A Battle of Wills
Part 2 of 16
Chapter 1
Five Cartwrights
rode slowly into a grove of willow trees close to the stream and tethered their
horses in the shade of the trees. Three generations were spending their Sunday
afternoon fishing at Cherry Creek. The deepest part of the stream that was a
favorite spot for fishing and it was a short walk down the path from where they
left their horses.
Joe stretched
out on an outcrop of rock and lazily threw small stones into the water.
“You keep throwing those stones little brother, you’ll scare all the fish away,” Hoss told him “Sam and I won’t catch nothin’ if you scare ‘em away. You’ll be to blame if we have beans for dinner.”
Adam and Sam walked up the path carrying their fishing gear and sat down near Hoss. “Do you need me to bait your hook, Doc?”
”Uh uh. I can do it. I’ll do yours too, Pa.” Sam offered smiling. He wanted to show off to Adam what a good fisherman he was becoming. “Uncle Hoss taught me how while you were gone working in San Francisco.” Adam still had to do a lot of business traveling for Stoddard and Bruce that took him away from Kate and Sam for weeks on end. It was the only way he could work out a compromise between his work and Kate remaining in Virginia City, as she wanted. His father and brothers always pitched in while he was gone and made sure Sam was occupied and Kate had help with anything she needed in the little house in Virginia City.
”Sure, go right ahead. I feel lazy today.” Adam grinned at his son and leaned back against the trunk of the closest tree. “Maybe I’ll just climb up there with Uncle Joe and take a nap.” He started to get up.
”Oh no!” Sam protested. He grabbed his fathers black pants leg. ”Stay here by me. I missed you when you were gone.”
Adam sat back
down and slid closer to his son. “I missed you too, very much. Give me my line,
Doc.”
Hs son handed him the bamboo pole. “Could you take me with you when you go again?”
”Maybe sometime,
I’ll take you and Momma on a trip to see Boston. I’d like to show you all the
museums and the shows and where I went to college. And show you and your mother
off to Dennis and Amanda.”
“Hurry up and
catch some fish. I’m hungry.” Joe called from the top of his rock. He took off
his tan hat and placed it behind him and lay down using his hat as a pillow. He
closed his eyes. The spring sun felt comfortably warm on his face.
“We’d catch more
if you would drop a line in too, Joe.” Hoss said.
“Uh huh,” Joe
agreed. “Looks like you are doing just fine,” Joe said without opening his eyes.
He didn’t open his eyes or move an inch.
“Pa, could I go
swimming?”
”It’s too cold, son. It’s only April. The air might be warm but that water is
like ice. Its all the melted snow from up on the mountains. And watch that you
don’t fall in.”
”Don’t want to keep your boots on if you do.” Hoss commented pulling out his
line. He examined the hook and checked that it was still baited.
“How come?”
”Pa taught us that. Your boots will fill up with water and you will get sucked
down like your pockets are filled with horseshoes.”
”I thought a horseshoe was good luck.” Sam watched as his uncle tossed the line
back into the creek.
“Not if your
pockets are full of them and you fall into the water,” Adam laughed.
Never to be one to let silence fill the air Sam asked “
“Who do you think is stronger men or
woman?” Sam asked. “This girl at school said that girls are stronger than boys
and then she pushed me down in the mud.”
”What did you do? I hope you didn’t hit a little girl.”
Sam looked down at the creek.” No sir. You said that Cartwrights never hit
women. But Pa, she knocked me down.”
“What did you do Sam?” Adam asked him
firmly.
“I didn’t need to do much of
anything. The teacher saw and kept her after for being so bad.”
Ben nodded. “Maybe she just wants to
be your friend and doesn’t know how to do behave herself.”
“No sir. She is just a big mean girl.
She’s bigger than I am and she knocked me down.”
”What’s her name?” Adam asked.
“Millie Schnitzer. She is big and
mean. And she is only seven years old.”
”Seven and bigger than you are?” Ben asked.
From his perch on the rock, Joe
started to laugh. “ Bet she’s in love with you Sammy. They always wanted a
Cartwright in that family.”
”What do you mean Uncle Joe?”
”Adam, guess who big Millie’s mom is? Bessie Sue. It is just revenge on Hoss
breaking old Bessie Sue’s heart.”
” Remember that gal she was almost as big as Hoss.” Ben laughed.
”Really?” Sam couldn’t believe the idea of a lady that big.
“Sure, she could lift the side of a
wagon with one hand. One time she poked her finger into your Pa’s shoulder, just
to make a point and he had a bruised collar bone for a month.” Joe described.
They all laughed remembering Bessie Sue trying to snag Hoss as a sweet heart.”
Hoss blushed and hoped no one noticed. He pulled in his line and tossed it out
again closer to the middle of the stream hoping to attract a fish.
Sam shook his head. “No sir, she is just mean. Why would you want to hurt
someone you want to be friends with?”
Ben shrugged.
“So who is
stronger? “ Sam asked again.
“When you find a
gal that can lift as much and eat as much as Uncle Hoss, you tell
me.” Joe laughed from his rocky
perch. “She’d be one big woman. Like good old Bessie Sue.”
Ben walked over to the creek and
stood next to Hoss. He baited his line and threw it in to the creek “Sometimes
women will make men do crazy things. Good stuff and bad stuff, Sammy “
“Like what?
“When Marie and
I got married she managed to take a whole pack of wolves and make them wash
their hands and put on clean shirts before they came to dinner.”
”You had trained wolves eating with you?” Sam’s eyes widened. “Wolves? You won’t
let me get a dog, Pa and you had wolves?”
All the men laughed at the idea. “No Doc. Grandpa means us. Marie taught us all
to be civilized gentlemen compared to the wild men we had been.”
From on top of the rock, Joe added
his commentary “Hey, I know a lady who weighs about a hundred pounds and could
move a guy who weighs more than double that a few thousand miles just by blowing
a kiss in his direction. Now that is a pretty strong woman. “Kissing?” Sam
asked.
”Your mama, did that to Adam.” Joe
made some smoochie sounds. “She reeled him in like a big fat fish. Bet if Uncle
Hoss blew kisses at anyone they would run away.”
“I sure hope not, Little Brother.”
Hoss was thinking about Andrea but was not ready to mention her to his family.
“Look how many brawls are in the
Silver Dollar over a pretty girl” Adam pointed out.
Hoss looked up at Joe
basking on the rock. “Heard there was one just last week, Short Shanks. Know
anything about how strong that woman was? Or how big? Or Pretty?”
“Men go to war over
some women.” Adam added.” Like the Trojan War. The Greeks fought a whole war
over a beautiful woman.”
“Woman can be
stronger than men without lifting the side of a wagon.”
“Like Laura Dayton and
Will. She sure settled him down quick.” Ben remarked thinking of his long
missing nephew.”
Since Sam had no idea
who his grandfather was referring to, he paid no attention to the comment. His
father’s remark about the Trojan Wars reminded Sam of the other mythological
tales he had learned from Adam. “Like those sirens who made the men sail their
ships right onto the rocks.”
“They only had to sing
to be stronger then those tough sailors.”
“Yes sir, but they was
bad women. If they wanted to be friends with those men they should have been
nicer. Like that girl who pushed me in the mud. She’s nasty and selfish.”
Like Laura Dayton,
Little Joe thought but he kept his ideas to himself. Why bring up old girl
friends of Adam’s?
