Where Angels Dare to Tread

(TITLE COURTESY OF RONA)

 

 

 

   Joe wiped the tears from his eyes, and glanced up at his father, who put his arm around his youngest son.
 “James!” Joe hollered.
The young boy turned his head, and continued to get up onto the stage.

Once again, Joe called out his name, this time running toward him.

“Just before you go” Joe said as he ran up beside James, “I want you to have this.”

Joe pulled a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, and handed it to him.

James took it from Joes’ hand, “Thanks Joe, and…” he paused to wipe a tear away, “I’m truly sorry, for what I did, I just want to say…”

“I know James, I know” Joe stopped him.  Joe stood back a step as the coach pulled away heading towards Virginia City.

“I am going to miss you too” Joe muttered to himself, and headed back to the Ponderosa.

 

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

 

“Told you I would beat you,” Joe gloated, as his older brother Hoss headed back into the house. The slamming of the front door indicated he was very annoyed.  Joe grinned, that was the third time in a row he had beaten Hoss at Horseshoes.   He started to pack up the game, whistling to himself, when his father Ben walked out of the barn and across to him.

“Oh hi Pa!” Joe smiled “and continued to pick up the horseshoes.

“What are you so happy about Joe?” Ben asked, as his son is never usually this happy before having to travel into town.

“I beat Hoss at horseshoes again” Joe bragged.

“Well once you finish packing up, remember you have to go into town for supplies.” Joe jumped to his feet.

“Oh sorry Pa, I clean forgot about that”

“I need you to pick up the timber from Jeb Dobson’s, and Hop Sing wants you to get some grain when you are down as well”

Sure Thing Pa,” Joe said as he headed into the barn to get Cochise.

“Joe” Ben shouted after him.

Joe stuck his head around the door of the barn, “Yes Pa?”

“Do not go to the saloon, I need you to be back here as soon as you can, so you can help Hoss with the fences on the north pasture.”

“As if I would!” Joe smirked as he disappeared behind the door again.

 

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

 

 

Joe smiled as he rode toward Virginia City.  The sun was scorching, and he had to stop every so often to wipe the beads of sweat from his forehead.

When he had been riding for about half an hour he took off his jacket, and rolled his shirtsleeves up.  Occasionally a cool breeze would hit Joe, which cooled him down slightly.

 

When he arrived in Virginia City, he was so tired he decided to go to the Bucket of Blood first for a drink or two.

“Hey Chuck” Joe greeted the barman.

“Oh hi Joe” Chuck smiled back, “You are in mighty early today!”

“Just needed a drink to cool me down, before I pick up the supplies from Jeb Dobson’s” Joe replied as he pulled up a bar stool and sat down.

“Coming up” Chuck said as he turned to get Joe his drink. “How is your family Joe? Ain’t seen you all in a while” Chuck put the drink in front of Joe.

Joe took a sip before answering. “They are all great thanks.”
Chuck smiled “That’s good, say hi to them all for me, and tell them I miss their custom.”

Joe laughed, this was great, no Hoss or Pa telling him what to do, he was going to pick up the supplies when he was good and ready.

 

Two hours later, Joes’ head lifted from the bar. “How long have I been here?” he asked Chuck.

“About two hours Joe!” Chuck smiled.

Joes face turned white, “I better get the supplies!” he said in alarm.

He scampered out of the doors, not looking where he was going. He was suddenly knocked to the ground and an angry voice yelling, “Oi watch it Cartwright!”

Joe picked himself up off the ground and looked into the face of the man he had just run into.

“Sorry Jake” Joe mumbled as he walked sheepishly past the well-known thug in Virginia City.

He suddenly felt his arm getting yanked and he was hauled back to face Jake again.

“This is a new suit Cartwright, and you done gone and get it dirty!” he yelled at Joe, “You gonna pay for it to get cleaned?” he asked heatedly.

“It was an accident Jake, I didn’t go out of my way to run into you, so let me go now!” Joe said writhing to get free of this mans grip.

