THE
BIRTHDAY GIFT
by
Linda Bristow
This story is for distribution to members of the
Internet Adam-Pernell, Internet Bonanza Fan Club only and is in no way intended
to infringe on the copyright of "BONANZA"
My thanks to the following people for their
assistance in competing this story.
Kathy Eriksen
- her never ending sources of information.
Barbara Peeling - her medical expertise of which
I have none.
Michelle Killie - my chief editor and American
linguist.
Margie Johnson - for convincing me I could do
this and all her encouragement.
Vicki Christian Gwyther and Patricia
Thompson-Dumas - whose epic masterpieces enticed me to start somewhere.
Pernell Roberts - for being the person that he
is, because his performances in Bonanza encouraged me to write this.
Lorne Greene, Dan Blocker and Michael Landon -
who may be gone but never forgotten.
The setting for this story is a few weeks after
Adam was found by his father and brothers injured in the camp of Ruth
Halverson, THE SAVAGE. It also explains
how Adam became sick and nearly died in ELIZABETH, MY LOVE.
It is not necessary to have seen these episodes,
but the story does interconnect with them.
CHAPTER 1
Adam woke with a start, as he sat upright the
sheets fell off his body to pool across the top of his thighs. After blinking a few times he chuckled to
himself, the expression on his face changing from puzzlement to a big smile of
delight as he remembered what day it was.
This was the one day of the week that his father let he, and his two
brothers, Hoss and Joe sleep in. Adam
saw the early morning sun shining through the windows and noticed it was the
usual time he had to get out of
bed. Even on Saturdays there was no
avoiding waking up at the regular time.
The only time he ever slept in was if he’d been out late on Friday
night, which was rare. Adam’s social
life was limited, but by his own choice.
He didn’t go out of his way not to go out but it wasn’t a big a deal to
him like it was to his brother Joe. His little brother made sure that he was
out every Friday night. Adam smiled to
himself as he thought of what Joe’s head might be feeling like this
morning. He’d heard him stumbling up the
hallway to his room very late last night.
Their father didn’t approve of excessive drinking but would usually turn
a blind eye where his youngest son was concerned.
He flopped back onto the pillow and gave a big,
loud yawn as he stretched. The hard
muscles on his body rippled with movement as he extended his long arms and
legs, then folded his hands under his head.
"Saturday" he murmured to himself, gazing at the ceiling. He
had decided last night that he would take a ride into
With his father’s full support, Adam was always
trying to find ways to improve the productivity of the ranch and the books he’d
ordered contained the latest agricultural information available. Pasture improvement being one of the latest
to come under his scrutiny after he had read some articles in the newspapers
his father received from
Windmills had been another, he remembered but
that had never panned out. His trip to
see them had been interrupted by circumstances. Adam quickly changed his train
of thought, the windmills brought up too many unpleasant. memories. He didn’t want to dwell on them at the
moment, for they involved his beloved Ruth.
When Adam returned from college, his father had
encouraged him to become involved in the running of the ranch. Ben knew that he had a quick mind and wanted
his eldest son’s new ideas and input on the workings of the ranch. He encouraged the same from Hoss and Little
Joe but it was Adam whom he relied on the most.
Aside from the fact that Adam had always wanted to go back east to
study, it had taken a lot of convincing by Marie, Ben’s third wife, before Ben
had agreed. At the time Ben didn’t
think that Adam was responsible enough to go east alone but he had shown his
father, in the months preceding Marie’s death, that he could be trusted. When Marie died, Adam had taken over the
responsibility of his brothers and the ranch because Ben had been devastated by
her death. Adam had then taken two years
before he finally went to college.
Neither Hoss nor Joe envied Adam and his extra schooling, although Joe
had missed his eldest brother while he had been away. When Adam did return the relationship between
them had become strained. Adam still
remembered his brother as Little Joe and tried to protect him as much as he
could. Joe, on the other hand, wanted to
be in control of his own life and resented Adam’s help.
Sitting up in bed, Adam thought he might as well
get an early start. Reaching for his
jeans, which he’d slung over the chair the night before, he slipped them on
while still sitting on his bed. He ran
his hand over his face and felt his chin. Stubble roughly scratched his hand
and he decided that a shave would be a good idea as well as a bath and clean
clothes. His shirt was left hanging over
the chair, his father shouldn’t mind if he didn’t wear it to the breakfast
table, after all he was going to take a bath straight after. He’d wait and see what happened. If his father insisted on a shirt then he’d
put one on but if nothing were said he’d stay as he was. Adam smiled at the past lectures he and his
brothers had received from their father on that subject.
Ben Cartwright always insisted his three sons
make themselves respectable at the dining table. Even after a hard day’s work he expected them
to wash and tidy themselves before sitting down for their meals. Adam was no
trouble. There had never been any
problems in this regard because he had either Inger or Marie to check his hands
and face as a young boy. Hoss and Little
Joe were a different matter all together.
Aside from slamming the front door when they came into the house, much
to Ben’s annoyance, he had to remind them constantly to wash before every
meal. Sadly neither woman had been able
to spend much time to work with the boys on that matter. Hoss hadn’t known his
mother and Joe too young to learn to have made a habit out of it before his
mother had died in a riding accident.
Adam padded to the door in his jeans and bare
feet. He quietly opened the door, so as
not to disturb the rest of his family.
As he opened the door and stepped out into the corridor, he collided with
his father, who had just come from his room on his way downstairs.
"Sorry Pa, you're up early."
"I’m sorry too son and so are you. Something going on today I should know
about?" Ben questioned his son, giving him one of his piercing looks. He knew that Saturday was sleep in day for
his family, and was surprised that Adam was up and about so early. Usually if Adam woke early, he’d spend most
of the morning reading one of his favorite books in bed.
Many a
time he’d gone into Adam’s room and found him with his nose in a book, not
bothering to even look out his window to see what the day was like. He was
curious to know why today was different.
"No, just want to get into town early
that's all." Adam said, giving one of his rare smiles to his father.
"Oh?" Ben asked, waiting for his son
to explain himself.
"Yeah, my parcel from
"Which ones were they again son?"
asked Ben, as they walked down the hallway.
Both men nearly the same height but Adam wider in the shoulders and
chest.
"
"Oh that."
"Yeah that." said Adam getting a
little annoyed. Trust his father not to
be listening when he told him about the new grass seed.
"You weren't listening when I told you
about them were you?"
"Don't get your feathers ruffled so early
in the morning Adam, I'd just forgotten about them.
Come to think of it now, didn't I say I'd look
at them when they arrived?"
"Yeah, sure." grunted Adam, then
instantly sorry he had. He knew how busy
his father was and for him to remember a conversation from a few weeks ago was
a little unreasonable. Although Adam had taken over a lot of the financial paperwork
and kept an eye on the running of the ranch his father still had plenty to deal
with each day.
Ben stopped walking. looked his son in the eye,
hands on his hips. Adam could see his
father’s anger and dropped his eyes to his feet.
"Adam," the agitation showing in his
voice "You know I'm always open to your suggestions regarding anything to
do with the Ponderosa, so don't get snappy with me."
"Sorry
Ben threw his arm across his eldest son's
shoulders. "Now son, let's go down
for some breakfast and I promise I will read the books and give it some good
thought…once you've studied them too and worked out a plan of action, of
course.
"But of course.” Adam said with a smile, relieved his father
was back in a good mood. He never liked
to anger his father and tried to maintain an even relationship with him. That had proved to be difficult for both of
them in the past, both were as stubborn as each other. Ben knew which side of the family that trait
came from.
Adam and Ben continued their way down the
stairs, as always Hop Sing, their Chinese cook had breakfast ready and waiting
for them.
"Did you tell Hop Sing what time we needed
breakfast today Pa?"
"No.”
“How does he do that?” Said Adam, shaking his head in disbelief.
No matter what the time in the morning,
breakfast was always ready for them.
Ben opened his mouth to tell Adam to put a shirt
on. Suddenly he remembered that last night, while at dinner, Adam had asked Hop
Sing to have a bath ready for him after breakfast. He knew Adam enjoyed his baths and held his
comment back.
"Mr Adam, your bath water ready when you
ready."
"Thanks Hop Sing, I'll just eat this and
get my gear." Said Adam as he sat
down to a big plate full of eggs, bacon and toast. He started to quickly hoe into them. Ben watched his son eat and shook his head. Then he remembered why he wanted to speak to
Adam this morning.
"Adam, while you're in town could you stop
by the telegraph office? There should be
a message due in from
"Sure
"Adam, I know you're eager to get to those
books, but did you actually taste breakfast?" Joked Ben, a grin on his face.
Adam looked at his father and returned the grin
with a slight smile. "Thanks Hop
Sing, it was good."
Adam turned, strode across the room and took the
stairs two at a time. His bare feet treading silently on the stairs. For a big man Adam could move as silently as
a cougar, thanks to his spare time as a youth, spent with the Paiute
Indians. They’d taught him how to track,
hunt and move the Indian way.
"Hop Sing, at least I can sit and enjoy
breakfast." It never ceased to
amaze him how quickly his sons could eat.
Adam not so bad as Hoss, but this morning was different. He smiled to himself as he thought of Hoss
and his eating. Out of all his sons, he
could really put away his food, not one helping but usually two or three. Many a time his brothers had sat back in awe
of his appetite. If they had tried to
eat the same amount of food they’d be sick.
Hop Sing looked at Ben, while he cleared Adam’s
dishes away, "Thank you Mr Ben,
today Mr. Adam like Hop Sing food, just like Mr Hoss."
Ben laughed, then continued to eat his breakfast
at a leisurely pace. As usual Hop Sing’s
cooking was first rate. But then he’d
been part of the family for so long that he knew what food each man enjoyed.
Back in his room Adam began collecting his gear
for his visit to the bathroom. Thanks to
his years at college, Adam had become particular about bathing. He enjoyed bathing and the feel of clean,
fresh clothes. On the ranch getting
dirty was a way of life, but Adam tried his hardest to make sure he looked
respectable. It was a habit which Hoss
enjoyed joking him about.
As he left his room he stopped, carefully
checking the hallway for any unexpected encounters, one collision was enough
for one day. He knew that Joe wouldn’t
be up at this hour after his late night and the only other person he was likely
to run into was his big, younger brother Hoss.
Running into Hoss would sit Adam on his backside.
Seeing
the way clear, he stepped out of his room, his arms filled with what he needed
for the day. He made his way to the
water closet, a small smile just touching his lips.
Having sensed, rather than heard Adam walking
down the stairs, Ben looked up from the newspaper he was reading in his
favorite chair. As he watched him, he
suddenly remembered that Adam's birthday was next Saturday. His eldest son was a week short of
thirty. He could still remember the day
he was born back in
A bit
too guarded with his feelings but that’s to be expected after all he’s had to
endure as a young boy. He studied his son closely; noticing that his eyes were
still without the light that used to shine so brightly in them.
With his shirt off, Ben could see Adam’s face
and body were well tanned. Often times
he’d stripped off his shirt, while working in the hot sun. His chest and shoulders were well muscled
from the heavy work around the ranch and there wasn’t an ounce of fat on his
body. It was an ongoing joke between
Adam and Little Joe as to whose muscles were the biggest.
Joe and
Adam had told Hoss to stay out of the argument because his size meant he didn’t
count. It wasn’t often Adam and Joe saw
eye to eye; this had been a rare occasion.
Ben smiled to himself as he watched Adam struggle to avoid dropping his
clothes.
Adam's workload had been lightened due to his
injured leg. His bruises and leg had
healed and there was no sign of the limp, which he’d carried the past few weeks
but Ben noticed that Adam would often look towards the mountains, his face sad
and eyes haunted. The loss of Ruth had hit his eldest son hard.
He and Adam had had a fierce argument regarding
The Shoshoni had returned the two days later,
desperately wanting Ruth, who was known to them as White Medicine Woman, to
come to their village but by this time she and Adam had fallen in love. When he’d learned of her death, Adam had been
overcome with guilt. There had been a
way to escape the Shoshoni, but for some reason, unbeknown to Ben, they had not
left her camp when the opportunity arose.
Ben asked for the reason from Adam but he had simply shaken his head and
turned away, but not before he’d seen the pain in Adam’s eyes. Now she was dead and Adam was still blaming
himself. Despite Ben and his two son’s
efforts, they couldn’t ease Adam’s pain of the loss of her.
When they had found him, disoriented in Ruth’s
camp, Adam had pleaded that he be able to go after her, but Ben had convinced
him that to do so would put her in danger.
Instead Ben had asked his friend, Chief Winnemuca of the Paiute's to
find out any information about Ruth if he could. The Chief had returned with the bad news,
that not many of the Shoshoni had survived the epidemic that had swept their
village.
Many of
the women and children had died, including a white woman. It was not certain
whether it was Ruth or not because all the bodies had been buried as quickly as
possible to avoid any further spread of the disease. There was no trace of her,
and Adam was certain that if she was alive she would have come to him by
now. He had told her of his father and
brothers and where the ranch was.
Wanting her to become comfortable with being part of his family and
knowing that they would welcome her, as his wife, with open arms.
Ben was pleased to see him with a faint smile on
his face. At least Adam's mind was off
Ruth, for a while. The books, which were
the other love of his life, created a pleasant distraction.
"Will you be staying in town tonight
Adam?"
Adam stopped by his father's chair. He leaned on the back, deep in thought.
"Not
sure yet
"Tomorrow’s fine." replied Ben
"Okay." said Adam and left for the
long awaited bath and shave.
CHAPTER 2
Ben sat back, enjoying reading his paper in
peace until he heard Hoss and Little Joe clattering down the stairs. As usual there was a familiar tone to their
conversation. He enjoyed the teasing banter between his two younger sons, if
only Adam would join in he’d be happier.
He noticed that once again they were back discussing tonight’s dance.
The same subject had come up last night at the dinner table.
"Joe, there is no way you're gonna get past
Mr Hanson to see Becky." Hoss had seen Mr Hanson’s face after the last
dance in which Little Joe had been involved in a ruckus. He wasn’t too happy about the association
between Little Joe and his daughter continuing. His daughter’s reputation was
nearly embarrassing after being with Joe Cartwright.