“And what about all
those men that got killed by the General out at Fort Mead over his wife’s
indiscretions?” Ben added. “I always wondered what all that was about. What kind
of woman was that? ”
“One right scary
woman, Pa” Hoss told him. “One of the scariest. But not as scary as that
General”
Chapter 2
Adam felt extremely proud when Sam
started calling him “Pa” Almost as soon as Adam and Kate got married, her son
immediately decided he would be Sam Cartwright and Adam would be his Pa. He
imitated what Adam and his brothers called Ben and rejected any other
suggestions.
Adam was delighted and knew very
well from his own boyhood how difficult it could be for a child to accept the
affections of a stepparent.
Adam bragged about the
accomplishment to his father and Joe one evening, when the Cartwright men were
having one of their weekly Tuesday night dinners at The International Hotel.
Hoss was on one of his frequent trips up to Elm Grove that week.
“I never thought that it would
mean so much to me to hear that little boy call me “Pa”. He even writes to me
when I go to San Francisco and sticks the letter in my bag so I have a note from
him when I get there.” He pulled one out of his pocket to proudly share with the
others.
Joe read it first. “Dear Pa, Have
a good trip. I will miss you and be a good boy for my mother. Love, your son,
Sam Cartwright. PS There is no need to bring me a gift but if you should change
your mind, I would like a monkey. If you can not bring me a monkey I would like
some candy.”
He laughed and passed the note on
to his father.
“Sam is not exactly like you were
son and the circumstances are not quite the same. You took quite a long while to
get along with Marie, Adam.” Ben didn’t want his son to be too full of himself.
Sam was a wonderful boy and very hungry to have a father. Adam, as a boy was
another story.
Adam frowned and looked down at
his plate. He knew what his father was telling him. “Don’t be so big headed
Adam.”
“Adam didn’t get along with my
mother? What do you mean, Pa.?” Joe only had vague memories of his mother and
could not imagine his brother having difficulty loving her. Much of what he knew
about his mother had been from the stories Adam had told him as he grew up.
“Don’t forget I married your
mother in New Orleans. When I brought Marie home, I expected Adam to fall in
love with her as fast as I did. Looking back, I realize now that was foolish of
me and it made quite a few problems for the both of them. Marie had more than
she bargained for when she faced your brothers for the first year or so. Sam
knew all of us for most of his life before Adam and Kate got married.” He
explained to Joe.
” Sammy knew you for a long time as a friend before you got smart enough to
realize you were in love with Katie.” Joe teased his brother.
It had taken a while but Adam had
finally discovered that his wife had been in love with him since she was a small
girl. He was always amazed at how oblivious he was to his own feelings until Joe
and Hoss had pushed the two of them together. Being married to Kate was the best
thing that had every happened to Adam Cartwright and he would be forever
indebted to his brother Joe for cleverly bringing them together.
“Joe, only your mother would have
been able to deal with the nasty devil that Adam was in those days. I almost
killed him myself one time for how he had behaved to her.”
”Adam?” Joe was shocked. He couldn’t imagine his brother misbehaving and
certainly never imagined his father having much trouble with his perfect oldest
son. Joe had grown up thinking his was the son who had caused his father the
most struggles.
“Adam?”
Adam nodded. “I was pretty
despicable to her Joe. Hoss took to her immediately. It shows how much she loved
Pa, that she put up with my behavior until she wore me down with her affection.
She was a very special lady.” Adam smiled thinking of how much he loved his step
mother.
”Yes she was. And it wasn’t until well after you were born, Joe that I even
heard half of what Marie had put up with from Adam. By then, they were getting
on so well it really didn’t matter.”
”Joe, if Pa had known half of it, he really would have killed me.” Adam said
shaking his head grimly. “You are right. Sam isn’t me and I am really lucky that
he isn’t.”
Chapter 3
It had been a long hot day
rounding up strays and Ben Cartwright was tired, dirty and looking forward to
getting home for dinner with his new bride, Marie. He hoped his sons had done
their chores and behaved for once. Maybe the boys would go to sleep early and he
could be alone with his wife.
As he rode his horse into the yard
of the Ponderosa ranch house and he saw his eleven year old son gallop off in
the other direction on the back of his horse. Loose gravel spit off the horse’s
hooves as Adam tore off across the meadow behind the house.
Marie Cartwright was sitting on
the porch step weeping. Hoss was sitting and crying next to her. The two of them
had their arms wrapped around each other and five-year-old Hoss was patting her
back.
“Don’t cry Mama,” Hoss said
comfortingly. “ I love you Mama even if Adam is a bad, bad boy.”
A ranch hand ran across the yard and grabbed Ben’s reigns. “Ben you better go
get that boy of yours. He’s gone and slapped Mrs. Cartwright and rode off. I was
standing right here and couldn’t grab that willful little devil fast enough to
stop him.”
Ben leapt off his horse and ran over to his wife. “What happened? Are you all
right?”
”Pa, Adam was very bad and cussed at Mama and he hit Mama and made her cry.”
Hoss’s blue eyes glistened with tears.
Ben bent down on his knees next to his wife. “Marie is you all right?
She nodded. Ben drew her into his arms. “What happened?” He held her tightly,
smoothing her hair until she calmed down and was able to speak.
”I told Adam to do his chores. Benjamin, that’s how it started.’ She pulled an
embroidered handkerchief from her sleeve and wiped her green eyes. “Before I
knew it we were yelling at each other and he told me that I … I was not his
mother and he did not have to listen to me and neither did his brother. Neither
of them. And he called me some vile names. “
”Pa, I told him to quit. I really did Pa, “ Blonde haired Hoss patted Marie’s
arm. “He was very bad Pa and he hit Mama.”
Ben’s eyes widened. He forbid his son’s to ever raise their hands to a woman
under any circumstances.” Did he touch you, Marie? Did Adam hit you.”
Marie nodded.
”Are you all right?”
She nodded. He kissed her and held her for a minute. He was furious and Adam was
going to find out what his anger felt like. Ben walked back to his horse and
swung back onto the saddle. He leaned back to the hand and said “ Go run over to
the foreman’s house and ask Mrs. Newkirk to come over and keep my wife company
until I get back with Adam. I’ll be back as soon as I catch up with him.” Ben
yanked his horse in the direction that Adam had taken and galloped after the
boy. The anger he was feeling continued to rise like hot steam in a boiling
kettle.
For a half hour, Ben tried to find
Adam. He followed his horse’s tracks until he hit the rocky hillside leading to
Eagle Point and lost the trail. Ben rode back toward Cherry Creek and tried to
retrace his son’s path. The sun was getting low in the sky. In addition to being
angry with Adam, Ben was starting to worry. Adam had threatened to run away and
go to Boston; back to Captain Stoddard who he hadn’t seen since he was a baby.
Could the boy have run off and tried to leave the ranch? The sun was almost down
and the sky was quickly turning blue violet.
Despite the fading light, Ben saw more tracks. It was Liberty, Adam’s horse. Ben followed the trail and in the shadows saw a rider not more than a hundred yards ahead of him. There was Adam, trotting his lathered horse. Young Adam had galloped as fast as he could up the trail. At the crest of the hill, the boy pulled up his horse.
Adam heard something behind him. He looked around, alert and straining to hear the noise again. A first, all he heard was the silence of the night. But then he heard a branch snap, and the thud of a hoof. Adam’s horse nickered, smelling another horse nearby. There was no question that another rider was coming up behind him galloping hard and fast.
Ben kicked his tired horse to a gallop and in a clattering roar pulled behind his son so fast the boy never looked up at his father before it was too late. Ben pulled Sailor along side Adam and grabbed the boy and yanked him out of his saddle.
