The Worst That Could Happen
By: Rona Y.
It had been years since he
had been here, but he recognised every contour of the land before him. Deep
within his soul, something cried, “home!” Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes
and listened to the silence around him.
After a moment, the hired
horse beneath him began to fidget, and he opened his eyes and resumed his
journey. What kind of reception would he get? he wondered. He hadn’t said he
was coming home. It had been so long – too long, he admitted ruefully – since
he had even written his family a letter. Would they all be pleased to see him?
He knew his father would welcome him with open arms, and so would his middle
brother. But the youngest? He didn’t know. They had too often been at odds with
each other. All the years that separated them age-wise, plus all the years of
actual separation, might have done their relationship irreparable harm.
A person emerged from the
trees ahead, and the man tensed. He didn’t immediately recognise the person,
but the sun was at their back, casting them into silhouette. “Mr Cartwright?”
asked the other.
“That’s right,” he answered
warily. “What can I do for you?”
“You’ll come with me
please,” the man ordered.
“I don’t think so,”
Cartwright replied.
“I know you will, Adam,”
the other retorted. “I can make you come with me.”
“There’s nothing you can do
that will ever make me come with you,” Adam Cartwright snapped. His hand rested
on his gun butt.
“Really?” the other retorted.
Adam still couldn’t see his face. He watched as the man stepped back and
reached into the trees. He pulled and another man, his hands tightly bound in
front of him, toppled to the ground.
The startled horse stepped
back and Adm soothed it automatically. His eyes were riveted to the man on the
ground. He hadn’t seen Joe for years, but there was no doubt that this was his
youngest brother. The other man knelt and placed the barrel of his gun against
Joe’s temple. “I think you’re going to come with me after all,” the man
taunted.
Dragging his gaze away from
the battered features of his brother, Adam looked at the other man, and saw
himself!
******************
Dismounting slowly, Adam
made no unwise moves towards his gun. “I know, you, don’t I?” he asked,
prodding is memory for the name.
“You ought to,” replied his
doppelganger. “We did meet only the once, and briefly, as I recall, but you
ought to know who I am. After all, I bear your face.”
Flicking his gaze back to
Joe, the memory suddenly returned. Many years ago, this man – known to him only
as Tom – had broken into the Ponderosa ranch house to steal from it. Joe had
been there and had done his best to protect his home. Tom had, in the end,
escaped empty handed, thanks in the main part to Joe’s efforts, but also due to
the arrival of Adam, Ben and Hoss. Joe
had been badly beaten.
Then, a few years later,
Tom had returned. At the time, they had not been sure it was Tom, for they
never saw him, but he had three times tried to kill Joe. Then a few years after
that, Tom had kidnapped Joe to hold for ransom.
Hoss had followed Tom and had been in time to rescue Joe. Tom had fallen
into the
“Yes, I remember you,” he
admitted, although his face had betrayed his thoughts. “What do you want with
me?”
“Well, to be truthful, I
hadn’t expected it to be you, Adam. Last time I saw Joe, he said you had gone
away. No,” Tom shrugged, “I just wanted any Cartwright, but seeing you – well,
that’s just the icing on the cake for me!”
“What do you want?” Adam
demanded. Joe groaned, and Adam made a move towards him that he halted abruptly
as Tom cocked his gun.
“I want the money that Joe
promised me,” Tom replied. “I’ll tell you what I want done, and then I’ll let
you go and tell your family. But just remember; if you double cross me, I’ll
send your brother back to you in pieces.”
“How do I know you won’t
kill him anyway?” Adam demanded. Joe groaned again and moved slightly. “Please,
he’s hurt. Let me go to him!”
An amused smile played over
Tom’s lips. “All right,” he agreed, surprisingly. Putting the safety back on
his gun, he backed slowly away, keeping Adam covered all the time. “Try
anything, and I’ll blow your head off,” he warned.
Kneeling swiftly by Joe,
Adam gathered his younger brother into his arms. He felt a pang of shock to
discover that Joe had grey in his hair. It was also much longer than Adam
remembered. “Joe,” he said, urgently. “Joe, can you hear me?” He raised his
right hand to wipe some blood from Joe’s cheek.
The man in his arms opened
his eyes a slit and gazed at Adam for a moment. “Leave me alone,” he hissed,
through swollen, bleeding lips.