"Do you want to have a bet on that
Hoss? How about $50?" Little Joe replied quickly, rising quickly to
Hoss’ tease. Unbeknown to his older
brother, Joe knew that Becky had been pestering her father into allowing them
to go together to tonight’s dance. She
had told him she was certain she’d won him over. Like most daughters they could wrap their
father around their little finger when they wanted to. Joe had laughed when he heard her say
that. He could do the same with his
father if he really tried hard. He’d
been able to do the same with his mother, Marie when she was still alive, much
to his older brother’s annoyance.
"Joe, after last night you ain't got
$50." Hoss declared. After Joe’s Friday nights in town, gambling
and drinking in the saloons, Hoss knew Joe would always be short of money. There was no way he’d have $50 left; he
wasn’t that good a poker player. He
smiled to himself because neither was he.
Adam, with his controlled expressions, was the best player amongst the
Cartwright boys.
"Joseph, what's that about a bet and last
night? Have you been gambling in town
again, even though I specifically told you not to? What time did you get in last night?" Ben raised his head from the paper and eyed
his youngest son. He disliked his sons
gambling, especially Joe. Adam could
hold his own in a poker game because no one could tell whether he was bluffing
or not. Hoss was too easily read and
never bothered to play, Little Joe was another matter. He took too many chances and would loose his
weekly salary in one night, if his older brothers let him.
"
"Morning Hoss."
"Er nothing
“Have you asked Mr Hanson?" Ben knew that he hadn’t been off the ranch
all week because of the roundup. He
wanted to know what Joe would say.
Laughing out loud, Hoss replied for Little
Joe, "
"Well Joseph, you’d better ask Mr Hanson
this morning hadn't you? That way if he
says no, Becky can still go to the dance with someone else. Somehow I don’t
think he’d mind her going without you." Ben watched his youngest son’s
face fall, knowing full well from Adam and Hoss that Joe hadn’t started the
fight but was caught up when a stray punch landed on his jaw. He’d thrown one back and got further
involved, more than he wanted to.
"But Pa, it wasn't my fault what happened
at the last dance. Besides I don't want
her to go with anyone else. I really
like Becky." Out of all the girls
in town, Joe enjoyed Becky’s company the most.
Her face would light up whenever she smiled and she always laughed at
his silly jokes.
"No buts Joseph - this morning and that's
final."
Adam, who had walked into the end of the
conversation said "Joe little buddy, you need your head read if you think
Frank Hanson’s going to let you go out with Becky again." He gave a small laugh. He’d been in the store when Hanson had found
out about the fight at the previous dance.
Hanson had ranted and raved, vowing never to let his daughter be seen in
Joe’s company again.
Quickly
turning on Adam, Joe snapped back.
"You stay out of this Adam."
Irritated that Adam was amused by his problem with Becky’s father.
Adam had
warned him to be careful and stay on his best behavior, but the fight hadn’t
been his fault last month. He hated when
Adam was right and, of course, this was one of them.
Ben watched the exchange between his two sons,
wondering how Adam would handle Joe. If
he could get through this argument with his little brother, he was on the way
to recovering from Ruth’s death. So far
Adam had avoided any form of confrontation with his family, he didn’t want to
loose control of his feelings.
Hoss was
about to step in to break them up when Ben quickly grabbed his sleeve, tugging
to get his attention. When he gave his
father a quick glance Ben shook his head.
"Sure Joe.’ Continued Adam, “What time will you be in town?"
"What do you want to know that for?"
snapped Joe, still irritated by Adam and the line of questions. He wasn’t too sure whether Adam was going to
say anything about the late night and that made him edgy.
"I'll pass by Hanson's store and pick you
up off the street. Mind you I don't
think I'll have much to pick up by the time Becky’s Pa’s finished with
you." With the hint of a smile,
Adam turned and started climbing the stairs.
"Where are you all fixed up so early to go
Adam?"
"Just into town that's all Hoss." Adam said lightly over his shoulder.
"What? Now?” Hoss asked. He knew Adam liked early starts but to go
into town this early meant that there was something Adam was up to. He wondered what it was but knew his brother
well enough to know he wouldn’t just come straight out and say what it
was. You had to pry to get Adam to open
up, unless he wanted you to know.
"Yes, I just wanted an early start so that
I'd have some breakfast on my plate to eat.
By the time you two get through there's never anything left for anyone
else." Hoss gave Adam a huge smile,
glad to see him sharing a joke. There
had been very few light moments with his brother over the past weeks and he was
as concerned about him as he knew his father was. Adam was always quiet and kept pretty much to
himself but he had been more so lately.
He wanted his old brother back, the one he could talk to late at night
when he needed to. Adam had kept his
door locked ever since he’d come home.
Hoss hated locked doors.
Little Joe glared at his older brother. He could enjoy a joke with Hoss but when it
was Adam who made the joke and he was right it made him mad. "That's
because we've been doing your share of work too Adam." Joe began, still
angry with him.
Adam stopped halfway up the stairs. Ben could see Adam's shoulders stiffen, his
hands clenched into tight fists. Angrily
Ben turned to Little Joe, trying desperately to warn him off from continuing
.He couldn’t believe how Joe could be so insensitive at a time like this. He heard Hoss suck in his breath. Turning around slowly, Adam gave his brother
a withering look.
"Would you like to say that again Joe,
only this time to my face?" Adam’s
voice was menacingly soft, devoid of emotion, his eyes hard, body like a set
bear trap ready to snap shut on his little brother.
"Joseph…." Ben said sternly. Joe looked at his father, who he could tell
was angry. Ben’s eyes blazed out at him from under his frown. Joe looked back at Adam in horror, aware
that he had gone too far. He could tell
Adam was even angrier than his father was.
Any other time Adam would've let his comment roll off him and come back
with something just as quickly and twice as cutting.
Little Joe hadn't meant to hurt him but what
he’d said sounded harsher then intended.
He immediately felt sorry.
Although Adam hadn’t said anything specifically to any of his family,
they all knew how he felt about Ruth’s death.
"No Adam, I'm sorry I said that. It's been a hard few weeks while you've been
healing, that's all."
Only Joseph could put his foot in his mouth and
get his brother upset the way he’d done.
"Little Joe didn't mean nuthin by that
Adam. Besides I've been doin most of
your chores anyways, so he's got nuthin to whine about. Have you Little Joe?" Hoss volunteered, trying to simmer the
situation. He could see how wound up
Adam was and wanted to calm him down as quickly as possible. If Adam started a fight with Joe, in his
state of mind, it’d take both him and Ben to separate them. He knew who’d come out the worst from a
fight.
"That's right Adam, I’m so very sorry. It was a stupid thing to say and I really
didn’t mean it. I really
didn’t." Joe said sincerely. Having a fight with Adam was always around
the corner, but he’d really cut him with his stupid comment and felt guilty for
having done it.
Adam
struggled to control his anger and wanting to avoid any further words, he
turned and started back up the stairs. He
stopped at the next step, gripping the railing until his knuckles turned
white. Quietly he said, "I had a good reason Joe, a very good
reason." He looked at his
father. "I'll being staying in town
tonight after all
"Fine Adam.
Enjoy yourself in town today.”
Adam continued up the stairs, his movements’
stiff with barely contained anger. He
strode into his room, closing the door quietly behind him but really wanting to
slam it. He didn’t because he didn’t
want Joe to have the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten to him. He cursed to himself, knowing that Joe had
done just that.
Angrily he sat on the bed and pulled his socks
and boots on. Next a clean, white shirt and black ribbon tie, which Hop Sing
had left out for him, neatly pressed. He
noted that once again Hop Sing had done an excellent job on his shirt and
wanted to tell him so, but not wanting to go down stairs just yet. He was just too angry with Joe and wanted to
avoid him for a long as possible.
Joe’s comment had brought all his feelings about
Ruth back to the surface. The pain and
sadness he felt for Ruth and what they might have had cut through him. He
didn’t know whether he could survive her loss without loosing his mind, he had
given his whole heart and soul to her.
The guilt and remorse he felt for not leaving, when they should have,
was slowly destroying him.
He remembered Chief Winnemuca words about her
death, that he’d seen your body in the village.
He hadn’t told his father about that.
The Chief had told it to him, after his father had walked away. The Chief had felt it was only Adam who would
want to know for he had seen the anguish on Adam’s face when he mentioned a
white woman’s body had been found.
Chief Winnemuca had known Adam since he’d arrive
in the valley with his father and young brother. Adam, the ever-curious boy that he was, had
made friends with the Paiute. He and
Young Wolf, the Chief’s son had become close friends in their early years on
the ranch. The Chief had even given Adam
his Paiute name of He Who Thinks Much.
Adam lowered his head into his hands. He stayed there, letting the tears flow
silently for the first time since he’d come home, for how long he didn't
know.
Finally he raised his head and wiped his wet
face with both hands. “I've got to get
over you, I can't live like this anymore.
One way or the other it must end.” He said aloud to himself. His thoughts drifted back to that fateful
day. The day by the river when he had
given Ruth the ring he'd made for her…
She had watched him shave with a razor of her
father’s she’d found in the old trunk kept at the back of her hut. When he’d
cut himself on the chin, she’d laughed and suggested that it would be safer if
he let his beard grow. Adam had seen her
face light up with a smile that brought a smile to his face. He instantly fell
in love with her, a strong, independent woman.
When
she’d told her story of how she came to be on the mountain, alone, called White
Medicine Woman by the Indians, he had held her in his arms to comfort her. Telling her story to him had brought dark,
hidden memories to the surface, which had frightened her. She had raised her head, gazed deeply into
his eyes trying to see the hate she felt he must feel for her. Instead she found only love and
compassion. They had kissed passionately
and out of the corner of his eye, he’d seen the Shoshoni arrive at her camp.
There was an illness sweeping their village and
they wanted White Medicine Woman to save them for they believed her to be a
spirit. Ruth and Adam both realized the danger she was in should she decide to
go with them. Ruth told them they would
have her answer in the morning. Once they were alone, Adam had suggested they
leave as soon as it was dark, to avoid the Indians.
They were supposed to have left camp that night,
but after the Shoshoni had gone late in the afternoon, Ruth had turned to him
and kissed him passionately, looking him directly in the face. She had known the Shoshoni wouldn’t let her
leave but said nothing to Adam, afraid of what he might try to do. Ruth knew
his injuries were worse than he thought, his body slowly recovering from the
ordeal, still weak. He would be no match
for a Shoshoni brave, they would have kill him instantly.
"Adam, love me."
"Ruth I do love you so very, very
much."
"No Adam… love me."
"Ruth...?" he questioned, knowing what
she meant but not sure she understood the full consequences.
"Yes Adam, make love to me, now, for I fear
there may never be another time again."
"Are you sure Ruth? You do know you may become with child if we
do this." In his heart Adam wanted
to but he needed to know Ruth was certain about what she was asking.
"I know Adam, but we will always be
together when we leave tonight, but first...."
Gently Ruth reached out for his hand and led him
into her hut. They kissed, holding each
other close. Adam regarded Ruth deeply,
searching in her eyes, her face for any fear of what they were about to do.
She
smiled. "Yes Adam." Holding her arms open to him.
Then he knew that making love was right. He kissed her neck and she shivered. Her hands ran gently across his chest,
feeling the softness of the hair, the firmness of the muscles underneath. Ruth gently pushed him away from her and
started to undress him. Adam reached over and did the same to her, caressing
her body with his hands, his eyes, enjoying seeing her naked for the first
time. She had no fear of him when she
saw him naked, standing before her.
They
kissed again, their breathing becoming faster. With their bodies pressed firmly
together, Adam gently lowered her onto the furs on her bed. Adam needed all his fortitude to control
himself until he heard Ruth cry out for him.
Their passion met, carrying them along in waves of ecstasy. They clung together, each content,
comfortable with the other. During the
night when they had woken, reached for the other, they had met each other's
desires with the same intensity as the first.
Late the next morning Adam woke first, leaning
on one elbow he looked down at the woman he knew he wanted for his wife. Waves of extreme love, of wanting to protect
her, keep her safe in his arms swept over him.
He’d never felt this way about a woman before. He wanted to wake her up, to tell her how he
felt, then decided against it knowing that they’d have the rest of their lives
together for him to tell her everyday that he loved her. He’d always kept his feelings at a distance,
hidden, not wanting to let anyone get close to him, to hurt him. But this time,
this was different. He finally
understood how his father had felt about his mother.
Softly, as he looked back down a her face he
said “You're a very lucky man Adam
Cartwright, to have such a beautiful woman love you.” Ruth's head lay surrounded by her golden hair,
her breasts rising and falling with each breath, a content smile playing on her
lips.
Suddenly
she opened her eyes, having sensed that someone was looking at her. She stared straight into Adam's warm dark
eyes. The love that she had seen in
them last night was still there. Smiling at her, he tenderly kissed her sweet
lips. Ruth returned his smile, her face
glowing with her love for him.
"Good morning my love." He said as he gently let his fingers caress
her face, wanting to sear her image in his mind forever. Adam continued the caress down her neck,
softly across her shoulder and breast.
She felt her skin tingle at his touch, not wanting him to stop.
"Good morning to you too my
love." Ruth replied, her voice
quivering.
As Adam watched her face the expression on it
changed from one of happiness to fear as
realization suddenly crossed her mind. Her eyes darted from Adam’s face to the
doorway, it was light. "Oh no Adam,
it's late, we should have gone last night.
The Shoshoni will be able to track us in the light." Fear shone on
her face. Now that it was light, the
Shoshoni would never let them leave.
Even if they tried, with only one horse it was going to be slow and
dangerous. Ruth was afraid, for Adam more so than herself. She knew they would kill him for being a
white man who brought the disease amongst them.
"Never mind Ruth, we can leave
tonight. I rather enjoyed what we did
instead." Adam said with a look of
contentment and a cheeky grin on his face. He tried to reassure her, even
though in the back of his mind he knew she was right. They should have traveled in the night.
