Home
Part 3 of 14
Chapter 1
Nevada Territory
1846
It was a face Adam Cartwright
would never forget, the face of the first man he killed.
The man was remarkably ordinary
in appearance. He would never have been noticeable or remembered under any
other circumstances but Adam would never quite get the image out of his mind
for as long as he lived. He would always recall the man’s dirty, straight,
sandy hair, and the dusty blue plaid wool jacket he wore. He would remember
the wideness of his shoulders and the way his left foot turned out a bit more
than his right. Adam would remember the slight chill that day, how clear the
sky was and the scent of freshly cut lumber and rose scented perfume in the
air.
Adam would also remember how the
man fell dead in a slow, sagging sort of crumble. He gasped his last with his
sightless whisky brown eyes wide open after Adam shot him in the chest. Adam
could almost hear Little Joe’s piercing weeping whenever he thought of the
event, even many years later.
Long after the incident, his
father reassured him that he had done the right thing, that he had no other
choice and had it not for Adam’s quick thinking and sure shooting they all
could have been killed. It still was not enough to erase the image of the man
laying dead on the ground and the women screaming with fear, Little Joe
wailing desperately and his Pa laying bleeding and unconscious in the dirt
with Hoss leaning over him and calling for him.
Chapter 2
She ground her teeth together
and blinked the bright tears from her eyes as Ben Cartwright carefully cleaned
the edges of the knife wound. Ben packed the gash with a greasy white ointment
that he had in his gear and bound it up with clean cloths that one of the
other young ladies had offered him. Miss Barbara held tight to Miss Sheila’s
hand as the rancher tended to her injury.
“This should hold you at least
until you get to town and the Doc can tend to you. He may want to stitch that
up.”
“I don’t know what I would have
done if you and your boys hadn’t come along, Mr. Cartwright. And you too Mr.
Newkirk” Miss Barbara said. “That man was going to hold us up.”
“I sure hope he doesn’t come
back again,” said Miss Ellen nervously looking about. She had the fullest
figure and was wearing a low cut, black fitted dress that showed it all off.
“Thank you!” Miss Sheila smiled
tossing her dark curls. “I don’t know how we all are going to repay you
gents.” She also was tall and very attractive. She had a heart shape face and
long dark eyelashes.
Ben was silent and busied
himself gathering up the odds and ends of bandages and gear. He put each item
into a square canvass bag and hooked all the buckles closed.
Hays blushed and said “No need.
I’m a married man and…”
Ben nudged his foreman into silence.
“Well, lets just see about
getting that wagon fixed and getting you on your way to Virginia City.” Ben
directed, still taking a long time to gather up things. Marie had been dead
only a few months. Despite his loneliness, Ben was too broken hearted and too
worn down taking care of his ranch and tending to his boys to have sought out
the comfort of any other women. There was few nights that he hadn’t spent
waking to Little Joe’s nightmares and crying for his mother or wound up with
one of the boys in his bed. Even though he wouldn’t admit it, Adam too was
feeling the loss of his stepmother as he tried to pitch in and take care of
his younger brothers and do a man sized amount of work on the Ponderosa.
“Where is your husband, M’am?”
Adam asked smiling politely at Miss Barbara. Hays and Ben exchanged looks.
As grown as Adam was, he had not
spent much of the last few years near cities or big towns and had no real idea
why this wagonload women were traveling on their own to Virginia City. The
tall, dark haired boy wasn’t at all sure why three pretty young women were
riding along defenseless. They were totally at the mercy of dangerous roads or
bandits without a husband or father or brothers to protect them.
“Son, don’t go asking, the
ladies so many personal questions. Put this gear away and go check on the
ropes.” Ben interrupted shoving the canvas bag at his oldest son. “We’ll need
to winch that wagon up to get the wheel fixed. Good thing we have the block
and tackle and ropes in the wagon.”
”And take a look at where your
brothers are poking their little noses.” Hays added. He was thankful his wife
and children were back home and he would not be obligated to answer any
awkward unwieldy questions from them regarding the ladies or the contents of
their wagon. Or even tell Rebecca what he was thinking as she would never know
this even happened. He certainly was glad he had a wife to come home to
tonight.
Ben offered his hand to Miss
Barbara and said gallantly “M’am, maybe you and your ladies should go over
under that tree and stay out of the sun while we tend to getting that wheel
back on.”
She smiled at him thinking what
a fine brave gentleman this Ben Cartwright was. He was a nice looking man too
and clearly devoted to those sweet boys. It was lucky that he had come along
when he did.
Hays and the Cartwrights had
been headed back to the Ponderosa from the Fischer Mine Number three with the
two empty lumber wagons. Ben driving one, Hays the other. Adam was riding
along side on his horse. The sixteen-year-old boy was tired from the hard work
of cutting and loading the timber. He was still seething from a disagreement
he had with his father earlier in the trip and not really paying attention to
anything around him. He wished he had one of the books he had put into his
bag. He could tie his horse behind the wagon that Hay’s was driving and read a
bit while the horse followed along. Some how Adam’s bag had been tossed on the
wagon seat next to Little Joe and his Pa. There was no way he would ask his
father to hand it to him or get him to stop. He didn’t want to initiate any
contact with Pa no less a discussion.
