Redemption
by
Janice Sagraves

ONE

He tramped through the tall grass – a pack horse ambling along behind him – and it flattened beneath his boots. The old musket clutched in his hand swung at his side like the pendulum of a clock. Under his breath he muttered, and his eyes trailed along the ground before him. If this thing wasn’t at a head it soon would be. It wasn’t in his nature to cotton to being humiliated, as it would be with any man. The whiskey inflamed his already agitated state, and he cursed and spat. One day Adam Cartwright would push him too far – if he hadn’t already – and would regret it. He hadn’t been put on this earth for one man to toy like a cat with a mouse. It had happened once before, and he wasn’t about to let it happen again. He uttered a guttural snarl and trudged on. Enough was enough and he had had it. Then, as he stepped over a fallen tree limb, the sound of movement in the brush made his head come up, and he froze. The gun raised and he waited. An animal came out into the clear, but it wasn’t the deer he had expected. He started to lower the weapon, but the need to lash out struck him. Without any cognitive thought behind it, he raised the gun, and it bucked in his hands. As immediate as the action, it registered what he had just done, and he felt anger and disgust, though not so much at himself. Cartwright was to blame for this, because of his incessant prodding and goading. With a shudder, he turned with the horse and headed back toward town. He would find another way to get the money for a bottle of whiskey.

*******

A warm spell had made the latter part of January and into February unseasonably temperate and melted much of the snow that had fallen. And most of what the sun hadn’t taken care of the rain had. White clumps and drifts still remained, but the grass had become visible again. Creeks and streams had thawed out and played sweet music in the spring-like air. That winter could and most likely would descend upon them again at any time everyone knew, so this respite from the cold was taken full advantage of.

Angelica Cartwright took another of her husband’s shirts from the clothes basket and gave it a shake. They had only returned home late last month and things had piled up. Just starting to come from under the work load, days like this could not have come at a better time.

The sounds of movement behind her made her look around as she took a clothespin from her apron pocket. She spoke, but only got a grunt in return.

She whirled to leave the shirt to hang from the line by one shoulder. “Adam Cartwright, be civil.” Her wadded fists went to her hips. “For the past two days you have behaved like a bear with a toothache, and I for one am tired of it.”

He apologized and gave her a peck on the forehead. “Just look over me when I get this way.”

“I usually do, but I don’t think I have ever seen you so agitated about something.” She caressed his dark cheek. “Maybe I can help work out whatever is troubling you if you’ll only talk to me about it.”

“There isn’t a need for you to know.”

“Anything that affects you I always need to know about. Now, I have been polite about it up to this point, but I can and will get rough if I must.” Purple lights sparkled in her deep violet eyes with a hint of mischief.

“Well, I can’t chance that.” He chortled then went serious. “It’s Vint Calder again.”

Her mouth drew into a perfect bow. “I can’t even guess at what he has done this time.”

“I caught him roughing up on Zach Trent, and not to put too a fine an edge on it, I made him stop.”

She grimaced. “I can just imagine how you made him stop.”

“I didn’t knock him down, the wall kept him from falling.”

“Oh, Adam, that is only going to make things worse. But I suppose it couldn’t be helped, and I can only hope that you broke his jaw.”

“Angelica.”

“I make no apology for the way I feel about that odious man. And I happen to think that Zachary is a fine boy who doesn’t deserve to be brutalized, especially by the likes of someone like that.”

“My but you’ve hardened since you came out here.” He started to put his arms around her but was interrupted.

“Boss! Boss!”

Adam spun toward the front of the big log house. “What on Earth.”

He took off with Angelica right behind him.

As they came around the end of the deep front porch they saw Chris McCutcheon. In his arms he held the limp form of a big wiry-furred brown dog. Blood covered the animal’s side, and his immense muddy paws hung free.

Angelica’s hands flew to her mouth. “Buddy.”

Sparks rose up in Adam’s dark hazel eyes, and his dense black brows knit. He placed his hand on the dog’s head and its eyes opened but slits.

“I found ‘im around behind the barn. It looked like he musta drug himself there. We was getting kinda worried in him being gone so long, and now we know why.”

Angelica rubbed the animal’s face, and he tried to lick her. She looked up at Adam, and her anger became quite evident. “I can’t imagine who could do such a cruel thing.”

“We’ll worry about that later. Hand him to me, Chris.”

Buddy was transferred to his master’s waiting arms with the gentleness that would be afforded a baby. The usual curl to his shaggy tail had fallen out, and his tongue hung from the side of his mouth.

The men, who had gathered behind Chris, watched as the Boss and his missus went inside with the dog.

“I hope he’s not gonna die, Chris.”

“We all do, Wy. And I’d sure like to know who shot him, and if it was an accident or not.”

Maggie O’Shea stood before the big iron stove. She sang in the Gaelic as she stirred a pot of boiling Mulligan stew. The Cartwright triplets – who would turn two in April – sat at the work table with a plate of cookies between them. Little teeth crunched as they watched the housekeeper with rapt attention.

“Maggie.”

She turned around, as did the boys, as Adam and Angelica entered the kitchen. “Saints preserve us.”

Angelica flushed and her delicate features hardened. “Someone shot him.”

“Bubby. Bubby.”

“Maggie, get some blankets, and bring me some towels.”

“Yes, sir.” Then she dashed from the kitchen.

With the cookies forgotten, the boys scrambled down from the chairs and toddled over to their parents. Angelica had just taken her sons into her arms when Maggie returned. Adam had her put down one of the blankets at the end of the stove then he laid the dog on it. Buddy only had strength enough to breathe, and that came in ragged breaths.

The boys clung to their mother’s legs at they watched their father and Maggie attend to their injured friend. They didn’t comprehend all of what was happening, but they were old enough and sensitive enough to realize that something wasn’t as it should be.

Addy looked up at his mother. “Bubby sick?”

Angelica stroked his black-capped head and forced a gentle smile. “No, sweetheart, Bubby got hurt.”

He looked back to the dog, and his fine mouth puckered. “Umboo.”

Her hands tightened on her sons. “Yes, dear, Buddy got an umboo.”

*******

Angelica sat in the floor before the huge stone hearth and its crackling fire with the boys. She had taken them into the front parlor and gotten them interested in their wooden puzzles. Little fingers worked to put the right shaped pieces into the corresponding holes, with mother’s assistance, of course, and the episode in the kitchen had been put aside, at least for the moment. It made her glad that little ones had such a short attention span.

Adam erupted from the kitchen into the dining area like an uncoiled spring. She caught at once the rage that seethed beneath the surface. She pulled herself to her feet and the children didn’t even notice. When she caught up to him he had just buckled on his gun belt.

“Now, Adam, don’t go off and do something that you could regret.

“I’m not gonna regret anything.” He bent down and tied the leather laces around his thigh. “I’m just going into town to tell Dan Jillian about this.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t. For all we know it could have been accident.”

“It was no accident.” He slammed his arms into the sleeves of his coat. “If it was anybody but Vint Calder I might believe that, but not with him, not after what happened in Bantree the other day.”

“You can’t be certain that it was him.”

He jerked his hat from its peg on the wall and turned to her. “Yes, I can, but I don’t have time to go into it now.”

“Adam, you can’t go around accusing people of just anything, even if you don’t like them. You could be making a terrible mistake.”

He took hold of her shoulders in a firm grip. “You say you trust me.”

She looked offended. “Of course I do.”

“Then believe that I wouldn’t be doing this if I wasn’t sure.”

“All right, but I still wish you wouldn’t.”

“I have to, Angelica. This time he shot a dog.”

Angelica understood the meaning of his implications, but she still didn’t like it. “You can’t possibly believe that even he would go so far as to shoot one of us.”

“Probably not, he’s the kind that wants others to do his dirty work, but I can’t take the gamble. If it were anybody else but Calder. He acts, he doesn’t think. He may not set out to hurt anybody but…” The corners of his mouth pinched, and his eyes became sharp as broken glass. “If he was to hurt you or one of the children I would kill him with my bare hands and enjoy every second of it. Even if I knew they would hang me for it, it wouldn’t make any difference, I’d still do it.”

When he got this way, he frightened her. The life that had raised him had forged him into what he was as one would iron in the inferno of the furnace. He would kill to protect, and, what scared her even more, he would die.

He kissed her then went out. She stood framed in the open doorway until he disappeared into the barn. If only he could be wrong about this, but a whisper in the back of her head told her he wasn’t. Her fingernails dug into the wood. Oh, how she wished this man Calder would pack up and just leave before Adam got into town. She knew better, though, and it only entrenched in her a deeper foreboding. This time she feared that neither he nor Adam would back down, and she feared even worse what could come from it.

TWO

Sheriff Dan Jillian had just replaced the broom in a corner of his office when Adam Cartwright blew in. The second Dan saw that black scowl he knew that trouble had come to Bantree. But before he could even inquire about what the problem was Adam pulled something from his coat pocket and slammed it down onto the desktop.

Dan ruffled his thick light brown hair, and his eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure I want to see what that is.”

“Then I’ll tell you. It’s a slug from a rifle musket that I dug out of my dog.”

Dan came around behind his desk and picked up the disfigured knob of lead. He turned it over in his fingers then let it slide into the palm of his hand. “That’s what it is, all right, but I can’t imagine what you want me to do about it.”

“I want you to put the fear of the law into Vint Calder.”

“Now, Adam, unless you saw him do it you can’t be sure it was him.”

Adam leaned his hands on the desk, and his gaze drilled into the sheriff. “Tell me how many people you know around here who has that kind of gun.”

“A few.”

“Now tell me how many have a grudge against me.”

“Only one, but that still doesn’t mean Calder did it. It could’ve even been somebody passing through.”

“Oh, come on, Dan, that holds about as much water as one of my wife’s thimbles.”

“That may be a fact, but unless somebody saw him do it, there isn’t really anything I can do.”

Adam’s frown grew bleaker. “I can guess that you’ve already heard about the run-in I had with him over Zach Trent the other day.”

“Yeah, I heard, and I even heard from a couple witnesses that he needed that thump you gave him, but that still doesn’t say he did this. And there are those who would say it was just a dog.”

“Just a dog! If not for that dog me and my wife and sons would’ve probably died in that house fire last year. Buddy’s family and I’m here after the man who shot him.”

Dan came around the desk and handed back the little clump of lead. “Adam, I know this thing between you and Calder has been building for some time, and I know that you’ve done your best to avoid something like this, but this isn’t worth the hornet’s nest it would only stir up. Think about it. We all know how spiteful Calder can be. I can’t honestly say that it’s worth bringing him down on you.”

“All right, but you’d better keep him in check because if I ever catch him at something like this again…” Adam’s right hand dropped onto the big .44 on his hip, “I’ll handle it myself.” He started across the room.

“Adam, don’t do something you’ll be sorry for.”

Adam got to the door and turned back around. “I won’t be the one who’s sorry.” Then he went out.

Dan dropped onto the corner of his desk. The cyclone that he had seen coming for a while had just gotten closer, and it made his throat tighten to think about it. He knew both men well enough to know that the probable outcome could be less than desirable, and it made his palms sweat. He looked over at the rack of rifles on the wall and felt a wad grow in his stomach. Unless something changed and soon, this was about to get ugly.

Adam had just pulled the rein loose from the hitch rail when he saw Zach Trent coming along the boardwalk, a stack of parcels in his arms. Since the bright fifteen-year-old had gotten the job at the freight company delivering packages he could be seen all over town. “Good morning, Zach.”

Zach’s freckled face lit up the second he saw Adam. “Morning, Mr. Cartwright.” His gangly legs brought him along the boardwalk, and he stopped before the hitch rail. “I thought you already came in for the mail today.”

Adam’s smile vaporized. “I did, but I had to see the sheriff about something.” His mouth spread as the smile reestablished itself. “But everything’s okay now.” His eyes darted to the brown paper wrapped packages that had been tied with twine. “I see that Ithicus has got you busy this morning.”

“These are for Mrs. Gunther.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I think they’re those dresses she’s been telling everybody in town she ordered special from St. Louis.”

“Well, then you’d better deliver them. You know how she can be.”

Zach took a step then stopped, and he went all serious. “Mr. Cartwright, I want to thank you for what you did with Vint Calder. I didn’t mean to make him drop his bottle of whiskey. I didn’t run into him on propose like he said.”

“I know that, Zach. Don’t worry about it, your mother thanked me when I saw you home.”

The boy ducked his head as if in embarrassment. “I know, but it’s a man’s place to make his own. After Dad died last fall you and a lot of others were real helpful, and if not for you I wouldn’t have got that job, and then what you did the other day. I guess what I’m trying to say is…,”

Adam reached out and gave him a smack on the arm. “I know what you’re saying, Zach. A man doesn’t need to mince words.” He snickered. “Now you better get those delivered, and I’d better get back to the house or I know of two women who’ll have our hair.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Cartwright.”

Zach watched as Adam swung up into the saddle and turned the black to head out. He got a tip of the hat then the man that he very much admired put the horse into a walk. He looked down at the load in his arms and decided that he had better get going.

Adam got as far as the Wooden Nickel when he saw Vint Calder headed toward him, and he reined Dusty to a halt. He could see that the man had already hit several saloons, and figured that he had found a way to get a windfall.

Calder had just reached the saloon’s batwing doors when he caught sight of the man he despised with all his being. They glared at each other then Vint decided that a confrontation was in order. He staggered to the edge of the boardwalk and almost fell off. “I don’t know what you think you’re starin’ at, Cartwright.”

“When I figure it out you’ll be the first to know.”

“I suppose you think I don’t know what you mean by that.”

“Well if you don’t yet I’m confident that you’ll eventually figure it out.”

Calder stepped down into the street and weaved over to Dusty. “I don’t like your attitude, Cartwright.”

“I don’t care whether you do or not. It’s the least of my concerns. Now get out of my way,”

Calder grabbed Dusty’s bit, and the horse jerked his head. “Oh, no, you ain’t gettin’ away so easy.”

“I said, let go.”

“Uh-uh, not till we get some things straight.”

“All right.” Adam rested one arm on the saddle’s pommel. “I know that you shot my dog.”

“I never. I never even saw your dog since the last time he came into town with some o’ your hands.”

“Oh, I know you did it all right. The piece of lead I dug out of him told me so.”

For a second Calder blanched then his eyes grew keen. “You ain’t gonna pin this on me ‘cause I didn’t do it. But then you’re so high and mighty, you’d probably get away with it.”

By this time, people had begun to gather along the boardwalk to watch. Zach dropped his parcels and took off.

“Let me just give you a friendly piece of advice, Calder. Stay off of my property.”

Calder bristled. “The dog wasn’t on your property, he…” He had said too much.

A cunning smirk turned one corner of Adam’s mouth. “I thought so. Now, like I said, stay off of my property, because if I ever see you on the Angel, I’ll shoot you at sight, and I’d be justified for shooting a malicious trespasser, especially one who had been warned.” The dark hazel became even more menacing. “Now let go, and don’t make me tell you a third time.”

Calder’s defiant fingers tightened on the bit. “I suppose you think you’re man enough to make me.”

The shove of a well placed boot answered him as he landed in the muddy street. Startled, Dusty thought to rear, but a pat on his glossy neck and soothing words settled him. Calder’s face burned with hatred that rose up like the flames of a wildfire. He scrambled to his feet and started to lunge at Adam when strong arms wrapped around him like a band of steel.

“That’s enough.”

Calder looked around at the sheriff. “I want him arrested. He called me a liar.”

“I’m afraid that’s not an arrestable offence.”

“Well, he attacked me.”

“From what I saw, you had it coming, just like you usually do. Now calm down or I’ll throw you in jail where you can sleep it off and cool down.”

“All right, you can let me go, sheriff.”

Dan released him, and Calder jerked away. He glowered at Adam then jabbed a finger at him. “You’ve gone too far this time, Cartwright.” He staggered off and disappeared into the Wooden Nickel.

“I think he just threatened me.”

“I know he did, and I don’t like it.” Dan stepped closer to Dusty. “I don’t like it at all. I trust a rattler more ‘n I do Vint Calder. So do me a favor and sprout eyes in the back of your head, and tell your men to do the same.”

Adam chortled and gave him a slap on the arm. “Don’t be such a worrier, Dan. I’ve handled him before, and I will again, if need be.”

“Yeah, I know that, but I’ve seen this coming from a long ways off. He’d like nothing better ‘n to see you in your coffin and put in a six-by-six hole, so watch your back, friend.”

“Calder’s the type that talks bigger than his actions, but if it’ll make you happy, Dan, I promise.”

They shook hands and Dan stepped back out of the way. Adam gave Dusty his heels and rode out of town at a high lope. Dan just watched as someone he considered a friend ride away. No, sir, he didn’t like the lay of this at all.