Ruth shyly smiled back. "So did I Adam, but the Shoshoni...”
Adam leaned over and smothered the rest of the sentence with a long kiss. Ruth wrapped her arms around his body,
enjoying the feel of his skin, his smell so different from hers. The hairs on his chest tickled her nose and
she laughed.
"I'm hungry." Adam said breaking apart from another, more
intense kiss. "How about I put some
clothes on and see if I can catch some fish for breakfast? I'll leave you to get dressed, although I’d
rather stay and watch,” a grin on his face, “I can’t get enough of you. When you’re ready meet me down by river, near
the log you showed me yesterday."
"Alright Adam." Ruth was still showing concern about the
Shoshoni, but happy to have Adam nears her.
Although she lived alone for as long as she had, she enjoyed the
feelings of security Adam gave her. She
knew she was going to enjoy their life together, even if it was just with him
and she never saw anyone else.
"I'll have a surprise for you when you
arrive Ruth." He said while
struggling into his jeans.
"Ow."
He said as he hurt his leg on the rough fabric.
Ruth laughed.
"My brave warrior." She
said, as he hobbled out of the hut.
Her face had lit up when he’d given her the
ring, saying that it meant that he wanted to marry her, for her to be his
wife. How they had both laughed about
'the obey' in the vows. She said she
wanted to think about obeying. How they
never got to think about it...together.
Adam stood up from the bed and walked to his
desk, hesitating before opening the top drawer.
Inside, at the very back was a small package - the ring, wrapped in soft
cloth. Adam looked at it, hesitant to
touch it, but knowing he had to. His
fingers gently brushed the cloth.
Slowly, reluctantly he closed the drawer, shutting the images from his
mind. Wanting to shut them from his
heart. Raising his trembling hands to
his face, he brushed away the tears, which had started to roll down his face.
He
turned, walked to the mirror to brush his hair.
As he reached for the brush there was a firm
knock at his door.
"What is it?" Barked Adam.
If it was Little Joe wanting to come in and talk, he’d decided he wasn't
going to let him say another word. What
had been said was already too much for him to handle.
Ben heard the sharpness and pain in Adam's
voice. He hesitated before answering,
should he continue or leave him alone.
He steeled himself, knowing that he had to enter, for his son’s
sake. "It's me Adam, may I come
in?"
"It's unlocked." Adam said shortly. He had been expecting his father, knew he
wanted to help heal the rift between his sons.
The door opened and as Ben walked slowly in Adam
turned his head towards his father. Taking
a quick glance at Adam’s face, it said it all.
By the expression on his face Ben could see he was very upset. Adam turned back to the mirror, not wanting
to meet his father eyes and started to brush his hair - unsure whether he
wanted to listen to his father.
"Adam..." Ben began, but Adam quickly
cut his sentence off.
"Pa, don't say anything. Nothing.... nothing will help. Just leave it alone, in fact leave me
alone. I have to get out of this house.
I'll get the telegraph if it's there for you.”
"Thank you son." He put his hand on Adam's shoulder, wanting
to offer some physical comfort. Adam
shrugged it off and stormed out. Ben
followed him out of his room and down the stairs.
He didn’t want him to go into town, not in this
state, but was powerless to stop him.
His eldest son was old enough to make his own decisions.
As Adam
strode across the great room to the door, Little Joe and Hoss stopped talking
and watched him. Adam glared at Joe, but
said nothing. Joe opened his mouth to
speak but Hoss grabbed his arm and shook his head. By the time Little Joe had looked back from
Hoss, Adam had picked up his gunbelt, hat and coat and hurried out the door,
slamming it behind him.
Hoss and
Little Joe watched their father walk slowly down the stairs. The expression on his face indicating that
he hadn’t been able to reason with his eldest son. Without giving his two remaining sons a
glance, he strode over to his chair and sat down.
Ben
reached over to the table, picked up his newspaper and settled into the
chair. The paper rustled loudly in the
quiet room, the ticking from the grandfather clock was the only other noise.
Joe began "Pa...."
"Joseph, I don't want another word said
about this, do you understand?” Ben said
bluntly, barely controlling his anger.
"
"It's too late for sorry son, too
late."
Little Joe raised his head to look across the
table at his other brother, waiting to see if he’d say anything. Hoss began to dig at his breakfast, moving
the food around with his fork. He pushed
the plate across the table and threw the knife and fork down with a loud
clatter. Little Joe realized then that
not only were Adam and Pa angry with him but also Hoss. Hoss was upset enough not to finish his
breakfast.
CHAPTER 3
As he strode purposefully across the room to the
door, Adam could feel his father's and brothers' eyes on him. His gun belt was on the sideboard, reaching
for it he decided to buckle it on outside.
Grabbing his hat and coat down off the hook he left the room, needing to
get away from them as quickly as he could.
He couldn’t control himself enough to say a word, so he said nothing.
If anyone had spoken to him he knew he would
have said things that he’d later regret.
Outside he stopped by the hitching rail and
slowly let the air out of his lungs.
Taking a deep breath, he hadn't realized that he had been holding
it. He threw his hat and coat on and
buckled the gun belt up while he strode across the yard to the barn.
Inside Sport, his favorite horse nickered to
him. Adam walked to him and gave him a
long pat. He closed his eyes and lent
his forehead against the horse’s neck.
Taking a few more deep breaths to calm himself, he opened his eyes. "Let's go to town boy. The ride’ll do us both good." He said as he saddled the horse. He led Sport out of the barn and as he
grabbed the saddle to swing himself up he looked over the top, noticed his
father had come outside and was standing on the porch, watching him.
Ben raised his hand in farewell as Adam turned
and rode out, not bothering to return the wave.
He lowered his arm slowly.
"I can't help you son. You
have to get over this yourself. Just
like I had to. You have to find your own
peace of mind, I hope you can - for your sake.
Just remember I’m here for you.”
‘Damn’ thought Adam as he rode out of the
yard. He knew he should have waved to
his father,
even though it wasn't his fault he’d still taken
it out on him. In fact it wasn't Joe's
either. It was his own wallowing in
self-pity and guilt about Ruth, which had caused the argument.
Adam noticed that when he’d pushed off to swing
into the saddle, the muscle in his leg hadn't twinged at all. With his leg healed he knew he had to get the
rest of him healed, to get over Ruth.
“Snap out of it Adam Cartwright."
He said out aloud. Sport's ears
flicked back at the sound of his voice.
"Come on boy let's have a run." Adam said as he gave the horse a flick with
his heels. Sport quickly responded and
in no time both rider and horse were tearing down the road, wind whipping in
their faces.
"Slow up Sport." Adam said as he eased back on the reins, the
town buildings just coming into sight.
The horse slowed its pace until he was at a walk. Both Adam and Sport were breathing hard. "That felt good boy, really good."
said Adam and he did feel better than when he’d left home. They continued the walk into town; the man
and horse enjoying the cool of the morning, Adam letting the horse cool down.
Adam rode
through the streets and stopped in front of the livery stable. As he climbed down from his horse, Zac the
owner walked out from the stable, wiping his hands on his apron.
“Hello Adam, you’re in town early today.” He
said, reaching for the reins as Adam handed them to him.
“Yeah Zac, bed Sport down for the night will
you. Oh and give him a good measure of oats and a good rub down Zac, I gave him
a bit of a run on the way in." Adam
flicked a dollar bit to Zac as he led the horse away.
"Sure thing Adam. You sure you won't be needing him again
today?"
Zac’s
father had owned the livery and on his death five years ago, Zac had inherited
the business. Ben had been reluctant, at
first, to use his livery because Zac was inexperienced and it had taken a few
words in his father’s ear by Adam to convince him to trust Zac. Since then he and Adam had become best
friends and his business had thrived because the Cartwrights kept using it.
"No I'll be right. I'm staying in town tonight."
"Going to tie one on Adam or go to the
dance?" Zac had known Adam for
years and could tell by his expression that Adam was troubled.
"Maybe both Zac, maybe both."
Although he felt like it he decided he'd better
not get drunk, not if Joe was coming into town to speak to Frank Hanson. He didn't want Joe to see him drunk; he never
let anyone from his family ever see him drunk.
There’d been plenty of times since Ruth’s death when he’d had too many
and stayed in town to sleep them off. His father never asked questions when he
came home the next day but the way Ben looked at him, Adam felt he knew. All Ben asked of him was that he was paying
him a full day’s wages, he expected a full day’s work.
Adam walked out of the livery and strolled
crossed the street to the mercantile.
"Hello Adam." Pete said, as he walked in the store, the
bell over the door giving a tinkle.
"I'll be right with you."
He turned back to continue serving the woman who was standing in front
of the counter. She turned around at the
mention of Adam's name and smiled up at him.
"Why Hello Adam."
"Hello Susan, nice to see you." He gave her a brief smile, which didn't touch
his eyes, then looked away. He didn’t
feel like talking to Susan, not today anyway.
"Nice to see you too Adam. I haven't seen you for quite a while. Are you going to the dance tonight because I
think you’re a bit early if you are.” She said with a soft laugh.
"I don't think so."
"Oh?
I haven't seen you since our last dance.
Why not Adam Cartwright?"
Susan was disappointed he wasn’t going and it showed. Adam usually filled a number of places on her
dance card and he was an excellent dancer.
She enjoyed his company and made a point of letting him know whenever
they were together.
"I've not wanted to go Susan, as simple as
that." Said Adam sharply.
"Alright Adam, I'm sorry I
asked." She said softly, hurt by
his tone of voice. They’d know each
other for years and she hadn’t expected him to treat her the way he did.
"Sorry Susan, I seem to be apologizing a
lot today and it's still only early."
Adam confessed, feeling bad about snapping at her. He could tell by the sad expression on her
face that he’d hurt her feelings.
Susan deliberately turned her back on Adam and
spoke curtly to Pete. "Are you finished yet, I'd like to go now?"
"Yes Miss Susan, here you are. That's twenty five cents."
"There you are. Good-bye Pete." She said, ignoring Adam,
who stood behind her, his eyes fixed firmly on his boots.
Susan turned quickly, brushing by Adam.
"Susan...” Adam began, "I'm
............"
"Goodbye Adam." It was her turn to be sharp. 'I deserved that.' he thought.
"Adam what'll it be?" said Pete,
feeling the tension between them but not knowing what to do.
Adam continued to look after Susan as she left
the shop, remembering the good times they'd had. He decided he wanted more of her
company. Later in the day, he would call
in to see her, apologize and ask her to accompany him to the dance.
"Adam?" Pete repeated.
"Yeah. .Oh, Pete. Sorry, do you have my package from
"Here it is Adam, I kept it under the
counter. I thought you'd be in soon to
collect it. Pretty heavy, more books
perhaps?" Pete laughed, he knew
full well that the packages that came for Adam from
"Pete you guessed it in one, I hope. Let's have a look." Adam reached into the pocket in his jeans and
drew out his pocketknife. Opening the
knife he slid the sharp blade into the wrapping, using his left hand to hold
the parcel still. The keen edge of the
blade slid easily through the paper and straight across the palm of Adam’s left
hand.
“Damn” exclaimed Adam. He stared at his hand in surprise then raised
it closer to his face to inspect the damage.
“Clumsy fool, I haven’t done that in a while.”
Concerned for his friend, Pete peered over the
counter at Adam’s hand. “You alright
Adam? How bad is it?”
“Don’t worry, it’s not deep; had worse before.”
Adam reassured Pete as he wiped the blood away with his bandanna, which he’d
just withdrawn from another pocket.
“Won’t take long to stop bleeding. Now let’s see what we have in here.” he
smiled, reaching back for the opened package.
He deftly withdrew one book from the wrapping and read the title.
"Hey, you're right." Said Adam with a smile, just touching the
corners of his mouth. "Thanks, I'll
take them to my hotel room and read them later.
I've got a few things to do today and I don't want to get them torn or
lost. Goodbye Pete and thanks."
Chewing thoughtfully on his bottom lip, Pete
hesitated, should he ask Adam or not, then decided why not.
“Adam….What just happened then between you and
Susan? You used to be the best of
friends, in fact I thought you two were getting a might serious a while back.”
“Just drop it will you Pete?” said Adam, keeping
his eyes on the door, avoiding Pete’s.
Pete sighed, he wasn’t going to get Adam to talk
today about a tricky subject like Susan.
"Okay Adam, whatever you reckon. I'll see
you later at the saloon?"
"I think so Pete, unless I've got my head
stuck in one of these books."
"Yeah, that'd be right." Pete, of course, knew how much Adam enjoyed
his books.
CHAPTER 4
As Adam departed the mercantile he thought about
what had happened between him and Susan. He stopped at the railing outside the
store and leant against it, deep in thought.
Susan and
he had been good friends. Having a few
dances together had been a standing arrangement between them for months. He knew Susan always left room on her dance
card for him. What was so different
now? '
Giving himself a sigh, he shook his head and
straightened up, shifting his hold on the package under his arm. Adam sauntered across the street to the
International Hotel, intending to put the books in his room. Adam climbed the
stairs and entered the Hotel. He nodded
to Herb, the desk clerk for his key.
Since he’d been spending more nights in town lately he’d become a
regular at the Hotel.
“Morning Mr Cartwright, your usual room?”
“Yes thanks Herb.”
As Adam signed the register book, Herb took down
the key for number 10 and placed it on the desk beside the register.
“Will you be wanting breakfast brought to your
room tomorrow Mr Cartwright?”
“No thanks, I’ll use the restaurant.”
“Very well Mr Cartwright. Enjoy your stay.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Adam picked up the key and walked across the
foyer. A familiar voice called out to him from the restaurant door.
“Good Morning Adam, you’re in town early today.”
Said Sheriff Roy Coffee, as he wiped his mouth with his napkin. The Sheriff always enjoyed his breakfast in
the restaurant, before making his rounds of the town.
“That young brother of yours goin to behave
himself at the dance tonight? I wouldn’t
want to throw him in jail, although I’ve a good mind to after the last dance.”
He said with a smile.
Adam caught the expression on
“Well I’ve warned him, you’ve warned him, so
maybe between the pair of us he might just listen. Anyway you know the trouble last time wasn’t
his fault, you said so yourself. And you know, as well as I, that trouble just
seems to follow my little brother around.”
