A Woman Scorned
By: Rona Y.
January had been cold, with
many storms adding to the feet of snow that had already been lying. It had been
so long since there had been any real daylight that the sudden reappearance of the
sun had made the people of
The break in the weather
was extremely opportune for the Cartwrights on the Ponderosa ranch. With
blizzard after blizzard racing down from the mountains, they had been unable to
go out and check on the herd and barn chores had only been accomplished with
the help of a rope stretched from the house across the yard to the barn.
Various chores needed doing. The woodpile, although not very depleted, required
to be topped up. Hay needed to be brought to the barn and the herd needed
checked.
Quite how he ended up going
off to check the herd, Joe wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t complaining. With his
volatile, impetuous nature, Joe had found it very hard to be cooped up in the
house for days and weeks at a time. He set off in good spirits, which survived
even the inevitable stops to clear snow from his horse’s hooves.
As always, the herd was
wintering in a pasture comparatively near the house. Joe arrived there shortly
before
Satisfied with the way
things were, Joe mounted up and began the cold ride back home. He felt more
relaxed and knew that if a storm hit that night, he would find it easier – for
a while – to stay in the house.
Following the rutted track
home to the house, Joe was suddenly intrigued to notice fresh wagon tracks. His
curiosity spiked, he ignored the turn-off to the house, despite Cochise turning
hopefully in that direction. The trail led through sheltered areas where the
sun could not penetrate and the temperature was even further below freezing
than it was in other places.
It was in one of these
sheltered hollows that Joe found the wagon. It had slid from the frozen,
snow-packed trail into a shallow ditch. The two occupants of the wagon were
struggling futilely to push it back onto the trail. As they heard Joe’s horse,
they turned.
They were women, Joe
released, with a sense of shock. The younger one was now holding a gun on him.
Joe pulled Cochise to a halt and lifted his left hand so that they could see he
wasn’t going to draw his gun. “I won’t hurt you,” Joe assured them. “I just
want to help.”
After a moment’s
hesitation, the woman lowered the gun. “All right, thank you,” she replied,
ungraciously and Joe stifled a pang of irritation.
Dismounting, he tethered
his horse and went over to check out the situation more closely. The wheel was
on a patch of ice and there was no purchase for it. Shivering slightly in the frigid
air, Joe found a broken branch and began to break it into slivers. Scattering
the branch fragments, Joe took a small axe he had in his saddlebags and cracked
the surface of the ice. All the time he worked, neither of the women said a
single word and Joe took the opportunity to study them more closely, albeit
covertly.
The young woman looked to
be a few years older than Joe. She had blonde bangs protruding from under the
warm shawl she wore over her head. Her clothes looked well made and expensive,
yet he noticed that her hands were chapped from hard work and the cold when she
took off one mitt briefly.
The older woman appeared to
be her mother. There was a certain resemblance between them, although Joe
didn’t think the mother had ever been as beautiful as the daughter. She, too,
wore expensive clothes. So far, no names had been offered. Joe could not help
but speculate as to the reason they were there.
“If you get the horses to
move, I’ll push from this side,” Joe offered. “I don’t think it’ll be difficult
to get the wagon to move now.”
The mother moved to climb
onto the wagon seat, but the daughter kept up her wary, suspicious observation
of Joe. Ignoring her, Joe put his shoulder to the wheel and shouted, “All
right!”
For a horrid second, Joe
thought the wagon was not going to move, but it did, and Joe barely managed to
keep his feet on the icy surface. He watched in satisfaction as the wagon moved
forward a few feet to safety and brushed a little dirt off the shoulder of his
coat.
“Thank you,” the older
woman said, getting down from the seat. “I didn’t know what we were going to
do.”
“This is a bad time to
travel,” Joe replied, concerned. He cast a glance at the sky. “It looks all
right now, but there’ll be snow again by dark. Where are you headed?”
“What business is it of
yours?” snapped the young woman rudely.
“Evie!” reproved her
mother.
“I ask because it seems to
me that two women alone with a wagon in this weather is a bad idea,” Joe
responded, holding tight to his temper. “You do know that you’re on private
property?”
“No, we didn’t,” the mother
muttered, looking embarrassed.
“We’re not stopping,” Evie
added. “We’re going on to
Nonplussed, Joe just gaped
at her for a moment. “All right,” he responded slowly. “But perhaps you ought
to return to
“I am Miss Evangeline
Bolton,” Evie said, haughtily. “This is my mother, Mrs Jemima Bolton.”
“Ma’am,” Joe responded,
tipping his hat slightly. “My name is Joe Cartwright and this is the Ponderosa ranch
that you are on.”
“Cartwright!” exclaimed
Evie and in one single, fluid motion, she lifted the gun and fired at Joe.
Caught completely by
surprise, Joe felt the first bullet bite into his right side. As he slid to the
ground, another bullet creased his head. Dimly, Joe was aware of Cochise
fleeing in panic before he surrendered to the darkness.
************************
How much time passed before
he roused, Joe was never sure. His eyes flickered open and he shivered
violently. A burst of pain shot through his side and he couldn’t contain a
groan. Memory came back with a jolt and Joe forced his eyes to focus on the
empty trail where he lay. The wagon was gone.
The snow where he was lying
was stained red with his blood, but Joe was surprised at how little there was.
It didn’t occur to him that the cold had prevented serious blood loss. However,
he knew, despite the slowness of his thinking, that he had to get home, or the
cold would finish him.
He got as far as his knees
before his stomach rebelled against the whirling of his head and he was sick.
The retching caused him untold misery in his injured side, and when it was
over, Joe could barely lift his head. Wiping his mouth with some clean snow,
Joe wondered if Cochise had gone far. If the horse was close by, he should be
able to get home without too much difficulty. He whistled.
There was no response. Joe
sighed and closed his eyes for a moment while he gathered his strength to get
to his feet. After a moment, he made the galvanic effort required and gained
his feet. He drew in several deep breaths to try and control the nausea that
threatened to overwhelm him again. After a moment, it subsided and Joe began to
stagger towards his home.
The wind had risen and as
Joe squinted up at the sky, he saw the snow clouds rushing in over the
mountains again. The sky was growing dark and Joe felt a pang of alarm.
Although he wasn’t much more than a mile from the house, he knew he would be
unable to reach it before darkness fell. His clothes were already wet from
lying in the snow and Joe knew that being caught out at night, in freezing
temperatures, while it was snowing, was a recipe for disaster. He tried to
hurry his pace, but his wound was bleeding sluggishly again and he couldn’t
maintain the faster pace.