“Well, I have only one solution for you to pay!” Jake said as he dragged Joe towards an alleyway. Jakes gang followed.

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

 

Joe was thrown into the alley; he knew he was not going to come out of that situation unscathed.  He threw off his jacket getting ready to throw the first punch.

Instead of just Jake coming in for the attack the rest of the gang were behind him.  At once Joe knew he was outnumbered so he just ran towards them all.  He was almost immediately thrown to the ground, and feet from all directions were kicking him.  Joe cried out with every excruciating kick.  After about ten minutes of a massive thrashing, Jake and his gang walked away laughing and joking between themselves, leaving Joe lying in pain. Joe was too weak to chase, he just propped himself up against a wall and hung his head.  He eventually managed to stand up and he limped towards the buckboard to head for Jeb Dobson’s.

“What in heavens name happened to you Joe?” Jeb asked as he helped Joe off the buckboard.

“It doesn’t matter Jeb, can I just get the supplies please?” Joe replied softly.

“Yeh sure” Jeb answered walking towards his storeroom.

 

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

 

Once the supplies were loaded onto Joe’s buckboard, he thanked Jeb and headed on home. He kept on looking around until he got out of Virginia City, just to make sure Jake wasn’t waiting for him anywhere. He put his shotgun on the seat beside him, just in case Jake was out there somewhere.

Joes eye was throbbing, he had to keep wiping the blood from the cut just above his eye.  His ribs were aching and he had a huge bruise on his cheek.

About an hour into the journey, he heard a coughing coming from the bushes. Joe stopped the buckboard; there was not another sound. ‘Maybe I am hearing things’ Joe thought to himself.

So he kept on going, then there was the sound of a branch snapping underneath someone’s foot.

He began to look around him frantically, expecting to find Jake standing pointing a gun at him.  He didn’t waste any time at all, and grabbed his shotgun and jumped off of the buckboard.  He walked slowly towards a clump of bushes. He cocked his gun, ready to fire if it was necessary. He used the end of his gun, to pull apart the branches.

Something jumped out at him pushing Joe back.  When he regained his balance, all he saw was a rifle aiming at him; he jumped out of the way and shot the person in the leg. 

There was a loud scream, and soon after a quiet crying.  Confused, Joe got to his feet and walked over to the small figure now squirming on the ground. 

He gasped, and dropped to his knees, this was not happening.  The person he shot was just a little boy.

Joe ripped off his sleeve, and tied it around the boys’ leg, tying it as hard as he could.  He lifted the boy onto the top of the supplies and jumped up himself and headed on home.

 

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

 

The sun was blazing down on Joe; he periodically kept looking back at the boy who was obviously running a high fever. The more he looked back at the boy, the more remorseful he became. 


 “Why every time I send Joe into town for supplies, he never gets back here on time!” Ben grumbled as he sat down to lunch with his son Hoss.

“Reckon he’s ok Pa?” Hoss said as he stuffed a sandwich into his mouth.
Ben grunted, “He will no doubt be in the Bucket of Blood drinking and playing poker.”

Just as he uttered those words, they heard horse hooves clattering towards the house.

“About time to!” Ben said as he stormed towards the door. He swung it open, to find Joe lifting a small body off of the buckboard.

“Pa, c’mere quick!” Joe yelled.

Ben and Hoss ran across to Joe. “What on earth happened?” Ben asked as he noticed the boy in Joes’ arms.
 “I shot him Pa, I shot him” Joe said quietly as he headed towards the house. Ben and Hoss grabbed the supplies and followed him in.

Joe took the boy upstairs to the spare room, and laid him onto the bed.  The sun was blazing through the window, which made the room incredibly hot. Ben walked in to the room carrying a basin of water and a cloth. 

“How’s he doing?” Ben asked as he sat down next to Joe, who was perched on the end of the bed.

“He’s running a fever Pa, I...I don’t know what to do!” Joe said miserably, “I feel so terrible Pa!” he lowered his head and sniffed, “What will I do if he dies?”