“Are you in town to go to the dance?”
“Not at this stage
“I’d like knowing you were at the dance
Adam. That way I know Joe won’t get into
mischief and I won’t spoil his night by locking him up. Your Pa’d be pretty
angry if I locked him up too.”
“Alright
“Thanks
Adam, I knew I could count on you.”
“Sure
Strolling up the hallway Adam stopped. He turned his head both ways, trying to
locate the noise he thought he’d heard.
He heard nothing. Thinking he was imagining noises, Adam stepped forward
again. As he went by room 3 he heard a faint voice calling for help, a man's
voice. Adam knocked on the door - there
was no answer. He tried the doorknob, finding the door wasn’t locked, he pushed
it wide open, not sure what to expect.
His hand was resting loosely on his gun, just in case it was needed.
He peered
inside the room and found a stranger was lying on the bed. He was wet with perspiration and holding his
head as if in pain. As Adam walked nearer to the man he could see the pain
written over his face. He reached over
and felt the man’s forehead, noticing there was a fresh cut on his
forehead. He was hot with fever.
"You need help, I'll get the Doctor."
"Wait.... some water, please." Whispered the stranger, pointing behind Adam
with a slightly raised hand.
Adam turned, walked over to the pitcher and
poured out a glass of water for the stranger.
"Here you are." He said and carefully helped the man sit up
to drink. The man gulped the water down
and fell back into the bed exhausted.
"Thanks, I needed that." Whispered the stranger. Adam wasn't sure whether in pain or just worn
out.
"I'll get someone to get the Doctor for
you. You’d better get him to see about that cut on your head, it’s still
bleeding.
"Thanks again." The man said.
"It's all right. Glad I could help." said Adam and he
left the room.
As he ran down stairs, he realized he'd left his
books in the man's room. He turned
around and went back into the room. Again there had been no answer to his knock
and when he looked in the man had apparently passed out. Adam picked up his books and headed down the
hallway and stairs to Herb.
"Herb, there's a customer of yours in room
3. He looks pretty sick. Can you send someone for Doc Martin, I think
he's needed?"
"You mean the mine inspector, Mr Nash, in
3?"
"Whoever Herb, he didn't tell me his
name. All I know is he's unconscious and
needs the Doctor.” “I heard he was
involved in an accident in one of the mines early this morning. It appears a rock fall occurred and he and a
few of the miners were injured. Someone
said there was blood everywhere. Is it
anything to do with that?” said Herb remembering an earlier conversation
between two men in the foyer.
“I don’t know, just get the Doc will you.”
Realizing Adam wasn’t in the mood for a chat,
Herb quickly agreed to Adam’s request.
"I'll get Bobby to go for the Doc straight
away Adam."
"Good.
I'm going up to my room to put this in there, then I'll be out
again."
"Alright Adam."
Once again Adam walked up the stairs and this
time entered his own room. He put the
package on the bedside table, checked the room was in order and went back to
the foyer. As Adam stepped through the
doorway to go out into the street, he collided into Doctor Paul Martin.
"Uhh" they said, both laughing.
"Hey Paul this is the second time I've been
collided with today."
"Who was the first Adam?" Said Paul, with a big smile. "Couldn't have been Hoss otherwise you’d
have had to see me about setting a bone or two."
Adam laughed again "No it was Pa, thankfully."
"Well got a patient to see Adam, I'd better
get a move on."
"
Yeah I know, I heard him in his room calling for help and went in to see
what I could do.” Adam could see Paul was only half listening to him, he didn’t
go on. “See you later Paul."
"Mmmm” said Paul, thinking about what was
ahead.
As he
stepped outside, Adam heard Paul ask Herb what room his patient was in.
CHAPTER 5
Adam stood for a few moments looking up and down
the street, trying to decide what he had to do next. While he stood there his stomach made a
growl. He’d taken all morning to get his books and it was
"Hello Adam, what'll it be
today?" Danny the owner said, with
his usual smile.
"Danny, good to see you." and Adam
returned the smile. "I think a
steak and vegetables will do today. Are
you cooking or is Leslie?"
"Leslie is."
"Well it's definitely a steak, but only if
Leslie cooks it. She knows the way I
like mine done." Adam joked. He was starting to feel a lot better already,
except for what happened with Susan. He’d eat his lunch, then call in to see
her.
"Don't let her hear what you just said,
otherwise I'll never get into the kitchen."
Danny, do us all a favor - stay out. Please?" Adam pleaded.
"But who'll wash the dishes Adam? I can do them better than Leslie."
"I'm glad of that Danny, real glad."
Adam smirked as he thought of Danny washing dishes, with an apron tied around
his waist, flashed across his mind.
"I won't be long with that order. Coffee in the meantime?" asked Danny,
holding a cup and pot of coffee in each hand.
"Yeah, thanks."
Adam sat thinking in the restaurant as to what
he had left to do before he'd go to his room and read the books. As it was nearly
"Enjoy your meal Adam." He said,
placing the plate down in front of him.
Adam stared down at the plate; it overflowed with a large steak and a
huge mound of vegetables.
"Thanks Danny, I know I will." Adam replied, watching Danny refill his cup.
Adam sat enjoying the steak and ate the meal in
no time, leaving the plate empty except for the bone. After such an enjoyable meal, he was back to
feeling relaxed. He leant back in the
chair, tipping back until it rested on the rear legs. Glancing over the other
customers as he did, Adam sipped the last of his coffee. Danny and Leslie had plenty of customers in
the restaurant. He was happy for them
because he knew they were honest, hardworking and enjoyed their success. Having finished his coffee, Adam leant
forward and sat the chair back on all four legs.
He pushed himself up from the table and made his
way over to Danny to pay the bill.
"Give my regards to Leslie will you?” Adam
said, as he reached into his pocket for his money. “Tell her, as usual she
knows how to cook my steak properly, not like someone else I know.” He said, meeting Danny straight in the eye
and trying to keep a straight face.
"You go on in and say them yourself Adam,
otherwise you'll be in trouble with the cook and so will I too, for not sending
you in."
Adam laughed and walked into the kitchen. As he
pushed the door open he stopped. Susan
MacDonald was also in the kitchen, talking to Leslie, their backs towards
him. Adam smiled to himself, was this
meeting planned or what?
"Hello again Susan. Hello Leslie."
"Why Hello Adam. Susan was just telling me what an unpleasant
man you are today. Get out of bed on the
wrong side today did we?” Leslie said sweetly.
"Touché Leslie."
Adam looked at Susan, who returned his gaze, a
smile just starting to appear on her face.
"Susan, I truly am sorry about this
morning. I had a rough start to the day
back home and I took it out on you. I shouldn't
have. Will you forgive me?" He gave her one of his best smiles, which lit
up his whole face and eyes.
"I forgive you Adam Cartwright how could I
not?" They both knew she loved his smile and couldn’t resist it when he
gave her one. She’d told him often
enough in the past, that it was now a private joke between them.
"Go on Susan." prompted Leslie.
"But you have to pay a price for
forgiveness." Susan said laughing.
"Most certainly Miss MacDonald, whatever
the price, I will gladly pay."
Going along with the two women, but thinking he knew what was planned.
"You are hereby ordered to accompany Miss
Susan MacDonald to the dance tonight and to occupy the majority of her dance
card as she so chooses." Susan said
in mock severity.
"Miss MacDonald, what a harsh price to pay,
but if it is pleases the court, I will honor the ruling. Shall I call for you at about
Susan replied
"
"Thank you Miss MacDonald." with that
Adam tipped his hat. "Ladies, I bid
you leave." and left the kitchen.
On the way out he heard the women burst into laughter and giggles.
"Private joke Adam or can you tell
me?" Asked Danny as he saw Adam
smile at the laughter coming from the kitchen.
"You had to be there Danny, but I think
I've just been setup."
"If I know Leslie, like I do, you were
definitely setup. After all Susan and
Leslie are the best of friends."
Adam acknowledged that comment with a good laugh
of his own which Danny joined in.
"See you at the dance tonight then
Adam?" Danny called out as Adam
stepped out of the restaurant.
"Yes I'll be there."
Once again Adam nodded to Herb as he walked
through the restaurant to go outside
CHAPTER 6
Outside Adam realized that he'd better go to the
telegraph office before Robert closed early for tonight's dance. Adam strode down the street, saying Hello to
those he knew along the way.
"Hello Robert, how are you today?" he
said as he stepped into the office.
"Hello yourself Adam, I suppose you're here
to collect your Pa’s telegraph. Mr
Cartwright told me he was expecting one."
"Sure am."
"Here it is."
"Thanks Robert and I'll see you at the
dance later on." Said Adam tucking
the telegraph into his coat pocket.
Robert gave Adam a grin. "As always I'll be
there."
"You never know your luck Robert, one of
those fine ladies is going to take a liking to you and you'll be heading down
the aisle in next to no time."
"How true, Adam, how true. Soon, please, would be nice." Robert
said in a pleading voice. They both laughed at the thought. "I suppose you'd want me to be your best
man."
"But of course, who else Adam."
Adam made his way back over to Pete's again.
While talking to Robert, he decided to collect the mail, if there was any to
collect. The earlier incident with Susan
had caused him to forget that chore. As
he walked in the door to the mercantile, Pete looked up, smiling at him.
"Time for that beer Adam?"
"Yes I think so. Any mail for us, I forgot to ask you
earlier?”
Laughing Pete said “I wonder why you forgot
Adam, something else on your mind at the time?”
Pete glanced over his shoulder into the
Cartwright’s pigeonhole. "Nope."
"Let's go." said Pete, taking off his
apron and throwing it on the counter. "I've worked up a good thirst
today."
"I'll only have one or two with you Pete,
because I'm going to the dance after all."
Adam said slyly as he stood patiently outside the mercantile while Pete
locked the door.
"Oh, who with?"
"Susan MacDonald." Adam looked at Pete from beneath his
eyebrows, a smirk on his face, waiting for Pete’s reaction to his news.
"Susan, you’re kidding me aren’t you? How'd you fix up getting into her good
books? From what happened this morning I
thought you were a gonna with her."
"I can thank Leslie Stevens for fixing that
problem." Adam laughed as they
entered the saloon, telling Pete about his lunch and the conversation after it.
Stan the bartender looked at Pete and Adam and
said "The usual beers gents?"
"Yes please." They both replied,
laughing at each other. They collected
their beer, headed for the nearest empty table and sat down.
"I'm not even going to taste this one
Adam." Pete said as he proceeded to
down the beer.
"I'll go a bit slower on mine if you don't
mind. I'd better not have too many
before the dance otherwise I'll be back in Susan's bad books again."
"Sucker.
Glutton for punishment eh?"
Pete and Adam had been friends ever since Pete's
family had moved to
"No, not that. I just want to enjoy Susan's company that's
all."
"Sure Adam, sure."
Pete looked up at the bar and caught Stan's
eye. Stan held up two fingers as he leant
under the counter for the glasses. Pete
shook his head and held up just one.
Stan nodded and poured the one beer.
Adam was sipping his beer, but enjoying it just the same as Pete. With his hands full of drinks, Stan walked
out from behind the bar. Passing by their table, he placed one glass down and
picked up the empty.
"There you are Pete. You right I see Adam, a bit slow tonight on
the beer, you’ve gotta be going to the dance." Stan gave Adam a wink as he moved to the next
table and left the remaining beers on the table.
"Yeah Stan” called out Adam. Can't have too many, it’ll ruin my dancing.”
Just then Little Joe pushed the doors open and
stepped into the saloon. He stopped when
he saw Adam was already there. He was reluctant
to venture in any further in case his brother was still mad at him. Joe didn't like his big brother to be angry
with him, like most boys, he idolized his big brothers, but especially Adam. He had had to help raise him and Hoss when
first Inger and then Marie had died.
What he wouldn't do just now to have Adam smile at him and Joe regretted
what he'd said this morning. It had just
slipped out in anger. The brothers
stared at each other, until Adam, with a smile, signaled his brother to come over. Joe, grinning like a Cheshire cat came over,
pulling a chair along with him.
"Hello Big Brother, not mad at me any
more?" said Joe using his best pleading voice. It’d always worked on Adam when he was
little, so he decided to try it now.
Adam had decided enough was enough with their
fight. At least this time there were no
punches pulled like there had been on other occasions. Both of them were stubborn enough to get on
each other’s nerves. They were opposites
in nature. Adam - quiet and reserved -
always thinking before acting, while Joe was outgoing and loud. Many a time Adam had rescued Joe from some
problem or trouble, just because he had jumped in, boots and all. There had been times when Joe hadn't wanted
to be rescued and had resented Adam's butting in.
Those times usually had the brothers trading
words and then more than likely punches.
Adam could see Joe was happy and guessed that he'd been to see Mr.
Hanson, who had allowed Joe to take Becky to the dance.
"Hi Joe, no I’m not mad at you
anymore. You look pleased with
yourself. I guess Frank Hanson's letting
you take Becky to the dance huh?"
Surprised Joe replied "Yes, how could you
know?"
Adam and Pete laughed. "I know you too well, little brother -
you can't keep too many secrets from me, besides you had a grin a mile wide
when you walked in here.”
Joe laughed at that, happy to see Adam starting
to get back to his usual self.
"What are you doing tonight? You going to
spend the night in here?”
"Well Joe I guess I'll see you at the dance. Roy Coffee wants me to keep you on a short
rein otherwise he’s going to throw you in jail.”
“Oh No.
Pa’ll kill me if anything happens tonight.”
“He’ll have to wait in line.”
“Why? Who’d be first?”
“Mr Hanson, then Roy Coffee, then me.” Adam said watching the look of fear cross
over Joe’s face. He couldn’t tell which
one he was afraid of the most.
“Why you Adam?”
“Because I’m going to the dance with a lady and
if you mess me up you’ll be in big trouble.”
"No kidding. Who you going with?"
"Susan...Susan MacDonald as a matter of
fact." Said Adam, going slightly pink with embarrassment. He could feel his face going red and he
didn’t know why he should be feeling embarrassed. It wasn’t as though he’d never been out with
Susan before.
