurried away to do just that.

The Cartwright’s were tired after their long journey, but this new information about Joe’s staying at the hotel and his last known movements couldn’t be ignored.  They had to follow every possible trail and leave no clue to chance if they were to find Joe.

Two porters were ordered to take the luggage from Hoss and Adam, and for once, Hoss was most grateful.  The extra burden of concern as well as the arduous journey had left his shoulders stiff and aching.   He would be more than pleased to see a bed this night and knew his father and older brother wished for the same.

A younger man now stood at the front desk, dusting his uniform jacket and thinking that this was the first opportunity he had been asked to take on the role of Concierge.  Even if it was only for an hour or so, impressions were everything and it may lead to further promotion in the future.  At least that is what he told himself as he waited for the next potential lodgers to enter the lobby.

The décor of the hotel was impressive, with warm, rich colours that invited your senses in and made you feel as though you were living luxuriously.   But at the moment, Ben Cartwright’s gaze was fixated on the staircase underneath his feet as they followed the clerk towards the room where his son had been staying.

Hoss and Adam looked about the thin corridor as they proceeded towards the end doorway.    Suite 4 was clearly and neatly marked on the door in brass lettering.

The master key slipped in smoothly, and there was almost no sound to note as the lock turned.

“Gentlemen,” the clerk gestured, allowing the Cartwright men to enter the suite before him.   Both as a manner of courtesy as hotel protocol but also in an attempt to apologize for his earlier behaviour when he didn’t recognize them upon entering the hotel.   Ben Cartwright certainly looked differently to how he had envisaged a man of his social stature, wealth and reputation within the business community.

“Thank you,” Ben said as he was entered before the clerk, any other words he had intended to speak, died upon his lips as he gazed about the stately room and its fine fixtures.   For the next minute all so, all three Cartwrights looked about the lodgings with praise.  

Although the décor and furnishings pleased the eye, what they were hoping most for was some information to come from within these four walls as so the location of their missing son and brother.

The clerk closed the door to the suite and proceeded to introduce himself a little more before continuing.   He could see already that the family held great fears for the missing young man.  They were hoping both he and the room where he had been last known to stay would provide some answers to many questions.

“My name is John Hoskins,” the clerk informed them, shaking their hand before sitting down on the large settee provided in the living room.  The lodgings were certainly large enough to accommodate them all.  Ben wondered if Joe had felt a little out of place in such a large room, filled with very expensive furniture.

“Thank you, Mr Hoskins, now if you please, although we are tired from our journey today, I would appreciate it if you can begin when you first saw my son Joseph and what events you know to have taken place after that,” Ben asked.

Hoskins thought for a moment, trying to recall every time he had seen the young Cartwright fellow during the earlier part of the week.  “He came in very late one evening, just as you have done today.  His clothes were all torn and muddy, so I assume he did not travel by the same method as yourselves?”

“You assume correctly, Mr Hoskins, Joe was leading a team of horses here for sale.  He would have been riding his own horse,” Adam interjected, answering the man’s question.

“When he arrived, I wasn’t convinced that he had a reservation with this establishment,” Hoskins said, with a little guilt on his face.  His treatment of the Cartwright’s today, had not been any different.

“Did he give you an argument to the contrary?” Ben asked, knowing full well that his son’s temper might have reared at being told he was not welcome. 

“No, he did not.   For a moment he looked as though he might have, but he did look very tired and dirty.   He asked if he could have a hot bath drawn and some towels brought to this room.  He also asked about a meal.  I informed him that the chef had closed the kitchen for the night, but that he would be able to get a sandwich taken up to him.”

Ben went over what he had just been told, nothing seemed out of the ordinary so far.  He couldn’t detect anything different in the routine that he would normally have assumed from his youngest son upon arrival late at night.   His first concerns would naturally have been to clean himself up and then to have something to eat.

“What happened after that, Mr Hoskins?” Hoss asked, seeing his father and brother carefully considering all of the possibilities that could have happened from what they had been told so far.

“Just call me John, please,” the clerk instructed them.   “I gave young Mr Cartwright his room key, then I asked one of the local house maids, Bonnie to escort your son to this suite and then bring him the hot towels and soap that he had requested.”

“This Bonnie, did she talk to Joe.   I take it she is employed here.  Would it be possible to speak to her tomorrow and see what else she remembers about Joe after he left the front desk downstairs?” Adam asked.

The clerk looked at Adam with a confused look on his face.  As though it had just occurred to him that the young girl had any connection to this matter.  Of course, he had noticed her not coming to work a few days ago, but the staff turnover in the hotel was high and it was not unusual for an employee just to cease coming to work.

“I am sorry, Mr Cartwright, but I am afraid I have not seen Miss Winters for quite a number of days.  I assume she has employment elsewhere now.   The young ladies often turn to a different style of work when there is no other options, if you know what I mean,” the clerk replied.

“How long since you saw this young lady?” Ben asked, the feeling that there was  a connection to his son, beginning to become to hard to ignore.   “Did she speak to Joe at all, the night he arrived here at the hotel?”

“That I am afraid, I do not know,” the clerk said honestly.  “She was a pretty little

thing, petite with blond hair.   She smiled sweetly at the young man and he seemed to smile back in return.  She appeared to appreciate his charm and good looks, even under all that mud and dust.”

Adam and Hoss gave a wry smile as they pondered that piece of information.  Ben chuckled too, they all knew that it didn’t take much for Joe to be attracted to a pretty young girl.   And there was no denying that Joe had the charm to do the same.

“I saw her the next morning, she had taken some fresh linen up to your son’s room.   She completed her shift around lunch time as required, but I haven’t seen her since.   You don’t think that she and your son may have, shall we say, gotten close over a very short space of time,” the clerk said, not wanting to accuse Joe of anything, but thinking that the idea was at least plausible and worth mentioning.

“The coincidence is too much, Pa,” Adam commented.  “I don’t think Joe would have just ran away with the young lady, but maybe she and he got caught up in some trouble together?”

“I agree, but until we learn more about this Ms Winters and her whereabouts, then it is purely speculation on our part that her not coming to work and Joe’s disappearance have anything in common.  There may be a perfectly reasonable explanation for her stopping her employment at the hotel.  For now, we have to

concentrate on finding your brother.  Perhaps as we learn about his last movements, we may learn more about Ms Winters,” Ben stated.

“Did you see my son, Joseph, the next morning Mr Hoskins?” Ben asked plainly.

“That is the day that he was due to meet Major Branson from the army at the bank.”

“Yes, I did, Mr Cartwright.  He arrived early to have breakfast in the dining room and told me that he needed to attend the bank.  He also said he needed to purchase some new articles of clothing as others he had been carrying with him were damaged on the journey to San Francisco,” the clerk answered.

“Can I see those bags that Joseph was carrying, Mr Hoskins?” Ben asked, whilst he thought about Hoskins’s information.    Hoskins moved from the settee in the living room to the bedroom, retrieving, both the set of clean clothes that had been laundered by the hotel for Joe and the grimy saddlebags that contained the rest of his belongings.

“These are the clothes that your son was wearing on the evening he arrived, Mr Cartwright,” Hoskins said as he handed the items to Ben.  “There were a number of tears in the shirt as you can see, but our fine team of workers downstairs did the best they could to restore them.   These are the bags he was carrying.”