THREE

Buddy lay at the end of the stove with his eyes closed. A strip of clean sheeting had been swathed around his midsection, and tiny red dots stippled the muslin. Three small hands ran over the shaggy coat with light, gentle strokes, but it didn’t disturb him.

Angelica sat at the table feeding her daughter from a cup of milk. Elizabeth, soon to turn ten-months-old, sat in her mother’s lap like the big girl she was. As the spoon came up her mouth would open, but her eyes never left her brothers and the dog.

Maggie came out of the back pantry with a good sized cast iron skillet.

Angelica dipped the spoon into the cup. “Adam should be back.”

“He will be, mum.” She thumped the skillet down on the table. “I wouldn’t worry, if I were you. Mr. Adam knows what to do.”

“Well you aren’t me, and I don’t like it when people tell me I shouldn’t worry.”

Maggie went to check the pot of cooking dried peaches on the stove. “Yes, mum.”

Angelica fed her daughter a spoonful then went still. “I’m sorry, Maggie, I shouldn’t have snapped at you. It’s just that… I didn’t want him to go into town in the first place. That man Calder could prove to be dangerous. And if he did shoot Buddy, then he wouldn’t care one bit to…”

“Miss Angelica, don’t go workin’ yourself up into a tizzy. Mr. Adam won’t let the likes of a man like that get the better of him.”

Someone entered the front parlor, and the sounds made their way into the kitchen. Angelica watched the door for what felt like an eternity. She couldn’t understand what was taking so long, and the waiting gnawed at her nerves like a rat. When Adam came in, some of the rigidity left her body. “You were gone so long that I was beginning to get worried.”

Adam bent over and kissed the top of his daughter’s red, curly head. “Oh, there was no need for that. I saw Dan and let him know what happened, and it’s such a nice day that I took my time coming home. I didn’t think it would upset you so or I would have come straight on.”

“And you would tell me if anything happened that I should know about.”

“Of course I would, but nothing did. I just rode in, told Dan what I needed to then came home.”

“Adam Cartwright, please don’t insult my intelligence by lying to me.”

He stooped and took her face in his hands. “There’s nothing to lie about.”

Her eyes took in every feature of that wonderful, brown face. She had tried to read him before and never been very successful at it. It was like trying to read a book with blank pages, and it could be very frustrating. She took a heavy breath and decided to play her best card, feminine wiles. “Adam, I’m sorry, but I just don’t happen to believe you. I know you would hold something back just to keep from upsetting me, but please don’t.” She gave her head a tilt. “We have always promised not to keep secrets from each other, so please don’t damage that buy not telling the truth.” She looked at the baby girl. “That would hurt me worse than anything you could do because it would make me think that you don’t believe me capable of handling it.” Her doleful eyes came up. “I can only hope that that isn’t what you want to make of our marriage.”

Adam had just been had, and he knew it. While he had his poker face, she had her female ways, which she deployed with the strategy and skill of a general on the battlefield. And, the bad thing was, that he was helpless and vulnerable to them. Of course he could insist to the lie, but the way she looked at him, and what she had just said made him feel guilty. He huffed. Might as well get it over with, and he would tell her only enough to satisfy her, and still keep some of the truth from her. He could only hope it worked.

He stooped and took one of her hands in his. “Okay, but I only try to protect you because I love you so much, and I hate to see you upset.”

Her eyes grew larger and rounder. “Oh, Adam, something did happen.”

“Nothing to even comment about.”

Anger and impatience began to manifest itself in her face. “Then I would think that you wouldn’t try to keep it from me if it was so insignificant.”

Zing, she had gotten him again, but maybe this one he could work his way out of. “I did run into Vint Calder, and we did have some rather heated words, but no blows were exchanged. I never laid a hand on him.”

She tried again to read him, but only got what he presented to her. She still wasn’t ready to believe that he wasn’t keeping something from her. Venomous words sat in her throat like bitter bile. It wouldn’t help to chastise or belittle, and to ask for his word on it would be to show that she didn’t have faith in him. “All right. I still think you are holding something back from me, but I know why, and I love you all the more for it.”

He glanced up and when he saw that Maggie had her back to them, he planted a passionate kiss on Angelica’s warm, delectable mouth. His work callused hand rubbed over her smooth cheek then he stood and went to where his boys gathered around Buddy. He got down in the floor with them, and added his man-sized hand to the small ones that ran over the dog’s fur. With a gentle touch, he raised the animal’s muzzle and looked into the weak, chocolate brown eyes that came open. Trust and abiding love dwelled within them, and the tail gave a couple feeble thumps against the floor.

Adam knew this was only a dog, but his feelings would have been no different if he was looking into the face of Angelica or any other member of his family. Buddy was more than what people proverbially called ‘man’s best friend’. Adam gave one of the floppy ears a good scratch, something the big guy had always been fond of. “Thanks, Buddy. Thanks for everything.”

*******

Adam blew out the lamp, and climbed into bed next to his wife. His arms went around her as she snuggled close with her head under his chin. He could feel her soft breathing, and it tickled the side of his neck, but he had no desire to change it. She was right where he always wanted her to be, close to his heart.

“Adam.”

“Yes, sweetheart.”

“I worry about this thing with Vint Calder. For the longest time he has let it be known that he hates you, and he’s kept it no secret that someday he will get even.”

“I’ve met men like him before. They’re all talk and little or no action. I wouldn’t even give him a second thought.”

“But he frightens me, and always has. He shot Buddy and…”

“He isn’t going to shoot me. Vint Calder’s outstanding quality is that he’s a coward. He likes to stir things up, be the center of attention and the big man, but when it comes to actually hurting somebody, he hasn’t got the guts.”

“Still, I wish he would just leave town and never come back. Maybe if you bought him off.”

“Without my knowledge, Sid tried that. He said Calder acted like he had never been so insulted in his life.”

“He’s so hard up for money I would have thought…”

“So did Sid, but the man apparently has some pride left.”

“Pride goeth before the fall.” She went quiet for several seconds. “It’s whose fall this could bring about that worries me so. Oh, Adam, if he should cause you any harm I would shoot him myself.”

He snickered. “My but you’re blood thirsty.”

“I’m serious. If someone did something to you or anyone else I care about, for that matter, I would kill them without the slightest qualms.”

His hold tightened around her. “Well, I dare say that you needn’t concern your pretty head about it. I think the worst he will ever do is go off and get drunk, and that does him more hurt than anybody else.”

A tiny whimper from the direction of the window reminded them that Elizabeth shared their room. Then a grunt followed by a quarrelsome whine told them that a storm was brewing.

“I’d better go get her before she wakes up the rest of the county.”

He threw back the covers, his bare feet slapped the chilly floor, and he padded over to the cradle. The little bundle squirmed in the faint gray light that entered through the window. Her father bent down, pushed back her blanket, and scooped her up. From the moment he picked her up, her soft coos started.

“Now let’s go back to bed before Daddy freezes.”

His feet patted the floor as he rushed back to the bed. He placed the baby close to her mother then got back in and pulled up the covers.

“Adam, you’re feet are cold.”

*******

Vint Calder sat hunched over a table at the back of one of the myriad saloons in Bantree. A half emptied bottle of rot gut sat before him and a shot glass he clutched in his right hand. His bloodshot eyes bored into the green felt tabletop, and he sat as if cast in bronze. At first glance, one would think he had nothing on his mind, but a closer examination of his expression would give him away. To call it hate would be too simplistic a term for what smoldered there. A mingling of loathing, rage, vengeance and cunning formed a mask that would have disturbed most men to discover that they looked that way.

The bottle clinked against the rim of the glass as he poured another round. Whiskey slopped onto the felt as he pulled them apart too soon. With a quick jerk, he jolted down the drink. A trickle of it ran from one corner of his mouth, but he made no effort to wipe it away.

He cursed as anger parted the wave of alcohol that clouded his brain. Adam Cartwright had gone too far this time. He had humiliated him, Calder, one time too many. Fuzzy eyes looked down at the dried mud caked on the sleeve of his shirt.

“Not any more.”

He poured one last shot and slugged it down. The chair scraped over the floor, and he leaned hard against the table as he came to his feet. His eyes fought for focus, and he shook some of the fog from his head, which almost pitched him over.

“I’ll show him.”

He grabbed the bottle by the neck and staggered out into the night. This had gone on long enough, and the time had come to do something about it. Reckoning was at hand.

FOUR

The sun had risen with a portent in the dawn sky that hinted at the fact that winter wasn’t over. Heavy gray clouds, which were lit from beneath and behind, were not at all akin to the fluffy white ones that had been prevalent for over a month’s time. A nip in the stagnant air bit, and a hard frost covered all like a light skiff of snow.

Adam stepped out onto the porch and pulled his coat close around him. A glance out the dining room window had told him that things had changed, so the cold came as no surprise. He knew that weather conditions of the past few weeks couldn’t last, not in these parts. The only thing he hadn’t been certain of was when the snow would recommence. He still didn’t, but he guessed it wouldn’t be far off.

His boots clomped as he crossed, then he stepped off into the yard and headed for the barn. He wanted to check on the herd that had been placed out on the east range. Wolves had been more plentiful there, and he wanted to see how much damage they had done. He removed the bar from the wide double doors and went inside.

First thing as he entered the grayness of the building’s interior, his eyes went to Dusty’s stall. He squinted to make sure they weren’t deceiving him. They weren’t.

He dashed forward, and his gloved hands slapped onto the stall divider. It was empty. Dusty was gone. He looked around and nothing else seemed to be out of sorts. Even his saddle sat on the stand where he had placed it the day before. Nothing had been touched, except for the glaring fact that his horse had been taken.

His heart dropped into the pit of his stomach. Dusty was more than just a horse, he had been a birthday present from his beloved Angelica after he had been forced to shoot Sport. But that wasn’t the only thing that made his blood boil. The thought that someone had slipped into the barn like a skulking coyote and taken him sent white hot sparks into his brain. Then a frown creased his brow. Could it be?

At the sound of movement, his head yanked around. “Juva.”

“Yeah, Boss.”

“Come in here for a minute.”

Juva Bailey stepped inside; a coil of rope hung in the crook of his elbow. “Yeah, Boss.”

“I want to know if you’ve seen Dusty this morning.”

Juva’s eyes went straight to the stall where the big black was always kept. “No, sir, nary a hair. And I’m the first one to even be over this way this mornin’ so I know the others haven’t either.

“I thought maybe…” Adam turned back to the empty stall and just stood there. Then one foul word after another left his mouth, and he slammed his fist into the cribbed board along the top.

Juva came to stand beside him. He had seen the Boss mad before, and he and every one of the hands always hoped not to be the cause of it. The Boss had a temper that, when it really got fired up, could tear the hide off a grizzly bear. He hesitated to say anything. “You know, now that I think back on it, long about midnight, Fonse woke me up prowling about. He said he thought he heard something outside. We both looked but didn’t see a thing, so we thought it was just his imaginings and went on back to bed. Didn’t hear nothin’ more.”

Adam’s hands wadded into tight fists until it looked as if his gloves would split over his knuckles. He stomped outside, and Juva thought it best that he follow.

Juva found him crouched near the smaller door, but he decided to let the Boss do the talking.

Adam continued to brush his fingertips over indentions in the ground. “Tracks.” He stood. “A man and a horse, and whoever it was made no attempt to hide them.”

“I’ll saddle up ol’ Broomer if you want me to. He ain’t so good as your Dusty, but he’ll sure get you where you need to go.”

“Thanks, Juva. I sure would appreciate it.”

“And maybe somebody oughtta go with you. It ain’t no tellin’ who took ‘im. A man alone could be riding into a whole passel o’ trouble.”

“That won’t be necessary. And don’t look so worried. I won’t do anything foolish.”

“Sure you won’t, Boss. You just ain’t got a predilection for it.”

“Now you go on and get that horse ready. He’s already got a good lead on me, and I don’t wantta give him any more of one. Oh, and I don’t see any reason for Mrs. Cartwright to know anything about this.”

“Whatever you say, Boss.” Then he turned and ran off. One mustn’t keep the Boss waiting.

*******

Adam had been riding for close to thirty minutes when he reined in the frowzy bay. His eyes traced along the ground as he leaned forward against the pommel. At first he hadn’t been sure, but now he had no doubt where the tracks were leading him unless they veered off at the last minute. So far, it seemed that whoever had taken Dusty was headed straight for Bantree.

This made no sense. He couldn’t understand why anyone would go to all that trouble to steal a horse then take it right into a place where it was sure to be recognized. Maybe they didn’t know this and, then again, maybe that was the whole purpose in taking him there. He huffed. That made even less sense. Of course, whiskey logged minds didn’t always make a whole lot.

With a growl, he gave the horse a nudge, and they started on again.

*******

By the time Adam rode into town a chill wind had picked up from the north, and went right down his collar and into the very marrow of his bones. This, however, wasn’t anything he hadn’t experienced before, and his attention was too centered on his hunt to let it matter.

He hadn’t gotten so awful far into town when he brought his mount to an abrupt halt. A slow burn began to crawl along his spine up to the nape of his neck. A coppery taste settled over the inside of his mouth, and his hand clenched on the reins.

He eased the bay into a walk and didn’t stop until they were in front of the Wooden Nickel saloon. With a slow, deliberate movement, he swung his leg over the animal’s back and stepped down. He tied up then went to where three other horses were tethered. Two of them he had seen about from time-to-time enough to know that they belonged to riders from a neighboring spread. The third, though, the unsaddled one, he knew straight away without a second of doubt or indecision.

His right glove came off, and he ran his bare hand along the sleek, coal black coat and gave the animal a pat on the withers. The well-formed head, with its perfect white star, came around and recognition registered in the large, brown eyes.

“Hello, Dusty. I see you’re having a little visit with some friends.”

“I wondered when you’d show up.”

Adam looked around as Dan Jillian came along the boardwalk. “I suppose you know how long he’s been standing here. Not a whole lot gets past you.”

“Maybe an hour or so. I saw him being brought along the street and knew him the second I set eyes on him. But seein’ you horse in town without you wasn’t what hit me so hard.”

Adam’s fingers snarled in the coarse black mane. “Yeah, it was who had him.”

Dan just stood there.

“Blast it all, Dan, tell who had my horse. Not that you really need to, I just want it confirmed.”

Dan came closer and pushed his hat back on his head. “First you promise me that you won’t go off halfcocked and break some heads.”

“I don’t make promises that I don’t have any desire to keep.”

“Adam, I’ve heard that before what happened back in ’64 that you used to be real good at holdin’ back on your temper. Well, I’m asking you to hold back on it now.” He tittered more as a release of nervous energy. “I’d sure hate to havta run you in for disturbing the peace.”

Narrowed hazel eyes flicked to the saloon’s entrance. “I guess I’m just gonna havta find out from somebody else.”

Adam stepped up onto the walk and started inside, but Dan gripped his arm and stopped him.

“I’m asking more as a friend than a sheriff. Don’t start something that I’ll havta finish.”

“For that, I’ll try, but I make no guarantees.” He pulled away and started in.

“It was Vint Calder.”

Adam paused, and his backbone stiffened. “I kinda figured that anyway.” Then he went in.

This early in the day, there wasn’t more than a couple of patrons. The rinky-tink piano off to one side wasn’t even being banged on for a change.

Phil Jenks, a relative newcomer to Bantree, tended bar. He continued to polish the long mahogany bar top as he looked up to see who had just entered. “Morning, gents. It’s a trifle early for most folk, so I hope this isn’t trouble.”

Dan frowned. “So do I.”

Adam scanned the room, but it didn’t take long to find what he was looking for. His features set hard as chiseled stone, and the muscles in his jaws knotted.

Vint Calder sat at a back table, the usual bottle and glass before him. He always managed to get just enough money to keep himself supplied.

Adam stopped at the table and glared down at him. “Drinking your breakfast again, I see.”

Calder looked up as he poured another drink, and became all sunshine. “Morning, sheriff. I sure didn’t expect to see you in here so early, Cartwright.”

“I just bet you didn’t.”

Calder pushed one of the chairs out with his foot. “Sit down and have a drink. I don’t mind sharing.”

“I’d just as soon sit down with a rabid dog.”

“Ah, Cartwright, that’s not a very hospitable thing to say.”

“I’d like nothing better than an excuse to break you in two, but that isn’t why I’m here. I’ve come for my horse.”

Calder’s mouth curved into a wily sneer. “I kinda figured you would.”

“I once told you that if I ever caught you on my land, what’d happen. Well, you’re lucky no one saw you slip in and steal my horse.”

“Why I haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about. I was out after a deer and just found him wandering around, kinda lost like.”

“You’re stupid or you think I am. How to open the barn door is one trick Dusty hasn’t learned.”