"Yee haa.
The Cartwright boys are out on the town tonight." Yelled Joe.
"Is Hoss coming into town too?"
"Yep and with Betsy-Sue."
Adam laughed and Little Joe joined in. Hoss's shyness around pretty gals was a
source of amusement to his brothers.
Neither Adam nor Little Joe was backward in coming forward when it came
to asking a pretty girl for a date.
For Hoss, even the thought of a walk alone was
enough to tongue-tie him. Although he
could easily handle the roughness of men and animals, women made him extremely
shy. Many a girl had walked away in
frustration of not being asked out.
"Well Joe he's finally gotten round to
asking her huh?"
"Sure looks that way Adam, and about time
too."
“Now we all know how shy Hoss is." said
Pete enjoying the conversation, "I wouldn't be surprised if it was the
other way around."
"Who cares which one did the asking Pete,
just as long as we're all in town at the dance." Joe said.
Adam, who had just finished his beer, looked at
Pete who nodded and then at Little Joe. "Beer Joe?"
"Yeah Adam."
Adam called out "Stan", when he had
his attention, "Three beers when
you're ready."
"Okay Adam, be right with you."
"What's Pa doing Joe?"
"He decided to stay home Adam, there's
enough trouble about with us three in town.
He said he had some paperwork he wanted to catch up on and with the
house quiet he’d get it done quicker."
“What paperwork was it?”
“Oh something about that timber quote you and he
did sometime ago.”
“He didn’t mention anything to me about it.”
“Uh Adam, you weren’t in the best of moods when
you left this morning, remember?”
With that Adam glanced at Joe, who was unsure
how his brother was going to react to his statement. Adam gave him a small smile as he reached
across the table and gave Joe a slap on the arm. “No I wasn’t was I. I wonder who upset me?”
Joe returned Adam’s smile with his usual cheeky
grin and drank the last of his beer in relief.
Adam looked up at Stan when he brought the beers
over to the table. He reached into his
pocket and brought out enough money to pay for the round. "Here Stan, this is for tonight's
rounds."
Pete started to protest. "Pete it's getting late and I need to go
to the Hotel and freshen up for the dance, otherwise Susan will have my
hide. After all I am paying penance and
I need to be on my best behavior."
Adam said.
Joe looked at Adam puzzled. "What
penance? What's going on?"
"Never mind Joe, never mind it's a private
joke. I'll tell you about it later or
maybe tomorrow. Anyway don't you have
too many to drink otherwise Hanson's gonna skin you if anything happens tonight
at the dance. You and Becky are still on
thin ice, even if he said Okay for tonight. Then there’s
"How'd you know that Adam?"
Adam just smiled at Little Joe and winked. He tipped back his glass and drank the last
of the beer, then stood up to leave. "See you both later."
"Sure Adam."
"Yep" said Little Joe.
When Adam stepped into the Hotel foyer Herb
beckoned him over to the desk.
"Adam, you know that man in 3, Mr
Nash?"
"Yeah." Adam wasn't listening too hard to Herb. He was thinking about the dance with Susan-
in fact he really was looking forward to her company.
"Well it turns out Doc Martin says he's
real sick and looks like he might even die. He wants to know who might have touched
him today."
"Oh?" said Adam, still not paying
attention. Herb looked at Adam, who was
glancing up the stairs, he could see he wanted to go to his room.
"Never mind Adam. I can see you're busy, Goodnight."
"Yeah night Herb."
CHAPTER 7
Joe watched Adam swirl Susan MacDonald around
the dance floor. Hoss wandered over and
stood beside Little Joe, also watching Adam and Susan.
"Sure looks as though Adam's having a good
time don't it Little Joe?"
"Yep, Hoss it sure does. Pa’ll be pleased when we tell him."
"Yeah, I think he was gettin worried
some."
Joe looked at Hoss "We all were weren't we Hoss."
Little Joe was thinking about earlier the same
evening as Hoss and Little Joe were heading out to the barn, their father had
called them both back. He told them how
concerned he was about Adam and that if they could, make sure he didn't stay in
his hotel room all night or in the saloon for that matter. Both of them had never seen their father so
worried about Adam. Ben even thought
that Adam was so depressed and guilty about Ruth’s death that he might do
something stupid. That thought hadn’t
crossed either of their minds until their father had mentioned it. Luckily for them, Joe had come across Adam
in good spirits at the saloon and had told Hoss as soon as he'd seen him arrive
with Betsy-Sue. Hoss' face had broken
into a big grin when Joe had told him the news.
Hoss had kept an eye out for Adam when he'd arrived in town, but Adam
had already left the saloon to pickup Susan and they missed seeing each
other.
Just then
Adam and Susan passed by, both were smiling.
Adam looked at Susan, she laughed and so did he. It was obvious that they had both thought of
the same thing - this afternoon in the restaurant.
Susan said
"Oh Adam, I need to stop, I'm getting out of breath. You're working up a sweat too. Your forehead’s all sweaty." She reached
up to gently run her hand across his brow, he felt hot to her touch.
"If you insist Miss MacDonald, we shall
tear ourselves away from the dance floor and have some refreshment." Adam said, still playing the part.
"Stop it Adam." Susan insisted, but
enjoying the game nevertheless.
"Okay" Adam said, "I could use a
drink too come to think of it." He
didn't tell her that he felt lightheaded. He didn’t think the two beers was
enough to do that to him, not after some of the nights he’d had in the past few
weeks.
They made their way through the crowd to the
punchbowl. He poured them both a drink
before suggesting they go outside for some fresh air. Outside the air was much cooler. Adam turned to Susan and raised his glass.
"Here's to good times, with good, dear
friends."
"Yes Adam, I'll drink to that."
"Susan....." "Adam...." they started at the
same time. They laughed together.
"You first Adam."
"No you Susan, I insist."
Looking up at his sparkling dark eyes, she
said "Adam, thank you for a
wonderful night. I'm sorry Leslie and I
cooked this up." Susan laughed at
the pun, so did Adam. She loved the way his whole face lit up when he laughed.
"Susan, I've enjoyed your company so much
tonight. I'd like to see you again, if I
may?"
"Adam, I'd like that. I've enjoyed your company this evening
too."
"Would you have dinner with me on Tuesday
evening? We'll surprise Leslie and Danny
and eat at the restaurant."
Suggested Adam.
"Yes, I accept Adam."
"Good, around
"Yes, fine."
They both laughed at the small talk.
"Let's finish this drink and get back to
the dancing. Susan MacDonald, you’re
going to have sore feet tomorrow." He
laughed and Susan watched his eyes brighten with humor.
"We'll see about that Adam
Cartwright."
The remainder of the evening went all to quickly
and all too soon the dance ended. Adam
met Joe and Hoss outside with their respective partners.
"Are you two both going home tonight?"
Hoss and Little Joe nodded. "Yes
"Will you tell Pa that I have the telegraph
he was waiting for and that I'll be home tomorrow morning. I’d give it to you
now only it’s back at the Hotel.”
"You stayin huh Adam?" Asked Hoss.
"Yeah, all my gear is in the hotel and I'm
feeling a little bushed."
"Must have been all that dancing with
Susan." Little Joe joked.
"Don't you let her hear that." said
Adam, even though the women were standing beside their men. They all burst out laughing.
They all said their good-byes and the brothers
each headed off in the direction of their partner's homes.
Adam wrapped his arm around Susan's waist
allowing her to snuggled closer to him.
His body felt warm to her, even through his clothes. They were silent, each to their own thoughts,
not wanting the night to end. As they
came to Susan's house they could see a light was still on.
"That'll be Father." said Susan. "He always waits up for me."
"That's good of him, at least he cares for
you." Adam said dryly, then he
smiled.
"I've had a lovely time Adam."
"So have I Susan, I'll still see you on
Tuesday night for dinner?"
Adam stopped at the bottom of the stairs and
turned Susan towards him.
"Yes Adam, Tuesday at
Adam leaned towards Susan to kiss her, just then
her father stepped outside. Adam
reluctantly backed away. He whispered
“A kiss would have been nice, it’ll have to keep until Tuesday now.”
She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Susan." her father said firmly,
"Inside please, it’s time Mr Cartwright was leaving. Goodnight Mr Cartwright."
"Goodnight Adam"
"Goodnight Susan, Mr MacDonald," he
called after her, "and thank you for a pleasant evening."
Adam slowly took his time walking back to the
Hotel. The night air was cool and
crisp. He loosened his ribbon tie, still
feeling hot from all the dancing with Susan.
Raising his head he studied the stars, searching for his favorite, the North
Star. His father had taught him, as a
little boy, how to navigate by this Star.
As he continued his walk, he remembered his father telling tales of
sailors, lost after severe storms, using the Star as their guide home. Adam had in turn, taught both Hoss and Little
Joe the same knowledge of the Star. He
was still thinking of sailor stories when he opened the door to his room.
CHAPTER 8
It was
mid-morning when Adam handed his father the telegraph. Ben read it quickly.
“I was expecting you home earlier Adam.” Ben realized as soon as he’d spoken that it
sounded like he was chastising a child.
Adam was not a child by any means and entitled to return home whenever
he chose.
“Sorry Pa” he said as he gave his father a wry
grin, “I slept in, then had breakfast in the restaurant before coming
home. I didn’t think the telegraph was
urgent, otherwise I would have come home last night with it.”
"No, nevermind Adam, it was your night out
and I shouldn’t have said that as though you were a child. I'd like you to read
this through and tell me what you think."
"Sure
"Hmm, we'll have to make a check of the
trees and get them marked properly first. To meet this order we’re going to
have to start cutting immediately."
Suggested Adam.
"Yes I agree Adam. I want you to go because you know what trees
we’ve decided to cut. The boys have to
check on the north range and bring in any strays."
"It'll take four days to check and mark Pa,
I was planning on going into town on Tuesday evening."
'Damn' thought Adam, 'there goes my evening with
Susan. Now I'll have to tell him about
Susan. It doesn't appear that Hoss or
Little Joe had said anything to him.'
"Oh?" said Ben, surprised that Adam
wanted to go to town midweek.
Smiling slightly Adam replied "Yes I was going to take Susan MacDonald
to dinner. I met her last night at the
dance."
"I'm sorry son, but I'd rather you do
this - you know how important the
correct information is."
'Damn' thought Ben, 'why did it have to be this
week the details were needed.' He could
see that Adam had been looking forward to meeting Susan again. Resigning himself to the situation, Adam
replied.
"It's all right Pa, I'll get going early
tomorrow morning if you like."
"Thanks son, I'll get Hoss to ride in with
a message to Miss MacDonald for you."
"Thanks." Adam went up to his room and started packing
for the trip.
'Just dandy.' he thought, 'Susan is going to be
annoyed because I've broken the dinner date.’
Adam understood the importance and how much his father needed the lumber
contract. The money from the contract
would allow them to cover the winter feed, with plenty of cash left over to
start upgrading the breeding herd. Adam
was allowing himself four full days to sort out and mark the trees. He’d meet his brothers on Friday in the
north pasture and ride on back home with them. He ran his hand across his
forehead - he could feel his head starting to pound. “Probably from thinking about what Susan's
going to say to me when I get back.” He
said aloud and laughed.
“Oww that hurt.” he said rubbing his forehead
again, only harder, to try to ease the pain.
"Adam, suppers on the table." yelled
Hoss from the bottom of the staircase.
Adam quickly finished his packing, slung the
saddlebag over the chair and headed on down the stairs to the table. Hoss and Joe were seated, but not their
father.
"Where's Pa?" He asked Little Joe.
"He went up to his room to check on some
papers."
"Yeah?
"Yeah, he said he'll be down soon and to
start without him."
Adam sat down gingerly, unfolded the napkin and
placed it on his lap. His head was still
thumping and he hoped that eating might ease the pain. He had only had a coffee and toast that
morning for breakfast. He had no
appetite, and blamed it on the beers and punch the night before.
Hop Sing came out from the kitchen, holding a
large platter of roasted pork in his hands
"Yum, roast pig, my favorite Hop Sing, it
smells wonderful." Delighted Hoss attacked the meat with his fork.
Adam took one smell and look at the meat and
nearly vomited. He couldn't stand the
smell. He swallowed back the
nausea. Hoss glanced up from the plate
and saw Adam’s face go white as a sheet.
"What's wrong Adam?"
Little Joe looked up from his plate at his
brother too. It took a few more swallows
before Adam could answer Hoss.
"I've just decided that I'm not
hungry. I think I'll go outside for some
fresh air. Hop Sing take my plate away,
I'm not eating dinner tonight."
Hoss and Joe glanced at each other, then at
Adam. He usually enjoyed roast pork
too. Beads of sweat had broken out on
his forehead. Adam put his hands on the
table to help push himself up, his arms were shaking He stood up slowly, a
frown on his white face.
"Adam are you sure you're all right?"
Joe asked concern showing on his face.
Adam looked at Joe. "Yeah, umm just not feeling too
good. I think I need to get some fresh
air. Don't tell Pa, whatever you do,
you’ll only cause him to worry and he’s got enough to worry about, without
adding me to the list. I've got to get
that survey done for him. Don't worry,
I'll be fine in the morning."
He opened the door and slowly shut it quietly
behind him.
"What do you think Hoss? Should we tell Pa
about him not feeling too good?"
"Just do what he says Joe, Adam knows what
he's doin."
Inside Hoss wasn't so confident. He had seen Adam fight being sick and could
tell it took some strength to do so.
He’d never known Adam to get headaches but then, even if he did, he
wouldn’t mention it to anyone. Usually the first time you knew Adam was ill was
when Pa told them so. If, judging by the
fact he didn’t eat supper and needed fresh air, he must really be feeling ill.
Hoss also knew that Adam would not let anything
get in the way of helping their father win the lumber contract. Both Ben and Adam had spent hours on the
submission and spot-marking the trees on their map. When Ben had insisted on Adam going tomorrow,
both he and Little Joe had understood why.