Ben lay the clothes aside for the moment as he carefully inspected the remaining contents of Joe’s saddlebags.   There was no identification or wallet that he could find.  No doubt, Joe would have been carrying them on his person when he left the hotel to meet with Major Branson.

“These bags are in a terrible state,” Ben said out loud as he looked curiously at the amount of caked mud built up on the leather and the stitching that held the bag together.    The bags would have been wet when Joe arrived, and then because they had been allowed to dry naturally, the stitching had become cracked and brittle. It would only take a small amount of weight for them to crumble into dust.  The bags were of no further use to anybody.

“Looks like he went through a heap of water, Pa,” Hoss commented, thinking it to be the most reasonable explanation for the state of his brother’s luggage.  It would also explain Mr Hoskins earlier comment about him having to buy fresh clothes.

There was one set still within the bag, but it was mud stained and beyond any kind of repair.  They would need to be discarded too.  The condition of the bag and clothes, in addition to what they had already been told about the journey to Peak’s Crossing, only heightened their concern for Joe.  It was obvious that the journey had been difficult even before he arrived, and had become more perilous it seemed, upon his arrival in the city.

“Your son left the hotel after breakfast, Mr Cartwright, and I am deeply sorry to say that I have not seen him return yet,” Hoskins said, the last few words barely above a whisper.   It was becoming increasingly hard to ignore the length of time since someone had seen the young man.

“Thank you for your help, Mr Hoskins,” Ben said as he placed the items on a nearby table.  For now, it seemed as though they had a few, unclear pieces to the puzzle and a lot more questions than answers.   The mystery wasn’t going to be solved overnight.   They would all need to get some rest and food before making a more determined and fresh start in the morning.

“Mr Hoskins, in the morning, one of my sons will make enquiries with the livery stable about some horses for our use.   We will of course make our way to the police station first thing, and I wish to try and talk to Major Branson before then,” Ben said, making a mental list of what needed to be done first.  They needed to start at the earliest point in time and work forward and see if there were any clues to be found on where Joe might be.

“I will make sure that hot water and towels are also provided to you on this evening, Mr Cartwright.   I will have some meals prepared and brought to your room.   Please, don’t hesitate to inform me or my staff if there is anything you need,” Hoskins said as he prepared to exit the suite.

“Thank you, goodnight Mr Hoskins,” Adam said as he closed and locked the door behind the man.   “I am certainly looking forward to that hot bath.”

“I just want the food,” Hoss said with a sheepish grin, Adam slapping him playfully on the shoulder.   Both looked at their father, only to see him toying with the starched collar on Joe’s freshly cleaned shirt.  They knew there were so many questions and thoughts plaguing his mind at the moment.  Neither one of them spoke, so as not to interrupt what seemed to be a private moment of reflection.

While Adam and Hoss prepared for a bath and food, Ben stood, using the fingertips of his right hand to feel the material of the shirt.  At the moment, it was the only piece of evidence he had that Joe had been in the room, in this city.   He was hoping that by some miracle, the cloth might reveal a secret or two.

The meal was brought to the room, thought none of them really felt like eating.

Silence and an awkward tension filled the room, as they all had one person on their mind.   Joseph.   Where was he, and what trouble had befallen him since arriving at the hotel?

Adam and Hoss retired almost as soon as they had finished eating, the journey taking its toll.   No matter how tired though, Ben found it difficult to find sleep or rest.  He lay in bed, trying to close his eyes, but when he did so, all he could see was the face of his missing son.  All he could hear was the voice full of fear he had heard call out to him that day in Virginia City.

Unbeknown to him at the time, just as Ben drifted off into an uneasy doze shortly before dawn, his son Joe, was beginning to wake from his drugged induced slumber.

At first, it couldn’t be determined if he was actually waking at all.  His eyelids barely fluttered and any effort to open them because too insurmountable to contemplate the attempt to do so.

What eventually caused him to moan softly, was the growing nauseousness.   As Joe started to become a little more alert, he frowned as he thought his body was moving.   Up and down.   He tried to move one arm very slowly, but only felt a stiff ache in return.  It didn’t seem plausible that he was moving so much to become nauseous.

The feeling didn’t go away however, and the more alert he become, the stronger the sickly feeling became.   Now he was trying to force his eyes open, so that he could see where he was.   It was then that he moved his arms a little more, and though he still felt the stiffness and the ache, what he heard was the clink of a chain.

He frowned even more, as he tried to figure out what might be making the sound of a chain so close to him.   His eyes opened to barely slits, almost shutting again as a narrow beam of moonlight shone through from the upper deck and hit him square in the face. 

After a few more moments, his eyes adjusted to the light as he moved his head slightly to the side to avoid it.   This movement only caused a headache to erupt, he moaned softly again at the amount of pain that rippled through his head.

With his eyes now open and his brain praying that he didn’t move another muscle,  he began looking about as best as he could.   The environment was dark except for that moon beam, making it difficult to see anything more than the outlines of large objects.   He was laying down, that much he could work out.   The nauseousness still steadily getting worse.   If it became to the point of throwing up, he doubted he had the strength or energy to be able to even roll himself onto his side.

With his arm feeling incredibly heavy for some unknown reason, his eyes followed the length of his forearm, all the way up until he saw the reason for the sound of the chain.  Until now, he had barely felt the shackle around his wrist, but now could see that he was chained to a wall.

The fact that he was chained at all, made him forget every other pain in his body momentarily, as he tried his best to sit up and voice an indignant protest at being restrained like this.  He had no recollection of where he was or how he had gotten here.  His head felt ready to explode with pain from his headache and the rest of  his body seemed lethargic and unresponsive.

“That’s enough of that for now, my young friend,” a voice from the darkness spoke.  Joe had jumped slightly, not realising that there was somebody else in the room.  It wasn’t until he saw the figure come towards him into the light a little more, holding a syringe in his hand that he vaguely recognized the face.

He kept looking at the man, the thought playing on his mind where he had seen the man last.   Then, like a bullet, the answer hit him.   Memories of being forcibly held down and a needle being inserted into his arm came back to him.  He recalled a doctor bending over him and the face of the man looking at him from across the room.  It had been this man that had ordered the doctor to use the needle.

“Why you,” Joe said as his temper began to flare at his treatment and abuse.  He barely got past a few words when the figure forcibly held his arm once again.  Joe tried his best to pull away, but the grip was firm and with his other arm chained to the wall, there was very little he could do to get away.

“You can’t…,” Joe said as he heard his own voice began to trail off.   His thoughts began to become clouded again and the pain seemed to become dull.   He felt like he was floating away.  His eyes began to flutter as he desperately tried to maintain his focus on the man holding him captive.

Another moment, and Joe’s body fell back onto the crude sailor’s cot once more.

His eyes were closed and his breathing shallow and even, indicating he was under the effects of the drugs once more.   

Seline removed the syringe, noting a small trail of blood due to Joe’s struggle to free his arm as the needle was inserted.  The dose was only half of the one the doctor had been instructed to administer.   It would be sufficient to keep young Cartwright under sedation until he was safely hidden away on the private carriage of the train headed for Saint Louis.

Another twelve hours and they would be in Sacramento and he would make the arrangements to purchase the tickets for the train.