The last months since his
stepmother, Marie had died suddenly had been miserable and draining for all of
them. His four year old brother cried out with nightmares in the middle of the
night and often Adam would bring him into his bed so that Pa could sleep. Hoss
was grieving too and the nights that Little Joe didn’t awaken him Hoss did.
Sometimes Adam would get fed up with the never ending work and little brothers
crying and would hide his head under the covers until he heard his father
finally get up and tend to Little Joe.
Two week ago, he came upon his
father carry a trunk of Marie’s things into the attic over the tack room. Ben
was crying and it scared Adam dreadfully to see his father so upset. Ben was
embarrassed at being seen in tears and barked at his oldest son to go finish
his chores.
When the Cartwrights went to
church the next Sunday, Adam tried his best to get his brothers dressed and
out on time. He was hoping to get a break from working and a change of scene
from the ranch. He knew Pa liked to go to church and the only way he would
quit working so hard was because it was Sunday.
Adam longed to see some people
his own age or talk to anyone about any topic besides ranch chores, cattle and
why Mama was in heaven. Foster and Mim Wallace had promised to lend him some
new books months ago, just before Marie had died and he never had the time to
go by and get them since.
Instead of a day of rest and
socializing, it wound up being just more of the same misery for young Adam.
Little Joe wouldn’t get dressed
and tried to go to church in his nightshirt, barefoot and his torn dirty
trousers. Pa yelled and Joe cried and Hoss pulled his brother upstairs and got
him dressed. The only way he got his little brother to put on a decent shirt
and good pants, was because Hoss gave Little Joe his own old boots that were
far to big. Hoss spilled breakfast on his last clean shirt and Adam realized
his own good Sunday trousers were a couple of inches too short. Marie would
never have let her sons look so shabby and sloppy.
In church, Joe climbed over the
back of the pew trying to play with a little girl, Amy Duprey and fell into
the laps of the people behind them. His oversized boots clattered to the floor
revealing that he was wearing only one striped sock, one with a big hole in
it.
“Can’t you get your boys to
behave in church, Cartwright?” Mr. Duprey growled and shoved Joe back into
Ben’s arms. “Your urchin almost fell on my new baby and killed her.”
In the middle of the sermon,
Little Joe decided he needed to use the outhouse and announced it loudly to
the minister. Most of the congregation laughed loudly. Ben lost his patience
and hollered at Joseph and Hoss hustled him out of the church right down the
center aisle. Adam was mortified and wished he were anywhere but where he was.
He forgot all about visiting with the Wallaces and ran out to the wagon as
fast as he could.
By late afternoon, Adam had
gotten so worn out that he dumped his screaming, kicking little brother into
his father’s lap and told him to take care of his own child, that he was
Little Joe’s father and he should take care of his own sons himself. Hoss hid
in the barn tending to the stock trying to avoid the yelling in the house.
Adam galloped off on his horse
for a few hours and went back to Virginia City to the Wallace’s and got the
books. Foster Wallace, the publisher of the Enterprise, was surprised
to see Adam at the door of the little yellow house and invited him to join
them for dinner.
“Mim has pot roast coming to the
table in an hour or so, Adam. Pull up a chair!”
Adam chewed on his lip and thought about a nice quiet meal with no fighting or
crying or spilled food or grouchy fathers. Tempted as he was, he wanted to go
off by himself and read with no one talking to him. “No thanks, maybe another
time.”
Mim came out of the kitchen and wiped her hands on her apron. “Let me give you
a piece of my apple pie and some milk. Visit for a bit and then you can go off
and get some peace and quiet.” Adam looked at her and nodded. It was almost
like she had read his mind. Mim was like that. She could size up a solution
and make a decisive conclusion quicker than any woman Adam knew. Mim’s mind
was quicker than most men that Adam knew too.
Mim was about to give him a hug but thought better of it. Adam Cartwright was not the kind of child who would appreciate her hugging him. He probably would stand stiffly and politely and be terribly embarrassed at her affection. Instead she smiled gently and smoothed his crooked shirt collar. He was as tall as Foster and his sleeves didn’t quite reach to his wrists.
“And Foster, while Adam is here let him help you carry that bed stand down stairs. Just you watch your head up there, Adam. Those ceilings are low.”
”Good idea, Mim. My brother, Hank and his family are coming here to Virginia City and are going to move in with us. The arrive on Tuesday, noon stage.”
”Their daughter, Katie is the
same age as Little Joe.” Mim added. She patted Adam’s arm affectionately.
“ My brother is a mine engineer.
He’ll be working for Stanley Fischer.”
Chapter 3
When he got back to the house it
was dark and silent. The only sound Adam could hear as he put up his horse was
the nickering and stomping of the other animals in the barn and some crickets
chirping near the woodpile. As he went inside, it looked as if everyone was
sleeping.
“Good,” Adam thought to himself. There was no need for him to tell any little brother a bedtime story or sing to him or talk about where he had gone or explain himself to his father. Adam walked into his room and got undressed to go to bed he heard a soft tapping at the door. He opened it and his father was standing there with a ham sandwich on a plate and a cup of coffee.
”We missed you at dinner, son. It was a good ham.”
Adam nodded. “I needed to do some things alone.”