Neither of them had accompanied Ben and Adam to the site and wouldn’t
know where to start. Yet he couldn't
help being concerned for his older brother.
"Shush, here comes
Walking quickly, Ben came down the stairs and
sat down, he didn't like to be late for supper.
Noticing the empty chair opposite him, he turned towards Hoss.
"Where's Adam?"
"He's finished
"And gone outside for a bit of fresh
air." said Little Joe, looking at Hoss.
Ben thought that was a little strange, but let
it go.
"Just as long as he gets an early start
tomorrow. I need you boys to cover for
him for the next few days."
Joe asked "How long is he going to be away
for Pa?"
"It should be until late Thursday or early Friday,
I think Joe. You'll both be busy
rounding up strays in the north pasture to worry about him. Why do want to know how long he'll be away
for?"
Joe glanced at the door. "Have you forgotten what day Saturday
is?"
"Saturday?"
"Yeah Pa, Adam's birthday." Hoss
whispered.
Ben looked as his sons. "I had forgotten
that. I was too busy thinking about that
contract to remember. He should be home
on Friday morning at the latest."
"Phew, the little party Hoss and I have
planned should still be okay, do you think?
He’ll definitely be home on Friday." Joe looked at Hoss.
"Yeah Joe, we'll just keep an eye out for
him, while we round up them stray beeves."
"Who's coming Joe, Hoss?"
"It's just us Pa, but we've just gone a bit
extra this year after all he will be 30."
Just then Adam walked in the door. He looked at his father and brothers seated
at table. Ben gave him a nod.
"Did you enjoy supper Adam?"
"What? Oh yeah
"
“Goodnight Hoss and Joe, see you on Friday in
the north pasture."
"Night Adam." said Hoss giving him a
wink.
"Goodnight Adam, have a good trip. Make
sure you do the job carefully, I’m counting on you.
We need this contract to help ease us through
the coming winter.”
As Adam crossed the floor he could feel his
father's eyes on him. 'I should say I can't go, but if I do I'll be letting him
down. This is too important for him.' he
thought, 'I'll make do. This headache
should go after a good night’s sleep.’ he gave himself a little smile.
Walking up the stairs was difficult. Every time he put his foot on the stairs, the
jolt went straight up his backbone to his head. Adam hurried up the rest of the
stairs, hoping that his father wouldn’t notice his discomfort and question
him. Quickly he opened the door to his
room, closed it quietly and gratefully sat on the edge of the bed.
He leaned
down to take off his boots and felt his head scream at him. He quickly lifted his head back up and that
hurt even worse. He decided to make
all his movements slow. Moving his head
gently to one side confirmed his theory - it hadn’t hurt. Gently he lifted his left foot off the floor
and grabbing his boot, gave a tug. The
boot came off after a little struggle.
He grimly thought, one down and one to go as he placed the boot beside
the chair. He had the same trouble with
the right boot. Easing himself slowly
off the bed, he turned and folded down the bedding. Unbuttoning his shirt and
taking it off, he laid it over the back of the chair, where the saddlebags were
ready for tomorrow morning's early start.
Unbuttoning his jeans next, he slid them off and laid them on top of the
shirt. He decided to wash his face,
thinking that it might help. He walked
naked to the wash stand and found he’d forgotten to fill the water pitcher up.
Getting dressed again and walking past his father to fill the pitcher didn’t
appeal to him, so he let the thought go.
Adam went
back to the bed and eased himself down between the sheets. Enjoying the comfort of the bed, he thought
about the next four nights of only blankets, saddle and hard ground to lie on.
Like most men, he enjoyed snuggling into a
comfortable, cozy bed. He tucked the
second pillow under his left arm and cuddled into it.
Despite the thumping in his head, he was soon
sound asleep, after all it had been a busy, but enjoyable weekend.
CHAPTER 9
The headache soon woke him early the next
morning. Remembering the previous
night, he slowly sat up and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. Next he stood up and walked to the chair where
he'd left his clothes. He put on his
jeans then his shirt swiftly buttoning it up.
Socks and boots on and he was ready. He thought about shaving but
decided against it because one extra day's growth wasn't going to make much
difference. He sat down on the bed and
rechecked his gear.
"All
I need now is hat, coat and gun. Better
get a rifle too, some fresh meat will be good for dinner instead of just beans
and jerky." he said aloud to himself.
Picking up the saddlebag and throwing it over
his shoulder, he made his way downstairs.
Looking at the clock, as he passed it on his way to the kitchen, he
realized it was
Hop Sing, who had just been woken by the clatter
of the lid, entered the room, chattering away in Chinese.
"You all right Mr Adam?" He had
expected to see Adam in the kitchen, but not leaning against the wall,
obviously ill.
Adam jumped, startled by the sound of Hop Sing's
voice. He hadn't expected anyone else to
be awake at this early hour.
"Yeah.....Yeah I'm fine Hop Sing. Go back to bed, it’s still early.”
" No it alright. Hop Sing get plate of stew for you?"
"No No." Adam said hastily, "I
don't feel like breakfast this morning, must be too early. I'll eat somewhere along the trail, but
thanks anyway. Bye Hop Sing." and
he quickly left the kitchen before the smell of food got the better of him.
"Bye Mr Adam." Hop Sing was puzzled, usually Adam liked his
stew for breakfast. That was why he'd
made it up especially for him, because he knew Adam wasn't going to get much
good food for the next few days. Having
decided it was no use going back to bed, Hop Sing began getting the kitchen
ready for breakfast for the other members of the Cartwright family.
Beating his hasty retreat from the kitchen, Adam
reached for his gun belt and buckled it on.
Grabbing his saddlebag, coat and hat he quietly opened the door and let
himself out into the cool fresh morning.
He stopped outside to put the coat and hat on then walked quickly across
the yard and into the barn with the saddlebag in his hand.
As usual
Sport greeted him with a nicker. He
saddled him up with little fuss and noticed that someone had put his favorite
rifle, bedroll and slicker near the saddle rack. He wondered who had put them there, because
he'd forgotten them himself. Then he
realized he hadn't packed any provisions for the trip. Adam thought this headache is really causing
problems, how could he have forgotten so many things. He’d been on plenty of
trips like this before and never forgotten his bedroll, let alone food.
He led Sport outside, tied him to the corral and
turned to go back inside to collect a bag of provisions from Hop Sing’s
kitchen. As he put his hand on the door
latch to go inside, it was opened for him, taking him by surprise. Hoss stood in the doorway, the provisions
bag in his hand and a worried expression on his face.
Unable to
sleep through worrying about him, Hoss heard Adam get up and decided to keep an
eye on his brother, at least while he was still at the ranch. Knowing that Adam would never, directly ask
him for help, Hoss decided to check on him, just to make sure he took
everything he would need. From the top
of the staircase, he watched Adam go into the kitchen and heard the exchange he
had with Hop Sing. Judging the way Adam
had walked out of the kitchen, Hoss knew that he was still feeling sick. After Adam had stepped outside and shut the
front door, Hoss quickly ran down the stairs, entered the kitchen and spoke to
Hop Sing,
" Hop Sing, did I hear Adam say he didn't
want any breakfast this morning?"
"Yes Mr Hoss."
"Did he grab any food at all to take with
him?"
"No Mr Hoss, not one piece. Mr Hoss, Mr Adam not very good, maybe he
sick?”
Not looking directly as Hop Sing Hoss said. ”No
he’s fine. Find me a bag will you and
I'll fill it up with grub, before he rides out.
He's gonna need food for the trip, whether he thinks so or not.” He quickly stuffed the bag, thanked Hop Sing
and went to the front door, hoping to catch Adam still in the yard.
Fortunately for Hoss, Adam met him at the
door.
"Good timin’ Adam, I think you'll be
needin’ this somehow.” Hoss said as he handed over the bag. “I know you like livin’ off the land but
some jerky might come in handy."
"Thanks Hoss, I did forget it. By the way, umm did you put the gear in the
barn for me?"
Hoss gave him a little smile. " Yep, I did that last night, after
you’d gone to bed. I thought you might
find them handy too."
"Younger brother, there are sometimes I
wonder what I'd do without you. I’m supposed to look after you, not the other
way round." and he gave Hoss a smile back.
" After all these years I think it’s about
time I returned some of the favors. You
feelin’ better this mornin’ Adam? Cause
if you ain't I can go in your place. Me
and Little Joe talked it over last night and I decided to go if’n you
couldn't."
"I've still got a headache but I'll be all
right Hoss. Don't worry about me. And thanks for the offer. Thank Little Joe for me too. Tell him I'll see him on Friday morning."
"See ya Adam."
"Bye Hoss."
Adam tied the bag to the saddle and quickly
mounted up, swaying slightly in the saddle.
He grabbed the saddle horn and straightened himself up, hoping that Hoss
didn’t see what happened. As he turned
Sport to ride out he looked back, gave Hoss a tight grin and wave. He tried to reassure his younger brother, to
let him know he’d be all right by himself even though he wasn’t feeling
comfortable with the idea either. He
knew Hoss would come with him if he asked, but Adam knew that their father
couldn’t afford to have both of them away in the mountains at the moment. Adam couldn’t take up Hoss’s offer to mark
the trees because he wasn’t experienced enough to make the decisions, as he
himself was.
Hoss
waved back. He could tell Adam's grin
was forced. Hoss had seen his older
brother sway and grab the saddle horn to stop himself from falling off. In the early morning light he’d also seen
the pale, drawn face and tired eyes. He
hadn’t got much sleep that night either, worrying about Adam. Concern for his
brother swept through Hoss, knowing that Adam was going to be alone for 4
days. If something happened… it would
take too long to reach him.
"He's sick, too sick to be going into the
mountains by himself.” Hoss said to himself, as he shook his head. “Dadblame
stubborn fool, just like him not to say a word to anyone, especially
He could
see Adam was determined to complete the survey, no matter how ill he felt. Adam’s stubbornness and his promise to his
father would make him resist asking for help, even when he obviously needed it.
"Well Adam, I've got to admire your guts,
but I sure hope we don't have to go lookin for ya. You'll be pretty darn hard to find in them
hills."
Sport eagerly broke into a trot as Adam nudged
him out of the yard.
"Lets go boy, the sooner we start the
sooner we've finished."
CHAPTER 10
He’d barely covered 3 miles before his head was
pounding from the movement of his horse’s hooves against the ground. After rising sharply up through his body,
the pain stopped in his head, as if held in by his hat. There was still another 4 hours of steady
riding before he made it to the section he had to survey for his father and
could stop for a rest. Against his
better judgment, Adam kept on pushing the pace.
He knew that if he stopped, there was no way he wanted to start again.
All through the first morning, Adam slowly felt
his body getting weaker. The ride had
sapped his energy so much so, that when he climbed down off his horse to have a
break, he had to suddenly reach out and grab his saddle to stop himself from
collapsing onto the ground. Besides the
continual headache, he was starting to feel very tired and thirsty. Adam gulped down the urge to vomit and took a
long, cool drink of water from his canteen.
The way his thirst was heading he knew he’d have a few trips back and
forth to the creek to keep the canteen full.
Feeling sure that his legs were back to normal,
he reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the map he and his father had
prepared when they’d completed the initial survey. His job for the next few days was to mark
each tree they needed to cut with a blaze.
He knew from that previous trip, that most of
the trees in the area chosen were suitable for logging but for the loggers to
select the correct trees they had to be marked.
Adam searched his saddlebag again, this time he drew out a tomahawk to
use to blaze the trees. Checking the map
to make sure his bearings were correct, he strode across to the first tree and
began chopping in a blaze.
Day two of his survey had started out the same
as day one, only this morning he’d managed to make and eat breakfast. After a ride down to the creek to fill his
canteen, he’d checked the map and ridden back up to start working.
Adam clung to a tree, for comfort more than
balance, as his stomach heaved again.
His legs buckled, too weak to hold him up as he vomited, and he slid
down to the base of the tree. With his
body shaking with effort, he lent his head against the rough bark and closed
his eyes.
He dragged in deep, ragged breaths, trying to
control the nausea threatening to engulf him yet again. He knew there was nothing left in his stomach
from breakfast because three times already he’d been physically ill and it was
only mid-morning.
Slowly the nausea faded and he struggled to open
his eyes. He forced his eyes open,
knowing that if he didn’t, he’d fall asleep where he was. He had too much work to do for his father to
give into the tempting urge to sleep.
Adam struggled to remember the last time he’d felt so terribly tired, so
horribly ill.
Sliding his hands off the tree, he lent over on
all fours, chest heaving from the exertion.
With his head hanging, he gasped for breath as he felt the headache
return, barging it’s way across his forehead.
Gathering his feet under him and using the tree
as support, he pushed himself upright.
His head swam, dizziness caused the ground to rise up towards him, then
recede. He couldn’t breathe without
panting. His chest felt as though he’d
tight bandages wrapped around it, constricting his breaths. Gradually he felt his body come back under
his control.
He raised
his head, trying to get his bearings. At the rate he was going he wasn’t going
to get the survey finished. Adam forced
himself to move, with only today and another two days left, if he didn’t hurry
up they’d miss the contract. He knew how
important this contract was to his father, to them. If he didn’t complete the work on time…he
didn’t want to think about that any more.
Adam kept working, hard for the rest of the day,
stopping only to take a drink and refill the canteen when he’d emptied it.
By the evening of the last day he could barely
crawl into his bedroll, after banking the fire.
Again he’d missed eating another meal, not being able to force the food
into his mouth. His body was terribly
weak from lack of food and wracked by violent spasms of dry retching. He dragged the crumpled survey sheet out of
his pocket and struggled to read it. The
figures and markings blurred before his eyes.
Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, he
studied the sheet again, just making enough sense to know that he’d completed
what he’d set out to do. Placing the
survey sheet back into his pocket, he lay back down and dozed, fitfully on and
off during the night.
CHAPTER 11
Hoss sat on the tack box, his strong back
leaning against the rough wall of the barn.
Deep in thought, he absently twisted the whittling knife in his
hands. He was thinking so deeply, he
didn’t hear Little Joe lead Cochise through the doors and into her stall.
Joe stopped short when he noticed Hoss,
surprised to find him in such a quiet state.