As he furiously pulled Adam from
his horse, Ben also slid off Sailor. Adam’s feet had barely brushed the ground
before Ben picked him up by his shoulders. The boy hung kicking in mid air
suspended in his father’s firm grasp. Ben’s fingers dug into him.
Ben was relieved to have found his
son but furious that his son had behaved in such a defiant manner to Marie. He
lifted his son to his eye level and roared, “If you ever do this again, boy you
will be tanned within an inch of your life. Maybe worse. You better NEVER act
that way to my wife again as long as you live. If you want to live.
His son cowered at Ben ’s rage.
Adam had never seen his father so furious at him but the boy knew he had never
behaved in such a vile way before. He had used bad language to his stepmother.
He cursed and raised his hand to a woman. His father was going to kill him. What
ever happened to him, Adam knew he more than deserved it.
“Pa, I’m sorry Pa.” Adam had never
been so scared in his life. His father had rarely raised his hand to him in his
life but he had seen Ben beat a man to pulp more than once when he had to defend
his family while they were traveling to Nevada. Once, a bad man tried to break
into the wagon when the boys were sleeping and Adam awoke to see his father on
top of the man thrashing him. Blood came out of the man’s head and Pa hadn’t
stopped until someone pulled them apart.
Ben grabbed Adam so hard he lifted
him back off the ground. He drew back his hand and slapped his son across his
face. “Sorry isn’t enough, boy. I’m having it out with you Adam.” He roared. Had
he not been holding on to the front of Adam’s shirt the boy would have fallen
backwards into the brush.
Adam’s head spun around and his
father tossed him against the ground like a rag doll. The boy lie in the mud and
saw his enraged father towering over him. Ben had one booted foot on either side
of him as he stood above him. His hands were balled into fists and his jaw was
clenched into a grim line. As furious as Ben was he knew if he touched Adam one
more time he would kill him. Such was rage that he knew full well that he would
kill his son if he even stayed near the boy. He stood frozen, silhouetted
against the sky.
The only sound was the horses
stamping and nickering as the father and son froze in the darkness. The
trembling boy lay with his eyes closed waiting for his father to beat him to
death for what he did to Marie. He squeezed his eye shut and waited for his
father’s fists to rain down on him in the blackness.
Ben stood trembling with rage. He
knew if he moved he would murder his child. He drew in his breath and tried to
control his anger.
Adam opened his eyes and looked
up.
His father reached into his pocket
and drew out his pocketknife.
“He is going to cut my throat or
maybe worse.” The boy thought fearfully eyeing his father.
Ben grabbed his son’s forearm and
pulled Adam up to a standing position. He slowly opened the biggest blade on the
knife and handed it to his son.” Go cut a switch.” He growled ominously.
Adam’s hands shook as he took his
father’s knife. “Yes, sir,” he whispered. He scrambled to his feet, trembling.
The boy walked quickly into the
dark brush and looked for a switch. He ran between the trees before his father
could grab him again. Adam grabbed a slim branch from a low hanging willow and
cut it off. He walked back towards his father.
Ben had grabbed the reigns of the
two skittish horses and tied them to a sapling. He was patting the nose of
Liberty and calming the nervous horse when Adam walked up to him and handed his
father the switch.
“You call this a switch boy?” he
took the slim green branch from Adam’s hands and tossed it aside. “I want a
thicker switch. Not this little twig.” His eyes were black under his thick eye
brows.
”Yes, sir.” Adam shivered and headed back into the dark thicket. He walked a bit
further down the path and cut a thicker willow branch. This one was as thick as
a pencil. He surely knew he had done wrong and would never ever speak like that
to Marie. He would never ever raise his hand to her or any other woman. Never,
no matter what.
He walked back to his father and handed him the second branch.
Ben swung the branch over his head
with a swooshing sound. ”This is still too short, too thin. Cut a decent size
switch Adam.”
Adam shivered. “Pa I know I’m wrong. I won’t never ever do what I did again. I’m
so sorry,” he wept. Hot tears traced white lines through the filth on the boy’s
face.
“Don’t come back until you get me
a man sized limb Adam. Sorry or not. Go get me a decent switch.” Ben roared. He
was still furious.
Adam went back and forth to the
woods three more times that inky black night. Each time his father rejected the
stick he brought and each time Adam brought him a thicker and longer limb.
Finally, Adam picked up a fallen tree branch. It was almost as long as young
Adam was tall and as thick as his father’s muscular forearm. The boy needed both
hands to drag it back to the clearing where Ben waited. Adam knew if his father
hit him with this branch, he would be badly injured or even killed. His father
was going to slaughter him, bludgeon him to death for how he acted to Marie.
By the time Adam was finished the
thin silver moon rose low in the sky.
He walked out again to his father
with the tree limb in his filthy hands. The black haired boy was sobbing
hysterically. “Here Pa. Is this big enough.” Adam’s voice caught in his chest.
His dark hair mussed, and his face tearstained and red. Adam’s filthy shirt was
torn and wet with perspiration from exertion and fear.
Ben nodded. He swooped the limb over his head in a test swung it hard against
the trunk of the nearest tree. It hit with a loud resounding crack that echoed
in the moonlight.
“Adam, do you understand what you
did? Why you are wrong?” He held the rough branch threateningly next to his
son’s frightened face.
”Yes sir,” the boy answered. He looked down at his boots. Adam waited for his
father to hit him with the tree limb. He knew this was the last night of his
young life.
“Look at me boy, look me right in
the eye.” His father smacked the tree limb into the palm of his own hand.
The boy looked up at his father’s angry face. “Tell me what you did boy.” Ben’s
eyes were burning with rage.
”I.I argued with Marie. I disobeyed her and then spoke back.”
”What else?”
“I made her cry’ Adam looked at
his boots. He wished the ground would open up and swallow him directly to hell
where he belonged.
”Look at me.” Ben Cartwright’s large hand grabbed his son’s shoulder. “ Adam,
look at my face when I talk to you. What else did you do?”
”Pa, I cussed at her,” he whimpered. His fathers fingers dug into him.
”And? “ Ben leaned on the thick tree limb. His dark brown eyes bore down on his
son.
“I hit her Pa.” The boy’s matching
dark eyes were filled with tears.
”And?”
”Cartwrights never hit women,” he whispered. Tears streamed down his filthy
face. Snot ran out of his nose. He was afraid to even raise his arm to wipe his
nose on his cuff.
“Speak up Adam. Say it again so I
can hear you.”
“Cartwrights never hit women.” He
repeated. Adam knew he had betrayed every value his father had taught him his
entire life.
”Pa, I know that. Pa, I’m so sorry. I know Marie loves me and I acted so evil
to her.” The boy started sobbing so hard he could barely catch his breath. Tears
of embarrassment and fear streamed down his thin face. Adam knew whatever his
father did to him was not enough punishment for his cruel behavior.
“If you ever, ever disrespect my
wife, Adam. Ever. Or if you ever raise your hand to a woman, ever. I will take
this branch and beat you with it, son. Is that clear? Absolutely no more of this
mean willful behavior, Boy. Ever.” Ben Cartwright gripped his son’s arm with his
right hand and waved the branch over his head with the other.
Adam nodded. His father wasn’t going to hit him. He started to sob in relief.
His father pulled him to his chest and held him for a few minutes until Adam
relaxed and caught his breath.
“Is that clear boy?” He whispered
in his boy’s ear threateningly. He pushed Adam in front of him and held him with
a strong hand on each of the boy’s thin shoulders. Ben glared at his son, his
lips in a straight line.