”I’m sorry things have been so
rough around here for you. I missed you, Adam. “He set the food down on his
son’s desk and sat drinking his coffee. “I appreciate the hard work you have
been doing. “
Adam nodded and took a bite out of the sandwich. They sat side by side on the
bed in the gloomy silence, shoulders not touching until Adam finished his
food. Ben took the plate and walked to the door of the room.
“I love you, son.”
Adam wouldn’t or couldn’t answer
and Ben slowly walked out of the room.
Chapter 4
Ben knew he had to go to San
Francisco in the next few weeks and he dreaded the thought of leaving his
boys. There was no choice in the matter, as he had to testify in court.
He had witnessed a vicious
murder during a robbery in a dark alley near the Cattleman’s hotel the last
time he had been in San Francisco. The victim was a close friend of
Territorial governor Flanagan of Nevada Territory as well as politically
connected in Washington DC. There was uproar about the trial and the fact that
the man charged with the crime was a cavalry officer from Fort Mead.
Only Ben and the victim’s wife
could identify the killer. Levi Victor, Ben’s attorney in Virginia City tried
to arrange for Ben to give a deposition in Nevada and avoid the long absence
from the Ponderosa but it was unacceptable to the California judge. “The man
on trial is entitled to face his accusers,” the judge wrote back to Levi.
“This court doesn’t give a whit about some Nevada rancher’s family or cattle
or personal situation. Justice must be served and if Mr. Cartwright doesn’t
appear before this bench, I will have him summarily arrested and brought to
California in chains.”
Ben knew he would have to go and
avoided telling the boys for as long as he could. Mim Wallace suggested that
a change of scene might help the boys. “Why don’t you take the boys with you
to San Francisco?” She remembered Adam’s visit and knew the boy was having a
terrible time but was too closed mouth to tell anyone. Mim had been a close
friend of Marie Cartwright. She had confided many things to her friend over
the years about her stepsons and her husband. Mim missed her dreadfully and
felt responsible to help the Cartwrights as much as she could.
Ben shook his head. “Its too long and too far and too dangerous. What will I
do with them if I have to sit in court all day? Adam would be all right if he
was alone, maybe Hoss too. But I can’t expect them to manage a boy who is
hardly a baby in a hotel in a big city. Little Joe is better of staying home
where things are familiar. Rebecca Newkirk will tend to him with her children
and Hop Sing will manage until I get back.”
“Well, you need to do something
Ben. That oldest boy of yours is fading fast.”
“But Mim, he’s almost grown and..”
”Compared to Little Joe, he’s
almost grown. He is still a child not a grown man. He is barely sixteen years
old and you need to open your eyes up and take care of your business before
you have trouble.”
”Trouble?” Ben wasn’t sure what Mim was saying.
“You don’t want to see him
running off or folderol ling around with the Bonner brothers for lack of your
attention. You got a good smart boy there and he should be given some
attention for that good mind of his. That boy hungers for more learning and he
deserves more chance to get that than you are letting him have, Ben. He needs
to be more than your ranch hand and chase cattle for the rest of his life.
Marie knew that and she would want you to remember it.”
Mim would never tell Ben how her friend had planned to help Adam go off to
college back east. There was no need to betray Marie’s confidences. The only
need was for Mim to nudge Ben Cartwright a bit and make sure that boy got all
he deserved.
Ben decided he would take them
all up to the timber camp to pick up the load of lumber for the Fischer mine.
It would mean a full day of traveling and an overnight stay at the lumber
camp. He could take all the boys fishing and swimming and Adam could take it
easy a bit.
Chapter 5
The air all around them was fresh
and clean with just a hint of the autumn chill beginning.
As good as Ben’s intentions were, nothing worked out the way he had hoped.
There had been some trouble with the timber crew and fighting with the foreman
on the job. Ben had to spend a few hours ironing out the situation instead of
spending time with the boys and wound up sending them to fish on their own.
Little Joe cried and didn’t want to leave his Pa’s side again until Hoss
bribed him with some linty peppermints that he found in his pocket. It was too
cold to swim and they didn’t catch even one fish.
Ben tried to make it up to Adam.
Intending that he would let the boy have some rest, he told him that he
couldn’t drive either wagon. He figured Adam could just ride along in the back
and read or nap. Unfortunately, his son took umbrage in the idea and felt his
father was insulting his ability to manage the high-spirited team and drive a
lumber wagon.
“OK, OK, Pa. whatever you want."
Adam spit out. He threw the block and tackle down and walked out of the shed.
Adam went down the path to where the two empty wagons waited.
And Adam vaulted into the back of
the wagon and settled himself leaning back on the seat, long legs stretched
out in front of him. He stared angrily at his boots. He wished his father
could finally make up his mind. Was he a grown man and supposed to take care
of things or was he a stupid kid not able to manage a heavily loaded wagon and
a team? He could drive a team as well as Hays Newkirk any day, maybe better.
Now Pa wanted him to ride along like his little brothers, like a child.
He had wanted to stay at home but
there was no way Pa would let him. Pa said they all needed to be together on
this trip, the four of them. They would have a good time after they delivered
the lumber and Pa would take them out for a fancy dinner and buy them all new
clothes and boots. He wanted Adam to meet Hank Wallace, who had just come to
town with his family to work for Mr. Fischer in his mine. Mim had invited the
Cartwrights for dessert.
Adam didn’t care who Pa wanted him
to meet or what clothes Pa wanted to buy him, he just wanted to be left alone
for once. He didn’t want to do any work or wipe Little Joe’s nose or watch out
for Hoss or look at his father’s vacant, sad eyes.
