The Better Angels of Our Nature
Book 5 of A HOUSE UNITED series

By Sarah Hendess

 

Virginia City and Ponderosa Ranch, Nevada Territory
May 1863

Ben Cartwright stared in horror as his sister-in-law Rachel swept toward the International House on the arm of Widow Hawkins.  He had been apprehensive about Rachel’s visit to begin with, and now he was downright terrified.  But he had Josie’s mother to think of, too, and he knew Hannah must be ravenous after her long stagecoach journey, so he offered her his arm and led her and the rest of this family toward the hotel.  Josie ordered Pip to wait on the hotel’s porch, and the Cartwrights stepped inside to find Rachel and Clementine still chattering away.  Ben caught the maître d’s attention and glumly requested a table for eight.

As they entered the dining room, Hoss offered Rachel his arm, which she happily accepted, and she patted his cheek in gratitude when he pulled out her chair for her.  None of them wanting to be stuck with Widow Hawkins, Ben, Adam, and Little Joe jockeyed for position to assist the other three ladies.  Little Joe very wisely stuck to Josie like glue, and she giggled as Joe made a low bow and a grand flourish with his hand as she sat.  Ben and Adam stared wide-eyed at each other for a split second before simultaneously bolting for Hannah.  Ben was a little closer to her, but Adam was at an angle and bumped his father out of the way with his hip.

            “Let me get that for you, Aunt Hannah,” he said as he drew Hannah’s chair away from the table.

            “Thank you, Adam,” she said as she sank gracefully into her seat next to Josie.  Adam smiled smugly at his father, who glowered back at him as he reluctantly helped Widow Hawkins with her chair.

            “Oh, thank you, Ducky!” she proclaimed to the entire restaurant.  “You are such a gentleman!”

            Ben blushed deep crimson and sat down in the only remaining seat – right between Widow Hawkins and Rachel Stoddard.  He tried to deflect the widow’s attention from himself by catching Hannah’s eye.

            “So, Hannah, how was your trip?” he asked as the waiter handed out menus.

            “Oh, it was so exciting!” she gushed.  “I don’t often get to travel far from home, what with Jacob being tied to his clinic.  You should see how much Panama has grown, Ben!  You’d hardly recognize it.”

            Rachel butted in before Ben could respond.  “It was dreadful!  Positively dreadful!  Oh, the ship from Boston was nice enough, but Panama!  Nasty, savage place.  And do not get me started on San Francisco!”

            “Don’t worry, we won’t,” Little Joe muttered under his breath.

            Fortunately, Rachel did not hear Little Joe and continued with her soliloquy uninterrupted.  “Filthy, sinful city,” she ranted.  “They should have named it either ‘Sodom’ or ‘Gomorrah’!” 

            “Oh, I couldn’t agree more with you, dearie,” Widow Hawkins commiserated.  “Nothing but drunk sailors and loose women.”  She shook her head sadly.  Ben rolled his eyes.  The widow had not left Virginia City since its founding four years ago, and it had probably been at least a couple decades since she had seen San Francisco.

            Adam decided to change the subject.  “Aunt Hannah,” he began, “did you see the railroad construction when you went through Sacramento?”

            “I did!” she exclaimed.  “I remember you telling me about it in your last letter.  How exciting!  To think that in a few years we might be able to make this journey in days instead of weeks!  It will be so civilized.”  She shot an impish look at her older sister that Rachel did not see but made Adam smile.

            Josie grinned at her mother’s little jab, though it was true that the excitement over the railroad was palpable.  Last year, President Lincoln had signed the Pacific Railway Act, which provided governmental support for the construction of a transcontinental railroad between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Sacramento.  The Central Pacific Railroad had begun construction in Sacramento just after the first of the year.  Going was slow, however, due to the Civil War’s enormous appetite for men and money, and everyone knew it would be many years before the track was completed and open for passengers, but it was exciting nonetheless.

            “A railroad would be a real boon to the Ponderosa,” Ben chimed in.  “Our profits would skyrocket if we could take our cattle and timber and silver just a few miles to a railway station rather than drive them hundreds of miles to market like we do now.”

            They paused in their conversation as the waiter took their orders.  Adam smirked as he watched Rachel notice the waiter’s deference to Ben, always referring to him as “sir” or “Mr. Cartwright.”

            “I am looking forward to seeing this ranch of yours, Benjamin,” Rachel said, much to her brother-in-law’s surprise.  “I must say, once we reached California, it seemed everyone had heard of the Ponderosa.”

            “Why of course, they ‘ave!” Widow Hawkins exclaimed proudly.  “The Ponderosa’s the biggest ranch this side of the Rocky Mountains, it is!  Our Benjamin’s a regular emperor!”  She beamed at Ben, who sank in his chair until Rachel jabbed him disapprovingly in the ribs to make him sit up straight once more.

            “It is a wonder you have not found a woman willing to help you with the domestic aspects of such a large holding,” Rachel said casually as she took a dainty sip from her wine glass.

            “There’s women willing, believe you me!” Widow Hawkins crowed as she nudged Ben in the ribs with her elbow.  “Ain’t no greater name to aspire to in this territory than ‘Mrs. Cartwright’!”

            Ben turned so purple in embarrassment that Josie briefly worried he might be having some sort of cardiac event.  She dived in to rescue him.

            “Looks like you’re in luck, Mama!” she said with a grin.  Hannah beamed back at her just as the food mercifully arrived, and Ben had an excuse to bow gracefully out of the conversation.

            As they ate, Josie, Adam, Hannah, and Ben masterfully deflected the conversation from discussion of anyone’s marital status.  Adam engaged Rachel in an explanation of the type of work they did around the ranch that time of year – mostly separating the cattle they would take to market at the end of the summer from the ones they would keep – and Hannah asked Widow Hawkins about her boardinghouse.  Eventually and inevitably, though, the conversation turned to the war.  Hannah related what she and Rachel had heard about a potential battle in Virginia near a town called Chancellorsville, but there was no reliable information as of yet.

            “Is Papa there?” Josie asked quietly.

            Hannah took hold of her daughter’s hand.  “Yes,” she replied.  “He’s still attached to the main army.”

            “How did he look when you saw him?”  Josie knew Jacob had been given some leave over Christmas and had been able to return home for a few days.

            “Tired,” Hannah answered truthfully.  “And thin.  But he’s healthy, thank heavens, and there’s a lot of talk that the South can’t hold out much longer.  Maybe we will have him home for good by Christmas.”  She smiled encouragingly at Josie.  “He was excited when I wired him to say that Rachel and I were coming to visit you.  He sends his love and plans to come out here himself when the war is over.”

            “Oh, wouldn’t that be exciting?!” Widow Hawkins cut in.  “FIVE Cartwright men in Virginia City!  Be still me beating ‘eart!”  She reached over and tweaked Ben’s cheek, making him jump.  Rachel glared at him again.

            Josie stifled a giggle but then grew serious as an alarming thought occurred to her.  “Mama, you didn’t tell Papa I was sick, did you?” she asked urgently.

            “No, darling,” Hannah assured her.  “I considered it, for the same reason your uncle wired me, but I could not stand the thought of adding to his troubles.  And somehow I just knew you would be all right.”  She brushed away a tear and leaned over to kiss her daughter’s cheek.

            “I had good nurses,” Josie said, smiling at Adam, Hoss, and Ben. 

            “And we had a little help,” Adam added, very wisely not mentioning that said help came from the local Indian tribe.

            “I am sure you did,” Rachel said approvingly.  “If Mrs. Hawkins here is any indication of the kindness and generosity of the good people of Virginia City, I expect you had more help than you could possibly use.” 

Widow Hawkins beamed brilliantly at the compliment and squeezed Rachel’s hand.  “Thank you, dearie,” she said.  “We do look out for one another around ‘ere, though it’s easy to be kind to such a doll as the good doctor.  Gets it from her darling uncle, I expect!”  She tweaked Ben’s cheek again.  Ben managed not to jump this time, but he snagged the waiter and requested the bill.

            “Please be quick with it,” he pleaded quietly to the man, who nodded and rushed off.

            After Ben settled the bill, the men escorted the ladies from the restaurant.  Each of his sons held onto the lady he had assisted previously, leaving Ben no choice but to offer his arm to Widow Hawkins once more.

            Benjamin Cartwright was eternally grateful to the stagecoach depot manager for loading Hannah’s and Rachel’s luggage into the Cartwrights’ buckboard while they were eating their lunch because it meant there was no delay in their departure from Virginia City and its boardinghouse matron.  Rachel bid her new friend a fond farewell and insisted she visit the Ponderosa whenever she could.  All of the Cartwrights were dismayed by this invitation but gallantly plastered smiles on their faces, and they were all relieved when at long last everyone was either in a wagon or on a horse and they could turn down the road toward home.

            Josie nestled into the backseat of the surrey with her mother, who wrapped an arm around her daughter’s shoulders and held her close.  Ben was less than thrilled to sit in the front seat with Rachel, but as the head of the family, it would have been rude for him not to – a slight Rachel certainly would have pointed out.  Pip trotted alongside the surrey, while Adam and Hoss rolled along behind them in the buckboard.  Little Joe was more than happy to bring up the rear on Cochise and avoid having to participate in any conversations. 

            “So, Benjamin,” Rachel began as they drove out of town, “how long does it take to reach your ranch?”

            “It takes about two hours to reach the house,” Ben explained, “but we’ll cross onto Ponderosa land in about thirty minutes.”

            Rachel digested this for a moment.  “Why not build the house closer to town, then?  Why so far out?”

            Ben chuckled.  “Because there was no town when we built the house,” he answered.  “We’d been in the house nine years by the time Virginia City was founded.”

            “Nine years with no town!” Rachel exclaimed in disbelief.  “I can’t even imagine!”

            “It was longer than that, actually,” Ben added.  “We’ve been on this land for twenty-five years.  We lived in a much smaller house until Adam came home from Harvard with his grand design.”  He grinned, remembering how amazed he had been the first time Adam showed him his plans for their house.

            “I can’t wait to see it!” Hannah piped up from the backseat.  “I remember watching you begin construction the last time I was here.”

            “It’s beautiful, Mama!” Josie gushed.  “And wait until you see my clinic!  Adam designed it, too.”

            “Waste of time, if you ask me,” Rachel sniffed.  “Going to all that trouble when you will be leaving as soon as this wretched war is over.”

            Josie bit her lower lip at this remark and saw Ben’s shoulders twitch ever so slightly in the seat in front of her.  She caught her mother’s eye and gave her an uncomfortable little smile.  Hannah understood immediately and was not surprised.  It had been clear to her thirteen years ago that Josie preferred Nevada to Boston or Washington, and from the enthusiasm evident in Josie’s letters over the past two years, Hannah had long suspected that her daughter would remain in the West with her cousins.  Sad though she was that they would be separated by such a great distance, Hannah smiled at the thought of how amused her sister Elizabeth would have been had she known that Adam and Josie were taming the frontier together.

            Josie spent the rest of the ride pointing out various landmarks and interesting sights to her mother, who had never come onto the Ponderosa from this direction.  Hannah was thrilled by all of it, and even Rachel expressed interest when Ben reminded her that their property bordered Lake Tahoe.

            “I’m sure Hoss would be delighted to take you on a buggy ride out there tomorrow,” Ben said.  “It’s quite pretty this time of year.”

            As they approached Josie’s clinic, Josie insisted they stop so she could show it to her mother right away.  Ben cast a wary glance at Rachel.

            “Oh, Josephine, I’m sure your mother and your aunt are tired after their long journey.  You can show them the clinic tomorrow,” he said.  Rachel smiled at him approvingly.

            “No!” Hannah protested, her voice registering disappointment.  “Let’s stop!  I want to see my daughter’s clinic.”

            Ben smirked as Rachel rolled her eyes in annoyance.  “We better stop, then,” he said cheerfully and reined the horses to a stop outside Josie’s clinic.

            Adam hustled over from the buckboard to help Josie and Hannah out of the surrey while Ben assisted Rachel.  As soon as her feet were on the ground, Hannah stood back and surveyed the clinic, and a huge smile spread across her face.

            “It’s wonderful!” she breathed, squeezing Josie’s hand. 

            Josie giggled.  “Wait until you see the inside, Mama.”  She held fast to her mother’s hand and led her up the porch and inside.

            By the time Josie finished giving her mother the grand tour, Hannah had tears in her eyes.  She turned to Adam and embraced him warmly.

            “Thank you for doing this for her,” she said.

            Little Joe rolled his eyes.  Hannah did not see him, but Adam did and chuckled.  “I can’t take all the credit,” he admitted.  “I drew up the designs, but I got shut up in the quarantine just as we were getting construction started.  Little Joe and a number of men from town did the building.”

            Hannah turned to Little Joe and gave him a hug, too.  “Thank you,” she said as she affectionately smoothed back one of the young man’s wild brown curls. 

            Little Joe unleashed his dazzling smile.  “Anything for Josie,” he said modestly.

            Rachel, meanwhile, was examining Josie’s desk and chair.  She ran a discriminating hand across the desk’s gleaming, polished top.  “This craftsmanship is exquisite,” she remarked and looked over at Adam.  “You must have had this shipped in from New England.  The Shakers, perhaps?”

            Adam grinned.  “No, ma’am,” he answered.  “I commissioned a friend of mine.  He built all the furniture you see here just a couple hours’ ride away on a neighboring ranch.”

            “A friend of yours, eh?” Josie asked, playfully poking Adam in the ribs.

            Adam smiled fondly down at Josie.  “Yeah, I guess so,” he quipped wryly.  He took Josie’s hand in his, offered his free arm to Hannah, and led the ladies back outside.  They loaded back into the wagons and drove the remaining quarter mile to the house.

            Even Rachel was impressed by the house.  As they came around the final curve and into the front yard, Josie heard her aunt’s breath catch.

            “My goodness!” Rachel exclaimed.  “I never expected such a large house way out here.”

            Hannah beamed, unable to speak.  She could not have been prouder of the house Adam had designed if he had been her own son.

            Ben grinned.  “I hired the best New England-trained architect I could find,” he boasted with a wink at Adam.

            “And I actually got to help build it!” Adam called from the buckboard.

            Everyone laughed as the wagons rolled to a stop and Hop Sing came skittering out of the house.  Ben helped the ladies out of the surrey as Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe unloaded the luggage from the buckboard.

            “Mrs. Cartlight!” Hop Sing exclaimed, extending his hand to Hannah.  “So good to see you again!”

            “Lovely to see you, too, Hop Sing,” Hannah replied graciously.  “You’re looking well.”

            “Yes, yes,” Hop Sing said.  “Mr. Cartlight grumpy but not all bad to work for.”

            Hannah laughed delightedly at this characterization of her brother-in-law, but Rachel stared at the cook, her nose wrinkled in disdain.  She grabbed Ben’s arm and pulled him aside.

            “Benjamin,” she whispered severely, “why is your housekeeper wearing his pajamas?”

            Ben glanced over and took in Hop Sing’s blue-silk pants, button-down shirt, and pillbox hat.  “He’s not in his pajamas, Rachel,” Ben explained.  “That’s just how Chinamen dress.”

            “And you permit that heathen fashion in your home, do you?”

            “It is my home,” Ben reminded Rachel.  “Besides, the boys and I don’t seem to have suffered any ill effects.”

            Rachel glared over her shoulder at Little Joe, who was sitting on the trunk Hoss was trying to lift while Adam poked Hoss in the back of the knee with the toe of his boot.  Hoss’s knee buckled, and he stumbled forward a few steps as his hat tipped forward over his eyes.  Blinded, Hoss swung a fist in Adam’s general direction.  Adam hopped neatly out of the way, and Hoss staggered forward, knocked into the horse trough, and toppled into the cloudy water with a colossal splash.

            “Dadburnit, you two!” Hoss yelled as he spat out dingy water.  Little Joe cackled so hard he fell off the trunk and into the dirt.

            “Certainly, no ill effects at all,” Rachel remarked drily.

            Ben covered his eyes with one hand.  “Adam, get your brother out of the horse trough!” he ordered.

            Adam dutifully extended a hand to Hoss, who instead of hoisting himself out of the horse trough, pulled his older brother in with him.  Little Joe doubled over in fresh hysterics, his eyes streaming.  Josie whooped right along with him, and even Hannah let loose with her dainty laugh.

            “Oh my goodness, I have missed seeing the three of you together,” Hannah said to Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe as the two older brothers emerged, soaked and dripping, from the horse trough.  “You remind me of my sisters and me.”  She looked over at Rachel, whose expression radiated sheer contempt.  “Well, you remind me of Elizabeth and me, anyway,” Hannah added quietly so only her nephews and daughter could hear.

            Adam and Hoss ran inside to change into dry clothes while Little Joe and Hop Sing finished taking the ladies’ trunks into their rooms.  After giving a brief show of the outside of the house, Ben led them inside, where Rachel’s features rearranged themselves into a more agreeable expression.  While the exposed logs gave the interior of the home a rugged feel, Rachel was impressed by the fine, ornate furniture.  She nodded approvingly at the burgundy-striped settee and matching burgundy-leather armchair, as well as at the small felt-topped table that sat between the stairs and Ben’s office alcove.  When she reached the dining room, she actually referred to the table as “lovely,” and Ben hoped that the day might be salvageable yet.  He showed her into the downstairs guestroom where she would be staying and held his breath as she examined the pale blue bedspread Josie had selected for that room.  Rachel gazed around at the rocking chair, night table, oil lamp, and dressing mirror in the room and nodded.

            “This will do very nicely.  Thank you, Benjamin,” she said.

            Ben exhaled.

            After poking briefly into the kitchen, the tour resumed with the second floor.  Hannah was delighted that she would be so near Josie, though she expressed regret that she was displacing Little Joe.

            “Ain’t no trouble, Aunt Hannah,” Joe said, a bit bashfully.  “You should be close to Josie and Adam.  And I really don’t mind the bunkhouse.  The men are always up for a good game of poker.”  Joe regretted these words the instant they slipped out of his mouth.  Rachel drew in an audible sharp breath, but thinking quickly, Hoss changed the subject.

            “Wait until you see the washroom, Aunt Rachel!” he exclaimed.  “Adam built us indoor plumbing that’s downright ingenious!”

            Though Rachel had had indoor plumbing installed in her own home some years ago, she was nevertheless impressed that the technology had made its way to the Nevada Territory and complimented Adam accordingly.  By the time they reached Josie’s bedroom at the end of the hall, Little Joe’s indiscretion was forgotten, and Rachel complimented her niece on the décor.

            “Thank you, Aunt Rachel, but actually, Uncle Ben decorated the room for me,” Josie admitted.

            Rachel’s eyebrows shot up, and she turned to stare at her brother-in-law.

            “I had help,” Ben confessed.  “Charlotte Larson in town.  She and her husband are old friends, and she was very excited to help when I told her I needed to fix up this room for Josie.”

            “Charlotte Larson has good taste,” Hannah said, nodding.  She smiled warmly as she spotted the portrait of herself and Jacob on Josie’s night table.  She picked it up and lightly brushed her fingertips across the glass over her husband’s face.  “This reminds me, sweetheart,” she said to Josie, “I have something for you.  It’s in my trunk.”

            “We should let you get settled,” Ben said.  “Dinner will be ready in about an hour.  If there’s anything you need, please just ask.”

            “Thank you,” Hannah and Rachel chimed in unison as Ben shuffled his sons out of Josie’s bedroom.

            “Well, Hannah, I am going downstairs to unpack.  I will see you at supper,” Rachel said and swept out of the room behind the men.

            Josie followed her mother into Little Joe’s room to help her unpack.  Joe had moved the contents of his wardrobe temporarily into some free space in Adam’s, so Hannah had plenty of room to hang up her clothes.  Unlike her sister, Hannah had brought along a practical selection of day dresses rather than gowns, and Josie helped her hang these in the wardrobe.  Halfway down in Hannah’s trunk, Josie uncovered a small, flat package wrapped in brown paper.

            “What’s this, Mama?” she asked, picking it up and examining the wrapping.

            “That’s your gift,” Hannah said with a smile.  “Open it.”

            Josie sat on the bed and carefully unwrapped the little bundle.  The paper fell away to reveal a recent portrait of her father dressed in his Army uniform.  Josie’s eyes welled up as she studied the familiar face she missed so dearly, and she barely noticed her mother sitting down on the bed next to her.

            “He had this done when he was home over the holidays,” Hannah said, gazing fondly at the portrait.  “I thought you would like it.”

            “He looks so handsome,” Josie sniffed as a renegade tear trickled down her cheek.  “Oh, Mama, I miss him so much!”  She dissolved into tears and collapsed into her mother’s arms.  Hannah fought down tears of her own and held her daughter as if her very life depended on it.  “I dreamed of him when I was sick,” Josie continued, her voice muffled by her mother’s shoulder.  “At one point, I could have sworn he was holding me.  I could hear him telling me that he was right there and everything would be all right.  And I knew it would be because Papa wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”  She broke down sobbing again.

            “I miss him, too, darling,” Hannah choked out around the hard lump in her throat.  “But you are lucky, you know.  You have the best possible substitute here with your Uncle Benjamin.”

            “Yeah,” Josie agreed, pulling a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and dabbing at her nose.  “Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe are all right, too, I guess.”

            Hannah laughed.  “They’ll do,” she agreed, her eyes twinkling.  “They must have taken good care of you while you were ill.”

            “Oh, they did,” Josie confirmed.  “Poor Joe was shut out of the house during the quarantine, but Adam hardly left my side.  As best I can remember, anyway.  Adam said my mind went on its own little journey for about nine days.”

            Hannah shook her head as she fought back fresh tears.  “How did you ever manage to catch typhus in the first place?” she asked.  “I would have though you would be immune after all your work in Philadelphia.”

            Josie kept her mother captivated for the next ten minutes by telling her how she and Ben had found the little Indian boy and returned him to his village, where they discovered the people nearly wiped out by typhus.  Hannah’s eyes widened as Josie told her about treating Winnemucca’s daughter and returning the following day with more quinine, then how Dr. Martin surmised that sometimes casual contact with typhus was not enough to secure immunity.

            “It’s a wonder you had any quinine left over for yourself,” Hannah mused.

            “I didn’t,” Josie said.  “I still owe Dr. Martin a bottle, though the one he left didn’t do me any good.”

            “If the quinine failed, how are we sitting here having this conversation?” she asked in awe.  She had seen her husband treat dozens of typhus patients with quinine, and in the few instances where it had failed, the patients had died.

            “The Indians saved me,” Josie said simply.  She explained how Winnemucca had arrived with his medicine man and two warriors just after Dr. Martin had told the family that she most likely would not recover.  “I don’t remember much of the ritual they performed,” Josie admitted.  “You’d have to ask Adam or Uncle Ben for the details.  All I remember is one of the Indians – I guess it was Chief Winnemucca – carrying me out of the house, and then I smelled burning sage.  The next thing I remember is looking up at Adam.  Then there’s nothing until my fever broke that night.”

            Hannah was amazed by the story.  “I wonder why the Indians’ medicine worked for you when it couldn’t save their own people,” she mused.

            Josie shrugged her shoulders.  “I don’t know,” she replied.  “Why did the quinine work for the Indians but not for me?”

            “That’s a good point,” Hannah said, smiling.  “Now, tell me about this young man of yours.”

            Josie blushed.  She had mentioned Simon in some of her letters to her mother, but she had not gone so far as to reveal that they were courting.  Hannah, however, seemed to have intuited this information through some sixth sense Josie supposed all mothers must have.  She told Hannah about reuniting with Simon at the Fourth of July picnic when she first arrived in Nevada and his early attempts to court her.

            “It’s strange,” Josie said thoughtfully.  “I’ve always liked Simon as a friend, but nothing more.  Not until that night last summer after we brought Adam home and he showed up with a pie.  By the time Christmas rolled around…” she trailed off.

            Hannah smiled nostalgically.  “That happens sometimes,” she said sagely.  “I didn’t like your father, not even as a friend, the first few times we met.  I thought he was pompous and conceited.” 

            Josie giggled.

            “But then one day after your Aunt Elizabeth died and Ben and Adam left, your father showed up on our doorstep,” Hannah continued.  “He was still in college then at the University of Pennsylvania, but he came up to Boston all the way from Philadelphia.  He knew he was too late to see Ben and meet Adam, but he wanted to come anyway to express his condolences in person.  Rachel tried to turn him away, saying the last thing our family needed was another Cartwright interfering with our affairs, but your grandfather invited him inside for supper.  Afterwards, your father and I took a walk along the docks to get away from Rachel, and when I looked at him that night, I saw an entirely different person than I had seen before.  I saw the kindness and compassion in him, and I knew he was the man with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life.”  She sighed wistfully and gazed out the window toward the mountains rising up in the distance behind the house.

            “Of course, I was much younger than you at the time,” she added.  “Goodness, Jacob and I were only sixteen years old then!  We weren’t married for another four years because he was still finishing at the university and then going to medical school.  I suppose that wouldn’t be an issue for you and Simon.”

            “Oh, goodness, Mama!” Josie exclaimed.  “No one’s talking about marriage yet!  We’ve only been out on one buggy ride.”

            Hannah laughed.  “Well, good,” she said.  “I trust Ben and Adam’s judgment, but I would still like to meet the young man for myself.”

            “You’ll get to,” Josie said.  “He’s coming to supper tomorrow.”

            “Lovely!  And speaking of supper, I suppose I should let you wash up.”

            Josie hugged her mother tightly and skipped out of the room, her father’s portrait in her hand.

            Hannah rose from the bed and wandered across the hall to Adam’s room, where she could see through the open door that he was reading a book in his armchair next to the window.  She knocked softly on the doorjamb, and he sprang to his feet and invited her in. 

            “Sorry to interrupt your reading,” she apologized.  “It’s just such a treat to have you right across the hall again.”

            Adam grinned and hugged his aunt.  “It’s wonderful to have you here,” he said.  “I’m glad you like the house.”

            “It’s magnificent!” Hannah exclaimed.  She meant to compliment him on the house’s orientation to the view of the mountains, but she was distracted by the small portraits on Adam’s bureau.  She crossed the room and picked up the one of her sister Elizabeth.  “I haven’t seen this portrait in more than thirty years,” she sighed wistfully as she stared at the little picture.  “My goodness, she would have been a few years younger than Josie when this was done.”

            Adam stepped behind Hannah and gazed at the portrait over her shoulder.  “Yeah, I guess so,” he said thoughtfully.  “Pa said this was done just before they were married.  I guess she would have been about nineteen.”  The realization gave him pause.  At twenty-two, Josie still seemed so young to him, yet his own mother had been three years younger at the time of her marriage and two years younger at the time of her death.  Adam shuddered, remembering just how close Josie had come to joining her.

            Hannah picked up the ferrotype that Adam, Little Joe, and Josie they had had done just before Josie began medical school four years earlier, held it alongside the portrait of Elizabeth, and smiled at the resemblance.  “This sounds so silly,” she said, “but as long as we have Josie, Elizabeth is still with us.”

            Adam smiled.  “Is she a lot like her?” he asked, offering his aunt his vacated armchair.

            Hannah set the portraits back on Adam’s bureau and sat down in the chair as she considered this question.  “A little bit,” she said at last.  “Elizabeth had a playful, childlike quality even as a young adult that I see in Josie sometimes.  Though I think Josie could just as easily have inherited that from the Cartwright side.”  She nodded toward the sodden clothes Adam had draped over the back of a chair to dry after his dip in the horse trough.  Adam grinned sheepishly, and Hannah continued, “Josie’s personality is more like the Cartwright side.  She has that Cartwright stubbornness.”

            Adam laughed.  “Yes, she does,” he agreed as he sat down on the edge of his bed facing Hannah.  “The Stoddards have plenty of stubbornness, too, though.  Aunt Rachel, for example.”  He grinned.

            “Don’t judge your aunt too harshly,” Hannah said gently.  “It was hard on her, being the oldest of the three of us.  She was only sixteen when our mother died, and with Father spending most of the year at sea, caring for Elizabeth and me fell to her.  Just at the time Rachel should have been stepping out on her own and courting and simply enjoying being a young woman in Boston, she was suddenly shouldered with the responsibility of mothering two younger sisters.  I was only eight and Elizabeth only twelve.  Rachel certainly does not regret taking over for our mother, but it limited her ability to live her own life.”

            Adam sat silently for several long moments as Hannah told him this story so similar to his own.  Hannah smiled softly as she watched the realization wash over her nephew’s face.  She admired the long eyelashes that brushed his cheekbones when he closed his eyes and that naughty lock of hair that tried to creep over his brow even though he wore his black hair shorter now than he did when he was in college.  She could not have loved him more if he had been her son instead of her sister’s.  She reached over to him and took one of his tanned, callused hands in both of her soft, pale ones.

            “So the lesson to be learned,” Hannah continued, “is to be sure you are living your own life.  Don’t tie yourself permanently to younger siblings who are old enough to care for themselves.”  She paused and caught Adam’s eye.  “Because eventually they will find your presence difficult to bear.”

            Adam laughed aloud.  “I’ll remember that,” he said.

            Hannah smiled at him as she rose from her seat.  She kissed his forehead and slipped out of the room, leaving her nephew to his book and his thoughts.

