By
DebbieB
The
cuffs fit tightly about his wrists, which were pulled back behind his
back. Once his wrists were secure, the
man putting on the chains ran a short length from the wrist’s cuffs downward
and locked that length to the shackles around his ankles. He was trapped, with no hopes of getting free
and no way of moving, other than to take short staggering steps.
The
handsome young man glanced upward at the sky, the sun was at its highest and
already he had begun to sweat. He ran
his tongue over the tops of his parched lips, he could use a drink, but seeing
that his captors were no longer paying any attention to him, he knew it was doubtful
that they would even offer him a much-needed swallow from one of their
canteens.
He
felt a sharp jab to the middle of his back.
He flinched and turned his head to see which of the men had inflicted
the discomfort. It was the one that he’d
heard the others call Toby, and he was wearing a glaring look on his face.
“Move
it Cartwright,” he growled as he shoved his prisoner forward.
Adam
stumbled forward. The short length of
chain between his ankles made if difficult to walk and with every other step
his took, Toby crammed the barrel of his rifle deeply into Adam’s back. Toby continued his pushing and shoving until
they had reached the wagon and then he ordered Adam to stop.
Adam’s
black hat had fallen off his head, but no one seemed to notice but Adam,
himself. He had started to ask for it,
but decided to leave it, it might provide his brother with a clue that
something was amiss, when he came looking for him.
“Walt,
help him in,” ordered Toby.
The
second man tossed his coffee out and dropped his tin cup on to the ground near
the fire. He took his own sweet time
doing as he was ordered and his sluggishness angered the man standing guard
over Adam.
“Cain’t’cha
get a move on?” Toby shouted.
“Aw…hold
ya horses,” grumbled Walt as he stepped behind Adam.
Walt
stepped up into the back of the wagon and issued an order for Adam to turn
around. Adam complied. He was now facing Toby and had his back to
Walt. He felt Walt’s hands as they
grasped his shoulders and when Walt began hoisting his body up onto the back of
the wagon, Adam was forced to clamp his jaws tightly to keep from crying out
from the pain he felt in his arms and legs.
“There,
enjoy the ride,” Walt sneered as he released Adam’s shoulders and let the
chained man’s head fall against the hard wooden boards that made up the floor
of the wagon.
Adam
was forced onto his back by Walt’s cruel hands and then, Walt forced Adam’s
jaws apart with the fingers of one hand while stuffing a rag into his opened
mouth. Adam tried to twist his head
around to avoid being gagged, but his efforts only earned him a harsh whack to
the side of his face.
“Be
still, damnit,” growled Walt as he finished tying the band of cloth around
Adam’s face and securing the rag within the dazed man’s mouth.
Adam
stopped struggling; the side of his face stung where Walt had slapped him. He silently cursed himself for having let
down his guard and turned his back on these two strangers. He should have known better, he chided
himself. This bit of carelessness was
akin to something that Little Joe might have done, not Adam, not after all the
warnings his father had preached to him throughout his twenty-nine years. He leaned his head back and rested it on the
sack that he had seen in the back of the wagon.
The slightly elevated position seemed to lessen the pull of the chains
on his arms and legs. Adam took a deep
breath through his nose and let it out slowly; until Hoss returned and found
him missing, he was stuck.
Walt
jumped down from the wagon and with Toby’s help, they
pulled a canvas tarp over the top of the wagon, hiding their prisoner from
prying eyes. Without a word between
them, they quickly secured the tarp and then Toby climbed into the seat.
“
“Yeah,
ya just be sure to get there on time. The boss ain’t gonna like it none if’n ya
late. Rach gave us four days to catch us
a Cartwright, and we’s dun wasted more’n a day and half. Now let’s get movin’,” Walt snapped.
Adam
could hear the arguing between the two men and wondered who they were, and why
they had needed to catch themselves a Cartwright. More so, he wondered who the big boss was,
and just why it was so important that he capture one of them. Rach, pondered
Adam, a strange name, he’d never heard of anyone by that name and he couldn’t
help but wonder at the man’s intentions.
It
was late by the time that the wagon finally stopped. Adam ached from the top of his head to the
bottom of his feet. His bladder felt as
if it were ready to explode and the bumpy road had
done nothing other than to further his discomfort.
He
could hear Toby and Walt talking, but the words were muffled by the tarp that
had been put over the top of the wagon.
Adam lay motionless trying to make out what the two strangers were
talking about, but it was to no avail
“Let’s
get him out of there,” Toby said as he began to remove the tarp.
The
two men pulled the tarp back and instantly Adam felt the cool air hit him. He struggled to push his body into a half
sitting position, for sitting up entirely was impossible with the chains
attached to him as they were. He twisted
his head, until he felt hands on his face that were tugging at the gag in his
mouth. When the gag was removed, he spit
out the rag and began sucking in large amounts of air to fill his lungs.
“Come
on Cartwright, out ya go,” laughed Toby as he grabbed the chains around Adam’s
ankles and began pulling Adam roughly forward on the hard wooden floor.
“Take
it easy,” growled Adam.
He
was stiff and sore, his bladder was about to erupt and the boards of the wagon
bed scraped his backside in a way that was very uncomfortable.
The
two only laughed at Adam’s discomfort and continued to haul him out of the wagon. When they had him on his feet, Toby pulled
his pistol from his holster and pointed it at Adam’s middle.
“Turn
around,” he ordered.
Adam
glanced down at the gun pointed at him and then back up at the man. He was about to open his mouth and say something,
but Walt grabbed his shoulder and shoved him, making Adam spin around until his
back was facing the two men.
Adam
bit his tongue to keep from marking a sharp comment. He felt Walt fumbling with the chains and
then felt the cuffs around his wrists snap open. His arms dropped to his sides and quickly
Adam pulled his hands around in front of him and began massaging the feeling
back into them.
“Turn
around Cartwright, so’s I can see ya face,” Toby ordered.
Adam
complied; he wasn’t about to start anything, yet he thought, at least with the
chains still locked around his ankles.
Any hopes of having those chains removed as well, was short lived when
Toby pointed with the end of his gun in the directions of the trees.
“Get
goin’,” the man ordered.
“Where to?” Adam asked, not sure what the two dubious men were up to.