He leaned back and pulled his hat
over his eyes.
“Adam, you can’t sit back there if
we are going to load up the lumber.” Hoss reached over the side of the wagon
and poked him in the arm. Adam swung his arm around. He back handed his
brother, catching him hard on the side of the head.
”What did you go do that for?” Hoss looked at him wide eyed rubbing where his
angry older brother had swatted him.
“Never you mind..” Adam stood up
and jumped off the side of the wagon and walked over to the lumber and grabbed
the end of a board and started angrily loading the first wagon. “Take the
other end of this.”
Chapter 6
It was late afternoon by the
time the Cartwrights and Hays Newkirk had delivered the lumber, made their
purchases at the Mercantile and headed back toward the ranch.
Joe sat squeezed as close to his
father as he could without being inside his coat pocket. Hoss rode with Hays
in the second wagon and every once in a while Little Joe looked over his
fathers shoulder and waved at his brother behind him or called to Adam on his
horse.
“Hey Adam. Hey Hoss!” Joe
giggled on the high seat behind him. Every once in a while he put his little
hands on top of Ben’s and pretended he was driving the team. “Giddyap horses!”
Joe hollered, “Go faster!” He was wearing the new boots his father had bought
him even though Adam had told him to save them for church. Joe had insisted
and his father had given in rather than making a scene. Adam told his father
that Little Joe should have listened and Ben didn’t even answer him. Ben was
too tired to argue with a four year old over a pair of boots. Little Joe would
fall asleep and Ben would just take the new boots off his feet but Adam just
wanted to make sure his brothers obeyed the rules. Pa always let Little Joe
get away with everything and Adam was even more annoyed.
Half way between Virginia City
and the Ponderosa turn off, from the back of his horse, Adam could see a wagon
stuck in the middle of the road, one wheel broken off. Three very pretty women
were standing next to the wagon with a man looming over them aggressively.
Suddenly his Pa, pulled up his
team and leaped from the wagon with his rifle pointed at the man.”Hey you what
are you doing?” Ben roared.
The man in the plaid jacket had
a knife in his hand and in a flash of silver lunged at the tall, attractive
women, slashing her arm. Hearing Ben’s shout, the man spun around and ran off
into the woods.
Chapter 7
“Go see what’s taking your Pa so
long with that rope, Adam. I’m ready to go with the wheel and we need to lift
up the rig,” Hays looked up at the boy.
Adam walked back toward the
grove where his Pa had headed. As he got closer he could here some yelling and
the distinctive sound of his baby brother wailing. He pushed through the
branches half anticipating Little Joe had hurt himself or was protesting Pa
going out of his sight when he saw the awful scene. His father lay on the
ground in a heap with blood streaming out of his head. Hoss was kneeling
beside him. Two women were huddled together weeping. Miss Barbara was hanging
on to Little Joe who was red faced and screaming his head off. Two men were
facing them with fierce angry looks on their faces.
”Now you seen what we did to that feller .Now, give me the money you got in
the wagon or we will shoot the kids.” The man waved his gun threateningly.
The second man stood looking at
Joe screaming and pointed his gun at him. “Shut that kid up or I’ll do it.”
Adam felt sick to his stomach.
The man who had been attacking Miss Barbara when they rode up earlier had come
back with another man. His Pa was hurt or dead on the ground and they were
threatening his little brothers.
Adam’s hand slid to his holster
and he quickly drew his gun. “Drop your guns!” he shouted.
The man in the plaid jacket
whirled around and fired wildly at Adam. A bullet smashed into the tree trunk
inches above his head. Bits of pine bark sprayed into the air.
Adam squeezed off a shot and
hit the man full in the chest. The man fell instantly dead in a slow, sagging
sort of crumble to the ground .He gasped his last with his sightless golden
brown eyes wide open in a kind of amazed confused look.
Adam pointed his gun at the
second man. “Drop the gun and move away from the ladies.”
Shocked at what had become of his friend, the man threw his gun quickly to the
ground and raised his hands. “Don’t shoot me Mister!” he begged.
Adam swallowed hard and fought
back the sick feeling in his gut.
His own legs were numb from
what he had just experienced and his hands shook as he pointed the gun at the
second man’s middle.
Near Miss Barbara’s wagon,
Hays had heard the gunshots and came running with his rifle. He burst into the
clearing just as Little Joe squirmed from Miss Barbara’s grasp and ran over to
his father who was still motionless on the ground. “Pa don’t be dead!” he
screamed hysterically throwing himself down on the hard ground next to his
father. The boy tugged on his father’s sleeve.
“Go get that rope and tie that
fella up, Adam while I cover him. And one of you gals check on Ben.” Hays
directed. He was a man of few words and quickly took over. His yellow hair
shined in the shadow of the pine trees.
Joe turned as Adam and Hays came
alongside his father’s unconscious body.
Little Joe put his arms around his
father “Is my Pa dead like my mama?” He looked up at Adam. Tears were
streaming down his filthy little face and his curly hair was all dirty and
knotted.
Ben groaned and opened his eyes.
For an instant he thought he was in his bed and Little Joe was climbing in
beside him with another nightmare. His head throbbed. He struggled to sit up
and looked around realizing what had happened. Ben put his hand to his head
and felt the big lump that was forming where the bandit had slugged him with
the butt of his gun.