“Well, maybe that fine looking woman you’re married to let him out for some reason.”

Adam started to make an aggressive move forward, but Dan held him back. “You’d better stay away from my family, or so help me…”

“Calder, if you’re smart, you’ll back off from this.”

Adam tugged against the sheriff’s hold. “That’s something he can’t lay claim to.”

Calder leaned back in his chair and took a long sip of whiskey while he leered at Adam over the rim of the glass. “Why I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. I’ve never even been on your land.”

This time Adam almost broke free of the sheriff’s grip.

“Come on, Adam. There’s nothing to be gained by staying in here.”

Adam jabbed a finger at his tormenter as Dan dragged him toward the door. “I’m warning you, Calder. Stay away from my family.”

Dan managed to get Adam back out as Calder cackled with obvious glee.

Calder leaned his elbows on the table and lowered his voice. “I’ll be around. I’ll always be around, and you won’t know where or when.”

“Dan, this isn’t about the horse, and it’s not even me or the men I’m worried about. We can take care of ourselves against the likes of Vint Calder.” Adam drove his fists into the hitch rail, and the horses tugged at their restraints. “It’s Angelica and the children.” He sniggered. “Maggy’d just bust his head with a skillet.” The amusement was quick to fade. “So help me, Dan, if he just so much as…”

Dan rested a hand on his back. “Whatever Calder may be, he’s never done anything against women or children.”

Adam looked around. “That we know of. He’s only been here for six years, so how much do we really know about him?” All at once he dried up.

“Adam, this could be more about making you jumpy than anything, but we’ll keep an eye on ‘im. Now get your horse and go home. Leave Calder to me.”

Adam just stood there, as a helpless rage tinged with fear bubbled up inside him like molten lava. “All right, but you’d better keep him away from the Angel, because I don’t just make idle threats.”

“Then I’d havta arrest you.”

Adam just glared at him, his eyes like frozen bits of coal. “I don’t think Siddon Banning would like that. And there isn’t a jury in the country that would convict me of protecting my own.” Then he undid the horses’ reins and stepped down into the street.

Dan just watched as he rode away, and wished his blood would start flowing again. Adam hadn’t lied when he said he didn’t make idle threats. He also knew that the big man would make good on this one if he thought his wife and children were at risk, and he couldn’t say he would do any different. He heaved a heavy sigh. There were times when he wished he hadn’t pinned on a sheriff’s badge. This was one of them.

FIVE

Angelica sat on the settee with her crochet. On occasion her eyes would flick up to where the children played before the hearth. The boys had their blocks, a favorite toy since they were much smaller. They had learned that if they would stack them then knock them over it would set of a peal of rippling laughter from their sister. This, in turn, added to the young gentlemen’s amusement. Their mother couldn’t help but laugh along with them. Adam usually did too, but not tonight. In fact, this night the children’s antics only seemed to exacerbate whatever already roiled around inside him.

The blocks hit the floor, and Adam bounded from his old blue chair as if fired from a gun. Angelica’s hands stopped as she watched his long legs drive him toward his study on the other side of the expansive parlor. The door slammed behind him, and it startled the children.

Addy’s wide eyes turned to his mother. “Dahdee mad.”

“No, sweetheart, Daddy’s just tired. You go ahead and play.” She put her needlework aside and stood. “Maggie.”

The housekeeper came from the kitchen as she dried her hands on her apron tail. “Yes, mum.”

“I need for you to watch the children for a little bit.”

“Of course, mum. I could do with a little entertainment.”

Maggie was wonderful with children, always had been. She got down into the floor and took Elizabeth into her lap then helped the boys to make their stacks. The knocking over she let them do by themselves, and she encouraged Elizabeth’s jubilant giggles.

Adam stood stock-still in the darkness of his study. The draperies had been opened back, and he looked out into the moonlit night. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, and his gaze set straight ahead. He didn’t hear the soft knock or notice when the door opened. Loving arms eased around his waist from behind, yet he seemed oblivious.

“It isn’t like you to want to get away from the children. You usually laugh as loudly as they do.”

“I just have a lot on my mind tonight.” He patted the back of one of her hands. “Forgive me.”

“I want to know what’s bothering you, and please don’t say it’s nothing.” Her arms squeezed around him. “I caught how you snapped at the men today, and at our own dear Maggie. You even made Hiram cry when you got overly cross with him. And all through supper you were unnaturally quiet and picked like a chicken.” She released him and came around in front of him. She couldn’t make out his expression, but she imagined it to be dark and sullen. “This has something to do with that dreadful man in town.”

His head came around, and the weak light caught in his eyes.

“I thought so. He is why you went into Bantree this morning.”

“It was to check on the mail.”

“I will accept that as an explanation, but it doesn’t explain why you didn’t take Dusty.”

“Nothing escapes you.”

“Not when it involves those I love.” She thought he smiled, but she couldn’t be sure.

“I should’ve known better to try to keep this from you, and I should’ve known better than to try. After all, this concerns you, too.” He reached out and took one of her hands, and she thought she got a sense of trembling.

She squeezed his hand. “You’re shaking.” Her other hand went to his cheek. “This isn’t you at all. You’re one of the strongest men I have ever met, and it isn’t in you to let fear control you this way.”

“It’s not only fear, but anger, the kind that could get somebody killed.” He blew out an onerous breath. “I know that Vint Calder is a coward, but there’s more to him than I gave him credit for, and it scares me what he may be capable of, and it even more scares me what I may be capable of.”

His arms went around her, and she thought he would crush her.

“He was here last night, sneaking around like a prowling wolf, and he got into the barn and took Dusty…. He was waiting for me in the Wooden Nickel, because he knew, and I think hoped, I would come. I’ve always believed we’d clash someday, but I never thought that…” His voice became high and thin. “If he caused any harm to come to you or the children or Maggie, I’d… I’d put a bullet in his head, and take what came, even if it meant I’d hang for it.”

Now Angelica felt herself begin to shudder. She knew what he was capable of when backed into a corner, and it disturbed her. She pushed back from him and tired in desperation to read his face. Her thumb traced over that adored mouth and found it in a flat, even line. “I want to know what happened when you went into town this morning, and I don’t want you to leave anything out.”

“Only if you’re sure you want to hear it.”

“There are few things I have ever been surer of.”

He tugged out his desk chair and sat, then pulled her down into his lap. She leaned back against him, and his voice rumbled beneath her ear as it regained some of its strength. With each addition to the story, she could feel heat build up inside her, and she found herself wishing she could shoot Vint Calder.

*******

Vint Calder stalked back-and-forth in what passed for a one room hovel, and even that was too kind a term. The spaces between some of the rough boards were big enough to drive a herd of mice through. A small fire incapable of warming a dog’s tail fizzled in the almost negligible fireplace, and one pane in the lone window had been broken out. It had been stuffed with old newspapers, but they were unable to halt the passage of cold air. Calder, though, was too under the influence to notice any of it.

His thin legs drove him across the room and back in succession as his mind worked to figure out what he could vex Adam Cartwright with next. As if driven by a timing gear, his arm would raise the bottle to his lips then drop to his side in synchronous order. He muttered to the accompaniment of piano music from the saloons in the distance.

Then he slammed on his brakes and stopped dead about midway across. The bottle left his hand and shattered with its remaining few drops of whiskey. Sometimes he surprised even himself at his own brilliance, and that was the beauty part of it. Adam Cartwright underestimated him just like everyone else in town did. Well, after he got done with his arch nemesis and made him look the perfect fool no one else would.

His boots crunched through the glass shards as he went to retrieve his ragged coat from the back wall. He grabbed his battered hat from the lop-legged table beside the cot and rushed out. This task would take some time in its accomplishment, so he had best get started. Help on this one he sure could use, but he didn’t trust anyone enough to let them in on it.

He jammed his hat on his head then shrugged into his coat.

“Boy I’d sure like to be a fly on the wall when he gets a load of this.”

He snickered with keen delight at his crafty scheme then shuffled off along the backstreet. He had to get a horse.

******

The barrowed horse reined in near a clump of wild sage on a slight rise. He could make out the herd of cows in the dim moonlight as it fell over their backs. Some had settled down for the night while others grazed. The soft lowing of several gave off a calming effect, and would have worked had he not been so keyed up. He couldn’t tell for sure how many there were, so he made a rough estimate of somewhere in the neighborhood of thirty or forty, maybe. He had never been all that good at that sort of thing, and arithmetic hadn’t been his best subject in school.

With a nudge of his knees, the mare moved deeper into the pasture.

All he had to do was get some of them moving, and hope that the others would follow out of instinct. He had seen this done a couple times though he had never participated in the actual chore himself. But, after all, how difficult could it be? You just got them going and let the horse do the rest. Anyway, it had appeared that way to him.

He clicked his teeth and slapped his leg as he had seen the cowboys do, and was pleased with the results. The cattle were on the move. He hadn’t felt this exhilarated in the longest time, maybe not even since he had been a boy.

A frown dropped his eyebrows at the thought of his childhood. Not all of it had been that bad until… His hand strangled on the reins. He didn’t have time for ruminations, he had serious work to do, and it would call for all his attention. He had to keep his focus centered on his task.

As they headed out along the edge of the low-lying area, he saw that he had gathered up about only twenty animals. He snickered. It didn’t matter, even this small number would serve his purposes to his liking, and they would be easier for one man to drive.

He didn’t dare go into the yard again. Cartwright was on his guard now, and they would be watching for him. But it didn’t matter. To make this work he didn’t have to get real close.

His hand landed against his thigh. “Move on. We’ve got places to go and people to see.” He laughed at his own wit. It was a shame that others didn’t appreciate him the way he did. He gave another slap. “Move.”

SIX

Adam has just set down to breakfast when someone began to pound on the front door. Angelica offered to go, but he said that he would.

The pounding became even more frantic.

Adam’s legs picked up speed. “I’m coming, I’m coming. You needn’t wake the dead.”

When Adam jerked the door open he got a real eyeful. Juva Bailey stood bathed in the yellow light from the big double lamps – a lit lantern in his hand – and he looked like a ruffled chicken.

“Juva. I hope realize you that I just at this moment set down to table with my wife.”

“I’m sorry, Boss. I wouldn’t normally bother you, but, but you gotta see this. Words won’t do it justice, and you just gotta come.”

Adam had seen Juva in what Fonse called a ‘flusterbated state’ before though not anything like this, and he took it as serious. He jerked his coat from where it hung then turned to Angelica. “I won’t be long, but you go ahead without me.”

From the moment Adam pulled the door together he became aware of what sounded like the soft lowing of cows. He looked around at Juva. “That sounds like…”

“Yep.”

Adam could feel his insides start to tangle. “Take me to them.”

“Just follow me, Boss.”

They went out into the early morning darkness, Adam close on Juva’s heels. As they drew closer to the barn, the bovine sounds became louder and clearer. Adam thought they were going to go inside, but instead they headed around back.

Several feet away from the rear of the building had been built a large corral used for breaking horses so it was empty most of the time, but this morning it wasn’t. The men were gathered around the enclosure, and three of them held lanterns. Adam could see the cattle – he couldn’t tell how many – milling around inside.

Adam’s hand clamped onto the top rail, and he could feel a tiny blaze begin at the base of his skull. He whirled on Juva who had come to stand beside him. “I told Chris to set up a watch before he went home last night in case Calder tried something again.”

“He did. He set up two hour shifts for everybody. I don’t know how…”

“Don’t cover for me, Juva,” Wyatt Donnelly said, as he came closer. “I had the watch when this happened. I went to sleep.”

Out of character, Adam became tomato red and jabbed his finger in the boy’s face. “When I say keep watch that’s what I mean, not take a nap. You can always look for work someplace else.”

The men just stood transfixed as the Boss stomped away, but he didn’t get very far. He stopped dead still with his back to them, his hands knotted at his sides. When he turned around it was plain to see that some of his steam had vaporized.

Juva was the first to venture to say anything. “I’ll saddle Dusty for you, Boss.”

“No, no, that’s what he wants, and I won’t give him the satisfaction.” Adam stepped to Wyatt and clapped a hand onto his shoulder. “I shouldn’t have blown up on you that way, Wy. Just like the rest of us, you’re only human.” His firm mouth cracked to show snow white teeth. “And it isn’t worth losing your job over.”

“I suppose you’re gonna go down on ‘im for this” Alphonse Sweet said, as he came forward.

“No, that’s exactly what he wants, so we just sit tight and go about our day like we always do. I had to go into town to get my horse, but I made a mistake by confronting him in the Wooden Nickel. It only emboldened him.” Adam shook his head. “I won’t make that mistake a second time by playing to his ego. If he wants me, he’s gonna havta come to me, and we’ll be ready for him. Now, after you eat, some of you men take these blasted cattle back where they belong.” His eyes darted to each of them. “And keep your eyes open and your wits about you…, just in case.” Then he started back to the house.

Angelica stood just outside the dining room, her hands clutched together at her waist. Her eyes were set on the heavy pine front door. As it opened her anxiety grew paramount. “Adam.”

He began to peel out of his coat. “It wasn’t anything. Just another one of Calder’s pranks.” He hung the garment up.

Her hands squeezed tighter together. “I don’t understand why if it was so trivial that Mr. Bailey was so agitated.”

“Ah, you know, Juva.” He took her arm and began to steer her back to the table. “The slightest thing can send him off in all directions.”

“Adam, I would appreciate it if you wouldn’t patronize me.” She sat in the chair he pulled out for her.

He leaned down and lifted her face to him. “If you must know, Calder herded some cows into the breaking corral behind the barn.” He took his seat at the head of the table and unfolded his napkin. “He’s deliberately going out of his way to see how much of a pest her can be.”

The sides of her mouth pinched. “I don’t see how he got in so close a second time.”

Adam spooned some scrambled eggs onto her plate then his own. “Wyatt had the watch, but the poor kid fell asleep.” He thumped the bowl down. “And I’m afraid I didn’t make it any better by tearing into him, and in front of the men, no less.”

Angelica felt that he was putting up a front for her sake. The night before he had been so shaken when he thought that harm could come to her and the children. She wasn’t buying it, not for a second, but she decided to let him alone, for now, anyway.

He doled out a couple biscuits. “I don’t think there’s any real need, but, for the sake of prudence, I think you and the children and Maggie should stay with the Bannings.” He filled her cup. “They have more room to accommodate everybody better than Steve and Fiona.”

“Absolutely not.”

He filled his own cup then sat the pot down. “Please, Angelica, don’t buck me on this. If this thing should get out of hand,” he sawed into his ham slice, “I think it would be best if…”

“I said absolutely not. Maggie and the children can stay in town, but my place is here with you. If this horrid man comes he will face us both.”

He propped an elbow on the table and used his fork as a pointer. “Now you listen to me, young lady…,”

She jutted out her haughty chin, crossed her arms in front of her and shook her head.

“Oh, be reasonable.”

“I think I am being quite reasonable. This is my home too, and I will not be driven from it by some detestable man with a grudge. Now please pass me the honey.”

“Angel.”

“Don’t Angel me, it won’t work. My mind is made up.” She held out her hand. “The honey.”

He handed her the small cut glass bowl, some of the comb still in it. “Of course you know that I could truss you up and throw you into the buckboard.”

Without once looking at him, she proceeded to fill her biscuit with butter and honey. “And you would spend the rest of your life sleeping in a cold bed.” She took a dainty bite.

Like him, Angelica didn’t make idle threats, and the notion of not feeling her warm body close at night had an unsettling effect. “I don’t know why I even bother to argue with you.”

“Neither do I, it’s counterproductive and wastes so much time.”

He reached out and grasped her wrist. “I am daily reminded of why I love you so much.” She turned a sweet gaze on him that made his heart thump. “Okay, you can stay, but I would feel better if the children were in town. I have no idea how far Calder will take this thing. I can hope that his cowardice will hold him back from violence, and sometimes even childish pranks get out of hand with unexpected results, so I’m not willing to gamble with Elizabeth and the boys.”

“On that we agree. I would feel better just knowing that they were in Siddon’s and Carolyn’s care.”

“Then it’s done. After breakfast we’ll get them ready, and I’ll send Chris and Fonse along with them.”

With that they settled into their meal. The only sounds were the scrape of utensils against plates and the thump of cups against the tabletop. Their attention stayed on what was before them and didn’t drift to the other. They both knew that maybe they were overreacting, but it would be better to do so now than to regret not doing so later.

*******

Adam helped Maggie with Elizabeth into the back seat of the buckboard. Then he put the boys in next to her one at a time. He secured a blanket around them against the chill that had set up since earlier. Angelica watched her children being taken from her with a composure that seemed on the verge of cracking. Tears glistened in her eyes in the dim winter light, and her hands twisted a handkerchief until it knotted.