******

            Despite Rachel’s disapproval of Hop Sing’s attire, dinner that evening went smoothly, and after coffee and brandy in the living room, everyone retired early.  The following morning, Josie and Hoss procured a picnic lunch from Hop Sing and took Hannah and Rachel on a day-long tour of the ranch, beginning with Lake Tahoe.  Though she complained about the heat – even in early May the weather was warming up quickly – Rachel seemed very happy to sit in the front seat of the surrey next to Hoss as he showed her around the Ponderosa.  She described the colossal lake as “positively breathtaking” and was delighted to eat lunch in the shade of a large oak tree near the shoreline.  She even thought it was funny that Hop Sing had packed an extra roast beef sandwich just for Pip.

            Little Joe spent the day breaking some new horses, while Ben and Adam reviewed the Ponderosa’s financial ledgers and began planning their cattle drive to San Francisco at the end of July.  They were just finishing up in the late afternoon when they heard the rest of the family return in the surrey.  The ladies swept into the house, still chatting amiably about the sights they had seen that day.  Ben nearly fell over in surprise when Rachel complimented him on the grandness and beauty of the Ponderosa before she retired to her room to wash up and change for dinner.  Josie and Hannah set off arm-in-arm up the stairs to do the same, leaving Ben and Adam alone once more.

            Adam glanced out of the office window and smiled when he saw Simon Croft riding up on his palomino.  The young man was wearing his best pants, shirt, and string tie and had slicked back his hair.  Simon’s shaggy hair seemed to have a mind of its own, and Adam marveled that he had been able to scrounge up enough hair tonic to keep it in check.  He stepped out onto the porch to greet him.

            “Hi, Simon!” Adam said, extending his hand.

            Simon shook Adam’s hand but did not make eye contact.  He was too busy glancing around the yard and trying to peer past Adam into the house.  “Hey, Adam,” he said distractedly.

            Adam wiped his hand on his pants leg; Simon’s hand had been unusually sweaty when they shook.  “Come on inside.  The ladies just got in from a buggy ride, so they’re washing up, but I don’t expect we have long to wait before supper.”

            Simon followed Adam into the house, where he greeted Ben, who also took note of the young man’s sweaty hand.

            “You all right, Simon?” Ben asked.  “You look a little pale.”

            “Oh, I’m all right, Mr. Cartwright,” Simon said, reaching up a hand to push back his hair and then remembering he did not have to.  With all the hair tonic he had applied before leaving the Lucky Star, Simon guessed it would be two or three years before he would have to brush his hair out of his eyes again.  “Just a little nervous, I suppose.”

            Ben smiled warmly at him.  He remembered all too well the anxiety of meeting a young lady’s parents.  “No need to be, son,” he reassured him.  “Josie’s mother will love you.”

            “I don’t think it’s Aunt Hannah he’s worried about, Pa,” Adam suggested.

            Ben thought about his for a moment.  “Oh,” he said.  “Well, I wouldn’t worry about Rachel, either.  She’s all bark and no bite.  Would you like some coffee?”

            Simon politely declined – he was jittery enough as it was – but took Adam up on his offer of a tall glass of water.  Adam tried to make small talk, but Simon had to keep asking him to repeat himself, so Adam gave up and sat awkwardly in the blue armchair while Simon perched on the settee and stared unblinkingly into the unlit fireplace.  He did not even seem to notice when Little Joe arrived home and greeted him.

            Fortunately, only a few minutes passed before they heard the sound of steps coming down the upstairs hallway toward the stairs.  Simon and Adam both sprang to their feet, and Adam reached over in a gesture he had extended so often to his younger brothers and straightened Simon’s tie.

            “Adam, I’m gonna throw up,” Simon moaned.

            “Don’t you dare!” Adam warned him, as if vomiting were a voluntary action.  “Aunt Rachel’s opinion doesn’t matter, but that doesn’t mean I want to have to deal with her if you empty your stomach all over her shoes.”

            Simon swallowed hard and gave Adam a weak nod just as Hannah and Josie reached the first floor.

            “Simon!” Josie exclaimed, rushing over to him.  Simon was momentarily distracted from his nerves as he gazed upon Josie, her hazel eyes sparkling, and her cheeks still flushed from the outdoors.  He stared at her pink lips and had to resist kissing her in front of her mother.  “I’m so glad you could join us tonight.  Come, meet my mother!”  She grabbed his hand and half-dragged him over to her mother near the stairs.

            “Mama,” Josie said formally, “I’d like you to meet Simon Croft.  Simon, my mother, Hannah Cartwright.”  Simon’s voice failed him, but Hannah saved him from embarrassment by extending her hand, which Simon automatically accepted and shook.

            “Simon!” Hannah said, a warm smile spreading across her face and her hand reaching out to clasp his.  “It’s wonderful to finally meet you.  I’ve heard so much about you.”

            “Mrs. Cartwright,” Simon croaked, taking her hand briefly.  “Good things, I hope.”

            “All good,” Hannah assured him, still beaming at the nervous young man with the deep brown eyes.

            Simon relaxed enough to smile back and think that perhaps everyone had been right, and he had nothing to worry about in meeting Josie’s mother.  Then Rachel swept into the living room, dressed once more in an elaborate, high-necked gown worthy of Boston’s high society.

            “Aunt Rachel,” Josie said, turning toward her aunt, “may I introduce Simon Croft.  Simon, my aunt, Rachel Stoddard.”

            Simon looked over from Hannah to Rachel and was struck by how looks and personality went hand-in-hand.  Hannah’s soft up-do with tendrils of dark hair curling around her face complemented her warm, gracious smile and told the world that she was a kind, friendly woman.  Rachel, however, looked hawkish.  Her gray hair was swept back severely and pinned into a tight bun, and she maintained a pinched, judgmental expression.  Simon reluctantly extended his hand to her and hoped she did not bite it off.

            “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” he said politely.

            “The pleasure is mine,” Rachel intoned without sounding the least bit pleased as she gazed upon the young man with the rough hands, simple clothes, and hair reeking of cheap, musky tonic.  “Well, Benjamin, shall we sit for supper?”

            Despite its vastness, the dining room table was a bit cozy with eight people around it, but they all managed to fit and were soon enjoying an excellent feast of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, and dinner rolls.  Rachel was a bit taken aback that she had to serve herself – she was used to her butler serving her and her dinner guests – but she complimented Hop Sing’s excellent cooking all the same. 

            As they ate, Ben explained a bit more of the Ponderosa’s operations to Hannah and Rachel, but halfway through the meal, Rachel tired of this topic and turned her attention back to Simon.

            “So, Mr. Croft,” she chirped.

            Simon’s head snapped up so violently Josie thought it a miracle he did not break his neck.  “Ma’am?” he acknowledged.

            Rachel pretended not to notice Simon’s startled reaction and continued unabated.  “What do you do for a living?”

            Simon swallowed hard, and Josie reassuringly patted his knee under the table.  “Oh, I, uh, I help my pa run our ranch.  The Lucky Star,” he croaked.

            Rachel looked up from the beef she was carving into dainty pieces.  “A rancher, then?” she asked, a touch of disapproval creeping into her voice.

            “Yes, ma’am,” Simon replied.  “Most men around here are either ranchers or miners.”

            “Actually, Aunt Rachel,” Adam cut in before Rachel could respond, “Simon’s the one who built all the furniture in Josie’s clinic.  Did a good deal of the construction on the building, too.”

            Rachel’s eyebrows lifted in sudden interest.  “Did you now?” she asked, genuinely impressed.  Josie shot Adam a look of pure gratitude.

            “Yes, ma’am,” Simon answered.  “Took a little while, what with my ranch duties, but I was pleased how it all turned out.”

            “You should be,” Rachel told him.  “That furniture is exquisite.  Have you trained long as a furniture maker?”

            This compliment was so unexpected that everyone at the table stared open-mouthed at Rachel for several long seconds before Simon could compose a response.

            “No, ma’am,” he sputtered.  “I ain’t – I mean, I haven’t – really had any training to speak of.  My grandfather taught me some woodwork when I was a youngster, but mostly I just taught myself out of the books he left me when he died.”

            “Most impressive,” Rachel said genuinely.  “Have you ever considered going into business for yourself?”

            “N- no, ma’am,” Simon stuttered again.  “I suppose I haven’t.  Like I said, my ranch duties keep me awful busy.”

            “Well, if you ever change your mind, I hope you will let me know,” Rachel said.  “A furniture-making business will need some start-up capital, and it would please me very much to invest in such a talented young artisan as yourself.”

            Thinking his ears were playing tricks on him due to too much drink, Ben pushed his wine glass away.  The dollop of mashed potatoes Hannah was lifting to her mouth fell off her spoon, and Adam’s hand, which had been reaching for another dinner roll, froze in midair.  Simon’s mouth dropped open and he stared at Rachel, his jaw flopping up and down like a beached trout’s.  Josie kicked him sharply in the shin to snap him back to his senses.

            “That’s, that’s, uh, that’s very kind of you, thank you, ma’am,” he stammered.  “I’ll certainly keep that in mind.”

            “I hope you will,” Rachel said with a decisive nod.  “It would be a shame to waste all that talent.  Now, Benjamin, tell me about this party you are planning.”

            The conversation turned to plans for a party to be held in two weeks.  Ben had not forgotten Adam’s suggestion to hold a party to thank their friends and neighbors for all their support during Josie’s illness, and the timing coincided nicely with Adam’s upcoming birthday.  As the others prattled on about music, decorations, and refreshments, Josie nudged her spoon subtly in Rachel’s direction and shot Adam a glance that clearly said “I can’t believe that just happened!”

            Adam’s eyes went wide and he spread his hands in a gesture that said “I know!”  The cousins then had to look away from one another as giggles threatened to surface.

            Hannah smiled as she watched the silent exchange between Adam and Josie.  It had been far too long since she had witnessed them having an entire conversation with one another without ever speaking a word.

            After dinner, Simon politely declined Ben’s offer of brandy in the living room, saying it was getting late and he really should be heading home.  He bid them all farewell, reserving his very best manners for Hannah and Rachel, before Josie walked him out to the porch.

            “Did I do all right?” Simon asked anxiously once the front door had closed securely behind him and Josie.

            “All right?!” Josie exclaimed.  “Simon, that was positively amazing!”

            Simon beamed.  “Your mother’s real nice,” he said.  “But I don’t see why you and Adam have such a hard opinion of your Aunt Rachel.  She looks stern, but she’s a fine lady, if you ask me.”

            “I’m beginning to think that’s not actually Aunt Rachel in there,” Josie mused.  “Either that or she’s gone senile.  I don’t care, though.  That went brilliantly!  You were brilliant.”  She glanced toward the windows to ensure they were not being watched and gave Simon a quick kiss.  He tried to draw her closer for more, but she pulled back.  “I have to get back inside,” she said, her voice thick with disappointment.  “We don’t want Aunt Rachel changing her opinion of you.”

            Simon grinned.  “Goodnight, Josie,” he said. 

            Josie bid him goodnight and slipped back into the house. 

******

            Rachel insisted on attending church the following morning, so Ben hitched up the surrey once more and drove the three ladies into town while his sons followed on horseback.  Rachel was, of course, again dressed as if she were still in Boston and basked in the attention she drew as Ben escorted her to their usual pew. 

            After the service, the Cartwrights spent a good thirty minutes introducing Rachel and Hannah to everyone.  The townspeople gravitated naturally toward Hannah with her warm smile and friendly demeanor, and she was moved to discover how much the people of Virginia City loved and respected her daughter.  Rachel, on the other hand, was given a wide berth, partly due to her stern countenance, but mostly due to her proximity to Widow Hawkins, who had sought out her new friend immediately after the service.  One man, however, did not keep his distance and seemed positively delighted to strike up a conversation with the grand Bostonian lady.

            “It surely is a pleasure to meet the family of two such fine young people as Adam and Josie,” Sheriff Coffee said as he gently clasped Rachel’s extended hand.  “I can certainly see where Dr. Cartwright got her fair looks.”

            Ben’s mouth dropped open as Rachel actually giggled at this compliment and fanned her face with her free hand.  Adam bit his lip and pretended he suddenly remembered something very important he needed to tell Ross.  Ben glared jealously at his son as Adam slipped away in search of his friend.

            “We are hosting a party at Benjamin’s ranch on the sixteenth, and I do hope you will attend,” Rachel invited the sheriff.

            “Why, Miss Stoddard, I’d be delighted,” Roy replied.  He bid her a fond farewell and practically skipped away to greet the Reverend.

            “Oh, Benjamin,” Rachel chirped, turning to her brother-in-law, “I have invited Clementine to the ranch for Sunday dinner.”

            “Well, Rachel, there are only four seats in the buggy,” Ben pointed out.  “We haven’t got any space, I’m afraid.”  He tried not to show his relief.

            He had not counted on Josie feeling mischievous that morning. 

            “Widow Hawkins can have my seat, Uncle Ben,” Josie offered a little too eagerly.  “I’ll double up with Adam for the ride home.”  She smiled cloyingly at him.

            “Thank you, Josephine,” Rachel said, not even thinking to protest Josie’s riding a horse while wearing a dress. 

            “All right,” Ben grumbled.

            Hannah sat in the front seat of the buggy for the ride home so Rachel and Widow Hawkins could sit together in the back and chat.  Perched atop Sport, Josie and Adam smirked down at the pair of new friends and snickered softly to one another.  Neither of them were big fans of the widow’s, but seeing the look on Ben’s face as he realized he would be hosting the woman rather frequently over the next month made bearing her presence well worth it.

            Fortunately, Hop Sing had expected that there would be several unplanned dinner guests during Hannah’s and Rachel’s stay, so the addition of Widow Hawkins to the dinner table was not problematic.  Everyone sat down to a splendid dinner featuring two delicious roast chickens.  As they ate, Rachel and Clementine planned out the party the Ponderosa would be hosting in two weeks. 

            “We must have music!” Rachel declared.  “Benjamin, to whom do I speak about hiring a string quartet?”

            Adam nearly shot water out his nose as his father explained that Virginia City did not yet boast an orchestra.  

            “But we can usually scrape together a fiddler and a piper,” Ben said.  “And Adam’s not the only guitar player in the area.”

            “And Isaiah Jenkins plays the harmonica real good,” Little Joe added helpfully.

            “Oh, dear,” Rachel sighed sadly.  “Well, I guess we will have to make do.”  Widow Hawkins patted Rachel’s hand comfortingly.  “Josephine,” Rachel said, turning to her niece, “you must show me the gowns you have bought since you left Philadelphia.  I will help you select a suitable one for the party.”

            Adam choked on his water again as Josie cast him a despairing look.

            “Actually, Aunt Rachel,” Josie said slowly, “you’ve already seen the extent of the wardrobe I’ve purchased since I moved here.”  She gestured to her red gingham dress, which was a lovely selection for church or a party by Virginia City’s standards, but hardly worthy of a housemaid on her day off by Boston’s.  Josie very wisely chose not to mention the two pairs of jeans hanging in her wardrobe upstairs.

            “Merciful heavens!” Rachel exclaimed, her right hand flying to her bosom.  “We must rectify this at once!  You cannot host a party dressed like a servant.  As the lady of the house, you must make a good impression.   I assume there is a dressmaker in town, at least?”

            Josie sighed heavily, her long, dark eyelashes dropping as she stared at her plate.  More than six months after the influenza epidemic, Josie still ached for every one of her patients she had lost.  “Not anymore,” she said at last.  “We had a good one, Amy Pearson, but the influenza epidemic took her last fall.  Most women around here make their own clothes anyway.”

            “Don’t ‘ave to anymore, though, do we?” Clementine chimed in.  “Why, new dress shop opened up just last week a few doors down from me boarding ‘ouse!  Sweet little thing running it, too.  Molly, I think she said ‘er name was.”

            Josie shot daggers at the widow, but the older woman was too busy basking in Rachel’s praise for her quick thinking to notice the disgruntled doctor.

            “Wonderful!” Rachel exclaimed, beaming triumphantly at Josie, who merely grimaced in reply.  “We will go to see her first thing tomorrow morning.”

            Josie stifled a groan as her mother reached under the table and squeezed her hand.  Hannah knew how much Josie despised being fitted for gowns. 

            “Yes, ma’am,” was all Josie said. 

******

            Adam gallantly offered to drive the ladies into town the following morning to spare his father another day with Widow Hawkins, whom they were meeting before heading to the dress shop.  The trip began badly.  Before they even left the house, Josie and Rachel got into an argument when Josie tried to bring Pip along.  Josie was furious when Hannah sided with Rachel and suggested that perhaps for this excursion, Pip should stay home.  Josie slouched in the front seat of the carriage next to Adam and scowled the entire way to town.  Halfway there, Adam nudged her with his elbow.

            “Cheer up, Grumpy,” he muttered so Hannah and Rachel could not hear in the back seat.  “There’s worse things could happen than having to get new clothes.”

            “Easy for you to say,” Josie grumbled.  “You’re not about to be squeezed into a corset.”

            Adam had no reply.  He felt bad for Josie, but at the same time, he was just relieved Aunt Rachel had not said anything about his wardrobe.

            An hour later, Adam reined to a stop in front of Widow Hawkins’ boardinghouse.  Clementine was waiting for them on the porch.  Wearing her finest gown of white lace and carrying a pink parasol, she was obviously trying to match steps with Rachel.  Adam helped the ladies out of the buggy and was about to walk over to Josh Grayson’s to order some new horse harnesses when Josie grabbed his arm.

            “You’re not getting away that easily,” she hissed through clenched teeth.

            “Josie, I can’t hang around while you’re getting fitted for a dress,” Adam pointed out.

            “You can at least protect me until we get to the shop,” she rejoined.

            Adam chuckled, offered Hannah his free arm, and escorted the ladies to the dress shop on the next block. 

            “I’m surprised I didn’t realize this opened,” Josie said, examining a festive pink frock displayed in the front window.  “It’s practically across the street from Dr. Martin’s clinic.”

            “It’s brand new,” Adam deduced, looking at the freshly painted sign next to the door.  “It probably opened while you were sick.”  He read the sign aloud.  “Molly O’Connell, Seamstress.  Gee, you think she’s Irish?”  He chuckled at his own cleverness.

            Aunt Rachel looked disappointed.  “Oh, an Irish,” she mumbled disapprovingly.  “Well, I suppose it’s better than nothing.  Come along, Josephine!”

            She ripped Josie away from Adam and dragged her into the shop.  Adam, Hannah, and Widow Hawkins followed closely behind.  A little bell above the door heralded their arrival, and Adam glanced around at the shelves of fabric that covered the walls.  Molly O’Connell had every color in the rainbow in a variety of patterns and weights.

            “She must have been doing this for a while,” he mused.  He snickered to himself as he envisioned a short, stout woman with fading red hair, wrinkles around her eyes, and a tendency to “accidentally” stick her fussier clients with straight pins.

            Just then, a young woman, perhaps a few years older than Josie, stepped into the shop from a back room.  She was tall for a woman, a bit over five and a half feet, and thin, as if she were familiar with hard work and short rations.  But her brilliant green eyes were clear and bright and stood out in sharp contrast to her delicate features and pale skin.  When she smiled at them, she revealed two rows of pearly, even teeth.

            Adam felt as he had just been hit head-on by a monstrous steer.  All the wind rushed out of him, and he froze in place and stared unblinkingly at the young lady.  Before anyone else could notice, Josie pinched his arm hard, snapping him out of his reverie.

            “Good mornin’!” the young lady called out cheerfully in a thick Irish brogue as she tossed her wavy auburn hair over her shoulder.  Taking careful inventory of the group who had just entered the shop, she extended her hand to Rachel, though her gaze lingered on Adam.  “I’m Molly O’Connell,” she introduced herself.  “What can I be doin’ for ya this mornin’?”

            “Rachel Stoddard of Boston,” Rachel said, briefly clasping Molly’s hand.  “This is my sister, Hannah Cartwright, my friend, Clementine Hawkins, my niece, Dr. Josephine Cartwright, and my nephew, Adam Cartwright.”  She indicated each one in turn.

            Molly shook hands with each person as Rachel introduced them.  Her hand idled in Adam’s, and she briefly caught his gaze before casting her eyes bashfully downward.  Adam suavely flashed his most winning smile.

            “I can tell you must be brother and sister,” Molly said to Josie and Adam.  “It’s the eyes.”  Josie wondered how Molly could make such an observation because there was only one pair of eyes the young Irishwoman had been looking at since she entered the room, and it was not Josie’s.

            “They are cousins, actually,” Rachel corrected her.

            “Not according to the Paiutes,” Josie muttered, a little too loudly.

            Hannah tittered; Josie had told her about Winnemucca’s analysis of the connection between her and Adam.  Rachel, however, was befuddled.

            “What an odd thing to say, Josephine,” she commented before turning back to Molly.  “Anyway, my niece needs a new frock for a party.  One that is befitting her station as the lady of the Ponderosa.”

            Adam bit his lower lip as Josie rolled her eyes.  To hear Rachel tell it, Josie was Queen Guinevere of Camelot.

            “Oh, you’re the Cartwrights of the Ponderosa, are you?” Molly exclaimed delightedly.  “Well of course, I’ve been hearin’ of the Ponderosa.  Seems everyone between here and San Francisco knows it.”  She did, finally, turn her gaze away from Adam toward Josie.  “And so you must be the lady doctor I’ve heard so much about.  It’s lovely to meet you.”

            “Likewise,” Josie said as she shook Molly’s hand.  “Have you been in town long?  I have to admit, I did not notice you setting up shop.”

            “Only a few weeks,” Molly answered.  “Me brother and I were in San Francisco, but he wanted to try his hand at farmin’, he did.  I had a little shop there, but San Francisco has so many dressmakers now it was hard to make a name for meself.  So I came along with him.”

            “Your brother, you say?” Widow Hawkins piped up.  “So no ‘usband then, ‘ave you?”

            Molly blushed as Rachel and the Cartwrights all inwardly cringed at this inappropriately personal question, though Adam found himself interested to hear the young lady’s answer.

            “No, ma’am,” Molly nearly whispered, looking down at her shoes.  “Leastaways not yet.”  She gazed up through her long, black eyelashes and smiled at Adam, who smiled back.

            Hannah recognized the attraction between Adam and the pretty young seamstress and realized she better say something before Rachel and Clementine caught on and started a riotous gossip chain through town.   “Well, Miss O’Connell,” she said, “as my sister mentioned, my daughter needs a dress for a party we are having at the Ponderosa in two weeks.  I know it’s terribly short notice, but is there anything you can do for us?”  She smiled warmly at the girl.

            “Yes, ma’am,” Molly affirmed.  “I’m so new here, I’ve got only one other order, and it’s nearly done.”  She gestured to a pale pink day dress displayed on a dress form by the window.  Next to it, a shiny, black sewing machine sat on a small wooden table.

            “Wonderful!” Rachel exclaimed.  “Let us have a look at your patterns.”

            Molly led them to a table at the back of the shop that held two large books full of dress patterns and some sketches Molly had done herself.  Josie plunked reluctantly into one of the chairs.  Sensing a presence behind her, she turned and saw that Adam was still with them.  The other ladies noticed, too, and turned to look at him.

            “Adam, sweetheart, you can go,” Hannah said, laying her hand on his arm.

            “Oh, yes,” Adam replied, still gazing at Molly, “I suppose I should leave you ladies to it.  I’ll see you at lunch.”  He turned to Molly.  “And I certainly hope to see you again soon, Miss O’Connell.”  He smiled broadly at her and turned to leave.

            Josie’s hollered warning came a second too late, and Adam turned around straight into another of Molly’s dress forms.  He tripped, and in his efforts to catch both himself and the headless mannequin before they toppled to the floor, he grabbed the dress form by its breasts.

            Josie would be forever impressed by Adam’s recovery. 

“My apologies, madam,” he said, setting the mannequin upright and bowing grandly to it.  He winked cheekily at Molly, who giggled brightly as she watched him depart, the doorbell tinkling cheerfully behind him.

            Josie had to work so hard to suppress her laughter that her face quickly exhausted its supply of red and turned bright purple.  Hannah bit her lower lip until tears rose to her eyes.

            Rachel and Widow Hawkins simply shook their heads.          

            “Young people these days!” Clementine remarked.

            Josie quickly changed the subject.  “Aunt Rachel,” she began, pointing to a random dress pattern, “what do you think of this gown?”

******

            Adam floated all the way to Josh Grayson’s shop without ever feeling his feet touch the ground.  He had never been so struck by a woman in his entire life, and he didn’t even know her yet.

            Yet. 

He grinned at the thought; Molly was the type of woman he wanted to get to know slowly, savoring each new little discovery.  The image of her brilliant green eyes burned into his memory, Adam grinned all the way to the leather shop.

After ordering the new harnesses, Adam retired to the saloon for an early beer to while away the time until he could meet his family for lunch at the International House.  As he nursed his brew, he decided to return to town later that week to take Molly O’Connell to lunch and perhaps invite her to the Cartwrights’ upcoming party.  Happy with his plan, Adam sauntered over to the International House a few minutes before noon to meet his family and Widow Hawkins.  He leaned casually against a post on the porch and waited for the ladies to arrive.

The noontime sun beat down on him, and Adam pulled the brim of his black hat a smidgeon lower over his brow.  He smiled to himself as he gazed down the wide, dusty main street of Virginia City.  In only four years, the grubby little “hamlet,” as Rachel called it, had grown into a reasonably sized town with several two- and three-story buildings, including Widow Hawkins’ boardinghouse and the hotel on whose porch he now loitered.  Further down the street sat the saloon, and at the very end, with the soaring snow-capped Sierra Nevadas as a backdrop, was Sheriff Coffee’s office and jail.  The street bustled with people, horses, and wagons, all of them sending up puffs of dust, but no one seemed to mind.  Living in Nevada, a body became accustomed to dust, and it was a small price to pay for living amidst such natural beauty.  Adam sighed contentedly.  Boston, New York, and Washington had their appeal – Adam desperately missed libraries – but those crowded metropolises could never match the invigorating fresh air and glowing sunshine of his western home.  No, Adam thought, Virginia City suited him just fine.

Within ten minutes, Adam spotted the ladies approaching from down the street.   He did a quick headcount and discovered there were five women when there should have been only four.  Pulling his hat brim even lower to reduce the glare from the bright sunlight, Adam nearly fell over when he recognized the extra woman in the entourage as none other than Miss Molly O’Connell.  His stomach’s rumblings of hunger morphed into a whirling ball of nerves, but he plastered on his most debonair smile.

“Miss O’Connell!” he exclaimed, swiftly kissing the back of the young lady’s extended hand when the ladies reached him.  “How wonderful of you to join us.”

Molly giggled nervously.  “Well, when Dr. Cartwright so graciously invited me, I couldn’t say no,” she explained, blushing.

Adam glanced over at Josie, who was grinning at him as if she had never been so proud of herself.  Adam beamed back at her in gratitude and resolved to buy her a nice gift when he was in San Francisco at the end of the summer.  He held the door and ushered the ladies inside.

Rachel and Widow Hawkins spent the entire meal looking put out as Adam and Molly monopolized the conversation.  Adam was fascinated by Molly’s childhood in Ireland, and by the time lunch was over, he had gotten her to tell her entire life story.  She had been born just in Dublin almost twenty-six years ago.  Her mother was a seamstress, too, and her father worked in the Guinness beer brewery.  Molly was only eight years old when the horrific potato famine struck Ireland, but being in Dublin helped her family survive the famine – the hardest-hit areas were along the island’s west coast – and also provided her the opportunity to attend school, at least until she was thirteen when she went to work in one of Dublin’s dressmaking factories.  When her mother died when Molly was seventeen, her father decided to give up beer-making and gathered up her and her younger brother, Fionn, and set off for America.  They arrived first in Boston but made their way slowly across the United States to California.

“Sounds a lot like my own father,” Adam remarked.  “He and I spent seven years crossing the continent from Boston to Nevada.”

“Aye, it’s a long way,” Molly agreed.  “But we made it in about a year, and Da and Fionn found work on the docks in San Francisco.  When Da died last year, Fionn decided he’d had enough of city life and started lookin’ for a small farm to buy with the money he’d saved up.  And here we are.” 

“Yes, here you are,” Adam said, smiling across the table at her.  She smiled back and him, and the pair gazed at each other for several long moments while the rest of the family watched awkwardly.

At last, Josie cleared her throat.  “Well, Molly,” she said as she cut into her baked potato, “you must come to our party on the sixteenth and meet everyone.”

Rachel looked disapproving – she had been less than thrilled when Josie invited the Irishwoman to lunch in the first place – but Adam grinned at Josie once more and knew he owed her big.  Perhaps he would get her two presents in San Francisco.

“Oh, yes!” Hannah exclaimed with genuine delight.  “You must join us.  It will give you an opportunity to meet more of the townspeople.”

Molly glowed.  “I’d like that very much, thank you,” she accepted. 

Adam glowed.

******

            Adam found the rest of his week quite frustrating.  He desperately wanted to return to town and take Molly to lunch, but between his ranch duties and visiting with his aunts, he did not have an opportunity to slip away.  He jumped at the chance, therefore, to once again drive Rachel, Hannah, and Josie into town the following Tuesday for Josie’s dress fitting.  He knew he would not be able to get Molly alone for a private lunch, but seeing her in a group was better than nothing and might help keep Virginia City’s other young bachelors at bay.