“Well
I don’t know about you, but I gotta take leak,” laughed Toby as he followed
along behind Adam.
They
were finished in due time and when they had returned to the wagon; Walt picked
up the cuffs. “Turn around,” he ordered
in a stern voice.
“Guess
there’s no chance of you not using those, is there?” Adam questioned with a
look of skepticism on his face.
“You
guessed right Cartwright, boss said to bring ya in cuffed and chained. I aim on pleasing, now turn around,” Walt
issued.
“About
this boss, who is he?” Adam stood with his back to the two men as Walt cuffed
his wrists. This time he did not bother
to connect the length of chain that ran from his wrists to the shackles around his
legs.
His
question must have struck his captors as being funny for the pair glanced once
at each other and then burst into loud laughter. Adam gave each a disgusted look that only
served to ignite their laughter more.
Joe
tried to twist his head around so that Rach could not touch his face. He cringed when the boss’ hand grabbed at his
chin and forced his face upward. Rach
squeezed until the flesh on Joe’s jaw showed red.
“You
haven’t changed one bit, Little Joe,” snarled Rach. “You’re still nothing but a cocky little
brat!”
Joe
jerked his head back one last time and freed his face from the imposing
fingers. His reactions to Rach’s words
angered the boss and before Joe knew what was happening, Rach slapped Joe
across the face. Instantly Joe’s head
snapped back, his cheek stung bright red and he turned dark angry eyes up at
the one who towered over him.
He
was mad, but he held his tongue. Instead
he just smiled and raised one eyebrow.
“And
you’re still nothing but a bitch, aren’t you Rachel Stanrick?” mocked Joe.
He
knew he was pushing his luck with this mad woman, but he couldn’t refrain from
putting Adam’s ex-fiancee in her proper place.
Rachel’s
own eyes grew dark and she slapped Joe again and then again before he had time
to gather his thoughts. She turned and
stomped off a few paces and stopped, keeping her back to the young man tied in
the chair. Joe could not see what she
was doing, not that it mattered, he was in no position to do anything about it,
he wasn’t even able to protect himself from the woman
who held him prisoner.
Rachel
spun around and marched back to Joe, stopping in front of him. “You think you were so smart, turning your
brother against me three years ago, well, I have news for you, Little Joe…your brother will marry me this time…”
Joe
snickered, all the time keeping his eyes on the woman. Rachel had begun pacing the floor in a
nervous manner.
“SHUT
UP!” she snarled loudly. “He will marry
me, you just wait and see…because Little Joe…if he doesn’t, he’ll be very, very
sorry that he didn’t!”
“I
doubt that, my brother Adam is smarter than you give him credit. There’s nothing that you can say, or do, that
will make him marry you…he hates you…you are aware of that, aren’t you?” Joe
informed the woman. He couldn’t resist
the urge to taunt her.
Rachel
stopped her pacing and deemed it her time to laugh. “Oh you foolish boy…you are naïve, aren’t
you?” laughed Rachel. “You just
wait…that damn brother of yours is so noble, he’d do anything to save your useless
hide, even marrying a woman that he hates!”
Rachel glared down at Joe, a menacing look on her pretty face.
“What
do you mean, save my hide?” Joe asked, suddenly suspicious of the woman. Was she playing tricks with his mind? Just what did this deceitful woman have
planned for him?
Rachel
threw back her head and laughed loudly in a very unladylike manner. “Simple, if he doesn’t marry me, he’ll just
have to watch his baby brother die, that’s all!”
Joe
grew silent; he lowered his head for several moments, pondering her words,
before looking up. Rachel was studying
his face and her scrutiny of him, unnerved him.
“You’ve
got to be joking,” he said.
He
willed his voice not to tremble, for he had learned three years ago, just what
this woman was capable of doing. And
now, because of what happened then, she had spent the last three years hating
him for destroying her relationship with his older brother. Joe studied her expression, she was nuts, and
time had nothing to improve her disposition or her contempt she held for him.
“Do
you think for one minute that if you kill me, my brother could ever love
you? If you believe that, you’re crazy!”
Joe added.
Rachel
spun around on her heels and walloped Joe with her folded up fist. Joe’s head snapped backwards and then slumped
forward; she had clipped Joe on the chin and knocked the young man out. Quickly, she grabbed a wadded up cloth and
forcing Joe’s mouth opened, stuffed it inside.
When she finished, she wrapped a long cloth around Joe’s head, covering
his mouth and preventing him from being able to speak once he regained
consciousness.
She
opened the door to the cabin and ordered her man inside.
She
pointed to the unconscious boy, “Carry his chair into the back room, and make
sure he keeps quiet. I have plans for
him later on,” she smiled wickedly, as she pulled a syringe from her bag. “He will sleep like a baby, once his brother
gets here,” she laughed again, and gave the man a frown.
“GET
HIM OUT OF HERE! God, I hate that boy
with a passion, I won’t mind in the least killing him!” she snarled as her
guard drug Joe, chair and all, into the back room and shut the door, leaving
him alone in the darkened room.
The
wagon finally stopped. Adam tried to
wrench his head around attempting to remove the blindfold that the men had used
to cover his eyes. Adam had wondered why
the blindfold, but Walt had only hinted to him that the boss had ordered it, to
protect the boss’ identity. He could
hear Walt and Toby whispering and knew when they had gotten down from the
wagon. For several moments everything
was quiet and then Adam could hear the squeaking of a door as it was being
opened. Again he could hear the mumbled
voices but could not make out what was being said. He knew that someone else had joined Walt and
Toby, but that person was speaking in a voice so low that Adam could barely
hear the person.
Adam
suddenly felt hands grappling at his body and he began to fight against the
persons that were trying to haul him from the wagon. One man grabbed his arms and another grabbed
the short length of chain that separated the shackles about his ankles. He felt his body being raised from the rough
wagon bed and though he tried, he could not refrain from moaning at the
pressure put on his arms and legs.
“Take
it easy,” Adam heard Walt order, “Boss wants him in perfect condition.”
“Ah,
Rach don’t care what condition he’s in, only that he’s here and in one piece,”
laughed Toby. “Move aside Mace.”
Adam
listened to the banter between the men. He
counted three, plus the boss, whomever he was, and
wondered if there might be more. As it
were, he was outnumbered four to one, which in Adam’s way of thinking, were not
very good odds, even if his hands were not chained.