By the time Adam had tied up the
second bandit, his father was sitting up. Miss Sheila and Miss Ellen were
wiping the blood off his forehead. Miss Barbara was holding Little Joe on her
lap. Hoss was standing next to her trying to get his little brother to stop
crying.
Adam helped his father get to his
feet. Ben held on to him when he stood up trying to get his head from
spinning.
He bent down to pat Little Joe’s
head as the boy jumped away from Miss Barbara and hung onto his Pa’s leg.
Kissing the top of his head as he lifted the boy into his arms, Ben told the
boy he was just fine. His legs were still quivering and unsteady; Ben swung
his baby up and hugged him close. Ben had his arms around Joe and was looking
at his other two sons still not quite sure what had happened. Little Joe, eyes
squeezed shut, his head against Ben’s chest, was still crying raggedly. The
boy’s dirty hand clutched his father’s bloody collar.
Miss Sheila ran over to Adam and
planted a kiss on his cheek. “You saved us Adam! That man came back with his
friend to get our money. He hit your father and was going to shoot us if Miss
Barbara didn’t tell him where her money was hidden.”
Ben lifted Joe onto the wagon and
climbed on and settled down with Joe leaning against him. Adam struggled on
the seat and sat down. As soon as they were all settled. Adam flicked up the
horses and away they went.
“You ok Pa?” Adam whispered. He
turned around, looked at his father and put his hand on his father’s hand.
Ben squeezed Adam’s hand and
smiled weakly. “Looks like you’ll have to drive my wagon after all son.”
Chapter 8
By the time
they got back to the ranch house, Ben’s head was throbbing and he couldn’t
wait to crawl into his bed and sleep. All he wanted was to be home. He had
sagged into the chair next to the stone hearth with the Little Joe squeezed
next to him. “You need a shave, Pa.” Little Joe said feeling his father’s
rough skin with his small hand.
Little Joe had
dragged in Ben’s saddlebag across the threshold. Even though Hoss tried to
pull it out of his hand, the small boy insisted on pulling the heavy bag all
the way from the doorway to the bottom of the stair. Hoss and Adam finished
carrying in their bags.
“Yes--I think
you are right there, son! I guess I look pretty rough right now.” He
replied. Hop Sing had gone into the kitchen to heat up water and get bandages
for Ben’s head.
“Can I shave
too?” The boy smiled at his father. “This morning you said I should get
cleaned up and you would take me to a fancy dinner in town with all the men
and get paid too.” Ben always gave Little Joe a penny for candy when they went
into Virginia City on payday.
”Son, I think
a bath will do you just fine. You boys are pretty dirty.” Ben leaned back and
closed his eyes for a minute
.”I think
there is nothing like being hit over the head with a rifle butt to take a
man’s appetite away.” Hays leaned over to gently removed the bloody bandage
from his boss’s head.
“No fancy
dinner in town now. I think Hop Sing will make you boys dinner and I’m going
to bed.”
”Those pretty ladies said you could come and have dinner at their place any
time you wanted. Could we go there?” Hoss asked.
Hays started
to laugh so hard that he almost fell over a chair. Ben shot him a look.”No,
son. I don’t think that is the kind of place I want to bring little boys. “
”No indeed, maybe when you get a bit older. Eh Adam.” Hays elbowed the dark
haired boy who blushed furiously. Ben had finally taken him aside and
explained what type of business the ladies were establishing in town.
“I’ll go take
care of the team, Pa.” Adam quickly decided. “Hoss, come help me.”
”I worked hard
Pa. Didn’t I? I was a big help and you won’t leave me behind no more.” Joe
reminded his father.
”Is that what this whole thing is about?” Ben rested his head against the back
of the settee and closed his eyes.
Little Joe nodded. “I miss you so munch when you are gone. So if I go work
with you, I can come along on fall roundup.” He slid into his father’s lap and
smiled at his Pa sure he was going to get his way. Ben wrapped his arm around
the boy and gathered him close.
“No, Little
Joe. You are far too small and you are going to stay by Mrs. Newkirk while we
are away. When you get bigger in a few years. “
Hays nodded in agreement. “Dean is looking forward to you playing together and
Mrs. Newkirk will back you your favorite pie, Little Joe.”
Joe started to
squirm in his fathers lap, ready to say something and Hays looked him right in
his eyes “And don’t you start crying or your Pa will tan your britches.”
Ben’s head
was throbbing enough with out hearing the next round of crying.
“Yes sir.” Joe
whispered. He was just relieved his Pa was not dead.
Chapter 9
By Sunday, Ben
Cartwright’s head was healing up. He had a purple bruise on his forehead but
he was other wise feeling fine. The boys put on all their new clothes and
looked very neat and well turned out at church. Little Joe even did his best
to sit quietly and Hoss made sure he used the outhouse before the service
started. Reverend Felcher’s sermon was remarkably short and it was only when
the minister got home did he realize that his young son Billy had taken three
pages from his sermon to use the paper for a kite tail. His congregation never
realized that he had skipped half of what he had written and all complimented
him on the inspirational sermon.