Clenching his jaw grimly
against the pain, Joe staggered on.
**********************
It didn’t come as a
surprise to anyone at the big house that Joe had not returned for lunch that
day. After having had his restless presence cooped up with them, they were more
than willing for Joe to stay away for a while. But as the afternoon wore on,
Ben began to look a bit concerned. Adam and Hoss, finished with their chores,
tried to keep Ben occupied so that he didn’t worry, but as the clouds began to
build over the mountains again, they gave up. Joe should have been back by
then. He knew better than to ignore the weather at that time of year.
“I’m going to look for
him!” Ben declared. “Joe should have been back long ago.”
“We’re coming with you,”
Adam stated, quietly, as he shrugged on his big coat. Hoss was doing the same.
Ben gave his sons a grateful smile, but it didn’t chase away the worry in his
eyes.
As they crossed the yard,
commenting on the strength of the wind, they heard hooves and exchanged relieved,
embarrassed grins. Joe would never let them hear the end of it if he knew they
had been worried enough to come looking for him when he was perfectly fine.
But the grins faded as
Cochise came into the yard with an empty saddle. Hoss moved to catch the horse
and checked him over. “There ain’t a mark on him, Pa,” he reported, grimly.
“Get the sleigh,” Ben
ordered, his tone equally grim. “Adam, alert one of the men and send him for
the doctor. We can always send someone else to turn Paul back should he not be
needed.” He went back to the house to alert Hop Sing that they would probably
need some warm water when they returned with Joe.
If they returned with Joe.
*******************
The cold seemed to be
growing more intense as they left a short time later. Hoss led the way, mounted
on Chubb, back–tracking Joe’s horse. There were a few moments of confusion as
they reached the main trail, but after casting carefully around on foot, Hoss
found the trail again and they all exchanged concerned glances as they realised
that the trail was coming from a direction they did not expect to find Joe
travelling in.
They had gone barely half a
mile when Hoss suddenly let out a shout and spurred his horse on. There, on the
trail, lay Joe, face down in the snow. Ben’s heart contracted painfully and he
pulled the sleigh horse to a halt, leaping from the vehicle before it was
completely stopped. Adam was only a second behind him.
“He’s bin shot,” Hoss
reported, anxiously, kneeling in the snow by Joe. “An’ he’s soaked through,
Frantically, Ben felt for
Joe’s pulse. It was there, slow and steady. Joe’s face was almost as white as
the snow he was lying on. There was a small patch of red under his body. “Help
me get him in the sleigh,” Ben ordered, although Adam and Hoss were already
preparing to do just that.
Within moments, Joe was
warmly tucked beneath buffalo robes, and Ben was carefully turning the sleigh.
The temptation to get in and whip up the horse was immense, but Ben knew the
risks and he kept the horse to a steady pace. He knew it would be some
considerable time before the doctor reached them. He had to get Joe home
safely, before he could start helping his son in whatever way he could.
Adam gripped his arm. “I’ll
drive, Pa,” he offered, knowing that Ben would want to hold Joe, to reassure
him should he wake.
“Thanks,” Ben breathed and
climbed into the sleigh, taking Joe’s head onto his lap and gently stroking the
wet hair. Joe’s breathing remained slow and steady, but he showed no signs of
waking up.
*******************
The warming effects of the
buffalo robes had raised Joe’s temperature enough to make him shiver by the
time they reached the house. He was perceptibly nearer consciousness than he
had been on the journey. Ben and Hoss carried Joe into the house. “Hop Sing!
Bring warm water for a bath!” Ben shouted as they headed for the stairs.
“D’you think we should give
him a bath?” Hoss panted. “Ain’t it jist gonna make Joe bleed more?”
“I don’t know,” Ben admitted,
wretchedly. “But he’s so cold, we have to try and warm him up.” Ben bit his lip
in indecision. “We don’t know how long he was lying out there in the snow,
Hoss. He might have frostbite. We have to get him warm again.”
“You’re right,” Hoss agreed,
contritely. He hadn’t meant to worry Ben any further. Working together, they
stripped off Joe’s soaking coat and Ben winced as he saw the jagged hole in
Joe’s side. There was no exit wound. Adam came in from putting away the sleigh
and pulled off Joe’s wet boots and socks. Ben peered anxiously at Joe’s toes,
but although they were white and cold, there was no sign of frostbite.
Relieved, Ben pulled off the rest of Joe’s clothes and by then, Hop Sing had
arrived with the bath water.
As he was immersed carefully
in the water, Joe let out a great moan. Ben soothed him, but Joe was oblivious
to Ben’s presence and continued to groan as the warmth brought the feeling back
into his frozen limbs. He was only in the bath for a few moments, but when they
lifted him out, his skin was flushed as the blood rushed to the surface. Hop
Sing had a warmed towel spread on the bed and a blanket standing by.
It was only as he tucked
the blanket carefully around Joe that Ben realised his son was conscious again.
“Joe?” he asked. “How do you feel?”
“Sore,” Joe whispered. His
eyes were slightly glazed. “What happened?”
“You’ve been shot,” Ben
explained and Joe winced as memory returned.
“I remember,” he croaked.
He shifted minutely and grimaced at the pain. After a moment, his hand crept
out from under the blanket and he tried to touch his head, which throbbed
miserably. Ben caught his hand and prevented him.
“Don’t, Joe,” he warned
him. “Your head is hurt, too.”
“Pa, here’s Paul,” he heard
Adam say. Relief washed over Ben. The
doctor was here and now Joe would get the help he needed.
It only took Paul Martin a
few moments to see that he needed to operate at once and he rapidly cleared the
room. Only Hop Sing remained to assist. Ben, Adam and Hoss were banished to put
on dry clothes and have something hot to eat and drink.
******************
The coffee went down
without any of them noticing it, but the sandwiches that Hoss made went
untouched. “Who could have shot him?” Ben asked, at last. “And why?”
“I was wondering the same
thing,” Adam admitted.
“Me, too,” Hoss chimed in.
“Who would be goin’ around in this weather?”
“Surely not one of the
hands?” Ben denied. “None of them would hurt Joe.” At that time of year, only a
handful of men were kept on at the ranch and they had all been there for a long
time.
“They were all in the
bunkhouse when I went to send for Paul,” Adam offered. “I don’t think it was
one of them.”
“Neither do I,” Ben agreed.
“But who could it be?” He glanced at Hoss. “Were there any other tracks out
there?”