After Seline had climbed back up to the above deck of the boat, Bonnie came back down to see how Joe had faired after another dose of the sedative.   The blankets had slipped partially down to his waist and she now adjusted these to cover his upper body and shoulders.   She used a damp cloth to gently wipe his face, but there was no reaction to her activities as the young man lay deeply asleep.

Despite the lack of sleep, Ben was already sitting at the table first thing the next morning, keen to make an early and determined search for his missing son.

“Good Morning, Pa,” Adam greeted his face, a little worried to see the signs of tiredness on his father’s features.   He took a great deal of solace in the resolve he saw as well.   Adam knew his father would leave no place to be searched, nor any stone or bushel unturned.

“Morning, Adam,” Ben greeted his eldest son.  “Sleep well?” he asked.

“Not too bad.  You don’t look as though you got much yourself, Pa,” Adam commented.

“I don’t think I will be able to truly rest properly until I know your brother is back with us safe and well,” Ben responded.  “I want to get going within the hour and make our way to the police station as early as possible today.”

“Good Morning, Pa,” Hoss said as he took his place at the table after finishing buttoning his leather vest.  “I will have my coffee and then get down to the livery stable and rustle up some horses.”

“Make sure you explain that the mounts are probably going to be out for most of the day, and we may need them for longer than today.   Pay whatever the fee comes to, in addition to food and grooming care,” Ben instructed.

Hoss soon left his father and brother to go and organize the horses like he promised.  He was to meet them back in the hotel lobby within half and hour.   He quickly waved towards John Hoskins as he stood at the front desk.   The clerk though it odd to see one of the Cartwrights, but assumed that the other two wouldn’t be too far behind.

When Hoss first entered the livery stable, he couldn’t see anybody about.   He decided it worthwhile waiting a minute in case the owner was attending to something else.  He didn’t see the young stable-boy in one of the back stalls that Joe had spoken to upon his arrival at the Plaza Hotel.  

What Hoss did see that took him totally by surprise was the sight of his brother’s mount Cochise, happily grazing on some hay in one of the front stalls.   The horse looked up at the person approaching her, and gave a soft whinny of recognition.

Hoss wanted to jump around for joy at seeing Cochise, he was full of smiles as he reached out and patted her gently on her soft nose.   He then proceeded to walk around her, carefully examining every inch of her to note any injuries or signs of mistreatment.   There was no denying that it was Joe’s horse.

“Cochise, girl, you don’t know how happy I am to see you,” Hoss said to the horse as he went around behind her.   He lifted each hoof, noting that the animal seemed to be well cared for.   Any debris that might have lodged in her shoes from the trail from Virginia City had been cleaned out.  Her coat had been groomed more than once and she looked well fed.

Hoss had his back to the front of the stall and did not see the small figure of Timmy Wilkins as he approached the large man with the end of his hay fork.  “You back away from that horse, Mister, real easy now.”

As if to add emphasis to his words, before Hoss turned around to see who was speaking, he felt the sharp end of the prongs dig sharply into his meaty thigh.  It wasn’t hard enough to cause any damage, but it made him give a brief yelp.

“What did you go and do that for?” Hoss demanded, trying to snare the fork out of the youngster’s hand before he could inflict another jab with the prongs.

“You don’t own that horse, Mister, so you just back away from it nice and easy and leave before there is any more trouble,” Timmy warned, his hands betraying how he truly felt though as they rembled slightly.

“Listen, I don’t own this horse, but my brother Joe does, and he is missing.  My family and I came all the way here from Virginia City trying to find him,” Hoss explained.

“Missing?” Timmy asked, the first time he had truly considered why the young man had not come back for his horse so far.   He had promised to take good care of the horse and had done so up until now.  

“Having some trouble here, son?” Ben Cartwright asked as he and Adam Cartwright entered the livery stable, behind Timmy.   They had not heard much of the conversation yet.

Timmy, startled, whirled around, still holding the menacing looking fork in his hand and now pointing in the direction of Ben and Adam.   “This fellow was touching that there horse that don’t belong to him.   Says it belongs to his brother.  But I don’t know who to believe.”

Ben tried his best to gain control of the situation and calm the frightened boy down so as they could talk about the situation.  “Put the fork down son,” he said in a gentle voice.

Timmy stayed in the same defensive position for a moment, looking at Ben, trying to detect any sign that the man might be lying.   It wasn’t the first time someone had come to the stables claiming to own a horse, only to find out later that they had been not telling the truth and merely wanting to gain a mount free of charge.

Timmy then lowered the fork to the floor, still holding it nearby, believing that the three strangers meant no harm.  His suspicions fell away altogether as he watched all three of them gather around the paint horse and talk amongst themselves.

“Is she alright?” Ben asked Hoss, his own surprise at seeing Cochise evident.  It was the first real tangible clue they had come across to prove that Joe had been at the hotel except for Hoskins account of events.

“She looks fine, Pa,” Hoss answered.   “Been well taken care of.  I don’t know who has been doing it.”

“I done the caring for that horse,” Timmy said in a small voice from behind them.

He looked a little timid as the Cartwrights turned to face him and hear what else he had to say.

“You cared for this horse?” Adam asked, crouching down to the boy’s height, so as not to frighten him anymore than they had.  “Did you talk to the man who rode her into here?”

“Sure, he came here about a week ago.   Had curly hair and a green jacket,” Timmy said, confirming for the family that it had been Joe who had brought Cochise to the stable.

“Did he say much to you when he arrived?” Ben asked with hope in his voice.

“My name is Timmy.   Timmy Wilkins.  The man came here, late one night, looking tired and all dirty.  He had some other men with him and asked if they could leave their horses here for the night.   The other men left shortly afterwards, they didn’t spend too much time taking care of their horses.   I did all the rubbing down and removing their saddles and that.”

“How many men were with him when he arrived?” Ben asked, knowing it might be the first clue to determining who many people were with Joe after the trail from Peaks Crossing.   They might be able to establish if any of them had any involvement in Joe’s disappearance.

“Um, including that man, five, I think,” Timmy replied, thinking a moment, but still not exactly sure.   “Sorry, but it was late and the light in here wasn’t very good.  There might have been more.”

“That’s alright, Timmy.  Any information you can give would be most welcome. 

You see that young man that brought this horse here is missing, and we are very worried about finding him,” Ben explained, trying to explain their need to know all the details without scaring the boy further.

“That’s what he said,” Timmy said, pointing towards Hoss.  “I hope he is alright, he was very nice.”

Ben smiled at the comment in reference to his son.  He could believe that too.  Joe usually had a natural ability when talking to children, that often went unnoticed.

“What happened after the other men left?” he asked, trying to get an accurate account between the livery stable and when Joe approached Mr Hoskins at the front desk.

“The man asked me to get a fresh bucket of water and some hay and oats.  Then he started to remove the saddle and bridle.  He rubbed her down, said he didn’t like anybody else doing that to his horse.  And that he didn’t want anybody else touching the horse without his permission,” Timmy explained.

“Sounds as if you were doing a real good job too,” Hoss said ruefully as he rubbed lightly at the place where the fork had dug into his trousers.  “Joe would have been real proud that you kept your word, Timmy.”

“Is he really missing?   I haven’t seen him since, but just thought that he was busy or something,” Timmy asked.