Chris and Fonse were mounted and ready to go. As was usual, all were armed, and an extra rifle lay on the front seat next to Juva. These men thought the world of the Boss and owed him for a lot. And if they had to fight to protect his children, they would even at the cost of their lives.

Adam gave Juva a slap on the back, and looked to his foreman. “All right, Chris. Head out.”

“Yes, sir, Boss. And don’t worry. We’ll take care of ‘em.”

“I know you will.”

Adam stepped back by Angelica. The buckboard headed out in the direction of the barn with a rider on each side. Adam put an arm around her, and she leaned her head over on his shoulder. Then, after the small party went from sight, Angelica could hold back no longer. She closed her eyes, and the tears broke their confines. Her sobs were soft, and Adam’s gentle pats weren’t enough to drive them away.

“They’ll be back.” He threw his head back, and his eyelids batted. “They’ll be back.”

SEVEN

Since Maggie and the children had left, the house had become as quiet as a tomb. Angelica sat on the wine colored settee with a cup of weak tea – cold and untouched – that Adam had brewed for her. He stood at the hearth; his eyes centered on the flames, with his fingers thrust into the back pockets of his britches, palms out. Since the little ones had gone, and he had seen how it had wrenched Angelica, he had decided to stay close.

“I don’t think I can stand this.”

“I can have Juva take you in when he gets back.”

“No, I made my decision, and I will stick to it. It’s just that…” Her hands tightened in the cup.

“I know. I miss them, too.”

It had seemed to be an eternity with the sound of riders and a buckboard came into the yard. Adam looked around, but Angelica only let her head droop.

“They’re back.”

The door swung open. Maggie blustered in, and let her valise drop with a thud. “It was a chilly ride, but they loved it, even Elizabeth.”

The tea forgotten, Angelica bounded from the settee. “Maggie.”

Adam tried to hide the fact that he was glad she had returned. “I thought you were going to stay in town to watch after the children.”

“I thought to, but the Bannings can do quite well without me, and they do have Giles and the girls.” She divested herself of her coat and hat. “And I’ll not be gotten the better of. If that black hearted hooligan comes I’ll be here to meet him with a smile and a shotgun. This is the only home I’ve had since coming out here, and something the likes of him’ll not chase me from it.”

A broad smile brightened his face. “Good for you, Maggie.”

The housekeeper picked up her valise and came forward. She gave Angelica’s cup a dubious leer then stuck her finger in it, and poked it into her mouth. Her face drew into a pucker. “I see Mister Adam has been making tea again.” She took the cup from her girl. “Well, I’ll just go into the kitchen and make up a grand fine pot, and I might even sweeten it with a spot o’ the Irish. After this day, I think we could all use it.”

Maggie scuttled off, but only got as far as the dining table.

“Thank you, Maggie.”

“Not at all, Mister Adam. As I said, this is me home.” Then she went on into the kitchen.

Adam stepped up behind Angelica and rested his hands on either side of her neck. “Now I know Calder’s in trouble if he tries anything.”

*******

Angelica came out of the bedroom, a long dark brown braid down her back. Her eyes floated about the room, but there wasn’t a sign of Adam. Her slippers scuffed over the floor as she crossed to the other side of the parlor. She checked in the study, but it was dark and devoid of life. As she turned toward the dining room, a light smile softened her face. She gave her robe sash a tug then started in that direction.

“I suspected that I might find you in here.”

Adam glanced around from where he sat in the floor at the end of the stove. “I thought he’d like the company.”

“I think it was you that needed the companionship.” Her feet tapped the floor as she went to the back window and looked out. “It’s snowing.”

“That comes as no surprise.”

She joined him, and knelt beside him, her attention set on the dog. Her hand rubbed over the rough head, and one weary brown eye cracked. “He seems to be breathing better, and there’s a little more life to his eyes.”

“Maggie said he took some warm milk after supper.” He began to fiddle with a floppy ear. “The boys do love him.”

“I think we all do. He’s a part of this family, and our protector.”

Adam’s dense eyebrows drew into a severe frown. “But there wasn’t anyone around to protect him from Vint Calder, and now we’ve had to send our babies away to keep them safe.”

She pulled her fingers over his tanned cheek. “You said so yourself, that Calder may only be up to annoyances and childish pranks.”

“I suppose I said something to that effect, and about half of my brain believes it, but I could turn out to be wrong. And I would rather err on the side of caution than to needlessly put them at risk.”

“You know, it might not be such a bad idea to go see the sheriff tomorrow. Maybe he can do something about Calder. I think some time in jail wouldn’t hurt anything.”

“Dan has no reason to arrest him. Calder has to be caught at something, and my word isn’t enough. And, anyway, if Dan did lock him up for a few days, since he couldn’t keep him there forever, Calder would only be hotter when he got out. No, I think it’s better that we just let things lie as they are, and see what he does next. Who knows, he might get tired of fooling with me and move on to something or somebody else.”

“That sounds like wishful thinking.”

“Maybe it is, but wishes do come true every now and again.” He reached out and took her hand. “And you could fulfill a wish for me right now.”

“Just tell what that might be.”

“That you would sit here with us for a while.”

Her smile said all he needed to know, and she let him pull her down beside him. She nestled her head on his shoulder, and one arm went across his chest. He continued to toy with Buddy’s ear as they settled down, and let the warmth the big stove put out envelope them. And they were so into one another that they didn’t notice when the door to Maggie’s room closed.

*******

Vint Calder sat in the floor of his shack before the fireplace. His hand rose, an envelope clutched in it. He played with the notion to just throw it into the sputtering fire, watch it burn into blackened ashes, and be happy about it. He laid it on his leg, and his shaking hands tried to smooth away some of the wrinkles made from the death grip he had had on it. The return address danced before his tear filled eyes, and he knew he couldn’t do it. It would be like discarding what remained of what he used to be, if any still did. With a shake of his head, he folded it in half and stuck it into his shirt pocket. He could burn it later if he had a mind to.

As he sat there, and watched the miniscule flames flicker and flirt with him, the urge to get out of the house seized him. He had pretty much decided to hold back for a few days, and allow Adam Cartwright to stew in his own fat. But tonight he knew he just had to strike back at someone, and his adversary would be as good as any.

He held his hands out to the warmth of the fire, and he almost had to put them into it to feel anything. His hands rotated as if he were roasting two pieces of meat. That was when it dawned on him that he was hungry, something that the whiskey usually didn’t allow, and it gave him an idea. He had heard talk about how well Cartwright kept his line shacks stocked for his men. Vint looked around him at this joke he lived in.

“I’ll hit one of those shacks, I’ll clean it out.” He snorted. “I may even live in it for a few days. I think Cartwright owes it to me.”

His laughter was just plain derisive as he got to his feet. Wouldn’t Cartwright have a fit when he found out that his enemy had been living off of him? And he would find out, Calder would make sure of that. He could formulate his plan on the way out there.

He got into his coat and hat, and started to go, but a curse left him when he opened the door. “Snow.” He shrugged. “Well it isn’t like I haven’t been out in it before, and this is too good to pass up for a few measly flakes.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets then went out, and the door slammed behind him.

*******

The horse – the same one that Calder had barrowed the night before – moved through the darkness like a lean wolf. Its feet crunched in the several inches of snow that had already fallen. Calder hunched in the saddle, his collar pulled up around his neck so that the snowflakes, which had gotten bigger and more plentiful, wouldn’t freeze his neck. The fingers of the hand that held the reins hadn’t taken long to go numb, and his knuckles throbbed.

He looked up to the sky as the moon slid behind some clouds to make it as black as the deepest part of a coal mine. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. He brought his shoulders up around his ears as his eyes set on the faint outline of his hand.

Then he asked himself a serious question. How much was revenge worth? He shook his head at himself. This was more than simple revenge; this was a matter of dignity. He had been ridiculed, railed against and humiliated by this man, and it was time the arrogant SOB was put in his place. “You’re not gonna get off that easy, Cartwright.”

His heels dug into the roan’s sides, and it moved into a lope. White clods flew from under its feet, and the amount of snow on the ground impeded its progress.

They hadn’t gone far at this pace when the horse slipped and – not being the most accomplished of horsemen – Calder overreacted, and the animal fell. He hit the ground first then he felt a crushing weight on his left leg. He cried out into the void, and the pressure released as the horse scrambled to its feet.

Thoughts and plans and notions tumbled through Calder’s head as he lay there. The cold began to seep through his threadbare clothing and his thin, alcohol ravaged frame. A consistent pounding filled his ears, but he figured it was the beat of his heart.

“Gotta get up. Don’t wantta lay here and freeze to death.” He snorted. “Cartwright would just love that, and on his land no less.”

With a grunt, he braced his senseless hands behind him and pushed. He sat up, and looked around. He didn’t see the horse, but that wouldn’t be a difficult thing in all this dark. He groaned as he got to his knees than shoved himself away from the ground. As he got to his feet, he doddered as if he has just consumed a whole bottle of rot gut. His hands went up, and he tried to squeeze the pounding from his head. “Of all times to be sober.”

As if on cue the moon came out from behind the bank of clouds where it had taken refuge. Its eerie light illuminated the area to show Vint Calder just how alone he was. It seemed to mock him as it lit every tree, stone, rill, and rise, but no horse. And it brought forth the realization that what he had heard hadn’t been the beat of heart, but the thud of a retreating horse’s hooves.

“Well, Calder, you knothead, you’ve gone and done it this time. It’s cold as blue whizzes,” he looked up, and his eyelids batted, “it’s snowing, you’ve gotten yourself afoot in the middle of nowhere, and you don’t even have a bottle of whiskey to keep you warm.” He shook his head, and it only augmented the throb ensconced there. “I got no idea just where I am. And I don’t know if I should head back in the direction of town, or try to find one of those line shacks, in which I could just get myself more lost.” He stood there for what amounted to an entire minute. “Town.”

Calder trudged off with a limp the way he thought – hoped – would lead him back into Bantree. And when he got there, he would settle down in the first open saloon he came to and cajole the barkeep out of two bottles. After this, one just wouldn’t cut it.

EIGHT

Adam and Fonse rode out around eight the next morning. He hadn’t been comfortable at leaving Angelica alone in the house, what with Calder on the prowl, but she had assured him that any man foolish enough to walk in on Maggie wouldn’t live long enough to regret it. Then, as if to punctuate the idea, the housekeeper had come from the kitchen with a loaded double-barrel shotgun. He had acquiesced – though still with reluctance – then garnered a kiss and left.

Sometime through the night the snow had stopped, but not before it had deposited five or so inches on the ground. The two horses moved in a staggered line almost as one, the big black in the lead. Adam and Fonse rode with their hats pulled down in front to cut off some of the biting wind, and their collars turned up.

“Boss, tell me again that it was real necessary to come out here today.”

Adam ducked his head, and held back a snicker to conceal his amusement. “I had to come, but you didn’t. Somebody else could have.”

Fonse drew up a dour grimace. “Yeah, and then try ‘n live in the same bunkhouse with the others. I’d just as soon shoot myself in the foot.”

They had just started into the east pasture when Dusty shied.

“Whoa, old son.” Adam patted him on the neck. “Take it easy.”

Fonse brought his mount alongside. “I wonder what brought that on.”

“I intend to find out. Hold my reins and stay alert.”

“Right, Boss.” Fonse’s gun hand rested on the stock of his .45, and his eyes scanned about for anything that moved or didn’t belong.

Adam climbed down, and removed the leather loop from the hammer of his pistol, and checked the gun for play. He had only gone a few steps when he saw something dusted in snow against a large stone. He moved closer to it and crouched. “It’s a man, but I can’t tell who it is.” He touched the inert form’s shoulder and saw that he was quite cold. Then with a gentle tug the individual fell over onto his back. Adam felt like he had just been slapped, and his lungs filled with frigid air. He spat out a curse, and his hand jerked away. “It’s Calder.”

“I don’t s’pose we could be lucky enough that he’s dead.”

Adam opened back the frayed coat and placed his ear against Calder’s chest. He didn’t hear anything, so he moved his head. This time he was greeted with a steady, if somewhat weak heartbeat. “He’s alive, but he’s half frozen to death. Help me with him.”

“It’s sorely tempting to just ride off and leave ‘im out here,” Fonse’s leg swung over his horse’s back, “after all the trouble he’s caused.”

“Talk is cheap, but when it comes right down to it…”

“Yeah, I know, but a man can have dreams.”

Between them they got Calder up, and drug him back to Dusty. They draped him over the saddle then Adam climbed up behind the cantle. Fonse handed him his reins then got mounted.

“You know, Boss, this is an awful lot o’ trouble.”

“I know, now let’s get him back to the house.”

*******

Angelica and Maggie were just setting the table for dinner when the front door banged open. Adam came in with an unconscious man hung over his shoulder so that they couldn’t see who he had.

“Oh, my Lord,” Angelica said, as she rushed into the parlor.

“I’ll get a room ready.” Then Maggie dashed up the stairs.

Adam used his hip to close the door. “We found him slumped against a rock. He musta been out there all night. It’s a miracle he’s still alive.”

“The poor soul. Well, we’ll take care of him.”

She scurried up the stairs with Adam right behind her. He gulped and didn’t look forward to the forthcoming explosion when she found out who he had dared to bring into her house.

Maggie had the bed turned down and was fluffing the pillows when Adam and Angelica came in.

“That’s just fine Maggie,” Angelica said, as she stepped back to let Adam pass.

Maggie turned around just as Adam deposited the man onto the bed. The wash basin and pitcher she had just retrieved from the stand on the other side of the room shattered against the floor and water spread into a pool.

Angelica’s eyes went that shade of purple that Adam had learned to dread. “Adam Stoddard Cartwright, you get that wretched creature out of my house right now. I won’t have him here.”

“Then you tell me where I should take him.”

“I don’t care. He shot Buddy, it’s because of him that our babies had to be sent away, it is no telling what he was up to this time, and you have the temerity to bring him into this house.”

“I don’t want him here anymore than you do, but I couldn’t turn a half dead man away, even if it is Vint Calder.”

Angelica’s arms crossed in front of her, and her mouth pulled down. “All right, but the second he’s able you get him out of here.”

“All right, Angel. Now you ladies leave us while I take care of getting him out of these wet clothes.”

“Come on, Maggie. I’m sure we’ll much better satisfied downstairs.”

“But, mum, the mess I made needs…”

Adam glanced around as he pulled off Calder’s grimy coat. “You go on, Maggie; I’ll take care of it.”

After the women had left, Adam continued with his not so pleasant chore. As he removed the shirt his nose wrinkled. “I wonder when you had a bath last. Well we’ll take care of that.”

When he started to fling the garment aside, he dropped it. When he picked it up something fell from the pocket. It turned out to be a crumpled envelope with a New Jersey return address. He gave it a cursory look-over then laid it on the night table and continued with his task.

*******

When Angelica came in with a dinner tray, Adam sat in the wingchair by the window. The washbasin and pitcher from the room across the hall sat on the night table, and the broken one and spilled water had been cleared away. The man’s filthy clothes had been piled in a heap, and pushed back by a wall. Calder, as yet still unconscious, lay in the bed without a care in the world. He had been bathed and wore one of Adam’s clean nightshirts.

She stepped around in front of Adam. “I brought you your dinner.”

Adam didn’t move or seem to notice her. His right wrist rested on the chair arm, a piece of unfolded paper clutched in his hand, and his gaze was set beyond the glass panes.

“Adam, you need to eat.”

When those hazel eyes turned to her a quick breath rushed into her. What she thought she saw in them was a mingling of remorse, sadness, and sympathy with maybe a smattering of anger.

He held up the creased sheet. “He had this on him. I read it in the hopes that it might tell me something about him…. It did, and now I wish I hadn’t.” He pinched the bridge of his nose then his head thumped back against the soft chair. “It’s from his sister.”

“I didn’t know he had a sister.”

“No one did. He’s never spoken of any family or even where he comes from.”

She placed the tray in his lap. “I tell you what, while you eat, I’ll read it.”

“Angel, I don’t think…”

“I am entitled to know who I have under my roof.” She exchanged a fork for the letter. “Now eat and don’t quibble with me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

While Adam ate her eyes began to trace over the lines on the paper.

February 2, 1868

My dearest brother,

I know it has been a while since I have written to you. When you never answered my letters, after a time I finally convinced myself that I needed to stop. But now something has happened that I feel you should know about. Father has died. It has not been unexpected. He had been in ill health for quite a few years, and the time had come for his mind and body to rest.

For a brief second Angelica’s eyes rose to the man in the bed.