Adam
was carried inside and Rachel pointed to the cot on the far side of the
cabin. There were no words needed, the
men seemed to understand when she pointed and the silent instruction was
followed obediently. He felt his body
lowered onto something soft and figured it to be just what it was.
Rachel
gave another silent command, and the chains were removed and Adam was helped
into a sitting position. Adam
straightened himself up and rubbed at his wrists where the chains chaffed his
skin. He made to take away the blindfold
but was stopped by a hand placed over his.
He stopped, surprised at the tender feeling of the flesh against his
work worn skin. It was then that he noticed for the first time, the faint scent
of a woman’s perfume, and though he couldn’t see whom it was that stood before
him, he raised his head questioningly.
“Well,
this is a pleasant surprise…when may I have the pleasure of seeing your face,
which I’m sure is very lovely, if the softness of your hand in mine is anything
to judge by?” Adam said in a light voice.
Rachel
motioned for the guards to leave them, and moments later she was alone with the
man she had once loved but now hated with a passion. She would play his game, but only until she
tired of it. Rachel smiled to herself
and tenderly ran her hand down the side of Adam’s face until she cupped his
chin. Gently she tilted his head upward
and then lowered her own head, placing her lips gently over his and sealing his
mouth with a kiss. She pressed her lips
tightly against his, savoring the rush of passion that filled her.
His
breath caught in his throat as Adam returned the woman’s impassioned kiss. He felt his senses reeling as she forced her
tongue into his mouth and explored the warm interior. When she pulled away, he was reluctant to do
the same, for her fervency had awakened a desire in him that had long been
denied.
Rachel’s
eyes had grown dark with desire as she studied what could be seen of Adam’s
face beneath the blindfold. The
sensations that his kiss had stirred within her shook her very being. She had hated him for such a long time, that
the sensuality of his kiss had caught her unprepared.
Rachel
took a deep breath to calm herself and steady her
breathing. “It’s been a long time, my
darling,” she said at last.
Adam,
whose hand still covered hers, let his hand fall away. He tugged at his blindfold, trying
desperately to remove it from his eyes so that he could see into the face of
the woman standing in front of him. His
fingers fumbled with the knot until he gave up and jerked the blindfold upward
over his head.
When
Adam looked up, his bottom jaw fell slack, as his eyes grew dark with anger.
Quickly he checked his response, closing his mouth as he stared into the face
of the woman that he had once believed he had loved. Rage caused his body to shudder and he stood
to his feet. His jaw was now clenched
tightly, his fingers folded into tight fists and when he spoke, his anger was
evident in the tone of his voice.
“What
the hell is the meaning to all of this?” he demanded, towering over the woman.
His
dark glare frightened the young woman and Rachel found herself taking a step
backward, putting distance between herself and her one time lover. She tried to smile, but felt the corners of
her mouth twitch as she did so.
“Darling,”
she said coyly, “that’s not a very nice way to speak to me.”
“Don’t
‘darling’ me!” snapped Adam. “You had
better have a damn good reason for having me kidnapped and chained, and brought
here…against my will!”
Rachel
found it hard to look into the handsome face that had haunted her dreams for
months on end. Casually, she strolled
around the edge of the table and stopped, smiling up at him.
“Adam,
you can’t say that you’re not happy to see me…by the way that you kissed me, I
can only assume…”
Adam
banged his fist down on the table. “I’m
not the least bit happy to see you…and as for that little display of passion,
that was totally your doings, I only partook of what was being offered, my
dear!”
Rachel
tossed back her head and laughed.
“May
I ask what is so funny?” Adam snarled.
“Oh
Adam, really, you are so dramatic!”
Rachel moved closer to Adam.
She
knew her men were just outside the door and would come instantly if she called
out for them. She grinned, once Adam
knew about the boy who was hidden out back, the mighty Adam Cartwright would be
like putty in the hands of the potter.
She glanced up at his face, smiling, she was most assuredly, the potter.
Joe’s
eyes fluttered and opened at last. He
was forced to squint for the sun’s rays were blinding. When he tried to move, nothing worked. His head was pounding and thinking straight
was almost as impossible as moving seemed to be. Suddenly the sun disappeared as a shadow
loomed over him. He pinched his eyes
tightly and then opened them. He was
surprised to find himself staring at a worn pair of boots. Joe looked up, suddenly terribly frightened
at the man who towered over him. He
tried to speak, but his mouth was so dry that he could do nothing to force the
words from the back of this throat.
Joe
tried to wrench his arms free of the mound of dirt that covered his entire body
but the earth that they had buried him in restricted any movement other than
turning his head from side to side. He
felt the panic slowly begin to rise as he realized what a predicament he was
in. His eyes clouded with unshed tears,
and he was forced to swallow several times to keep at bay the rising bile. He was buried up to his neck in the hard
packed dirt. He had known that Rachel
Stanrick was ruthless, and that she would go to any means to get what she
wanted, but he had not been prepared for such drastic measures.
When
he heard the man standing over him laugh, Joe, in spite of his earthen prison,
felt his body begin to tremble in fear of what this woman was capable of
doing. Surely he had underestimated the
woman.
Adam
paced around the room; his anger had reached its limit. He glanced at the door, all he had to do was
walk away, and he’d be rid of…her. He
stopped his pacing in front of the door and glanced at Rachel. She seemed unconcerned with his anger and his
hatred, surely she knew he hated her! Adam placed his hand on the door but stopped
at the sound of her voice. She didn’t
seem bothered with the prospect of his escape.
“I
wouldn’t do that, if I were you,” she stated simply and matter-of-factly.
“And why not? What’s to stop me?” Adam barked
in response.
Rachel
placed her hands on both hips and grinned at Adam.
“Have
you forgotten? My men are outside,” she reminded
him.
“Oh,”
grunted Adam as if three armed men were merely a daily occurrence and something
that he should fear, for he feared no man.
“And if I walk out that door, you’d order them to kill me? Hmm…After all you went through, just to get
me here? I hardly think so.” Adam cocked his head and smiled. He tipped the rim of his hat at her and
opened the door.
“I’ll
have them kill the boy,” she stated calmly, and Adam froze.