Frowning, Hoss thought
back. His chief concern had been finding Joe, but now that he thought about it…
“There were wagon tracks, Pa, I’m pretty sure,” he cried. “I didn’ think on it
afore.”
“We can have a look
tomorrow,” Ben suggested. “It’s dark now and…”
“It’s snowing,” Adam told
him. “It began as Paul arrived and it’s fairly steady. There may not be any
tracks to see, come morning.”
For a long moment, Ben just
stared at Adam, then he shrugged. “We’ll just have to wait until Joe can tell
us what happened.”
Reminded, although they
hadn’t forgotten Joe’s plight, they all looked hopefully towards the stairs.
However, Paul did not conveniently appear to put their minds at rest.
*****************
It was almost an hour later
that Paul finally did appear. He looked tired. Hop Sing followed at his back
with a bundle of bloodied linens and towels. He avoided his employer’s eyes as
he headed for the kitchen. “How is he?” Ben asked, hoarsely.
“I got the bullet out,”
Paul replied. “It hadn’t touched any of his internal organs, nor was he
bleeding internally. I suspect that if it hadn’t been so cold outside, Joe
would have bled to death long before you found him. That bullet had been in
there for a while. Joe is developing a fever and he’s still very cold and
shocked. He’s lost a lot of blood and is weak.”
“Still cold?” Ben asked, worriedly.
“Just his extremities,”
Paul replied. “He’s lost a lot of blood, and although you did the right thing
warming him up, he’s still not back to his usual body temperature. I’ve never
felt Joe so cold. The problem is, if his body doesn’t get back to normal before
this fever gets going, the fever will kill him. His heart is too sluggish to
fight it off.”
“Is there infection?” Adam
asked.
“Some,” Paul admitted.
“I’ve done what I can, and I think if we can get Joe warm again, he’ll fight it
off without a problem. We need to get a roaring fire in his room and have
blankets heating there all the time. Every time a blanket cools off, we need to
put another warm one on him.” Paul sighed. “Ben, I’ll be staying the night.”
“Of course,” Ben replied,
but Paul was fairly sure that Ben had no idea what he had just agreed to. He had
confirmation of that a moment later when Ben went over to the credenza and
pulled out some blankets. “Let’s go,” he suggested and headed upstairs.
*************************
The room was stifling, but
none of them noticed. All their attention was centred on warming Joe up. The
youngest Cartwright was still and quiet on the bed, his face still deathly
pale. Ben sat chafing one of Joe’s hands, while Hoss and Adam each worked on
his feet. Paul supervised the heating and changing of the blankets.
“Joe’s sweating,” Ben
reported in an anxious voice. He smoothed the tangled curls back from Joe’s
forehead. Joe turned his face to the familiar, soothing touch.
Turning from the fire, Paul
quickly checked him over. “Yes, and that’s a good sign,” he replied. “Our job
is done for the moment. Joe’s temperature is back up to normal, and he’s
beginning to fight off the infection. We’ll keep him covered up for now, but,”
and here Paul laughed slightly, “we might have to cool him off if he gets too
warm.”
“That seems like a
contradiction,” Adam commented.
“I know,” Paul agreed.
“Ridiculous, but there you are. That’s medical science for you, Adam. Sometimes
it seems there’s no rhyme nor reason to it.”
Slowly, Ben Adam and Hoss
relaxed and eventually, Ben sent his older sons to bed. There was no point in
all of them losing sleep. Outside, the snow kept falling, obliterating the
wagon tracks that would have led them to the person who shot Joe. That didn’t
concern Ben at that moment. All his attention was on his youngest son.
**************************
Voices woke Ben some time
later. Confused, he lifted his head and glanced around the room. Paul Martin
was sitting on the edge of the bed, and Ben realised that he was talking to
Joe. Shaking off sleep, Ben got up stiffly, reflecting that he was getting too
old to sleep in chairs, and hurried over to look down on the pale, but smiling
face of his youngest son.
“Hi, Pa,” Joe offered, his
voice little more than a tired whisper.
“Hi yourself,” Ben replied.
“How do you feel?” His hand automatically went to Joe’s head, searching for the
fever that he knew had broken during the long vigil of the night. Joe’s head
was cool to the touch, although his curls were still slightly damp. “And don’t
tell me you’re fine,” he admonished, wagging a finger at Joe. “The truth,
please.”
“I’m sore,” Joe admitted.
“My head aches and my side is throbbing.” He began to lift his hand to his
head, but Paul put a stop to that.
“Oh no, don’t touch,” he
chided. “You’ve got a bullet graze on your head, Joe and I don’t want you
poking at it! Understand?”
“Sure,” Joe agreed and let
his hand drop to his side. That told Ben how unwell his son was feeling, as Joe
would normally have argued the toss with the doctor.
“Well, Ben, it looks as though
Joe will recover this time,” Paul said, cheerfully. “Now, if you don’t mind,
I’ll get some breakfast before I trek homewards through the snow.”
“Of course, I’ll come with
you,” Ben agreed. “I’ll be back soon, Joe,” he assured his son, leaning over the
bed once more.
“I’ll be here,” Joe
replied, his eyes closing as he slipped into slumber.
*************************
Later that morning, as Adam
was trying to persuade Ben to get some sleep, Roy Coffee, the sheriff, arrived.
Paul had reported treating the gunshot wound to him, as he had to by law and
“Do you remember what
happened, Little Joe?”
Nodding his bandaged head
gingerly, Joe replied, “I was coming back from checking on the herd. I noticed
some tracks in the snow, so I followed them. I couldn’t figure who would be
crazy enough to be going anywhere in a wagon in this weather.” He paused to
regroup his thoughts and Ben offered him a drink. “About a mile from the house,
I found the wagon. There were two women with it, a mother and daughter. The
wagon had slipped into the ditch, so I offered to help them get it out. The
daughter pulled a gun on me.”
It was only when Joe looked
at him enquiringly that Ben realised he had made some sort of noise. He shook
his head and gestured for Joe to go on. “I convinced them that I wasn’t about
to attack them, and we got the wagon out of the ditch. I told them that there
was more snow on the way, and that they would be better going back to town, but
they made it quite clear they weren’t going to do that. As I was about to
mount, I asked them for their names. They told me, then I told them mine. That
was when the daughter lifted the gun and shot me!” Joe closed his eyes for a
moment as he remembered the sound of the gun firing.
“What were their names?”