“Joe, it’s me, Adam,” his brother
pleaded. “If you don’t believe me, turn your head. Tom is over there.”
With a suspicious look on
his face, Joe slowly turned his head. His eyes opened wider and his mouth gaped
for a second as he saw Tom standing by the tree, covering them with his gun.
His head swivelled back to Adam. “Adam?” he gasped, incredulously. “What are
you doing here?”
“I’ve come home,” Adam
replied. He saw Joe’s eyes fill with tears that he hastily blinked away. “Joe,
are you all right?”
A spasm of pain crossed
Joe’s face. “I dunno what happened,” he murmured, closing his eyes. “I remember
him jumping at me from the trees and Cochise spooking. I guess I fell.”
“How did you get in this
state?” Adam wondered aloud. He glanced at Tom, who was smirking.
“I did that,” he assured
Adam gleefully. “Now, put your brother down and lie face down on the ground.”
When Adam hesitated, he fired a shot into the ground near Joe.
Realising that Tom was a
madman, Adam did as he was told, carefully laying his injured brother down,
before lying face down himself. Tom was kneeling on his back in an instant, and
Adam swallowed a wince. His back had not improved in his years away from the
Ponderosa. He wasn’t surprised when Tom dragged his arms behind his back and
tied them. He tied Adam’s feet, too, although the ropes didn’t seem very tight
to Adam.
Laughing, Tom rose and
dragged Joe to his feet. Adam turned his head to look at them. Joe was barely
able to stand, and his head lolled on his shoulders. Fear raced through Adam’s
gut.
“Listen good,” Tom ordered.
“You tell your father that I want $25,000 if he wants Joe back. I’ll meet you
here tomorrow at
“Clear,” Adam grated. He
watched helplessly as Joe was dragged off into the trees. Adam began the
struggle to free himself, vowing that he would do whatever it took to rescue
Joe.
*****************
As he rode into the
familiar yard, Adam could feel tears prickling in his eyes. He blinked them
away, his years of exile having only repressed his emotions still further, not
released them. Ben was standing in the yard, talking to a ranch hand that Adam
didn’t recognise. Ben glanced up when he heard the hooves and for a moment he
froze, unable to believe his eyes.
“Adam?” he whispered. He
took a step closer, then he was running across the yard. “Adam!” he cried,
joyfully. “Adam, you’re home!”
“Hi, Pa,” Adam replied,
unable to think of anything else to say. He dismounted slowly, and Ben looked
at him, perplexed by his son’s behaviour.
“Adam, what’s wrong; are
you ill?” Ben asked, putting his arms round his long-lost son and hugging him.
“No, it’s just…” Adam
stopped, unable to say anything else for a moment. He was saved by Hoss coming
out of the barn and rushing over.
They exchanged greetings,
Hoss not being ashamed to shed a few tears. But like Ben, he was quick to spot
Adam’s discomfort. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Ain’t cha pleased ta be home?”
“Of course I am!” Adam
cried. “It’s just…” He took a deep breath and blurted out what had happened. “I
met Tom on the road. He’s got Joe, and is holding him to ransom.”
All of a sudden, Ben looked
old. He paled dramatically, and Hoss quickly took hold of his arm, even though
he didn’t have much more colour. “Tom?” Ben whispered. “I thought he was dead.”
“So did I,” Adam replied.
“But it was him. He’s beaten Joe up pretty badly, Pa. He wants $25,000 to give
Joe back. I’ve to meet him alone and unarmed tomorrow, and he’ll tell me where
we’ve to give the money and when.”
“The nightmare has begun
again,” Ben muttered. He headed towards the house. Slowly, Adam and Hoss both
followed. Hoss told the ranch hand to tend to his brother’s horse.
The house hadn’t changed.
His familiar, well-loved blue velvet chair was still sitting by the bottom of
the stairs. The sofa appeared to have had the fabric changed, but the large
square coffee table was still in front of the fire. A delicious smell of roast
beef permeated the air and Adam suddenly realised he was hungry.
“Suppa ready,” called a
voice that Adam knew almost as well as his own.
“Hop Sing!” he exclaimed.
Startled, the diminutive
Chinese cook looked at Adam before bowing deeply to him. “Welcome home, Mista
Adam,” he said. “Been away long time. I set extra place.”