My poor, dear Vinton. I know how cruel Father always was to you, and most especially after the accident, and I know that Mother treated you differently. It wasn’t that she ever stopped loving you, but, like Father, she was never able to see you for who you are, and what a sensitive little boy we had in our midst. Maybe it was because she feared Father so much, and it blinded her to the precious young man she had given life to. And I guess maybe that Bertram was too like Father to see it either. Helen and I always did though. We could see our baby brother in the clean, bright light of adoration, and still do. And that is mainly why I am writing to you. We want you to come home. Even Mother, no longer held under Father’s influence, wants her son to come home. Bertram has not changed, but you need not worry yourself about him. Also, I must say, that your nieces and nephews want to meet the uncle they have never known. We have told them so much about you. We are all hopeful and excited at the prospect that you will return. So please, my dear Vinton, write us and let us know that you will come. It has been too long without someone we love so dearly in our lives.

Your loving and devoted sister,

Lucille

Angelica just stood there, her gaze affixed to the paper. A tear dropped onto it and caused one of the words to blur. “I wish I had known.” She turned to Adam as she refolded the letter. “We never know what causes people to behave as they do.”

He washed his mouthful down with his water. “No, we don’t, and when we find out we feel badly for treating them as we have and not understanding.”

“That is all too true and only human nature, but you had no way to know so don’t berate yourself. After all, he had made himself impossible.”

“That he has, but I suppose he was justified.”

“No one is ever justified in treating people as he has treated you and others, no matter what has gone wrong in their lives. Simply because he hates himself is no reason for hating others.”

“I know.” He stood.

“Adam, he can stay for as long as he needs to.” She took the empty tray from him. “I may still be angry with him for all the trouble he has brought about and the way he has behaved toward you, but it would bring me down if I had him thrown from this house when he was sick.” She gave him a peck on the lips then went out.

Adam stepped to the side of the bed and looked down at his uninvited guest. “I don’t know what you could have done to make your father hate you, but a true father could never hate his own son, no matter what.”

NINE

As consciousness began its return, a woman’s voice grew louder inside his head, no matter how hard he tried to blot it out. “You went off and left him. No son could do that to his own father.” He muttered and tried to force the words from his mind. They faded but were replaced by a harsh man’s voice. “I always knew you weren’t worth anything, and this proved me right.”

Vint Calder’s eyes flew open as he spat out the word ‘no’. It was slow to dawn that it had all been in his head. He blinked and tried to focus on where he found himself. It was a room, a well appointed, large bedroom with log walls. And he was in a soft bed that felt like lying on a cloud. He blinked again then looked down at himself. He had on a green-and-white plaid nightshirt. His hands came out from under the covers, and it surprised him to find them wrapped in trips of blanket. And warm, oh how warm he was.

As he lay there, however, a burning sensation low told him that he needed to find a chamber pot. It took some work to de-mummify his hands then he threw back the covering, and sat on the side of the bed. He thought his head would fall off and roll away, if he were lucky. Oh, what he couldn’t do with a good belt.

He had just gotten to his feet and wobbled where he stood when the door opened.

“Mr. Calder, get right back into that bed,” Angelica rushed forward and grasped his arm to steady him, “or I will call my husband, and have him put you back bodily.”

He looked at her and blinked as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes. “Mrs. Cartwright.”

“That is correct, and while you are in my home you will do as I say. Now let me help you.”

“But I…”

“Let me do that.”

As Adam came toward him, Calder, out of instinct, tried to pull back. Adam gave a half ended smile then settled him back on the mattress.

“Now I can guess that you are famished. I know for sure that you haven’t eaten in at least two days. I will leave you in my husband’s capable hands until I return.”

Calder just watched after her exit. He didn’t think he had ever been so confused in all his life. This woman was actually being civil to him.

Adam pushed the bedspread and sheet back. “Here, let’s get you back into…”

Calder’s eyes narrowed on him. “I got up to use the chamber pot.”

Adam grinned. “Then I suggest we attend to it before my wife returns.”

Once that little chore had been taken care of, Adam helped him back into bed.

“I’d like to know how I got here.”

Adam leaned him back against the two plumped pillows. “I brought you here. Me and one of my hands found you out by the east pasture, near frozen to death. The house was closer than town, and since I knew I had to get you warmed up as soon as I could, I just brought you home.”

“I can’t figure why, knowing how you feel about me.”

“It doesn’t matter how I feel about you. I knew if I didn’t do something you’d die, and I don’t leave any human being to that, no matter who they are.”

“Let’s get one thing straight, Cartwright. I don’t like you, and I never will.”

“I’m not asking you to, and that isn’t why I’m doing this.”

“You probably think you have a good reason.”

“I think life is a good enough reason, and let’s leave it as that, at least for now.”

Before their conversation could go any further, Angelica bustled in with a loaded tray. “Our housekeeper makes the best cornmeal mush I have ever eaten.” She sat everything in Calder’s lap. “She puts cinnamon and honey in it with a good pat of butter.” She poured milk from a small pitcher into it and stirred it up. “Now you eat, and Adam will help you if you need it.” Without further adieu, she left them alone again.

Calder just stared at the steaming bowl, and his upper lip rose. “I’d rather have a jolt of whiskey.”

Adam’s lone eyebrow arched. “I suggest that you eat that. Angelica is a fine woman, but she can be a bit of a tyrant at times, especially when it comes to what goes on inside this house. And you aren’t exactly in her favor now.”

“I haven’t done anything to her.”

“It’s because of you and your little pranks that we sent the children away.”

Calder’s head dropped as he dipped the spoon into the hot porridge. He didn’t even bother cooling it before he stuck it into his mouth. Some of it ran down his chin and burned a little, but it took his attention away from those dark hazel eyes set on him. And, at that, it tasted pretty good, and it awakened something as it traveled down his throat and into his stomach.

“I wouldn’t hurt a woman or a child.”

“That may be so, but we had no way of knowing how far you would go, and we weren’t willing to take a chance.”

“Well, I…” He put his hand to his stomach, and he could feel it roll around. With a gulp, he tried to swallow down what insisted on coming up into his throat.

“Calder, you’re turning a little green.”

“I’m not used to eating a whole lot.” He pushed the bowl from him. “And when I do it’s usually at Hank’s Café.”

Adam’s nose wrinkled. “That food swims in more grease than a fish does water. It would turn away a coyote. No wonder you’re getting sick. You’re not used to good cooking.”

“Oh, what I wouldn’t do for a bottle of whiskey.” He gagged, and his eyes set on Adam. “Here it comes.”

Adam jerked the tray away and got him down into the floor. The chamber pot came back out from under the bed and Calder’s head went over it. Everything on his stomach – and that wasn’t much – went into the chamber and soon only dry heaves wracked him.

Adam could feel every muscle in his body seize up as he wretched. In his wildest dreams, he had never thought of himself as having pity for Vint Calder, but now he found it not so alien.

When Calder had finished, Adam got the cloth from the wash basin, and squeezed it out so that the man could wipe his mouth.

“And I suppose now that you expect me to say thank you.”

“I don’t expect anything so courteous from you. Now you’d better get back into bed before my wife comes back.”

“She doesn’t scare me.”

Adam sniggered. “Wait until you know her better. Now let’s get you back into bed.”

“I can do it on my own. I don’t need you, in fact, I don’t need anyone.”

Adam reached out and took a firm grip on his arm. “We all need somebody.”

This seemed to take some of the starch from him, and he allowed Adam to help him back into the bed.

Adam picked up the tray. “I’ll take this downstairs unless you think you can eat some more.” Calder gave him a head shake. “I’ll come back later and empty the chamber pot.” Then he left as Calder settled back down.

Angelica hunched over the work table in the kitchen with one hand in what would become pie crust. Maggie stood at the stove stirring a good sized pot of egg custard. Adam came in with the tray and sat it near where his wife worked.

Angelica eyed the bowl with disappointment. “He hardly touched it.”

“After one spoonful, he got sick.”

Maggie’s nutmeg eyes flashed around. “That’d be just like ‘im. He’s lived in a bottle so long he wouldn’t know good food if it jumped up and slapped him. I’ve seen enough o’ those who lose their soul to the whiskey in me time to know when I’m seein’ another one.”

“And I think we should try to help him.”

Angelica flushed. “I can’t imagine you wanting to help him after the way he has been toward you.”

“Maybe that’s all the more reason for it to be me.” A faint smile turned Adam’s lips. “No one should be alone when they’re in trouble. Not even Vint Calder.”

“Most wouldn’t even fool with him.”

“And that’s a large part of the problem…. No one has ever taken the time.”

Angelica put her clean hand against the side of his face. “All right, we’ll do what we can, but try not to be too disappointed when he won’t take your help.”

A crafty light danced in his eyes. “I didn’t say I was gonna ask.”

Maggie came toward them with an custard-coated wooden spoon. “I got pretty good at handlin’ me Uncle Donal when he’d had one too many.”

“I’m afraid Calder’s more than just a drunk.”

Maggie’s eyes darkened. “So was me Uncle Donal.”

TEN

The first thing Adam couldn’t help but notice when he came back to the room was its resemblance to something that had been struck by a cyclone. Drawers hung open as did the doors of the wardrobe; the coverings were off the bed, and the pillows thrown about. He didn’t need to be hit over the head with it, Calder was looking for something, and he had an idea what.

Adam took a few steps inside, and Calder whirled.

“I can’t find my clothes.”

“Well, they were in pretty bad shape and smelled awful, so I burned them in the stove.”

Calder groaned and stalked back-and-forth then shot forward and tried to throw a punch. Adam, however, caught him, spun him around and pinned the man’s arms behind his back.

“The letter from your sister is downstairs in my desk for safekeeping.”

Calder pulled away from him and stepped back, and his eyes came close to slits. “The only way you could know it’s from my sister is if you read it.”

“Guilty as charged.”

Calder’s hands knotted into fists. “You had no right. That’s private and none of your snooping, meddling business.”

“I made it my business when you came under the roof of my house”

“You didn’t havta bring me here.”

Adam began to go around the room, closing drawers as he went. “I couldn’t very well leave you out there to finish freezing to death.”

“You could’ve.”

“No, I couldn’t have.”

“I would’ve left you.”

Adam glanced around and curled a grin. “I don’t think you’re as bad as you believe you are, or that you’d have everybody else to think you are.”

“Don’t be so sure, Cartwright. From the time I was three ‘til I got old enough to leave home, my old man always told me I wasn’t worth anything. Not the other three, just me.”

“And you’ve spent your life trying to prove him right.” Adam closed the doors on the big wardrobe. “We don’t havta prove ourselves to anybody, especially ourselves.” He came to stand before the man. “Accidents happen all the time. It’s what we do with them that determine what kind of people we are.”

This time Calder hauled off and hit him. Adam reeled back but kept his footing. He raised his hand to the corner of his mouth then rubbed his fingers together.

“I’ll get you some clothes.”

After he had gone, Calder looked down at the fist that had done the foul deed, and for some reason it didn’t make him feel so good.

Adam daubed away the blood with his handkerchief as he came down the stairs, and he thought he was alone.

“Adam.” Angelica met him at the bottom step and pulled his hand away. “He did this.”

“It’s not so bad. I’ve been punched a lot worse.” He sniggered. “At least he left me all my teeth.”

She started to fume. “That isn’t the point. After all that you have done for him, and he hits you. Adam, I think it would be best for all concerned if you just took him back into town. I know I said I would help, but he’s filled with anger and resentment and hatred that has steeped into bitter poison against anyone who might try. And he might realize that this is his best opportunity to get at you.”

“I don’t think so. For the first time I think I’m getting a glimpse of what lies beneath what he’s always shown, and I’m not afraid of it.”

“That aside, I still doubt that he really wants any help, and most of all not from you.”

“That could be, but, Angelica, if somebody doesn’t do something he’ll only wind up killing himself. He would’ve succeeded this time if Fonse and I hadn’t come along when we did. And while maybe nobody around here will miss him or lament his passing, he has family back in New Jersey that will. I keep being reminded of what my own family went through when they thought I was dead,” his saddened eyes raised to her, “and I can’t wish that on somebody else.”

She took the handkerchief from him and finished wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth. “And I keep being reminded what a special man you are. Not everyone would go out of their way to help someone who detests them.”

“I think those are the ones we need to help the most.” He caressed her cheek. “And as much as he believes that he hates me, I think he hates himself more.”

She kissed the inside of his wrist. “All right, you stubborn man, but if he gets out of sorts with me and Maggie we won’t be gentle with him.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Right now he needs us to be rough with him. Now I’m gonna go see if I can rustle him up something to wear.”

Her eyes followed him as he went outside then they ran to the upstairs. She still had reservations about this, but her precious Adam was like a bulldog with a bone when he got a notion into his head. He wanted to try this so she would let him, and she would assist him in every way she could. But if Vint Calder ever hit him again, he wouldn’t have to worry about killing himself. She would be more than happy to oblige.

*******

Adam and Angelica waited at the foot of the stairs as Calder came down. He kept his hands on both banisters to steady himself. His feet probed for each step with uncertainty, and he moved like a man thrice his age.

“You look very nice, Mr. Calder.”

“It’s an improvement. I thought you and Juva were about the same size. They may be a little worn, but they’re clean. I would’ve given you some of mine, but I’m afraid you would’ve gotten lost in them.”

Calder released a breath of relief as he came onto solid floor. “I don’t care for that many stairs, especially when I’m sober. I don’t like heights.” He grasped his right hand to prevent its shaking. “I’d like to go back into town.”

“We’ll talk about that later.” With caution Adam took hold of his arm. “Come over here and sit down. That was quite a long walk for your first day out of your room.”

Calder pulled loose of his grasp. “I can do it myself. I’m not a kid.”

He went to the settee, but Adam stayed close in case his unsteadiness should cause him to fall. Once Calder was seated, Adam went to the fireplace and gave the logs a few unobtrusive pokes.

“Maybe you would like some tea.”

Calder looked as if the mere idea would sicken him unto death. “What I need is something a bit stronger than that.”

Adam’s eyes flicked to Angelica. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea if you plan on going back to New Jersey to be with your family.”

Calder’s features sharpened. “I’m not going back. They’ve done well enough without me all these years.” He jerked to his feet. “This isn’t any of your business, Cartwright, so don’t try telling me what to do.”

Calder spun around, but as he did he lost his balance and started to pitch into the table. With the quickness of a cat, Adam dashed forward and grabbed him.

“I think you’d better sit back down.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Calder allowed himself to be eased back onto the settee. “But I still want that drink.”

Adam shook his head. “No, I think the strongest you should have is tea or coffee if you prefer.”

“You’re not my keeper, Cartwright.”

Adam bent down until his face was only inches from Calder’s and his features set like stone. “As long as you’re in my house you are. Now coffee or tea, it’s your choice.”

In spite of his fierce glare, some of Calder’s color blanched. Tiny beads of sweat covered his face, and his hands wadded at his sides. “Coffee.”

“Then coffee it shall be.”

After Angelica had gone into the kitchen, Adam took a seat in his blue chair. The two only glowered at each other, but Calder backed down and set his gaze on the fire in the hearth.

Adam had won this round, but the fight was far from being over. His friends would tell him that this wasn’t really any of his concern, and that he shouldn’t interfere. His father, however, hadn’t raised him that way. From early childhood, he and his brothers had been taught that we are all in this thing called life together, and how sad it would be if no one ever cared for anyone else. In the past, he had helped complete strangers as well as friends and acquaintances. What if Lee Haymes had believed that he shouldn’t get involved with the half-dead man he had stumbled over on his way home? His fingers dug into the soft, worn fabric of the chair’s arms. True, he maybe didn’t owe Vint Calder anything but to throw him from his house, but he couldn’t get Lucy Muir’s haunting words from his mind. And they, as well as his own convictions, stoked the fire that would drive him on.

ELEVEN

Adam wasn’t sure what had awakened him or what the time was. He could hear Angelica’s soft, heavy breathing in the silence of the pitch dark room, but nothing to explain why he woke up. With movements calculated not to disturb his wife, he slid his feet into his slippers and got up. As he started for the door he snagged his robe from the bedpost then eased out.

A chill permeated the parlor that the banked fire couldn’t stave off. All the windows were closed, but he soon noticed the front door was ajar several inches, and he knew who had left it that way.

Vint Calder tried once more to heft the saddle onto the horse’s back, but his arms didn’t want to cooperate. He groaned as he let it and the blanket drop to the floor and leaned against the animal’s side. His pants wracked his body to the point that he heard nothing else.

“Taking the coward’s way out, I see.”

Calder’s head yanked around. Cartwright stood just inside the doorway, bathed in the warm yellow light of the lantern. “Go away and leave me alone. This isn’t any of your business.”

“Horse stealing is. And it should be yours since it’s a hanging offence.”

“Then go ahead and have me hanged. Neither one of us cares.”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Adam came forward and laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. “I don’t like to see anybody hanged, not even you. And I don’t think your family would look too favorably on it either.”