“Don’t worry, son, we are going to do everything we can to find him.  We just have to known what he was doing from when he came in here until the next day.  That’s the last time anybody saw him,” Ben said, smiling at the boy’s concern.

“Did Joe come here the next morning, even just to visit his horse?” Adam asked, knowing that practice to be a common one for his brother, even back at the Ponderosa.  It might make for an additional sighting of Joe after he left the hotel lobby when John Hoskins said he saw him last.

“No, mister, I didn’t see him again,” Timmy answered.

Adam thought for a moment before giving his theory.  “Pa, that means that when Joe left the hotel the next morning, he was on foot.  He must have walked to the bank to meet with Major Branson.”

“A few more pieces to the puzzle, but nothing substantial enough to know what happened before he got to the bank,” Ben said.  “Let’s go and meet the Police Sergeant and see if they have any clues to Joe’s whereabouts.”

“Timmy, we came to see if there were any horses we could use while we look for Joe?” Adam asked the stable boy.

“Well, there are the two mounts for two of those fellows with Joe.  They never did come back to collect them.   Two other fellows did.   That two horses for you and I have a few others to pick another from,” Timmy offered.

“I wonder why two of those fellows came back for their horses and the other’s didn’t?” Hoss asked out loud.   It seemed a little odd that some of the hands with Joe would ride out, whilst others left their horses in the stable with no real intention to return for them.

“The care and cost of the horses is $7.00 for the week each,” Timmy said, not feeling comfortable about having to charge these people when they were looking for their missing family member though.  He didn’t have any choice though, if they didn’t pay then he would be expected to pay or at least work off the amount owing.

“That’s fine, Timmy,” Ben said, reassuring the boy, and expecting no less than having to pay such a reasonable sum for the horses.  “I will be sure to add a decent amount for you if you continue to take care of Cochise for us.”

“Sure, Mister, I will take care of her.  She is a nice horse.  Don’t need to do much but feed and brush her each day.   Not all the horses we get through here are like that,” Timmy responded with a smile.   He would gratefully accept the offer of payment, his mother at home needed the money.  He would have been just as willing to do it without reward.

Ben and his boys bid goodbye to the young stable boy, the time already starting to get away from them already.   But the time had not been entirely wasted.  They had gained some useful information.  Some of it sounded confusing and lead to more questions, but it was appreciated nonetheless.

The three Cartwrights were soon mounted on sturdy looking steads.   They looked to be fine enough horses.  Two of them bearing the Ponderosa brand on their rumps, the horse chosen for Adam, did not.

Riding down the main street of San Francisco was notably quite different to riding down the streets of Virginia City.  Apart from the obvious obstacles of carriages and buggies that shared the cobblestone roads, the air had a distinct different aroma to it. 

The streets were crowded, even for this early in the day and the smoke billowing over the city from the industrial factories near the water front, hovered over the buildings like a grey blanket.  The mood between them was sombre as they made their way towards the Police Station.

With the horses hitched to the railing out the front, the Cartwright’s now made their way into the rather impressive looking police establishment.  It was a large building that only bore a worn crest out the front to signify it belonging to the Police Department.

The were two sets of doors they had to walk through before coming towards the main front desk.   On the way through the first set of door, the family couldn’t help but notice a homeless man laying along the wall.  His long coat was crusty and tarnished with many nights of sleeping under the elements.  His hair was long and unkempt and his face unshaven.

The homeless man made a feeble effort to rise as if to beg the person walking through the door for some pity or mercy.  His body too tired and lethargic to manage more than a wave of his arm and a mumble of words passing over his lips.

Ben couldn’t look without being saddened by the state of some of the citizens of the city.  It wasn’t his place to judge his man.  Lord knows, he had seen a number of drunken cowboys in a similar state back in Nevada.   But looking at this poor pathetic creature, who had obviously not partaken in a hot meal or a bath in several weeks, the Cartwright patriarch knew he had a lot to be thankful for in his life.

He knew that society was to blame for most of the homeless people.  There were very few people that cared what happened to the destitute or trodden on.  And fewer people still that did anything about it.   They walked past him day after day as if he wasn’t really there. 

Just a smudge on the face of the city and the community to most no doubt.  But somewhere in the back of his mind, Ben couldn’t help but think that once, perhaps a long time ago, this man had a future.   Maybe he had a family, perhaps he had fallen on harden times.  He would have had a roof to keep him dry and a place to call home instead of the rotten piece of cardboard that he now clung to as his only meagre possession.

The thought that struck Ben the hardest as he paused a moment at the door, looking on with sympathy and wishing there was more he could have done to help.  The man would have had a name.  Maybe not something famous or deserving of reward or praise of any sort.   But a name.   One that was now lost to others and no longer mattered.

The front desk was a hive of activity for a few minutes, with police officers coming and going with haste, others talking to people waiting to be attended to.  A lot different to the small confines of Sheriff Roy Coffee’s jailhouse in Virginia City.

Finally, the desk seemed to clear a little, so that only the Cartwright’s were left to find someone to help them.  The name tag read:  Constable William Hunter.

He was a youngish police officer, probably only a few years experience outside of the training academy Adam assumed.

“May I help you gentlemen?” Officer Hunter greeted them.

“Yes, please, officer,” Ben spoke on behalf of the family.  “My name is Ben Cartwright, and these here are my two sons, Adam and Hoss Cartwright.  We have come here from the Ponderosa Ranch in Nevada Territory because my youngest son, Joseph went missing in this city approximately 3 days ago.”

“You say your youngest son is missing?” the officer repeated, making sure he understood why the me appeared anxious and concerned.  “Can you tell me a little bit more about him, Sir?”

“I don’t mean to be rude, young man, but is there someone more senior I can explain this too.  Perhaps you could be there too.  This is a matter of urgency and having to tell the story more than once will only delay our search time,” Ben said.

“I am not offended, Mr Cartwright, and I can see by the look on your faces that you are wanting to seek help quickly.  However, the senior officer of this precinct, Sergeant Wylie Cooper has just had to leave the building to attend to another matter.  It is likely that he will be gone for the majority of the day,” the Constable said in apology.

“Could you tell us where we could find this Sergeant Cooper?” Adam now asked.  ”Would he object if we were to approach him for assistance while he is attending to this other matter?”

“I don’t think he would, I have some other important paperwork and messages to deliver to him myself, I can accompany you and show you the way,” Constable Hunter offered.

“Thank you, we would appreciate that.  The local Sheriff was going to wire him and let him know of our arrival and about our brother’s disappearance,” Adam continued.

“Come to think of it, I do recall him saying something about getting a wire the other day from a lawman, but he didn’t discuss the contents or details with me at the time,” Officer Hunter recollected.

“Have you had any reports lodged with your department about a missing young man?” Ben asked, as he leaned on the long hardwood counter.

“Not that I have received, Mr Cartwright.  I am sorry.  Sergeant Cooper usually handles cases such as those because they can be complex and messy.   He was called away this morning to one of the hotels not too far from here.  Seems as though they found a body in the rear alley way.”

Ben’s complexion paled considerably and it wasn’t until he felt a reassuring hand from Adam on his shoulder that he realised his knuckles had turned white from his grip on the edge of the counter upon hearing the Constable’s words.

“Don’t jump to any conclusions yet, Pa,” Adam said gently, realising what his father had assumed.  Whilst he didn’t want to believe that the body found was or had any connections to his brother, it was easy to see where Ben had drawn the inference from.