“There’s no need,” Ben told
him. “Hop Sing, Joe’s been kidnapped.”
The stricken look on the
cook’s face told everyone of his grief at the news. “I get suppa,” he muttered
tonelessly and shuffled back into the kitchen.
********************
The line shack was one that
Joe knew well, for he had provisioned it often. Tom threw him down on the floor
and Joe couldn’t bite back the groan that escaped. He ached all over and his
stomach throbbed from his journey to the shack face down over the saddle of his
horse. Joe was only too familiar with Tom’s ‘tricks’ and wondered with dread
what he faced now.
Kneeling by Joe’s side, Tom
tied Joe’s feet tightly, then rose and went over to the bunk. From its hiding
place under the mattress, he pulled a collar and chain. Joe shuddered. He tried
to keep the fear from his face as Tom came back to him and fastened the leather
collar around his neck. Tom grinned at the look on Joe’s face as he padlocked
the chain, very short, to a ring in the wall. Joe wasn’t going to be going
anywhere, even if by some miracle he managed to break free of the ropes.
“So where did you go?” Joe
asked. “After you fell into the river?”
“Does it matter?” Tom
replied. “I drifted back into my life of crime, if that’s what you truly want
to know.”
“Why have you come back
here?” prodded Joe. “It’s been years.”
Looking at Joe askance, Tom
didn’t reply. He wasn’t too certain why he had come back here, either. He hated
Joe with a vengeance, for the younger man had always managed to prod his
conscience into life. Tom couldn’t stand it, yet he had never forgotten Joe and
had felt drawn to come back to
Sighing, Joe abandoned his
questioning, knowing that he wasn’t going to get the answers he wanted.
Watching Tom begin to make a meal, Joe surreptitiously tested his bonds,
finding them as tight as ever. He’d only managed to break free the last time by
burning the ropes – and his feet – in the fire. Joe vividly remembered the
pain, as he had been bedridden for some time afterwards.
As Tom turned his back, Joe
reached up with his bound hands to try and find the buckle of the collar. If it
was within reach, he might be able to unfasten it, and break free. Even though
the buckle was at the back of his neck, Joe found he could reach it easily and
began to fiddle with it.
“Damn, Cartwright, if you
aren’t the most irritating person I ever met!” Tom cried, turning round and
catching Joe at it. He crossed the shack in two strides and yanked Joe’s hands
away, casually backhanding him for good measure. “Why do you always have to try
to escape? Can’t you ever learn that I won’t tolerate it?”
“Doesn’t look like it,” Joe
gasped, through lips that were bleeding again. “Any more than it looks like you
haven’t learned that I won’t just sit here passively.”
“And I thought this might
be enough,” Tom murmured and Joe frowned. What did that mean? He watched, his
hands again rising to his neck as Tom crossed the shack to delve in his
saddlebags.
It wasn’t any other
instrument of torture that Tom brought back with him; just more rope. Joe
fought to keep his face impassive as Tom bound the rope tightly around his
thighs, just above his knees, then pulled his wrists down to his thighs and
bound them there. “You won’t be getting out if this in a hurry, will you?” Tom
taunted as he walked away.
Sighing again as he looked
down at his doubly trapped hands, Joe wished he hadn’t been as impulsive as to
try to escape while Tom was still awake. “Still acting first and thinking
after,” Joe chided himself, quietly. He wondered what Adam would say when he
found out about this.
*******************
As Tom ate, Joe thought
about Adam. The sight of his brother on the road that afternoon had come as quite
a shock, especially after realising that he was Tom’s prisoner once more. Joe
had not known that Adam was on his way home. It had been months since the
family had last heard from him, and Joe knew that Ben feared the worst. If
something happened to Adam while he was travelling alone, would they ever know?
Did Adam carry some form of identification that would ask someone to get in
touch with his family so far away? Joe didn’t know the answer.
In fact, Joe wasn’t too
sure how he felt about his brother’s return. He knew that Ben would be pleased,
for his father had missed Adam dreadfully over the years. Hoss would be pleased
too, for he and Adam had always been close. It was Adam and Joe that fought;
Adam and Joe that could resort to fisticuffs to resolve their problems; Adam
and Joe that could be as warm and loving as the rest of the family. It was a
difficult dynamic for them to deal with. The oldest and the youngest had been
butting heads on and off for years. Although Joe had missed Adam very much initially,
he had suddenly found that he was accepted much more easily, for he didn’t have
to constantly prove himself to Adam. Joe grew up, took on much of the
responsibility that was Adam’s and flourished. Did he now want Adam to come
home and maybe take over again?