Ben put his hand on his sons’ shoulder, “Joe” he began, “Let’s get this straight it was not your fault, if you hadn’t shot him, you would be lying where he is now.”

“He’s only a child Pa, and I shot him, I could have knocked the gun from his hands, why did I need to shoot him?” Joe cried.

“Listen Joseph” Ben was getting annoyed with him, “You need to realise, you shot him in self defence, that’s all there is to it!”

Joe looked up at his Pa, “I am sorry Pa, I just feel so awful.” He wiped away his tears, “Where’s Hoss?”
 “I sent him to fetch the Doctor, he will be back soon” Ben stood up. “I will go and get Hop Sing to make something for you, you will be needing it” He said as he headed out of the door. “By the way Joseph, how did you get those black eyes? Actually I do not want to know!” He shut the door as he left.

The next morning Joe lifted his head from the bed the child was on.  He noticed the boy was still asleep.  He placed his hand onto the boys’ forehead to check his temperature; the doctor had told him to do that frequently to check the fever wasn’t getting any worse.

As he lifted his hand from him, he realised he was stirring. 

“Pa!” Joe shouted. He leant over the boy, “You okay?” he asked.

The boy moaned, “M…my leg, it hurts, what happened to me?”

Joe sighed, “It doesn’t matter just now, what’s important right now, is you get all the rest you can, by the way, what is your name?”

“James Hastings” the boy replied, “who are you?”

“I am Joe Cartwright, we brought you in after…the accident” Joe replied. “Try and get some rest, Doctors orders” Joe smiled.  Just then Ben walked into the room.

“Hi there” Ben smiled, “How you feeling?”

“Okay I guess,” James replied, “My leg is awfully sore though”
 “Doctor said you should be able to get out of bed later today, get that leg working!” Ben said softly, “Will speak to you later on, our cook will bring you some breakfast soon as well!”

“Thanks mister,” James said as he put his head down on to the pillow and started to fall asleep.

 

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

 

 “Mister Hoss!” Hop-Sing yelled, “Food not for you, food for little boy, you keep out of kitchen!”

Hoss swallowed the food that was in his mouth and spluttered, “Well Dadburnit Hop-Sing, a mans got to eat sometime, I am real hungry!”

“You keep out of kitchen!” Hop-Sing yelled again as he made his way back into the kitchen.


 “Oh there you are Hoss” Joe said as he ran downstairs. “I need you to go up and entertain James for a while; he ain’t ready to start walking again”

“Right-O Joe” Hoss said as he thundered up the stairs. He opened the bedroom door and found James sitting up in bed.

“Oh hey Hoss” James smiled. “What brings you up here?”

“Just kinda thought you might need the company” Hoss replied as he sat on the chair beside the bed.  Then there was the awkward silence, where both Hoss and James sat staring at the window, occasionally looking at each other to smile.
Finally Hoss managed to make conversation. “So what you doing away out here on your own, you lost?”

James’ smile disappeared, and he frowned. “I think you better go now Hoss, I am getting real tired like, and as Joe says I need the rest.

Hoss sighed and got up from his seat, “I will come up tomorrow, get to know each other then okay?”

“Um sure” James replied as he turned away from Hoss.

Hoss headed down the stairs, as Hop-Sing came up them. “Erm, Hi Hop-Sing, sure looks nice that there meal!”

“You leave meal alone, you get your supper late, guest comes first, and you wait for meal!” Hop-Sing said as he bustled up the stairs.  As he passed Hoss, the cook realised a big hand reaching for one of the bits of meat.  Crack, Hop-Sing whacked Hoss’ hand, Hoss withdrew his hand quickly, and mumbled “it was just one bit, he ain’t gonna be eating that much anyway!”

 “What you doing back down Hoss?” Joe looked angry as he walked towards his brother. “You are supposed to be keeping him company”

“Well I tried, but he seemed not to want it, as soon as I asked him why he was in this part of the country he just told me to leave!” Hoss replied.

Joe looked puzzled, “I think there is something he is hiding from us, I am gonna speak to him later, just to see if he will speak to me!”