“Hey Hoss.” Yelled Joe.
“What’s the matter?” cried Hoss, jumping up from
the box, startled from his thoughts.
“You alright?” continued Joe, concerned for his
brother, he ran over to him and placed his hand on Hoss’ shoulder. It was so uncharacteristic for Hoss to be so
moody.
“What? Oh
Yeah, sure Little Joe, just thinkin’.”
“What about?
It concerns Adam doesn’t it? Want
to tell me about it?”
Hoss flicked his eyes up at Joe, then back to
the knife in his hands. His fingers
picked at the sharp blade.
Joe could see Hoss wanted to talk, to say what
was on his mind. Hoss usually talked with
Adam when he was worried, but this time Adam couldn’t help. With a sigh he sat on the edge of the seat
and patted the box, indicating Hoss should sit back down with him. Joe stretched his legs out, crossed his
ankles and wiggled his feet while he waited for Hoss to sit down. Crossing his arms he lent back against the
barn wall, waiting for Hoss to speak.
“What have you got for Adam for his birthday?
Asked Hoss.
Joe was surprised by the question and started to
wonder what had brought this question from Hoss. It wasn’t what Joe had been expecting to talk
about.
Joe replied, “Haven’t decided yet. Pete at the mercantile said Adam had been
looking at a new penknife at his store.
I was thinking of maybe getting that for him seeing as how he borrowed
my spare on account of the Shoshoni taking his.
Why do you want to know?”
“Nuthin’ really.
I just want to give Adam something special this year, that’s all.”
“Why because it’s his 30th?”
“Yeah, that too.”
Joe thought about Hoss’ answer. He’d missed something in Hoss’ reply.
“Got anything in mind? Oh you weren’t planning on giving him the
penknife were you? If you did I’ll find
something else to give him.”
“No, go ahead and get him that Joe, I’m sure
he’ll appreciate it. What I’m really
wantin’ to do is get him somethin’ to help him about Ruth.”
“That’s going to be hard. What did you have in mind?”
“Tell me if this is stupid, but I’d like him to
have somethin’ to remember her by, somethin’ that I can make.”
“That sounds like a great idea Hoss. Do you know what you want to make for him?”
“Well I’ve done some sketches and I’d like you
to tell me what you think.”
“Sure Hoss, anything to help you and Adam.”
Hoss pulled out a large scrap of paper out of
his pocket. He carefully unfolded the
paper and handed it to Joe. On it were a
number of pencil sketches. Mountains,
trees, the lake, rivers, clouds and shapes of faces.
“I’d like to whittle a present for Adam, with
some of these designs on it.”
“Are you going to put all of these sketches
together on the one or what?” questioned Joe, as he studied the designs.
“How does a carving to sit on his table
sound? I could use some of that soft
wood that’s lyin’ around. It’s got a
great grain runnin’ through it.”
“Hey Hoss and maybe a mountain at the back and
trees. How about water across the front?
But what’s with the clouds and face? How
are you going to put that in?”
Hoss stared at his sketches, his mind searching
for possible answers for the design.
Suddenly he smiled at Little Joe and threw his arms around his little
brother.
“I’ve got it Joe. I’ll make a wall plaque so’s he can hang it
on the wall. I’ll use the mountain, pine
trees and water in the bottom half. And
in the top the clouds …” Hoss didn’t finish his sentence. His mind flying in all directions as to the
design.
“Now where’s all that wood been put? I’m gonna need a piece about a foot by a
foot. Thanks little brother, you’ve been
a big help to me.” Hoss stood quickly,
leaving Joe sitting by himself on the tack box.
Joe sat in bewilderment. He’d never seen Hoss so excited about a
present before. He’d managed to cheer
him up and he didn’t quite know how he’d done it. With a sobering thought he realized how much
Hoss cared for Adam. He knew Hoss was
concerned with Adam being away and feeling ill.
But he hadn’t known the depth Hoss felt Adam’s loss of Ruth. Tears sprung to Joe’s eyes as he felt Hoss’
love for Adam. When Adam received the
present, he would be able to feel every ounce of love and passion Hoss had put
into it. Joe wondered who needed the
help the most in this family - his father, Hoss and himself for not being able
to comfort Adam or Adam.
Joe slowly followed the sounds of his brother as
he searched about the barn for the appropriate piece of wood.
CHAPTER 12
The past four days had been hell. The completed
survey sheet was safely tucked away in his saddlebag but he felt he’d paid
dearly for it. Again this morning he’d woken up weak and nauseated. Again breakfast had been out of the question. The headache hadn’t gone, if anything was
worse, he couldn’t think straight. There
had been no escaping it. Every time he
bent over the pain would intensify. If
he managed to get to sleep, it wasn't for long as the pain would wake him
up. His whole body ached. He felt miserable and irritable. Most of the time he was swapping between
shivering even at
As Adam rode down the hill mid-afternoon, he
could see Little Joe herding a small group of cattle towards home. They were still quite a way from the ranch and
herding the cattle would make the ride that much longer. He wasn’t sure whether he could hold out
long enough to help Joe herd them in or just keep on going.
Adam wiped his face with his bandanna. The afternoon was warm, but not enough for him
to be this hot. He felt his body break
into a sweat. He reined his horse in and
reached for his canteen. As he lent over
to get the canteen his head started to thump again, this time much worse than
he had experienced before.
"Aaaah" he cried and grabbed his head
with both hands, swaying in the saddle.
"Adam, are you Okay?" called out
Little Joe, who had just seen his brother and rode up to greet him. He’d been expecting him to ride down from the
hills all morning. Hoss had told him
about how ill he thought their older brother was and to keep a close lookout
for him.
He
noticed Adam’s face was pale and drawn; his eyes red and hollow. Joe quickly glanced over his brother’s body;
aware that he’d lost weight, his black shirt looked darker then normal as it
clung to the outline of his body.
"No Joe, I'm...” Adam never finished the
sentence. He fell out of the saddle,
hitting the ground hard.
"Adam." Joe yelled, jumped of his
horse and ran to Adam who was lying where he fell. He gently rolled him onto his back. Blood was trickling from a cut across his
left eye and from a corner of his mouth.
Adam's glazed eyes were open, staring at nothing but the sky. His body a mass of sweat and his wet shirt
clung to him. Little Joe could hear
Adam’s teeth chattering between his gasping for breath.
Adam struggled to speak, "Joe…. Joe help
me."
"Adam, what's wrong? Hold still I’ll get help…." Joe’s voice
was full of concern. He’d never seen his
brother like this before. It frightened him. He and Hoss should never have let
him go alone on Monday. What had
happened to him?
"Joe, it’s my head." His body stiffened in pain and he lost
consciousness.
"Adam." Little Joe cried as he shook his
brother. "Adam."
Joe reached for his gun, pointed it to the sky
and fired off three shots. This was the
family’s standard call for help. He
knew Hoss and his father weren't too far away.
He had no sooner holstered the gun when his father and brother came
charging up. Ben hadn’t intended riding
to the range with Joe and Hoss that morning but was keen to meet Adam and
discuss the results of his survey. Joe
and Hoss looked at each other, horror on their faces. Ben missed the look, too intent on Adam. Hoss knew something was going to happen
because Adam had left sick, but he was unprepared for what Adam looked like
now. He threw another glance at
Joe. When their eyes met, they each saw
the guilt reflected in the other’s eyes.
“Joseph, what's happened to Adam?" Cried Ben as he jumped off his horse and
rushed to Adam.
"Pa, he just fell off his horse. He just came riding down the hill to me and
said his head was hurting."
Ben quickly knelt beside Adam and felt his
forehead. "He's burning up with a
fever. Where’s this blood on his mouth
coming from? Hoss go back to the ranch
and get the wagon from the barn. Joseph
go fetch the Doctor, now."
Joe threw himself on Cochise’s back and galloped
off in the direction of
When he looked back at his son's face, Adam's
eyes were open. Ben could see the pain
in them.
"Adam, son, hold on we're getting help for
you." Ben reached for Adam's hand,
grasping it tightly, trying to comfort him through the contact.
"Pa....
Ben looked into his eldest son's face, he could
see Adam was in agony by the hardness in his face. There was also something else in his eyes.
Fear. His son was afraid, very afraid.
"Son, what's, happened? What's gone
wrong?"
"Pa... my head. My head it's as though it's ready to
burst. I can't stand it much
longer."
"Hold on Adam, Hoss is getting the wagon
and Joseph's gone for the Doctor. They
won't be long."
"Pa... I...need … water." he croaked,
his tongue feeling thick in his mouth.
Adam couldn't believe he could hurt so much. He'd never experienced pain as completely as
this. His whole body was engulfed in
agony. There was a new pain in his
chest, cutting through the pain when he breathed in. Every part screamed at him. The worst was his head, he felt like it was
going to explode. His could feel his
heart pounding in his chest and he was cold.
No, he was hot. He couldn't even
tell which one any more. He realized he
was lying on the ground, then his vision blurred as blackness crept at the
edges of his vision. It was beginning to
creep inwards.
Adam screamed in agony and fear.
"Paaaa", but not a sound escaped his lips.
Ben ran to his horse for the canteen. When he knelt beside him, Adam’s eyes were
closed. Ripping off his bandanna, he poured out some of the water onto it and
bathed
"Adam, Adam." Ben reached to feel for Adam's pulse. He managed to just find it. It was faint but
racing so fast he couldn't count it.
"Oh Adam, my son. What's happened? How can I help you?" he cried in
anguish.
Ben looked at Adam. "What the hell happened to cause this?'
he thought. He reached down and touched
his son's face gently. He felt hot and
clammy. Beads of perspiration had formed
on Adam's top lip and forehead, the blood from his cut dribbled down the side
of his face. His clothes were wet as
though he'd been caught in a shower of rain.
Even in his unconscious state Adam's body twitched in pain or was he
shivering, Ben wasn't sure. How could
his son have gone from happy on Sunday to this... this in four days? He had felt the agony and his terror in his
son's voice. Ben felt the pain as it
wracked his son's body.
He could feel Adam's fear, for it was also his
own. As he looked down at Adam's face,
he felt tears swelling up from deep within, and he cried as he had seldom
cried, only three times before.
Ben held Adam's hand until Hoss arrived with the
wagon. Washing the sweat and blood from
his face, then cooling it with clean water.
"How is he Pa?" Hoss asked, seeing the tears on his father's
face, fearing the worst.
"Hoss I don't know. I just don't know. He's alive, but barely. Quick lets get him into the wagon and back
home." Ben bent over to lift Adam
up.
"It's all right Pa, I'll get him in the
wagon, it’s the least I can do, now."
Hoss gently lifted his older brother into the wagon. Adam moaned.
He had thrown a pile of blankets and pillows into the wagon to soften
the ride home. Hoss tied the horses to
the wagon while Ben covered Adam. Ben
then climbed into the wagon and cradled Adam's head in his arms.
"Help's on the way Adam. Hold on." Ben said reassuringly for as much as Hoss'
sake as well as Adam's.
Fortunately Adam stayed unconscious for the long
ride down from the mountain pasture to the ranch house. He cried out, once in agony, when Hoss
couldn’t miss a rut and the wagon had bounce severely, almost throwing Ben out
CHAPTER 13
When they arrived, the Doctor and Little Joe met
them in the yard. He'd only arrived
shortly beforehand. Joe had tried to
explain what he knew of Adam’s condition to the Doctor, but he seemed strangely
familiar with the symptoms.
"Ben take him straight up to his room, I'll
examine him there. Joe tells me Adam
said his head was hurting. Did he say
anything else?"
"No, nothing. Yes, wait a minute, he said he was
thirsty. I went to get my canteen and by
the time I came back he was unconscious.
Hoss will you take Adam upstairs?"
"Sure
"Pa, I'll help Hoss."
"Gently boys, gently." said the
Doctor, "Don't bump his head at all."
Adam groaned and his head lolled back as Hoss
carried him in his arms up to his room.
Ben and the Doctor followed behind them.
"Hoss, Joe has Adam said anything to you in
the last few days or done anything differently?'
"Paul, he's been out checking on some
timber since Monday morning. We don’t know what happened. " Replied Ben,
not taking his eyes of Adam as Hoss laid him on the bed.
"Has he been off his food, not
eating?"
"He didn't eat dinner Sunday." said
Hoss.
"Yes, come to think of it I think so too
Doctor. Hop Sing mentioned something to
me, but I wasn't quite listening."
Ben turned, at the door he said
"Hop Sing, Hop Sing come up stairs please, we're in Adam's
room."
"Yes Mr Ben? Mr Adam sick?"
"Hop Sing had Adam been different the past
few days, before he left?"
Hop Sing thought for a few moments. "Yes Doctor, he not eat much, not
breakfast on Monday. He say had
headache."
"A headache” the Doctor repeated.
"Ben, Hoss, Little Joe, any of you not
feeling well, any headaches, nausea or lack of appetite? Any cuts or open wounds on your hands. Anywhere where you may have come in contact
with Adam?"
Paul Martin watched each man as they inspected
their hands and arms, making sure they looked carefully.
"No."
"Not me Doc."
"No way, I never go off my food
Doc." Replied Hoss.
"Well that's a relief to know that you
three seem to be okay."
Concerned, Ben asked. "What do you think it is Doctor?"
"Let me examine Adam first Ben. Then I'll let you know, but I have a good
idea already what I think it is. Now all
of you outside please."
Little Joe and Hoss left the room and went down
stairs with Hop Sing to wait in the great room.
Ben stayed outside Adam's room, pacing the hallway while Paul conducted
his examination.
Two and a
half hours later the door opened and Paul came out. He met Ben's eye straightaway, concern etched
on his face. He and Ben walked down the
stairs; he wanted to tell them all at the same time.
"Ben, Adam is very, very ill. There is no easy way to tell you this, but
the truth is it's out of my hands. There
is nothing more I can do. The wound on
his head is clean, and it doesn’t need bandaging. He’s got three broken ribs, one of which was
digging into his left lung and causing internal bleeding. I’ve repaired and bandaged them, but that’s
not my main concern for him. I've
managed to give him a sedative to help ease the headache and pain
but......"
