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
“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”
“
“Joe”
Ben shouted after him.
Joe
stuck his head around the door of the barn, “
“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
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
“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
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
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
“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.
“
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. “
“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
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
“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
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
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
“I am
going to miss you too” Joe muttered to himself, and headed back to the
Ponderosa.