            Josie smirked when she saw him pull the surrey carriage up to the house that morning.  Adam was usually meticulous about his appearance, making sure he was clean-shaven and his hair was neatly cropped and combed, but he had really done himself up this morning.  He was wearing a crisp, white shirt and a pair of pressed black trousers instead of his usual jeans.  His freshly polished boots gleamed in the morning sunlight, and Josie was fairly certain he had even polished his hatband.  As Adam helped her into the carriage, Josie caught a whiff of his cologne.  His good cologne, she noticed, not his usual Bay Rum aftershave.

            “You look nice,” she commented impishly as she settled into her seat.

            “Thank you,” he replied with a sly half-smile.  The cousins grinned at each other.  Adam knew Josie understood exactly why he had taken so much care while dressing this morning. 

            Rachel took in her nephew’s brushed-up appearance and nodded approvingly.  “It is a relief to know I have had an influence on someone,” she remarked, cutting her eyes critically to Josie’s plain brown skirt and checkered shirtwaist. 

            “Yeah, Pa really is hopeless,” Adam quipped.   Josie squeezed his hand in gratitude as Hannah laughed aloud.  Rachel simply rolled her eyes as Adam helped her into the carriage.

            When they arrived in town, Rachel was disappointed to discover that Widow Hawkins was busy preparing for the arrival of new boarders and could not accompany them to the dress shop.  Everyone else, however, was relieved – Josie had explained to her mother about the widow’s incessant pursuit of Ben, and even the very patient Hannah had begun to weary of the overbearing English woman’s presence.

            Morris, the telegraph operator, was strolling down the street as Adam rolled the wagon to a stop in front of Molly O’Connell’s dress shop, and he practically jumped at Hannah as Adam helped her out of the carriage.

            “Mrs. Cartwright!” Morris shouted in her face, causing Hannah to take an involuntary step backward.  “Oh, sorry,” he apologized in a much softer voice.  He plunged his hand into his vest pocket and rummaged around for a moment before producing a slip of blue paper, which he held out to Hannah.  “Telegram for you, Mrs. Cartwright.  Glad I stuck it in my pocket.”

            Hannah thanked him for the message, but Morris stayed put, bouncing from foot to foot, until Adam shooed him away.

            “He’s a little excitable,” Adam explained in answer to Rachel’s questioning look.

            Hannah unfolded the paper and read its contents, her brow furrowed.  “That’s odd,” she muttered. 

            “What is it, Mama?” Josie asked, fighting the urge to read over her mother’s shoulder.

            “It’s from your father,” Hannah said and then read the telegram aloud.  “I am fine STOP Love to Josie STOP Love Jacob.”

            “There must have been another battle,” Adam deduced.  He and Josie stared at each other as they puzzled it out.

            “Chancellorsville!” the cousins declared in unison.

            “How backwards,” Josie remarked.  “Usually we hear about the battle first and then have to wait to find out about Papa.”

            “You ladies go on inside and take care of Josie’s dress,” Adam said.  “I’ll go over to the telegraph office and see if Morris has more information.”

            “No need for that, Mr. Cartwright,” a lilting voice rang out behind them.  It was Molly, standing on the porch of her shop and smiling right at Adam.  “I’ve a copy of the story right here in me shop.”

            Adam’s face lit up as he spun around to face Molly.  He mounted the porch steps in a single bound and gently took hold of her hand, kissing the back of it as he had done the previous week.  “Miss O’Connell,” he greeted her.

            “Mornin’,” Molly replied with a little giggle.  Adam could have stood there all day staring into Molly’s eyes, but he was anxious for the news about the battle.  Molly sensed this and led them all inside.  She disappeared briefly into the back room and reemerged with a sheet of paper, which she handed to Adam. 

Josie pressed up against her cousin to read the article with him.  Hannah and Rachel watched anxiously as the pair scanned the story, their eyes darting back and forth in perfect synchronization, and their eyebrows rising higher with each paragraph.

“I don’t believe it,” Josie gasped, her hand covering her mouth.

“What is it?” Hannah asked.

“Stonewall Jackson is dead,” Adam breathed, still staring at the paper.

Even Rachel’s mouth dropped open at this news.  General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson had been General Robert E. Lee’s right-hand man for nearly two years.  He had led a vicious campaign through the Shenandoah Valley the year before and was considered one of the best strategic minds on either side of the war. 

“How did it happen?” Rachel inquired.

“Article says he took a bullet in the left arm on the second of the month,” Adam replied.  “Doctors amputated the arm, and he appeared to be recovering, but he contracted pneumonia and died just two days ago, on Sunday.”

“I didn’t think the generals got that close to the front lines,” Hannah remarked.

“Oh, he weren’t on the front lines, Mrs. Cartwright,” Molly chimed in.  “Shot by one of his own men, he was, riding back to camp at the end of the day.”

“The end of a victorious day, for him,” Adam mused, his eyes still darting rapidly across the paper.

Adam filled the ladies in on the rest of the battle.  Fighting had broken out near Chancellorsville in northeastern Virginia on May 1 and raged for six days.  On May 2, General Jackson and his men executed a brilliant flanking maneuver, which brought them within only a few hundred feet of the Union troops.  The Confederates unleashed a savage charge, sending the Union soldiers fleeing, many of them never firing a shot.  As General Jackson rode back to camp that evening, a nervous unit of North Carolinians mistook him for a Union officer and opened fire, inflicting the wound that would ultimately claim his life.

The battle continued another four days without General Jackson.  May 3 would go down in history as the second bloodiest day of the war.  By May 6, the Union’s Army of the Potomac was defeated, but for Confederate General Robert E. Lee, it was a Pyrrhic victory.  He had lost one of the most brilliant officers of the era.

“I’m sorry the man lost his life, but you can’t deny it’s a boon to the Union having him out of the war,” Josie remarked.

“They’re estimating 17,000 casualties on the Union side alone,” Adam lamented.  Josie studied his face carefully, fearful that she would see the lifelessness in his eyes that he had carried after Antietam.  But just then, Molly moved a step closer to Adam and laid a hand on his arm.

“Aye, it’s terrible,” she agreed softly. 

Adam nearly melted at Molly’s touch, his despair over the battle fading almost as quickly as it had arisen.  He still grieved the lost lives, but he now felt hope, too.  Hope that all was not lost, as long as there were still good people in the world.  He turned his gaze toward Molly and smiled affectionately at her. 

Rachel unwittingly broke the spell.  “It is horrible,” she sniffled loudly as she dabbed her eyes with a dainty lace handkerchief.  “Absolutely horrible.  But at least Jacob is safe.”

Hannah nodded her agreement, a small tear escaping the corner of her eye and trickling down her cheek.  Adam dug his own handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to his aunt.  She accepted it and dried her eyes.

“Well,” Hannah said, gathering herself.  “I think we have taken enough of Miss O’Connell’s time with this.  Shall we get down to business?”

Molly swiped the news article from Adam’s hand and beckoned to the ladies to follow her to the back room so Josie could try on her new gown. 

“You’ll join us for lunch again, won’t you, Miss O’Connell?” Adam asked before he left.

Molly beamed.  “I’d love to,” she replied.  Adam smiled back and bid them all farewell.  This time, he was very careful as he turned around to leave, and he gave all of Molly’s dress forms a comically wide berth as he crossed through the shop to the door.  He was rewarded by the sound of Molly’s sweet laugh, and he turned and grinned at her one last time before stepping out into the street.

Adam killed time by picking up some groceries at Will Cass’s General Store and Emporium – the shopkeeper had Hoss’s favorite canned peaches back in stock – and tipping back a cold beer with Sheriff Coffee at the Bucket of Blood.  When Roy seemed unusually interested in how Rachel Stoddard was enjoying her visit to the Ponderosa, Adam invited him to join them for lunch to see for himself – an invitation the sheriff cheerfully accepted.

An hour later, Adam and Roy were both trying not to bounce with excitement as they waited for the ladies to arrive at the International House.  The first thing Adam noticed when the foursome drew near was the way Josie and Molly were waltzing arm-in-arm down the street, chattering away like a pair of excited sparrows.  Molly said something to Josie that caused her to throw her head back and laugh so loudly that the joyful sound echoed all the way down the street.  Adam smiled.  He could live a thousand years and never tire of hearing Josie laugh.  The past year had been difficult for her, especially losing Margaret to the flu, and with Patience spending more and more time with Hoss, Adam had worried that Josie’s little circle of friends was shrinking, so it cheered him to see it increasing again.  And though he never would have said so aloud, he suddenly realized how very important it was to him that Molly and Josie get along.

The two young ladies were still giggling together as they approached the hotel’s porch and greeted Adam and the sheriff.  When Rachel spotted Roy standing next to Adam, her entire face lit up like she had just won a magnificent prize.

 “Why, Sheriff Coffee!” she exclaimed.  “How lovely to see you again!”  She extended her hand to him, and the sheriff bent over and kissed it in an awkward imitation of Adam’s smooth maneuver.  Adam and Josie clutched each other for support when Rachel giggled.  “Girlish” was not a word anyone would ever have used to describe Rachel Stoddard, yet that was exactly her reaction to the lawman.

Roy took it in stride.  “Lovely to see you again, ma’am,” he replied.  “I was delighted when your nephew here invited me to join you for lunch.  I have wanted to ride out to the Ponderosa to see how you all have been gettin’ along, but unfortunately, my duties have kept me busy here in town.”  He puffed out his chest importantly, causing Adam to let out a renegade snort that he tried valiantly, if not completely successfully, to disguise as a sneeze.  Josie had to duck behind Molly so no one could see her fighting back laughter.

“Of course they have!” Rachel agreed.  “I expect you are quite busy most of the time, an important man like yourself.”

Josie peeked over Molly’s shoulder, caught Adam’s eye, and made a face like she was gagging.  Knowing he was mere seconds away from losing his composure, Adam offered his arm to Molly.

“Shall we see if our table’s ready?” he suggested.

Rachel positioned herself next to the sheriff at the table.  When Roy insisted that Rachel tell him “all about Boston,” Adam knew the rest of them would not have to converse with Rachel for the duration of their meal.  When Rachel Stoddard got started on Boston and the history of her family, the audience had better hope they had plenty of time to spare.  Adam turned to Josie instead.

“So what were you two ladies discussing on the way here that was so hilarious?” he asked Josie, giving her a playful nudge in the ribs.

 “Molly was just telling me stories about her and her brother as children,” Josie said with a grin.  “They sound just like Little Joe and me!”

“And you’ve managed to survive to adulthood?” Adam asked as he turned to his other side and gave Molly a sly smile.

Molly laughed.  “Aye, it’s a bit of a miracle,” she agreed, her eyes twinkling.  She held his gaze for several moments before looking back down at her salad plate.

“You should bring your brother along to the party on Saturday,” Adam suggested.  “We’d love to meet him.”

“I will, thank you!” Molly said brightly, clearly pleased to have her brother included in the fun.  “He’d love that.  Fionn loves meetin’ new people.  I’m lookin’ forward to meetin’ your brothers, too, Mr. Cartwright.  Josie’s told me so much about them.”

Adam smiled at Molly’s use of Josie’s Christian name rather than her professional title and decided it was time to change the way Molly addressed him, too.

“Adam,” he corrected her gently.  “Mr. Cartwright is an old man.  I’m just Adam.”

“Alright, then, ‘Just Adam,’” Molly teased playfully.  “You can call me ‘Merely Molly.’”

The pair laughed, their foreheads nearly touching.  Josie rolled her eyes and felt a stabbing pain in her shin as someone kicked her under the table.  She looked up and saw Hannah gazing at her and biting back a smile.  Josie smirked back.  The flirting was downright cloying, but both Josie and Hannah were thrilled to see Adam taking part in it.  In one brief shared glance, Josie and Hannah could tell they were both thinking it was about darn time.

After lunch, Sheriff Coffee insisted on escorting everyone back to Molly’s shop, where he and Rachel bid each other a lengthy farewell in which Rachel elicited Roy’s sincere promise to attend the party that Saturday.  Roy promised he would not miss it for the world and helped Rachel up into the carriage.

“Your gown will be ready by Thursday,” Molly told Josie as Adam lifted her easily into the carriage’s front seat. 

            “Oh, good,” Josie said, not sounding at all thrilled by this news.  She and Molly shared a brief gaze and dissolved into giggles once more.  “I’m sure Adam here will be happy to come by and pick it up.”

            “Your wish is my command, Empress Josephine,” Adam replied obediently, placing his right hand over his heart and bowing deeply.  He kissed Molly’s hand once more before swinging into the wagon seat next to Josie.  “I’ll see you in a couple days, then,” he said to the seamstress.  He gave her a wink, clucked to the horses, and set off for home.

            A little ways down the road, as Rachel and Hannah chatted happily in the back seat, Adam turned to Josie.

            “So what’s so funny about your dress being ready on Thursday?” he asked quietly.

            “Oh,” Josie replied, waving one hand dismissively.  “Nothing funny about the timing, just the dress itself.”

            “What’s wrong with the dress?” Adam asked, slightly offended.  “Seems like Molly does real nice work, judging from the samples in her shop.”

            “Molly’s work is exquisite,” Josie agreed.  “It’s just the style Aunt Rachel selected.”

            Josie could tell by Adam’s silence that he needed more explanation.  Envy swelled up inside her over the simplicity of her male cousins’ sartorial lives, and she sighed.

            “Remember our dinner with Captain Pike on the Morning Star?” she asked, referencing their journey from Philadelphia two years earlier.

            Adam acknowledged that he did.

            “This gown I’m getting would be suitable for that occasion.”

            “You looked beautiful that night,” Adam complimented her, still not understanding what was wrong with a fancy gown.

            Josie smiled.  She was not a vain woman, but she had to agree that she had, in fact, looked stunning that evening.  “Thank you,” she said.  “But this gown is going to look ridiculous on a cattle ranch.  I’m going to look ridiculous.”

            “You will look amazing,” Adam insisted.  “And I can think of at least one other young man who will agree with me.”  He shot Josie a wicked grin and laughed when she blushed.

            “Oh, shut up, ‘Just Adam,’” Josie retorted, giving him a wicked grin of her own.

            “Touché, Josephine, touché,” Adam replied, chastened.

            The cousins laughed, and Josie leaned over to give Adam a peck on the cheek.  They rode in companionable silence the rest of the way home.

******

            Adam, unfortunately, was unable to return to town on Thursday to collect Josie’s gown.  The shoring in one of their mines had become unstable, and Adam spent the rest of the week at the mine drawing up plans for new supports and instructing the men on how to install them.

            “It should take a couple weeks to build these properly,” Adam told the mine’s foreman, Jeb, on his Thursday visit up to the mine.  “No one does any more mining until these supports are in place.  And whatever you do, don’t blast anywhere near this site.  You could bring the whole thing down.”

            Jeb was an experienced miner and agreed wholeheartedly with everything Adam told him.

            “Don’t you worry, Mr. Cartwright,” he said.  “I’ll take care of everything.  That new shoring will be up before you know it.”

            “Thank you, Jeb,” Adam replied. 

            As Adam walked into the house that evening, he overheard Little Joe gushing to Hoss about Virginia City’s new seamstress.  In Adam’s absence, Little Joe had ridden into town to collect Josie’s dress.

            “You gotta see her, Hoss!” Joe exclaimed.  “She’s got this long, brown hair and the brightest green eyes you’ve ever seen.  Cute little freckled nose, too.  Prettiest gal in the territory, if you ask me.”

            “Can’t be more than third prettiest,” Hoss insisted.  “Ain’t no gals prettier than my Patience and our Josie.”

            Adam grinned as he unbuckled his gun and laid it carefully on the sideboard.  He loved seeing Hoss and Patience together.  The reverend’s daughter brought even more light to Hoss’s naturally sunny disposition, and the joy was infectious.  The two went out on buggy rides most Sunday afternoons, and Hoss had been a guest at the Lovejoys’ dinner table on several occasions.   

            “Best part is,” Joe continued, waving a hand in greeting to Adam, “Josie already invited her to the party on Saturday.  Can’t wait to get some dances in with her, I’ll tell you that.”

            “I wouldn’t get too excited, Joe,” Adam said casually, ambling over to the settee and sitting down.  “I hear she’s already got a suitor.”

            Little Joe’s face crumpled into a scowl.  It seemed he was always one step behind with the ladies lately.  “Who?” he demanded.

            Adam shrugged.  “Just some rancher,” he answered as he leaned forward to scratch Pip’s belly.  The massive hound had rolled over onto his back the moment Adam sat down and had been looking up at him hopefully.  His tail brushed back and forth across the floor, and his tongue lolled out the side of his mouth with pleasure. 

            Rachel emerged from her bedroom just as Adam found the spot on Pip’s belly that made his right hind leg kick.  The three brothers chuckled as Pip’s foot thumped against a leg of the coffee table, but Rachel let out a dramatic “Good heavens!” and clutched one of the dining room chairs for support.

            Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe looked over at Rachel to try to figure out what was wrong.  Seeing nothing amiss, they looked back at Pip, and Adam swallowed a burst of laughter.  Pip was still on his back, his hind legs splayed, leaving nothing to the imagination.  Having no sense of modesty, the dog simply lay there in all his glory.

            “Pip!” Adam chirped.  “Get up, boy.  Go find Josie.”  Pip leapt to his feet and bounded up the stairs.  “Sorry about that, Aunt Rachel,” he apologized.

            Rachel was still clutching the chair, one hand pressed against her heart.  “Benjamin must be out of his mind, letting that beast live in the house!” she huffed.  She spun on her heel and stormed back into her room, slamming the door sharply behind her.

            Adam glanced over his shoulder at his brothers.  Little Joe had his face buried in the back of Hoss’s wide shoulder, his entire body quaking with mirth.  Hoss had stuffed most of his left fist into his mouth and was biting his hand so hard that tears poured from the corners of his eyes.  Adam sprang from his seat, grabbed both his brothers, and dragged them through the kitchen, ignoring Hop Sing’s protests regarding their invasion of his space,  and outside to the side porch, where they could safely erupt in laughter.

            “Did you see the look on her face?!” Adam blurted as he drew a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at his streaming eyes.

            “Poor Aunt Rachel,” Hoss said as sympathetically as he could between fits of giggles.  “She was downright scandalized.”

            “I’m not surprised,” Little Joe chimed in.  “That was probably the first set she ever saw!”

            Adam smacked Little Joe upside the head for this crass comment even as he doubled over in fresh hysterics so strong they made his stomach hurt, and he clutched at his midsection.

            Five minutes later, the brothers were still hiccupping and wiping their eyes when Hop Sing poked his head out the door and ordered them in for supper.  Josie cast Adam an inquisitive look as he took his seat at the table, his face still flushed from laughing.  He shook his head at her and threw all his attention into cutting his steak into tiny pieces.  Josie noticed how Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe all avoided looking at Rachel during the meal, but she decided it was safer not to ask questions.  Ben took one look at his sons and reached the same conclusion.  After supper, Rachel retired early, claiming that they had a big day ahead of them tomorrow as they prepared for Saturday’s party.  Josie pulled Adam aside and tried to ferret out what was so funny, but he refused to tell her.  Annoyed, Josie stormed off to bed, too, calling for Pip to come with her.  Watching Pip trot up the stairs behind Josie, Adam, Hoss, and Little Joe dissolved into hilarity again.

******

            Rachel was perfectly intolerable the next day.  Immediately after breakfast, she began ordering everyone around, telling them what needed to be done to prepare for the party the following evening.  When Ben and Adam tried to leave to check on the progress Jeb was making with the mine’s new shoring, Rachel snagged them each by an ear and dragged them back inside.

            “Rachel!” Ben protested.  “We have work to do!”

            “You most certainly do,” Rachel retorted.  “This entire house needs a good scrubbing, and we have scores of decorations to hang.  Now grab that scrub brush and get to work on these floors!”  She stamped her foot on the floorboards as she pointed toward a bucket and brush near the fireplace.

            Ben’s jaw tightened as his face cemented itself into his famous steely-eyed glare.  Rachel was unperturbed.  She glared right back, hands on her hips.  Hannah, Josie, and the boys watched the standoff, all of them curious to see who would emerge victorious.  The tension was palpable.  As the seconds ticked by, Adam sensed his father’s growing rage and saw a vein begin pulsing in his right temple.  All three Cartwright sons knew from experience what an ominous sign that was.  It meant that there were only about ten seconds left before Ben lost his temper.  Hoss moved quickly to intervene.

            “I’ll get these floors, Aunt Rachel,” he said.  “Pa’s the only one who can ever remember where we put the silk lanterns after the last party.  He’d be better used taking care of those.”

            Rachel broke into a wide smile.  “Thank you, Hoss, darling,” she cooed fondly, placing a hand on Hoss’s elbow.  “You are such a dear!”  She kissed his cheek and then snapped a cold gaze onto Little Joe.  “Joseph!” she barked.  “Help him with the floors.  Adam, take this rug outside and give it a good beating.”

            Ben choked on a snort of disdain, making Josie giggle.  She knew full well what – or rather who – her uncle wished could be taken outside for a good beating.  Ben lumbered over to where Adam was moving the coffee table off of the rug so he could drag it outside.

            “Here, let me help you with that,” he grumbled.

            “Thanks, Pa.”

            Ben moved in close to his eldest son and whispered in his ear.  “Adam, where do we keep the silk lanterns?”

            Adam tried to keep the grin from spreading across his face as he replied.  “Attic,” he said.  “Next to the Christmas decorations.”

            Ben grunted in acknowledgement and helped Adam carry the heavy rug outside and drape it over one of the hitching posts.  Little Joe scampered along behind them with the carpet beater, which he handed to Adam with a grand bow.  Adam took it, gave Joe a light whack on the head with it, and turned reluctantly to his task.

            Inside, Rachel had shooed Pip out and was now supervising Hoss’s floor scrubbing.  She nodded approvingly as she watched the biggest Cartwright throw his weight into the task.  Josie watched the huge muscles in her cousin’s shoulders shifting under his shirt as he worked, and she shook her head in amazement.  She felt so small sometimes that it was amazing to think she could be related to someone this big.

            When Ben and Little Joe reentered the house, Ben headed upstairs to the attic to find the silk lanterns while Joe grabbed a second scrub brush and got down on his hands and knees to help Hoss scrub the floor.  Josie smiled as she remembered a day thirteen years earlier that she and Joe had spent scrubbing the floors in the old house as punishment for disobeying their fathers. 

            She knelt next to Joe.  “Glad I don’t have to help you this time,” she muttered in Little Joe’s ear.  Joe snickered as he rolled up his shirtsleeves.  Josie grabbed his right arm and ran her finger lightly down the faint scar Little Joe still bore from their childhood adventure in the oak tree.  “I did a good job,” she observed.  “You’d never notice this scar unless you were looking for it.”

            Joe grinned and kissed her cheek.  “You better find yourself something to do before Aunt Rachel makes you wash all the windows,” he advised.  He jerked his head in Rachel’s direction.  Josie looked over and saw her aunt eyeing the front windows critically, her lips pursed in disapproval.  Josie cast about desperately for something to do, but was coming up blank when a clatter from the kitchen gave her an idea.

            “I’ll go help Hop Sing,” she announced as she sprang to her feet.

            “Yes, do that,” Rachel said absently, still glaring at the windows as if each of their smudges was personally offending her.

            Josie scuttled into the kitchen just as Hop Sing was turning around.  He jumped in surprise, the large stockpot he was holding nearly flying out of his hands.

            “Sorry,” Josie apologized sheepishly. 

            “No, it’s fine,” Hop Sing said with a little laugh.  “I’m just glad it’s you and not Miss Stoddard.”

            Josie giggled.  “What can I help you with?”

            “Lemonade,” the cook replied, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow.  “We have to make gallons and gallons of lemonade.”  He pointed to a towering pyramid of lemons perched precariously atop the small prep table in the middle of the kitchen.

            Josie groaned and grabbed a knife to start slicing.  Hop Sing plucked a cone-shaped juicer from a cabinet and set it next to her. 

            “You slice, I’ll juice,” he said.  He paused, clearly trying to make a decision about something.

            “What is it?” Josie asked, her knife poised to cleave the first lemon she had plucked from the teetering pile.

            Hop Sing gave her a shy smile.  “Hang on a second,” he said.  “I want to show you something.”  He grabbed a large box from the shelf under the table and scurried over to the side door.  “Don’t let anyone come out this way, and don’t peek!” he ordered.

            Josie nodded even as she furrowed her brow quizzically.  Hop Sing darted outside with the box and slammed the door behind him.  A couple minutes ticked by, and Josie returned to her lemon.  She had two dozen lemon halves waiting to be squeezed when the door creaked open again, and Josie snapped her head up.  There in the doorway stood Hop Sing decked out in Boston’s finest formalwear.  He was wearing a pair of striped black trousers, a matching black tailcoat, and a fine, crisp white shirt with a red-silk vest and black cravat.  Josie glanced down and saw he also wore a brand-new pair of black shoes that were so brightly polished she could see her reflection staring back at her.  She looked back up at Hop Sing’s face and saw that he was grinning proudly.

            Before she could stop herself, Josie burst out laughing. 

            Hop Sing’s face crumbled, and his cheeks shot crimson.

            “You don’t like it?” he asked sadly.  “I thought it looked pretty sharp.”

            Josie immediately felt terrible as she watched the disappointment swimming in her dear friend’s black eyes.

            “Oh, Hop Sing,” she sputtered, “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t mean to laugh at you.  It was just such a surprise!  Wherever did you get that tuxedo?”

            “Where do you think?” he replied.  “Miss Stoddard.  She wanted me to look – how did she put it? – ‘properly civilized’ for the party tomorrow.  It’s not my usual style, but I kind of like it.”  He brushed an imaginary crumb from the front of his vest.

            “I think you look very dashing,” Josie said, giving him a kind smile.

            “Thank you, Dr. Cartwright,” Hop Sing said, giving Josie a low bow.  Josie giggled.  “I better change back, though,” he continued.  “Miss Stoddard will have my hide if I get lemon juice all over this getup.”

            Josie giggled again as Hop Sing dashed outside to change back into his usual silk shirt, pants, and pillbox hat.  When he reappeared a few minutes later with the tuxedo once more safely ensconced in its box, the pair of them dived into the pile of waiting lemons.  They spent the rest of the morning slicing and squeezing lemons into huge pots of water.  Hop Sing laughed aloud when Josie tasted their creation and instantly puckered her lips.

            “I think it needs more sugar!” she squeaked.  Hop Sing dumped in more sugar, and after some vigorous stirring, he and Josie declared the lemonade perfect.

            After lunch, Josie plunked her hat on her head and volunteered to help Adam and Joe sweep the barnyard. 

            “What a ridiculous job!” Joe complained as he raked his broom viciously across the dirt.  “It’s dirt!  We’re sweeping dirt!”

            “You want to go inside and help Aunt Hannah and Hoss polish the silver, you go right on ahead,” Adam replied, carefully sweeping his section of the yard into neat rows.  “At least we’re not under scrutiny out here.”

            “Poor Uncle Ben,” Josie said, shaking her head.  Ben had managed to hide in the attic all morning pretending to search for the silk lanterns, but after lunch, Rachel had roped him into ironing all of the curtains.  Little Joe had peeked in the front window and spotted Ben hunched over the ironing board.  Rachel was peering over his shoulder, glaring critically at his work and jabbing one long, bony finger at places Ben had missed.

            Josie twirled around with her broom, brushing swirls in the dirt as she told Adam and Little Joe about Hop Sing’s tuxedo.

“You should see him, Adam!” she exclaimed as her final spin slowed to a dizzy stop.  “He looks just like Aunt Rachel’s butler!  Well, except that he’s Chinese.”

Adam and Joe chuckled at the image.

“What is her butler’s name anyway?” Little Joe asked.  “I’ve only ever heard her call him ‘Butler.’”

Josie and Adam stared at each other for several seconds.

“You know something?” Adam said incredulously.  “I have no idea!”

“Me, either!” Josie giggled.  “That’s terrible!  I really should know.  He’s been working for her for twenty years.”

“Odd, though, isn’t it?” Adam asked.  “Usually employers call their butlers by their last names, not by their job title.”

“His name’s ‘Butler,’” Hoss piped up from the porch.  Adam, Josie, and Little Joe all jumped.  They hadn’t heard Hoss come outside.  The big man stepped over a dozing Pip and draped a few freshly washed polishing rags over the porch rail to dry.

“No, Hoss,” Adam corrected, “that’s his job title.”

“No, it’s his name,” Hoss insisted.  “His name’s ‘Edward Butler.’  Kinda funny, ain’t it?  His name’s Butler and he’s a butler.”

“Suppose it would be like a Cartwright being a cartwright,” Joe mused.

Josie wrinkled her nose.  “I’m glad we’re ranchers,” she declared.

“And doctors,” Adam said, tipping Josie’s hat brim over her eyes.  She giggled and recommenced sweeping. 

After a few more minutes, Josie and Little Joe grew bored with their pointless sweeping and started drawing pictures in the dirt with their brooms.  Joe snuck up behind Adam and drew a giant pig right across his older brother’s meticulously straight lines.  Adam sighed in exasperation and brushed a puff of dirt onto his brother’s pants. 