“The daughter was called
Evangeline Bolton and the mother was Jemima Bolton,” Joe told him. “I never saw
them before and I still don’t know why she shot me. I was just going to mount,
and told her my name and where they were. She didn’t say anything just…” Joe’s
voice trailed off as he caught sight of his oldest brother’s face. Adam looked
like he’d just been hit very hard on the head. “Adam?” he questioned.
Turning, the others saw
Adam’s face and Ben became instantly anxious. “What is it?” he asked.
For a moment, the oldest
son’s mouth worked, but no sound came out. He cleared his throat and tried
again. “I don’t know…” he began. “I knew…” Shaking his head, Adam drew a deep
breath. “I once knew a family called
“It must be a coincidence,”
Ben agreed, shaken by this development.
However, it seemed neither Adam
nor Roy was convinced by this argument. “What did this woman look like?”
“A few years older than
me,” Joe replied. “She had blonde hair, and was quite pretty. Her mother looked
quite like her. Their clothes were good, but they didn’t seem to have much.”
“Did Evangeline wear her
hair in bangs?” Adam asked, and knew at once by the look on Joe’s face what the
answer was.
Joe said it anyway. “Yes.”
“Do you think it’s the same
person?”
Sighing, Adam reluctantly
agreed, “Yes, I do.” He swallowed and looked at Ben. “I don’t know what they
would be doing out here, but we didn’t part on the best of terms, I’m afraid.”
“Meaning?”
“My summer vacation from
college arrived and I had a position working for a firm in
“Why was she hurt?” Ben
asked, quietly.
“I heard from one of my
room mates that she had thought we would get married. When I got back to
college, it was all around the town that I had practically jilted her at the
alter.” Adam straightened up and looked Ben in the eye. “Pa, I promise, I never
led her on, or made any promises to her.”
“I believe you, son,” Ben
replied.
“It all blew over,” Adam
went on, before
“I’m gonna git a posse
together, Ben,”
“I’ll come with you,” Adam
offered.
“Me, too,” Hoss chimed in.
“No you won’t, either of
ya!”
“
Nodding, he forced out two
words. “All right.” He kept his face averted from everyone as Ben and
********************
The silence in the room was
palpable. Joe fought off sleep as he gazed at his brother’s back. Hoss hovered
uncertainly by the bed. Adam was ramrod straight, his head held high, denying
his feelings. He gazed out of the window, watching Roy Coffee mounting and
riding carefully away through the snow. He knew that
“Adam?”
The man in black flinched
at the word, and kept staring out of the window, but Joe refused to back down.
He was just as stubborn as Adam, which caused many of the conflicts they had.
“Adam, look at me.”
Slowly, Adam turned round
and looked at Joe. He didn’t quite meet his brother’s eyes, and his face was a
hard mask, revealing nothing. “What is it?” he asked, his voice clipped and his
lips thin.
“This isn’t your fault,”
Joe told him, his voice soft and tired. “It was a fluke; a chance. You didn’t
do this to me.”
But Adam wasn’t ready for
absolution; not yet. He needed to know all the whys and the wherefores before
he could accept that he wasn’t to blame for this. And the only way he would
believe that was to prove that the woman who shot Joe was not the woman who
thought he had jilted her, many years before. But right now, Joe was ill and
tired and needed comfort. “I know that,”
he snapped and left the room.
Dismayed, Hoss fought down
the urge to run after Adam. He turned instead to Joe and saw, as he had
expected, that Joe’s green eyes were full of tears. “He didn’ mean nuthin’ by
that, Punkin,” he soothed. “Ol’ Adam’s jist upset.”
“I know,” Joe croaked. He
did know, but knowing didn’t ease his hurt any. He closed his eyes to keep the
tears from falling, and slid, without meaning to, into a deep sleep.
*********************
The posse was back at the
Ponderosa within a couple of hours, but due to the new snow, they found
nothing. There were no tracks to follow, although they did go along the trail
for several miles, hoping against hope that they might find the wagon bogged
down somewhere. As daylight waned and the frigid air grew colder, they turned
back for the night.
At the Ponderosa, Joe slept
the day away, his dreams dark and unhappy, although never enough to waken him.
Ben got some sleep, while Hoss sat with Joe and brooded about Adam, who sat
looking at the books, his eyes seeing, not the numbers, but the face of a
blonde girl he had dated and thought for a short time he might come to love.
It had been 12 years
before, he realised, thinking back. He had met Evangeline at the Christmas Ball
in his second year at school. She had been with someone else, but before the
evening was over, she had shed her escort and was with Adam. He had never been
entirely sure how that had come about, but at 19, he had been flattered that
this pretty, rich young girl wanted his company.
For a time, they had gone
out regularly each weekend. Adam had met her parents on a number of occasions
and they had got along very well. Evie’s father was a distant man, who seemed
to spend all his time at the office or in his den at home. Jemima, the mother,
had been desperately insecure and Evie had told him once that her mother had
not been of the same class as her father when they married and her father had
never let her mother forget that he had made her what she was.
That was Adam’s first
inkling that perhaps he was not falling in love with Evie. He had lived by his
father’s creed all his life, and it was only now that he was alone that Adam
realised that he believed it too. It didn’t matter to Adam about a person’s
colour or creed, whether they were rich or poor. He judged each person on their
own merits, and he was coming to see that Evie was a snob.
But she was also a lot of
fun, and for a time, Adam put aside his misgivings. He shared as much with Evie
as he could bring himself to, telling her of his life in
When Adam got the
All that summer, Evie had
brooded, then decided that her best defence was to pretend that she wasn’t hurt
by him, and she proceeded to go out with every boy that asked her.
Unfortunately, she realised only too quickly that Adam was no longer hanging
around at the parties, and her show of gaiety was wasted. Her hurt festered and
turned into hatred. Evie began to hang around the college, waiting for glimpses
of Adam. She harboured a faint hope that he would see her and realise that he
had made a mistake, but that was a forlorn hope. Adam applied himself to his
books and did not have a steady girlfriend.
By the end of Adam’s fourth
year in college, Evie was no longer getting the dates she thought were her due.
It didn’t occur to her that her bitterness was now showing in her face and her
tongue spilled out spite with every opportunity. The unpleasant gossip she tried
to spread about Adam never reached his ears simply because the few unfortunates
who heard it were not in the least disposed to repeat any of it.
The day after graduation,
Evie was at the train station when Adam left for home after four long years.
She never forgot him, and the hatred she had in her heart grew with every
passing day. She remained unmarried and laid the blame for that at Adam’s door.
New acquaintances were told her fiancé had died and she loved his memory too
much to give her heart to another, but it seldom took very long before the
whole sordid story reached their ears.
