Taking
deliberate aim,
Ben Cartwright made sure that he shot only to wound,
not to kill, although a killing rage thundered through his blood.
He
watched
the man fall without bothering to conceal his satisfaction. He
deliberately
holstered his gun and walked towards him, giving the mine owner a
contemptuous look as he walked past. After checking that the injury
to the
erstwhile sheriff wasn't that serious, Ben turned his attention, at
last,
to
his son Joe, which is what he had wanted to do right from the
start.
Joe was filthy, his chestnut curls festooned with dust and rock
fragments,
his clothes soiled and torn. "Are you all right, son?" Ben asked,
hurrying
over to put a comforting, reassuring hand on Joe's shoulder. His
dark,
worried, eyes assessed Joe's condition and although there was a
tiny bit of
blood on Joe's head, he appeared to be all in one piece.
"I'm fine," Joe replied. He was still panting from the race
against time to
get out of the mine before it exploded. He glanced over to where
Candy, the
ranch foreman, was sitting next to Kabe,
one of
the miners. Candy looked as
exhausted as Joe felt. Joe staggered slightly belying what he had
just told
his father.
"Sit down," Ben urged. "We'll get the doctor to look at you
and Candy when
we get back into Angelus."
"I don't need a doctor," Joe protested, as Ben had known he
would.
"I didn't ask if you needed a doctor," Ben replied, smiling
slightly.
"I
told you that you're going to see one. You,
Candy and
that young man over
there." His smile faded. "Tell me what happened, Joe."
Slowly, Joe told Ben what had happened since his arrival in
Angelus. How he
had demanded to inspect the mine and discovered that all the timber
was
rotten; finding Kabe and then being
hit on the
head, wakening to find
himself looking into the barrel
of a gun
wielded by
Garrett, the sheriff, had tied him up with fuse wire and how he and
Candy
had managed, with Kabe's help, to get
free. As
Joe related their
panic-stricken run through the mine, hauling the injured Kabe along with
them, relying on his knowledge of the mine layout to get out in
time, Ben's
face grew dark.
"Sit down," he urged and pushed his unresisting son to the
ground.
Glancing round, he spotted one of the men had a wagon and before
Joe could
quite gather his thoughts, he, Candy and Kabe
found themselves in the back
of the wagon, being taken into town to see the doctor. Joe wanted
to feel
amused by Ben's solicitousness, but reaction was setting in and he
felt
quite shaky. It was a relief to allow someone else to take over and
make
the
decisions. He passively submitted to the doctor's examination and
before
long, he and Candy were back in the hotel and water was being
brought up
for
baths.
Later that evening, they set out for home. Joe knew by then that Kabe hadn't
suffered a serious head injury, although hew as badly concussed.
Joe felt a
good deal better, although his head still ached. Nevertheless, he
was glad
to see Stephanie waiting for the stage and he stopped to talk to
her. He
had
felt overwhelming guilt over the death of Steve, Stephanie's
husband and
Joe's friend, when Steve fell from a horse - one of Joe's - and
died. But
Stephanie put his mind at rest, assuring Joe that for all her harsh
words,
she didn't blame him and as Joe rode away form Angelus, he knew
that he had
made a difference to the lives of the miners there.
"Thank you for helping Angelus out, Pa," he said, quietly.
"It was the least I could do, Joe," Ben replied. "After all,
I am a major
shareholder in the mine and I didn't really take any interest, did
I? I'll
call a meeting of the other shareholders and we'll organize the
work
between
us."
"You're a good man, Pa," Joe murmured and Ben blushed.
"I'm not the only good man," Ben replied. "Both you and
Candy went back
there to help out."
"Must run in the family then," Joe smiled.
Deciding that this scene had got soapy enough, Candy smiled and
asked,
"What's my excuse then?"
The End
Rona