Slowly
he turned and faced the woman he had once loved. “Boy?” he said slowly. “What boy might that be?”
Rachel
saw in the dark eyes a glimmer of uncertainty and she smiled. She was positive now, that she had Adam
Cartwright right where she wanted him to be.
Rachel sashayed up close to Adam and rested her hand on his chest. Minus any fear she might have felt in the
beginning, Rachel fingered the black button on his shirt and then brazenly ran
the back of her hand tenderly along his jaw line.
Adam
grabbed her wrist and twisted it around, just enough to cause Rachel a smidgen
of discomfort. He heard the lady wince
in pain, but he continued to keep his fingers wrapped around her wrist.
“What
boy?” he snarled through tightly clinched teeth.
“Your
kid brother, you know, the one that told all those
lies about me and made you hate me…what’s his name…Little Joe, isn’t it?”
Adam’s
eyes went black and when Rachel tossed back her head and laughed at him, he
twisted her arm a little more, adding to her displeasure and silencing her
mocking laughter.
“What
about my brother? So help me God,
Rachel, if you’ve hurt him in anyway, I’ll kill you!” Adam growled.
It
was Rachel’s turn to shudder, for the dark angry look on Adam’s face frightened
her, and for the first time since coming up with her plan to force the handsome
Adam Cartwright into marrying her, she questioned her judgment.
“Answer
me!”
“Let
go of my arm, you brute!” Rachel had gathered her nerve and when she yanked on
her arm, she broke free of Adam’s fingers.
Quickly she stepped away from him.
“There’s
no reason to excite yourself, Adam, darling.
I’ve brought you here for one reason, it’s really quite simple…” she
began.
Adam
turned from the door and glared at Rachel.
“What reason and what does Joe have to do any of this?” he demanded.
“Please,
won’t you sit down,” Rachel pointed to the chair near the table, “and I will
explain everything to you, my dear.” She
smiled and waited until Adam had taken a seat.
He
felt a gnawing fear deep down in his gut and he almost dreaded to hear what
this vile young woman was about to tell him.
Adam knew it could not be pleasant, for nothing about what Rachel
Stanrick did was pleasant. He silently
chided himself for having thought that he could possibly love a woman such as she. All the mean and
nasty things she had done to his youngest brother, and
the boy had not even been fifteen at the time.
He remembered the lies she’d told to him, about Little Joe and
herself. She’d tried to make herself out
the victim when in truth Joe had been the one victimized by her. Adam clenched his jaw, now here she was
again, and somehow she had managed to bring Joe back into the picture.
Rachel
moved around the table, keeping it safely between Adam and herself. She studied his face and she knew that he
would go crazy with anger once she told him about her plan and what she would
do to his kid brother, should he fail to comply with her wishes.
“You
see Adam, I brought you here so that you and I could be married and…”
“WHAT!”
shouted Adam, jumping to his feet. “I know you’ve lost your senses now, there’s
no way in hell I’m going to marry you!”
Adam almost laughed in the woman’s face, but something about the look in
her eye, warned him against doing so.
“I
didn’t think you would marry me, not willingly at least. That’s why I brought some collateral,” she
smiled slyly at him.
“What
do you mean, collateral? And you still haven’t told me what my brother
has to do with this crazy scheme you have plotted,” Adam sat on the edge of the
table, his long arms folded across his broad chest.
Oh,
she thought, he thinks he’s so smug…ere…you just wait Mr. High and Mighty!
“Oh,
I think you will marry me, and very soon or…”
“Or what? You’ll sic your dogs on
me? Well lady, I don’t frighten that
easily!” Adam had stood up and slowly
rounded the table.
Without
warning, he grasped Rachel by the shoulders and drew her body against his. His eyes scrutinized her face and he heard
himself groan, for despite her wicked ways, she was still beautiful and he
still ached with the desire to kiss her again.
He lowered his head, his lips already slightly parted and moist, but she
turned her head, snapping him back to reality.
“You
may kiss me Adam, but only after we are married,” she hummed.
Adam
gave her shoulders a firm shake and forced Rachel to look up at him. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that…now you better
start doing some explaining. I want to
know just how my kid brother fits into this.”
“Alright
Adam,” she sighed and wrenched free of his hands. She wouldn’t admit it, to him leastwise, but
the very touch of his hands on her body filled her with longing.
She
strolled casually to the rear door and opened it. Walt was standing guard and she motioned for
him to follow her. “Come on Adam, I’ll
show you my collateral,” she wiggled her finger at him and he trailed along
behind her.
When Adam glanced over his shoulder, both Toby and Walt were at his back. Toby had his pistol pointed at him and was carrying a set of wrist cuffs in his other hand. Walt was toting a double-barreled shotgun and every once in a while dug it into the small of his back, a silent reminder of who was in charge. Adam kept his thoughts to himself as he followed Rachel around the corner of the shed and into the bright sunlight. At first he had to shield his eyes from the bright rays. He wasn’t sure what it was that Rachel expected him to see, until she stepped aside. It was then that he saw his brother, and what he saw left him speechless.
“JOE!”
screamed Adam as he made a mad dash for his brother, who was buried in the dirt
up to his neck.
Walt
and Toby each grabbed his arms and hauled him backwards stopping Adam. Adam lost his balance and tumbled to the
ground. Instantly he began fighting
against the two men, but lost his battle when Toby whacked him over the head
with the butt of his pistol. Adam lay
crumbled on the ground just feet from where his brother was moaning painfully.
“Adam,”
uttered Joe in a weak voice.
“Chain
him to that tree!” ordered Rachel as she pointed at a nearby sapling that grew
just a few feet away but still within view of the boy. Rachel wanted to be sure that Adam could see
his brother, and watch as the boy suffered.
She
watched as Toby and Walt dragged Adam’s body over to the tree and propped him
up with his back against the trunk. Walt
affixed one cuff around Adam’s wrist and wrapped the chain around the tree
trunk. Toby took the other cuff and
fastened it to Adam’s other wrist, securing it snugly. Adam was as trapped as his brother, and with
no hope of escaping, and no way of helping his defenseless brother, unless he
could find a way to rip the tree from the ground where it’s roots sank deeply
into the hard soil, and that wasn’t likely.