Then, that autumn before
Evie shot Joe, her father died. Evie did not mourn him, for he had not featured
heavily in her life. But she was appalled to discover that they had been living
on credit for a long time and there was no money for her and her mother to live
on. Everything had to be sold – the houses, the carriages and her mother’s
jewellery. It barely covered the debts and they were destitute. A family friend
gifted them some money and advised that they start afresh somewhere else.
Together, Evie and her mother bought a wagon and set out for
Of course, Evie knew where
Adam lived, but she had no intention of looking for him. She knew when they
arrived in Virginia City that they were close to Adam’s home, but their money
had virtually run out and they could no longer afford a guide, so had set off
on their own. Chance had taken them across the Ponderosa, and when Evie heard
Joe’s name, her hatred had overwhelmed her common sense and she had shot him
before she could think about it.
In the aftermath of the
shooting, while the sound of the shots still echoed in their ears, Jemima had
gasped, “What have you done?”
“Shut up!” Evie hissed, her
face almost unrecognisable with hate. “He’s Adam’s brother! He deserves it!
Adam hurt me and now he’s going to be hurt too! Its Adam’s fault that we’re in
this mess! If he’d married me all those years ago, none of this would have
happened! We’d still be living in
Cowed and terrified, Jemima
did as she was told and they had driven off, arriving at one of Ben’s line
shacks as darkness fell. They made themselves at home, eating from the supplies
they found there. When they left again the next morning, Evie had stripped the
shack bare of all useful items. She had had the best night’s sleep in years,
knowing that she had had at least part of her revenge on Adam.
*********************
“Adam?” Ben repeated,
crossing over to the desk. “Adam, are you all right?”
“Hmm?” Adam looked up and
then blinked, as though coming back from somewhere far away. “Did you say
something, Pa?”
“I asked if you were all right,”
Ben told him, gently. “Have you been sitting here all day?”
Glancing around, Adam
belatedly became aware that it had grown dark. “I guess so,” he admitted. He
suddenly looked panicked. “Is Joe all right? I never thought…”
“He’s fine,” Ben replied.
“Hoss has been with him. I’m going to get him something to eat. Adam, he wants
to see you.”
“Why?” Adam asked, which
was not the reaction that Ben had been expecting.
“Because you’re his
brother,” Ben chided him patiently. “Why do you think? He hasn’t seen you all
day and he’s ill.”
“You don’t need to remind
me that it’s my fault,” Adam muttered. “I haven’t forgotten.”
“The only person here who
thinks it’s your fault is you,” Ben said, sternly. “I don’t want to hear any of
that nonsense again. Nobody thinks you shot your brother and it certainly isn’t
your fault if someone you once knew comes along and does just that!” Ben fixed
Adam with a fierce glare. “That sounds like your brother Joseph’s thinking, not
yours!”
“Joe would be right to
think that,” Adam retorted, but Ben shook his head.
“If Joe really thought
that, he wouldn’t want to see you,” Ben reminded him. “Come along, Adam, use
that logic that you’re so fond of. How can this possibly be your fault?
Unless…” and Ben’s eyes suddenly twinkled, “you’ve become omniscient and
haven’t told us?”
For a moment, Adam just
gazed at Ben, then a tiny smile crooked the corner of his mouth. “Well, I
didn’t want to mention it…” he joked. He sighed. “Thank,
“And no more nonsense about
this being your fault,” Ben called after him. “Or I’ll turn you over my knee!”
“I’d like to see that!”
Adam called back and made a hasty exit up the stairs.
******************
Despite feeling a bit better,
Adam found himself hesitating outside Joe’s door. How could his brother not
blame him, he wondered? Several times he reached for the handle and then
withdrew his hand. But at last, he steeled himself and opened the door.
The room was warmly lit by
a lamp on the dresser. Joe was sitting up in bed, retching helplessly and
painfully into a basin. His own angst forgotten, Adam hurried over to assist
Hoss, who was supporting Joe as best he could. “What brought this on?” Adam
asked Hoss, for this was the first time Joe had been sick.
“Joe thought he might feel
more like eatin’ if’n he were sittin’ up,” Hoss explained as another heave
shook his brother. “But it made his head spin, and this happened.”
“Concussion,” Adam
remarked, and fetched a cloth to wipe Joe’s mouth.
As Hoss left with the
noisome basin, Adam helped Joe to lie down again. Joe was green and his mouth
was tight with pain. Adam carefully checked his side, to make sure there was no
bleeding, but the stitches had held. Adam smoothed the bandages around his
brother’s slim waist and looked up at him. Joe’s eyes were closed and he
breathed shallowly through his mouth.
“Your stitches are all
right,” Adam told him, softly.
His only response was a
grunt. Straightening, Adam felt that he couldn’t blame Joe for not wanting to
look at him. He moved around the bed and sat heavily in the chair that was
sitting there. When he glanced back at Joe, Joe was watching him. “Thanks,” Joe
whispered.
“I didn’t do anything,”
Adam denied.
“Just for being here,” Joe
insisted. “Where were you all day?”
“Downstairs,” Adam replied,
truthfully. “Thinking.” Sighing, he decided he owed Joe the story of the
relationship between himself and Evangeline Bolton and he began to tell it. Joe
listened quietly, the colour slowly returning to his face. “I’m sorry, Joe,”
Adam concluded.
“How could you know she
would come here and shoot me?” Joe demanded angrily. “That’s crazy, Adam! This
isn’t your fault.” He paused to catch his breath, for he was still weak and
being angry drained his strength.
“I guess you’re right,”
Adam agreed, “but it still feels like my fault.”
“I know how that is,” Joe
agreed. “I’ve been there a time or two myself.” He found a smile for Adam.
“It’s not your fault.”
From somewhere, Adam found
a smile to return, and a moment later, Ben came in, bringing some food for Joe.
Adam saw his brother go green again just at the smell, and soon, they were
caught up in helping Joe, and any thoughts of blame and fault were forgotten.
****************
The next day, Joe seemed to
be a bit better and was able to sit up without being sick. The sun was again
shining, and Adam found himself increasingly restless. About mid-morning, he
saddled his horse and rode out.
It took him a little while
to admit that he was looking for Evie and her mother. He had gone several miles
along the trail where Joe had been found before he would admit it to himself.
Being more familiar with the country than the posse, Adam found himself veering
naturally away from the trail slightly and he wasn’t surprised to come across
the line shack. Dismounting, he checked it over and discovered that it had been
looted. There were wagon tracks next to the lean-to, which showed signs of
having had two horses in it. The natural path for Evie and her mother to have
taken led away from the shack in a different direction from the trail they had
originally taken.