“You were right,” Adam said, throwing his broom to the ground with a clatter.  “This is a ridiculous job.  Let’s go hide so Aunt Rachel can’t give us something else to do.”

Josie and Little Joe grinned and dropped their brooms.  Josie laughed with delight as Little Joe swung her onto his back.  She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held on as Joe trotted out of the barnyard after Adam with Pip following closely behind.  Ten minutes later, the four of them were lying under a draping willow tree on the edge of the duck pond.  Little Joe had pulled off his boots and socks and was dandling his toes contentedly in the cool water, jumping every so often when a minnow nibbled at one of his toes.  Josie used his stomach as a pillow and laughed every time one of Little Joe’s hops made her head bounce.  Adam dropped his hat over his face and dozed off, his right hand resting on Pip’s shaggy head.  By the time they finally returned home just before supper, Ben and Hoss had finished ironing, polishing, dusting, sweeping, and scrubbing.  Rubbing the bags under his eyes, Ben glared at his well-rested sons and niece as they strolled into the house and headed upstairs to wash up.  Rachel tried unsuccessfully to block Pip from entering the clean house, but the wolfhound shoved right past her and followed Josie up the stairs. 

Dinner was a quiet affair as Adam, Little Joe, and Josie dodged questions about what they had worked on that afternoon.  They avoided looking at one another, knowing that eye contact would surely make them break into incriminating laughter.  Somehow they made it through the meal, and they were all relieved when Aunt Rachel ordered everyone to bed.  Even though the party was not set to begin until six o’clock the next evening, she insisted they all retire early. 

“You heard the lady, Josie!” Little Joe called out, swinging Josie onto his back once more.  “Let’s go!”

Josie was laughing so hard that Little Joe had borne her halfway up the stairs before she could remind him that he was still sleeping in the bunkhouse.

“Oh, right,” Little Joe said.  He turned around and saw Adam standing two steps below them.  “Here you go, Older Brother!” he hollered as he swung Josie around to his front and tossed her to Adam.  Josie screamed with laughter as she flew through the air from cousin to cousin.  Adam caught her neatly, swung her onto his own back, and charged up the stairs.  Little Joe jumped over the last four steps and landed lightly on the ground floor, where he kissed Rachel’s and Hannah’s cheeks, gave Hoss a big bear hug, and then pulled a straight face and solemnly shook his father’s hand before darting out of the house and over to the bunkhouse for bed.

Hannah was in stitches by this point, but Rachel shook her head in displeasure. 

“What has gotten into the three of them?” she asked.  “I certainly hope they work it out before the party tomorrow.”

“Oh, dry up, Rachel,” Hannah ordered, still laughing.  She kissed Ben and Hoss goodnight and headed up the stairs herself, leaving Rachel standing in the living room, her hands glued indignantly to her hips.

******

            Adam smiled when he peeked out his bedroom window the next morning.  The sun was just stretching up over the horizon, casting pink and orange rays across the cloudless sky. 

            “Perfect,” he sighed happily.  Good weather would allow the party to take place entirely outdoors, which meant that Adam and his brothers would not have to move the furniture to the perimeter of the living room like they always did for the Christmas party.  Even with Hoss’s help, that settee was heavy.

            Adam rolled out of bed and stretched, his long fingers nearly brushing the ceiling.  He pulled off his nightshirt and shivered as the cool morning air hit his bare chest.  The days were getting hot now, but the mornings were still chilly, so Adam hurried to pull on his jeans and a clean black shirt.  He knew he would have to change into his suit for the party, but that was not for another twelve hours; no sense risking getting it dirty this early in the day.

            Adam grinned at his reflection as he peered into his mirror and combed his hair; he was looking forward to seeing Molly again.  And, if he were honest with himself, he was also looking forward to watching his father dodge Widow Hawkins all evening.  Yes, Adam thought, this would be a good day.  He skipped his usual morning shave, opting to save it for an hour or so before the party, just in case a certain young Irishwoman got close enough to notice.  He smiled at his reflection one more time before leaving his room to head downstairs for breakfast.

            Adam stepped into the hallway only to be stopped by Little Joe, who was leaning against the doorway to his own bedroom.

            “I wouldn’t,” Joe said, grabbing his older brother’s arm.

            “What do you mean ‘I wouldn’t’?” Adam asked.

            Little Joe pointed over his shoulder toward the staircase.  “Right now, this is Yorktown, Bunker Hill, and Valley Forge all rolled into one.”

            That’s when Adam heard the shouting.

            “I will NOT have that savage beast running rampant through our party and ruining it!” Rachel bellowed.

            “Aunt Rachel’s winning,” Little Joe told Adam.

            “Forget it!” Josie screeched back.  “I’ll wear that stupid gown and let you put my hair up in ringlets, but I will NOT tie my dog up in the barn!  And he’s NOT a savage beast!  He’s a civilized animal, and a hero, too.  He saved Uncle Ben’s life this winter.”

            “I wouldn’t count Josie out yet,” Adam countered.  He and Little Joe grinned at one another and crept carefully down the hall so they could watch the argument unfold.  When they neared the stairs, Adam beckoned to Joe to drop to the floor, and the brothers belly-crawled to the edge of the top step and peered around the corner so they could see the show without being spotted themselves.  A loud creak from the floorboard outside Adam’s room signaled the arrival of Hoss, who dropped to the floor, too, and wedged himself between his brothers.

            “What’re we watchin’?” he asked.

            “Josie and Aunt Rachel,” Little Joe whispered.  “They’re really havin’ it out.”

            The three of them watched as Josie and Rachel stared each other down, both their faces scarlet with rage.  Hannah was standing nearby with one hand outstretched, though the brothers could not tell whom she was attempting to calm.  Ben was in the dining room slouched down in his chair at the head of the table, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.  When Josie mentioned his name, Ben sank so low that his sons were certain he was about to slide underneath the table next to Pip, who was already cowering there.

            Rachel took one step closer to Josie and lowered her voice menacingly.

            “I would not care if he had saved President Abraham Lincoln himself!” she seethed.  “That animal will NOT be present at our party, and that is final!”

            Rachel failed to intimidate her niece.  Josie, too, took a step closer and drew herself up to her full height.  She was not particularly tall, but she stood a couple inches above Rachel and used her height to stare down loathsomely at her aunt.

            “She’s furious,” Adam observed, shaking his head.  Even from this distance he could see Josie shaking with rage.

            Josie drew in a deep breath to settle herself so her next statement would be perfectly clear.

            “That isn’t your decision,” Josie said coolly, almost too quietly for her cousins to hear.  “This is not your house, this is not your ranch, and this is not your party.  Uncle Ben and Adam began planning this party before we ever knew you were coming to Nevada.  I believe this is their decision.”

            Adam winced when Josie mentioned his name.  He did not want to be involved in this argument.  Fortunately, Rachel wheeled around to glare at Ben, who was now trying to nudge Pip out of the way with his foot to clear more space under the table.  As soon as he felt Rachel’s piercing stare, Ben snapped up straight in his chair.  Josie was casting him a pleading gaze, and Hannah was on the verge of tears.  Ben sighed and heaved himself reluctantly from his chair, looking just like a man entering a den of hungry lions.  Rather than approaching either of the angry women, however, he went over to Hannah and put his arm around her shoulders.

            “All right, ladies,” Ben began.  “Let’s just calm down.”

            At the top of the stairs, all three brothers cringed.  Fewer actions were more dangerous than telling Josie to calm down when her blood was up.

            “Calm down?!” Josie shrieked.  “Uncle Ben!  This woman has invaded our home, ordered us around like we were her servants rather than her family, forced us to spend time with the most irritating woman Great Britain has ever produced, and now she has the audacity to tell us who is and is not invited to our own party!  No, I will not calm down!”

            Ben bristled at Josie’s disrespectful tone, but before he could respond, Rachel thrust herself into Josie’s face.

            “How DARE you!” she snarled.  “How dare you speak to me that way?  After everything I have done for you-“

            “Everything you’ve done for me?!” Josie cackled.  “What have you ever done for me besides insinuate that I’m a disgrace to the family?  In fact, what have you ever done for anyone in this family besides hurt their feelings?  All you do is make snide comments and blame everyone for things that aren’t their fault. 

“Do you want to know why I came out here instead of going to Boston?  Because of YOU!  Because of the way you’ve told me since I was a little girl that I’m not ladylike enough, I’m not refined enough, I’m just not enough for you.  But you know what I’ve discovered?  I’m more than enough here.  Right here, right in the ‘savage wilderness’ of the Nevada Territory, I am more than enough.  I have a medical practice full of patients who trust and respect me, I have friends, I have a beau, and most importantly, I have Uncle Ben and Adam and Hoss and Joe.  What do you have?  Nothing but a big, empty house and a head full of sad memories.  Well, I hope you enjoy them, because that’s all you’ll ever have.  When this war is over, I’m not coming back.  I’m staying right here.”

            Rachel looked like she had just been slapped.  A silence fell over the room as Josie caught her breath and Hannah and Ben tried to figure out what to say.  Hannah was not shocked by Josie’s admission; after the carriage ride home the day Hannah and Rachel had arrived in Virginia City, Josie had privately confessed to her that she would not return to the East after the war.  Hannah had long suspected that Josie would want to stay in Nevada with her uncle and cousins, especially once Simon entered the picture.  She did wish Josie had chosen a more tactful way to announce this decision to Rachel, but she could not blame her daughter for losing her temper.  She herself had once shoved Rachel against a wall for hurting Adam’s feelings, and if Josie had not taken matters into her own hands, Hannah might have repeated the performance just now.

            “Well, I guess that takes care of telling Aunt Rachel Josie ain’t leavin’ the Ponderosa,” Hoss observed.

            “I don’t get it,” Little Joe said.  “What’s the big deal with shutting Pip in the barn during the party?  If we give him a bone, he won’t care.”

            “This isn’t about Pip,” Adam replied.  When Little Joe raised an eyebrow at him, Adam continued.  “Josie’s right.  Aunt Rachel has never tried to hide her contempt for her.  Aunt Rachel rejecting Pip is just one more way she’s rejected Josie.  I don’t blame Josie for being upset.”

            “Why doesn’t she like Josie?” Little Joe inquired.  “You’d think she’d love her seeing how much she looks like your ma and all.”

            “I don’t know,” Adam admitted.  “Maybe it’s the Cartwright personality that irks her.”

            “Or maybe the resemblance is too much,” Hoss suggested.  “It is a little spooky.  You shoulda seen the funny look Pa got on his face when Josie first stepped off that stagecoach two years ago.  Looked like he’d seen a ghost.”

            Adam shrugged, but Joe sat up and leaned against the wall, looking thoughtful.

            “Let’s make a pact, us three, right now, that we’ll always be kind to each other’s children,” Joe said decisively.  “No matter who they look like.”

            Adam and Hoss grinned.  “Agreed,” they said in unison.

            Adam could not fathom ever being unkind to either of his brothers’ children.  “Maybe if one of them acted just like Little Joe,” he thought impishly, then shook the idea from his mind.  He glanced at each of his brothers and immediately knew that he would walk straight through Hell itself for their children, as he knew they would do for his.

            The brothers returned their attention to the first floor where Ben had finally gained control of the situation.

            “All right, here’s what’s going to happen,” Ben announced.  “Pip has been a part of our parties ever since he was a puppy, and tonight will be no different.”  Josie nearly cheered, but Ben shot her his warning look.  “However,” he continued, “Pip will stay outside in the yard; he will not come into the house.  Agreed?”

            This was good enough for Josie.  With the weather they were having today, no one would want to be inside the house anyway.  “Agreed,” she chirped, smirking smugly at her aunt.

            “Agreed,” Rachel whispered.  She had not lost her shocked expression and continued to stare disbelievingly at Josie.

            “Then it’s settled,” Ben said.  “And as far as I’m concerned, this whole discussion is over.  Now, let’s just sit down and eat our breakfast.”  His arm still around Hannah’s shoulders, Ben guided Hannah over to the table and pulled out her chair for her.

            Rachel and Josie, however, stayed put in the middle of the living room and stared at one another, Josie’s eyes still blazing with anger and Rachel’s softening with regret.  She reached a hand out toward her niece in supplication.

            “Josephine, I-“

            “Save it,” Josie snapped, resisting the urge to slap her aunt’s hand away.  “I’m not interested in false apologies.”  She spun on her heel and stormed up the stairs.  Pip leapt from his spot under the table and loyally followed his mistress.

            At the top of the staircase, Adam, Hoss, and Joe jumped to their feet and dived into their bedrooms so no one would know they had been eavesdropping.  Not that Josie would have noticed.  She was so intent on reaching her bedroom that she could have walked right across her cousins’ prone bodies and not realized it.

            Josie stalked down the hallway and into her bedroom.  As soon as she slammed the door behind Pip, she threw herself face-down on her bed, plunged her face into her thickest pillow, and screamed into it at the top of her lungs.

            Adam heard the muffled shriek through their shared wall.  He counted slowly to twenty to give Josie a moment to collect herself before he slipped over to her room.  He met Joe and Hoss in the hall and waved them toward the stairs, indicating that they should go eat breakfast as if nothing had happened.  Adam raised a hand and rapped lightly on Josie’s door.

            “Go away!”

            Adam smiled to himself and opened Josie’s door a crack.  “You know,” he said, poking his head into her bedroom, “that’s the second time in as many months you’ve told me to go away.  You keep it up, I just might take it personally.”

            “Oh, sorry, Adam,” Josie mumbled, her face still pressed into her pillow.  “Thought you were the Shrew.”

            “Harsh, but good literary allusion.”  Adam was pleased that Josie remembered her Shakespeare.  During Adam’s second summer in college, one of the theaters in Washington had put on several of Shakespeare’s plays, and Adam had taken Josie to see every single one.  She was only eight years old at the time, but she impressed Adam with her comprehension of the plays.  She then further impressed and amused him by speaking in nothing but iambic pentameter for a solid week. 

Adam stepped all the way into Josie’s bedroom and closed the door gently behind him.  Josie did not even look up at him, so Adam sat down on the edge of her bed and laid a comforting hand on her back. 

Josie inhaled deeply and let out the breath in a loud huff.  “I’ll apologize to Aunt Rachel later,” she grumbled.

“I didn’t come in here to tell you to apologize,” Adam told her.  “I just wanted to see if you were all right.”

Josie rolled over onto her back and gazed up at Adam.  “Yeah, I’m all right,” she said, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands.  “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.  I’ve been so on edge ever since she and Mama arrived.  When she ordered me to tie Pip up during the party, I just lost my head.”

Adam smiled at her.  “No one blames you for losing your temper,” he assured her.  “Happens to the best of us around Aunt Rachel.”

The corners of Josie’s mouth twitched upward.  “Yeah,” she agreed, “but at least I had the good sense not to run out into a snowstorm.”

“Never gonna let me live that down, are you?” Adam rejoined, jabbing Josie in the ribs.

“Nope.”  She giggled and sat up, pulling her legs up close to her body and resting her chin on her knees.  She sighed heavily and cast her eyes up at her cousin.  “At least I’d already told Mama.  It would have been terrible if she had found out like this.”

“Yeah, it would have been,” Adam agreed.  “I doubt you surprised her when you told her.  She had to have guessed by now.”

“She did,” Josie said, and then she smiled up at Adam.  “You know, when I was little, whenever I would get upset with her or Papa, I would tell them I was going to run away to the Ponderosa.”

“That’s funny,” Adam said with a chuckle, “because whenever I’d get mad at Pa, I’d threaten to run away to Boston or Washington.”

“And then you met Aunt Rachel and crossed Boston off your list.”

“I never even thought about her when I was a child,” Adam confessed.  “Grandfather Stoddard was always the first person who came to mind.  He used to write us letters all the time, and I thought it would be a grand adventure to go to Boston and help run his business.”

“He used to tell me about you,” Josie remarked.  “Every time I saw him, he always had a new letter from you or Uncle Ben, and he’d tell me stories about my brave cousin Adam and how he was taming the frontier.  Single-handedly taming the frontier, to hear him tell it.”  She smiled at the memories. 

Adam straightened up at this bit of information.  “Do you remember him well?” he asked eagerly.  Adam had no memories of his maternal grandfather; after Ben took Adam west as an infant, the two of them never saw Abel Stoddard in person again.  The old sea captain had died less than a year before Adam arrived in Massachusetts for college, and Adam regretted not getting to know him.

“Bits and pieces,” Josie said, stretching out her legs.  “Mostly his stories about you.  Though in retrospect, I am pretty certain he made most of those up.  You didn’t kill a mountain lion with your bare hands at the age of twelve, did you?”

Adam’s laugh resonated through the house.  “No,” he admitted, still laughing.  “Though I’m touched he thought so highly of me.”

“So I’m guessing you didn’t swim the whole twenty-two mile length of Lake Tahoe, then, either.”

“Oh no, that one’s true,” Adam said as he tried – and failed – to keep a straight face.

The cousins dissolved into laughter, and Adam pulled Josie to him and put his arm around her shoulders.  As her laughter faded, Josie rested her head against Adam’s chest and listened to the familiar and comforting thump of his heart.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

“For what?”

“Cheering me up.”

“It was my pleasure.”  Adam planted a kiss on the top of her head and stood up.  “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.  How about I go downstairs and make us up a tray?  We can eat breakfast up here.  I’ll tell everyone you have a headache and don’t feel like coming down.”

“Adam, you’re a lifesaver.”

He smiled at her and treaded quietly downstairs to fetch them some breakfast.  When he reached the dining room, Adam was pleased to observe that the addition of Hoss and Little Joe had leant some normalcy and levity to the morning meal, and Ben, Hannah, and Rachel’s spirits were greatly improved.  He muttered his line about Josie’s headache and filled two plates with pancakes and bacon.  Placing these on a tray with a small pot of coffee and two cups, he carried it all carefully upstairs to Josie’s bedroom.

Josie had thrown open her windows to let in the fresh air and sunshine, and she and Adam enjoyed a quiet breakfast together.  As they ate, Josie considered how if she were eating with Hoss or Joe, or even Ben, the silence would be awkward, and they would feel compelled to fill it with banal chatter about the weather or the ranch.  But being able to enjoy each other’s silent company was one of the things she loved best about Adam.  The two of them could pass an entire day together without uttering more than one or two sentences and still feel it was a day well spent. 

Adam caught Josie staring thoughtfully at him and was about to offer her a penny for her thoughts, but he, too, was enjoying the cheerful silence and opted not to break it.  Instead, he grinned at her and refilled her coffee cup. 

When they finished eating, Adam gathered up the dishes and told Josie just to hide out in her bedroom for the morning.  “By lunchtime, no one will remember you and Aunt Rachel ever quarreled,” he assured her.

Josie was more than happy to oblige and flopped down on her bed with yet another of Adam’s Wilkie Collins novels.  He smiled at her and carried their tray out of the room.

******

            Adam was right.  By the time Josie slunk downstairs for lunch, everyone was acting as if nothing had happened that morning.  Adam had to swallow a laugh, however, when he saw Josie come downstairs wearing a pair of jeans and a checkered shirt rather than the skirts and shirtwaists she had been careful to wear while Rachel was present.  Rachel’s eyes widened in shock and then narrowed in disgust, but she bit her bottom lip and said nothing.

            Josie stuck closely to her cousins that afternoon as they made the final preparations for the party.  Rather than making Ben drag the ladder out of the barn, Josie clambered up onto Hoss’s shoulders to hang the silk lanterns across the front yard.  Ben initially protested – seeing Josie swaying precariously from Hoss’s shoulders always made him nervous – but when he saw how much more quickly the lanterns were going up than he could have done with the ladder, he closed his mouth and helped Adam and Little Joe set up the tables and chairs around the perimeter of the yard; they would leave the center clear for dancing.

            In late afternoon, the three ladies disappeared into their bedrooms to dress for the party.  Josie took a quick bath while her mother assisted Rachel.  Afterward, wearing only her bloomers and chemise, Josie was digging through her wardrobe for her silk dancing slippers when her mother entered the room.  Hannah shook her head in amusement at her daughter’s ruffled hind end jutting out of the wardrobe; Josie had never been one to stand on ceremony.  Wordlessly, Hannah picked up a pearl-handled brush from Josie’s dressing table and beckoned for her to come and sit down.  Josie obeyed, but she avoided catching her mother’s gaze in the mirror; she still felt terrible about her outburst that morning.  The women remained silent for several long moments as Hannah ran the brush gently through Josie’s long, black hair.  Unlike the pleasant silence of breakfast with Adam, however, this silence with Hannah was deafening.  Finally, Josie could bear it no longer.

            “Mama, I-“ she began, but Hannah held up a hand to shush her.

            “Josie, it’s all right,” Hannah said gently, draping a section of Josie’s hair over her daughter’s right shoulder.  Hannah pulled up a chair to sit face-to-face with Josie.  “You should not have been disrespectful to your aunt, but we all understand how vexing she can be.  Your grandfather was one of the most patient men I have ever known, and even he had to get up and leave the room from time to time.  She does not mean to be so overbearing; it’s just that we are all she has.”

            “Yes, ma’am,” Josie replied.  “And I’ll apologize to her, but that isn’t what I was going to say.  Mostly I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner that I was planning to stay here after the war.  I reached that decision back at Christmas when Adam showed me the blueprints for my clinic.  I should have mentioned it then, and I’m sorry.”  She dropped her gaze to her lap and studied her thumbnails; she had missed a spot when she was brushing them out during her bath, and she now picked absently at the dirt.

            Hannah smiled softly at Josie, causing her eyes to crinkle at the corners.  “Something told me Adam figured into this.  I expect Simon does, too?”

            Josie did not raise her head, but Hannah could see her daughter’s cheeks redden ever so slightly.

            “Maybe a little,” Josie mumbled.  Hannah tittered, and Josie snapped her head up.  “But Uncle Ben and Hoss and Joe, and pretty much everyone in Virginia City does, too, Mama,” she insisted.  “I finally feel like I fit in someplace.  I’m useful here.”

            “I can see that,” Hannah replied kindly.  “Just walking down the street in town with you, I can see how much everyone respects you.  You have certainly made a name for yourself in Virginia City, and I am so proud of you.”

            Josie glanced up at Hannah and gave her a half-smile. 

            “And it was not as big a shock to me as you assume it was to hear that you plan to stay here,” Hannah continued.  “I have long suspected this would be the case.  I have suspected it ever since you first broached the idea of coming out here to your father and me, back on the day the war broke out.  You have always belonged out here, not in Boston or Washington.  You’re too much of a Cartwright.”  She tweaked Josie’s cheek like she used to when Josie was a little girl, and Josie giggled and wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck.

            “I love you, Mama,” she whispered in Hannah’s ear.

            “I love you, too, darling,” Hannah replied.  “Now, let’s get you dressed and put your hair up.  I promise: no ringlets.”

            “Thanks,” Josie laughed.  She did not care how popular ringlets became; she thought they made women look like poodles.

            An hour later, Josie was clad in her new gown, and Hannah had successfully wrangled her hair into a braided up-do, leaving a few tendrils of raven hair curling softly at the sides of her face.  They had managed to unearth Josie’s dancing slippers in the depths of her wardrobe, and Josie popped these on before heading downstairs.  Their guests would be arriving soon, and Josie intended to maintain her position, as Aunt Rachel put it, as “the lady of the Ponderosa” and act as hostess.

            Adam smiled his sad smile as Josie swept down the stairs.  He had not seen Josie this dressed up since their dinner with the captain aboard the Morning Star, and he mourned afresh the loss of the little girl he had carried on his shoulders through Washington.  But he was exceptionally proud to call this beautiful young woman his sister.

            Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe, however, had never seen Josie this gussied up, and their mouths dropped open in perfect synchronization as they caught their first glimpse of her.  Josie’s dress had a wide hoop skirt that filled the width of the staircase as she picked her way carefully down the steps.  It was made of white-silk taffeta patterned with sprigs of soft green leaves.  Around her waist was tied a velvet sash of deep-emerald, which matched the small bows at the center of the low-cut neckline and on each of the ruffled cap sleeves that rested just off of Josie’s pale shoulders.  Hoss unconsciously straightened his necktie while Little Joe glanced behind him to ensure his gun was still on the sideboard where he could grab it quickly.  Ben fought the urge to take off his suit coat and drape it around Josie’s shoulders for a bit more coverage.  When did ladies’ necklines dip so low? 

            Hannah was resplendent in a short-sleeved gown of burgundy silk, and even Rachel looked quite lovely in a more demure, long-sleeved gown of navy blue, but there was no doubt in any of the Cartwright men’s minds that Josie was going to steal the show tonight.

            Adam met Josie at the bottom of the stairs and offered her his hand.  “You look beautiful,” he said. 

            “Thanks, Adam,” Josie replied, taking his hand and allowing him to help her down to the floor.  Her small smile turned into a bit of a smirk as she realized that Adam was once more wearing his good cologne and had polished his boots again.  His spotless white shirt and pressed black trousers were so crisp that Josie imagined they could stand up on their own, and she wondered if they would bend enough to allow him to sit down.

            “Well, everyone, let’s go meet our guests!” Ben said, offering Hannah his arm. 

Hoss followed suit with Rachel, and Ben, Adam, and Hoss escorted the ladies to the porch, leaving Little Joe and Hop Sing alone in the living room.  He cast about for a moment before turning to the wolfhound, who was sitting politely at the bottom of the steps and gazing longingly at Little Joe as if he were hoping the young man would invite him to dance.

Joe sighed.  “Come on, Pip,” he said, waving the dog toward him.  “Looks like it’s you and me for now.”  Pip let out a cheerful yip and trotted happily out of the house alongside Little Joe.

As Rachel and Hannah swept around the yard exclaiming delightedly over the decorations, Adam pulled Josie aside.

“Thank you for wearing that gown tonight,” he said.  “Aunt Rachel will never say so, but I’m sure she appreciates it.  It means a lot to her to be able to show you off.  You’re a good sport.”

Josie shrugged.  “It is a beautiful gown,” she admitted, gazing down at her expansive skirt.  “And I couldn’t stand the thought of Molly’s hard work going to waste.  I like her, and I want everyone to see what she can do.  Help her get some more business, you know?”

Adam grinned broadly, and he realized that he was losing track of how many presents he owed Josie the next time he went to San Francisco.

“Besides,” Josie continued, “I thought Simon might like it.”

Adam’s face darkened.  “He better not like it too much,” he grumbled.  “I’d hate to have to shoot him in the middle of the party.”

Josie’s tinkling laugh told Adam that she had made her comment just to elicit this reaction from him, and he scowled at her.

“Aw, come on, Cousin-Cousin,” Josie teased as she tweaked his cheek.  “I thought the two of you were on good terms now.”

“We are,” Adam replied, “but I’ll still kill him if he gets too familiar.”  He shot Josie a good-natured grin.

“You won’t have to,” Josie placated him.  “Don’t you remember what a careful girl I am?”  She pointed down to her feet and lifted the hem of her gown just high enough to expose her Derringer strapped reassuringly to her right ankle.

Adam’s bark of laughter cut off abruptly as Rachel turned around to glare at the two of them.  Josie dropped her skirt to conceal the weapon before Rachel could spot it.  She and Adam gazed innocently back at their aunt, both of them nearly in tears from holding back their hysterics.

They were rescued by a wagon drawing up to the barn, and Adam was unsurprised to see Ross Marquette spring from the seat and help Delphine down to the ground.  Ross and Delphine were practically members of the Cartwright family and usually were the first to arrive to parties to help with whatever last-minute preparations might be left.  Delphine squealed with delight when she saw Josie’s gown and immediately asked where she had gotten it.  When Josie told her, Dell glanced over at her husband.

“Hey, Ross,” she said coyly, batting her eyelashes at him.  “You know, my birthday’s coming up…”

Ross rolled his eyes.  “Great,” he muttered to Adam.  “Every husband in Virginia City is going to be on the hook for a new dress by the end of this party.”

Ross was right.  Each woman who arrived on the Ponderosa gushed over Josie’s new gown and then cast longing glances at their husbands when they discovered it was the work of a local seamstress.  Adam’s heart soared as he imagined the mob that would be waiting for Molly’s shop to open on Monday morning.

            As if on cue, Molly rolled up in a wagon driven by a young man Adam assumed was her younger brother, Fionn.  He had the same wavy auburn hair and pale skin as Molly, though as Adam approached the wagon, he noticed the young man’s eyes were brown instead of green.  The Irishman eyed him suspiciously, but before Adam could extend a hand in greeting, Little Joe shoved past him, nearly knocking him to the ground.

            Upon hearing that Molly already had a suitor, Joe had decided his only recourse was to double up on his charm and hope that “some rancher” did not turn up at their party.  He was, therefore, determined to greet Molly immediately upon her arrival, and he was annoyed that Adam was blocking his path.  That older brother of his always seemed to be in the way.  Joe felt no remorse as his peripheral vision caught sight of Adam fighting to keep his feet.  Little Joe sidled up to the wagon and proffered his hand to Molly.

            “Miss O’Connell!” he greeted her loudly enough for everyone to hear.  “I’m so pleased you could make it to our little shindig.” 

            “Thank you, Joseph,” Molly replied absently, looking over Little Joe’s shoulder.  “Just Adam!” she called out.  “Are you all right?”