The Officer had a confused look on his face as he watched Ben, more concerned at the man’s sudden ashen appearance.  It wasn’t until he heard Adam’s comments that he understood his words to have a devastating impact on the family.

“Oh, my sincere apologies, Mr Cartwright.   I didn’t think just now.  But please don’t be alarmed, the body found was that of a middle-aged doctor.  Not of a young man like your missing son,” the man explained.

Ben forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths and calm his nerves, berating himself for acting so foolishly to an idle comment.   He knew that his mind had merely twisted the officer’s words to torment his soul.   He gave a wan smile towards Adam and Hoss to indicate that he was perfectly alright, if not a little shaken.

“If you are ready, I will take you over there now.  It is only a short distance, would you prefer to walk? Officer Hunter enquired.

“That will be fine, Constable, please lead the way,” Ben said, slightly embarrassed.  He really had let the concerns for his son get the better of him just now and allow them to control his thoughts.

The four men, lead by the police officer, now travelled the short distance across the busy city street to a hotel building, some two blocks away on the opposite side of the road. 

Upon seeing the hotel in question, it appeared to be similar in style and luxury accommodation as the Plaza Hotel.   There was one less floor, but the building was wider, with more rooms on each floor to compensate for the difference in height.

Unlike the Plaza Hotel, there was a man dressed in a smartly adorned uniform to greet all potential guests and patrons.  There was a great deal of police activity already taking place within the building and certain areas were roped off to restrict access to authorized personnel only.

“Good morning, Officer Hunter, gentlemen,” the man greeted them.  “Sergeant Cooper is on the top floor.  You will be able to tell which room.”

“Thank you, Mr Jenkins,” Constable Hunter said in reply, gesturing his appreciation for the information.  “This way, please, Mr Cartwright,” he now said to Ben as the three Cartwright’s following along the carpeted floor inside the lobby to the stairs.

Another police officer guarded the bottom of the staircase and made enquiries with Officer Hunter as to the identity and purpose of allowing the Cartwright’s any further passage.  When he appeared satisfied at the brief explanation that was given, he moved aside to let them begin climbing the stairs.

Just as they reached the top of the staircase, they could see a number of well-dressed gentlemen using photographic equipment.   There were two other younger men assisting with the filming process, also making sure that everybody remained out of the focus of the camera.

They felt a little uneasy as they neared the room where the alleged murder had taken place.  As they came to the doorway, they could clearly see a body draped in a white sheet.  The sheet bearing blood stains, indicating that the death of the middle-aged man had been a violent one.

A small, rotund looking office dressed in a police uniform was deeply engrossed in conversation with one of the cameramen.  Making sure that the body had been photographed in the exact position it had been found in.   They took a large number of photographs, not wanting to leave any clues overlooked. 

“Excuse me, Sergeant Cooper,” Constable Hunter said as he went to alert his presence to his superior officer.  

“Yes, Hunter, what is it?” Cooper asked, not looking up at first.  When he did so, he was a little surprised to see three strange faces in the middle of what had become a murder investigation.  “I trust you have good reason for bringing these gentlemen into such grizzly site?”

“Sergeant, these men all belong to the Cartwright family.  This is Ben Cartwright, and his two son’s Adam and Hoss,” Hunter introduced, looking for confirmation that he had remembered everyone’s name correctly.

“Pleased to meet you gentlemen, but as you can no doubt see, I am quite tied up at the moment.  What is the nature of your business that is urgent enough for Officer Hunter to escort you into such a mess?” Cooper asked, still looking over the body and trying to figure out if they should take another couple of photographs or not.

The cameramen advised the Sergeant that there equipment would need to be given some time to cool down under the work load.   Begrudgingly, the Sergeant agreed, knowing that the investigation was going to take some hours still.   With very little else to do before the body could be removed, Cooper decided to give what few precious minutes he had to the strangers in the room.

“My name is Ben Cartwright, from the Ponderosa Ranch in Nevada,” Ben said, repeating his name and indicating just how far away from home they currently were.  “Our local Sheriff Roy Coffee was to send a wire to you about my missing son, Joseph,” he said, giving the same version of events that he had given Officer Hunter at the police station.

Sergeant Cooper tried to think back over all the messages he had received from the last few days.   He did recall one coming from Nevada, and vaguely remembered it speaking of a missing man, but the other details it contained had been overshadowed by the events of this morning.

“I apologize, Mr Cartwright, I know you must be worried about finding your missing boy.  I remember a wire from Virginia City, but it didn’t give a description of your son.  Said he was thought to be missing around this city somewhere.  Because we had not had any actual missing person’s reports lodged with the station, we didn’t have many leads to try and trace before you arrived.”

“I don’t have any actual proof at this point in time, Sergeant, but I have a strong feeling that my youngest son Joseph has met with foul play and might be being held against his will,” Ben explained, trying to give as much detail as he could with no hard evidence to back up his gut instinct about Seline’s involvement in Joe’s disappearance.

“What makes you think that he was forcibly taken, Mr Cartwright?” Sergeant Cooper asked.  He didn’t want to outright disbelieve the story, but with many years of experience, and a few even involving very worried parents, he had to have a factual account of what happened before he could point the finger at a suspect.

Ben knew this was going to be difficult to explain, but he started as best he could.

“A few weeks ago, a man known as Marchant Seline came to Virginia City.   At the time my family and I were unaware of his presence in town.   It wasn’t until after he left a few days later that we found out that he had been specifically asking about Joseph from a number of our friends and associates.”

“What is his connection to you Mr Cartwright?  How long have you known this Seline character?” Cooper asked, taking out a small notebook and making scratching notes as Ben spoke.

“Seline and I have known of each other for a very long time.   He was a business associate with my late wife Marie, who is also Joseph’s mother.  He has always vowed revenge against myself for taking her away from New Orleans and against Marie herself.   He has written several letters over the years telling her of his intentions to harm her or her family,” Ben answered.

“Seems like he has carried this grudge for a while, going by the tone of your voice.   What happened after he left Virginia City?” Cooper enquired further.

“That was a little bit of a mystery until we learned that he took a stagecoach.  We received a wire from a way station that he had suddenly ceased his journey before reaching his final destination.   By then, my son had already left for San Francisco on horseback with a string of horses that he had broken and had contracted to sell to the army.”  

“We learned that Seline had privately bought a horse and headed in an unknown direction, but we make the strong assumption that the whole trip was supposed to be a decoy or distraction to take focus away from his real intentions,” Adam informed the officer as he joined in the conversation.

“And you think he came here to San Francisco?” Cooper surmised. 

“Yes.   Joseph was staying at the Plaza Hotel on the night he arrived.  We have already confirmed that with the Concierge, John Hoskins.  He saw Joe arrive and again the next morning when he left to go to the bank to settle the horse contract,” Ben stated.

“Did he make the appointment at the bank?” Cooper asked.

“No, that’s where the trail runs cold, Sergeant.   Major Branson sent a wire after we feared Joe was kidnapped, that my son had failed to meet with him to deposit the proceeds of the horse sale into the bank.  Nobody has seen him since,” Ben continued.