It was beginning to get
cold again, and Adam didn’t linger. He headed back home and arrived just as Roy
Coffee was about to leave.
“Where have you been?” Ben
asked, trying to hide his anxiety.
“I found Evie’s trail,”
Adam replied, and
“I’ll git a posse together
an’ you c’n lead us out there in the mornin’,”
“Yes, of course,” Ben
agreed. “There’s plenty of room in the bunkhouse.”
“I’ll git goin’ then,”
“What was he doing here?”
Adam asked. “I gather he hasn’t caught them?”
“No,” Ben agreed. “He
brought some information. He wired
“Poor Evie,” Adam murmured
softly. “How she will hate being poor.” He gazed absently into the flames for a
few minutes. “How’s Joe?” he asked.
“Recovering,” Ben replied.
“He’s complaining.”
They exchanged a relieved
grin at that. “Well, that’s good news,” Adam declared.
“That depends on your point
of view!” Ben retorted, and they laughed together.
******************
Naturally, Joe was incensed
when he discovered that Adam was riding out with the posse the next morning and
he was not going. Even though he knew he was too weak to make the ride – he
hadn’t been out of bed for more than a few moments, and then only with Ben’s
discreet help – Joe insisted that he was the only one who could reliably
identify the women. “But I would know them at once,” he argued.
“Assuming you survived the
ride,” Adam retorted, sarcastically. “Joe, I went out with the girl for almost
6 months! I think I might just recognise her when I see her!”
“That was 12 years ago!”
Joe shouted back. “Memories fade after 12 years!”
“I’m not that old and
decrepit, thank you,” Adam snarled. “Face it, Joe, you’re not coming! There’s
nothing you can say that would make any of us change our minds!” He couldn’t
imagine what was making Joe behave like that. “You can’t get yourself out of
bed, never mind ride a horse!” Turning smartly on his heel, Adam left the room,
resisting banging the door only with great difficulty.
He had taken no more than a
few steps towards his own room when there was a thud and a cry from Joe’s room.
Whirling, Adam threw open Joe’s door and saw his brother lying on the floor,
curled up in a ball. “Joe!” Adam crossed the room in two steps and knelt beside
his brother. “Joe, what happened?”
“Adam? What on earth…?” Ben
was across the room in seconds. “Joe!” His only answer, like Adam’s, was a
groan. “Help me lift him,” Ben ordered. “Be careful.”
Together, they lifted Joe
back onto the bed, where he immediately curled up again, his arms hugging his
middle. But it was too late, because as they had lifted Joe, both Ben and Adam
had seen the blood staining the bandages round his waist.
With an exclamation of
disgust, Ben ripped the bandages off to study the damage his son had done to
himself. “It’s not too bad,” he said, in relief, a moment later. “Just two
stitches burst.” He looked at Joe, who at last had his eyes open. “What were
you thinking of?” he demanded.
“I wanted to prove to Adam
that I wasn’t too weak to get out of bed,” Joe whispered, wretchedly. “I felt
dizzy and fell.”
“You what?” Ben roared. He
was angry with Joe, but his anger was fuelled by the fear he had felt when he
saw his son lying on the floor, bleeding. “That was a very foolish thing to
do!”
Joe flinched. He had known
how stupid it was for him to try and get up alone, but his temper had got the
better of him and he hadn’t thought. His side burned where the stitches had
pulled loose. “I know,” he whispered, his voice barely audible.
“But why, Joe?” Adam
demanded. “You wouldn’t be coming with us even if you were up and around!
You’ve been shot for crying out loud.”
“I know!” Joe bellowed,
sitting bolt upright, ignoring the pain. “And if this is what she did to me,
what is she going to do when she sees you, Adam?”
For a moment, all three of
them were frozen in position, the words hanging on the air. Then Joe slumped
back down, closing his eyes and biting his lip.
“Is that what all this is about?”
Adam asked, softly. “You’re afraid for me, Joe?” He sat down on the edge of the
bed and touched Joe’s leg. “Joe, look at me.”
Slowly, reluctantly, Joe
opened his eyes and looked at Adam. “Yes, I’m afraid for you,” he replied,
bitterly. “She shot me because I’m your brother.”
“You don’t know that, Joe,”
Ben reproved gently.
“Why else did she do it,
then, Pa?” Joe asked. He blinked back tears. “And what will she do when she
sees and recognises Adam? He hasn’t changed much in all these years.”
“I thought you didn’t blame
me for this,” Adam breathed.
“I don’t,” Joe replied,
bluntly. “But we both know that’s why she shot me! It doesn’t make it your
fault, Adam! You didn’t pull the trigger. But I’m afraid of what she’ll do when
she sees you.”
“I won’t be alone, for a
start,” Adam replied. “I’ll be with the posse and we’re looking for her,
knowing that Evie is capable of doing something like this. You were alone, and
you were helping them out. Why would you expect her to shoot you?” He swallowed
and met Joe’s concerned eyes. “Joe, I promise you, I’ll be very careful.
“I know you’ll be careful,”
Joe responded. He sounded exhausted. “But things happen, Adam. You can’t
promise me that nothing will happen. I’m not a child to believe that any more.”
“Hey,” Adam chided, his
voice gentle. “I didn’t promise that nothing would happen, did I? I promised
that I would be careful. There’s a difference.”
“Splitting hairs,” Joe
muttered, rebelliously, but the corner of his mouth twitched.
“That’s what big brothers
are for,” Adam retorted, patted Joe once more on the leg and left.
“I’m sorry, Pa,” Joe
sighed, as Ben gathered up clean bandages.
“Why didn’t you just say
something, Joe?” Ben asked. “Instead of putting yourself and us through this
unnecessary pain?”
“I don’t know,” Joe
admitted. “I didn’t want to make a fool of myself, I guess.” He bit down on his
lip as Ben cleaned the blood away from the wound. “But I did anyway.”
The bandaging over, Ben washed
his hands and then sat down beside Joe again. The younger man was visibly pale
and tired. Ben allowed his hand to stroke Joe’s curls where they poked out
above the bandage he still had on his head. “Joe, I don’t think it’s foolish to
admit you care for anyone, and usually neither do you. So why now?”
The depthless green eyes
were shadowed with sleep. “Perhaps because it was Adam,” he answered. “Adam
doesn’t like to admit he’s human and as vulnerable as the rest of us. And
maybe,” Joe shrugged, “maybe because I thought saying it out loud might make it
come true.”