Dinner was at the Wallace’s was
festive for everyone. Mim made a delicious meal and Katie and Little Joe
played for a long time without fighting. Adam sat attentively and listened to
Hank Wallace talk about the education needed to become an engineer and Hoss
played checkers with anyone who was willing to take him on.
After dinner, as it got into
evening the conversation turned to more serious problems around Virginia City.
The wind picked up a little and it seemed like the first blasts of winter were
moving in from the mountains. Foster threw some extra logs into the fireplace
to take the damp chill out of the little yellow house.
Little Joe, for once was quiet
and no one paid him much mind.
The men discussed the
likelihood of there being some connection to the murder of Mr. Dayton years
earlier with some of the other killings while Little Joe, suddenly and
unaccountably weary, lay down under the Wallace dining room table near his
father’s feet to rest. It was warmer near the fire but he didn’t want to
remind the adults he was still up well past his bedtime. If he hid himself
under the table and couldn’t see any of them he would be totally invisible.
They would never remember he was there. Katie had already been sent upstairs
and tucked in right after dessert.
Joe missed his Pa and wanted to
stay as near him as he could. He had been pushed aside by Pa too much the last
few days while they were cutting the trees and then again while Pa was resting
from the bad robber hitting him. Even though the nice ladies had made a fuss
over him and Hoss, it wasn’t the same as his Pa.
Little Joe was terribly scared
that his Pa had hurt his head too. His Mama had hurt her head and died and
went to heaven. Little Joe didn’t want Pa to die and go to heaven. Everyone
told him that Pa was fine and just got a bump on his head but Joe still didn’t
want to move far from him for a long, long time. This way Joe could keep his
Pa safe.
Joe lay awake a long time,
listening to the soft deep tones of the men’s voices. He could smell the smoke
from his Pa’s pipe and Mr. Foster Wallace’s cigar. Every once in awhile he
heard Mim say something or Katie’s mom would offer more coffee. He had really
wanted to sit and listen near his Pa and his big brother Adam but he couldn’t
keep his eyes open. He felt someone come over and put a warm blanket over him.
Maybe it was his brother Hoss. Little Joe lay awake a long time, listening to
the soft tones of grown up voices.
“ They must be pretty nasty to
go attacking helpless women and little boys.”Mim added. Joe could see her feet
as she walked around the table refilling everyone’s coffee cups. “I am sure
that one will go to jail for a good long time. “
”It doesn’t matter what type of women those were, it doesn’t mean that they
deserved to be robbed or assaulted.” Foster added.
“You were very brave Adam. Very
quick thinking” Joe heard Kate’s father say.
“Our Adam is very smart,”
bragged Mim. “He is one of the brightest youngsters in the Territory.” Mim had
ruffles on the bottom of her dark green dress like his Mama had. Mama had more
ruffles than Mim. Joe looked again and tried to remember what his mother’s
face looked like but all he could remember was her ruffles on the bottom of
her dress.
“He saved all of us and those
ladies too,” Hoss said. Joe could see Hoss’s shiny new boots next to Adam’s
chair. Hoss had very big feet.
Joe opened his eyes to see if
his Pa’s feet were still next to him. He reached out his hand and lightly
patted the cuff of his father’s trousers. Pa was still there. Joe closed his
eyes again and listened to the grown ups voices.
” Harrison has been poking his nose around the spreads up and down Cherry
Creek and stirring things up. He wanted to by the Dayton’s place and that
place up by the canyon.” Foster Wallace said.
“Pa, do you think a lot of
people are selling out because they are afraid of the Indians?” Adam
suggested.
”There are wild Indians around here?” Katie’s mother asked.
Little Joe must have dozed off because the next thing he his Pa was carrying
him over his shoulder out to the wagon. Little Joe snuggled into his neck and
fell back asleep.
Boston 1871
Jumping from the pier onto the
deck of the boat Ben and Joe looked around for any sign of Philip Bartlett.
What could he have found out that was so incriminating that someone would want
to harm Philip Bartlett? Phil had been checking the files of the newspapers
and investigating Federal Land regulations. He had not returned by dinnertime
and a strange man came to the O’Mara home asking for Ben and Joe saying that
Phil was in trouble down at the waterfront and had sent him to bring the
Cartwrights to help him out. Ben tried to get more details but the man was
insistent that they needed to come with him immediately and that it was an
emergency. Phil was hurt on a ship at one of the docks and needed them to help
him.
There he was on the deck of the
boat. Just as the stranger had told them. Phil was sitting injured, slumped
against the mast. Blood was streaming from a gash on his head. His glasses
were bent and broken and his lip was split. But suddenly both Ben and Joe
realized that Philip’s hands and feet were tied.
Ben glanced over his shoulder realizing no one was around. The man who had
brought them to the waterfront had disappeared. "Who did this?" Ben asked in a
voice soft as the water lapping against the side of the wooden ship.
"Flanagan? One of the Harrisons?"
Phil blinked his eyes trying to
figure out who was talking to him.
“I don’t know Pa. But we have to
get him out of here before they come back. Do you think he can walk? Joe
looked down at the journalist. He was dazed and some had beaten him pretty
hard.
Moving closer to Phil, Ben
wasn’t sure which emotion was growing fastest in him – worry about his friend
or anger at the men who had tried to kill him. He sat down near Philip, and
took a deep breath, trying to bring his emotions under control. Letting the
worry and anger erupt wouldn’t help Philip. It wouldn’t help any of them. He
loosened the rope tying Phil to the mast. A grunt of pain escaped from Philip,
and he began to shift his weight and turn on the deck. He winced as he tried
to move to get upright.