That night the Cartwrights sat down for their supper, as Hop-Sing brought through their meal. “Now is time for Mister Hoss to eat,” Hop-Sing said as he went back into the kitchen mumbling something in Chinese as he went.

As they all tucked into their meal, Hoss brought up the topic of James. “I think he is better off being somewhere else Pa!” Hoss said as he stuffed his mouth full of food.

“No Hoss!” Ben said as he lay down his cutlery and wiped his mouth, “He is here so we can look after him, and he was on the Ponderosa when Joe, well, when the accident happened, and I want to know why, and where he came from!”

 

James painfully swung his legs over the side of the bed, and threw his blankets aside. “I am getting out of here!” He said to himself as he stood up. Just as he did, the pain intensified and he fell to the ground with a thud.

 

“What was that?” Joe said as he jumped from his seat.  The others did the same and they all headed up the stairs.

 

They opened the spare room door and found James, lying on the floor sobbing.
 “James!” Ben exclaimed, “What in heavens name are you doing?”
 “I need to get out of here!” James shouted as Ben picked him up and put him on the bed. “Leave me alone, I need to get far away from here, he will be coming for me, let me go!”

“Settle down” Ben ordered, “Who is coming for you?”

“No time to explain,” James continued to shout, “He will be here soon, I need to get as far away from here as possible!”

“You ain’t going anywhere with a leg like that, that’s for sure, you are sitting right there until you tell us what on earth is going on!” Ben began to lose his patience.

“No, I won’t, you are a great family I do not want to get you involved, so mind your own business and let me out of here!” James hollered. Ben held him down to the bed, this made James squirm and squirm, and he could not break free of Bens bear hold. Eventually he calmed down enough for Ben to feel he could let go of him. 

“So are you gonna enlighten us to why you are on the Ponderosa?” Ben asked sternly.

James bowed his head, and sniffed. “I didn’t mean to, it was an accident honest it was!”
Joe and Hoss looked at each other, surprised of the change in the mood of this boy.

“What was?” Joe asked as he approached the foot of the bed.

“They weren’t supposed to be in there, I thought they were in the house!” James began as tears rolled down his cheeks.
 “You need to elaborate on this a bit!” Ben said as he reassuringly put his hand on the boys arm.

“Well, my folks owned a piece of land about four days from here, and they were really quite happy with the way things had worked out for us. I was going to school, my ma worked on the accounts, and my Pa, he ran the ranch. Well one day my Pa hired a drifter, Sam, to work as a hand, and he seemed to be quite a hard worker, but he…” James stopped to wipe the tears from his eyes.

“Go on!” Joe said quietly.

“I was out in the yard one day playing with my dog, Rusty, and Sam was out in the yard fixing a fence. Sam made it clear that he did not like Rusty, and he always kept hitting him, and when I tried to tell my folks, they didn’t believe me. So that day Rusty ran into Sam, making him trip. So Sam grabbed Rusty and took him into the barn, I ran after him just in time to see Sam shoot my dog. I tried to tell my Pa what he had done, but when he confronted Sam, He just said the dog went for him so he shot it in self defence.”

The Cartwrights looked at each other in disbelief, “So what happened afterwards?” Hoss asked.

“As you can guess, I was real angry, and I always kept my distance from Sam. Although he seemed to always want to be near me.  He kept making jokes like, how’s your dog and things like that. So one day I saw him walk into the barn at night, and something told me to follow him, so I did. He was in there drinking whisky and pouring it over my dead dog as well. That made me real mad; I grabbed a torch and threw it into the barn, and swung the barn doors shut and locked him in there.”

Ben, Joe and Hoss began to look worried. James began to cry a bit more now.