Adam
tilted his head backward and squinted up at the sun. His head was pounding and it was several
moments before he could bring his eyes into focus. Suddenly his senses seemed to snap him from
his stupor as the memory of his brother jarred him back to reality.
“JOE,”
he called loudly, his eyes searching the ground.
“Adam?”
He
heard the weak plea.
“Here
Joe, over here buddy,” Adam called out.
He
watched as Joe struggled to turn his head so that he could see Adam. “Are you hurt?” Adam asked when he was sure
that Joe had spotted him.
“My…chest…it’s
hard…to breathe,” moaned Joe.
“Just
take it easy buddy. Try not to move
around any more than you have too,” advised Adam.
“Adam…it…was…”
Joe’s words were coming out in painful grunts as he tried to suck in much
needed air to fill his lungs.
“Rachel…I
know Joe, and I’m sorry about this. I’ll
get you out of here, somehow, I promise, Joe, I promise.”
Joe
turned his head slightly so that he could see Adam. Adam saw the painful expression on his
younger brother’s face and the haunted look in his eyes and knew without asking
that his brother was suffering. Adam was
afraid that Joe had already given up.
“Joe
listen to me…” he began.
“No…Adam…don’t marry…her, that’s…why she’s…doing…this…so you’ll
marry…her,” Joe strained to get his warning out to his brother.
“Well,
well, well,” taunted Rachel as she strolled up to the tree where Adam was
chained. Her two cohorts were with her
and when she stopped, Walt moved to where he stood behind Joe’s head.
“I
suppose you find this amusing?” Adam asked as he glared upward into the woman’s
face.
“Certainly,
don’t you?” she snickered.
“What
do you think?” growled Adam.
Rachel
slithered up next to Adam and gently ran her hand down his cheek, smiling
seductively up at him.
“Oh
Adam, Adam, Adam, must you always be so nasty to me? All I wanted to do was to bring you here, so
that we could be married and live…happily ever after,” she said in a wee voice
that dripped with sarcasm, and then pinched his cheek as one would a small
child.
Adam
jerked his head away from her fingers.
“I’ve already told you…I don’t plan on marrying you, or have you
forgotten?”
“Oh
no,” she said with wide eyes, “I haven’t forgotten. But you will change your mind…just you wait
and see. The boy there,” she nodded her
head in Joe’s direction, “will die, unless you marry me, it’s that simple,
Adam…you decide, it’s either marry up with me, or your brother pays with his
life!”
She
twirled around as if to leave, but stopped and turned around to face the man
she planned on taking as her husband.
“You
have twenty-four hours to make up your mind, or the kid dies, and you’ll watch
how slowly and painfully death will take him,” she snarled.
“Walt!”
she shouted.
Adam
turned toward the man standing behind his brother. He was totally shocked and speechless as he
watched the man pick up a shovel full of dirt and dump it on Joe’s head. Joe sputtered and tried to turn his head to
avoid the dirt getting in his face but there was nothing he could do to prevent
it from happening. By the time that Walt
lifted the second shovel full over Joe’s head, Adam had found his voice.
“NO! STOP!” he bellowed loudly.
Rachel
held up her hand, halting Walt from dumping another shovel full of dirt on
Joe’s head. She turned to Adam, a
twisted smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
“Yes
my dear? Did you wish to say
something?”
She
had placed her hands on her hips and was swaying gently from side to side in
front of Adam. He swallowed, for her
beauty stirred in him a deep longing.
Damn her, thought Adam, why did she have to be so conniving?
“Leave
the boy out of this Rachel…he’s done nothing to you…”
“DONE
NOTHING!” screamed Rachel, angered by Adam’s words. “LIES, LIES, AND MORE LIES, THAT’S WHAT HE’S
DONE TO ME!” She took a deep breath and
inched closer to his face.
“He
turned you against me, dearie, remember?
It was that brat,” she pointed a finger in Joe’s direction, “that
destroyed your love…and my life.”
Rachel
walked the few steps to stand over Joe.
She’d like nothing better that to kick his face, but she resisted the
temptation, there would be plenty of time to rid herself of the kid, once Adam
agreed to marry her. She scowled down at
Joe and kicked a bit of dirt in his face before walking back to Adam.
“You
have twenty-four hours to make up your mind, Adam…either marry
me, or the boy dies.”
With
that she walked away, motioning for Walt and Toby to come along with her. Joe and Adam were alone once more. Adam turned to Joe, worried about the painful
expression on his face.
“Joe?”
he called.
Joe’s
lips parted and Adam could see how the boy struggled to inhale. “Joe!” he called a second time.
“I...can’t
breathe…Adam,” muttered Joe as his head dipped backwards and his eyes closed.
It
was much later when Adam first noticed that Joe had begun moaning again. He had already made up his mind, he would
marry Rachel, as much as the idea turned his stomach, but he had to do
something, or Joe would surely die. He
had no doubts that Rachel would make good her threats,
she was ruthless and heartless and cared little about anyone other than her own
self. Adam cringed at the thought of
being tied to her for the rest of his life, but he’d do what needed to be done,
in order to protect his younger brother.
With any luck, he could find himself a good lawyer and divorce Rachel,
once he was positive that his brother was safely back home with their
father. But at what cost, pondered
Adam. Rachel could claim half of
everything he owned, including his forth of the Ponderosa. Adam pinched his lips tightly together, he’d
never allow that to happen, he’d kill the bitch first he swore to himself. He’d be damned if he let her take away so
much as one acre of what his father and his brothers had worked a lifetime to
achieve. He aimed on keeping what was
his, his father’s and his brothers’, including keeping Little Joe alive.
“Ah…ah…help…me…”
Joe
tossed his head from side to side. Adam
could see his brother’s face plainly in the bright moonlight. The boy looked haggard and the tiny beads of
perspiration that had collected on Joe’s brow, glistened in the glow of light
fathered by the moon. Joe groaned again,
this time more dejectedly and the sound both angered and worried the older Cartwright.
“Joe,”
Adam called softly.
“Don’t…wanna…die…like…this,”
cried Joe in distress.
“Joe…buddy,
listen to me…you’re not going to die! Do
you hear me?” Adam demanded.
“Water…water…please…”
Joe’s voice faded into a low murmur and Adam could no longer understand his
brother’s mumbling.