"Doctor?
What exactly does that mean?"
"He'll reach a point of crises sometime
tonight or possibly tomorrow, the next 24 hours are critical. If he passes it, all well and good, if
not... Stay close to him Ben, I'll stop
by in the morning."
"Is there anything we can do to ease his
pain, help him in the meantime Doctor?"
"Keep him as still as possible Ben. If it's what I think it is, the headache is a
symptom of his brain swelling and pressing against his skull. Falling off his horse and hitting his head
hasn’t helped his chances." Ben
looked at the Doctor, stunned by what he'd just been told. Hoss and Little Joe glanced at each other,
than back to their father, their distress showing on their faces.
.
"Yes Ben it's as serious as that. I think he has meningitis.” Paul looked into
the worried faces of the three men in front of him. He took a few moments to compose himself then
added.
“Ben...in most cases...it’s fatal. If the brain swells anymore it will kill him.
There's no doubt about it." He gave
Ben an even look in the eye and took a deep breath. They had to know the truth.
"So far there have been seven deaths in
town. In each case the brain swelling
has caused their death. I don't know how
or where this illness has come from.
The only clue I have so far is that everyone who has become infected has
had a cut somewhere on their body. I can
only assume, not that I should as a Doctor, that somehow this has caused the
infection. Herb at the International Hotel
told me that Adam had helped the first victim, a Mr Nash in the hotel on
Saturday night. I can only guess that
Adam had a cut on him somewhere too and as he helped Nash he became infected
too. There’s not much known about the disease, I can't even tell you how to
cure it. All I can suggest is keep his
head still as much as possible. Ben, there’s also something else you should
know.”
Dreading any further news but noticing Paul’s
eyes, Ben reluctantly nodded his head for Paul to continue.
“Nash is dead.”
Ben stared at Paul in horror. Hoss and Little Joe crossed the floor to
stand beside their father as he staggered with the information, ready to catch
him if he collapsed.
"Will cold compresses help keep the swellin
down Doc." Suggested Hoss, "like we do for horses legs when they
swell up?"
"We'll try anything Hoss, that might help,
at least it can't hurt." Said Dr
Martin as he picked up his bag from where he’d placed it on the table.
"Thank you.
Hop Sing will show you out." Ben said in a daze. Adam, he had to get back to Adam. His son needed him.
"Pa, Hoss and I'll take turns on sitting up
with him."
"Yeah
"No, no you boys get the sleep. I'll sit up with him. This is my responsibility, I sent him up the
mountain."
Slowly Hoss said, “Pa, I think there’s somethin’
you should know. I shoulda told you
sooner and then you could have stopped him from goin’.”
Ben swung around at Hoss, anger flashing in his
eyes. “You knew about this, you knew he was sick and you said nothing?”
“Pa, I knew about it too.” Said Joe, helping
Hoss defend his inaction. “ Adam didn’t want you to worry about him. He knew how important the contract was and
that he’d get it done for you no matter how sick he was. He told us not to tell
you, that we couldn’t get it done in 4 days and it had to be him. None of us knew how sick he was, not even
Adam himself.”
Rubbing his hand across his face, Ben replied,
the anger gone in his voice, replaced by regret.
“I sent my own son away for 4 days when he was
sick. No contract and no amount of money
is more important than his life - any of your lives. You should have told me.”
Ben turned away from them and slowly walked up
the stairs. Joe and Hoss followed,
turned into their rooms but wanting to stay with their father and Adam.
CHAPTER 14
Adam was lying in bed, sweat covering his face
and chest. Ben squeezed the washcloth
that was in the basin and wiped Adam's face.
Adam moaned softly as the water cooled his flushed face.
"Adam I can't loose you too. You're all I have left of
Adam moaned again, his eyes flickered open. He stared wildly about. "
"Here son, here I am." Ben reached out and grabbed hold of one of
Adam's hands.
"Pa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." Adam's head started to thrash from side to
side. His face awash with fear - sweat
running down his face and neck. Ben
tried to hold his head still with his remaining hand.
"I'm sorry, I didn't listen to her and now
she's dead. I didn’t mean for her to
die. I don't want to die. Pa? Pa?"
Adam
started to struggle in bed. Ben reached over to hold him down by the shoulders,
concern and alarm showing on his face.
"Adam I'm here, it's all right
Adam." Ben tried to reassure his
son.
"Where is she Pa?"
"Who Adam?
Who are you looking for?"
"Pa, where is she? Why did she have to die, I wanted her to be
my wife? Why?"
Ben whispered
"Ruth."
Adam began thrashing again, only more violently.
"Stop Adam.
Stop or you'll hurt yourself.
Keep your head still son."
"No, no." Adam threw his arms about, caught Ben on the
side of his face and knocked him stunned to the floor.
"I've got to find you Ruth..."
Adam threw the covers off, lunging out of
bed. His legs failed him and he fell
hard onto the floor hitting his head.
Ben rushed to him as Adam yelled in pain. He was breathing hard. His body shining with sweat.
"Why Pa?
Why me? Why do they keep on leaving me alone? What have I done wrong?" Adam cried in agony, trying to get up off the
floor.
"Who do you mean Adam?"
"Don't leave me alone,
"Adam, I don’t. Come on I'll help get you back into
bed."
Adam started fighting his father's help.
"No I've got to get Ruth, I need her."
Adam started to flail about with his arms and
Ben couldn't get a strong grip on him.
“Adam, Adam stop, you’ll hurt yourself.”
“Ruth…let me go.
Don’t stop me, you can’t stop me, I have to be with her.”
Ben could tell he was loosing the battle, his son,
in his delirium was too strong for him.
“Hoss, Hoss.” He yelled. “Get in here quickly, I need your help.”
Hoss came storming into the room, still fully
clothed. He rushed to his father and
brother.
“Help me hold him down. He wants to go and find Ruth.”
Hoss grabbed his brother and helped hold him
down on the floor with his strong arms.
Tears began to stream down his face as he saw his brother's pain. Ben heard a sobbing noise and looked towards
the door. Little Joe stood there, his
face white, sharing his brothers' agony in silence. Tears on his face too.
Adam continued to struggle, but was unable to
break Hoss's hold. Slowly his struggles
became weaker, until exhausted, he finally stopped altogether. Ben and Hoss let go of Adam, he was
unconscious again. Ben placed his hand
on Adam's chest; he could feel a heartbeat.
"Let's get him into bed Hoss. Help me lift him up."
"
"Go back to bed Joseph." Ben said softly. Reluctantly Little Joe turned and left the
room, glancing back at his family. Next Ben
looked at Hoss. He could see that Hoss
regretted having to hold down his brother.
Hoss' face could always show his feelings, so open, just like one of
Adam's books.
Ben whispered "Hoss....Hoss. It was for the best son. We had no choice; he would have hurt himself
if we'd let him go. Go to bed son, it’ll
be better in the morning, you’ll see."
Hoss raised his head, glancing from father to
brother. He climbed off the floor, from
where he’d knelt beside the bed and went to his father. Ben hugged him, reassuring him he said " Hoss, he's sleeping now. I'll call you should I need you again."
Hoss stiffened in Ben's arms. "I don't think that will happen
now. He's quiet. Now go to bed son." Ben hastily reassured him.
Ben
wasn't sure himself, but Hoss needed comforting words. Reluctantly Hoss let go of his father. Looking at Adam's face, which was now
relaxed, he said "Don't ever tell
him what I done Pa, please. I don't ever
want him to know that I held him down when he was sick."
Ben could sense the regret, sadness in his
Gentle Giant of a son’s voice. As Hoss
moved to leave he glanced from brother to father, then back to brother. He didn't want to leave but left anyway, his
head hung low.
Looking at Adam's sleeping face, Ben was aware
how drained he felt. He lowered himself
into the chair. Adam's face was relaxed
and peaceful. His chest just rising and
falling enough for Ben to see he was still breathing.
CHAPTER 15
Adam's eyes flickered open, looking around he
found he was in his own room.
He turned his head and saw his father asleep in
the chair. He was holding his mother’s
music box in his hands. He looked
tired. He wondered what had happened. Adam tried to call his father but nothing
happened, his mouth was dry.
"Pa...Pa..." this time sound came out.
Ben leapt out of the chair, woken out of a sleep
he hadn't intended. He looked straight
into his son's eyes. His dark eyes
returned his gaze. They were clear, no
sign of pain in them at all. Ben studied
Adam; his hair was matted from perspiration, his face pale and drawn. As his eldest son gave him a faint smile he
was aware just how close he'd come to loosing him. To have lost Adam would have devastated
him. He was the only link he had with
The task
of having to forcibly hold Adam down last night had cut him to the core of his
soul. He felt relieved that Adam had
woken up and spoken to him.
"Pa....?" Adam asked again.
Ben noticed the questioning tone of Adam's voice
in those three words.
"Thank God." Ben prayed.
"Adam." He went and placed his hand on Adam's
forehead.
"The fever has gone. Any headaches or pain son?"
"Yes, my chest hurts. I'm just a bit tired and stiff as though a
horse has sat on me."
Ben smiled slightly and said to himself 'Not a horse, a Hoss.’ but he replied "Well you did give me a good fight
Adam."
"Was it a long night?"
“No, not too long. I, I had company.” Ben said as he placed the
music box back on the desk beside Adam’s bed.
“Memories?” asked Adam. Ben nodded and sat back on the chair, facing
Adam. He could see by the look in Adam’s face that he wanted to talk.
“I had memories too. All kind of mixed up, in a dream. I was on a clipper ship, sailing on a dark
and black sea. And then all of a sudden the
sun came up. I guess it was one of
stories, you used to tell me as a boy huh?”
“Memories and dreams are precious things
Adam. They’re always there when you need
them most.”
“How long have I been sick for?
"It's Saturday Adam. Yesterday and last night were bad, but I
think the worst is over. Doc Martin will
be calling in today to check on you."
"What happened? All I remember is having a headache and
wanting to be sick. I lost track of the days.
I think the survey is completed, it should be in my saddlebag. The last thing I remember is seeing Joe and
riding down to met him, that's all."
"Do you remember the man you helped last
Saturday in the International Hotel?"
Ben asked, the reason for Adam's trip forgotten for the moment.
"Umm, yes, I think so."
"Well it turns out what he had was
meningitis. He gave it to you by
accident, when you helped him. He was
involved in an accident in the mine and quite a few miners in
"Oh."
Adam suddenly aware of how close he'd been to death. Stunned, "Is everyone else.... Joe,
Hoss, you. Are you all Okay?"
Ben smiled.
How typical of Adam to ask about his family. He was always amazed at the love shared
between his sons and him. "Yes
Adam, we're all fine. Hoss and Joseph
would like to see you. Are you feeling
up to it?"
"Sure
Just as Ben stood up to get the boys, Hoss and
Little Joe stuck their heads into the room.
"See I told you he was awake." Said Little Joe. ”I didn’t think Pa was talking to himself.”
"Adam.... it's good to see ya. You all right?" Hoss asked concern still on his face as he
walked into the room, with Joe following.
"Yeah Hoss, I'm all right, hungry, thirsty
and tired but other than that Okay. I
could do with a bath too." He said
with a smile.
With that Ben, Hoss and Little Joe all started
laughing. Adam was definitely feeling
better.
Adam looked from one face to the other. "What's going on?" he asked
perplexed.
Hoss brought his right hand from behind his
back, in it was a wrapped parcel.
“What’s this for?”
Smiling Hoss said. "Happy birthday Adam."
Adam had to think hard. Had the week gone by that quickly that it was
the Saturday of his birthday? “Hey, you’re right it’s Saturday isn’t it.”
“Yes son, it’s Saturday.”
“ We didn’t think you was gonna make it, big
brother. Open your gift.”
Ben watched the smile on Hoss’ face. Joe had told him how Hoss had spent hours
using his whittling skill on what he’d made for Adam. Ben reached over to Adam, holding him
carefully as Joe packed the pillows behind Adam’s back to support him as he sat
up to open the gift.
Adam slowly unwrapped the gift. He was surprised at how weak he felt.
The wrapping came away to reveal a flat wooden
carving. The scene of a high mountain
peak, ponderosa trees and a stream winding it’s way across the foreground. There was a blank section in the sky among
the clouds.
Adam raised his eyes to Hoss. A wondering look on his face. “Is that what I
think it is…”
“Yes Adam it’s The Mountain of The Dead. I hope you don’t mind. It’s not finished either.”
“It isn’t?” questioned Little Joe, glaring at
Hoss. “I thought you said you’d give it
to Adam when it was finished.”
“No you didn’t listen, like always. I said I’d give it to Adam for his
birthday. I didn’t say it was gonna be
finished. Besides I can’t finish it, not
yet anyways.”
“Why not Hoss?” asked Adam “It looks great, um, except for the bit in
the clouds.”
“Yeah well that’s the part I couldn’t finish.”
“Why couldn’t you finish it son?” Ben asked
softly. Understanding the way Hoss felt
about his oldest brother and the recent loss of Ruth, he felt that he knew what
Hoss was about to say.
“Adam…I wanted to whittle Ruth’s face in the
clouds, looking down at you, but you never said what she looked like. I couldn’t finish it…..” Hoss’ voice trailed off. He looked down at his hands; ashamed he
couldn’t complete Adam’s gift.
Adam gripped the carving tightly in his hands,
closing his eyes he fought off the tears threatening to fall down his
face. He knew how proud Hoss was of his
whittling. To give this to him on his
birthday and not completed, must have hurt him.
“Hoss…thank you. Thank you so much. I’ve plenty of time to tell you what Ruth
looked like. Don’t be upset because it’s
not finished. It’s….” Adam voice
broke. He didn’t finish his sentence as
the tears, which had threatened earlier, now fell silently down his cheeks.
Hoss stooped down and gathered Adam in his
strong arms, comforting him.
“I made it so that you’d always remember Ruth,
and the time you shared together.”
Over the top of Hoss’ shoulder, Adam slowly
managed to control his emotions long enough to speak to his precious family.
“Thank you
The End