“The barn seemed to go up in flames so fast; I could hear him shouting for help. I panicked, I opened the door and I was knocked off my feet, with the flames. Next thing I remember I was lying in my bed, with the doctor beside me.  The only people that were missing were my parents. I asked the doctor where they were, and just then, Sam walked in. He was slightly burnt but that was all. I was half relieved and half annoyed that it hadn’t killed him.  He came to my bedside, and put his hands on my arms, and whispered ‘You didn’t get me, but I can tell you who you did get though, your parents!’ I couldn’t believe it; he was so horrible about it. I hate him so much!”

The Cartwrights could see the hatred flickering in his eyes, this was a shock to all of them, he had killed his parents.

“So what did you do then?” Ben asked softly.

“I got up that night and ran, as far away as I could!” James said turning onto his side so he wasn’t facing the family that had taken care of him.

“Who is chasing you then?” Hoss asked as he rubbed his head.

“Sam, he volunteered to come looking for me, and when he does he will kill me!” James cried.

“No he won’t!” Joe said firmly, “You are staying here, with us until we get this mess sorted out!”

James wasn’t well enough to argue; he just lay his head down on the pillow and drifted off to sleep.

 

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

 

The Cartwrights stayed up late that night talking about what James’ confession.
 “What will we do Pa?” Hoss asked, struggling to keep himself awake.

“I think we had better let the sheriff know, he will know what to do!” Ben replied, not feeling to alert himself.

“We can’t!” Joe blurted out, “Who knows what will happen to him, he’s just a boy!”

“Joes right Pa” Hoss agreed, “We need to keep this to ourselves until we get the full picture tomorrow when we talk to him properly!”

Ben put his head on his hand, “Right Okay, we will talk to him again, but if we don’t come to some sort of solution ourselves, I am going to get Roy in two days! Now I am going to get some sleep, before I fall asleep here!” Ben got out of his chair and headed up the stairs.

“Night Pa!” Hoss and Joe said in unison.

“Why do you think he tried to shoot me?” Joe asked Hoss.

“I don’t know Joe, but I reckon we are in for a rough few days!”

 

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

 

Next morning, Joe was the first one out of bed, for the first time in ages. He was putting his boots on when Ben slowly wandered down the stairs.

“Where you going at this time of morning?” Ben asked as he yawned.

“Going to do some chores first before breakfast, I think I will be all day trying to get some conclusion out of James!” Joe said as he opened the door.

“Okay Joe, but be back in a couple of hours, we need to get this sorted out!” Ben said as he went into the kitchen to get something to eat.

 

When Joe was doing his chores all he could think about was how James must be feeling knowing he killed his own parents. Joe was devastated enough that his mother died; he just couldn’t begin to think how James must feel. When he had finished his chores he headed back to the house. 

When the house came into view, Joe noticed three people sitting on the porch.  When he got closer he realised it was his Pa, Hoss and James.

“Pa” Joe began as he jumped off Cochise, “Didn’t realise James was well enough to get out of bed”

Ben smiled, and looked at James. “He seems a lot better now, he managed to walk down the stairs just after you left, his fever even has went down.”

Joe walked over to James and sat down on the chair next to him.

“How you feeling?” Joe asked.

“I am fine thanks Joe,” James replied quietly.

Joe smiled, “Glad to hear it!”
Joe knew he had to ask James why he tried to shoot him, but he was scared he would make him run away.

“Listen James, I need to ask you something!” Joe said gently, “Why did you try and shoot me?”

James glanced at Joe, then Hoss and then Ben. “I am sorry, but I hadn’t eaten for ages, and I noticed you had supplies, so I was just gonna steal them, I am truly sorry!”

Joe was shocked he wasn’t expecting an apology. “Its okay James!” he said as he patted the youngster on the head.

“We still need to take you to the sheriff, get things sorted out!” Ben said, ruining the happy moment.

No Pa!” Joe stood up. “We can’t, we need to keep him here just in case Sam comes, we need to protect James.”
James smiled at this, finally someone who is going to take care of him. He got up and walked over to Ben. Tears trickled down his face.

“Please Mr Cartwright, if you take me to the sheriff, I will be so miserable.  I can stay here, I can do farm work.  I wouldn’t expect anything in return, just a place to stay and food to eat.  I am begging you, please don’t take me to the sheriff!”