“Damn
you Rachel, a hundred times damn you!” cursed Adam, tugging fruitlessly on his
chains.
Wonder
where them two took off too?” Hoss pondered aloud to
his father.
They
had given up waiting for Adam and Joe and had gone ahead and began eating without
the pair, something that had put Ben in a bad mood, his oldest and his youngest
sons both being late to the table.
“How
should I know, I thought you went with Adam, now you’re telling me that Little
Joe went instead?” grumbled Ben as he jabbed at the food on his plate with his
fork.
“Nosir,
I went with Adam, but then I came back…”
“Oh,”
muttered Ben, giving Hoss a doubtful look, “and then Joe went with your
brother?”
“Nosir,
see Pa…”
“No
Hoss, I don’t see!” snapped Ben as he tossed his fork down in his plate.
The
silverware made a tiny dinging noise when it was dropped. Ben pushed back his chair and stood up,
dropping his napkin down on top of his plate and covering the shiny silver
fork.
“Pa…Adam
and I went out to the upper pasture this afternoon. We were almost finished with that fence, when
Adam told me to come on home. He said he
would finish it and be along directly, ‘ceptin’ he ain’t here yet,” Hoss
twisted his face up, making his nose wrinkle as well.
Ben
moved around the table and went to the front door and opened it wide, peering
out into the night. After several
moments, he closed the door and glanced up at the grandfather clock. At that instance the clock chimed the hour,
it was
“What
about Little Joe?” he asked Hoss.
Hoss
swallowed the sip of coffee he had in his mouth and shrugged his
shoulders.
“Don’t
rightly know, Pa…I ain’t seen the scamp since breakfast. Joe said he was riding out to check on the
herd in the lower pasture and then…”
“That
shouldn’t have taken him all day!” snapped Ben.
“Nosir,
I reckon it shouldn’t have,” agreed Hoss.
He
cast worried eyes up at his father who had stood up once again. Ben wandered into the great room and snatched
the paper off the center table and then lowered himself into his red leather
chair. Hoss shrugged his shoulders and
followed his father, seating himself on the settee.
“Ya
don’t reckon anythin’s happened to’em, do ya?” Hoss asked after a few silent
minutes.
Ben
lowered his paper just enough so that he could peer over the top at Hoss. He studied his middle son’s face, the boy was
worried, that much was plain to see, but he wondered if there was reason to
worry. It wasn’t like either Adam or Joe
to be this late, and, decided Ben, they had both gone in different
directions. Could their tardiness just
be coincidental? Probably not, he
decided. Joe was the one most likely to
be late…but Adam…that was unusual…perhaps…
“Pa?”
Hoss said in a troubled voice. “Ya don’t
reckon somethin’s happened to’em, do ya?” he asked again.
“No…no,
son, I don’t think that at all,” Ben said with more assurance than he felt.
“Joe?”
Adam whispered.
It
had grown very dark and the moon had slipped behind a cloud, making Joe’s face
invisible to Adam. He hadn’t heard a
sound from his younger brother in more than two hours and the silence was
almost deafening.
“I’m…here…Adam.” Joe coughed softly trying to clear his
throat.
“How
are you doing, buddy?” Adam asked. He
heard Joe make an attempt to laugh, but it only set him to coughing again.
“Dry…my
mouth’s…dry…and it hurts…to breathe…ah…” moaned Joe in a weak voice.
“Just
try to hang on Joe, it’ll be light soon, and then I will get us out of this
mess,” Adam promised.
“Please…Adam,
promise me…you…won’t marry her…she’s no…good,”
muttered Joe. “Promise…me?”
Adam
took a breath to steady himself; Joe sounded as if he had already resigned
himself to the fact that he was dying and Adam was not about to let his
seventeen-year old brother give up that easily.
“Joe
listen to me…I’d marry the devil himself if it meant saving your hide.” Adam tried to make his voice sound light, so
that Joe might be encouraged. “Don’t you
worry about me, little brother, I’ll find a way out of that marriage, once I’m
sure you’re safe, do you understand?”
“It’s
no…use…I can’t last much…longer…like this…” the boy groaned. “Adam…I want…you to know…I…didn’t lie…about
her…before…honest Adam…honest.”
“I
know that Joe, I suppose deep down, I knew she wasn’t what she claimed to be, I
just didn’t want to admit it. And then,
after I saw what she was doing to you…well, I couldn’t let her get away with
hurting you like that…and I won’t this time either, pal. She’ll pay…I guarantee it!”
“Mornin’
Pa,” Hoss greeted his father as Ben came to the table.
“You’re
up awfully early…any special reason?” Ben questioned as he sat down and began
filling his plate.
Hoss
pinched his lips tightly, forming a straight line across his face. “They didn’t come home last night, Pa, and I
aim to go look for’em.” Hoss took
another bite of his breakfast and stuffed it into his mouth.
“I
see,” Ben said calmly. “And just how
were you going to manage that? I mean,
you did say that Joe went one way and Adam the other…how do you plan on going
in both directions at the same time?”
Ben covered his amusement by filling his mouth.
Hoss
paused and turned to look at his father.
He grinned, showing the gap between his front teeth. “Well now,” he began, “that’s where I was
ahopin’ that you wanted to help me. The
way I figured it, I could go look for Adam, and you could go look for Little
Joe and then…”
Ben
interrupted Hoss with his laughter, but just as quickly sobered. “I was planning on asking you the same thing,
son,” Ben said seriously. “I’m just a
little worried about those two…it isn’t like them not to let me know if they
were planning on being gone all night, especially Adam…now Little Joe, that’s
another matter.” Ben laughed softly,
thinking about his youngest son.
Hoss
snickered, “Yeah, Little Joe, he ain’t even allowed to stay out all night…what’d he do if’n he did, anyway?” Hoss laughed, he figured he knew what Adam
would be doing, but Little Joe…naw…he wouldn’t!
“I
don’t even want to think about what kind of trouble your youngest brother might
get himself into by staying out all night, Hoss…I wouldn’t be surprised if he
wasn’t in Roy Coffee’s jail right about now!” laughed Ben. “And if he is…”
“You’ll
bail’em out…ya always do.” Hoss heehawed
loudly and then sobered quickly when he saw his father frown at him.
