THE OLD FRIEND
by
Lynne C.

"Put the gun down, Mr Marshall, and step away from my Pa, right now,"
said Joe.

"And if I don't, what're you gonna do about it, boy?" sneered Callum
Marshall.

"I'm going to kill you," said Joe, sounding a lot calmer than he was
actually feeling.

Marshall was taken aback by the coldness he could see in Joe's eyes
and by the young man's matter of fact way of delivering those words.
In that moment, he could tell that Joe, young as he was, would have no
compunction, but to kill him, if he didn't leave Ben alone.

Cursing Joe, under his breath, Marshall complied with Joe's request.

"OK, I've moved away, now what? You know, you've got it all wrong,
Little Joe. I wasn't about to hurt your Pa; I was trying to help him.
I just happened along and found him lying on the ground, much as he
looks now. All I was doing, when you came up, was checking him over,
to see where he was hurting."

"I might be young, Marshall, but I ain't stupid," said Joe, keeping a
tight grip on his shotgun. "You were riflin' through his pockets,
looking for something, and I strongly suspect it was the combination
to his safe. Ever since you arrived at our home, I've had a bad
feeling about you, but when I tried to tell my Pa what I was feeling,
he thought it was just my imagination, working overtime. He told me
that you and him had been friends since before my brother Adam was
born, and that you were just down on your luck and needed a place to
stay. But then, that's my Pa all over, always wanting to see the best
in people and always happy to help."

"Yeah, he's a real gem, your Pa, ain't he? And just about the most
gullible man I've ever come across."

"No, he ain't," said Joe, pleased to see that Ben was slowly coming
to. "He just likes to help and he will even offer a job to people who
others won't hire, like ex cons, because he reckons that once you have
been punished for your crime, then you should be able to start again,
with a fresh slate. It's the way he's brought me and my brothers up,
and I think it's a good way, even if it does, sometimes, go wrong.
Like in the case of a piece of dirt, like you. My Pa did everything he
could to help you go straight, and you chose to repay him by trying to
steal the payroll, and by almost killing him. Now, get over to that
tree. I'm gonna tie you up, so that I can tend to my Pa."

Marshall did as he was told, and Joe then made the man encircle the
tree, with his arms, and then interlink his fingers. Once he had, Joe
tied the man's hands together, around his wrists.

"There, that should keep you nice and secure, until the sheriff comes
out, to pick you up," said Joe. "I have got to get Pa back to the
ranch and have the doctor check him over."

"You can't leave me out here, like this," said Marshall. "What if a
bear comes by? I could be ripped to shreds and I have no way of
defending myself."

"And did you care about what might happen to my Pa, when you were
planning to leave him out here, injured and on foot? Of course you
didn't. All you could think of, was getting back to the ranch and
grabbing that payroll outta the safe, before the hands got back from
the round up."

"All he had to do was hand over the combination," spat out Marshall.
"What's a few thousand to a man as rich as your Pa? But oh no, he
hasta go all honourable on me, and start talking about coming by what
he's got, by honest toil. And going on about how it means so much more
to you, when you know you've earned your money, rather than by
stealing it, or having it handed to you, without you putting in any
kind of effort, in order to get it."

"That's just common sense," said Joe. "Yes, my Pa is wealthy and yes,
he could have allowed us boys to idle away our time and just hand out
money to us, whenever we asked for it, but that wouldn't have been in
our best interests. He didn't get his money that way and neither do
we. There is a great deal of satisfaction to be gained by earning your
money, maybe it's about time you tried it?"

As he was speaking, Joe was checking out his father's injuries, and
was relieved to find that they mainly consisted of minor cuts and
bruises, apart from the nasty bump on his head, the result of Marshall
hitting him with the butt of his gun.

"I'm fine, son, no need to fuss," said Ben, attempting to stand, but
finding that his legs felt like they were made of rubber.