Bens’ heart sunk, what was he going to do. True, he cared for this boy, but it could cause some problems. He heaved a huge sigh, “Okay, you can stay. You will work for us, in return you will get a bed and food to eat.”

James grinned, and hugged Ben. “Thank you so much Mr Cartwright, you will not regret it, I will work so hard…”

“James!” Ben interrupted, “This is all for now, if anyone comes for you, I will have to let them take you!”

James backed off Ben, “But…you said I could stay”
”Yes you can, but if this Sam, has been ordered to take you back home, there is nothing I can do about it!” Ben said firmly.

Joe nodded, “He’s right James, we have no right to keep you here, if Sam comes for you, we can’t stop him!”

“You don’t understand!” James bellowed, “He will kill me!” and he limped back into the house and slammed the door behind him.

“What we gonna do Pa?” Hoss asked, breaking his silence. He wasn’t wanting to speak, he too was fond of the boy, but didn’t want to show it.

“Just what I said, if Sam comes for him, we let him take James!” Ben said as he also walked into the house.

Joe was getting annoyed, he believed James about Sam, but he couldn’t do anything about it. After standing outside for about ten minutes, he slowly walked in.

 

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

 

That night, James crept down the stairs, stopping on each step to look back to see if anyone had heard him.

He slowly opened the door and walked out shutting it quietly behind him.

 

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

 

“Pa!” Joe shouted. “Come here quick!”

Ben and Hoss both rushed through to James’ room. “He’s gone Pa!”

“Right, get dressed, and saddle up the horses. We’re going to find him!” Ben said as he rushed through to his own room.

As soon as they could, they were all out in the yard getting their horses ready.

“Mr Hoss!” Hop-Sing came bustling out of the house.
 “Yeh what is it Hop-Sing?” Hoss replied yawning

“I make you something to take with you!” the cook replied.
 “Well Dadburnit Hop-Sing, that’s mighty kind of you!” Hoss replied as he took the small bag off of Hop-Sing.

They all mounted onto their horses and rode off.

 

An hour later, Joe stopped his horse and studied the ground underneath him. “Look Pa.” He jumped off Cochise and picked up a bit of tattered cloth.
 “Reckon James dropped it?” Hoss asked.

 “Sure looks like it, it’s got his initials on it, it’s his handkerchief!” Joe replied, “He must have gone this way!”

Lets get going then” Ben said as he rode ahead.

Joe jumped back onto Cochise and followed Ben and Hoss.

 

Another hour passed, and Ben was the first one to spot James.  He was using a branch as a crutch and was hobbling along.  They hurried their horses up so they came up beside James. 

“What on earth do you think you are doing?” Ben shouted, he couldn’t control his anger. “We have been looking for you for ages, do you have no respect for anyone?”

“You don’t own me, you can’t tell me what to do, I am not going back with you because you will just let Sam take me away and that ain’t happening!” James yelled back.

Hoss got off his horse and walked over to James. “Listen young un, we looked out for you even though you took a shot at Joe, we still forgave you and let you stay with us, and this is how you repay us?”
James shrugged and started to hobble away again. Hoss grabbed James’ shoulder.
 “You ain’t going anywhere, if you don’t come back to the Ponderosa with us, we will take you straight in to
Virginia City to the Sheriff, either way you are coming with us!” Ben shouted still sitting on his horse.

James put his head down, “I don’t want to die, and that’s what will happen if Sam gets me!” James sniffed.

Hoss looked at his Pa, “What if there is a possibility that Sam will kill James?”

“We will just consider that when we meet this Sam, maybe he’s just gonna take him back home!” Ben replied. He seemed confident to everyone, but inside he somehow doubted that this Sam was just coming to pick James up.

“So how about it eh James?” Joe said smiling, “Coming home?”
James looked at Joe he nodded slightly.  Joe jumped off of Cochise, and helped James up onto it, and then got back on himself.

 

                                               

 

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

 

 

That night James joined everyone at the dinner table. The mood had changed, everyone was laughing and joking, including James.