“Hurry
up and eat, son, we need to get going.
And the first place I’m going to look for that rascal is in
Hoss
wiped his mouth and pushed back his chair.
“Sure thing, Pa…oh…and Pa…if’n Joe’s in jail…”
“Never
you mind boy, I’ll take care of that little brother of
yours, you just find Adam!”
“Yessir!”
At
that exact moment, Joe was wishing that very thing, which was, that his father
was there to take care of him.
“Pa?”
“No,
Joe, it’s just me,” Adam called through the semi-darkness.
“Pa…Pa?”
Adam
pulled on his chains for the hundredth time that night and still they refused
to give. He glanced up at the sky with
relief, seeing how the early dawn was breaking away into morning. It wouldn’t be long now, Rachel would return
and he’d be forced into marrying her, she left him no other choice.
Adam
fixed his gaze on his brother’s face, which he could barely make out in the
fading darkness. Joe looked beat, his
face was smeared with dirt where the sweat from his brow had dripped and left
thin white streaks along the front of his face.
The boy’s head was slumped backwards in an awkward position and Adam
knew that Joe would have a crick in his neck when he came around. The eyes were closed and Adam could make out
fine narrow paths that began in the corners of each eye and ran downward of his
cheeks. It was obvious that his brother
had been crying though Adam was not sure if his tears came from the dirt that
had been kicked into his face, or from the want of his father.
“Joe…it’s
almost day-break, Rachel should be here soon, and I’ll make sure that she gets
you out of that dirt pile,” promised Adam.
“Oh, and how will you do that, if you don’t mind my asking?”
Rachel had appeared out of nowhere and Adam had been caught unaware.
“How
do you think?” he answered with sharpness in his voice. “Can’t you see the boy’s in need of water…let
him go Rachel…and I’ll…”
“You’ll
what Darling, marry me?” Rachel smiled
seductively.
“Yes…I’ll
marry you, that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?” Adam
said.
“Yes…it’s
what I’ve always wanted, you knew that when you sent me away.”
Rachel
walked over to where Joe’s head protruded out of his earthen prison. She squatted down so that she could better
see his face. With her hand, she grasped
Joe’s chin and turned his head toward her.
Adam could not see the wicked smile that creased her face.
“The
boy don’t look very well, Adam,” she said and then
rose, returning to stand in front of him.
“Then
dig him up and put him on his horse, send him home…”
“What? And have you change
your mind? I don’t think so. I think we’ll get married first, and then
I’ll let Walt and Toby dig him up,” she smiled at the frown on his handsome
face.
Rachel
could not resist; she leaned her body against Adam’s and slid her arms up,
until they wrapped around his neck. Adam
opened his mouth to speak, but Rachel covered his with her
own and kissed him deeply.
Repulsed at her forwardness and her wickedness, he twisted his head
until his lips broke the kiss.
Rachel
reacted by laughing loudly as she petted his cheek. “I’ll send for the preacher, we’ll be married
right here, and your brother can be your best man,” Rachel turned to glance
over her shoulder at Joe who was just coming around. “Not that he’ll ever live to be a man!”
“What
do you mean by that?” snapped Adam, seeing for himself just how drained his
younger brother really was.
“Look
at him, my dear, he doesn’t look as if he’ll even live long enough to see his
big brother get married. What a shame,”
she mocked and then strolled away. She’d
only gone a few paces when she stopped and turned around. “Don’t go away, sweetheart, I’ll be back in a
short while. I have to put on my wedding
dress.”
The
sound of her laughter rang, in Adam’s ears, as an evil reminder of just how
shrewd his soon-to-be-wife really was.
Ben
pulled his horse to a stop; Hoss was tearing up ground as he raced towards his
father. It was only when his middle son
pulled his big stallion along side his, that he
recognized what Hoss held in his hand.
“Where
did you find that?” Ben asked worriedly as he looked at his oldest son’s hat
that Hoss held in his hand.
“Along
the rode home, Adam must have made it half way afor he lost this. There are tracks everywhere Pa…whomever he
met up with took the wagon…and Adam. I
found this too.”
Hoss
reached into his saddlebag and pulled Adam’s pistol out and handed it to his
father. Ben held the gun in the palm of
his hand. His fingers folded tightly over
the pistol as he looked up into his middle son’s face.
“He’s
in trouble son,” Ben said in a low voice.
He seemed to be contemplating something.
“The sheriff said he hadn’t seen anything of Joe since yesterday
morning.
“
“I
don’t know son, but something tells me that Joe and Adam’s disappearances are
connected,” Ben determined.
“But why? If’n they were kidnapped,
wouldn’t we have had word by now?” pondered Hoss.
“I
don’t know Hoss…I just don’t know. Tell
you what son, you ride back into town and tell
“Yessir,”
agreed Hoss. He turned Chubb toward town
and kicked at his horse’s sides. “Let’s
ride, Chubby!”
It
took Rachel much longer to return than what Adam had thought. He’d been keeping his eyes on Joe, watching how
the boy seemed to wither away as the sun continued it’s
climb higher and higher into the sky. It
was hot, but at least Adam had the comfort of the shade from the tree where he
was chained, but Joe, was planted right out in the open where the sun beat down
and baked the top of the boy’s head.
With each passing hour, Adam’s hatred of the beautiful Rachel Stanrick
deepened and by the time that she finally appeared, Adam felt as if he could
rip her limb by limb for the ways she had made his brother suffer.
“It’s
about time you got back,” he snapped in anger.
“Hold
ya tongue, Cartwright,” growled Toby as he shoved the barrel of his rifle into
Adam’s middle.
Adam
groaned and glared at the man.
“Adam,
darling, do you like my dress?” Rachel asked as she prissy-tailed around in
front of him.
Had
the dress, been worn by any other woman other than the one before him, Adam
would have admitted in truth that the dress was indeed lovely. In fact, Rachel had out done herself in
preparing for her wedding day, she was radiant, a truth that disturbed Adam
immensely. How could he hate her so much
and feel a growing desire for her at the same time? He questioned himself on his motives, had the
knock on his head affected his thinking…and his logic?
“I
asked you if you liked my dress!” she demanded.
His
eyes sought her face, she was furious at him for not commenting on the dress
immediately and he knew that if he didn’t squelch her anger, she would take it
out on Little Joe.