“Y-yes sir.” Adam answered softly.
“Now get on your horse and go home
and tell my wife you are sorry. And you do it in front of your brother. And the
hands too.”
”Yes, sir.”
Ben lifted his son onto his horse and then swung onto Sailor holding the tree
limb across the saddle as they rode back home.
For a very long time that hefty
tree limb stood on the massive stone hearth leaning against the mantle as a
warning for the boys, especially Adam. After a while, the boys forgot the branch
was even there and there was no need for any reminders of how to behave to Marie
Cartwright. They loved her so and there was never any problem in getting the
boys to listen to her. No one could be more protective of her than Adam was and
the affection they shared was sincere and life long.
Shortly after, Little Joe was
born; Adam noticed that the warning branch was no longer near the hearth. He
asked Hoss about it and they both realized that neither of the Cartwright
brothers could remember the last time they had seen that branch leaning against
the fireplace.
“Maybe we just used it as firewood
last winter.” Ben said when the two older Cartwright boys asked him. “T’was a
very cold winter,” he smiled. “Maybe your mother used it for kindling one night
or something. He smiled because he knew the branch had been gone for longer than
he was willing to say.
Ben was holding Little Joe astride
his lap and the smallest Cartwright brother was giggling merrily as his father
tossed him backwards and tickled him under his chin. “Be my horsie Papa. Be my
horsie!” Joe squealed with delight.
“Who is my good boy? Who wants to
ride a wild horse” Ben picked the baby up and kissed him on his round cheeks and
dumped him back on his lap. He arranged Little Joe’s legs to be astride his
thigh hugged his youngest to his chest. Ben stomped his foot and jiggle and
jostled the boy wildly. The boy’s green eyes, so much like his mother’s, flashed
merrily as he tossed back his curly head and giggled.
“More Papa!” he crowed. “Faster!”
Chapter 4
March 23
Ben and Kate walked slowly up to the corral that was being used to break horses. They
could see Joe in the middle of the corral, getting ready to mount a black horse
that was stomping the ground nervously. Ben came closer and leaned against
the fence to watch. Kate stood beside him watching. “Ben do you think he should be doing that so soon?”
”Doc Martin told him a month. Joe marked exactly one month off on the calendar on his wall and waited not one day longer to start up again. Not even one more day.”
“To tell you the truth Ben, I’m
surprised the way he was chafing at the bit, Joe even waited the month.”
" C’mon Son, I think you’ve had
enough for one day and Hop Sing won’t be pleased if we are late for supper -
again" Ben hollered from across the corral. “Don’t keep Sammy and Adam waiting.”
"You and Katie go on Pa. I’ll be
along as soon as I’ve got the better of this one. One more ride and I’ll be
done.”
“Joe!” Ben called to his son
hoping to prevent the step he had seen Joe make back towards the horse but knew
his son was out of his control. For the first time in months, Joe was back in
the saddle and back at breaking horses.
This was Joe’s
passion, taming wild horses; anything to do with horses was what his youngest
son thrived on since he could walk. His rode across the front of his father’s
saddle while he was still wearing diapers and had been running all of the
Ponderosa horse breeding before he was even twenty years old.
Pausing as he reached for the
bridle of the restless black mustang stallion, held steady at the moment by the
two ranch hands, Joe smiled across the corral to his father and Katie. Kate
waved back at him. Joe had been gentling the stallion for a couple of days and
he was determined to finish breaking the horse before the day was out. Dinner
could wait. Ever impatient, Joe was trying to make up for the months he had lost
recovering over the winter and was having a fine time working hard that warm
spring day.
Ben Cartwright felt Joe was
pushing himself and the horse too far. While he had been given a lot of the
responsibility for horse breaking on the ranch, his judgment was sometimes
clouded by his eagerness and impetuosity, and trying to make up for all the last
months of forced inactivity. The Ponderosa foreman, Hays Newkirk had warned his
hands to keep an eye on the ranch owner’s youngest son and, if possible
forestall any serious danger. Joe’s reckless nature might lead him into hurting
himself but no one could ever stop Joe when he got an idea into his head. He was
a force to reckon with when he got his mind set on doing something.
As he leaned against the split
rail fence of the corral, Ben watched in cautious awe at his third son’s ability
to tame such wild animals. He saw the set on Joe’s face and knew that the young
man had an iron will and would never admit to defeat. A smile creased Ben’s
face as he witnessed the control that Joe was rapidly gaining on the horse. For
an instant Ben’s pride in Joe’s skill out weighed his own fear for his youngest
son’s safety. But only for an instant.
“Ben, no one could ever stop him
when he decides he is going to do something.” Kate slipped her hand into her
father in law’s hand. She was reading his mind. Kate knew Little Joe Cartwright
for most of their lives and this was not the first time she stood and watched
him do something wild and reckless.
Young Casey Newkirk sat astride
his horse at the side of the corral watching Joe carefully. He admired and
imitated everything Joseph did and was especially delighted that he was up and
around again. Joe had promised to teach Casey how to break horses as soon as he
was a bit bigger and Casey tried to memorize every detail of what his boss was
doing.
With a swift movement, Joe swung
his body back into the saddle and grabbed the reins with his left hand. With a
wicked grin at everyone watching him around the breaking corral and a green
flash of his eyes, he yelled to the three hands to let go. The bronc took off
before Joe’s feet were securely in the stirrups. This was a terrible mistake. He
struggled to regain his balance as the horse reared to try and knock its rider
off. The mustang and a determined rider battled it out trying to get the best
of each other. Joe tried to hang on to the reins but his damaged hand wouldn’t
work properly and the leather reign slipped through his fingers. He had lost
control of the horse and instantly, the animal sensed it.
For about ten
seconds, Ben had watched proudly as his son rode like he was glued to the back
of the black stallion. Then the angry horse snorted and reared and Joe tried to
hang tight with his legs. For an instant, Ben sensed there was something amiss
with Joe’s posture or how he held the reigns or the look on his face. It was
only a flash but for a father who knew every motion of his son’s body it was
enough to alert Ben. It was just a flicker of something on his son’s face or the
awkward set of his broad shoulders under the tan shirt that caught Ben’s
attention.
Kate clutched
Ben’s hand. “Joe!” She screamed.
The mustang was
going to win the contest. Then Joe was like a willow leaf being caught in a
whirlpool. There was nowhere to go but be sucked into the vortex. In that moment
Ben knew and could do nothing to protect his child from the inevitable outcome
of his own reckless behavior.
The wild
stallion stumbled and his head went down sharply, yanking the reins out of Joe’s
damaged hands and catapulting him forward and into the hard packed dirt of the
breaking corral. There was a loud yelp from Casey and then a dark instant of
silence before two hands jumped forward to capture the prancing stallion. Ben
stood beside Katie and watched, holding his breath, frozen.
Kate dropped
Ben’s hand. “He’s not moving.” She grabbed up her skirts so she wouldn’t trip
and rushed across the corral towards Joe. Just like when they were in the
schoolyard, Joe was the epicenter of some turmoil and Katie was dashing to his
side.
Even from the other side of the corral, Ben could see that his son was badly
hurt. The wranglers were running up and down shouting and making sure the horses
were herded to other side of the corral until Joe was moved to safety. He raced
across the corral to his youngest son and was quickly joined by young Casey
Newkirk who had just ridden up after helping to return the lathered mustang to
the north corral.
Joe had fallen hard. But he had
not gone down any harder than he had fallen countless times before doing the
same job. This time, Joe was down and clearly hurt. Ben rushed over to the still
form of his son. Kate’s shorter legs were a few paces behind.