“You suspect that Joe was kidnapped before you received the wire from the Army

Captain,” Sergeant Cooper said, picking up a few clues.  “I can’t deny that I haven’t heard of the Ponderosa.   You are a wealthy business man in a few circles, even here, Mr Cartwright.  If your son was kidnapped, do you think the motive might have been money or ransom?”

“I know my son was kidnapped Sergeant, but I don’t think that money was the only intention on the part of Seline.  He wants to take my son away and prove that he can do it and stop me from being able to do anything about it.  He thrives on the idea that he hurts me by using Joseph as the bargaining tool,” Ben said with a noticeable hardened edge to his voice, not being directed at the police officer.

“Have you searched anywhere in the city yet, Mr Cartwright?   San Francisco is a large place, and there might be lots of places to hide somebody who has been kidnapped.   Can you describe what he looks like or what he might have been wearing on the day he disappeared?” Cooper asked, stilling making copious notes.   He wrote down the name Seline, vaguely recalling the name mentioned on an occasion or two, but he couldn’t remember why.

Up until now, Bill Hunter had stood by, quietly listening to the explanation and strong ascertains given by the Cartwrights as to why they thought their son and brother had been possibly kidnapped.  It wasn’t until he heard the young man’s description now, that he knew he had made a dreadful mistake only two nights ago.

“Joe is about 5 feet 6 inches tall, slim build.  Has curly brown hair and green eyes,” Ben informed the officers, giving the most detail he could.   “I would assume he was wearing his usual attire of tan, hard wearing trousers, a brown coloured shirt.  Probably the most distinguishable item of clothing that he is known to wear is his green corduroy jacket.”

It was upon hearing the comment about the green jacket, that Bill Hunter decided to bring himself into the conversation.  “Did you say green jacket, Mr Cartwright,” the officer asked, his features portraying a look of guilt for the naivety that he had shown in his police duties a couple of nights ago. 

Adam could see from the almost strangulated look on the officer’s face, that the young constable only just realised he did know something about Joe’s disappearance.  “Did you see Joe?” he asked plainly, seeing the man was genuinely remorseful for leaving out such information earlier when asked.

Ben and Hoss now turned their attention directly to the younger, less experienced officer, as did Sergeant Cooper.  He knew that Hunter was a good worker and a genuinely good police officer.  But he also knew of his lack of experience and his ability to overlook a clue, should one choose to present itself.

“I think I might have, two nights ago,” Hunter confirmed, closing his eyes and recalling the conversation he had had with the man from the carriage.  He did remember seeing a young man with a green jacket.  He could also remember the colouring of his hair and the fact that it was curly, because he had made a careful mental note about the visible head injury. 

“You had better start from the beginning of that night and tell us exactly what you saw, Bill.  Nobody is going to chew your head off, but there might be a clue to where the young man is,” Cooper said, trying to reassure the officer who clearly was inwardly rebuking himself enough for the mistake.

The murder investigation was not put on hold entirely, and they couldn’t exactly forget it altogether with the body of the unfortunate victim still laying on the floor draped in a blood-stained sheet.    It was only when Bill started to go back over the events of that night and the route he had patrolled that he recalled the hotel they were currently in to have any connection to the new matter being discussed.

“Actually, I was patrolling the street outside this hotel, only a few metres away.

I remember that clearly now.   It was about 12 midnight and a carriage had come from the direction of this hotel and was making its way down the street, towards the boat yards,” Hunter said as he gave his version of events.

Ben already had a dozen questions, but could see the officer was trying his best to remember every detail and decided against interrupting his story at this point in time.  There would be time for further questions at the end.  His insides were twisting with every word, making it harder and harder to listen to some of what he had suspected had happened from the beginning.

“I thought it was odd for most people to be travelling at that hour at night, so I asked them to stop so I could ask them the nature of their nocturnal activities,” Hunter continued with his story.  There were three men, excluding the young man laying down in the carriage itself and one young woman.”

“What did the young lady look like?” Adam asked, remembering back to John Hoskins’s information about a young female employee that had also gone missing about the same time as Joe.

“Quite small, petite one might say, and blond hair,” Hunter said, not having taken a great deal of interest in her appearance.   “She didn’t speak at any stage.  Stayed close to the young man inside the carriage.”

“What did the other two men look like?” Ben asked, trying not to directly ask more about the young man.  They needed to know who Joe was with, particularly if he had been taken against his will.

Hunter ended up giving a description that matched the ones they had received about Yeager and Edwards from the Sullivan’s at Peaks Crossing.  Ben informed the Sergeant and the Constable briefly about Joe having fired two of the hands for their reckless behaviour and hiring two other men in their place.  

With the matching description of the young woman from the Plaza Hotel and the two mentioned from Peaks Crossing, it was difficult not to draw the inference that somehow all of these events had been very carefully and meticulously orchestrated by Seline.  

The characters were all merely his puppets, to draw unnecessary attention and suspicion away from himself.  He appeared to be the master of deception and was drawing upon the skills of others to help him achieve his ultimate goal. The question remained about how many others were involved in this plot to kidnap Joe.

“Did the young man say anything at all?” Adam asked, seeing the need in his father’s eyes to know if the young man was indeed his son.   Unfortunately, they already knew the truth.

“No, and I was quite concerned about him.   He appeared to be asleep and was wrapped in a few blankets and stretched out along the seat inside the carriage.

What worried me the most was a small wound on his temple that was bleeding slightly.   I enquired as to whether or not he was alright,” Hunter answered.

“Could you see any other injuries on him?” Hoss asked, his first real question in the whole conversation.  But that didn’t stop the anger within him from slowly surfacing.  He wanted to find this man called Seline and make him pay, especially if he had hurt Joe.

“Nothing except the small head wound.  And it was only bleeding a little.  The man I did speak to the most, gave the explanation that he was indeed injured, and that they were not from around this city.  They were taking him to the boat yards, intending to take him back home for medical treatment,” Hunter said.  “I apologize for my poor lack of judgment at the time, Mr Cartwright.  The explanation given at the time seemed plausible.”

“You are not to blame, Officer Hunter.   No doubt, Joe was either unconscious from that head injury or another sustained from trying to stop his attackers.   Most likely if they were trying to smuggle him out of the city, then they would have given him a strong sedative to stop him from resisting their moving him.  That is why he would have appeared so deeply asleep,” Ben remarked.

“But, Pa, if they were on their way to the boat yard two days ago, that means that they have already left San Francisco.   We don’t have any way of knowing where they might have been taking Joe,” Hoss said, his voice betraying his sense of defeat.

“I know son, but we will just have to do the best we can to try and find out where Seline might have taken Joe with him.   Knowing Seline, he won’t be able to stop from leaving some sort of clue behind, just to gloat that he had still got Joseph,” Ben said, a touch of anger towards his kidnapper beginning to show through.

Adam glanced briefly at the body of the man on the floor and couldn’t help but think that somehow this was all tied to his brother’s disappearance.  Especially since Officer Hunter had already given account of the carriage leaving this hotel only a day or so after Joe’s disappearance.   It was more than coincidental.

“What are you thinking, young man?” Sergeant Cooper asked Adam, seeing the mind ticking over with the information that they had already gathered.  Like his father, Adam couldn’t help but surmise that Seline had employed a number of people to help him with Joe’s kidnapping.

As if to confirm Hunter’s brief details earlier of what this man did for a living, he posed a question.  “Did you say that this man was a doctor before he was murdered?”