            Adam had regained his balance and was relieved to discover that his little pirouette had not kicked dust up onto his clothes.  He smiled widely at Molly and strode confidently up to the wagon, taking care to subtly elbow Little Joe in the ribs.  Molly was resplendent in a brilliant pink silk gown that set off the green of her eyes.  Like Josie’s gown, Molly’s had cap sleeves that sat just off her shoulders and were trimmed with a fine black lace.  She wore her long auburn hair in two braids that crisscrossed behind her head in a style Adam thought could have come straight from King Arthur’s medieval court.  The sight of her took his breath away.

            “Just fine, Merely Molly, just fine,” Adam replied, taking her hand.  “My baby brother here doesn’t have the best coordination.” 

Adam did not have to look over at Joe to know his younger brother was scowling at him; the heat from Little Joe’s glare radiated heat all around the yard.  Joe did not appreciate Adam’s emphasis on the word “baby.”  He stalked back to the porch muttering “’Some rancher’ my foot.  How d’ya like that?”

            Molly giggled and allowed Adam to lift her from the wagon.  Fionn jumped down, too, and Adam extended his hand.

            “Adam Cartwright,” he said cordially.  “You must be Fionn.”

            “Aye, supposin’ I am,” the younger man said politely enough, though he kept a wary eye leveled on Adam as he shook his hand. 

Adam could feel a chill coursing from Fionn’s hand into his own, and he took a step back.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Adam added.  “Molly speaks very fondly of you.”

            Fionn’s expression thawed a bit as Molly smiled at him, and it thawed even further when Josie swept over to the wagon to greet her new friend.  Molly and Josie exchanged quick cheek-kisses before Molly introduced her to Fionn. 

            Fionn shook Josie’s hand enthusiastically.  “Dr. Cartwright!” he exclaimed.  “Molly has told me so much about you!  And don’t you look fine wearin’ one of her creations?”

            Josie actually blushed a little at this compliment and was unsure how to respond, but Pip rescued her.  He had ambled along behind Josie as she made her way from the porch to the O’Connells’ wagon, and Molly and Fionn both gasped as they spotted him.

            “Oh, it’s all right,” Josie assured them.  “He’s friendly.”

            But Molly and Fionn did not hear a word Josie said.

            “Cú faoil!” they exclaimed in unison.

Fionn dropped to his knees next to the wolfhound and buried his face in Pip’s shaggy neck, chattering away to Pip in what Josie and Adam assumed must be the Irish language.  It sounded like gibberish to the Cartwrights, but Pip seemed to understand every word and licked Fionn sloppily upside the face.

            Molly nearly knelt next to her brother but remembering the hours she had spent working on her gown, she stayed on her feet.  She reached out to Pip with both hands and scratched him behind the ears as a half a dozen tears escaped from the corners of her eyes.  Pip’s tongue lolled happily out the side of his mouth.

            “Wherever did you get him?” Molly breathed, her eyes never leaving Pip.

            “Adam gave him to me for Christmas a couple years ago,” Josie answered.  “Had him sent all the way from Boston.  His name’s Pip.  Isn’t he beautiful?”

            “He’s an absolute miracle, he is,” Fionn said, standing back up.  “Haven’t seen the likes of him since we left Ireland, and that were eight years ago.”  His brown eyes shone at Josie.  “You must be a valiant woman, Dr. Cartwright, to earn the respect of such a warrior as this.”

            Josie blushed again as Adam offered Molly his arm.  He was about to take her to meet the other party guests when another wagon rolled up to the barn.  Josie broke into a radiant smile as she recognized the Croft family aboard the vehicle.  Fionn’s eyes twinkled with amusement as he watched Josie rush to greet Simon and Adam hang back to keep an eye on Simon’s reaction to Josie’s new gown.

            “Bit concerned about this young man, are we?” Fionn inquired, his eyes dancing with the same unnerving mischief Adam so often saw in Little Joe’s.

            Adam glanced over at him, amused that Fionn had called Simon “young” when Simon was a year Fionn’s senior.  “Not as much as I used to be,” Adam answered truthfully.  “But Simon’s never seen her dressed up quite like this, either.” 

            The trio watched as Simon sprang out of the wagon and nearly landed on his face as he got his first good look at Josie in her new dress.  Adam heard Fionn chuckle softly behind him as Simon’s mouth dropped open and his jaw worked up and down as he tried to find his voice.  In plain view of everyone, Simon wrapped an arm around Josie’s waist, drew her close against him, and kissed her.

            Fionn chuckled again – a bit more loudly this time – as Adam stiffened.  He slapped one of Adam’s tense shoulders.

            “I wouldn’t worry too much, Cartwright,” he said.  “From what I understand, your cousin is well able to take care of herself.  But you might remember how this feels as you’re walkin’ around with me sister.”  He winked at Adam and Molly and strolled off toward the barbecue pit where Ben and Hop Sing were carving up the first of the two pigs they had roasted for the occasion.  Pip glanced over at Josie, decided she was safe with Simon, and followed his new friend Fionn toward the delicious smells.

            Adam circulated Molly around the guests for the better part of an hour before they dived into the food.  Everyone was excited to meet the young seamstress who had crafted Dr. Cartwright’s magnificent gown, and several women promised to stop by her shop that week.  Adam was the envy of every eligible young bachelor – and a few of the older ones, too – as he escorted Molly from guest to guest.  At long last, they settled at a table to feast on Hop Sing’s famous barbecued pork, beans, biscuits, and the first of the season’s corn.  Josie wanted to sit down with them, but she also did not want to intrude.  However, when Fionn escorted a blushing Sally Cass over to their table and plopped down next to Molly, Josie decided the way had been cleared, and she and Simon scuttled over, balancing plates laden with teetering mounds of food.  They sat across from Adam and Molly and before long were joined by Hoss and Patience and Little Joe and Rebecca Croft, whose infatuation with Ross Marquette’s little brother had worn off.  Adam was a bit annoyed by all the intruders, but he remembered how important it had been to Josie to make friends when she was new to town and decided that all the company was probably good for Molly and Fionn.   They all fell easily into conversation, Fionn and Molly telling stories of their childhood in Ireland, and Adam chiming in with anecdotes about traveling across the continent with Ben.  Hoss kept everyone enthralled with a tale of how he had once wrestled a sea lion on the California coast.  He was so convincing that it was a full ten minutes before anyone – even Adam – realized he was making it up, and they all shared a hearty laugh.

            “You sure you’re not Irish?” Fionn exclaimed, wiping tears from his eyes.  “You’ve got the best gift of gab I’ve ever seen!”

            “Da always said never let the truth get in the way of a good yarn,” Molly added.

            Resplendent in his new tuxedo, Hop Sing had come around a few minutes before and poured everyone a glass of champagne.  Ben now stood up from his seat at the center table and called for the guests’ attention.  Hoss nudged Josie and gestured toward Ben, and Josie broke out in giggles when she saw that Widow Hawkins had managed to seat herself right next to him.  The gray-haired woman looked up at Ben with sparkling, adoring eyes as he spoke.

            “I’d like to thank you all for coming out here this evening,” Ben began.  “It means a lot to my family and to me to have such wonderful, caring friends and neighbors.  We can’t thank you enough for all of your gifts, prayers, and hard work while Josie was ill.  I’d also like to thank you for giving my sisters-in-law such a warm welcome.  You’ve made putting up with us Cartwrights that much easier for them.”  He waited for the laughter to die before continuing.  “So thank you again for your love and support.  To Virginia City!”  He raised his glass in a toast. 

            Everyone raised their glasses as well, repeated “Virginia City!” and drank.

            “Oh, and happy birthday, Adam,” Ben tacked on.

            “Gee, thanks, Pa,” Adam called out.

            The crowd laughed again as they peppered Adam with birthday greetings.

            Molly turned to him, her eyes wide.  “You didn’t tell me it was your birthday!” she scolded.

            “Well, it isn’t really,” Adam replied.  “Not until Monday.”

            “Close enough.  Happy birthday.”  Molly squeezed Adam’s hand and smiled affectionately at him.  He smiled back, and the pair held eye contact for several long moments until Little Joe cleared his throat.

            “Well, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I feel like dancin’,” he announced.  The musicians Ben had hired had just struck up a lively tune, and Joe extended his hand to Rebecca.  She blushed as she took it and let Joe lead her to the clear space in the center of the yard.

            Following Joe’s lead, Hoss and Fionn both asked their young ladies to dance, and the women accepted happily.  Simon very unexpectedly excused himself and dashed away, leaving Josie alone at the table with Adam and Molly.  Feeling like a fifth wheel, Josie muttered something about needing to greet all of the guests – she was the hostess, after all – and scooted away from the table.

            Casting about desperately, her eyes landed on Sheriff Coffee standing near the barbecue pit as he watched the twirling couples on the dance floor.  The lawman looked distinctly uncomfortable, which Josie found odd.  Roy Coffee was an old friend of Ben’s, and he typically felt as comfortable on the Ponderosa as he did in his own home.  Josie glided over and greeted him.  She thought it strange when the sheriff did not make eye contact with her when he said hello, and Josie followed his gaze across the yard at Rachel, who was still seated at the head table and jabbering away with Widow Hawkins. 

            “I don’t think she’s about to break any laws,” Josie teased gently.

            Roy jumped as if Josie had snuck up behind him and said “boo.”

            “A lawman must be always on his guard,” Roy defended himself.

            Josie was not fooled.  “Just go ask her to dance.  She won’t turn you down.”

            Roy shifted nervously.  “Do I smell like barbecue?” he asked.  He had spent the first hour of the party chatting with Ben next to the barbecue pit, and he knew the scent must be clinging to his clothes and what little hair he had left.

            Josie leaned over and sniffed his shoulder.  “Not unpleasantly,” she said.

            “Right.”  Roy took a deep breath and strode confidently over to Rachel. 

            Josie watched with a smile as the sheriff spoke to her aunt, whose face lit up when he offered her his hand.  The pair swept onto the dance floor, Rachel apparently forgetting her earlier objection to the “rough frontier music.”

            Simon returned, and Josie giggled when she saw he was coming from the direction of the outhouse behind the bunkhouse.  Hop Sing’s beans were delicious, but they tended not to stick around too long.  He grinned at her, extended a freshly scrubbed hand, and led her onto the dance floor where they joined in the spirited reel.

            Back at their table, Molly had not let go of Adam’s hand after wishing him happy birthday, and while he was keenly aware of her touch, he could not help watching Simon and Josie dance for a few moments.  Molly caught him smiling fondly in his cousin’s direction and poked him lightly in the shoulder.

            “I still can’t believe she’s your cousin and not your sister,” Molly said.  “You’re so alike.”

            Adam smiled.  “If I had been in charge of the introductions when we first met, that’s how I would have introduced her.”  He explained his and Josie’s “cousin-cousin” relationship, and Molly laughed.

            “Such a close relation!” she exclaimed.  “You’re really sure you’re not Irish?!”  When Adam chuckled, Molly continued.  “Have you always been close, then?”

            Without thinking twice about it, Adam launched into the story of his journey east for college and how Jacob, Hannah, and Josie had taken him in as their own son and brother.  He told her about taking Josie all over Washington, D.C. – to the theater, the Smithsonian, and even tobogganing.

            “We grew as close as any brother and sister,” Adam said.  “Josie and I… we understand each other.  She knows what I’m thinking even before I do sometimes, and I can often anticipate what she’ll do next.”  He paused thoughtfully.  “That’s probably why so many of our chess matches end in stalemates.”

            Molly laughed, a high tinkling sound that rang across the yard.  “I’m surprised you didn’t just stay in Washington after college,” she remarked.

            “I thought about it pretty seriously,” Adam confessed.  “Uncle Jacob offered to let me stay with them and help me find work.  But Little Joe and Hoss were still young, especially Joe.  Pa needed me here.”

            “Must have been hard, sayin’ goodbye to Josie.”

            “Felt like I was breaking in half,” Adam admitted.  He paused again.  “I considered moving back east a few times once Hoss and Joe were a bit older.  Came really close a couple years before the war broke out.”

            Molly cocked her head to one side and gazed softly at him, waiting for him to continue.  He smiled at her; she had a way of drawing him out, and he elaborated without hesitation.

            “I was getting pretty fed up with the West in general.  It just seemed so savage and heartless and uncivilized.”  He shuddered when he realized how much he sounded like Rachel.  “And then Little Joe nearly died.” 

            “What happened?”  Molly’s green eyes were as wide as her dinner plate.

            Adam took a deep breath, making sure he had his emotions under control before continuing.  This was not a story he was proud of, but there was no way out of telling it now.  “He and I were up in some high country hunting a wolf that had been killing our calves,” he began.  “But we weren’t having any luck, and we’d given up when we heard it howling again.  I didn’t want to bother with it – I was pretty sure we’d scared it off our land for good – but Little Joe was so determined to get him.”  He smiled at this.  “Joe’s an impulsive little scamp, but I have to admire his tenacity.

            “Anyway, Joe went after the wolf, and a few minutes later, I heard him firing off shots, so I rode off to help him.  I came around a corner, and wouldn’t you know, I nearly ran head-on into that old wolf.  Well, without even thinking about it, I grabbed my rifle and fired.  I missed the wolf, but I shot Joe right through the shoulder.”

            Molly gasped and clutched Adam’s arm as she murmured something in Irish.  Finding her English again, she breathed, “You poor dear.  That must have been horrible for you!”

            “Not as horrible as it was for Little Joe,” Adam remarked.  “As soon as he went down, the wolf jumped on him.  Nearly ripped his arm off.”  He lowered his gaze to his empty plate and wished he had not eaten so much.  His dinner sat like a rock in his stomach.

            Molly could see the guilt in Adam’s eyes as fresh as if the incident had just occurred.  “Aye, but it were an accident,” she soothed.

            “That’s what everyone told me.”  Adam lifted his gaze and met Molly’s again.  “Even Pa said that.  But I knew Joe was up there near that wolf.  I should have looked twice before firing.

            “I did kill the wolf; I cut him down with a second shot while he was attacking Joe, but I had already nearly killed Joe, too.  My god, he was only sixteen.”  Adam ran one hand across his mouth as he trailed off again.  Molly sat quietly for a few moments, trying to figure out what – if anything – she should say.

            “An accidental shot could happen anywhere,” Molly reasoned.  “It wasn’t a direct result of where you live.”

            Adam considered her for a moment; he liked her logical thinking.  “True,” he concurred, “but had we been back east I wouldn’t have had to carry Joe on my horse for a day and a half to get him home, only to discover that Dr. Martin was off with another patient and couldn’t get to us for another day.  I had to cut that bullet out of Joe’s shoulder myself with a kitchen knife.  Made a mess of it, too.  You should see the scars I left him with.  He’ll have those the rest of his life.

            “Then to top it off, when the doctor finally reached us, he was out of the medicine Joe needed, so Hoss had to ride more than twenty miles for it.  We almost lost Joe to a fever before he got back.

            “Obviously, Little Joe recovered,” Adam concluded, leaning back in his chair and stretching his long legs out underneath the table.  “But for a long time I didn’t want to live in a place so devoid of something as simple as doctors and medicine, a place where a man can die from a treatable wound.  I very nearly moved back east then.  I even had a letter written to Uncle Jacob asking if I could stay with them in Washington until I could find work and get my own place.  Never posted it, though.”

            “What changed your mind?”

            “Joe did,” Adam answered with a small chuckle.  “When he came back around, all he could talk about was how incredible I was shooting that wolf.  Told everyone who would listen how I really clobbered him.  Can you believe that?  I shoot him, and he idolizes me even more.”  Adam shook his head.  “In the end, I just couldn’t leave that little pup.”

            “You love your brothers very much,” Molly observed.

            Adam’s gaze drifted once more to the dance floor where Hoss and Little Joe were sweeping their young ladies around in circles.  “We’ve been through a lot together,” he admitted.  “And once we got Josie out here two years ago, I lost all interest in moving east.  I realized I had almost everything I needed right here.”

            “Almost everything?”

            Adam smiled slyly at her.  “Well, a man needs the companionship of more than just his siblings.  But maybe that issue is being resolved, too?”  He raised one eyebrow at her.

            Molly gave Adam a sly smile of her own.  “That depends,” she remarked coyly.

            “On what?”

            “Can you dance?”

            “Try me.”

            Adam and Molly leapt to their feet, and Adam led them onto the dance floor, where they joined the throng of twirling couples.  They danced nonstop for the next hour and a half.  While Hoss, Little Joe, and Josie all danced with some of the other guests – Hoss even being so generous as to rescue Ben from Widow Hawkins for a couple of tunes and Fionn teaching Josie how to properly execute an Irish jig – Adam would not relinquish his hold on Molly.  During one slow song, Josie took a breather, sitting down next to her mother while Simon fetched her some lemonade.  Josie nudged Hannah and jerked her head in Adam and Molly’s direction.  Hannah watched her nephew whirl around the dance floor with the young Irishwoman, the pair of them gazing into each other’s eyes and smiling happily, everything outside of themselves nothing but a distraction. 

            “I do believe Older Brother’s falling in love,” Josie giggled.

            Hannah smiled back.  “Encourage this,” she whispered.  “It would be good for him.”

            “I will,” Josie complied.  “But I’m still gonna tease him.”

            “Oh dear,” Hannah said.  Josie thought she was referring to her threat to tease Adam until she followed Hannah’s gaze and saw that Widow Hawkins had grabbed hold of Ben.  The eldest Cartwright was too polite to push her away and was now shuffling rather stiffly around the dance floor, keeping as much distance as possible between his body and the widow’s.  Hannah leapt from her seat and rushed out to the dance floor.

            Simon returned with Josie’s lemonade, and the pair of them laughed as they watched Hannah cut in on Ben and Clementine.  The boardinghouse matron looked like she was about to pitch a fit until Rachel very graciously said she wished to rest and handed Sheriff Coffee off to her friend.  The look of relief on Ben’s face was nothing short of hilarious, and Simon nearly shot lemonade out his nose.

            After a few moments’ rest, Simon and Josie rejoined the dancers and danced together until the musicians announced their final number.  By now, all the musicians in the area understood that Ponderosa parties always ended in a waltz, and the band now struck one up.  Instinctively, Simon released Josie, who cast about for Adam.  She spotted him on the other side of the dance floor, still holding Molly tightly in his arms.  Her face fell, and she fought tears.  Josie had always known that someday someone would claim either her or Adam’s last dances, but she had not expected it tonight.  Not at the party celebrating her recovery.  Adam had not danced with her all evening, and Josie had assumed she would get at least their final waltz.  Fortunately, Simon realized what was happening and intervened.

            “Come on, Josie,” he coaxed as he grabbed her hand.  “Why don’t you teach me how to waltz?”

            Josie gave Simon a wan smile, turned her back to Adam, and let Simon lead her back to the dance floor.

            Across the yard, Adam’s brain finally processed the musicians’ announcement that this was the final number and realized that they were playing a waltz.  He peered over Molly’s shoulder at Josie just in time to see her face crumple and Simon lead her away.

            “Uh oh,” he gasped, frantically shifting his gaze back and forth between Josie’s slumped shoulders and Molly’s shining eyes.  Adam was torn.  He hated to let go of Molly, but the thought of disappointing Josie broke his heart.

            Molly could see the conflict on Adam’s face.  “What’s the matter?” she asked.

            Adam quickly explained his and Josie’s tradition.  “But I hate to abandon you,” he added. 

            Molly smiled kindly at him.  “Traditions are important,” she told him.  “You should honor yours.”  She stepped back, leaving him a clear path to the center of the dance floor where Josie was counting aloud to keep Simon in step.  Seeing how quickly the young man was picking up the waltz bruised Adam’s pride a little, and he realized he had better grab Josie before Simon showed him up.

            Adam grinned and kissed Molly on the cheek.  “Don’t you go anywhere,” he commanded playfully.  “I’ll be back for you.” 

            He strode over to Josie and Simon and tapped Simon on the shoulder.  Josie’s face lit up when she saw Adam grinning at her over Simon’s shoulder, and even Simon broke out in a relieved smile.  He hated seeing Josie disappointed as much as Adam did.

            Adam swept an arm around Josie’s waist and gave her a sheepish smile.  “Sorry I’m late.”

            “Aw, I wasn’t worried,” Josie replied, grinning back at him.

            Simon wandered to the edge of the dance floor to watch Adam and Josie dance.  The pair of them made waltzing look effortless.  He glanced over at Little Joe and Rebecca and snickered derisively as Little Joe stepped on Rebecca’s feet – again – and she glared at him.

            “Apparently, the dance skills don’t run all the way through the family.”

            Simon jumped at the lilting brogue in his ear; he had not heard Molly come up behind him.  He glanced over at the young woman and grinned.  “Evidently not,” he agreed.

            The pair of them chuckled and watched the dancers for a few moments.  Just to be polite, Simon was about to invite Molly to dance when Molly muttered “Oh, dear.”

            Simon asked what was wrong, and Molly gestured across the dance floor to where Widow Hawkins was once more closing in on Ben like a hungry barn cat about to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse.

            “Looks like Mr. Cartwright could use some rescuin’,” Molly observed.  She smiled at Simon one last time and raced over to Ben, reaching him just before the widow.  Clementine shot daggers at the young woman, but Simon had never seen Ben Cartwright smile so brightly.  He and Molly fell easily into the waltz.

            Glancing around, Simon was surprised to see Hannah sitting alone at the edge of the dance floor, so he crossed over to her, gave her a low bow, and extended his right hand.

            “May I have the honor of this dance, Mrs. Cartwright?” he asked grandly.

            “The honor would be mine, Mr. Croft,” Hannah replied, smiling and placing her hand in Simon’s.

            The dancing couples waltzed around the dance floor and groaned in disappointment when the song ended.  Adam gave Josie a hug and whispered in her ear, “No matter what, if you need me, you just speak up, all right?”

            Josie smiled into his shirtfront.  “All right,” she replied. 

            Adam kissed her forehead.  “I love you, Little Sister.”

            “I love you, too, Older Brother.  But I think you better go get Molly back before Uncle Ben decides to propose.”  She cocked her head in the direction of Molly and Ben, who were laughing animatedly as they walked arm-in-arm toward the lemonade table.

            “Hey!” Adam exclaimed and rushed off to reclaim his date.

            Josie giggled as Simon came up behind her and threaded an arm around her waist.  She leaned her head back against his chest and sighed contentedly.

            “Your ma’s a good dancer,” Simon informed her.  “I think I may finally have caught on to waltzing.”

            “That’s good,” Josie replied.  “It’s only taken you thirteen years.”

            Simon grinned at Josie’s teasing and spun her around to face him.  She smiled up at him and leaned in for a soft kiss.  They lingered there, lips together, until they heard a throat clearing loudly behind them.  Josie turned around to see her uncle standing there, one eyebrow raised.

            “Ahem,” he said drily.

            “Yes?” Josie asked, all wide-eyed innocence.

            Ben fought to maintain his stern countenance.  “Our guests are leaving.  I need my hostess to help bid them farewell.”

            “Yes, of course.”  Josie squeezed Simon’s hand and took Ben’s proffered arm.

            The Cartwrights spent the next forty-five minutes saying goodbye to and thanking their guests.  Everyone exclaimed once more over Josie’s new gown, and at least a dozen more women sought out Molly and promised to come by her shop that week.  Adam thought he would never be able to get a private word with Molly, but he watched carefully, and as soon as there was a break in Molly’s well-wishers, Adam grabbed her hand, and they darted around the side of the house.

            Molly giggled as Adam pulled her into a shadow out of view of the lingering guests.  Adam wound his arms around her waist and laced his fingers at the small of her back.  He said nothing for several long moments; he just stood there and let himself get lost in her face.  A few tendrils of auburn hair had worked loose from her braids and now framed the sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks that twinkled up at him like so many stars.  Her eyes sparkled despite the dim shadow they stood in, and Adam pulled her tightly against him and leaned down to kiss her.

            It was the invitation Molly had been waiting for, and she tilted her head upward to accept his kiss.  Their lips needed no introduction, and a thrill shot down Adam’s spine as they met.  He was grateful for the multiple layers of cotton, silk, and crinoline between them so Molly could not feel his immediate physical reaction.  He eased his hips back an inch or two just in case, but Molly took a step forward, keeping herself pressed up against Adam and backing him against the side of the house.  His left hand slid up her back and rested gently on the back of her neck as their mouths opened.  Molly inhaled sharply as Adam ran his tongue across the back of her teeth, tickling her gums.  Adam’s lips left hers, and she leaned her head back to expose her throat as his kisses traveled down her neck.

            Back in the yard, Josie was growing concerned over Adam’s prolonged absence.  She had seen him pull Molly away and had gamely distracted Rachel so she would not see her nephew dragging a young lady into the shadows, but surely someone would soon notice that Adam was not among them.  Two days shy of his thirty-third birthday, Adam was certainly entitled to slip away for a bit of necking with a comely young woman if the spirit moved him, but that did not mean Aunt Rachel would not cause an embarrassing scene.  Josie heaved a sigh of relief when Rachel and Widow Hawkins went inside to fetch Abigail Myers’ shawl.

            Fionn bumped Simon out of the way and sidled up to Josie, ignoring Simon’s glare of indignation.  “Would appear your brother’s made off with me sister,” the Irishman observed.  He laughed merrily at the uneasy expression on Josie’s face.  “Don’t worry, I’ll flush him out.”  Fionn took a few steps toward the center of the yard and hollered, “Cartwright!  I know you’ve got me sister!  If you’re gettin’ her in any trouble, we’re goin’ to have words!”  His warning issued, Fionn stuffed a fist in his mouth to keep from laughing so he could listen for a reaction.  His eyes dancing with mischief, he shot a look over his shoulder at Josie, who had pursed her lips to keep from laughing herself.  She reached over and pinched Little Joe, who was about to explode in laughter, too.  Simon was the only one who did not look amused.  He was still glaring at Fionn, anger burbling up over both the Irishman’s pushing him and his attempts to humiliate Adam.  His initial fear of the eldest Cartwright son had evolved into a solid respect for the man, and Simon resented Fionn’s trying to embarrass him.

            On the side of the house, Adam froze at the sound of Fionn’s voice, his lips still pressed to the little hollow at the base of Molly’s throat.  He looked up at Molly and even in the dark could see that her face was turning bright red, though with anger or embarrassment, Adam could not say.  Despite his best efforts, Adam began to laugh softly.  Molly cocked her head to one side and stared at him quizzically.

            “So that’s what that feels like,” he chuckled, more to himself than to Molly.  “Poor Simon.  I’ve been so hard on him.”

            Molly relaxed a bit and laughed, too, as she realized what a stern talking to Simon must have received regarding Josie.  “Brothers,” she said, shaking her head.  “Most obnoxious creatures God ever put on this Earth.”

            Adam chuckled in agreement as he caressed Molly’s cheek.  “I’ll come see you in town very soon,” he promised.  “And in the meantime, I don’t want any other men calling on you.”

            Molly pulled away from his touch and stuck her hands on her hips.  “Are you presumin’ to tell me what to do, Adam Cartwright?”  She dropped her stern expression and laughed as she watched Adam try to work out an appropriate response.  She stepped closer to him once more.  “Don’t you worry, Just Adam,” she purred as her right hand reached up to play with the tiny hairs at the nape of his neck.  “I don’t want any other men callin’ on me either.  Any man besides you darkens my door better be wantin’ a new dress.”

            Adam snorted as an image of Little Joe in a frilly skirt and matching bonnet passed through his mind.

            “Cartwright!” Fionn called out again.  “You’re not the only man in this territory to be ownin’ a forty-five, you know!”

            Adam whispered a quick plan to Molly that he hoped would save her from embarrassment, and then he slipped away behind the bunkhouse.  A moment later he emerged, sans Molly, in the center of the yard.

            He strolled casually across the yard, his thumbs hitched in his pockets.   “What seems to be the trouble, Fionn?” 

            Fionn stared at Adam dubiously as the older man approached him. 

            “Where’d you leave my sister?”

            Before Adam could answer, Molly stepped out of the front door of the house and onto the porch.

            “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, Fionn O’Connell!” she chided.  “What do you mean by hollerin’ your lungs out in the middle of civilized company?  Our poor old Mum would roll over in her grave if she knew you were carryin’ on so!”

            Fionn’s mouth dropped open.  He had watched Molly disappear around the side of the house with Adam, and he could not fathom how she had managed to come out of the front door just now.  He peered at her dress and could see no tell-tale wrinkles or snags that would give evidence to her having gone in through a window – not that she could have fit through a window in her enormous hoopskirt anyway. 

            Josie caught Simon’s eye, and they both had to bite their lower lips as they watched the understanding arise on each other’s faces.  Clearly, Adam had slipped through the shadows behind the bunkhouse to make it look as though he had been in the outhouse the entire time while Molly dashed behind the house and in the side door to the kitchen.

            Molly cut Fionn off before he could utter a protestation.  “Hop Sing was just showin’ me your house, Mr. Cartwright,” she said to Ben.  “It’s absolutely beautiful.”

            Ben beamed at her and envied Adam his youth.  “Oh, well,” he said modestly.  “The credit goes to Adam.  The entire house was his design.”

            Molly slapped Adam’s arm.  “You didn’t tell me that!” she scolded.

            “It didn’t come up,” Adam answered honestly with a shrug of his shoulders.