“Is he ok Mr. Cartwright? Casey
leaped down from his horse.
Chapter 5
As soon as he
hit the dirt in the corral Joseph Cartwright knew something was very wrong. He
heard a snap and felt a lightning bolt hit his right shoulder. His right arm was
on fire. He slowly attempted to get up from where he lay in the dust and managed
to sit halfway up before the searing pain in his arm forced him to gasp and
sagged down in a heap.
He sucked in his
breath. Joe threw his head back and squeezed his eyes closed. Grinding his teeth
together he was sure he had done something really bad this time to himself.
Really bad. Something told Joe that this was going to be the last ride he would
be taking for a long time and he slumped back into the yellow dust with a moan.
As he got closer, Ben shuddered at
the sight of his youngest son sprawled in the center of the corral, his right
arm twisted at an unnatural angle. The wranglers who had been clustered around
Joe’s prone form had scattered at the big boss’ approach, turning their heads
away at the naked fear displayed on the older man’s face.
“Send someone
fetch the doctor.” Ben had snapped out, while his hands had reached to his son.
“Joe, say something to me” Kate needed to be sure Joe hadn’t knocked himself
silly.
”I’m ok.” Joe lied to his sister-in-law. “ Just give me a minute and I’ll get
up.” His face was paper white.
” Just lay still.”
Joe tried to sit
up as Ben bent down on his knees beside him. He gently pushed him back down on
the dirt. He gently smoothed his hands on his son’s head. He had seen the rogue
mustang toss his son like a rag baby doll. He also saw that Joe could not have
held on the reigns as well as he should have with his damaged right hand. It was
too late. There was no going back or stopping him.
Ben knew that
Joseph wasn’t about to stop breaking horses, and Ben could never ask him to
quit. Even if he had, Joe would never listen to his father or anyone else. Ben
would just have wasted his breath.
Short of tying
him up, as Hays Newkirk hinted or sending him to live off the Ponderosa in town
as Adam had suggested or praying as Reverend Felcher had advised, stubborn
Joseph Francis Cartwright would never give up what he loved. No one had ever
been able to keep him from what Joe was bound and determined to do.
Looking at her
brother-in-law Kate heaved a sigh. Joe hadn’t been lucky this time. Even the
luckiest cat only has nine lives. Katie heard Ben’s deep voice directing the
hands to find something to use as a stretcher.
Joe growled that
he could walk if someone helped him and two hands moved forward. He grimaced
with pain as the men helped him into the back of the wagon. He held his right
arm at an angle across his chest, cradled in his left hand. Everyone held their
breath during that ride back to the house. Ben held the team at sedate pace,
with young Casey holding onto Joe cushioning him from the jolts. Kate sat on the
seat next to her father in law looking over her shoulder talking to Joe.
“Joe talk to
me.” Kate urged. “Do you know where you are? What day is it?”
”Kate quit it. I’m fine, I don’t think I’m in Paris and I’m Napoleon or a can
can girl.” He groaned as the wagon hit a rut. “Guess you and Adam will be going
up to Elm Grove without me this trip, Pa.”
Kate was
relieved that Joe was conscious and alert. She remembered what Ben had told her
about Doctor Martin’s last warning to Joe.
Chapter 6
Katie shook her head as she
watched Joe and Bonnie at her dinner table that Saturday night. She wondered if
they realized what the true impact of what had happened in the last year would
mean to their relationship. Did they really love each other or were they just
hanging on to each other in their grief for Dean. And Hoss.
She had seen the look on Bonnie’s
face every time someone mentioned Dean, a look of horror and despair. She had
seen the sadness in Joe’s eyes when she didn’t realize he was watching her. Joe
and Adam had been part of the posse when Deputy Dean Newkirk was shot by the
Carson City Gang. They had carried his body home across his saddle. Kate had
seen them when they arrived at the Ponderosa Ranch and was secretly embarrassed
that she was thankful that it had not been her husband Adam or her
brother-in-law Joe who came home dead.
Dean had been born in the
foreman’s house on the Ponderosa Ranch a few years after Joe was born in the
main house. He and Joe grew up side by side with Dean trailing Joe’s every step,
mimicking his manner just as Little Joe had followed his own older brothers.
Katie knew both Joseph and Bonnie
were trying hard to recapture the feelings they had before she had married Dean.
And Kate knew that, deep down; both knew things would never be the same between
them. Kate suspected that years earlier, Joe had only been interested in
flirting with the pretty blonde and had never really been truly in love with
her. He was just competing with Dean Newkirk for her attention. In those days,
Little Joe was still playing at being a rogue. Joe loved having any pretty girl
on his arm at that point in his life. Dean, on the other hand was really in love
with Bonnie and she with Dean. Joe had been the best man at their wedding.
Hoss’s death had changed Joe and
he suddenly was no longer interested in being the heart-breaking flirt of
Virginia City. He wanted to settle down and stop dating every pretty girl that
crossed his path. Bonnie and her two fatherless babies would provide him with an
easy, ready-made family, just like Adam had found with Kate and Sam. But Katie
knew the match between Bonnie and her brother in law was not a good fit. They
were never in love the first time and they were certainly not in love now.
Kate had watched them
carefully that night at dinner. Later that night, in bed Katie tried to talk to
Adam about it. As soon as she knew that Adam was beside her, Kate snuggled into
her husband’s back and laid her arm across Adam’s broad shoulder. “I don’t think
they should get married.”
”Katie, mind your own business. If
Joe is happy and Bonnie is happy what more can they ask for? Not everyone has
what we have.” He turned over to her and kissed her.
”Adam that’s not what I mean.” She
was at a loss for the words to describe what she was trying to sort out.
“What do you mean, Mrs.
Cartwright? Or is it one of those things that only expectant mothers
understand.” Adam rubbed her round belly through her nightgown.
She was disheartened that he did not understand what she was trying to explain.
”Adam, I don’t think this is a
love match or a romance.”
”So what Kate. Not everyone marries for the kind of love we have. Maybe Joe just
is ready to settle down and Bonnie needs a father for the kids and it work out
fine for both of them.”
“This isn’t a ledger sheet, Adam
Cartwright. This balances out that and you get married. Stop being practical and
analytical and just be romantic for once.”
”For once?” Adam slid over to her side of the bed. He wrapped his arms around
her and pulled her close to him. She smiled and hugged him back.
“Only once” He laughed and kissed her slowly.
Chapter 7
The yellow moon punched a hole in
the inky sky as Joe Cartwright and Bonnie sat in front of the Newkirk house on
Sunday night, their fingers were intertwined. Joe’s other arm was in a sling. He
had painfully reinjured his right arm from falling from the horse he was
breaking. Bonnie sat in a chair to Joe’s left, and she stared up at him with
soulful aqua eyes. She deliberately kept her eyes on his face, and tried not to
see Joe’s newest injury. Her newborn daughter was sleeping inside the house in
her cradle and her blonde two-year-old son, was playing on the porch floor with
the wooden horse that Joe had given him. It was well past his bedtime but Bonnie
didn’t really want to be alone with Joe Cartwright.
“We are leaving on Tuesday, Joe.
Hays will take us to the Virginia City to meet the stage in the morning. Billy
Felcher is going part way with us and will give me a hand with the children. I
hope you understand Joe. I just can’t live here anymore. Everything reminds me
of Dean and I miss him too much. I can’t live where it is so dangerous. I can’t
raise my children here.”