Already seeing which direction was headed in, Sergeant Cooper was more than happy to answer the question.  “He was a doctor.   His identification on him gives his name as Doctor Carl Wilson.”

“And if my father’s assumption that Joe was drugged in the carriage is correct, then Seline would have needed a doctor to administer the drug.  Is there any way of finding out how many times this doctor has been to this hotel over the last few days?” Adam enquired.

“Yes, this hotel is usually very strict about who comes and leaves here without being a paying customer.  I will have someone go down and get the visitors log.  That should have his name on it.  It should also indicate the first time he visited and the time he was here,” Cooper said, giving a nod of his head towards Hunter to collect the log.

Until lunch time that day, the two police officers and the Cartwrights, poured over the visitors log, seeing how many occasions, Doctor Wilson’s name appeared and the times.   With the information they had put together, they were beginning to form an sketchy theory of what had happened.  There was very little doubt in anybody’s mind that this Doctor had been hired by Seline. 

Why he now lay on the floor murdered, was a mystery in itself. Obviously there had been a major disagreement and Seline had deemed the doctor’s services no longer required.  Rather than leave a witness, so to speak, and that he took everybody else with knowledge of the kidnapping with him, Seline had not wanted to leave any loose ends within the city.  

Sergeant Cooper tried his best to put the pieces they had together in some sort of crude order.  “It appears that the doctor’s last visit was on the same night that you saw the carriage outside the hotel, Bill.   But there are two earlier entries than that, signifying that he was required for more than administering the sedative.”

“Perhaps, the head injury Joe sustained caused Seline some concern,” Adam suggested, the others nodding their heads in agreement.  By the look of things, Seline certainly had this all planned out well before Joe even left Virginia City.  He had this young blond woman keeping tabs on his movements when he first arrived at the Plaza Hotel.   It was probably her that alerted Seline and his thugs to Joe’s intentions to walk to the bank on the morning he disappeared.”

“They probably attacked him on the way to the bank, causing the head injury in the first place.  Joe wouldn’t have willing gone with them, once he realised they were up to something underhanded,” Adam said in his brother’s defence.  “They probably had to subdue him and knocked him out in a side street.”

Ben nodded, but didn’t trust his own voice at that moment, thinking that the cry he had heard in the bank that day from Joe might have been as a result of sustaining a blow to the head.  Seline wasn’t just underhanded, as Adam put it, he was vicious and brutal and showed no compassion or sympathy at all towards his captive.

Although Bill Hunter had been most apologetic about his actions in this whole affair, if it had not been for his curiosity and suspicious nature about a carriage travelling so late at night in the first place, they might not have made the calculated guess that the young man was indeed Joe.  Being drugged, and headed for the boat yards with the sole intention of being taken to an unknown destination out of San Francisco.

“Let’s head towards the boat yard now and see if they have a register as to any ships or vessels leaving the harbour within the last 2 days,” Ben suggested.  Every minute that they wasted now, only played further into Seline’s hand and allowed him to get further away with Joe as his hostage.

“I am afraid I will have to stay here for quite a while yet, Mr Cartwright,” Sergeant Cooper said apologetically.  “I wish I could go with you to sort this matter out sooner, and aid in your search, but my job demands that I remain here at the scene. If your son has been taken out of San Francisco, that leaves my hands tied up.  I would be out of my jurisdiction to use my powers in another city or state.”

“No need to apologize, Sergeant Cooper,” Ben said as he shook the man’s hand in thanks.  “You have helped immensely, especially with your office here.   When we find some more clues we will let you know where we are headed to next.”

“Officer Hunter, you have been more than helpful.   Your actions on that night were not out of character for any police officer and you just might have given us a window of opportunity in tracking down my son and his abductors.   We have a clearer picture now of who might be travelling with Seline, thanks to your good memory,” Ben stated.

“If that Seline character turns up in San Francisco, Mr Cartwright, I will be sure to have him arrested in suspicion of kidnapping.  Although he might have fled the city, if he decides to return, then the charges will stick because your son was taken by force here,” Cooper now said, hoping to give the Cartwright’s a sliver of hope that Seline would be caught and brought to justice.

“You can contact us at the hotel in the evenings if any information about my son should surface.  Leave a message with the Concierge, John Hoskins if we are not there.  He will be glad to pass on any new leads and is already aware of our search,” Adam told Bill Hunter.  The young officer nodded his head in agreement and would certainly do so if the situation arose.

****************************************************

Ben and his two eldest sons now made their way back down the staircase and out of the hotel.   They crossed the busy street once more and the mounted their horses and started rising in the direction of the boat yard.

Ben had an ever feeling of dread settling over him as he thought about Officer Hunter’s version as to how he had seen Joe that night.    At the time Ben had only assumed about the drugging as a logical step that Seline might have taken. 

As he slowly rode down the street, with more time to think, a shiver passed down his spine at Seline’s callousness and brazen attempts to hurt the entire Cartwright family by kidnapping Joe.   He knew that if his son thought his life was in danger he would have put up a struggle.   Joe would not have gone willingly with Seline.

The smell of the salt air as Ben neared the docks brought back good and regretful memories.   It had been a considerable amount of time since he had felt the salt laden breeze on his face and the abrasiveness on his face.    The sea was an experience all of its own.   It could sooth you to sleep on a calm night as the stars guided you through a safe passage to your destination.

The sea was also a jealous mistress at times.   She could rise up to great heights with very little warning and bring fear and destruction crashing down all around you as she battered your sails with her relentless winds and her treacherous waves.   On a stormy night, her voice was like that of a banshee, deafening and screeching her displeasure.

On a calm day, the breeze was like a soft whisper in your ear and a warm caress against your cheek as it ruffled through your hair and spoke of new horizons and dreams of a travelling to new lands and cities.

If Seline had chosen to take Joe by force out of the city, what conditions were they to face once upon the open sea.   He didn’t know of Seline’s destination,

but any journey with an ill-equipped and experienced crew was peril.   He doubted the two men that had travelled with Joe from Peak’s Crossing had any sea-faring experience.  The young woman said to be with them, no doubt would be of little help should trouble ensue on the vessel.

“Were there provisions taken with them?   How long did Seline expect the journey to last?  Were there ample blankets to keep warm and fuel for the vessel? Did Seline rely on a map or compass to make his decisions?  These were all questions Ben asked himself as they rode on, his own days of roving the seas causing him to wonder what precautions, if any, Seline would have taken. 

Once the three arrived at the boat yard, they tethered their horses to a hitching rail and proceeded on foot towards the main shipping office.   The dock was very busy, with wagons laden for ships awaiting departure as well as others being unloaded of their cargos.   San Francisco was a major port to many industries, especially to towns and settlements further inland.   The port was a vital link to the rest of the world and employed a great number of people to keep the operations running smoothly.

A small bell on the door tinkled as they entered the shipping office to make enquiries about boats that might have left the area with Joe smuggled aboard.

A man with sea weathered face greeted them with a smile.  It was plain to see that he had spent the majority of his life on the ocean.

“Howdy, gentlemen, what brings you in here today?” the man asked.   The visitors didn’t look like they were interested in small talk. 

“Good day, Sir, my name is Ben Cartwright and these are my sons Adam and Hoss,” Ben responded.  “We are desperately seeking information about a boat, or any vessel that might have left here within the last three days.”   Ben had begun to tell their reason for being there, when the man interrupted him, recognizing the name.