“You know, God gave us a
family for a reason, Joe,” Ben mused. “And the reason is so that we have
someone around who cares for us and worries for us and loves us, no matter
what.” He smiled, and Joe smiled tentatively back. “We’re lucky that we all
care for and worry about each other. Adam just has a harder time showing it
than we do, that’s all. He’s no different underneath.”
“I know,” Joe agreed.
“You rest now,” Ben
suggested and sat with Joe until his son’s deep, even breathing told Ben that
he was asleep.
**********************
The leave-taking the next
morning was not as painful as it might have been. Joe had made peace with his
fears, and Ben reflected that the old adage was true; a trouble shared is a
trouble halved. Hoss had looked slightly disgruntled at being left behind, but
he knew that Ben would need some help with Joe, as well as the chores that
needed doing around the house and barn.
It was a bitterly cold day
as they rode away. Adam led the way, with
“If they made it to another
of our line shacks,” Adam commented, “they might have decided to stay there for
a night or two, especially with it snowing most of yesterday.”
“You think they’d have done
that?”
“Why not?” Adam returned.
“After all, they had already discovered that the line shacks are stocked, and
even thin wood walls are better than canvas in weather like this.”
“True,”
“Yes, but you’re looking at
it from a Westerner’s point of view,” Adam argued. “They come from the East,
where the snow is as bad as this, but they have shops and the things they need.
Think how many people freeze to death every year, because they don’t believe
how bad the weather gets.”
“I guess you’re right,”
“She was right,” Adam
muttered.
********************
They stopped that night in
another old shack they found along the way. The thin walls didn’t keep out much
of the cold, but with a roaring fire and lots of blankets, they weathered the
night reasonably well. A hot breakfast set them up next morning and they made
sure the fire was properly out before they went on. There might be another
hapless soul out there who would need the shelter sometime.
By now, there were small
pieces of evidence to show the men they were on the right track. In one or two
sheltered spots, they saw wagon tracks and along about
Adam nodded. “There’s a
line shack along there,” he whispered. They all knew that voices carried on the
clear air.
Dismounting, the men
tethered their horses securely and continued on foot. The going was
treacherous, with ice covering much of the snow. The sun shone through a haze
and they all knew there would be snow again by dark.
When the line shack came
into view, they all drew their guns. “All right,”
“But,
“But nothin’, son!”
Staying where he was, Adam
reflected that
As
It wasn’t Evie who opened
the door, it was Jemima. Even from the place where he stood, Adam could see
that she had not changed very much over the years. She looked shocked to see
In the very next instant,
“Adam?” Jemima quavered,
looking up at him, her mouth hanging open with shock. “Adam, is that you?”
“Yes,” he replied, but his
attention was not on the older woman at his side, it was on the younger one
being brought round the corner of the shack, her hands firmly grasped by the
deputy. “Evie,” he breathed.
For those first few seconds
before Evie saw Adam, she looked pretty much as he remembered her. But as her
gaze fell on him and she recognised him, her face changed. It became hard,
bitter and ugly. “You!” she screamed and broke free from Clem’s grip to race at
Adam, her nails up, ready to rake down his dark face.
She had no chance of
reaching Adam, and
********************
It hadn’t taken long to
pack up their pitifully few belongings. Reasoning that they would make quicker
time without the wagon, the women were made to ride double, and one of the
wagon horses was pressed into service as a pack horse. They made it back to the
shack where the posse had spent the previous night, and they spent the night
there. It was acutely uncomfortable for Adam, as Evie had said not one word,
but watched him constantly. She never seemed to sleep.
Come morning, they set off
back to the Ponderosa through an infant snowstorm, which grew stronger and
stronger as the day went on. By the time they arrived back at the ranch, they
were all soaked and half frozen.
The ranch hands were
organised to take care of the horses and the men were hustled inside, where
warm food was soon waiting for them. Roy, Clem and the women went into the main
house. And it was then that Ben found himself in a quandary.
“How’s Joe?” Adam asked,
when his teeth had finally stopped chattering long enough to allow him to talk.
“He was up for a few
minutes today,” Ben replied. “He seems a lot better.”
For the first time, Evie
spoke. “So that was your brother then, Adam? I thought it had to be. Is he
still alive? What a pity.”
“That’s enough!”
“Is that meant to worry
me?” Evie asked, scornfully.
With a meaningful look at
Clem and a jerk of his head,
“It’s not your fault,” Ben
replied. He glanced at Adam, who was gazing into the fire, hiding his feelings.
It was going to be a long night.
*********************
About
The house seemed still, but
as Ben walked quietly along the upstairs hall, he heard the sound again.
Footsteps on the stairs, and they didn’t sound familiar. Ben suddenly wished
that he had not left his gun on the credenza downstairs.
Moments later, a dark
figure threw itself at Ben, who dodged instinctively, while letting out a
startled shout. The figure – Evie, he guessed from the size and shape – lunged
at him again, and this time Ben was not quick enough to escape. They grappled
for a moment, fighting for control of the gun in Evie’s hand, until Evie
managed to clip Ben on the side of the head.
The blow was not enough to
knock Ben out completely, but it was enough to knock him off his feet. He
tumbled to the floor, vaguely aware of doors opening round about him, and
people shouting incoherently. “Joe!” he mumbled. “Adam!”
Standing frozen in his door
way, Adam winced at the sudden light as Hoss appeared with his lamp in his
hand. It worked against Evie, too, who threw up her arm to shield her eyes. The
sudden movement and the light combined to knock her aim awry, and the bullet
splintered the doorpost by Adam’s head. He ducked.
“Hold it!” cried a voice
and Roy Coffee appeared at the top of the stairs, brandishing a gun. However,
like most men, he was reluctant to shoot a woman and Evie took advantage of his
hesitation to open the nearest door and dive in.
“Joe!” Ben cried, and made
it to his feet, swaying dizzily.
He wasn’t fast enough and
neither were Hoss or Roy. Adam propelled himself across the hall and into Joe’s
room without stopping to think. Joe was sleeping in that room and Evie was in
there with him. That was all Adam needed to know.
**********************
Of course, Joe was no
longer sleeping. The noise had roused him and he was lying there, wondering if
he should try and get up, or just stay put when the door opened. The small
amount of light that spilled in from the hall showed Joe the gun and allowed
him to guess the identity of the intruder. He lay still, helpless.