“It’s not dangerous…” Joe started
knowing he was making a totally ridiculous argument. In the last year both her
husband and his brother had been shot dead by bank robbers. The same gang also
seriously injured Joe and now a wild horse hurt him again. It was dangerous
living on a ranch. It always would be. That is part of what he loved, the risk,
the adventure.
Joe brought Bonnie’s hand to his
lips and kissed it softly. “I’m going to miss you, Bonnie,” he said.
“I’ll miss you,” replied Bonnie
almost tearfully. “You’ll come and visit won’t you, Joe?”
“Sure Ohio isn’t too far,” Joe
lied. He pulled her closer and kissed her cheek. He knew he would never see her
or the children again. She would probably marry the man she was corresponding
with, the minister in Ohio. That is what she wanted.
He looked down for a minute, then
back to Bonnie. “I never did say how sorry I am for what happened to Dean.”
Bonnie nodded. “He was a good man.”
Joe nodded. His eyes welled up with tears. He was glad it was dark and she
couldn’t see his face. “None better. “ Joe whispered, his voice catching in his
throat. He meant it for both Dean and Hoss.
“None better.” Bonnie repeated.
“You know we are always there for
you if you need us.”
She nodded. “I know. I’ll miss all of you.”
Chapter 8
Monday
The night before, Ben had hoped to
find out what was really troubling Joseph. He’d tried to get his son to talk
after supper on Sunday evening, but Joe had merely asked for help with the
elaborate splint and bandages on his hand and his shoulder. Then Joseph had slid
into bed, falling asleep almost immediately. Ben’s instincts were telling him
now, though, that his son had something important to say to him.
Ben was alone in front of the fire
with his youngest son. Hop Sing was in the kitchen clearing up from dinner.
“How are you doing, son?” Ben
looked up from the payroll book that he had on his lap.
“Fine. I’m fine. Just tired out
from all the good times I have been having lately. “ Joe said sarcastically.
Ben started to rise out of his
chair in worried anger, but suddenly realized the tone of his son’s voice didn’t
ring true. He’d heard these same words from Joe before, but this time instead of
sounding half-defiant, he seemed lost, and sorrowful. Ben settled back in his
chair and gazed across the room to where Joe was seated on the hearth, right arm
held in a loose sling, staring at the floor.
“Didn’t you see Doc Martin
yesterday when he came out. What did he say?”
Joseph tugged at the sling where it was resting on his left shoulder.
“Pa, I’m a rancher. I can’t do
much with only one good hand.” He spit out.
”Sure you can… you can have the men do what you can’t do.”Ben started.
” Can I? You tell me. I’m not Adam. Could you just sit behind a desk and tell
other men what to do?”He challenged his father. Joe’s hazel eyes flashed green
in anger.
Ben looked at his son. Joe’s rage was almost palpable. “No, I guess I couldn’t.”
Ben thought of the times he was immobilized with different injuries and the
frustration of just giving orders and not being able to ride or do the things he
wanted to do. For Joe it must be worse as he was always a physical being.
“Is that all?” Ben knew it wasn’t
but he needed to here it directly from Joe himself. , Ben walked across the room
to sit on the low table in front of him. “What’s this all about, son?” he asked
softly.
Joe dropped his head in his good
hand and rubbed his forehead. “Aside of a splitting headache from trying to
figure this out?”
“What else is bothering you, son?
“
“ Bonnie Newkirk is going back to
her family in Ohio. She said she couldn’t bear being here any more. She didn’t
want to tell me when I was laid up last winter but she couldn’t hide it from me
any more.”
Ben had suspected as much. Hays
had told him that Bonnie was going back to her parents to visit but they all
suspected she would not return.
Joe stood up and faced the fireplace. With his left hand he picked up the heavy
black iron poker and jabbed it at the largest log in the pile. The smoldering
wood fell forward sending a spray of orange sparks up the chimney.
“She said that seeing me reminds
her too much of loosing Dean. She never wants to live on a ranch again. Bonnie
wants to go live in a town where the kids will be safe and not have to deal with
what we deal with. Me getting hurt again. The way we live here. She said it is
too dangerous for her to worry about loosing anyone again.” He poked at the fire
again. Joe couldn’t sit still.
Ben knew that Joe had gotten
attached to Bonnie’s babies and the loss of all of them would be difficult for
his son. “I’m sorry.”
”Pa, she said that she couldn’t bear seeing me get hurt one more time. She said
that she has been writing to a fellow back where her parents are.’ Joe frowned
and put the poker back on the rack near the andirons. His back was to his father
and Ben could see by his son’s posture that he was still aching from his latest
mishap. Another loss that Joe had to face.
He turned to face his father, and
grinned. Only Joe could find humor in heartbreak. ”Pa, the guy is a minister. He
went to the same seminary as Reverend Felcher. Guess that is safer than a deputy
like Dean or a rancher like me.” Joe chuckled as he rubbed at the plaster cast
on his hand. He looked down at his fingers checking that they were pink and not
white. “Guess the worst he has to face is falling off the pulpit or someone
complaining about a boring sermon.”
“Joe, you have to let her go.”
”I know Pa; I guess it wasn’t meant to be. The first time I was seeing her, I
wasn’t ready to settle down and Dean Newkirk was.” Hays always bragged how his
boy always had two feet on the ground. That is why he was such a good deputy for
Virginia City. That responsibility had sent him out leading a posse against the
Carson City gang and got him shot by the outlaws.
”Joe, maybe you weren’t suited for each other this time either. You both missed
Dean. And you miss Hoss. We all miss Hoss.”
Joe looked at his father and shook his head but realized that his father was
probably right. Kate had said the same thing to him. Maybe he was just lonely
and missing his brother and his oldest childhood friend. Kate said he was
looking for an easy solution but he would regret it.
Years earlier, Joe had looked at
winning Bonnie’s heart as a competion with Dean Newkirk and when the stakes had
been raised to walking down the aisle, Joe had retreated and let his blond
friend win the prize. Maybe it was all a game for him that time. A race to see
which cowboy could win the sweet young lady’s heart. It was just a boy’s
competition that ended with Dean getting married. Now that both he and Bonnie
were grieving Dean’s murder by the Carson City Gang, it just seemed natural for
him to encourage her to remain on the Ponderosa and that they should be a
couple. They could get married. It could have been very simple for both of them
but not the right marriage partner for either of them.
“Probably the same reason we
didn’t want to get married her years ago are the same reasons we shouldn’t now.
It just seemed so easy.”
”Joe you were just in love with the idea of a wife and a ready made family.”
His son nodded. He grimaced and
rubbed his aching right shoulder. “That is the least of it Pa.”
“What else, son?”
“Doc Martin says my shoulder isn’t
ever going to get any better. There are still splinters of bone in there from
the beating I took from Striker’s boys, and every time I move my arm the
splinters slice into the muscles and ligaments. The tendons too he said. This
little fall off the horse was too much for me, he said. That is why my right
hand is numb all the time and there’s still so much bruising, from the bleeding,
and why it hurts so much. The bones never properly set the first time. But if I
don’t move my arm, my shoulder will freeze up and I won’t be able to use it at
all.”
Ben’s stomach twisted in knots
over what that would mean for his son, but he waited patiently for Joe to go on,
to finish all of the details. He rested his chin on his fist.
“There’s a doctor, a surgeon…” Joe
started. He rubbed his wrist and readjusted the sling. Ben could see that the
forced immobility was making his son crazy with frustration. And Joe was
fidgeting from the lack of freedom. Ben knew the next thing his son would do
would be tapping his boot or walking around the room.