            “Adam’s amazing with buildings,” Josie boasted.  “He designed my clinic, too.”  The look of pure admiration Josie gave Adam made Molly smile. 

            “Well, Mr. Cartwright,” Fionn began, extending his hand to Ben, who shook it warmly, “I want to thank you for all your hospitality this evenin’.  Perhaps Molly and I can have you and your family over to our home, once we’ve got it fixed up a bit more.”

            Ben accepted the offer graciously, and the O’Connells bid the rest of the Cartwrights farewell.  Josie and Molly embraced warmly, and Little Joe shook Fionn’s hand vigorously. 

            “We’ve got some real good fishin’ here on the Ponderosa, if you ever wanna try your luck,” Little Joe invited him.  Josie shook her head.  Fionn O’Connell seemed every bit as mischievous as Little Joe, and she imagined the pair of them could get up to all sorts of trouble.

            Adam escorted Molly to the O’Connells’ wagon and lifted her up into the seat.  She leaned down and kissed him one last time in full view of everyone.

            “Don’t forget, you promised to come visit me,” Molly whispered.

            “At my first opportunity,” Adam replied.

            “Easy now, Cartwright,” Fionn warned playfully as Adam kissed Molly again.  Adam grinned and waved a submissive hand toward Fionn, who slapped the horse’s rump with the reins.  As the wagon faded into the dark night, Adam was certain he saw Molly haul back and punch her little brother in the side of the head.  He was still gazing after the vanishing wagon when Little Joe sidled up to him.

            “’Some rancher,’ eh?” Joe sneered.

            “I stand by the accuracy of my statement.”  Adam grinned at Joe.  “Sorry, Little Brother.  Finders keepers, and I found her first.  Besides, you didn’t seem too bad off tonight.  Looks like you got Rebecca’s attention back.”

              “Yeah,” Little Joe grudgingly agreed.  “Just have to figure out how to keep it this time.”

            Adam assured Joe he had great faith in his charm, draped an arm around his little brother’s shoulders, and led him back toward the house.

            While Adam was busy saying his final farewell to Molly, Simon pulled Josie aside for a quick goodbye kiss.

            “Thank you for starting off that waltz with me,” Josie said softly.  “You have no idea how much that meant.”

            “I can’t stand to see you sad,” Simon admitted.  He swallowed hard.  “I… I love you, Josie.”

            Josie’s stomach leapt, and she had to squelch an embarrassingly girlish urge to squeal.  Her hazel eyes lit up, and she could not tamp down the huge, goofy smile that spread across her face. 

            She meant to say, “I love you, too,” but all that came out was a high-pitched “Really?!”

            Simon laughed.  “Really, really,” he said.  Then more seriously, he added, “Since I was ten years old.”

            Josie grinned again, but this time she recovered her senses.  “I love you, too, Simon,” she whispered.

            Simon’s face lit up so brightly that Josie was nearly blinded.  They kissed again, Simon pulling Josie tightly against him and, like Adam, finding himself grateful for the multiple layers of fabric between himself and his sweetheart.   As they broke breathlessly apart, Simon ran a finger down Josie’s cheek. 

            “I’m so sorry, but I have to go,” he said, cocking his head in the direction of his family’s waiting wagon.  “I have got to start riding my own horse to these things.  But we’ll continue this conversation later?”

            “Absolutely.”

            Simon tore himself away from Josie and scampered off toward his family’s wagon as Adam and Little Joe came back across the yard.  Hoss and Ben were taking down the silk lanterns, but even in the darkening yard Josie could see Adam’s broad grin.  She smiled back at the sight of the brothers ambling across the yard together, Adam’s arm still draped around Little Joe’s shoulders; despite Adam’s protestations to the contrary, he really did enjoy Little Joe.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect night, but it made Josie sad, too, as she wondered how many more nights they would all have together on the Ponderosa.  She and Simon were apparently growing serious, as were Hoss and Patience, and now Adam had his sights set on someone as well.  She knew someday she would miss having her cousins just down the hall, but she supposed as long as none of them moved far away that things would be all right.  She skipped over to Adam and Joe, linked her arm through Adam’s, and walked into the house with them.

            As Josie bid everyone goodnight and she and Hannah made to go up the stairs, Adam grabbed hold of her arm and gave her another hug, ignoring Rachel’s protest that he would crush the taffeta of Josie’s gown.

            “Remember what I said,” he whispered into her ear.  “I’m always here if you need me.  No matter what.”

            Josie smiled up at him.  “Right back at ya, Older Brother.”  She kissed his cheek and pranced upstairs behind her mother.

******

            Hannah and Rachel stayed another two weeks, during which time no one made any mention of the huge blowout Rachel and Josie had had the morning of the party, though the two women gave each other a wide berth and avoided being alone in a room together.  Rachel spent a good deal of time in town with Widow Hawkins and, the family suspected, Sheriff Coffee, and Josie began receiving patients at her new clinic for the first time. 

            While he wished Rachel and Josie would make up – any time the two of them were in a room together, the temperature dropped dramatically – Adam was glad Rachel was spending so much time in town because volunteering to drive her gave him an excuse to visit Molly.  He liked taking Molly out to lunch or shopping at the general store, but he avoided being alone with her for too long at a stretch.  He had never been so intensely desirous of a woman, and the attraction made him a little apprehensive; he worried that if he moved too quickly he would find himself in a physical relationship with only a tenuous friendship underlying it.  That is what had happened with his ex-fiancée, and Adam was not keen to have his heart smashed again.  It was difficult, though.  It had been more than a year since Adam last enjoyed a woman’s company, and that had been, regrettably, a less-than-satisfying drunken encounter with a saloon girl in Placerville.

            Molly noticed Adam’s new hesitation, but she said nothing.  An intuitive woman, Molly had sensed that Adam was a careful, methodical man, and she guessed correctly that quick courtships were not Adam’s modus operandi.  Molly was content enough for now just to spend time with him.  She certainly was not vain, but she did enjoy the jealous looks she received from the other young ladies in town as she glided down the sidewalk on the arm of Adam Cartwright. 

            By the end of her visit to the Ponderosa, Hannah felt confident that Adam was well on his way to carving out his own path.  She, too, sensed his hesitation to move too quickly with Molly, but she could see their connection in the loving gazes they gave each other and the way Adam placed his hand on the small of Molly’s back as he ushered her through doors.  It was also evident in the smile Adam always wore upon returning from a trip to town and in his increasing likelihood to join one of his siblings in pulling some small prank on the others.

            The next to last evening of Hannah and Rachel’s visit, Hop Sing cooked up a magnificent feast of roast duck, green beans, sweet corn, baked potatoes, and dinner rolls, topped off with a beautifully frosted chocolate cake for dessert.  Widow Hawkins and Sheriff Coffee joined them, and the table was so crowded that the diners were elbow-to-elbow. 

            The dinner was a resounding success.  Hop Sing had roasted the two ducks to perfection: crispy skin surrounding meat so tender it nearly melted on the tongue.  Josie had to excuse herself from the table when Hop Sing nudged her and whispered in her ear, “Do you get it?” he asked, nodding subtly to the duck and then to Ben, who was being badgered once again by Widow Hawkins.  “Ducky.”

            Josie caught Adam’s gaze as she returned to the table, her eyes streaming from the fit of laughter that she had muffled with a towel in the washroom.  Adam cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow, and Josie mouthed the word “Later” to him. 

            Just as Josie passed behind Hoss to return to her seat, the ground lurched violently beneath her feet, and she grabbed Hoss around the neck to keep from falling.  She glanced out the dining-room window and watched open-mouthed as the grassy knoll on the side of the house rolled in waves like the ocean.  On the other side of the table, Little Joe’s and Adam’s eyes grew huge as they clutched at the table, which was chattering noisily against the floorboards.  The family was nearly deafened by the cacophony of glass shattering all over the house.  Josie cringed as she thought of her father’s portrait that had been sitting on her night table and was now surely in thousands of pieces on her bedroom floor.  Hop Sing reeled out of the kitchen to avoid being hit by the extra plates and cups as they flew off their shelves. 

            Rachel cried out in alarm, but Hannah was shocked into silence, her eyes wide with terror as she clutched Adam’s arm.  The earth surged again, and Widow Hawkins was thrown sideways out of her chair, landing neatly – and, Adam later thought, conveniently – in Ben’s lap.  The eldest Cartwright was too shocked to react and sat there holding onto Clementine as the ground continued to pulsate beneath them.  No one tried to catch the bowl of green beans as it bounced off the table and exploded on the floor.

            When the ground stilled after twenty interminable seconds, the Cartwrights stayed frozen in place, staring at one another.  Finally, Hoss broke the stunned silence.

            “Josie, you’re chokin’ me,” he gasped. 

            For the first time, Josie realized that she had Hoss in a stranglehold, and his face was turning purple.  She immediately released him and jumped back.

            “What the hell was that?!” she shouted.

            Even Rachel was too shocked to chastise Josie for swearing.  Adam found his voice first.

            “That was an earthquake!” he replied incredulously.  Adam had felt an earthquake once before in San Francisco, but never here in Nevada.  He had not studied much geology, but he supposed there must be fault lines running through the territory, too.

            Ben suddenly became aware of Clementine Hawkins sitting in his lap and staring adoringly up at him as if he had just saved her life.  He nearly shoved her off his lap and onto the floor but remembered his manners at the last minute and stood up slowly instead, allowing her to slide more or less gracefully to her feet.  Like a proper New England gentleman, he allowed her to hang onto his arm; they had all just had quite a shock.

            “Is everyone all right?” he asked, glancing around at his still-startled family and guests.

            Everyone nodded dumbly before they all started talking at once.

            “Holy smoke!  Did you ever feel anything like that?!”

            “Dadburnit, if that weren’t the strangest thing!”

            “Merciful heavens!  Does that happen often?!”

            “I’m gonna check on the men in the bunkhouse.  Make sure they’re all right.”

            Dinner forgotten, Adam rose on rubbery legs and headed outside to the bunkhouse.  After ensuring the hands were shaken up but not injured, Adam made quick rounds of the exterior of the bunkhouse, barn, and house to check for structural damage.  There was a small crack near the ground on the backside of the barn, but otherwise, all the buildings seemed sound, and he smiled a little with pride at his sturdy building designs.  He stepped inside the barn to check on the horses, but Hoss and Little Joe were already there, speaking soothingly to the frightened animals and replacing tools and tack on their pegs and shelves.  He stopped by Sport’s stall and reassuringly stroked the white blaze down his horse’s nose before heading back to the house.

            When Adam got back in the house, he found Sheriff Coffee and the ladies helping Hop Sing sweep up broken glass.  The dining room was not too bad; they had managed to hold everything on the table except the green beans, and apart from the brandy snifters, the living room was all right, too.  The kitchen, however, was wrecked.  Shattered dishes covered the floor like a field of razor-sharp snowflakes, and every time someone took a step, the shards ground noisily beneath their shoes.  The kitchen was too crowded for Adam’s liking, so he picked his way carefully over to his father’s study, where Ben was bending down to pick up the fallen portraits of his late wives.

            Only Inger’s portrait had survived unscathed as it managed to fall forward onto the cushiony leather top of Ben’s desk.  Marie’s and Elizabeth’s portraits, however, had fallen backward off the edge of the desk.  Ben was shaking the broken glass out of the golden frame of Elizabeth’s portrait when Adam stepped over and picked up Marie’s portrait, which was lying face-down on the floor.  Its glass was shattered, too, and Adam mimicked his father in shaking the shards out of the frame.  The forlorn expression on Ben’s face as he stared at the broken pictures cut right through Adam, and he gently removed his mother’s portrait from his father’s hands. 

            “These are all right, Pa,” he reassured him.  “The glass hasn’t scratched the pictures, and these frames are real sturdy.  See?  Not bent at all.”  He held up the two portraits in his hands side-by-side to illustrate his point.  Ben had made a smart decision when he had purchased solid-gold frames.  “We’ll order new glass for these, and you’ll never know the difference.”

            Ben nodded and took the portraits back from Adam.  He laid them lovingly on his desk and turned back to his son.  “Well!” he exclaimed, regaining control of himself and the task at hand.  “I’m going to find a broom to sweep this up.  I’ll let you take care of the bedrooms.”

            “Gee, thanks, Pa.”

            Fortunately for Adam, none of them kept many fragile items in their bedrooms.  The oil lamp on Ben’s nightstand had fallen over, spilling the noxious liquid across the floor, but miraculously, the globe had not shattered.  Adam set the lamp upright and threw down an old towel to sop up the oil.  Hoss’s bucket of whittling shavings had spilled across his bedroom floor, but Little Joe’s room was unscathed apart from an armchair that had tipped over.  When he entered his own bedroom, Adam discovered his drafting tools had been flung off his desk and onto the floor, where they joined the piles of books that had tumbled from his bookshelves.  He held his breath as he picked up his fallen guitar from where it had landed on the rug, and he was relieved to see that the thick wool rug had cushioned its fall and protected it from damage.  Josie’s bedroom was in a similar state.  One bookshelf had fallen completely over, sending medical texts scattering, but the portraits on her dressing table and nightstand were undamaged, and even her map of Washington, DC, had stayed secured to the wall.  Adam shook his head, marveling at the randomness of the damage, and returned downstairs to let everyone know that the effects to the second floor were minimal.

            As Adam reached the first floor, he heard a horse thunder into the yard and a man’s voice frantically shouting “Mr. Cartwright!  Mr. Cartwright!”  He shared a quick, concerned look with Ben, and they both hustled outside to investigate.

            A young red-haired man leapt from his lathered-up pinto and tore over to where Adam and Ben were standing on the porch.  Curious, Josie wandered onto the porch behind them.

            Ben recognized the boy as Tim, one of their new miners.  His blood ran cold as he reached out a hand to Tim.  “What’s wrong, Tim?” he barked.  “What’s happened?”

            “Cave in, Mr. Cartwright!” Tim shouted, though he was standing less than two feet from his employer.  “Up at the new mine!  We got almost two dozen men trapped down there!”

            Without a moment’s hesitation, Josie spun on her heel and dashed inside, and Adam knew that she was racing up to her bedroom to change into a pair of jeans and gather her medical supplies.  Ben saw Little Joe meander out of the barn and shouted at him to start saddling horses. 

            “How did that happen?” Adam demanded, his eyes blazing.  “I specifically ordered Jeb to cease mining operations until that new shoring was in place.” 

            Tim shrank back a few steps.  “That’s what we were doing, Mr. Cartwright,” he insisted, shifting his gaze to Adam.  “The men were down there puttin’ in the new shoring when that earthquake hit.  Brought the whole thing down on top of them.”

            Ben turned to Adam.  “I thought you said that shoring would be finished two weeks ago.”

            Adam ran a hand across his mouth.  “It was supposed to be,” he sighed, “but we had a holdup with the lumber.  I cut a last-minute deal with the Army for some timber, so the mine got bumped back.  I never imagined we’d have an earthquake.”

            “It’s not your fault, son,” Ben assured him.  “But we better get up there.”  He and Adam darted into the house with Tim on their heels.  They grabbed their hats off the sideboard and were buckling on their guns when Josie joined them and pulled her own revolver out of the sideboard drawer where she had hidden it from Rachel.  Hannah, Rachel, Roy, Hop Sing, and Clementine dashed out of the kitchen to see what all the fuss was about.  Rachel’s eyes widened at the sight of Josie buckling a gun around her slim, denim-clad hips, but she kept her mouth shut.

            “Ben,” Hannah said urgently.  “What’s happened?”

            “Cave-in up at one of our mines,” he replied. 

            Hannah pressed a hand to her heart, and Rachel clutched Clementine’s hand and muttered “Heaven help us.”

            Roy sprang into action.  “I’ll ride into town and gather up some men,” he offered.

            “Get Dr. Martin, too,” Josie requested.  “There’s two dozen men down there.  If even half of them are hurt, I’m gonna need help.”

            “You got it.”  Roy snatched his hat off the sideboard and darted out the door.  He sprang onto his horse with more agility than Josie would have expected from the aging lawman and sped off toward Virginia City.

            “I’ll come with you,” Hannah offered.

            Three pairs of Cartwright eyes turned and stared at Hannah. 

            “Oh, Mama,” Josie sputtered.  “I don’t know.  This could be pretty gruesome.”

            Hannah narrowed her eyes at her daughter and put her hands on her hips.  She looked so much like Josie did when she was indignant that Adam would have chuckled had the situation not been so serious. 

            “Josephine Elizabeth.”  Josie’s eyes widened as Hannah punctuated each syllable.  “You are not the only woman in this family to have assisted your father in his clinic.  I am coming with you.”

            Josie shrank back.  “So you are,” she agreed.  “Hop Sing!  Would you please hitch up a wagon and bring my mother up to the mine?”

            Hop Sing nodded and hustled out the door.

            “I’ll come, too,” Widow Hawkins said.  “Don’t know much about medicine, but I does know how to wrap a bandage.”

            “Yes, me as well,” Rachel added.

            “Fine,” Josie said crisply to her aunt.  “Just don’t get in my way.”  She snatched up Little Joe’s hat and gun and scooted out the door to the yard, where Little Joe and Hoss were already waiting with the Cartwrights’ horses saddled and stamping impatiently.  Josie tossed Little Joe his hat and gun and sprang onto Scout.  She tied her medical bag to her saddle while her uncle and cousins mounted up, and with a series of loud “HA!”s, they wheeled away.  Pip tore off after them, barking madly.

            The three ladies coughed as the cloud of tawny dust the five horses and the hound threw up advanced onto the porch like an invading army.

            “I thought you said she did not ride very well,” Rachel addressed her younger sister.

            “She seems to have improved,” Hannah said with a small smile.

******

            The situation at the mine was as bad as it could possibly have been.  All twenty-three men who were in the mine at the time of the earthquake were now trapped behind a solid wall of rock and timber obstructing the entrance that was cut into the side of the mountain.  A hot surge of anger and frustration burned through Adam when he saw the barricade.  He pounded one of the rocks futilely with his fist before flinging his hat viciously into the dirt.

            Still aboard Scout, Josie watched sadly.  If Adam were visibly angry, the situation must be really dire, and she knew that despite Ben’s reassurances, Adam blamed himself.  She slid down from Scout and approached him softly.  She picked up his hat, dusted it off, and handed it to him.

            “I don’t think we need you just yet, Josie,” Adam grumbled as he accepted his hat.

            “Yes, you do.”  Josie replied.  She stepped around him and began helping the men who were already moving rocks away from the entrance.

            Adam sighed heavily and hung his head.  “Yeah,” he said to no one in particular.  He jammed his hat back on his head and joined Josie and the men in moving the rocks.

            Clearing the entrance was a slow, laborious process.  Some of the larger stones required a team of men to move, and Adam stopped the operation frequently to check the stability of the rock pile and mine’s entrance to ensure they would not bring more earth and stone down on top of both themselves and the men inside the mine.  As the sun dipped below the mountains, the men lit lanterns which they placed all around the work site.  When Hop Sing rolled up in the wagon with Hannah, Rachel, and Clementine, he, too, jumped in to help.

            After three hours of hard labor, everyone was tiring.  Josie’s hands were raw and bloody from the sharp rocks, but she wrapped bandages around them and kept working.  Suddenly, a cheer erupted, and Josie whipped around to see Sheriff Coffee galloping up at the head of a group of at least a dozen men, including, Josie was relieved to see, Dr. Paul Martin.  Exhausted, she sat down heavily next to a large oak tree and took a deep swig from her canteen.  Pip trotted over and began bathing her face, and Josie shoved him away.  She had just dropped her head between her knees to catch her breath when she felt someone nudge her left foot.  She looked up into the twinkling brown eyes of Fionn O’Connell.

            “Almost didn’t recognize you,” he said cheekily.  “You look a bit different when you’re not wrapped up in one of me sister’s gowns.”

            “Sorry to disappoint, but this is what I usually look like,” Josie replied, wiping sweat from her forehead with her grimy shirtsleeve.  “What are you doing here?  I mean, how did you hear about the cave-in?”

            Fionn reached down a hand and pulled Josie to her feet so they were face-to-face.  Fionn was only a couple inches taller than Josie, and she found herself staring straight at his freckled nose.  “I was in town to drive Molly home,” he explained.  “Heard the sheriff come tearin’ in like the devil himself was after him.  Shoutin’ and hollerin’, he was.  So I thought I’d help.”  He smiled warmly at her.  “By the way, I like you like this.  More useful than you’d be in a dress.” 

            Josie shifted uncomfortably.  “Right,” she said.  She broke away from his gaze, glanced over his shoulder, and tipped her head in the direction of the mine entrance, where the fresh crop of men had taken over removing the stones.  “They certainly could use your help,” she hinted.

            Fionn was one of those people who smiled with his entire face – his eyes nearly scrunched closed, and his nose wrinkled in such an endearing way that Josie had to admit it was cute.  “Aye, that they could,” he agreed.  He chucked Josie under the chin and scampered off toward the mine.

            Dr. Martin strode over just as Fionn left and asked for an appraisal of the situation.

            “Nothing at all yet,” Josie grumbled, gesturing angrily toward the blocked mine entrance and now understanding Adam’s immediate frustration when they had arrived.  “We’ve been working for three hours and haven’t even broken through to see if anyone’s still alive.”

            Dr. Martin placed one hand on Josie’s shoulder and scratched Pip’s head with the other.  “There are two dozen men in there,” he said.  “Odds are we’ll have survivors.  Be patient.”

            “Because we Cartwrights are well known for our infinite patience.”

            Paul smiled fondly at his protégé and told her to rest for a bit.  Then he scurried off to help move rocks.

            Josie flopped back into the dirt just as Adam trudged over and dropped next to her.  She handed him the canteen, and he drank deeply, handing it back considerably lighter than it had been when he had received it.  The cousins sat silently and watched the men work.  The crash of rocks against one another as the men heaved them from the mine entrance to the growing piles scattered around the entrance sounded like thunder, and the displaced dust filtered through the lantern light, giving the entire scene a hazy, ghostly quality, like they were all caught up in some spectral storm, which, Josie mused, in a way, they were.  Exhausted, she leaned back against Adam.  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and patted her arm comfortingly.  He immediately regretted this as Josie’s shirtsleeve sent up a cloud of dust that blew straight into his eyes, and he spent the next several minutes blinking furiously and trying to rinse them out with water from the canteen.

            Ten minutes later, another deafening cheer erupted as the men finally broke through the rock wall.  They had soon opened a hole near the top large enough for Little Joe, Hop Sing, and Fionn to wriggle through.  Josie tried to join them, but Adam grabbed the collar of her shirt and held fast.

            “Hey!” Josie protested.  “Lemme go!”

            “No way,” Adam replied firmly.  “Little Joe’s been going into mines since he was a kid.  He can tell which tunnels are safe and which aren’t.  You’re staying right here, greenhorn.”

            Josie bristled at Adam’s use of “greenhorn.”  After two years in Nevada, she was hardly a naïve newcomer.  “I’ll stick close to Joe,” she insisted.

            “Because Joe’s always kept you out of trouble,” Adam replied.  “No.  If you want to go in that mine, you’ll have to leave your shirt behind, because I’m not letting go.”

            Josie looked over her shoulder and scowled at Adam.  He simply shrugged his shoulders without releasing his grip on her collar.  She thought about unbuttoning her shirt and slipping free just to embarrass him, but she was afraid some of the miners might enjoy that a little too much; men outnumbered women in the West two-to-one, and some of them grew mighty lonely. 

As Adam and Josie squared off, a small contingent of women from town arrived including, Josie was glad to see, Patience Lovejoy and Sally Cass.  Josie cringed as she recognized a few miners’ wives.  She could not imagine riding for two hours to find out whether the man she loved was alive or dead.  Josie’s stomach turned to ice as she saw Ellie Jenkins slide down from her horse with six-month-old Josephine in her arms.  Ellie raced over to her, little Josephine giggling as she bounced along.

            “Dr. Cartwright!” Ellie shouted.  Adam released Josie and went back to work knowing that Ellie would keep Josie occupied.  “Dr. Cartwright!”  Ellie’s cheeks were flushed by the time she reached Josie.  Her red-rimmed eyes told Josie all she needed to know: Isaiah was in the mine when it collapsed.

            “We just sent some men in,” Josie said in answer to Ellie’s unasked question.  “They’re working to widen the opening so we can get more people in there.”  Josie waved to Rachel, who hustled over with the bucket of water she had been circulating among the working men.  Rachel handed the dusty, dazed woman a full dipper and directed her to sit down under the oak tree.

            “What a beautiful baby,” Rachel cooed, trying to distract Ellie.  “What’s her name?”

            “Josephine,” Ellie muttered, staring at the group of men who continued to haul rocks away from the mine entrance.

            “What a coincidence!” Rachel exclaimed brightly. 

            “Ain’t no coincidence,” Ellie replied, tearing her eyes away from the mine to stare vacantly at Rachel.  “Named her after Dr. Cartwright.  She saved our lives.”  Ellie pulled her baby a little closer to her bosom and stroked the child’s pumpkin-colored hair.

            Rachel snapped her eyes over to Josie, who shrugged.  “Just doing my job,” Josie mumbled. 

            “What happened?” Rachel asked, turning back to Ellie.

            “Hard birth” was all Ellie could muster.  She turned her gaze back to the mine and would not speak any more, despite Rachel’s best attempts to engage her in conversation.

            Josie was about to return to helping the men move rocks when she heard thundering hooves behind her.  The lanterns’ dim light was insufficient to reveal the face of the rider, but Josie already knew it was Simon.  She sprinted over to him and threw her arms around his neck the second he slid down from his horse.

            “How did you know we were here?” she asked, her face buried in his neck.

            “I rode over to the house to see if you were all ok after that earthquake,” he explained.  “When I found the house empty, I scared up one of the hands who told me what happened, so I came over here to see if I could help.”

            “You sure can!” Josie exclaimed, kissing him swiftly.  She led him over to the mine entrance, where a sweat-soaked Adam immediately put him to work shifting rocks.

            The men had made considerable progress widening the opening, which now gaped before them like the mouth of some prehistoric monster, the displaced stones scattered about like so many broken teeth.  Ben and Adam were gathering a quorum of men to go inside to assist them when Pip scrambled through the yawning gap and disappeared into the mine.  Everyone froze and stared curiously into the black hole for a few moments when they heard Pip bark, his deep voice echoing through the vacant tunnels.  Only seconds later, he reappeared, leading Little Joe, who was carrying Isaiah Jenkins in his arms.  Adam let loose a small smile when he saw his baby brother bearing a man who was at least thirty pounds heavier than him.  Little Joe was not as powerfully built as other Cartwright men, but he had every ounce the strength.  He lifted Isaiah up to the mouth of the hole and handed him over to Hoss before pulling himself out of the mine.

            “ISAIAH!” Ellie screamed.  She thrust baby Josephine into Rachel’s arms and made a mad dash for her unconscious husband.  The surprised baby ripped her thumb out of her mouth and stared up at Rachel, a string of drool spilling from the corner of Josephine’s tiny pink mouth and splashing silently onto Rachel’s wrist.  Rachel’s lip curled in distaste as she stared at the little puddle on her arm, but with her hands full of baby, she could not reach her handkerchief to wipe it off.  Instead, she rolled her wrist inward toward the baby and wiped the drool onto the little girl’s diapered bottom.  Baby Josephine broke into a wide smile and laughed as if it were all a fantastic game.  Rachel had never been much for babies, but even she had to smile at the carrot-topped little girl’s delight.

When Ellie reached Isaiah, she grabbed his hand and held it tightly as Hoss carried him to a bedroll Josie had spread out under the oak tree.  Hoss laid the man gently down on the blanket, and Josie and Dr. Martin nearly knocked heads as they both bent over their first patient.  He was bleeding badly from a gash on his forehead, and as he started to come around, he turned his head and vomited all over Dr. Martin’s boots.

            “Concussion,” Paul and Josie chimed in unison.  Josie left Dr. Martin to rinse his boots and tend to Isaiah as Fionn and Hop Sing lifted another man out of the mine.

            For the next forty-five minutes, miners stumbled or were carried out of the mine in a steady stream, each man blinking rapidly as the light from the lanterns hit pupils still dilated from the gloomy cavern.  Rachel set herself to the task of directing each injured man to a bedroll for Josie or Paul to examine.  Hannah, Clementine, Sally, and Patience circulated with dippers of water to soothe dust-clogged throats and bandages to protect minor cuts and scrapes that did not require stitches.  Mercifully, most of the miners had only superficial wounds, though one man would be out of work for some time with a broken arm, and Isaiah Jenkins’ concussion would require weeks of rest. 

            As the clock rolled over onto a new day, Adam and Ben emerged from the mine carrying a man whose face they had covered with Ben’s neckerchief.  Everyone fell silent as the Cartwrights bore out the body of Tom Cook, a fifteen-year veteran of Ponderosa mines.  They laid him gently near a ponderosa pine, away from the glare of the lantern light and the shouts of the laboring men.  Reverend Lovejoy, who had arrived on the scene shortly after his daughter, knelt next to the body and began muttering a prayer.  Miraculously, Tom’s was the only life lost when the mine shaft collapsed.