"Just rest for a while, Pa," said Joe, offering Ben a drink of water.
"Give yourself a few minutes and then we'll head for the house. By the
time we get there, the hands will be back from the round up and I can
send one of them into to Virginia City, to fetch Doc Martin, and to
tell Sheriff Coffee where to find Marshall."

"All right, Little Joe," said Ben, happy to do as Joe suggested.

He sank back onto the ground and Joe removed his green jacket, and
made a pillow out of it, to put under Ben's head.

"There you go, Pa, that should be more comfortable for you," said Joe,
patting Ben's hand.

Ben managed a rather weak smile and said, "Those are usually my lines,
when it's you who has been hurt, son. Thank you for taking care of me,
and for disobeying my orders and coming to see if I was all right."

"Well, I've never been that good at following orders, have I Pa? And I
really wanted to make the peace with you, after those harsh words we
exchanged, at the house, this morning."

"You have nothing to make amends for, Little Joe. I was totally out of
order, ridiculing you when you tried to share your fears with me,
concerning Callum. I was letting rose coloured memories of the past
cloud my judgement. I knew, deep down, that even when we'd sailed
together, as youngsters, that Callum was no good, but I allowed myself
to be suckered into thinking that he'd changed. He asked to ride out
here with me, today, saying that he just wanted to see a bit more of
the ranch, but his real reason was to get me away from the house, and
then try and beat me into giving him the combination of the safe. I
told him I could never remember it, and I had to write it down, but I
don't think he believed me. Anyway, he hit me a few more times, then I
fell, and that's when I banged my head and was knocked unconscious. I
guess he was searching my pockets, looking to see if I really did have
the number written down, when you came along. I certainly wasn't able
to tell him, once he'd knocked me out. That was a pretty stupid move,
on your part, Callum, wasn't it? The canary can't sing if it's dead."

"If this boy of yours hadn't come along, when he did, you would've
told me, eventually," said Marshall. "I learned some pretty good ways
of getting information outta people, when I was an Army scout."

"I bet you did, and I suspect that was why you were dishonourably
discharged from the Army, for using those methods, excessively, when
questioning prisoners," said Ben, before closing his eyes, as the
bright sunlight was making them hurt.

Joe let his father take a short nap, before helping him up onto Buck,
and slowly leading him home.
As they rode away, they could hear Marshall cursing them, for
abandoning him, but Joe didn't feel at all guilty. He knew that when
he'd come upon Marshall and his father, and seen Ben lying on the
ground, so pale and still, he'd come very close to killing the man.
So, leaving him tied to a tree was definitely not as bad as that. And,
although he hadn't said as much, he also knew that Marshall wasn't in
any danger from bears, as there were none in that area, but it
wouldn't hurt to have Marshall thinking that there were. Joe was
planning on sending the sheriff out, to pick up Marshall, very soon,
and maybe the man would take the time to reflect on what he'd tried to
do, and think twice about doing it again.

Ben doubted that Callum would ever change and he sighed to himself, as
he pondered on the likely demise of his one time friend. The man was
just one of life's misfits, for whatever reason, and would never stop
envying those who had more than him. But instead of trying to emulate
their success, Marshall believed that the only way to make money was
to steal it, and with that kind of thinking, was sure to meet an early
death.

"I wish I'd been able to do more to help Callum," said Ben. "Although
he was a bit wild as a youngster, he might not have turned out that
bad, if he'd received the right kind of guidance."

"Yeah, you were lucky to end up working under Grandpa Stoddard," said
Joe. "And Adam, Hoss and me are lucky to be working under you."

"I'll remind you of that fact when I'm trying to get you out of bed,
at five thirty, in the morning," said Ben.

"Aw, Pa, can't I have a bit of a lie in, as a reward for saving you,
today?"

"All right son, I'll leave you to sleep, until five thirty five," and
Ben was rewarded with Joe's high-pitched giggle, as they made their
way home.

THE END

Little Joe forever
Lynne
June 24th 2005

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