It was clear by now that
Joe wasn’t going to get anything to eat. He wriggled his fingers, making sure
the circulation hadn’t been cut off and was relieved to find his fingers still
worked. The ropes were just as tight as ever and Joe felt a pang of unease. How
was he going to get himself out of this one?
Darkness fell, and Tom
rolled himself in a blanket and fell asleep. Shivering on the floor, Joe tugged
and pulled at his bonds in the hope of loosening them, but there was no play in
the ropes. When dawn came, he was still a prisoner.
*********************
“It hasn’t been much of a
homecoming for you, Adam,” Ben commented that evening after supper.
“That’s hardly your fault,”
Adam pointed out. “But don’t worry, Pa, we’ll get Joe back safe and sound.”
“Of course we will,” Ben agreed, but his voice
sounded hollow and unconvincing, even to his own ears. “I’m not worried.”
Hoss exchanged a look with
Adam. How many times had they heard Ben say something like that about Joe? Of
course he was worried, as were Adam and Hoss. Tom was a madman. At his last
meeting with Joe, he had come far too close to cutting off one of Joe’s ears
before Hoss was able to stop him.
“Pa, we’ve got to make
plans for tomorrow,” Adam insisted. “We can’t just let Tom abuse Joe like he
had. We’ve got to get Joe back tomorrow, before you have to pay any money.”
“It’s so risky,” Ben
replied. “If anything happened to Joe…” He couldn’t go on.
“Pa, Tom don’t mean ta let
Joe go, even if’n he does git the money,” Hoss chimed in. He hated to say it,
but someone had to. “He’s gonna kill Joe, one way or the other.”
There was a long silence
while Ben just looked at his two remaining sons. The worst thing that could
happen was the death of one of his sons. Ben knew that they had to live their
lives and that the unexpected was always waiting round the corner. But to
actively put his sons in danger, even to save one, was very difficult for him.
But even he could see that Adam and Hoss were right. Tom meant to kill Joe, and
their best chance of rescuing him appeared to be the next day.
“All right,” he agreed.
“What should we do?”
**********************
It was a long night for all
the Cartwrights and sleep was in short supply. An hour before dawn, Hoss and Ben
rose, dressed and left for the rendezvous, there to find places to hide. Adam
picked at the food Hop Sing prepared and spent the morning wandering aimlessly
around the house. Several times he tried to settle to read, but each time found
himself wondering how his youngest brother was faring.
It seemed unfair to Adam
that he should return from wandering the earth, only to find one of his family
in mortal danger. Somehow, Adam had always assumed that everything at the
Ponderosa would remain unchanged. He had frequently comforted himself with the
thought that he could always go home and find them waiting for him. Now, he
found himself wondering why he hadn’t come home sooner. Was his life so good
that he couldn’t – or wouldn’t - give it up to come back here? This was where
his heart lay. Why was he wandering the world, finding nowhere to settle, when
he had this place to come back to?
It was a question he was
unable to answer, and he decided right there and then that he was home for
good. He could write to friends to sell his house in
As he left to go to the
rendezvous, Adam felt more settled than he had for a long, long, time.
******************
For Joe, the journey to the
meeting had been tortuous. Tom had forced him to run behind his horse, and more
than once, Joe had fallen and been dragged for a time before Tom had stopped
and allowed him to regain his feet. Joe hadn’t had to worry about not voicing
his pain, as Tom had gagged him before leaving the shack. By the time they
reached the place they were to meet Adam, Joe was trembling with exhaustion.
They didn’t have long to
wait before Adam appeared. Joe raised his head and peered at his brother. Adam
shot Joe a long look, and turned furious brown eyes on Tom, his doppelganger.
“Why is Joe gagged?” he demanded.
“I’m sure you can guess,”
Tom replied. “Did you know that we share more than just our face, Adam? We’re
both college men, but I didn’t manage to do anything worthwhile with my
education. What have you done with yours?”