"Sit still," ordered Ben,
putting his hand lightly on Philip’s arm. "The more you move around, the worse
it will hurt."
Opening his eyes slowly, Philip
looked up at Ben. For a moment, he looked confused, as if he wasn’t sure who
he was. Then his expression cleared and his brown eyes focused. “It was
Flanagan, Ben. He knows that I found out about him. Miss Barbara was right.
She told us to watch out for him. They followed me to the newspaper office and
got the old articles about the fires, and the Indian raids. They had set it
all up and tried to pin it on Ka-Pusta. It wasn’t Indian raids or accidents
like we always thought. They killed Foster Wallace too. He had started piecing
it all together and they got the two guys to shoot him.”
Joe slid over and tried to
untie the ends of the rope from Phil’s hands but was having difficulty
managing with the cast on his hand. “How did Miss Barbara know?”
”She knows Ka-Pusta very well,” Ben said strangely. “Very, very well.”
“Freeze” The Cartwrights looked
up and saw the angry face of the same man who had brought them to the dock. He
had a colt army special in one hand and his other hand wrapped around the
trembling shoulder of Sam Cartwright.
“Jeez Pa, they have Sammy too. Where is Emily? They were together going to the zoo.” Joe stood frozen trying to figure how to protect Sam.
The man holding Sam’s arm pointed the gun at the Cartwrights on the deck. “Move!” he gestured toward a hatch. “Open the hatch and go below deck.”
Ben looked at the gun and then
at Joe. “Do what they say, son, “ the rancher cautioned. ”Get the other guy
and all of you go down below.” The man kept Sam in his grip and gestured with
the pistol.
Ben leaned over to Phil and helped him up. Joe bent and opened the hatch with
his left hand. He could see a steep, ladder like stairway leading below. Joe
led the way down the ladder holding on with his one good hand. His father and
the journalist followed him. Lastly the armed man shoved Sam into the hold.
The frightened boy lost his balance as he climbed down the ladder. Fortunately
for Sam, Joe turned to see what was happening. He reached up and caught his
nephew as fell. The boy grabbed his uncle’s plaster cast and regained his
footing. The hatch slammed loudly behind them.
In the dim light of a kerosene lantern, Joe could see Emily O’Mara sitting huddled over on a crate in the middle of the cold damp cabin.
Her gray eyes filled with fear.
“What’s going on?”
Before Joe could disentangle
himself from Sam, Phil stumbled over to her. ”Philip are you all right?” She
murmured to him. “ I never thought I would find you!”
“I’m sorry I got you caught up
here. I’m really sorry about everything that has happened. Phil answered
kissing Emily. “Are you all right?” The journalist wrapped his arms around
her. They hung onto each other.
Ben could see the shocked look
on Joseph’s face as he watched the woman he thought he was in love with;
embrace his friend, Philip Bartlett.
Chapter 11
“Dennis O’Mara
and the other Cartwrights are bound to be hunting the waterfront with help.
They will be sure to come looking for the ones we have on this ship. We’ve got
two choices, we can sit here and wait for him to get back and try to fight it
out with the police, or we can hold them here on this boat and set sail and
deal with this problem accordingly.” Flanagan surveyed the watching faces, and
smiled at their dismay. “I didn’t get this far and get away from a burning
house surrounded by police to get caught in Boston by some snooping reporter
from Virginia City, “There were four men, Flanagan, Captain Leo and two of his
crew, burly sailors who would do any job as long as they got paid.
“You better
let us go Flanagan!” Joe foolishly jumped up and grabbed the former
territorial governor by the front of his coat. He really wanted to punch
Philip Bartlett but was willing to slug Flanagan instead.
“Joseph!” Ben
barked at his son’s foolhardiness.
Flanagan
signaled to one of his men, who stepped up behind Joe and brutally yanked his
one good arm behind him. “Go sit down or you’ll see how well you can keep
afloat with that cast on your arm,” the sailor threatened Joe. Captain Leo
pointed his gun at Ben.
Still Joe eyed
Flanagan defiantly. “Go to hell!” he ground out through gritted teeth.
Emily
screamed. “Leave him alone, can’t you see he can’t do anything to you.”
With Joe
effectively immobilized, Flanagan backhanded Phil viciously across the face.
Phil’s head rocked backwards, blood streaming from a cut on his forehead.
Stars shot through Philips’s vision, and blackness swirled in front of his
eyes. “You damn snoop. You think you are going to get all those records to the
police?”
“Stop! Can’t
you see you are hurting him?” Emily screamed. Joe bit his lip watching the
awful time she was having and he pulled against the men holding him as his
father watched helplessly.
Flanagan nodded to his men to
stop hitting the journalist. He pointed his pistol at the Cartwrights and it
was clear from the nasty look in his eyes that he would shoot them given the
least excuse. He had barely escaped capture at the burning Stoddard house.
Like a Phoenix, he rose from the ashes. Now there was no way he wanted to be
incriminated in the Cherry Creek situation by the Cartwrights or anyone else.
This conspiracy had gone on for decades and made him a very rich and powerful
man and there was no way he would let anyone catch him now. He turned toward
the ship captain next to him. “What do you think we should do with these
trouble makers?”