Calder slapped his hand away. “I told you before to leave them out of it.”

“I think they’re a larger part of this than you’ve told anybody. Maybe they’re why you left in the first place.”

“I warned you, Cartwright.”

Calder swung on him, but Adam sidestepped this time, and the man got tangled in his own feet and fell. Adam stooped and let his hands dangle over his knees.

“I don’t know why you ran away, and that’s not any of my business soI won’t push you on it. You can tell me when and if you get ready to.”

Calder raised his head and looked up from the floor. “You know, Cartwright, I just can’t figure you out or why you’re doing this for me.”

“Let’s just say that I don’t like walking away from anybody in trouble if I think I can do something to help them. Now let’s go back into the house where it’s a shade warmer.” Adam pulled his robe together in front, and gave an exaggerated shiver. “I don’t know about you, but I’m freezing.”

Adam reached out, and Calder just glared at the proffered hand, then took it and allowed his enemy to help him up.

“Now you got my horse out so you just take him back while I put the saddle on its stand.”

Calder took Dusty’s halter lead and led him back to the stall. When he returned, Adam had already done his chore. As they started out, Adam blew out the lantern then closed the doors behind them and dropped the bar into place.

When they got back into the house, Adam poked up the fire as Calder sat in the blue chair. The flames soon licked about the charred logs, and added their light to the darkness.

“When I get done with this, I’ll go make us some coffee.”

“I don’t want any coffee; I want to talk to you.”

Adam put the poker back to its proper place and turned around. “Now there’s a first, you wanting to talk to me about anything, except maybe to make threats or dire promises.”

“Don’t make this harder than it already is.” Calder shifted and didn’t seem to know what to do with his hands. They clasped and unclasped, and his legs began to bounce from the balls of his feet. “I don’t like to be beholding to anyone, and most of all not you.”

“All right.” Adam sat on the low table across from him. “We’ll talk about anything you want to. It won’t be light for some time yet,” he looked up to the mantle clock, “and my housekeeper won’t stir for another couple hours.”

Calder gave his head a vigorous shake. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Wherever you want to. This is your conversation, and it’s up to you where you want to take it. I’m just going along for your ride.”

Adam watched as his agitation grew in increments, the hand movement and leg bobbing increased, he swiped at rivulets of perspiration that would run down his face, and he seemed about to thrust himself from the chair at any moment. Calder’s actions spoke louder than any voice. The poison was leaving his system, and his body was rebelling at having something it had grown so accustomed to cut off with such abruptness.

“Oh, please make it stop.” He began to beat on his legs with his fists.

Adam grabbed his wrists and raised his clenched hands. “Look at me, Calder. Look right at me.” Once he had the man’s full attention he continued. “Tell me why you left home. Tell me why you left a family that so obviously loves you.”

“Not all of ‘em.”

“Then tell me.” Calder tried to get up, but Adam forced him down by his arms. “Tell me why your father didn’t like his own son, and what happened to make a boy leave his home…. Tell me about the accident.”

Calder’s face twisted into something sinister which the firelight made more grotesque by the shadows it cast. “He hated me, but not as much as I hated him, and I’m not sorry he’s dead.”

Adam gave him a shake. “Tell me about the accident, Calder. I want to know what a boy did that was so bad.”

His ominous eyes rose, and the glow of the flames flickered in them like burning red coals. “I was different from the others, from the time I was born I was different, and he persecuted me for it.”

“Tell me how you were different.”

“Mother had trouble when I was born, and I almost killed her. And I never cared for any of the things he did. I didn’t like to hunt or farm, but I did like books, and I spent a lot of time drawing.” He began to tremble all over. “I had a pet squirrel when I was five, and one day I missed it.” Death lurked in his eyes. “That night at supper he waited until I’d taken several bites to tell me that I was eating it…. I got so sick that I never ate squirrel again.”

Calder shouted and cursed then slumped back in the chair. Adam held onto his arms as the quaking intensified. The bedroom door jerked open, and Angelica burst out, her robe gathered in front, and her feet bare. Adam fanned her back with his hand then held a finger to his pursed lips.

“Calder, tell me about the accident with you father.”

“He was always trying to make me into what he called a real boy. He always threw it up to me that he wished I would be like Bertram.” He tried to pull away from Adam, but was held firm. “We’d gone hunting so I could kill a deer.” His eyes set on Adam’s face. “I still don’t like to hunt, but it’s the only way…” His sight lowered again. “I didn’t want to, but that never did any good with him.”

“Tell me how old you were.”

“I was almost twelve.” His voice had grown coarse and thick. “We hadn’t gone far when he slipped and fell over the side of a drop off. It wasn’t so far down, but far enough for a man to get hurt. He yelled at me to help him, but I hesitated. Then I started to, but I’ve never liked heights. I told him that I’d go for help, but he said that if I didn’t help him he’d tan me good when he finally got up.” All his strength seemed to drain away on a rush of breath. “I ran home and told my mother, but when they got to him, he’d fallen…. His leg was broken and the bone stuck out. When it finally healed he always walked with a limp that he forever blamed me for…. One day I didn’t do exactly as he wanted me to, and I thought he’d beat me to death with his stick. If it hadn’t been for my Uncle Dal I think he would have.”

Adam glanced at Angelica, who had come to stand beside him, and her tears glistened in the firelight.

“When I was fourteen I ran away, and I haven’t been back since.”

Angelica’s voice came soft as a breeze. “Your mother.”

His face softened, but only a little. “She sided with him when he was around, but when he wasn’t she treated my like her son. It confused me then, but I know now that she was as afraid of him as I was. I don’t hate her, I never could.” All at once he broke down, and his pitiful sobs rose around them. Adam released his arms, and Calder huddled in the chair like a lost, frightened little boy.

Adam stood and put an arm around Angelica’s shoulders.

“That poor man.”

“The whiskey did a lot of this to him.”

“Yes, it has, but not all.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand how a father could treat his own child like that.”

“A father wouldn’t, and neither would a man.”

“Of course the frightened boy ran away, as any child would when threatened by a big, blowhard bully.” She leaned against him, and gave in to her own tears.

Adam’s attention returned to Calder, and his own guilt came to the fore. Of course, he had had no way to know what Vint Calder had endured at the hands of his own father, but that didn’t make him feel any the less remorseful. It did, however, make him all the more determined to see this man through the ordeal that lie ahead, and get him reunited with his family.

TWELVE

Angelica had just put some cups into the breakfront, and Maggie had just come from the pantry with a bag of meal when a blood freezing shriek entered the kitchen. They didn’t have time to question it or react when Calder burst in. His hair was disheveled, and his eyes were more those of wild animal.

“Mr. Calder.” Angelica took a step toward him.”

He slammed back against the wall. “No, stay away from me. The snakes.” He looked down at his legs and started to push something away. “I havta kill the snakes.” He screamed, and his head thumped back. “I hate snakes.” Then his eyes latched onto the butcher knife on the table.

So did the women’s. But before they could even comprehend what was happening, he dashed forward and grabbed it. The door banged open and Adam shot in from the dining room.

“Stay back, Cartwright. I havta kill the snakes.” He began to stab at his legs.

They watched in mortification as blood appeared with almost each thrust.

“Mr. Calder.” Maggie’s voice rose. “Mr. Calder.” He looked around. “Let me do that. We Irish are natural born serpent killers,” she held up a meat cleaver, “and I think this will do a lot more thorough job.”

“Okay, but hurry. Please hurry.”

So as not to startle him, Maggie moved with caution, and knelt down before him. With a quick glance up then to Mr. Adam, she began to hack away at the invisible snakes.

Calder’s eyes widened. “They’re all over you.” He screamed and raised the knife.

Angelica went white as milk. “Maggie!”

Adam lunged and grabbed his arm. Angelica rushed forward and pulled Maggie back as the men struggled. They stood and watched in horror as Adam wrestled him to the ground. The knife skittered across the floor, and Calder continued to fight.

“The snakes. Get ‘em off me. Get ‘em off me.”

“It’s all right, Calder, they’re gone. Maggie killed them all.”

Calder managed to look toward his feet. “No she didn’t. They’re all over my legs. Red snakes.”

Adam cocked his arm back and drove his fist into the side of Calder’s face, then again. The man went slack, and his furious struggles ceased.

“Maggie, go send somebody for a doctor.”

With the cleaver still clutched in her hand, the housekeeper ran out.

Angelica got into the floor and began to examine the knife wounds. “They don’t seem to be too terribly deep, but if you hadn’t stopped him when you did…” Her teeth clamped onto her lower lip.

Adam put his arm around her. “As long as he didn’t hurt you and Maggie.”

“And thank Heaven the children weren’t here.” Then her head pulled back, and he got those fiery purple eyes. “I wasn’t at first, but now I’m glad you brought him here.”

“So am I.”

*******

Adam and Angelica waited in the hall as Dr. Elias Robey came out of the bedroom with his medical bag.

“It’s a good thing you were here, Adam, or he could have seriously injured someone or worse. I’ve seen delirium tremens before, and a person caught up in them can be a menace to themselves and others.”

Angelica frowned. “Delirium tremens. I’m afraid I’ve not familiar with that.”

The doctor straightened the collar of his jacket. “I think most people aren’t, not by that name, anyway. They’re caused by taking the alcohol away. When the body becomes so dependant on it, and then it’s suddenly gone the reaction can be quite violent, as you saw. Someone experiencing them can undergo terrible hallucinations, and even normally gentle people can become dangerous monsters. It’s a good thing you sent your children into town. I remember a case where a man strangled his own baby daughter because he thought she…” His eyes pinched together at the recollection.

Adam gave him a slap on the back. “Let’s go downstairs where we can talk better.”

Angelica glanced at the bedroom door. “Maybe I should stay and help Maggie.”

“That’s won’t be necessary, Mrs. Cartwright. We tied his feet and hands with strips of sheeting so he wouldn’t pose a threat to anyone. And right now I could use a good hot cup of coffee.”

Adam took hold of Angelica’s arm. “I think we all could. There’s a fresh pot on the stove.”

As they came into the kitchen, the doctor pulled a chair out for Angelica while Adam got some cups from the breakfront and brought to the table.

“Maybe I could help with something.”

“No, Elias, you go ahead and sit down. I can handle this.”

The doctor pulled out a chair and seated himself. “I don’t suppose I could talk you into letting me take him into town. I’ve done this before, and I know a bit more about it.” He chortled. “I am, after all, a doctor.”

Adam came from the stove with the pot and began to fill the cups. “I started this, and I’m gonna see it through.”

“But you don’t owe him anything, except maybe a good swift kick. And I’d wager that he doesn’t even want this.”

Adam paused for a second. “It’s not a matter of owing or wanting. He needs help, and I’m the one who just happens to be in the position to give it.”

“I know, but…”

Angelica touched the doctor’s arm. “I suggest you don’t waste your breath.” Her puckish eyes flicked to her husband. “When that Cartwright mind is made up, even a stick of dynamite couldn’t budge it. All we can do is go along like a leaf caught in a strong wind. And this time I happen to agree with what he’s trying to do.”

Elias spooned some sugar into his cup and began to stir. “All right, I’m not the one to say you’re making a mistake. I could never believe that giving a person back their life is wrong. But considering that it’s Calder, I doubt you get any appreciation.”

“I’m not doing it to be appreciated. He needs my help, and whether he likes it or not, he’s gonna get it. My father didn’t raise me to just walk away.”

“Don’t give your father all the credit. And don’t try to convince me that it’s all nobility. Some people just can’t resist a good challenge, and the more impossible a thing seems the harder it is for them to walk away from.”

Adam sat down and took a sip. “True, but I guess my real reason for doing this is simply because he needs someone. He has for a long time, and nobody ever offered or even cared.”

Elias stared into his cup and ran his index finger around the rim. “I did once, but only once.” His head rose, and he held out his right hand so that the scar across the palm shone clear. “He slashed me with a broken bottle when I told him that he needed help, and I offered mine.”

Adam frowned. “I’m sorry, Elias, I didn’t mean…”

“Don’t worry about.” The doctor put another spoonful of sugar into his coffee. “I’ve seen men like him before, running away from something and usually hating themselves in the bargain. And they never seem to realize that no matter how far they run it’ll always run with them.” He took a sip, and a smile of satisfaction touched his lips, and he put the lid on the sugar bowl. “I’ve known for some time that Vint Calder is being chased by some sort of demons that drive him into the bottle.”

Angelica’s head bowed. “You can’t imagine, doctor, you just can’t imagine.”

Elias looked first to Angelica then Adam. “I take it you two found out.”

“Yeah, Elias, we found out, and I think we both wish we hadn’t.”

“I won’t inquire about it, if Calder wants me to know he can tell me himself.” He decided that his coffee needed one more spoonful of sugar. “But I will say that if you need anything don’t hesitate to let me know at any time of the day or night.”

Adam gave him a slap on the arm. “I will, Elias, because I think we’re gonna need quite a bit of your experience and medical knowledge before this is over.”

“Doctor, please tell us something.”

“Of course, Mrs. Cartwright, if I can.”

“We need to know if I am right in thinking that these delirium tremens are life threatening.”

The doctor glanced at Adam and hesitated with his answer. “Yes, he can die.”

The falling of a snowflake could have been heard.

THIRTEEN

Calder smacked his dry mouth as he came out of a deep, dark cavern. His arms and legs felt like stone weights had been placed on them, and his eyelids didn’t want to rise. He cursed and forced them open, and the gray light that flooded the room stabbed at his eyeballs like icy pins. A throaty groan left him, and he tried to turn away, but his leaden limbs wouldn’t function.

“I see you’re finally awake. You’ve been laying here like a dead fish since two days ago.”

His eyes set on Adam as his nemesis approached the bed, and an unflattering epithet passed his lips.

Adam pulled back the covers and checked to make sure that the bindings hadn’t tightened up.

Calder raised his heavy arms. “Untie me, Cartwright.”

“I’m not gonna do that.” Adam’s lone eyebrow rose. “I take it you don’t remember what happened in the kitchen or the fact that you tried to stab Maggie.”

“That’s a dirty lie. I’d never hurt a woman.”

“It wasn’t her that you wanted to kill.”

Calder began to panic, and his eyes ran to the foot of the bed. “The snakes. Those lousy, crawly snakes.” His head sunk deeper into the pillow.

“It’s all right, they’re gone.” Adam raised the bedding so that Calder could see for himself.

“My legs are bandaged.”

Adam covered him and tucked it in around his shoulders. “You got a hold of a butcher knife, and you did more harm to yourself than you did to the reptiles. Dr. Robey said the cuts are superficial and should heal right up, but you did bleed like a stuck bull.”

Calder began to shudder, and his teeth to chatter. His eyes rolled back into his head, and his body stiffened. “Ssso cold. I’m freezing.”

Without a word, Adam left the room and came back with another blanket. He draped it over the shaking man.

“This should help.”

“It isn’t.”

“Give it a chance.”

The door opened and Angelica came in with a bowl, a napkin hung over her arm. “You need something to eat, so Maggie made some chicken broth.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Nonsense.” She sat on the side of the bed. “Right now you need all the nourishment you can get.”

“Angelica, I don’t think…”

She dipped the spoon into the golden liquid and ignored Adam. “The man needs to eat, and all trussed up like he is it’s up to me to make sure that he does.” She lowered the spoon, but his mouth clamped tight. “Please, Mr. Calder, don’t make me feel like a bad hostess to a guest.” He opened up, and she ladled it in. “That’s better.”

Calder discerned no taste, but what he did notice was the warming sensation it spread through him. That he had no problem with, and he took every drop she had. For what he had to do, he had to be in control of his faculties, and the shaking hindered that.

When he finished she patted his mouth with the napkin and backed it with as cheerful a smile as she could manage. “Now you just lay back and rest, and if you need anything you feel free to speak up.” She turned to go, and her brightness faded as she looked to Adam.

After she had gone, Calder saw his chance. “I need to use the chamber.”

“All right. Just let me get you undone here.”

Adam pulled back the covers. He untied the man’s feet then his wrists. Calder really did have to heed the call of nature so he decided to take care of that first. However, once that little fact of life was seen to he lunged up and landed on Adam. They hit the floor with Calder on top. A vicious fist drove into Adam’s face and addled his senses. Calder scrambled to his feet and ran from the room while Adam tried to collect his wits.

Calder didn’t get very far when something happened that he didn’t understand. Every muscle he had constricted and his body went rigid. His head snapped back, and he fell against the wall. “Cartwright.” His jaw set, and his teeth gritted as he started to slide toward the floor. “Cartwright.”

Adam appeared at his side, and tried to keep him from falling. Their eyes connected, and Calder reached out and gripped his arm.