The next moment, Adam was
in the room, too and Evie was over by the bed, her gun aimed at Joe. She was
too far away for either Joe or Adam to jump her, but near enough that she was
unlikely to miss either of them if she aimed at them.
“Why are you doing this,
Evie?” Adam asked, softly.
“You know what they say,
Adam,” Evie returned. Her voice had changed from 12 years before. Now, it had a
harsh edge to it. “’Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’”
“Is that what I did to
you?” he asked. “We weren’t in love with each other, Evie. We were too young.”
“Perhaps you were too
young, Adam,” she retorted, “but don’t judge everyone by your own immaturity! I
did love you and you broke my heart!”
“We’ve had all someone
break our hearts,” he responded, keeping his voice low and soft. He did not
dare take his eyes from Evie to glance at Joe. He knew that Joe would keep his
cool. He had been in perilous situations before. “We move on and find someone else
to love.”
“I found someone to love
and I didn’t want to move on!” she cried. “You hurt me and you’re going to pay
for it! Were you hurt when I shot your brother? Were you? Do you have any
feelings at all, Adam? Or are you still as cold as you were back then? Well?”
“Of course I was hurt when
you shot Joe,” Adam replied, his throat tight. “He’s my brother.”
“Well, you’re not as hurt
as you’re going to be when he dies, are you, darling?” she threatened, cocking
the gun.
Out in the hall, Ben caught
his breath. Hoss tightened his grip on his father’s shoulder, looking worriedly
at the blood streaming down Ben’s face from the cut on his scalp. There was
nothing they could do to help either Joe or Adam at that moment and it was
driving them both crazy.
“But I’m the one who hurt
you,” Adam coaxed. “So you should hurt me, not Joe.”
“Oh, I could hurt you
physically,” Evie agreed. “But I want to hurt you the way I was hurt! I want to
hurt your heart, assuming you have one! You’re the coldest man I ever met,
Adam. All that control must be strangling you. Well, I think I’ve found a way
to make you feel, and I’m going to use it!”
“Joe!” Adam yelled, as he
launched himself at the deranged woman.
Joe had been waiting for a
chance or a sign from Adam and was moving as Adam spoke. He launched himself
from the bed, but he was fractionally too late. The bullet bit into the back of
his right shoulder as he dived to the floor and for an instant, the world went
black.
Before Evie could change
her aim, Adam hit her around the waist, bearing her to the floor. He used his
weight to keep her pinned there as he fought with her for control of the gun.
He was only too aware that the safety was still off and if the gun went off,
they might both die. He did not know if Joe had escaped and he feared more for
his brother’s life than for his own.
Footsteps thundered over
the floor and Evie let out an animal scream. With demonic strength, she smashed
the gun against Adam’s head and he tumbled to the floor, his limbs suddenly
lax. Evie rolled under Roy Coffee’s hand and scrambled to her feet, the gun up
and ready to fire once more.
But Evie hadn’t counted on
Hoss Cartwright. The big man was furious at the treatment she had dealt out to
his brothers. He rushed across the room and put his hand out, squeezing gently.
Evie let out a scream of pain as the huge hand squeezed her hand harder and
harder until the gun dropped from her nerveless fingers into Hoss’ waiting
palm. In a moment, the gun was made safe. “Here ya are,
As Clem staggered to the
door of Joe’s room, he saw quite a scene. Ben, who was bleeding from the head,
knelt on the floor by Joe, who was bleeding from the shoulder. Adam was
stretched out unconscious on the other side of the bed, with Hoss kneeling
beside him.
************************
The inevitable jibes about being
overpowered by a woman were non-existent that day. It was not only Clem who had
been caught by surprise, but two of the Cartwrights, too.
Sitting by the fire, his
head bandaged and throbbing unmercifully, Ben reflected on how lucky they had
been that day. Evie might have managed to kill them all. Hoss was uninjured and
had even managed not to break Evie’s hand, although no one would have blamed
him if he had. Adam was lying down, trying to sleep off the concussion and
stitches he’d required in his head. Paul was checking on Joe one last time
before going back into town. The bullet had gone right through Joe’s shoulder,
tearing up skin and muscle, but doing less damage than they had originally
feared. He, Ben, had a bad cut on his head, but although it was sore, he didn’t
have a concussion.
“You’re very thoughtful,”
Paul commented as he came down. “A penny for them?”
“I was thinking how lucky
we’ve been,” Ben explained. “The old saying is true; Hell hath no fury like a
woman scorned.”
“You’re right there,” Paul
agreed. He sat down, sensing that Ben was not finished.
“I think perhaps Adam won’t
blame himself any more,” Ben went on, cryptically. He caught Paul’s puzzled
glance. “Adam thought this was his fault, when Joe was first shot. We told him
otherwise, of course, but I think that this might have shown him that it wasn’t
his fault.”
“I hope so,” murmured Paul.
*******************
It was a couple of days
before either Adam or Joe was up to seeing visitors. Adam went across to Joe’s
room as soon as he could get up without puking or falling over. Joe had his
right arm in a sling and was sitting in a chair by the window, looking out.
“Adam! How are you feeling?”
“All right,” he replied,
untruthfully. “What about you?”
“Fine,” Joe replied, and
they regarded each other gravely, both aware of the fact that they were lying.
“Have you got all this blame nonsense out of your head now?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” Adam
replied. “You see, it was partly my fault. I just didn’t see Evie’s feelings.
If I had, I might have let her down more easily.” He looked away. “I just find
it difficult to share my feelings.”
“But not always,” Joe
contradicted him. “You told us that you were able to share your feelings with
Ruth quite openly.” It wasn’t often that any of them mentioned the girl Adam
had loved and lost. It was generally a taboo subject.
Adam looked startled. “I
guess so,” he agreed. “But I don’t even share my feelings with my family.”
“You don’t have to,” Joe
replied. “We generally have an idea of what you’re feeling. Not always, but
that’s the way you are, Adam. You aren’t responsible for Evie’s actions. After
all, we’ve all lost someone we loved and you didn’t see us going out and
murdering others, did you?”
“That’s different,” Adam
began.
“No, its not,” Joe
interrupted. “It’s exactly the same. There must be something wrong with Evie that
caused her to react like this. No sane person would behave like this. Adam, for
the last time, it’s not your fault.”
A slow smile crept across
Adam’s face. “What makes you so wise for a little kid?”
Flashing a grin, Joe
replied, saucily, “I have two older brothers who make my life an absolute
misery, which teaches me all sorts of things you don’t learn when you’re the
oldest!”
“Why, you…” Adam declared,
but he could not help but grin back.
The End