“I am telling ya kid, I used to be great at the Violin, I just realised my talent was only temporary!” Hoss boasted. “I am actually thinking of starting it up again, maybe Madame Morova was wrong and I can still play!”

Ben and Joe swung their heads around and looked at each other, they were horrified.
 “No Hoss!” Joe said loudly, “Take it from me and Pa, she was right.”

“S’pose” Hoss smiled, and continued to tuck into his meal.  James was stunned at how the Cartwright son could pile as much food in his mouth as that. He had never seen anything like it. Hoss noticed James staring, “Anything wrong?” He spluttered firing food in all directions.

“Um no!” James replied wiping bits of food from his forehead, that Hoss had projected his way. He looked the other way, chuckling to himself.

“We are all used to that!” Joe laughed, “Wait until he hasn’t eaten for a day, see how much he can pile in to that mouth of his then.”
James cringed even at the thought of it.

 

A couple of hours later, they all headed up the stairs to their rooms.  James was the first one into his room, and Joe followed him in.

“Hi Joe” James smiled, “I had good night, and um sorry I ran off, I am just worried about Sam finding me!”

“Don’t worry, if Sam comes here to try and kill you, we won’t let him, you are looking at the roughest, toughest family in Nevada!” Joe laughed which got James erupting into laughter as well.

“You have all been so great to me, I wish I could stay here permanently.  You are such a nice family.” James said as he sat down on his bed.

“You’re a great kid James” Joe said sitting beside him, “Everything will work out okay, you will see”

James put his arms around Joe and hugged him, “Thanks Joe, for everything!”

Joe tried to control his emotions; he sneakily wiped away a tear from his eye.

“ You’re welcome!”

Next morning everyone had high spirits. The sun was blazing down once again, making everyone who was working sweat, including Joe who took off his shirt. 

“Do you always have to boast little brother?” Hoss shouted at Joe from across the yard.

“Whatever do you mean?” Joe smiled innocently.

“You have that strong body, and you attract the ladies, but if I took my shirt off…” Hoss began.

“Oh big brother, you shouldn’t think things like that, any girl could see you are a strapping man!” Joe laughed.

“Well if you would like to get your shirt back on, we need to help Pa with the timber down at the forest.” Hoss said as he went into the barn to get his horse.
”Okay I will shout on James, to get himself ready” Joe said.

“No Joe, I reckon he should be able to cope on his own for a couple of hours, he is only cleaning the barn, he’ll be okay,” Hoss said coming back out with Chubb.

“Yeah I suppose,” Joe said putting his shit back on. He then went to the barn and told James they were going and would be back later on.  James smiled and handed Joe Cochise, and Joe followed Hoss out of the yard.

 

James found working on the Ponderosa great fun. He seemed to forget everything that had happened to him until he heard a scarily familiar voice, “Hello James!”

 

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

 

“Where’s James?” Ben asked when his sons reached the forest.
 “He’s at home, cleaning out the barn” Hoss replied, as he helped Ben lift a log onto the cart.

“Well, I just sent Sam up there to wait for us to get back, I presumed he would have came down with you!” Ben said calmly.

“What?” Joe exclaimed, “I am going back, I want to meet this Sam myself!”

Joe jumped onto Cochise and sped off back to the house.

“Joseph!” Ben bellowed.
 “We’d better go as well Pa!” Hoss said getting onto Chubb.

“I suppose you’re right” Ben said, “I just hope Joe and James are wrong about Sam”

 

Joe galloped up to the barn, “James” he yelled. There was no answer, he jumped off Cochise and ran into the barn, no sign of him.  He ran into the house, to see if he was there. He went up the stairs taking two steps at a time, and burst into James’ room.  All his belongings were still there.
 “Oh no” Joe gasped.

He went back downstairs and shouted “Hop-Sing, Hop-Sing!”
He heard a moaning in the kitchen, he ran in.
In the corner was the cook, clutching his shoulder, “James, gone, you go get him back, big man come shoot me and take him away!”