            “I think that’s it, Pa,” Little Joe said as he swiped at the dust and sweat on his face with his sleeve.  His shirt, however, was so filthy that all this accomplished was smearing the grime around, leaving Little Joe looking like child who had just lost a mud-pie fight.  “Jeb said there were twenty-three men down there, and that’s how many we’ve brought up.  Fionn and I were gonna make one last sweep, make sure there isn’t anyone down there Jeb didn’t know about.”

            “Good idea, son,” Ben sighed in exhaustion as he laid a hand on Joe’s shoulder.  “Just be careful down there.”

            “Don’t you worry, Pa,” Joe replied.  “You know what a careful guy I am.”  He flashed his trademark grin, slapped his father’s dusty shoulder, and sauntered back toward the mine.

            Fionn and Joe retreated into the mine once more, and Josie gave herself a short break from bandaging and stitching.  Simon ambled over and gave her a much appreciated swig from his canteen.  Adam joined them to ask how the patients were doing when they heard the hoof beats of another approaching horse.  The trio squinted into the inky night but could not make out who it was until a voice called out in a familiar Irish accent, “Adam?  Mr. Cartwright?”

            Adam lit up and hustled over to Molly’s horse as she reined it to a stop.  “Hello, Molly!” he cheered, then grimaced.  He probably should not sound so chipper at the scene of a cave-in. 

            Molly took Adam’s proffered hand and leapt lightly down from her mount.  She gave Adam a quick peck, but Adam could sense that she was seething with anger.  Before he could inquire, Molly burst out, “All right!  Where is he?  Where is that no-good brother of mine?!”

            “Fionn?” Adam replied.  “He’s down in the mine with Little Joe.  They’re checking to make sure we didn’t miss anyone trapped down there.  Don’t worry, though, Molly.  He’s all right.”

            “He won’t be when I get hold of him!” Molly thundered.  “That no-good scoundrel, leavin’ me waitin’ at my shop for him!  Was supposed to drive me home, he was, but did he show up?  NO!  Left me worryin’ like an old grandmother with no idea where he was, and me already shaken halfway to the devil by that earthquake.  He could have been carried off by Indians for all I knew!  If it weren’t for Sue at the saloon havin’ spotted him ridin’ off with the sheriff, I’d probably be plannin’ his funeral right now!  Though I should anyway because he’ll be needing a funeral when I get hold of him!”

            Adam recognized that Molly was more frightened than angry, and he took her into his arms and held her tightly.  “It’s ok,” he said, stroking the back of her hair soothingly.  “Fionn’s all right.  It must have been terrible being alone in your shop during that earthquake.”

            Molly sniffled into Adam’s shoulder and nodded her head.  “Sorry about that, Just Adam,” she apologized, taking a small step back.  “That little brother of mine can scare me worse than the devil himself.”

            “You don’t have to explain little brothers to me,” Adam said, smiling at her.  She smiled back, tilted her head up and kissed him properly.  Adam was seized with the desire to drag her off to the nearest line shack, but as second-in-command of the Ponderosa, he could not afford that luxury just then.  He sighed, took Molly’s hand, and led her over to where Josie and Simon stood waiting.

No sooner had Josie and Simon opened their mouths to greet Molly then the earth lurched again.  Adam had just enough time to yell “AFTERSHOCK!” before he and Molly were thrown into each other and then onto the ground, Adam’s head very narrowly missing a sharp rock and his elbow slamming painfully into Molly’s ribs.  Simon was launched backward, and Josie landed on top of Molly and Adam with a squeak of surprise.  Adam wrapped one strong arm around Molly and the other around Josie and held them tightly while the earth trembled.  Simon crawled on his belly along the heaving ground toward them and wrapped an arm around Josie, too.

Around them, the men shouted at one another to hold the horses or stand clear of the rock piles they had created.  Women screamed, and baby Josephine broke out crying in terror.  Every horse that wasn’t securely tied bolted, their pounding hooves adding to the guttural rumbling of the angry earth.  Adam closed his eyes and prayed they would not be trampled.  The four of them lay frozen in place, a tangle of arms and legs, for several long seconds after the earth stilled.  Everyone and everything on the site fell eerily quiet – even the crickets had stopped chirping – waiting to see if the aftershock was truly over.  At long last, when he was sure the earth would remain still for the time being, Adam glanced at Josie, saw that Simon had hold of her, and then rolled over to check on Molly. 

“You ok?” he asked, brushing a strand of auburn hair off her cheek. 

Molly massaged her ribcage where Adam’s elbow had punched her.  “Probably have a bruise tomorrow, but I’ll live,” she said, smiling up at him.       

            “Molly, I am so, so sorry,” Adam gushed, his hand finding and lightly caressing the spot on Molly’s side that he had elbowed.

“Not your fault,” she assured him, placing her hand atop his.  “You didn’t cause the earthquake.  At least, I don’t think you did.”

Adam smiled and helped Molly to her feet while Simon did the same for Josie.

            Then the shouting began again.

            “It’s collapsed again!”

            “Did we get everyone out?”

            “Little Joe and the Irish boy are still in there!”

            This last comment cut through Adam like a knife.  He and Molly stared at one another in horror while Josie let out a strangled sob and took off running toward the mine entrance, Simon hot on her heels.  Adam grabbed Molly’s hand and took off after them.

            The mine entrance remained clear, but Jeb checked out the main channel and told Ben and Adam that the interior tunnels had collapsed again, presumably trapping Fionn and Little Joe.

            “Trouble is, Mr. Cartwright, we don’t know which tunnel the boys were in,” Jeb explained. 

            Tears sprang to Molly’s eyes, and Adam wrapped his arms around her shoulders, even as the weight of Jeb’s news threatened to crush him.  Josie fought back a wave of nausea and buried her face in Simon’s chest.  From somewhere behind her, Josie heard Hannah stifle a sob that sounded like “Joe.”  The color drained from Ben’s face, but he immediately began issuing orders.

            “All right,” he said, “here’s what we’re going to do.  Adam, Hoss, you’re coming with me into the mine.  There are only five tunnels in there, so odds are one of us will come across the right one.  Any sign of Little Joe or Fionn, and you alert the other two.  Agreed?”

            Adam and Hoss nodded, and Josie released Simon and stepped forward.  “I’m coming, too,” she insisted, holding her chin high. 

            Ben heaved a sigh and wiped his forearm across his grimy brow.  “No, Josephine,” he replied.  “Enough people have been hurt by this mine already.  The boys and I will handle this.  Besides, you have patients to tend to out here.”

            “Paul has them covered,” Josie argued.  “And I’ve probably got patients in there.”  She gestured toward the mine entrance.

            Adam could tell that his father had no energy left for an argument with Josie and was about to resort to “A mine is no place for a woman.”  An argument would escalate quickly after that, so Adam interceded. 

            “Josie,” Adam said softly.  He let go of Molly, stepped over to Josie, and placed his hands on her shoulders.  “We almost lost you once.  We can’t go through that again.”

            Josie stared into the hazel eyes she knew so well and saw the sincerity behind them.  She might not back down for Ben, but she would for Adam.

            “All right,” she muttered, pulling away from Adam.

            Simon saw the despair and frustration on Josie’s face and made a snap decision.  “I’ll go,” he offered, stepping forward.  Ben opened his mouth to argue, but Simon cut him off.  “Little Joe and I have been friends since we were kids.  He’d come after me if our situations were reversed.  And we’re more likely to find him quick if we’ve got four of the five tunnels covered.”

            Ben threw up his hands.  “Fine,” he grumbled.  “Let’s just get going.” 

            Josie hugged all four of them before they headed into the mine.  “Be careful,” she whispered in Simon’s ear, the tears she had been fighting nearly breaking through.

            Simon kissed her.  “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he said.  “We’ll bring Joe back to you.  I love you.”

            “I love you, too.”

            Molly and Patience were bidding Adam and Hoss similar farewells, though they were less successful at containing their tears.  Adam smoothed Molly’s hair away from her face and promised to bring Fionn back, though his thoughts were with Joe.  Patience kissed Hoss in full view of everyone, and Hoss blushed so brightly that if someone had fixed a handle to his head they could have used him as a lantern.  Ben just stood around awkwardly as all the young people very publicly expressed their affection.  Feeling a bit lost herself, Hannah went over to him and pulled her brother-in-law into an embrace.

            “It’ll be ok,” she whispered.  “I’m sure Joe’s still alive in there.”

            Ben nodded and hugged her back briefly.  He needed to stay all-business just now.  “Come on, boys!” he called.  “Let’s go get Joe and Fionn!”

            As the four men gathered up lanterns and shovels and headed into the mine, an idea popped into Josie’s head.

            “Pip!” she hollered.  The dog came bounding over to her from where he had been “helping” tend to the injured miners.  Josie pointed toward the mine entrance.  “Go find L.J.!”

            Pip barked and took off into the mine after Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Simon.

            The four men and their canine assistant paused about a hundred yards into the mine where it branched off in five directions.  Two of the tunnels were blocked off by fallen rock, so they decided to begin by investigating the three that were still open; no sense digging through more rocks if they didn’t have to.  Simon and Ben took off down separate tunnels to the left, leaving Adam, Hoss, and Pip with a tunnel leading straight ahead.

            The brothers treaded silently down the rocky path, both their lanterns raised high and their ears straining for any sound of their little brother.  Adam’s stomach churned as his thoughts returned to the story he had told Molly of the day he accidentally shot Little Joe.  The memory of Joe lying in the dirt close to death was as fresh as if it had happened only hours ago rather than six years ago, and Adam tried not to envision Little Joe in that condition now.

            As if reading Adam’s thoughts, Hoss muttered, “Hang on, little buddy, we’re comin’ for ya.”

            After a couple hundred more yards, they reached another wall of fallen rock, and Adam kicked the dirt in frustration.  “Everywhere I turn, it’s more damn rocks!” he shouted.   Hoss carefully selected a rock that looked secure and clanked on it sharply with his shovel.  The brothers held their breath and listened, but when they received no returning signal, Adam shook his head.  “Come on, Hoss,” he grumbled.  “Let’s go see if Pa or Simon are having any luck.”

            They were turning to go back toward the main tunnel when Pip barked at them excitedly.  Adam and Hoss turned and saw the giant dog pawing at the rock wall and whining.  He looked over his shoulder at them and barked again.

            “Adam, I think they’re back there!” Hoss exclaimed.  “Quick!  You run and get Pa and Simon.  I’ll start moving these rocks.”

            Adam took off sprinting down the tunnel.

            Outside the mine, Josie had tried to keep tending to patients, but most of the injured men had already been patched up and sent home.  Dr. Martin kept repeating what a miracle it was that only one man was killed and the rest had only minor injuries.  With nothing else to do, Josie paced back and forth in front of the mine entrance.  Rachel, who was watching from a seat on a nearby boulder, finally asked her to stop.

            “Come sit down, Josephine,” she said as soothingly as she knew how – which was not very.  “Everything is all right.”

            Josie stopped in her tracks and stared at her aunt.  “You think everything is all right?” she asked in wonderment.  “My entire heart is in that mine that could come down at any minute, and you think everything is all right?!”

            Rachel glanced around, hoping no one had noticed her niece’s rising voice.  “I am sorry,” she said, much to Josie’s shock.  “That is not what I meant.  What I should have said is that everything will be all right.  Adam will get Joseph out of the mine.  Now please come sit down.”

            Josie reluctantly collapsed onto the boulder next to her aunt.  “Yeah,” she grumbled, roughly shoving a lock of hair out of her face.  “I just hope he gets him out in one piece.” 

            Rachel reached over and patted Josie’s hand – the first contact between them since their argument the morning of the party.  “Don’t you worry, Josephine,” she said with a small smile.  “Even if Little Joe is in pieces, I am certain you could sort him out.  Why, if all the king’s horses and all the king’s men had consulted you, they would have had no trouble putting Humpty Dumpty to rights.”

            This remark was so absurd and unexpected that Josie burst out laughing.  “I must be hallucinating,” she said at last as she wiped her eyes.  “For a second there, I thought you made a joke.”

            “Contrary to what you may have heard, Josephine, I was not tragically born without a sense of humor.”  Rachel caught Josie’s eye and gave her a sly smile but then grew serious.  “You really did save that woman and her baby, didn’t you?”

            “Yeah,” Josie said, giving her shoulders a modest shrug.  “Baby needed to be delivered quickly, so I performed a cesarean section.”

            “Josephine, that is the most incredible thing I have ever heard.”

            “If you don’t believe me, you can ask Hoss.  He assisted me.”

            Rachel shook her head.  “No, I meant that is the most amazing thing I have ever heard.  You are a gifted doctor, Josephine.  Everyone in this town says so.”

            Josie eyed her aunt suspiciously, waiting for the backhanded insult that was sure to follow.  To her great surprise, it never came.

            “As I recall,” Rachel continued, “I opposed your enrollment in medical school.”

            Josie snorted.  When she had announced her acceptance to the Female Medical College, Rachel had burst into tears – and they had not been tears of joy.

            Rachel looked softly at her and took her hand.  “I was wrong.  You were meant to be a doctor, and you were meant to be here in Nevada.  I am very proud of the woman you have become.”

            “Really?”

            “Yes, really.  And I am sorry I have not told you that before.”  Rachel squeezed Josie’s hand, and Josie smiled at her.  They would never be friends, but Josie knew that at least they were not enemies.

            Deep in the mine, Ben and Simon were now helping Adam and Hoss clear the tunnel.  As they had begun working, they had finally heard an answering clang against the other side of the rocks, so they knew that at least one of the trapped men was still alive.  Fortunately, the cave-in was not so bad here as it had been at the entrance to the mine.  The rocks were smaller, and Adam could tell from the hollow sound his shovel made when he tapped it against the stones that the blockage was not as deep as at the entrance either.  Still, they labored for forty minutes before breaking through.

            “Joseph!” Ben shouted into the gap.  “Joseph!”

            “Mr. Cartwright!” Fionn’s voice answered back.  He sounded weak, as if he had been fighting to remain conscious.

            “Fionn!” Ben hollered.  “Fionn, is Joseph with you?”

            “Pa?” a thin voice croaked.

            Ben and Hoss sagged against the rocks in relief while Adam ran a hand down his gritty face.  Pip whined and put his front feet up on the rocks, trying to peer through the hole the men had cleared.

            “Aye, Mr. Cartwright, he’s here,” Fionn replied.  “But his leg’s trapped under a huge boulder.  I couldn’t get him free.”

            “Don’t you worry none, Fionn,” Hoss called out.  “We’ll get through to you lickity split.  Can you move some of the rocks on your side?”

            “I’ll- I’ll try,” Fionn wheezed.

            Hoss caught Ben’s eye and shook his head.  It was clear Fionn was injured and would be of no assistance.  The four men each took a deep breath and recommenced clearing the stones with renewed vigor.  In another ten minutes, they had cleared a space wide enough to pass through. Ben charged through first and dropped to the ground next to Little Joe.

            Adam’s breath caught when he saw his little brother’s predicament.  Joe was face-down in the dirt, his left leg pinned beneath a boulder that was at least three feet across and about a foot tall.  A gash on his forehead had stopped bleeding some time ago but had left his face smeared with a gruesome mixture of blood, dirt, and sweat, which Pip was now trying to lick off of him.  Joe raised his head, looked up at Adam, and managed a weak smile.

            “Hey, Older Brother,” he gasped.  “’Bout time you got here.”  He glanced over at Ben.  “Told you I’d be careful.”

            As Ben gave Little Joe a few sips of water from his canteen and Hoss and Adam circled the boulder to work out how to free Joe, Simon tended to Fionn.  Like Joe, Fionn had a nasty gash on his forehead, and he was dizzy from the blow and loss of blood.  Simon made him sit down and slowly sip water from his canteen.

            “Simon!” Adam barked.  “C’mere.  We need your help.”

            Because the boulder was flat on the top and bottom, they could not roll it off of Joe, so the men had no choice but to lift it.  Fionn was no help in his current state, so Ben, Hoss, and Adam each grabbed an edge of it and on the count of three heaved with all their might.  They managed to lift the boulder about a foot, at which point, Simon grabbed Little Joe’s wrists and pulled him out from under the stone.  Joe cried out in agony and turned so pale Simon was certain he would pass out, but Joe managed to cling to consciousness.  As soon Little Joe was clear, the Cartwrights dropped the boulder with a thunderous boom.  Adam cringed and hoped the sound waves did not cause another cave in.  He held his breath for a full ten seconds while he listened to the crash echo away down the tunnel.  When no more rocks collapsed, he let out his breath in loud rush.

            Hoss shook his head at Joe’s lower left leg, which was twisted at a grotesque angle that legs should not be able to manage.  The youngest Cartwright was panting heavily, trying to breathe through the pain and stay conscious.  Ben cradled his son’s head in his lap and swept the bloody, sweaty curls from Little Joe’s forehead.  He looked up at Adam.  “Let’s get him to Josie,” he said.

            “Josie” Little Joe whispered.

            “Yeah, Josie,” Hoss echoed, patting Joe’s shoulder.  “She’s waitin’ for ya outside.  You just hang onto Pa, and we’ll have you there in no time.”

            Little Joe looped his arms around his father’s neck as Ben slid one arm under his shoulder and the other under his knees.  Joe cried out again when Ben lifted him and jostled his broken leg.  Joe bit his lower lip so hard that a trickle of blood escaped and dribbled down his chin, leaving an angry red trail.  Ben picked his way carefully over the remaining fallen stones and began walking very slowly toward the entrance to the mine.  Pip raced ahead of him to lead the way and looked over his shoulder every so often as if to ensure that Ben had not dropped Little Joe.

            “All right, Fionn,” Adam said, turning back to Molly’s brother.  “Can you walk?”

            “Aye,” came the feeble reply.  Fionn wobbled to his feet, took two steps toward Adam, and pitched forward.  Adam lurched toward him and caught him under the arms.  He started to pick him up, but Fionn protested.  “No!” he shouted.  “I can bloody walk!”

            “Sure you can,” Adam replied, throwing Fionn’s arm across his shoulders and threading his arm around the younger man’s waist.  “You just hang on and keep me from tripping, ok?”  

            Fionn chuckled weakly, and he and Adam began their slow journey out of the mine behind Ben, Joe, Hoss, Simon, and Pip.

            It took them another quarter of an hour to reach the mouth of the mine, and when they finally emerged into the cool night air, a cheer erupted.  Josie was still sitting with Rachel, but she when she saw Ben bearing Little Joe out of the mine, she screamed Joe’s name and bolted for him.  Molly’s face lit up with hope, and she clutched Hannah’s hand as Pip came bounding out of the mine like a victorious army general.  When Adam and Fionn finally appeared, Adam still bearing most of Fionn’s weight, Molly burst into tears and ran sobbing toward them.  She caught Fionn up in a fierce hug and bawled into his shoulder.

            “It’s all right, Molly,” Fionn soothed her.  “I’m all right.  Just a little bump on me noggin.”

            “Nothin’ up there to damage anyway,” Molly snuffled.

            Adam helped Fionn sit down against a tree and hollered for Dr. Martin.  When Fionn was safely seated, Molly turned and leapt at Adam, pulling him to her and kissing him over and over again. 

            “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she said between kisses.

            Caught off guard, Adam stumbled backward a few steps, but regained his balance and let Molly kiss him to her heart’s content.  After several moments, they heard Fionn yelp in pain, and they looked over to see Dr. Martin stitching up the gash above Fionn’s right eye.  Molly squeezed Adam’s hands a final time and dashed through Fionn’s blue haze of curse words to comfort him.

            Adam hurried over to where Josie was making Little Joe as comfortable as she could on a bedroll in the grass.  Wiping tears from her eyes, Hannah had rushed over and cradled Little Joe’s head in her lap.  She was now using her handkerchief and some water from a canteen to wipe the worst of the blood and dirt from his face.  She started with the cut on his forehead, which, though ugly, was not terribly deep.

            “I don’t think this needs stitches, Josie,” she said.  “Just a little iodine.”

            “I’m running out of iodine,” Josie said as she sliced open Joe’s left pants leg with her pocket knife.  “Use the silver nitrate.”

            Little Joe groaned as he remembered how badly the silver nitrate stung.  Then he chuckled to himself for worrying about a little stinging when his broken leg was so painful he wanted to vomit.  Tears leaked from the corners of his eyes as Josie ran her hands up his shin to find the fracture.  Josie noticed the pain in his face and told Hannah to put him out.

            Hoss dug into Josie’s medical bag and extracted the little brown bottle of chloroform and a rag and handed both to Hannah.  She doused the rag and held it gently over Joe’s mouth and nose.  “Just breathe normally, sweetheart,” she instructed.  Within moments, Joe had slipped into unconsciousness.  Hannah continued to stroke his matted curls as Josie unbuttoned his shirt to check for broken ribs and internal injuries.  Joe had a nasty bruise arising on chest from where he had hit the ground when the boulder fell on him, but otherwise, his torso was fine.  Josie moved back to his leg and ran her hands along his shin.

            “There it is!” she declared, finding a fracture about halfway between his knee and ankle. 

            “What do we have here?” Dr. Martin asked.  Having finished stitching up Fionn and ordering the young man to rest for the next several days, he had wandered over to check on Little Joe.

            “Clean break right across the tibia,” Josie told him.  “He’s lucky; this should heal up nice and straight.”

            Dr. Martin trotted back over to his horse and retrieved a couple splints from his supplies.  He returned to Joe’s side and handed the splints to Josie.  She laid them next to her, placed a hand on each end of the fracture, and deftly shoved the two pieces of bone back into alignment with an audible crunch.  Even Ben, who had seen much uglier injuries during his time at sea and while crossing the continent, felt woozy as he watched Josie set Little Joe’s leg.  He sat down heavily next to Joe and gripped his unconscious son’s hand while Hoss helped Josie secure the splints.

            “Do we have any plaster of Paris at home?” Josie asked Ben as she finished lashing the splints to Joe’s leg.

            “I don’t think so,” Ben replied.

            “Yes!” Adam cut in.  “We used it to finish the ceilings in your clinic.  There’s a whole pail left.  What do you need it for?”

            “I don’t trust Joe to keep this leg still,” Josie answered.  “I’m going to make a plaster cast to keep it immobilized while it heals.”

            Ben chuckled.  “You know him well,” he observed.

            Before Hannah removed the chloroform rag from Joe’s face, Josie gave him an injection of morphine. 

            “What’s that you’re givin’ him?” asked Fionn as he tottered toward them, Molly clinging to his arm.

            “Morphine,” Josie answered.  “For the pain.”

            “Could use a bit of that meself,” Fionn muttered, his hand reaching toward the bandage over his eye.

            Josie looked up and considered Fionn for a moment.  “Here,” she said, reaching into her medical bag and withdrawing a small sachet.  “Willow bark tea.  It’ll take the edge off your headache.” 

            “Thank you!”

            “You won’t be thanking her after you taste that tea,” Adam muttered.

            Fionn was too busy staring down at Joe’s splinted leg to catch Adam’s remark.  “Will he be all right?” he asked.

            “He’ll be out of commission for a couple of months, but he’ll be fine,” Josie assured him.

            “Good.  Saved me miserable hide, he did.”

            “How’s that?” Ben asked, glancing up from his seat on the ground.

            “All I heard when that aftershock hit was a loud rumbling, but Joe knew right away that the roof was coming down on us.  Shoved me out of the way and got pinned by that boulder himself for his trouble.”

            The Cartwrights fell silent and stared back down at Little Joe.  Hannah had not yet removed the chloroform rag – she wanted to give the morphine injection time to kick in before Joe woke up – so Joe lay motionless apart from the steady rise and fall of his chest.  Ben reached over and wiped away a spot of dirt that Hannah had missed on Joe’s cheek.

            “Good man,” he whispered tenderly to his youngest son.

            Molly announced that she was going to take Fionn home, and the Cartwrights all bid them farewell, Adam embracing Molly one last time for the night.  He kissed her lightly and promised to ride out to their farm in a day or two to see how they were getting along.  Adam watched as Molly led Fionn to their horses and admired the way her hips swung ever so slightly as she walked.

            When Molly vanished into the dark, Adam turned back to Little Joe.  Hannah had finally removed the chloroform, and Joe was beginning to stir.  The darkness of the moonless night made him think he was still trapped in the mine, and when Little Joe’s eyes opened, he drew in a sharp gasp of terror and struggled to sit up.  Ben pushed him gently back down, reassuring him that he was safe.  Joe peered up into the familiar faces of his family and started giggling.

            “Wow, every last one of you needs a bath,” he laughed.  “You STINK!”

            “We can move him now,” Josie said.  “He’s not feeling a thing.”

            Joe kept giggling as Adam picked him up and started carrying him to the wagon. 

            “Hey there, Adam!” he exclaimed as if he had not seen his oldest brother for several days.

            “Hey, Joe,” Adam replied.

            “Adam?”

            “Yes?”

            “Do you remember when we were on that cattle drive?”

            “Which cattle drive are you referring to, Joe?  We’ve been on about a hundred.”

            “Aw, you know,” Joe drawled, waving a hand in the air and nearly smacking Adam in the face.  “That one time, and I got real mad at you.”

            “That still doesn’t narrow it down, Joe.”

            Little Joe sighed as if it were taking all his fortitude to endure Adam’s stupidity.  “Anyway, I shouldn’t have gotten mad.  You’re such a nice brother.  Let’s never fight again.”  He reached up to pat Adam’s cheek, but the morphine was affecting his coordination, and his intended pat turned into more of a flapping slap.  Then his head dropped back limply, and he fell fast asleep. 

“Whatever you say, little buddy,” Adam replied as he shook his head, smiled down at his baby brother, and held him just a little more tightly as he ferried him to the wagon.

            Once Joe was safely bedded down in the back of the wagon, with Hannah sitting on one side of him and Ben on the other, Josie tracked down Simon.  She found him near the mine entrance, staring pensively into its yawning mouth.  She laid a hand on his shoulder, and when he turned to face her, she caught him up in a tight embrace.

            “I don’t know how to thank you,” she whispered into his ear.  The tears she had been holding back since the mine collapsed on Little Joe began to flow, dampening Simon’s shoulder.  Simon held her for a moment and then stepped back and cupped her chin in his hand.

            “Joe’s a good friend,” Simon explained.  “I couldn’t leave him in there any more than you could.  But if you really feel the need to thank me, I can think of a way.”  A naughty grin spread across his face.

            Josie’s jaw dropped at his audacity, and she burst out laughing through her tears.  “You scoundrel!” she declared as she playfully slapped his arm.  She glanced over her shoulder.  “You better not let any of my brothers hear that,” she warned.  “Even with a busted leg, Little Joe would come over here to kill you.”

            “You make me forget all about my personal well-being,” Simon replied softly as he gathered Josie into his arms once more and pressed his lips to hers.  His hands slid to the small of her back, and he pulled her hips tightly against his, no longer embarrassed, wanting her to feel his arousal.  Josie pressed back, suddenly considering things she had been taught that ladies did not do.  A sharp bark from Pip reminded her that her family was nearby and waiting for her, so Josie withdrew her lips from Simon’s with a long, shuddering breath.

            “We need to get Joe home,” she said, placing a fingertip on Simon’s lips.  “But maybe we could go on another buggy ride soon?”

            Simon smiled at her.  “You bet,” he replied.  He kissed her one final time and watched hungrily as she scurried back to her family.     

******

            Dawn was breaking over the horizon as the Cartwrights trundled wearily back into their yard.  Little Joe had slept nearly the entire way from the mine, waking only once to declare “I will NOT wear a bonnet!” before dropping back into his morphine-induced sleep.  Before putting Joe to bed in Hoss’s room – Hoss had offered to sleep in the bunkhouse so Joe could be in the house – Ben took him into the washroom, where he and Hoss gave Joe a quick bath to get the caked blood and grime out of his hair.  It was a bit complicated as they had to keep his splinted leg propped up on the edge of the tub, and Little Joe was still so dopey from the morphine that he could not hold himself in place and kept flopping all over the bathtub, but they managed to get him clean without drowning him.  After pulling a nightshirt over his son’s head, Ben carried Joe to Hoss’s room and situated him comfortably in Hoss’s bed, propping his broken leg up on a couple pillows.   

            Everyone else took turns taking quick baths and then bandaging up each other’s cuts and scrapes.  They had left the house in such a rush that no one had thought to grab work gloves, so Josie’s were not the only gouged-up hands.  She sucked air in sharply between her clenched teeth as Hoss dabbed the last of her iodine into her palms.

            “Hurts, don’t it?” he asked with a wicked smile.

            “Oh, how the tables have turned,” Josie replied.

            Though he was every bit as exhausted as the rest of the family, Hop Sing cooked up some bacon, eggs, and biscuits for everyone.  It felt a little strange eating breakfast without having gone to bed the night before, but the family was so ravenous by that point that no one cared.  Once the breakfast dishes were cleared away, Ben ordered everyone to bed.  Josie was disappointed that her mother’s last day on the Ponderosa would be spent sleeping, but she did not have the energy to do anything fun anyway, so she and Pip trudged upstairs to Hoss’s room.  Pip flopped onto the floor while Josie felt Joe’s forehead to make sure he was not growing feverish.  Satisfied that he was cool, she dropped into the armchair next to the bed. 