“Paul thinks he can help?” his
father prompted.
Joe nodded. “It means an operation
in Boston.”
“In Boston?”
“Boston, that’s where the surgeon
is. “ Joe said.
Joe, that’s ridiculous. You’re in
no shape to go anywhere. No less all the way to Boston.”
“Yeah. Paul said that he is just a
country doctor and he can’t stitch me up and glue me together any more. He said
he spent half his time out here on the Ponderosa taking care of the Cartwrights.
And probably a good bit of time tending people the Cartwrights damaged.”
”That sounds like something Paul would say.” Ben nodded trying to picture his
old friend sitting and laying out the options to Joseph.
“He said I need to do something or
accept walking around not being able to use one arm half the time. And I can’t
do that Pa. I can’t accept not being able to use one arm and my hand not working
and being in pain most of the time. I would rather be dead.”
Ben sighed. Just as Joseph said,
had his brother been injured, Adam would probably accommodated his life to the
limitation, but Joe wouldn’t. Joseph couldn’t. Even Hoss would have an easier
time.
“Then you’ll have to go,” Ben
sighed.” When?”
“Paul says that the longer I wait,
the less likely it’ll be successful.”
“So you should go as soon as we
can arrange it. But you can’t go by yourself,” Ben mused. “You’re not well
enough yet.”
“Doc sent my case to this Dr.
Meyer in Boston. He wrote back saying I’ll have to stay there a minimum of six
months, depending on my recovery. Doc Martin said he thinks Doctor Meyer won’t
let me leave until he’s sure the surgery worked and my shoulder is back to
normal. Or as good as it is going to be. That’s what he thinks “
“Six months?”
He rose suddenly and turned to
face the fire. “I think Doctor Martin feels if I come back here, I’ll wind up …”
”Falling off another horse? Or getting into a brawl at the Silver Dollar.”
Joe nodded.”Pa I don’t want to go. I want to stay here.” Joe said in a soft,
forlorn voice. He sounded like a small child not a man who was close to thirty
years old. He sounded like he did when Joe did not want to go to school or get a
hair cut as a boy.
“What choice do you have son?”
Joe loved his life as a rancher,
unlike his brother. Adam went east to college working for Stoddard and Bruce as
an engineer. It was only because he fell in love with Kate Wallace, Joe’s
childhood friend and the editor of the Enterprise that Adam came back
home.
“I guess I can go if I have to,
Pa, but not like this, not so fast, not just leaving everything half-done. I was
laid up since last fall and now we have lots of back work to do and the ranch is
coming into the busiest time of the year.” Joe raged. He started pacing in front
of the hearth. On other occasions, Ben would have ordered his son to sit down
and be still, that the pacing was driving him to distraction but he knew that
his son was ready to explode.
“Joseph that is ridiculous. If you
need to take care of this soon. If that is what Doc Martin said. The sooner the
better. if that is what the doctor says. “
Joe shook his head
slowly and misery shone from his green eyes. “I have to go anyway. I can’t live
with one bum arm if there is a chance for it to get fixed. I take those odds.”
“I suppose Hays and
Adam could keep an eye on things here for a while so I can go with you.”
“But it is getting to
be the busy season, Pa. Who is going to supervise spring round up?”
“I suppose. I just
hate this whole thing. I’m sick of being laid up, Pa. And I hate cities. I feel
too closed in.”
“Joe, by September, if
this works out and you let it heal up properly, you will take care of the fall
round up if you want.” Ben tried to cajole his son.
“I missed last fall,
I’ll miss the spring and the summer. Do you think I’ll be well for this fall? A
whole year gone. If I can’t do the work by fall, I don’t know what I will do
then.”
Ben didn’t even want
to think about that. What would all of them do if Joe didn’t recover? The idea
was too upsetting to think about.
“I’ll bet you didn’t
sleep much last night, did you?” He remembered Joe turning in early but also
recalled waking up during the night to hear someone, Joe, walking around the
dark house.
“No,” Joe answered mournfully “ I
kept waking up, trying to decide what to do. I wound up coming down here for a
while.”
“Then it’s no wonder you can’t
think straight. Go on upstairs, get some rest. We have time – nothing has to be
settled tonight.”
“Pa, maybe we already did. What
choice do I have? The sooner I get going the sooner I will be back.”
”Sounds like you made up your mind.”
Joe nodded.” You think you can go out with me to start?” He walked over to where
his father was sitting.
Ben smiled “I haven’t been in Boston for many years, son. But if that is what we
need to do and where we need to go that is what we will do.” He pulled Joe close
to him and gave him as warm a hug as he could with out hurting him.
Ben had not ever wanted to return
to Boston, but if Joseph needed to go, he would have to deal with all the
memories being in the city would unearth.
Chapter 9
“Sam go downstairs, we
need to discuss this privately.” Sam got up and walked over to the door of his
uncle’s bed room.
”Feel better Uncle Joe. I’ll come back soon and finish the checker game. And you
can tell me more stories. And we can check the baby name list again.”
Before Joe could
answer, Adam closed the door behind his son, and whirled around to face his
brother. Joe was lying in bed, once again. He was recovering from falling of the
black mustang he was breaking.
“Joe, you damned fool!
You were just getting better.” Adam snapped looking at his brother’s new set of
injuries. He felt sick to his stomach thinking how close he had come to loosing
Joe once again. His fear turned to anger at the thought of what would now face
his brother.
Joe regarded his
brother through half closed eyes. “Hey what are you calling me names for?” The
loud shouting was making his head pound more than it already was.
Kate moved over to the
bed and adjusted the pillow behind him. “Calm down Adam. You are shouting so
loud they can hear you in Virginia City.” As she had as a girl, she would spring
to Little Joe’s defense.
“I would have thought
the word ‘fool’ fitted you very well at the moment. How about crazy fool? Like
that better, Joe!” Adam did not lower the volume of his voice one decibel.” How
did you think that you were going to get away with what you had done? Breaking a
horse? Hardly the actions of someone sane, are they?”
“Aw, Adam, leave him
be,” said Kate, putting her arm round Joe’s shoulders as she sat heavily on the
edge of his bed.
“And you, “ Adam
looked at his father. ”How could you let him do this to himself? You stood right
there and watched him. “
Ben glared at Adam “That’s not what we are talking about now. Right now we need
to work out the arrangements for Joe’s surgery and who is going to take care of
him in Boston and who is going to deal with things on the Ponderosa. Adam, if
you want to talk about anything else, you and I can do that alone. Later.
Downstairs not here.”
Kate caught Adam’s eye and shook her head. She knew how awful Ben felt about
Joe’s situation and Adam was just making things worse for his father. Even Ben
couldn’t stop Joe when he put his mind to something.
Chapter 10
What had started out
with such blazing hot passion and heat ended in the cold dark night.
She was blonde and
beautiful. He was dark and handsome. He was caught by her vibrant
light like a moth
circling a flaming candle. He almost died from this fire as it singed his wings.
Initially things had
started between them hot and fast. A flirtatious looks and a few stolen kisses
had grown into more.
But just as fast as
they had begun their life together as husband and wife things fell apart. He
thought they had started out so well. He had high hopes for their future. They
would make a happy family and live on a spread they bought together in
California with the money she had from selling her dead husband’s run down place
near Virginia City and the money he had put aside from working for his uncle. He
could finally have a life like all the other “regular” people in the world, a
family, a home, and a wife. He would have a decent job that he wouldn’t have
keep secret or lie about. He proudly could tell folks what he did for a living
.It was honest and legitimate for once. He wouldn’t be concerned if the sheriff
rode past or the minister came for supper. Will would be living totally with in
the law, just like his uncle wanted him to do.