Joe helped Hop-Sing to his feet just as Ben and Hoss walked through the door.

 “What happened?” Ben exclaimed, “Sam, he shot Hop-Sing and took James, he obviously isn’t wanting to take him home, all James’ belongings are still in his room.”
Ben helped Joe put Hop-Sing onto the chair, “Hoss, get the doctor, Joe and I are going to look for James, and while you are in
Virginia City, get the Sheriff. Tell him there has been a kidnapping!”

Joe and Ben ran out of the door and onto their horses, and started a long search for James.

They were riding for about four hours when it started to get dark.

“Pa we need to keep going to find James!” Joe said urging his horse along.
 “We won’t see much in the dark Joe” Ben replied, as he started to turn his horse around, “Lets just get back home and let the sheriff take over tomorrow!”
 “No!” Joe shouted, “He might be dead by tomorrow, I am not giving up on him!”

Suddenly Joe noticed a light flickering in the distance. “Pa!” He shouted, “there’s a fire in the distance, maybe it’s them!”

Ben looked, and sure enough, there was smoke rising from above the trees, and a small light flickering.
 Lets go!” He said turning his horse around again, and following Joe.


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


 “Let me go Sam!” James shouted,

“Shut up, you little brat!” Sam shouted as he slapped James across the face.

James started to cry.
 “You ain’t so tough now are you?” Sam sneered. He picked up James, his hands were bound behind his back and Sam used that to hang James on a thick branch of a tree.
 “Well let’s see, how did you try to kill me again?” he paused,  “Oh yeah, you tried to burn me alive, well lets see if you like that as well!”
He picked up a couple of sticks out of the fire and put them under James. “There is a good chance that the flames will shoot up the tree and burn you, and if you are lucky, your guardian angel will come and save you!” Sam said evilly.

“Joe!” James shouted.

“What?” Sam was confused, who was Joe? He hadn’t time to think he was knocked to his feet and he noticed Ben lift James off the tree.

Joe pinned Sam to the ground, and pulled his gun on him.

“Since James didn’t manage to kill you maybe I can!” Joe threatened, he was furious, he wouldn’t be happier to see this man die.
 “Who are you?” Sam said slowly and deeply.

“James’ guardian angels” Joe said as he hit Sam across the head with the butt of his gun.

“You okay?” Joe asked getting up and walking over to James.

“Yeah thanks, both of you!” James said hugging both of them.

Joe noticed a few miner burns on James’ legs, “Better get back home and get them checked out eh?” Joe said putting his arm around James.

James glanced around at Sam, “Joe watch out!” he shouted, Sam had pulled out his gun and was aiming it at Joe.

Joe spun around and fired six shots into Sam, not before Sam managed to shoot Joe in the hip. Joe crumpled to the ground, and Sam dropped his gun and died.

Ben knelt down beside his son, “Joe” he whispered, and Joe opened his eyes.

“Pa, James?” he gasped.

“Right here Joe” James sat down beside him, “Right here”

 

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

 

Two weeks later, Joe helped James, put his bags onto the roof of the stage.
 “Your Uncle will pick you up in
San Francisco, you will be okay, and the stage is safe for you to travel!” Joe smiled hugging James.  He walked back and stood beside his father and brother.

 

Joe wiped the tears from his eyes, and glanced up at his father, who put his arm around his youngest son.
 “James!” Joe hollered.
The young boy turned his head, and continued to get up onto the stage.

Once again, Joe called out his name, this time running toward him.

“Just before you go” Joe said as he ran up beside James, “I want you to have this.”

Joe pulled a handkerchief out of his jacket pocket, and handed it to him.

James took it from Joes’ hand, “Thanks Joe, and…” he paused to wipe a tear away, “I’m truly sorry, for what I did, I just want to say…”

“I know James, I know” Joe stopped him.  Joe stood back a step as the coach pulled away heading towards Virginia City.

“I am going to miss you too” Joe muttered to himself, and headed back to the Ponderosa.

 

 

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