            Josie sat and watched Little Joe sleeping for a time, thanking God that he was safe.  She shuddered as she thought how horrible today could have been for the entire family.  While it was true that out of her cousins, Josie was closest to Adam, she held a special place in her heart for Little Joe.  He experienced life more fully than anyone else she knew.  Ben and Adam often chastised Joe for his quick temper and his tendency to let his emotions take control of him, but Josie knew Joe could help neither of these.  He felt emotions more keenly than other people, and his reactions were, therefore, proportionally stronger.  Joe did not experience mild joy or minor sorrow; he was either deliriously happy or unutterably devastated.  Josie envied him in a way; Joe lived more in a day than most people did their entire lives.  He had such an expressive face, too.  Josie had never seen anyone else who had not only the world’s brightest smile but also the most heart-wrenching expression of sorrow.

            Josie knew she should probably retire to her own bedroom and get some decent sleep, but she could not tear herself away from Joe.  Hoss apparently felt the same way because he slipped in the room just then with his arms full of blankets and pillows.  He laid a hand on Joe’s forehead, too, before making a pallet on the floor for himself on the other side of the room and dozing off.  Josie leaned down, kissed Joe’s forehead, and hunkered down in the armchair and drifted off.

            Adam came in a few minutes later to check on Little Joe and say goodnight – or should it be “good morning”? – to Josie.  He smiled when he saw Hoss snoring softly on the floor, his arm encircling Pip like the dog was an overgrown doll, and Josie slumped in the armchair, her head resting on her left fist.  He crossed to the bed and checked that Joe’s splinted leg was still propped up on its pillows.  As he stepped back, he accidentally kicked Josie’s foot and woke her up.  She blinked sleepily up at him.

            “Here,” she said, rising from her seat.  “You can have the chair.”

            Adam was about to say that he wasn’t staying when he realized that was not true.  He remembered telling Little Joe just a couple months ago that the only thing that frightened him was the idea of something terrible happening to someone he loved, and he knew that he would be spending the day right here with his siblings.  He smiled as Josie crawled into bed next to Joe, being careful not to jostle his injured leg.  Still asleep, Joe nuzzled closer to Josie, who draped her arm across his stomach and fell asleep almost immediately.  Adam tucked the quilt around them both, settled himself comfortably in the armchair, and dozed off.

            Before heading to bed themselves, Hannah, Rachel, and Ben poked their heads in Hoss’s room to check on Little Joe.  Hannah had to stifle a giggle when she saw Josie cuddled up with Joe, Hoss stretched out to his full length on the floor, and Adam hunched over in the armchair.  It reminded her strongly of her last night on the Ponderosa thirteen years ago when the four cousins had fallen asleep together while Adam read them a story.

            “Do they do this often?” Rachel whispered, a note of disapproval in her voice.  She felt it entirely inappropriate that her twenty-two-year-old niece was sharing a bed with a twenty-year-old male cousin.

            Ben thought back to that last night thirteen years ago, too, as well as to the night after they had found Adam in the desert, the day the younger Cartwrights had brought Ben home after he had been lost in the blizzard, and the fortnight that Josie had been ill.  “Only when we’ve nearly lost each other,” he replied. 

            Rachel’s features softened as her memory flashed back to the nights immediately after her mother had died, and she, Elizabeth, and Hannah had slept crammed together in one bed.  She moved into the room, laid a hand on Adam’s bare forearm, and frowned.

            “Adam is cold,” she whispered.

            Hannah disappeared down the hall.  When she returned a moment later, she was carrying Elizabeth’s quilt, which she had snatched from the foot of Adam’s bed.  She handed it to Rachel, who smiled at its familiarity and tucked it gently around her sleeping nephew.

            Adam’s eyes fluttered but did not fully open.  “Thanks, Aunt Hannah,” he mumbled, snuggling a little deeper under the quilt.

            Rachel shook her head.  “Close enough,” she muttered.  She kissed Adam’s forehead and ushered Ben and Hannah out of the room, closing the door quietly behind them.

******

            Josie did not wake up until midafternoon when the morphine she had given Little Joe the night before wore off.  Her eyes snapped open when she felt Joe writhing in pain next to her.  She propped herself up on her left elbow and leaned over him, turning his face toward her with her right hand.

            “Hey,” she whispered.  “That leg must really hurt.”

            Joe nodded, his face contorted into a grimace.  “Worse than when I was still trapped under that boulder,” he groaned.  Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, and Josie rolled over to get out of bed to retrieve her medical bag, when she discovered that Adam had awoken, too, and had already fetched it from her bedroom.  Hoss was also next to the bed and was looking down at Little Joe with concern etched on his face.

            “He’s ok,” Josie reassured them.  “It’s just time for more pain medication.”  She swung her legs around, sat up on the edge of the bed, and dipped into her medical bag.  She extracted a bottle of laudanum and a spoon and asked Hoss to help Joe sit up a bit.  When Joe was propped up, Josie poured a large dose of laudanum into the spoon and held it out to him.  “This will ease the pain and put you back to sleep for a few more hours.  By then, you should be feeling a good deal better.”

            Little Joe took one whiff of the pungent syrup and turned his face away.  “No way am I drinking that stuff,” he declared.

            “I don’t blame you,” Adam quipped, very unhelpfully, Josie thought.  “It tastes terrible.”

            “You think everything tastes terrible,” Josie retorted.  “C’mon, Joe.  Down the hatch.”

            Joe stared despairingly at the goopy, rust-colored liquid quivering on the spoon before him.  He half expected it to sprout legs and scurry away like a giant spider.  He unequivocally did not want to swallow it, but if it meant he would get some relief from the screaming pain in his leg, it might be worth it.  He took the spoon from Josie, drew in a deep breath, and crammed it in his mouth.  Adam and Hoss snickered as Joe’s whole body contorted in disgust.

            “UGH!” Joe gasped as he drew the spoon out of his mouth.  His stomach heaved twice, and he thought the laudanum was going to come right back up, but Josie handed him a glass of water, and he drained it in one gulp.  “You weren’t kidding, Adam!” Joe exclaimed when he came back up for air.

            “Told you.”

            Hoss eased Little Joe back onto his pillows, and the young man was soon asleep once more.  Josie waited a few minutes to make sure Joe was really and truly out before turning to Adam.

            “Quick, Adam,” she said.  “Let’s get that plaster and put a cast on him while he can’t fight back.”

            Adam rubbed his hands together and cackled villainously.  “I’ve always wanted to entomb the boy,” he chortled like a Shakespearean villain.  Josie giggled as Adam darted from the room to retrieve the plaster from the barn while Hoss lumbered downstairs for a bucket to mix it in.

            Within the hour, the three cousins had encased Little Joe’s left leg in a thick plaster cast from his knee all the way down to the lower half of his foot.  Josie had considered stopping the cast at his ankle but decided the broken bone would be better immobilized if his foot could not rotate.  When the cast was finished, she, Adam, and Hoss stood back to admire their handiwork.

            “He’s gonna be mighty cross when he wakes up,” Hoss predicted.

            Josie waved a hand dismissively.  “He’s cross about everything anyway.  Come on, fellas.  I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”  She turned and led her cousins downstairs toward the enticing smells emanating from the kitchen.

            As usual, Hoss was right.

            While the family sat at the table eating an early supper, their conversation was interrupted by a scream of horror from upstairs.

            “JOSIE!”  Little Joe’s voice echoed through the house.  “What the hell did you do to me?!”

            Rachel jumped as if Little Joe’s cursing had grown a pair of hands and slapped her, while Adam, Hoss, and Josie broke out laughing.

            “I gave him a hefty dose of laudanum, and we put that cast on him while he was sleeping,” Josie explained in answer to the puzzled looks she was receiving from Ben, Rachel, and Hannah.  “He just discovered it, apparently.”

            “Yes, apparently,” Ben echoed, his eyes twinkling with amusement.  “Well, he’s probably hungry.  I’ll take him a plate.”  He piled a plate high with food and started toward the stairs.

            “Uncle Ben?” Josie said, stopping him.  Ben turned and looked at her, one eyebrow raised.

            “Yes?”

            “Wear your gun.”

            Everyone laughed as Ben made his way, unarmed, up the stairs with the plate of food.  They could tell the instant Ben stepped through the threshold into Hoss’s bedroom because they heard Little Joe cry out, “Look what she did to me, Pa!”  Even Rachel, who typically should have been chastising the rest of them for eavesdropping, held her breath to hear the interchange between Ben and Joe.  Little Joe was so furious that it was difficult to distinguish specific words – polite words, anyway – and Ben’s voice rose as he attempted to explain that Josie was ensuring he did not end up crippled for life.  His efforts, however, were unsuccessful, and before long, Ben’s deep voice had risen and overpowered Joe’s as the two stubborn men shouted at each other.

            After several minutes of hollering, Ben finally hollered, “FINE!  Lie there and starve!” and stormed back downstairs.  He threw himself back down in his seat at the table.

Hannah reached over and plucked a broccoli floret from his hair.  “Maybe we should stay on longer,” she mused, glancing uncertainly over at Rachel.  “I feel terrible leaving tomorrow with Little Joe incapacitated.”

            Hoss’s face lit up.  “Hey, yeah!” he exclaimed.  “Aunt Hannah, you should stay on until the war’s over!  I don’t mind sleeping in the bunkhouse.”  Adam and Ben quickly added their agreement.

            Josie’s heart leapt briefly, but then sank as a realization struck her.  “What about Papa?” she asked quietly.  “If he gets that leave over the Fourth of July, he won’t have anyone to come home to.”  They had received a telegram from Jacob a week earlier in which he told Hannah there was a possibility of his getting leave over the holiday, and Josie’s insides twisted at the thought of her father coming home to an empty house with no one to greet or comfort him.

            “Of course, you’re right,” Hannah said.  “Curse this war!” she snarled suddenly.  “It’s left us all with too many difficult decisions.  Excuse me, please.”  She shoved back angrily from the table and stormed upstairs.

Josie sighed and rose to follow her mother, but Rachel stayed her.

            “Give her a few moments,” Rachel recommended.  “Let her collect herself.”

            Josie obediently sat back down to finish her supper.  As soon as she was done, however, she trotted upstairs to comfort her mother.  She knocked on the door to Little Joe’s room, and when Hannah did not respond, Josie cracked the door and peeked in.  The room was empty.  She stood there, puzzled, until she heard Hannah’s light, tinkling laugh emanating from Hoss’s bedroom next door.  She crept over to the open door and peered in, staying in the shadows of the hallway so as not to disturb her mother and cousin.

            Hannah was sitting in the armchair next to Joe’s bed, where Joe was propped up against a stack of pillows and eating the supper Ben had brought him.  He had apparently just said something quite funny, because Hannah was still giggling.  Josie was relieved to see that Joe now wore a smile, too, as he mopped up the remaining gravy on his plate with a biscuit.  While Josie watched, Hannah took the now-empty plate from Joe and set it on the nightstand.

            “Hop Sing sure can cook,” Little Joe sighed contentedly, letting his head drop backward onto his pillow.

            “How does your leg feel, sweetheart?” Hannah asked.  “Are you still in a lot of pain?”

            “Naw, not like I was,” Joe replied.  “Strange how tired I am, though, considering all I’ve done today is sleep.”

            Hannah explained that Joe had experienced a fairly traumatic injury, and his body was diverting all its energy to healing, so he would probably feel extra tired for the next couple days.  Josie thought how her mother would have made a fair doctor herself as she watched Hannah ease Joe down from his seated position, fluffing the pillows before she replaced them under his head.

            “Can I get you anything else?” she asked.

            “No, thank you, I’m ok.”

            Hannah turned to leave the room, and Josie was about to dart back downstairs, when Little Joe piped up again.

            “Aunt Hannah?”

            “Yes?”

            Feeling a bit foolish, Little Joe hesitated for a moment.  “Would you – I mean, would you mind…”  He sighed, frustrated with himself, and finished his thought all in a rush.  “Would you sit with me for a little while?”

            Hannah smiled fondly at Joe, whose cheeks were pinking with embarrassment over his request.  Even grown men needed a bit of mothering now and then, she supposed, especially if their own mothers had been taken from them far too early.  “Of course I will, sweetheart,” she answered softly.  She turned back into the room and settled down in the armchair once more, drawing it as close to the bedside as she could.  She reached out one hand, laid it on Little Joe’s forehead, and gently stroked his brow with her thumb in a loving, reassuring gesture Josie remembered well.  Even when it was clear Joe was asleep again, Hannah stayed firmly planted in the armchair, and Josie knew she would sit there for some time.  Glad that she could share her mother with Little Joe, Josie slipped back downstairs, hoping that there would be dessert on the table when she got there.

            There was no dessert, but Josie supposed she should not have expected any given that Hop Sing had been helping dig men out of a mine the previous night.  The family retired to the living room with coffee, tea (which Adam declined), and brandy (which Josie declined) and settled in to enjoy their last evening together.  After the better part of an hour, Hannah glided downstairs and joined them.  No one said a word about her abrupt departure from the supper table, and they all chatted amiably for a time about the cattle drive Ben, Adam, and Hoss would make to San Francisco at the end of the summer.

            All too soon, Josie thought, Hannah announced she was going upstairs to finish packing and then go to bed.  Rachel agreed that she should do the same, so they all bid goodnight to each other, and Josie followed her mother up the stairs.

            Adam watched them disappear down the hall and then turned to his father.  “Tomorrow is going to be difficult,” he said.

            “Yeah,” Ben agreed.  “Josie will need extra love tomorrow.”

            “Yeah,” Hoss sighed.  “Me, too.”  Adam smiled at his brother; Hoss had just spoken his thoughts exactly.  Between having Aunt Hannah there and the lightheartedness Molly had brought into his life, Adam felt like a carefree college student again.  His heart had leapt, too, when Hannah had suggested at dinner that she stay longer.  Despite the bumps they had had with Rachel, Adam would have loved to have his aunts extend their visit.  Even better would have been if Rachel had consented to travel home alone and leave them with only Hannah.  The youngest Stoddard sister’s presence had been good for all of them, especially Josie and Little Joe.  Adam heaved a sigh and headed upstairs to bed.

            In Little Joe’s bedroom, Josie was helping Hannah pack away the last of her things.  Neither woman could think of anything to say, so they worked in silence for some moments.  Finally, Hannah turned to Josie.

            “I am sorry about supper,” she apologized.  “I just never imagined I would one day have to choose between my husband and my daughter.”  She broke into tears and sank onto the bed, weeping silently into her hands.

            Josie immediately flew to Hannah’s side and put her arms around her.  She took a deep breath and bit her lower lip, but the tears flowed from Josie’s eyes as well.

            “I should come home with you,” Josie whispered. 

            Hannah’s head snapped up, and she glared at Josie with a ferocity Josie had never seen.  “Don’t say that!” Hannah ordered.  “Don’t you ever say that again.  You are where you were meant to be.  Don’t ever feel guilty about wanting to live here.  Promise me, Josie.”

            “I promise.”

            “That’s my good girl.  Now you get to bed.  We have an early morning tomorrow.”

            Josie obediently kissed her mother goodnight and slipped from the room.  Before heading down the hall to her own bedroom, she poked into Hoss’s to check on Little Joe one last time.  He was still sleeping soundly, so Josie left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar so they could hear if he needed anything in the night. 

            She retreated to her own bedroom, and as she slipped her nightgown over her head, she heard a soft knock on her door.

            “Come in,” she called.

            The door creaked open, and Adam stepped into the room.  He, too, was already dressed for bed and had thrown his dressing gown on over his striped nightshirt.  Josie smiled at him as he stepped into the room.

            “Thought I’d say goodnight again,” he said.

            “How redundant of you,” Josie replied with a grin.

            Adam tilted her chin up so she met his gaze.  “You ok, kid?” he asked.  Josie guessed her eyes must still be red from crying, and she was both touched and annoyed that Adam noticed.

            “Yeah,” she said, pulling her chin away from his hand.  “I will be, anyway.”

            Adam folded her into his arms, and she rested her cheek against his chest and circled her arms around his waist.  He held her for several moments and then said, “All right.  If you need anything, you know where to find me.”  He kissed the top of her head and slid from the room.

            Josie blew out her oil lamp and crawled under the covers.  It was the twenty-ninth of May, and summer was nearly arrived.  The breeze wafting in Josie’s open windows was warm and dry, and Josie knew that within the next week she would be storing her heavy quilt in her wardrobe for the summer.  She closed her eyes and tried to drop off, but her thoughts would not quiet long enough for her to fall asleep; her mind flashed between images of her father in an Army camp and Little Joe lying injured in bed, and she just felt so achingly sad. 

After an hour of tossing and turning, she rolled out of bed and crept into the hallway to see if Adam’s light was still on.  It was not; the little space between the bottom of his door and the floor was dark.  From across the hall, she heard her uncle’s bed creak as he rolled over in his sleep.  She listened for the familiar sound of Hoss’s soft snoring before she remembered that he was out in the bunkhouse.  Feeling very lonesome, Josie considered waking her mother but decided against it.  Hannah had a long, exhausting stagecoach ride ahead of her, and she was already trying to make up for not sleeping last night.  That left Little Joe.  Hoping he was not still too furious with her over the cast, Josie sidestepped that darn creaky floorboard outside Adam’s room and glided into Hoss’s.

            The moonlight shining through the bedroom window cast its silvery glow on Joe’s face, which was smooth and peaceful in restful slumber.  Josie was glad; if Joe was sleeping this well, it meant he was not in too much pain from his leg despite not having received a third dose of pain medication.  She did not like using opiods like morphine and laudanum on a patient for very long – she had been reading disturbing reports from Army doctors of soldiers becoming addicting to the substances – and she was running low besides.  The earthquake had tipped over the medicine cabinet in her clinic, shattering the glass front and smashing nearly every bottle of medicine inside.  She would have to stop at the telegraph office when she was in town tomorrow to wire the apothecary in San Francisco to replenish her stocks.

            Josie threw back the covers and climbed into bed next to Little Joe.  His eyelids, gummy with sleep, split as he felt the mattress shift under Josie’s weight, and he turned his head toward her.

            “I’m gonna get you back for this cast,” he mumbled sleepily.

            “Oh yeah?  Try and catch me,” Josie retorted as she settled her head next to his on the pillow.

            Joe grinned at her before a wave of concern washed over his features.  “You really think my leg will heal straight?” he asked.  Joe had not been able to shake from his mind the image of a local hobo who often begged outside the saloon.  The old man had been permanently crippled when he had been thrown from his horse a few years earlier and his broken leg knit itself back together at an odd angle.

            “Yes, so long as you listen to me and keep it still for the next couple of weeks.”

            “Ok.”

            Little Joe rolled over onto his right side as best he could with the deadweight of the cast on his left leg and wrapped his arms around Josie.  She could still detect the light, fresh scent of soap on his skin from his bath, and she found the familiarity of it soothing.  She knew she had made the right decision in coming to Joe; he offered comfort without asking questions or offering unsolicited advice.

            Suddenly drowsy, Josie murmured goodnight to Little Joe and dropped off to sleep.

******

            When Adam woke the following morning, the rest of the house was silent, so he allowed himself to lie in bed for a few minutes and wake up slowly, enjoying the warm morning sunshine shining through his window and onto his face.  A few minutes passed, and he heard the floorboard outside his bedroom creak, and he knew his father was now up.  He allowed himself one last full-length stretch and rolled reluctantly out of bed.  He pulled on his jeans and a pair of socks, grabbed a shirt and his boots, and wandered into the hallway to knock on Josie’s door.  He dropped his boots onto the floor next to him and rapped lightly on Josie’s door.  He stuck his arms through the sleeves of his shirt while he waited, and when he received no answer, he knocked again.

            “Josie!” he called.  “Time to get up, sleepyhead.”  He heard a door creak behind him, and he turned to see Josie stumbling bleary-eyed out of Hoss’s bedroom.   Immediately concerned, Adam asked if Little Joe was all right.

            “Yeah, he’s fine,” Josie said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

            “Just keeping an eye on him?”

            “Yeah.”

            Adam studied Josie thoughtfully.  “You should have woken me up if you couldn’t sleep,” he said at last.

            Josie smiled sheepishly; Adam knew her too well.  “I didn’t want to bother you,” she replied.

            Adam chuckled.  “So you decided to bother Joe instead?”

            “Yeah, I guess I did,” Josie answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

            “I support that decision.  Joe can always use some extra bothering.”  Adam ruffled Josie’s already tousled black hair and stepped out of the way so she could access her bedroom and get dressed.

            Breakfast was subdued.  Everyone was sad that Hannah and Rachel were leaving that morning, and they all keenly felt Little Joe’s absence from the table; he could have provided some much-needed levity.  Joe had pitched a huge fit when Josie told him he could not come into town with them, but he fell silent when Josie reminded him that he had to listen to her if he wanted his leg to heal properly.  Josie had not enjoyed ordering him to stay home; she knew how much Little Joe wanted to see Hannah off on the stagecoach, but she could not risk bouncing him around in the wagon all the way to Virginia City and back.  

After breakfast, Rachel and Hannah went upstairs to say goodbye to Joe while Adam and Hoss brought the wagon and carriage around.  Rachel shook Joe’s hand briefly and wished him a speedy recovery, but Hannah bent down and caught him up in a loving hug.  She smoothed back his hair a final time – she did so love Little Joe’s curls – and kissed his forehead, eliciting a promise from him that he would rest and allow his leg to heal straight and strong.  Hannah loved all of her nephews, but it was no secret that she, like Josie, reserved a special fondness for Joe.  She had always wanted to give Josie a younger brother or sister, but despite their most valiant attempts, Jacob and Hannah had been unable to produce any other children besides Josie.  From the first day Hannah had met Little Joe when he was not quite eight years old, the curly-headed puck with the devilish grin and dancing green eyes had captured her affections, and they were his to keep.

Hoss and Adam loaded Rachel’s and Hannah’s trunks into the back of the wagon while Ben saddled Buck.  All too soon, everyone was ready to go, and the Cartwrights rolled out of the yard toward town.  Josie and Hannah sat silently next to each other in the backseat of the carriage.  Hannah seemed to be trying to memorize the landscape, while Josie simply stared at the back of Adam’s head as he chatted with Rachel in the front.

As they rolled into town, the Cartwrights got their first look at the damage the earthquake had caused to Virginia City.  The sign over Widow Hawkins’ boardinghouse had fallen and was now propped up against the front of the building.  Adam was relieved to see that apart from a broken window, Molly’s shop appeared not to have taken any damage, but he flinched as they pass the schoolhouse – rather, where the schoolhouse used to be.  Rickety to begin with – Adam had spoken out strongly against the flimsy building design the school board had opted to use when they built the school three years earlier – the entire building had collapsed in on itself and now lay in a pile of rubble.  Desks jutted up out of the ruins like tombstones, and Adam thanked God that the earthquake had not struck during school hours.

They pulled to a stop in front of the stagecoach depot, and from out of nowhere, Simon appeared at the side of the carriage to help Josie and Hannah down from their seats.

“Simon!” Josie exclaimed as he lifted her by the waist and set her lightly on the dusty street.  “What are you doing here?”

“Thought I’d come see your mother and aunt off,” he explained as he took Hannah’s hand and helped her step down.

“That was very kind of you, Simon,” Hannah said, beaming at him.

“Yes, it was,” Rachel chimed in.  “It is comforting to know that Josephine is surrounded by such thoughtful people as yourself.”

Simon turned and smiled smugly at Josie.  He thought it was downright hilarious how much Josie’s stern aunt approved of him, and he teased Josie about it to no end.  She poked her tongue out at him when Rachel turned away, and Simon responded by wiggling his eyebrows at her.  Adam smiled as he watched the interchange between the two, and he was grateful to Simon for making Josie smile this morning.

While they waited for the stagecoach to arrive, Rachel reiterated her offer to Simon to stake him in a furniture business if he chose to pursue the craft, and Simon surprised everyone by accepting and promising to draw up a business plan to send to her.  Adam snorted with swallowed laughter when Simon then turned to him and whispered, “Adam, how do you write a business plan?”

Sheriff Coffee and Widow Hawkins joined the party just as the stagecoach arrived, and they both wished Hannah, and especially Rachel, a fond farewell.  The lawman wore a hangdog expression, and Josie was certain she saw his eyes well up as he kissed Rachel’s cheek.  Widow Hawkins made no attempt to contain her emotions and fell sobbing into Rachel’s arms. 

“Oh, Rachel, I sure am going to miss you!” Clementine bawled.  “It’s been so lovely ‘aving a real lady around.”

Rachel clung to the widow for several moments before she stepped back.  “I shall miss you, too, Clementine,” she replied.  “You must come visit me in Boston.”

“Oh, I will!” Clementine cried.  “You can count on that.”

Ben pretended to sneeze into his handkerchief so no one could see the huge grin that was spreading across his face at the thought of Virginia City being Widow Hawkins-free for a few months.

“And in the meantime, I’ll take good care of Ducky ‘ere for you,” Clementine finished, reaching over and tweaking Ben’s cheek, wiping the grin right off of his face.

Rachel bid goodbye to Ben, Hoss, and Adam, and then turned to Josie.  Aunt and niece stared at each other for a time before Rachel folded Josie into her arms.

“Take care of them, Josephine,” Rachel said, and Josie understood that she was referring to the entire town. 

“Yes, ma’am,” Josie replied.

As Rachel broke away from Josie, she slipped a scrap of paper into her niece’s hand.  Josie glanced at Rachel quizzically, but Rachel merely shook her head, so Josie crammed the paper into her dress pocket to look at later. 

As Josie said goodbye to Rachel, Simon extended his hand to Hannah, but she drew him into a hug instead.  She kissed his cheek as she drew back and held him at arms’ length.

“Now, Simon,” she said, looking directly into the young man’s brown eyes, which were half-shrouded by his unruly blond hair, “my husband can be difficult to reach as he’s always moving about with the Army.  It could take a couple months to get a reply from him all the way out here if he’s unable to reach a telegraph office, so if you ever have any questions you would need to ask him, you may address them to Ben.  He can answer in my husband’s stead.”

Simon stared at her for several seconds before comprehension dawned on him, and his fair cheeks flushed bright scarlet.  Josie was still saying goodbye to Rachel and did not overhear her mother’s instructions to Simon, but Adam did, and he almost laughed aloud as Simon’s blush spread all the way to his collarbone.  His laughter, however, died on his lips and his expression darkened as he, too, understood the implication of Hannah’s instructions.

Hannah had already hugged Ben, Hoss, and Adam, and now she stayed a few paces back and studied Josie, taking in all the changes the past two years had wrought on her only child so she could tell Jacob all about them in her next letter.  Hannah and Josie smiled sadly at one another for a moment before they rushed into each other’s arms.  Silent tears coursed down both their faces as mother and daughter clung to one another.

“Please come back soon, Mama,” Josie whispered.

“Next time, I’ll bring your father,” Hannah promised.

“I love you, Mama.”

“I love you, too, darling.  Be good for your uncle.”

Hannah did not want to put either of them through a prolonged goodbye, so she let go of Josie, patted her cheek a final time, and boarded the stagecoach.  Josie had done a good job of keeping herself together, but as the stagecoach rolled away and Hannah gave them a final wave out the window, Josie’s face crumpled, and she broke down.  She spun around toward her family, and Adam opened his arms wide to her.  Josie, however, raced right past him, threw herself at Simon, and bawled into his shirtfront.  Simon was about Adam’s height but not nearly as broad, lanky even, so Josie had less shirtfront to cry into than she would have with Adam, but at that moment, all that mattered were Simon’s strong arms wrapped around her.  Adam stood flummoxed, arms still open for the hug that never came.  His features rearranged themselves from his “comforting older brother” expression into a look of sheer abandonment.  He looked so lost and helpless that Hoss wrapped his arms tightly around Adam in the world’s largest bear hug.

“Hoss!” Adam croaked as the large man slowly and unwittingly squeezed the air from his lungs.  “What are you doing?!”

Hoss replied but did not release his brother.  “Sorry, Adam.  Just looked like you needed it.”

“That was very thoughtful of you, but I can’t breathe.”

“Oh!  Sorry, Adam.”  Hoss let go of Adam, who sucked in a lungful of air and massaged his ribs.  He looked over and saw Josie still clutching Simon, and his previous gratitude toward Simon instantly evolved into irritation.  He stalked over and tapped Josie on the shoulder.

“Come on, Josie,” he said softly.  “Let’s go home.”

Josie gave Simon a salty kiss on the lips and nodded at his promise to call on her the next day.  She pried herself away and shifted to Adam, who put his arm around her shoulders, smirked at Simon, and led Josie to the waiting buckboard.  He did not expect Josie would want to ride home in the nearly empty surrey carriage; the vacant space left by her mother would have tormented her all the way home.  Instead, he lifted her into the buckboard seat and climbed in next to her, leaving Hoss to drive the carriage.

As Josie sat down, the paper Rachel had slipped her crinkled in her pocket, as if purposely reminding her of its presence.  Josie drew it out and unfolded it.  She froze in place as she stared at it for several long seconds before bursting into a fresh round of sobs.  Adam threaded his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his chest as he took the paper from her.  His eyes welled up, too, as he read what Rachel had written there:

My dearest Josephine,

You have always been more than enough.

I love you.

Rachel

            Adam carefully refolded the paper and handed it back to Josie, who crammed it in her pocket once more.  Keeping his arm around her, Adam gathered up the lines, called to the horses, and headed for home.