Her daughter grew to
be the light in his life and Will dreamed that he and his bride would have more
children. They never seemed able to have children of their own and many nights
his beautiful wife turned a cold shoulder to his affections. She began claiming
ill health or that her aunt sleeping in the next room could hear their love
making or that her daughter was ill and she needed to sleep with the child
between them.
He tried very hard to
be responsible and honorable. It was the first time in his life that he had not
run away from his problems and it still didn’t work out. Will worked day and
night to make their ranch a success but the region experienced the worst drought
in years for three years running. They lost all their crops, their cattle and
most of his hopes for the future.
Before this point he
had spent most of his life on his own, never tied to one place or person since
his father died. When he was a boy, Will had assumed that the rest of his family
had abandoned him and spent the first part of his life going from one not quite
legal enterprise to another. Before he met his wife he had made his way west. He
was hired as so-called bodyguard for a man with a lot of money. What he later
discovered was that the man was a counterfeiter. At that point will found
himself on the run from both the criminals and the law.
Will was shot up so
badly by the gang that he would have died had his uncle not shown up and saved
him. Ben brought him to his ranch and took care of him, like he was his own son.
The criminals even tried to harm his family and they came to his defense, just
as they would have for each other. Will was amazed. No one had ever cared if he
lived or died before. His Uncle and his cousins risked their own lives to defend
him. For the first time since he was a boy, he was living with his family.
Initially, only his uncle trusted him but eventually the rest of the family
welcomed him. He started getting close to his cousins. They were good men and
included him in with their lives as if they knew him his whole life. Will
enjoyed getting to know all three of them as they worked side by side on the
ranch.
And what did Will wind
up doing as thanks for their hospitality and support?
He stole his cousin’s
fiancée, widow Laura Dayton. Leave it to him to destroy any security he found.
What Will didn’t know, and what he didn’t learn until years later, was that his
beautiful blond wife and her aunt had set him up in this marriage. The two women
manipulated and deceived him thinking that his rich uncle would be giving Will
money.
Nothing could have
been further from the truth.
Even if his uncle had
offered him money, he probably would turn it down, embarrassed by what he had
done to Adam. Will was terribly ashamed of himself for betraying the family’s
trust. Besides, Will had always been independent and his own man. He always
thought he should make it on his own from the sweat of his own labors.
After their little
spread failed, Will went down to southern California seeking work while his wife
remained behind with her aunt and the little girl. She said he should send for
her and maybe she would join him. Maybe.
At that point Will
thought to go back to his family for help but his pride got in his way and he
got a job working for a rancher whose son had disappeared. The old man was from
one of the original Spanish land grant families and told him how much he looked
like the missing son. At first he was flattered but it spooked Will after a
while when the boss insisted on calling him by the son’s name, Diego. The local
law kept poking around and that made him even more uncomfortable. The fact that
he looked like this Diego and the old man kept calling him Diego just made the
lawmen more suspicious. One day, Will got fed up wit the strangeness of the
whole thing. He asked for his wages and rode out.
Will desperately
missed his blonde wife and the heat they once shared. He hoped they could still
make a go of it and went back home. The little girl welcomed him but the wife
and the aunt just gave him a hard time. They whined and nagged and complained
constantly. They wouldn’t work and always complained that he hadn’t earned
enough money.
Will was finally
forced to sell the land to the agent representing someone from back east, Bob
Harrison, at a loss. Will sold the tools and the wagon to neighbors and then he
sold the livestock, the horses and equipment for whatever small amount he could
and moved his family to Massachusetts. His wife had told him that she wanted to
leave the west and maybe they would have a better chance together if they were
in a more established place. It would be good for her daughter and she would be
happier. If Laura were happy, maybe he would be too.
There was a lot of
building going on and Will Cartwright was a pretty fair carpenter. He got some
construction work and tried to make a go of it with his wife. He tried the best
he could but Laura was never satisfied or cheerful.
One night, he took his
wife to a party and Will got into a violent fight with a fancy man who he caught
dancing a bit too close with his wife. Laura said that nothing had gone on
between them but Will was sure that Laura had been flirting with the other
fellow. Her Aunt told him his was just a jealous fool and the little girl cried
and pulled on his sleeve and begged him not to leave her. She said her mother
was cruel to her and only Will truly cared for her. It broke his heart. Peggy
cried that first her Daddy died, and then her mother took her away from Adam
Cartwright and now he was too leaving her.
Of course Laura denied
everything and contrived to make him think he was mistaken. “You made a mistake,
Will.” She told him. He wanted so desperately for things to work out that he
believed her. Love is blind and in his case, love was deaf and dumb too.
A few weeks later,
when he was working on the roof of a house he was sure he saw his wife, Laura,
riding in a carriage with the same man from the dance but she claimed he was
seeing things. She told him she had been with her aunt and there was no way that
she was any where near the construction sight. Will and Laura fought endlessly
and she told him that he should leave. Reluctantly he did.
Will finally
understood the reason that Frank Dayton, Laura’s late husband drank. And how his
cousin Adam fell off the roof that time. Except it was Will that Laura was
cheating with. Now Will was the victim of Laura’s selfish deception.
This time, Will went
back out west. He got a job for the federal government as a Scout in Fort Mead.
He was there only a week when General Chadwick sent Will looking for lost
family, the Robinsons. The cavalry detachment under the command of young Major
Don West was sent out to their rescue but the Paiutes attacked the detachment
before they got the
settlers back to Fort Mead. By the end of the battle, most of the men in the
group had been wounded or died in the battle leaving only an odd effete man,
Doctor Smith and the small red haired Robinson boy alive and unhurt. Will
Cartwright sustained a serious gunshot wound. He would have died had it not been
for the efforts of Doctor Smith. The little red haired boy clung on to Will in a
way that made him long for his little stepdaughter, Peggy.
By the time Will
recovered from his wound he had spend a lot of time thinking about his life. The
Robinson boy and Dr. Smith told him they were heading towards Virginia City,
Nevada and Will was seriously tempted to join them. Instead he wrote to his
Uncle and asked Doctor Smith to make sure his uncle, Mr. Benjamin Cartwright of
the Ponderosa, got the letter.
Will decided he would
try one more last time to reconcile with his wife. Maybe Laura would be willing
to take him back again and things would be better. Maybe this time it could work
out.
Eventually he made his
way back to Boston. Will arrived at her rented house, thin and drawn and barely
recovered from his wounds only to be told by the aunt that Peggy had taken sick
a month earlier and the child had died. She died in a few days and was buried in
a nearby cemetery. She was barely sixteen.
Will was heart broken.
His little girl was dead. Peggy had been only person in the world who loved him
with no strings attached She was the only one in the world who Will Cartwright
had ever allowed himself to love in return.
When Laura returned
home late that night she found Will weeping in her parlor. He was devastated
that Peggy was dead and guilt ridden that she had died while he was gone. All he
could think of was his Peggy begging him to stay. He had ignored her pleas and
now she was dead.
For the first time in
years, Laura acted affectionately to her husband. She said that she would allow
Will to stay with her for a few days until they decided what the two of them
should do about their marriage. At some point she welcomed him back into her bed
and a month later he was still there.
She had already
decided what to do about him but Will Cartwright could never, in his worst
nightmares have imagined how evil Laura Dayton really was.
Fool that he was, he
was caught in the black widow’s web.