“Ben Cartwright, you say?” the man said, frowning a little and thinking where he had heard the name.     After a few moments, he realised that he hadn’t heard the name spoken in conversation, but it had been written down on a piece of paper.

“Yes?” Ben replied, seeing the odd look on the man’s face and holding his breathe that the man might already have some much needed information about Joe’s disappearance. 

“Sorry to stop you, but I think there is a message for you here,” the man said, not looking as he spoke, but rifling through a large mound of papers scattered about on the desk in front of him.   “Now where did I see it?” he asked himself, knowing that his office skills left a lot to be desired.  

“You have a message for me?” Ben asked, trying to think who might have left the message.  How long ago had it been left?  What information did it contain and who had left it behind?  Did it have anything to do with Joe’s disappearance?

Ben couldn’t think of any other reason that somebody would leave a note for him.  Perhaps Seline was being even more devious and leaving a ransom demand or gloating at still holding his son captive.

“I apologize about this mess, Mr Cartwright.  I am an old sea dog, belong on the sea I do.  But others disagree and say that I am better off leaving such things to the young folk now.   Ah, here it is,” he announced, retrieving a small yellow envelope.

Ben smiled and nodded at the man’s explanation.  He couldn’t deny that there weren’t times when he thought about his sea-faring days and remembered the sense of freedom and vigour that it had provided when he was younger.   Though, he had been happy away from the sea for many years now and had three grown sons to show for it.  He wasn’t regretful about his choice for a change of lifestyle.

“Don’t rightly remember who left it and it doesn’t have any other name on the front but yours, Mr Cartwright,” the ex-seaman said, handing Ben the envelope.  “I hope its not trouble for you.”

“My son has been kidnapped and we have just learned this morning that his abductors may have taken him out of San Francisco by boat.  We came here to ask for clues to which boat it might have been.  Maybe there is something useful in this note,” Ben explained.

“I am right sorry about your son, Mr Cartwright,” the seaman said.  “Kidnapping is a terrible thing.  Not right to take anything that doesn’t belong to you, especially something as important as a human life.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” Hoss agreed.  Now all of there eyes fell on Ben as they waited for him to scan the details of the message.

The note read:

Ben Cartwright,

Joe is being taken to New Orleans by a man who wishes to do him and you great harm.

I cannot provide any more details at this time as I fear my own life may be in danger if my actions are discovered.

Please travel with all haste.  Do not delay.  Your son needs you.

“That’s all it says,” Ben said as he read the note out loud to the group.  “It isn’t signed to indicate who wrote it.  Not even an initial.”

“New Orleans?   Why would Seline be taking Joe there?” Hoss asked.

Ben sighed audibly, knowing all too well by now how Seline was playing the game of cat and mouse.   “Because that is where Marie was from,” he said simply.  He read the contents of the note one more time before crumpling it in his hands out of anger that was beginning to surface once again.

Adam and Hoss looked at each other with empathy for their father.  Seline was truly out there to hurt their father emotionally, with both the kidnapping of his son, and also by bringing up memories from the past about Marie and her background.

“Whoever wrote the note seems concerned for Joe,” Hoss commented, thankful that author had taken the time.  Though it was clear that they thought they might be in danger as well.  

Ben thought to himself for a moment.  Perhaps the deceased doctor left the message.  But that seemed unlikely due to the time of his death and the times recorded in the hotel log about his movements during the last day or so before he was murdered.

“Maybe one of the other ranch hands that was with Joe noticed something,” Hoss offered forward, but that was even more unlikely than the Doctor.  

“The writing was very neat and legible,” Adam noted, trying to figure out the author by the way the message was written.   “Perhaps the young lady that was with Joe in the carriage and was at the Plaza Hotel when he arrived?”

“That is a good guess, Adam,” Ben acknowledged.  “She could have had more of an opportunity to leave the message than anybody else.  And by the tone of the message, maybe she thought Seline might have been watching her activities.”

“All of this doesn’t help us find which boat they left on, whether a note was left or not,” Hoss said, trying to maintain the focus on finding Joe.  “Which way would they go to New Orleans?”

“They would have to travel to Sacramento by boat and then change transport to either train or stage coach to Saint Louis,” the seaman informed them.   At least he could help in the quickest way to help their missing family member.

“Then that’s what we should do too,” Hoss declared, ready to board the first boat they could find to chase down Joe and the kidnappers before they reached New Orleans.

“There would be a better way for you to go from San Francisco,” the seaman told them.  “The stagecoach leaves here today for Sacramento.  There won’t be another boat headed that way until the day after next.  By then, the stage would already be in Sacramento.   You might be able to catch the train or another stage to Saint Louis from there.”

Ben tried to weight up in his mind which would be the best and fastest method of transport.  If they took the boat, they would have to wait another couple of days.

More precious hours for Seline to get the upper hand and further away with his son.  If they took the stage today, the trip would be arduous and long, but they would be in Sacramento sooner. 

“We will take the stage today.  We have to do anything we can to catch up with Seline to help Joe, no matter how harsh the impending stagecoach journey might be.   We will have to sacrifice a little self comfort in order to save your brother,” Ben said as he made the decision.

Adam and Hoss had no objections to their father’s wishes.  They knew that Joe would be paramount in his mind and he would be willing to forgo things such as money, time away from home, comfort and whatever else was necessary to get his son out of Seline’s clutches.

“I thank you for your information and the message, Sir,” Ben said as he was about to bid the seaman farewell.   “You have been of tremendous help and hopefully Joe will soon be home with his family.”

“Adam, you go back to the hotel and settle the account with John Hoskins and pay whatever maybe outstanding.  Hoss, you talk to whoever runs the livery stable and arrange for Joe’s horse to stay there for as long as necessary.  We will return these mounts today, just before the stage is due to leave,” Ben said to his sons.

“Where will you be, Pa?” Hoss asked, knowing that Ben intended to organise the tickets for the stage.

“I will leave a message at the Police Station for Sergeant Cooper about our plans to travel to Sacramento.   Perhaps another wire could be forwarded to the local Sheriff there, warning him to be on the look out for your brother and Marchant Seline’s party.  I will meet you two at the stage coach office.   The time now is about 2.00pm.  We might have luck on our side and find a stage that is leaving before sundown.”

Once Ben and his sons were mounted on their horses again, they split company, Ben headed in the opposite direction towards the stagecoach office.  Adam and Hoss travelled back down the road they had come to return to the Plaza Hotel.

“Hold on Joseph, I am coming son,” Ben whispered in prayer. 

TO BE CONTINUED

Please forgive the lack of Joe in this chapter.  I needed to focus on how Ben and the boys worked out the clues to finding Joe.  I promise lots of Joe in the next chapter.   The next leg of Joe’s journey with Seline with Ben in pursuit, but a few days behind.  A very important incident will take place in the next chapter that will shape how the rest of the story pans out.

I hope I am not becoming too predictable at guessing what is going to happen.  Seline will begin to change Joe as he originally intended to.  Joe will start to display a change in his personality and behaviour.   These actions, slowly leading him to becoming that RiverBoat Gambler.

Please let me know what you think of the story so far.  I hope you are still reading and enjoying.

JULES

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