“It’s all right, I gotcha.”

Angelica came up the stairs just as Adam gathered the writhing man into his arms.

“It’s some kind of seizure. You’d better send somebody for Elias.”

She whirled in a rustle of taffeta, and her shoes clipped down the steps. “Maggie! Maggie!”

Adam rushed back into the room. Calder’s increased spasms made him difficult to hold on to, and he was dropped onto the bed. The poor man convulsed as he fought for focus. Then an arm shot up, and his fingers clawed into the collar of Adam’s shirt.

“Let me die.”

“You’re not gonna die, not if I have any say in it.”

“Not worth it.”

“Life is always worth it.” Adam pried his grasp loose then closed the man’s hands in his. “Come on, Vint, stay with me. You’ve come too far to give up now. Try to think of your sisters and your mother, and how happy they’ll be to see you. Come on, Vint, don’t quit now.”

Angelica ran in, a small, flat piece of firewood in her right hand. “Maggie went to send someone for the doctor.” She came around on the other side of the bed and sat down. “When I was a girl I had an uncle who was prone to these. He needs something to bite on so he won’t swallow his tongue.”

It took every bit of Adam’s effort to get the man’s mouth open enough for Angelica to put the piece of wood between his teeth.

She shushed him and stroked back his sweaty hair. “We won’t leave you. We’ll be right here with you for as long as you need us.” Her fierce eyes rose to Adam as he struggled to hang onto Calder’s arms. “I hope his father, wherever he is, can see this, and I hope it torments his soul.” Her attention turned back to Calder, and she shushed some more.

Adam could feel a flame flare up at the back of his head at the thought of the wretched bastard who had brought this all about. The man hadn’t had the slightest concept of fatherhood, and had probably been as dismal a failure at being a husband. Then he thought of his own father and how blessed he and his brothers were. Calder gave a violent jerk, and it pulled Adam’s mind away from such musings. “Hang on, Vint, just hang on.”

FOURTEEN

That night Vint Calder lapsed into a coma from which they wondered if he would ever return. Unlike before, when he had tossed in fitful sleep, he now lay still as a dead man. Only the heavy rise and fall of his chest, and his labored, forced breathing gave any sign of life. Angelica sat on the edge of the mattress and blotted the perspiration from his face with a cool, damp cloth, but he never moved.

The door whispered open, and Adam came in.

Angelica glanced around. “I take it that Dr. Robey has gone.”

Adam pushed the door closed and came toward the bed. “Yes. He said he needed to get back to town what with Graham being out at the Fletcher place, but he’ll be back in the morning.”

“I still don’t understand why he couldn’t have stayed.”

“He said that Calder’ll probably lie like this all night and for some time to come.”

She gave him a scrutinizing once over. “But that isn’t the only reason.”

He shook his head. “I think he honestly believes that he won’t come out of it.”

She dipped the cloth in the basin and squeezed it out. “I thought doctors were supposed to be a beacon of hope.”

“They havta develop a shell much like a turtle’s to protect themselves from being around death so much. Those that don’t simply don’t last, so don’t blame Elias. Now you should let me take over.”

“No, I want to do this. I actually need to. When I think of how many times I saw him but never bothered to look at the man, I could just cry.”

“That isn’t your fault. Calder never gave you or anybody else, for that matter, a reason to look beyond what was on the surface. He was so angry all time that nobody wanted to.”

“That isn’t a valid excuse. Most of us never even tried to reach out to him. Well, if he should live through this, that will all change. I’ll see to that.”

Adam crouched beside her. “I daresay that it will, and I started things moving yesterday morning.”

His inscrutable expression told her that he was up to something, but, as usual, she couldn’t get past that barrier he always put up. “And I’m sure that it would be needless for me to inquire into what.”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Adam took hold of her free hand, and his attention turned to the comatose man. “And so will he,” his eyebrows dropped into a stern frown, “I hope.”

*******

A gentle glow entered the darkened kitchen as Adam came in from the dining room with a low lamp. The big stove still put off a warm radiance that kept everything toasty and held back the night chill. His slippers – which he had just exchanged for his boots, though he hadn’t dressed for bed yet – scuffed over the plank floor.

“Hello, you big loafer.” He knelt beside the dog as the scruffy head rose. Adam’s eyes darted to the saucer in which only a few dots of milk remained. “It’s good that you’re eating, but then I’d say you know better than not to with Maggie around.” He sat the lamp in the floor and took the animal’s muzzle in his hand. As he scratched behind an ear, the chocolate brown eyes fought to stay open.

It had been a long day, of actual fact; it had been an interminable few days since he had brought Vint Calder into his house, of which he had no regrets. Oh, maybe a few at first, but the turn of events, and the letter from the man’s sister had changed that. She had been so sincere in her love for and longing to see her brother the he would have had to be heartless not to be touched by it. It made him think of Hoss and Joe. They had both told him – though not right at first – of the terrible time when their own brother had been lost to them. He heaved an onerous sigh as he realized how much he missed them.

Outside, the wind had picked up, and lashed at the house liked an entity determined to get at its inhabitants. The branch of a tree scratched at the windowpane like the fingers of a skeletal hand.

Adam released the dog’s head, and it lay back on the floor. With a parting pat, he picked up the lamp and got to his feet. “Good night, Buddy.”

The tail thumped the floor, and gave Adam reason to grin. Then his eyes rose to the ceiling, and he just stood there. They had put Calder in the bedroom over the kitchen, the nearest the top of the stairs because it was closest. He reached up and riffled his fingers in his heavy hair then went out and took the warm glow with him.

*******

Adam sat in the wingchair at the window in Calder’s room, his eyes trained on the world beyond the glass. Around an hour earlier it had started to snow again. The large flakes, caught in the maelstrom of the wind, seemed almost alive as they assaulted the panes. He rubbed the side of his neck, and leaned his head back against the nubby fabric.

Angelica had gone to their room for some much needed sleep, but only after he had promised that he would wake her if things worsened. A smile touched his mouth and filled his eyes with love and pride. His Angelica, and his babies were the center of his life, and he didn’t like to contemplate that life without them. He looked around toward the bed and wondered how different things could have been for Calder if he had found a woman to share with him the up and downs, the good times and the bad, and the day-to-day struggles of just being able to survive. No one had ever wondered why there wasn’t a Mrs. Calder, to be precise; no one had ever really cared. Vint Calder had always been the kind of person the good people didn’t associate or concern themselves with, and they weren’t to blame, not really. Calder never gave anyone the chance to like or even understand him because he wanted it that way. Or did he?

Adam pulled himself up from the chair, gave his long body a stretch then crossed to the bed.

Calder’s breathing had become less heavy, and he didn’t seem to take enough air into his lungs to keep a man alive. In his stillness, it became more evident at how gaunt the alcohol had made him. Up and around and causing trouble and just plain being odious that wasn’t what you noticed. It was like a trick of slight of hand. You would be so busy watching one thing while something else passed right under your nose.

Adam touched his face and forehead and pulled back from the clamminess. He took the cloth from the basin, wrung it out and began to bathe away the perspiration.

“We never gave you much of a chance, but then you never gave us one either.” He washed back the disreputable thatch of cinnamon-colored hair, and his mind began to toy with different little scenarios. Which parent Calder resembled, did his older sisters pamper him as sisters most always did with a baby brother, and did the favoritism their father may have shown Bertram disrupt the family. “I can’t imagine what it could be like to not be loved by your own father.” His mind raced back to the Ponderosa, and the years even before. His father has always been there to kiss away scraped knees, soothe the fear from childhood nightmares, and show his love and compassion in so many ways. The cloth plopped into the water with a tiny splash. “He didn’t deserve you or, more to the point, you didn’t deserve him. No child deserves to be treated that way.” Adam felt a hot sensation take life in his breast. If he ever harmed one of his children that way, accident or not, he would press the barrel of a pistol to his heart and pull the trigger.

He stood there for a few seconds to see if a response came, but when it didn’t he returned to the chair. His elbows rested on the arms, and his hands clasped in his lap as his eyes set back outside. The snow had picked up though the flakes weren’t as large as they had been, and he knew that if it kept this up they could find themselves in a blizzard by morning.

*******

Adam stood at the window, his arms crossed over his chest, as Angelica came in with a tray with enough food for two people.

“I thought we would eat breakfast in here this morning.”

He didn’t seem to take note of what she said, and didn’t look around. “It’s really coming down out there.”

She put the tray on the end of the dresser. “Yes it is and I think that anyone that went out in it would be hard-pressed to see past the end of their nose.” She filled a china cup from the silver coffee pot. “Maggie made the coffee extra strong this morning.”

“Good.” He came to her and took the cup she offered, and took a sip. “Ahh, strong enough to eat horseshoe nails.”

Her eyes flitted toward the bed as she poured her own. “I trust he had no trouble through the night.”

“I had hoped that he might wake up, but he didn’t.” He took another sip then turned back toward the window. “I hope this doesn’t linger to the point where it makes travel impossible.”

“Don’t worry; she’ll get here no matter what it takes.”

His head snapped around, and his cup hovered over his saucer. “I suppose that means something cryptic.”

“Not so much. I figured out what you were up to, and I must say that I heartily approve.”

He eyed her over the rim of his cup. “You would think I’d stop trying to keep secrets from you.”

“Men never stop trying to keep things from their wives and even with all the wonderful things that you are you’re still a man.” She gave him a peck on the lips. “Now let’s eat before our food gets cold.”

He frowned as she handed him a plate and fork. “I hope this doesn’t stop Elias from coming out.”

She allowed him to steer her to the chair with her own food, and his gaze set outside the window. “Doctors can be very resilient and ingenious when it comes to seeing patients, but if he isn’t able to come we’ll take care of things.” She sat down, but her eyes never left the snow. “We’ll make it.” Her attention turned toward the bed. “All of us.”

*******

Around six o’clock that evening the snow took it upon itself to stop, but not before it dumped three feet additional to the previous few inches on the hapless population. Temperatures hung well below freezing, and the wind, though not as fierce at it had been, still had the ability to stir up white swirls. The sun had lost its spring-like coloring of past weeks to become dim and wan as it hid its anemic countenance among the heavy clouds. And outdoor activity on the Angel ranch came to a screeching standstill, at least, for now.

As Angelica stopped at the head of the stairs, she noticed two things; the shaft of cold air that sent a shiver through her, and the wide open front door. “Not again.” She started down.

Adam stood in one of the arches of the deep front porch with his attention directed out beyond the barn. He had wrapped himself in his arms since he had failed to bring a coat.

“Maybe you aren’t trying to make yourself sick, but you’re going to succeed anyway if you don’t stop this foolishness. Now, please, Adam, come back into the house.”

“It doesn’t look like Elias is gonna make it.”

“The day isn’t over yet. If anyone can find a way he will, and we have plenty of room to put him up for as long as he needs to stay.”

He looked around at her as she took his arm. “It’s isn’t only his not coming that bothers me.”

“I know that, but I told you that she’ll come.”

“I don’t understand how you can possibly be so sure.”

She smiled as she placed a hand against one of his chilled cheeks. “Because I’m a woman that loves someone so dearly that if I were to find out that he needed me I would move Heaven and Earth to get to him. Now, please, sweetheart, let’s go back inside before we both come down with pneumonia.”

With reluctance, he agreed, and allowed her to drag him back inside, but not before he shot a final glance toward the road that ran past the barn.

FIFTEEN

It had been close to a week since Vint Calder had retreated into a stupor and life continued even though his had stagnated. Dr. Robey had pretty much taken up residence in the Cartwright house since it was easier than always coming out, and since Dr. Montgomery had returned to town he felt more at ease with doing so. The weather had been tenacious and dumped another foot of snow on top of what already covered the ground, and temperatures still hung below freezing.

Adam came into the room to check on Calder as had become a part of the everyday routine. He said the man’s name as he always did, and no response, as always. This time, however, he found himself greeted by a pair of weary eyes.

Calder’s mouth worked, but no sound came out.

Adam patted him on the arm, and accompanied it with a smile. “It’s all right, Vint, you don’t need to talk now.”

The door opened and someone came in, but they were blocked them from Calder’s view at first.

Adam glanced around behind him. “He’s with us again.”

A blur in green-and-yellow stripes came to stand beside him. Calder blinked to clear his fuzzy eyes then his breathing increased as his expression told what he wished to be true. “Lucy.”

“Yes, Vinton, it’s Lucy.” She began to run her fingers through his unkempt hair. “I’ve come to take you home.”

Tears broke free and ran down the sides of Calder’s face.

“I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted. I want to let Angelica and Dr. Robey know that our star patient is awake.”

As soon as he had left them, Lucille Muir sat beside her brother. They looked so much alike that anyone could see that they were related. The only major difference was that which her gender imposed upon her, and a streak of attractive silver hair indicative of her forty years.

“Mr. Cartwright sent me a wire when you took so desperately ill. I got here yesterday afternoon, and was disappointed to find that you had been unconscious for close to a week. These are such wonderful people, and if my brother had to be left to the care of strangers I’m glad that they are the ones who took you into their home.”

“I never… asked them to.”

“Some people don’t need to be asked, they just give of themselves willingly.” She took a laced-edged hankie from the green satin sash of her dress and started to wipe away his tears. “You look better than I expected you to, and from what I have been told so far, than you have a right to. And you could use some fattening up, but I suspect that once I get you back to Newark, that won’t be a problem. Mother plans on cooking every one of your favorite dishes,” she snickered, “but we had to make her promise that she wouldn’t try doing them all in the same day. When I told her that you might came back with me, well, I haven’t seen her that happy or excited in a long time.”

“I can’t… go back.”

“I wish you would tell me why. From what the Cartwright’s have told me, you haven’t had much of a life out here. And I think it is long past time that you were with your family again.”

“Father…”

“Is gone now, and no longer has any influence over our lives, except maybe Bertram, who is so much like him that it is unsettling. But I wouldn’t let that concern me. He says that if you come, he will leave, and we really don’t care. He is unpleasant and domineering just like Father, and I know we would all be more content if he did go.” She tittered. “If for not the one that we have missed you so badly, that would be a good reason for you to return with me. That isn’t, however, why we want you back; it is because we love you. The only reason Father favored Bertram over you is because they were so much alike. You were too kind and too gentle and too much like Mother. And if you have believed that Helen and I escaped from his ire simply by virtue of our being girls, then you have been laboring under a misconception. Oh, he never physically abused us, though he did get a bit heavy-handed when he spanked, but he took great pleasure in making us cry.”

“I never…”

“His subtly was one of the insidious things about Father. In a room full of people, he could tear out your heart without anyone else being the wiser, though Mother always seemed to know but was too intimidated to say or do much. The one time she did it was over me, and I actually feared that he might kill her.”

“I don’t remember.”

“You were only a baby, not even a month old. I had just had my eighth birthday and…” Her eyes filmed and her chin quivered then she brushed it all away. “But let us not talk about such things anymore.” She caressed his cheek with her fingertips. “Through fate or the intervention of others, whichever you want to believe, we have been reunited, and I refuse to waste this opportunity on the past.” She daubed at a tear the threatened to run from the corner of one eye. “You are my blessed and precious Vinty, and all these years of being without you, or knowing how you were doing has wounded my heart like nothing else. More than one time, I have thought of coming out here to try to lure you back home, but it never seemed the right time. And I never wanted Father to hurt you again.”

A fire blazed up in his eyes. “I would have… killed him.”

“You mustn’t talk that way.”

“I…” his teeth gritted, “hate…” he had to struggle for the last word, “him.”

“I know, sweetheart, and you’re justified, but you need to let it go. He has ruined all your life to this point, don’t let him destroy the rest of it. Please do that for me if you won’t for yourself.” She smoothed back his hair. “Now you go back to sleep and rest. That’s right.” The backs of her fingers stroked the side of his face. “Sleep, sleep, and grow stronger. You have a long trip to make.”

He fought against it as he had when a little boy, but her nurturing touch and gentle voice defeated his efforts. She sat with him for several minutes longer just to watch him in peaceful slumber. Then she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead, and wafted from the room on a silent breeze lest she wake him.

Angelica had just left the top stair when the woman came out into the hall. “Mrs. Muir.” Her dress and petticoats rustled as she moved closer. At once she saw the sadness in the troubled features. “I trust that he is all right.”

“He’s sleeping.” Lucy took a deep breath, and her fretful gaze strayed to the ceiling. “He is so frail. If I hadn’t been told that this is my brother I don’t think I should have recognized him. The old spark in his eyes, the zest for living that always portrayed itself in his face, all gone. I have been with a stranger.” She looked at Angelica, and had to fight hard to control her emotions. “And he is so full of hate.”