“What difference does it
make?” Adam demanded. “You want the money for Joe and I’ll make sure you get
it!”
“Joe was so proud of you
when we first met,” Tom confided. He patted Joe’s face just a shade harder than
necessary. “And even last time we met, he was bragging about how much the
family still loved you. I rather thought it sounded like he was protesting too
much, but now that you’re back, I wonder. Maybe he was telling the truth.”
“Joe doesn’t lie!” Adam
asserted. He shot another look at his brother, trying to convey with his eyes
that everything would be all right. He was shocked by Joe’s appearance. The
other man looked exhausted, his eyes glazed. Every now and then, Joe grimaced
as pain shot through his body. Adam was deeply concerned. “Look, what do you
want? Please, tell me, so we can start getting the money together. Please.”
“You know how much I want,”
Tom countered, coolly. “I want it by tomorrow. You get it all here by
“Alive,” Adam stipulated.
“And without you having harmed him any more.”
“I don’t think you’re in
any position to be giving orders,” Tom growled, hauling Joe closer to him and
placing his gun, which he’d drawn earlier, against Joe’s head.
Taking a deep breath, Adam
forced himself to be calm. Joe’s green eyes were suddenly wide with terror and
pain. “No, I guess I’m not,” Adam agreed. “But he’s my brother; you can’t blame
me for trying.”
Surprisingly, this made Tom
smile and relax. He shoved Joe away from him again, causing the other man to
stumble and nearly fall. Adam burned with anger, but he hid it. “I guess I
can’t,” Tom nodded. His tone turned hard again. He pointed his gun at Adam. “Get
going, Cartwright!” he ordered.
Knowing that he had to do
as he was told, and hoping that Ben and Hoss were in position, Adam slowly
turned to walk away. Joe felt bereft. He glanced at Tom, and was horrified to
see him cocking his gun, ready to shoot Adam in the back.
Without another moment’s
thought, Joe launched himself at his retreating brother’s back. There was a
fusillade of gunshots as Adam hit the ground, and a cry of pain. From a
distance, he could hear his name and Joe’s being called frantically, but he was
too winded to answer. And all he could hear after that was the rattle of breath
in Joe’s throat and then silence…
********************
With a jerk and a cry, Adam
woke from the nightmare, feeling sweat cooling on his body and his heart
thumping erratically. He raised a shaking hand to wipe his face, then fumbled
for a light.
The warm glow from the lamp
was reassuring. Adam glanced at the clock and realised that he hadn’t been
asleep very long.
Despite this, it was a long
time before he went back to bed and fell asleep.
*******************
In the morning, Adam found
himself thinking about home. He had lived in
Until the dream the
previous night, Adam had always thought that nothing would change on the
Ponderosa. Everyone would still be there when he returned. But Joe’s death in
that dream had scared him. He wanted to go home.
With Adam, thought led to
action, and he went through to his room to begin packing. It was with a jolt
that he realised that the thoughts he had had in his dream were quite correct.
There was very little in that house that he wanted to keep. His most precious
possessions were thousands of miles away. Suddenly, he was very homesick.
Later that morning, a
letter arrived. Adam recognised the handwriting at once as his father’s. He
held the envelope for a long moment, thinking that his reply to this would be
delivered in person. The thought warmed his heart and he smiled to himself.
Opening the letter, he was
completely unprepared for its contents.
My dear son, Adam,
It is with great sadness that I write to
tell you of the death of your brother...”
The words blurred into a
haze of hot tears for a moment, and Adam did not know which of his brothers had
died. Because of his dream, he feared it was Joe; he had no idea how to bear it
if it were Hoss; he didn’t know if he could bear to read on and find out, but
he had to.
…the death of your brother Hoss. He
collapsed and died here at home, and we do not know why. I hate to write to
tell you this. I know that you will be as grief-stricken as we are. Joe is so
bereft, yet will not give in to his grief. I fear for him, Adam.
I know I have no right to ask, but will
you come home? We need you right now, and I think that you need us also.
Your loving father,
Ben Cartwright.
Collapsing onto the nearest
seat, Adam wept out his heartbreak. Hoss had been dead for over a month and he
had not known it.
As he looked around the
bare little house, Adam realised that he had left it too late to go home.
Everything had changed. How he wished it was all a bad dream.
The End