The other man said, “Yep, it’s a
tough choice, but here’s what I think. There ain’t no point in makin’ a stand
here. If we sail out of the harbor we can just sit back and wait it out until
we decide what we want to do. Go have the men check the lines and the sail
and lets get going. This crew won’t care who we have down in this hold.
Chapter 12
They sat on the wet floor of the
hold for a long time. Ben wasn’t quite sure how long it was. It had to be
hours, well after midnight as battered Phil fell asleep or passed out with his
head on Emily’s shoulder. Ben gave her his handkerchief, and together they
tried to clean him up as best they could.
Joe and Sam poked around every
corner and pulled some empty crates together so they had something dry to sit
on. Sam eventually lay down and fell asleep too. His grandfather took off his
coat and covered the boy with it. Joe finally stopped pacing and nervously
poking around in the dark corners and found a place to sit next to his
sleeping nephew.
At some point, Ben realized Joe
was sitting with his elbow on his knees, his chin in his hand, wordlessly
staring at Emily and Philip across from him.
”Joseph, come over here and see if we can move this hatch cover.” Ben was sure
the cover was bolted or weighted down by their captors but he couldn’t bear
the silent fury that was radiating out of Joe as he stared angrily at Emily
and Philip huddled together.
Joe sighed. The two Cartwrights
squeezed together side by side; hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder on the
ladder. They raised their arms and pushed against the hatch cover. Ben with
two arms, Joe with one. Then he slipped his cast out of the sling. “Try it one
more time, Pa” Joe raised both arms and counted “One, two, three!” They both
grunted and pushed to no avail.
“Go sit down, Joe.” Ben nudged
him down next to him so he was facing Sam, rather than Emily and Philip. From
the corner of his eye, Ben could see Joe suck in a deep breath he rubbed his
shoulder. Ben prayed that his son hadn’t reinjured his barely healed wounds.
Chapter
Phil opened his eyes and looked
up. He rubbed his head and tried to straighten out his eyeglasses. “They’re
broken.” He held up a cracked lens. “Was I sleeping long?”
Emily stood up and stretched. “
You slept for a few hours.” She stood next to Philip and held his hand.
"How are you feeling?" Ben
asked.
"Not so good," admitted Philip
wiping his free hand across his eyes. “I feel like everything is shaking and
rocking back and forth.”
”We’re on a boat, Phil.” Joe reminded him.
Phil closed his eyes for a
minute, then opened them and looked around examining the hold. He licked his
split lips. "I’m thirsty. Can I have some water?"
“You have the whole damn ocean
out there, pal.” Joe muttered.
”What are you talking about?” Phil tried to sit up and see out the porthole.
He still didn’t completely comprehend what Joe was telling him.
”Phil, don’t you realize, we are
not at the dock you jack ass. They raised the sails a long time ago.” Joe
snapped. It was really hitting Joe that Emily was clearly involved with Phil.
When did this all happen? Then Joe remembered the night Emily had the opera
tickets and Joe had cleverly wiggled out of going. Phil had stepped forward
and offered to accompany her. He loved opera and all sorts of classical music
he told Emily. Joe had laughed at him getting stuck with a boring concert and
having to wear a stiff collar. Guess Phil was laughing pretty hard now. Joe
thought
“Ben?” Philip looked anxiously
at the rancher, not believing Joe’s last statement. He realized that the boat
was rocking much more than if they were still tied to the dock.
Joe’s father nodded. “As best I
can tell we are almost out past the harbor light.” He hated to think what
Flanagan’s men had planned for them next. . He had no idea who else was on the
boat besides the men they had already seen.
Their captors had taken away
their guns. Ben looked around the shadowing damp cabin at the two younger men.
One had a heavy plaster cast on one arm; the other was bleeding from a gash on
his head and could hardly see. Both were competing for the same woman. Sam was
ten years old and weighed no more than seventy pounds, with his boots on and a
full bladder. Emily O’Mara certainly was not going to slug it out with anyone.
As old as he was, he was the best chance they had at staying alive.
Sam sat up looked around. He
pulled his grandfather’s jacket around his shivering shoulders.
"How long have we been sailing?"
asked Phil. His face was pasty and pale. He looked like he was fading fast.
"About an hour," answered
Joseph. “You were out pretty good.” He finished untangling the rope that had
originally tied Philips hands. He stood up on the rocking deck and tossed the
rope into a corner of the hold behind Sammy. Joe had done some hard thinking
over the last hours and decided for everyone’s sake, he would deal with what
ever was going on with Emily later. Now they just needed to stay alive and
get out of this mess. Joe thought about the ridiculousness of their situation.
If they all drowned it didn’t matter a tinker’s dam which man Emily wanted.
Through the porthole, Ben looked
up at the stars and then towards the fading shoreline as he tried to make out
a landmark. Mist was closing in around them. The night air was chilly but the
ocean was still warm from the summer
Nodding, Ben closed his eyes. He
tried to visualize the charts of the area, waters he last sailed more than
thirty years earlier. He knew very well where they were, and he knew that
there was soon going to be nothing but ocean around them once they passed
Nantucket Light. There was nothing but the choppy gray Atlantic between
Nantucket and England. He tried to steel himself for what he knew was going to
be an uncomfortable and possibly deadly sail.