“Hate can be a hard thing to let go of when it has been a part of one for so long, but it can be wiped away in time with love and compassion and patience.” Angelica grasped her hands. “And I have learned that family can be one of the greatest healing powers on the face of the Earth. It won’t be easy, but those we care for are worth the effort, and the rewards are so vast.”

“I know that, and he will get all that is in us to can give…,” she glanced back at the door, “but I worry that he is too far away from us to help.”

“Few things are ever so certain that we can’t alter their course if we give it everything that we possess. It hasn’t been hard to see how much you do love him. You probably don’t realize how you light up when you talk of him. Why a blind man could see it with his cane.”

“Helen and I, that’s my younger sister, always adored him so. As a baby he was like a big doll. We did so love to play with him, and he had the most infectious giggle. We would just look for ways to make him laugh. But as he grew we heard it less and less until we hardly remembered what it sounded like.” Her sobbing began to run out of control. “I am so afraid that I won’t get my brother back.”

Angelica put her arms around her and allowed her to cry. “It’s all right to be frightened, Lucille. You wouldn’t be human if you weren’t. What lies ahead will be daunting to say the very least, as are so many other things in our lives.” She took the woman’s face in her hands and looked straight into the reddened eyes. “But you’ve already taken your first step by coming here, and while this may be the easiest one, it is still a step.”

“Thank you, I needed to hear someone say that.”

“A little encouragement can go a long way.” Angelica stepped around and hooked her arm in Lucille’s. “Now you dry your eyes and let’s go down and see if Maggie needs any help. It isn’t often that we have women guests, and she is always happy to have any added assistance.”

Lucy nodded, and they started down. But once Angelica got behind her, and out of the woman’s sight, her bright enthusiasm waned. She knew that the road Lucille Muir and her family had decided to take would be a long, bumpy one strewn with many rocks and disappointments along the way. Yet they both knew that she could do no less and still look at her reflection in the mirror. This was, after all, her beloved brother, and she could do no different and remain true to both of them.

*******

It had been three days since Calder had awakened from his comatose state, and this was his first venture downstairs. He got so tired of the mothering and coddling, and making over him as if he were a baby. He took a heavy, laborious breath from where he sat on the end of the settee in the parlor and watched the fire in the hearth devour another log. He was, however, as helpless as one so why shouldn’t he be treated as such? It seemed that he needed help in everything he did. Cartwright helped with the bathing and other in sundry and manly things, the housekeeper kept him fed, Mrs. Cartwright kept his bed changed, and Lucy was always at his beck-and-call for whatever he should have use of. His brow puckered in thought. This wasn’t being a man, this was being helpless, and he hated it. It reminded him too much of how helpless he had been against his father even after the day he had up and left. And when he came out here a new kind of helplessness had been added to it. It wasn’t helplessness against others as much as it was helplessness against Vint Calder. His head dropped, and he rubbed between his closed eyes at the throb that had come to life there as he wondered if he would ever have the guts to be a man again or to even try.

Then his head rose with a grunt, and his eyes strayed to the tall liquor cabinet that sat beside the shut study door. Bottles and decanters – enclosed behind beveled glass – beckoned as if they called to him in voices. “You need me,” they said, “so come and get me.”

With an effort that appeared more from a man of eighty than thirty-two, he pushed himself up and shuffled over to the tall piece of walnut furniture. His eyes traced with longing over each vessel that held its liquid prisoner, and his mouth watered. His hand reached out, and with a tug he found the doors locked. He thought to tear them open, but he became aware of a presence beside him. He looked over to the man clothed all in black that never looked at him, and he thought he comprehended an understanding.

Calder swallowed and returned to his place on the end of the settee. He looked back toward the cabinet, but Cartwright was gone. He looked about the room and saw no sign of him anywhere, and he wondered if it had been his imagination. A click caught his attention, and he looked around in time to see the handle of the study door move. It hadn’t been his imagination.

*******

Two more days had to pass before Vint Calder got up the gumption to take the bull by the horns. His fingers trembled as they worked the buttons down the front of his borrowed shirt. He hadn’t bothered with his bedraggled hair; getting dressed on his own was enough of a challenge without it. Once he got the shirttail tucked in, and the belt buckled he made the mistake of looking at himself in the mirror over the dresser. The corners of his mouth rose in derision, and his nose wrinkled. He looked like something ten days dead and buried that a coyote had dug up.

“Well, it’s for sure you ain’t no ravin’ beauty that anyone’s gonna wantta take home for their folks to meet.”

He didn’t notice when the door opened.

“Vinton, it’s too soon for this. It hasn’t even been a week.”

“Close enough.” He cupped her chin in his hand, and smiled, ironic though it was. “I’m not a baby any more, Lucy. And if I don’t start now seeing what I’m capable of I’ll never find out.”

“Of course you will, when the time is right.” She tried to turn him back toward the bed. “Now, please Vinton.”

“I’m all right, really, and there’s something I need to do. You of all people should know that if you keep putting something off it never gets done.” He kissed her on the tip of the nose. “And if you don’t let me walk on my own, I’ll never know if I can. Remember what Mother always said about baby birds.”

“If you don’t let them fly they will never learn that they can.” She rubbed her hand over his cheek. “You were always so willful.”

He snickered. “And didn’t Father hate that.”

She took his arm, but released it and stepped back when she got a look of mild chastisement. He let her go out first then followed with a less than certain tread.

Adam sat at his large mahogany desk in his study. He had gotten a letter from some cattle buyers in St. Louis, and he had been neglect in answering it. He dipped the pen into the bronze ink well just as someone knocked. “Come in.” The door opened back, and the moment he saw Calder his expression lightened. “Well, dressed today. Five days has made you look almost human.”

“I can’t say that I feel very human. I hope you don’t mind if I disturb you for a little bit, it’s important that we talk.”

“Of course not.” Adam got up and pulled a chair around for him.

Adam could see that that the man’s strength had yet a long way to go. He started to reach out, but decided against it, and sat back on the corner of his desk.

Calder eased into the chair.

“Maybe you’d like to have some coffee. I could have Maggie bring us some.”

Calder shook his head, and smoothed back his hair. “Cartwright, I’m gonna come right out and say what’s on my mind.”

“I’ve found that’s always the best way to get things said and done.”

Calder’s discomfort – not all of it physical – displayed itself in his face. “I’ve never been one for saying thank you to anyone, you know that.”

“I’m afraid you’ve never had much cause to.”

Calder’s hands wrung together in his lap, and his eyes rose. “I do now, and it’s hard. I don’t know where to start or how to word it when I do.”

“Just coming in here is a step in the right direction.” Adam tapped the man’s chest. “And if you let the words come from there you’ll do all right.”

“I still don’t know why you did all this for me. I hated you, in fact I hated everyone,” he snorted, “and maybe most of all myself. I shot your dog, I made your life miserable, I threatened you, and you bring me into your house and treat me like I’m somebody important.”

“You are. Your family loves you, and that makes you very important in my book.”

“And that brings me to something else.” His eyes lowered. “I don’t know how to tell my sister that I can’t go back with her.”

“Then tell me. You have the opportunity to start over again, to begin a fresh life, and I can’t understand why you wouldn’t leap at the chance. Here you have a family that’s willing to take you back and meet you more than half way. Not every man is that lucky.”

“I can’t take my troubles down on them.”

“Try and get it through your thick head, Vint that families share their troubles. That’s one of the things that bind them together.”

“You can’t possibly understand, not you.”

Adam tittered, and Calder’s blistering glare set on him.

“Oh, so that was funny.”

“In an ironic sort of way. You see, Vint, I know a lot about where you’re coming from than you may think.”

“You’re pretty funny yourself, Cartwright. We have nothing in common.”

“In one respect we do. After what happened to me back in ’64, when my life was turned wrong side out…,”

“I know all about what happened. It’s the talk of Bantree.”

“What isn’t common knowledge is how afraid I was to go home. That’s right, I was afraid of my own family, and I guess most of all of myself. My memories were still spotty, and I didn’t even recognize my own father at first. I lived almost a whole month as another person. I had never heard of Ben Cartwright and his sons, I didn’t know about the Ponderosa, I didn’t know about me, and what’s more, I was afraid to find out. Then, when I did begin to remember, some of it wasn’t pleasant. I killed my best friend or he would have for sure killed me. My Paiute blood-brother wanted me dead for no other reason than the color of my skin. My mother died when I was born, and both my stepmothers died right in front of me. And before a man named Vince Decker almost killed me I wouldn’t have told you any of this. The only good thing that came out of what he did to me was that I realized that we can’t run away from life. We can’t hide who we really are simply on the off chance that we could get hurt if we do. I also learned just how precious life is and that you havta grab it with both hands and squeeze every bit of living out of it that you can. And you don’t just live for yourself but others.”

“Like Lucy.”

“Just like Lucy, and my Angelica and my children.” Adam gave him a slap on the knee. “And who’s to say that some day we won’t be able to say your children.”

Calder’s eyes went round and bright and Adam could see the tears that misted them. Then the man did something that Adam couldn’t recall ever seeing him do. He smiled.

“Thank you, Cartwright.”

SIXTEEN

The big weathered red Overland stage sat in front of the depot just waiting to take on its passengers. A six-horse-hitch stood poised and ready to take it wherever it had to go. In the two weeks since it had fallen, much of the snow had been cleaned or melted away since temperatures had tipped to well above freezing.

Adam helped the driver stow the last piece of luggage in the vehicle’s boot.

“That should do it,” the driver said, as he secured everything. “Thanks for the hand, Adam.”

Adam gave him a swat on the arm. “Don’t mention it, Jess.” Then he turned and stepped up onto the boardwalk.

Vint Calder stood with his sister and Angelica, and he looked even more human. He wore a new suit of clothes beneath a brand new cold weather coat. A smart hat of brown felt covered his combed hair, and he wore kid gloves. His feet worked in brogans, and the stiff leather squeaked. He was the very picture of a refined gentleman ready for travel, and he chafed at it.

Adam slapped his hands together. “Well, that takes care of the luggage, and as soon as the driver and shotgun rider get aboard you’ll be ready.”

Calder swallowed hard, and his face went sour. “Boy, I sure could use a stiff drink.”

Lucy’s sharp, stern eyes turned on him, a reaction that Adam didn’t miss.

“I’m afraid, my friend, that from now on you’re gonna havta rely on strong coffee.”

Calder’s expression went to distaste. “I guess.” He gave his sister a dubious look. “Or wind up a dead man.”

Lucy’s sternness softened as she turned her attention back to Adam and Angelica. “I can’t thank the both of you enough for giving my brother back to me, and I am afraid that I never can, at least not adequately.” She squeezed her brother’s arm.

“You already have many times. For us to see the love between you and Vinton and to watch him grow stronger everyday, and now to be headed back home is more than enough.”

“My wife is right. And as enriching and fulfilling as it is to do for those we love, it may even be more so to do for an enemy and come to find that that enemy is no longer such.” Adam gave Calder a devious, sideways wink. “If he ever was.” He extended his right hand. “Good luck, Vint. Or maybe I should say Mr. Vinton Calder of Newark New Jersey.”

Calder took his hand and gave it a frail pump. “It looks like I’m gonna be indebted to you for the rest of my life.” He glanced at his sister. “At least, that’s what I’ve been told.”

The corners of Adam’s mouth pulled down, and he gave his head a shake. “No, nothing like that…,” his face brightened with a smile, “but I do like to believe that it gave birth to a new friendship. As my father has always told me, “A man can never have too many friends.” His grip tightened on the man’s hand. “Good luck, Vint, and I wouldn’t mind getting a letter from you now and then to let me know how you’re doing.”

“I’ve never been much of a letter writer, but I’ll see what I can muster.”

“All right, folks, time to get aboard.”

Lucy embraced Angelica and kissed Adam on the cheek. “Bless you, bless you both. I shall never forget you even if we should never see each other again in this life. And what you have done has for certain earned you a place in Heaven, of that I am sure.”

Adam’s lone eyebrow rose. “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t know about that.”

Lucy’s eyes twinkled in the wan sunlight. “I do.”

Between them, Adam and Calder helped her inside then Calder leaned closer and lowered his voice. “I don’t mind telling you, Cartwright, that I’m scared to death.”

“It comes to most men, for whatever reason, especially when they take on a new life. But you’ll be all right, I mean, it’s not like you’re alone in this.”

Uncertainty edged Calder’s expression. “I guess, but that doesn’t relax me any.” He started to get in and paused. “You’re a good man, Cartwright, and that’s something I never thought I’d hear myself say.”

Adam chortled. “I can say the very same thing concerning you.”

With a final handshake between them, Calder climbed in, and Adam gave the door a good slam. He thumped his hand against the vehicle’s side. “All right, Jess, let ‘em go!”

With a good snap of the reins the coach gave a lurch. Adam’s arm stole around Angelica as they watched it go, and they exchanged waves with its passengers.

“I wish them all the luck.”

“I think luck has nothing to do with it.” He stood back and grasped her hand. “Now that we have that taken care of, we can do anything that you would like to.”

“I know exactly what I want to do.”

“All right, whatever it is your fondest wish is my command.”

“I want to go to the Banning’s and get the children. I think it’s long past time we were a family again.”

Adam’s lips ached from want of kissing her, but out here in the street wasn’t what one would call proper. “Then that is certainly what we’ll do, and, to tell the truth, I can’t wait to see them myself.”

He hooked his arm in hers, and their feet thumped over the weathered wood. Their eager stride gave them away as they headed toward the end of town where the grand mansion sat. They had babies to collect, and there was no sense dallying about it.

*******

The heavy pine front door opened back with a loud bump. The family was home. Adam held a boy in each arm while Angelica led the other by the hand and held their daughter in the crook of her elbow.

Angelica sighed, and her gaze went dreamy-like. “It is so nice to be home.”

Adam laughed as he pushed the door closed with his foot. “You act like we’ve been gone for months.”

“Well, without the children we might-as-well have been.”

Addy began to squirm to get down. “Bubby. Bubby.”

Buddy, the bandage now gone from his middle, ambled out from the dining room, and he sat down. Maggie had come from the kitchen behind him. “When he heard you come in it wouldn’t do but that he had to greet his family.”

The boys rushed to their furry friend in a small stampede, and petite hands ran over his coarse, wiry fur, and the dog loved it. Hiram leaned forward and kissed the animal on his cold, wet nose, which elicited a groan from his mother.

“I trust that the coach got off all right with its passengers.”

“Yes, Maggie, everything went just fine.” Angelica shifted Elizabeth as Adam helped her off with her cloak. “But according to the Bannings, things didn’t go as well there.”

Adam hung his coat up. “It would seem that the boys have developed the proclivities of explorers. Siddon said they were into everything, and really kept Giles hopping.” He hung his hat on its usual peg. “And when it came to bedtime, the boys were angels compared to their sister.”

Maggie sniggered. “That’s me girl.”

Angelica’s sheepish violet eyes flashed back at him. “I guess we have spoiled her somewhat.”

“I’d say that somewhat doesn’t even begin to cover it.” He took the girl and perched her up against his shoulder. “And I suppose that in the future we should stop getting her into the bed with us every time she kicks up a fuss.”

Angelica frowned. “That will be all well and good unless we plan to sleep.” She brushed over to the fireplace and held her hands out to the flames.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, Mr. Adam, I have gingerbread in the oven for supper.”

“All right, Maggie.”

The housekeeper returned to the kitchen as he sat his daughter down in the floor with her brothers. Elizabeth used Buddy’s fur to pull herself up and buried her face in his neck with her mouth wide open in her rendition of a kiss. Adam went to stand beside Angelica, and let his arm slip around her trim waist.

“Adam, I hope we didn’t give Mr. Calder back his life just for him to throw it away once he gets to New Jersey.”

His arm pulled her closer to him. “We’ve done all that we could. It’s now up to his family, but most of all him. He has to want it more than anyone or it won’t, it can’t work.” He kissed her on the side of the head then turned his attention to the fire as it licked up toward the chimney. “But from what I saw of his sister, and if she’s any indication of the others, I don’t think they will let him get away with too much. And Vint has his own brand of stubbornness.”

“I suppose the one thing that haunts me most is the situation with his brother.” She looked at him. “I grew up with loving brothers and sisters, and I can’t imagine a thing as one feeling such animosity toward me.”

“I know what you mean. Pa always worked to keep us close. I think he feared that because we’re only half brothers that it might come between us.” A fond smile rose to his dark hazel eyes. “But he did his job well. I can’t think of any brothers any closer.”

She leaned her head over on his shoulder. The firelight flickered in their eyes until hers closed. They stood enrobed in each other, and their love in the calm before the storm. A sudden squall disrupted the quite, and they looked around toward the children.

Angelica’s mouth drew in. “Addy, stop hitting your brother.”

Adam tittered and shook his head. “It’s good to be a family again.”

THE END

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