He smiled,
“It is beautiful, and I might add, so are you.”
Well, it was the truth, he told himself, she was beautiful, the most beautiful bitch in
Ben
had given up waiting around for Hoss and Roy, figuring that something had
detained them, so he had started following the wagon tracks alone. He had ridden hard and fast, a sense of
urgency had invited itself to take root in his gut and with his stomach pumping
hot acid up into his throat, Ben left Hoss and Roy to find their own way.
It
was just after the
For
several minutes, Ben remained hidden behind the boulders that provided shelter
from prying eyes. He recognized his
wagon and his team of horses that were locked away in the makeshift corral down
below with several other horses. Ben
tied Buck’s reins to a scrub brush and carefully wormed his way down behind the
rocks toward the shed. He wanted to see
what was hidden inside.
It
took several moments for him to climb down through the protruding rocks and dry
brush but he reached the back of the shed without rousing any attention from
the shack’s occupants.
The
dirtied window had one pane of glass missing and Ben peered inside. His breath caught in his throat when he spied
Joe’s pinto housed in one of the stalls.
There were two more horses that each had saddles on them and Ben could
easily tell that they had been ridden hard for they were still lathered in
sweat. Not very smart, Ben thought to
himself.
Ben
eased carefully and silently around one corner of the shed and then stopped
suddenly as the door to the cabin opened.
A man, alone, stepped out onto the broken down porch, rolled a cigarette
and then walked slowly toward the shed.
When he paused to light his smoke, Ben was able to slide into the shed
and hide behind some barrels. The man,
known to the others as Mace, took several long puffs on his cigarette and then
tossed it into the dirt, stomping it with one foot to be sure it was out. As he entered the shed, he paused, just
inches from Ben. As a thief in the
night, Ben raised his hand high and brought the butt of his pistol down across
the back of the man’s head. Mace dropped
like a fly having been swatted. He
crumbled to the floor in a heap at Ben’s feet.
Quickly, Ben grabbed a rope and pulled the man’s hands behind his back
and laced the rope tightly about Mace’s wrists and then pulling the man into
the corner, tied his feet and then gagged him.
Once secured, Ben headed from the shed toward the cabin. He reached the porch without making a
sound. When he peeked into the window,
he was just in time to see a woman dressed in what looked to the puzzled Ben,
as a wedding dress. Behind her followed
three more men and they were all marching out the back door.
Ben
slipped off the porch and to the back corner of the cabin and watched as the
woman and the men quickly made their way around the other building. Confused by what he was seeing, Ben inched
slowly along, darting from tree to tree to avoid being seen. He could hear voices and he listened
intently.
Adam!
His heart rang out…but Joe’s horse was in the shed! Ben chanced a look around the edge of the
building. He almost gasped aloud at what
he was witnessing. Adam stood, chained
to a tree; Rachel Stanrick, of all people, stood next to his son, smiling
happily.
One
man stood to Rachel’s right; another man, dressed in a black suite stood before
his son and the woman on his left. The
third man had moved apart from the others and seemed to be pointing the tip of
his rifle at something on the ground.
Ben could not see what it was, for the man’s body was casting a long
dark shadow over the object that obstructed his view. The third man moved slightly. Ben was watching, and when his eyes at last
saw the object, his heart momentarily stopped it’s
beating.
“Dear
God, Joseph!” Ben cried softly.
He
nearly fell to his knees as he legs gave way beneath him. He clung to the side of the building for
support until he had steadied himself.
He was
horrified at seeing his youngest son buried in the ground with nothing but his
head sticking out. His eyes searched his
son’s face and the despair and hopelessness that Ben could see etched into the
dirtied and sun bronzed flesh that covered the boy’s once handsome features,
caused his eyes to fill with tears.
Without thinking, Ben started forward and then stopped suddenly by the
words that were being spoken.
“Do
you, Adam Cartwright, take this woman, Rachel Stanrick, to be your lawfully
wedded wife, to love and honor from this day forward until death…”
Ben
was disbelieving of what he was hearing.
Was Adam actually marrying that insidious woman? It appeared to be so…but why? And then the reason hit him square in the
face…Adam was being forced into this marriage in order to protect his
brother! The notion stuck in Ben’s craw
and he was angrier than ever before; how dare that brazen woman subject his
sons to such devious, cruel and inhumane treatment.
“And
do you Rachel Stanrick take this man, Adam Cartwright, to be your lawfully
wedded…”
“Yes…I
do, now hurry it up and get done with this!” Rachel shouted.
Ben
was trying to think of some way to interrupt the ceremony before the preacher
pronounced the couple as man and wife.
He glanced around, unsure of what action to take. There was only two, not counting the
minister, and Ben doubted that he would cause any trouble,
he’d be startled by the gun play…the gun play, pondered Ben suddenly. He’d have to be careful; he didn’t want
either of his sons to be injured. Joe
was already in bad shape from what he could make out from his hiding place, and
he surely didn’t want his oldest son shot down while being chained to a tree
like an animal.
Right
then Ben caught a movement in the bushes behind the tree where Adam was being
held. He watched closely and then seeing
Hoss creeping along on the ground, Ben smiled.
He glanced around at the other bushes and saw Roy and two other men. Ben breathed a long sigh of relief and
daringly stepped out into the open, pistol drawn and ready to fire.
“Therefore,
by the power vested in me and according to the laws of the
“NO!”
The
sudden outburst from the man standing to Rachel’s right had called an abrupt
halt to the ceremony. All eyes turned to
stare in shock at Toby who had shouted out.
He had grabbed the preacher by the coat front and had shoved him
aside. Rachel had tried to grab Toby’s
hand, but he brushed her aside as well.
“What
are you doing, you idiot!” she screamed at Toby.
She
reached out and shoved him, placing her opened hands on his chest and pushing
him backwards. Toby stumbled back
several paces as Rachel ran to the minister who was trying to dust the dirt
from his trousers.
“Hurry
it up…get back over here!” screamed Rachel like a
woman possessed.
She
grabbed the minister’s coat sleeve and tried to drag the man back to her
bridegroom, but the man lost his footing and stumbled a second time, falling on
one knee.
“Good
God, can’t you even stand up!” Rachel continued with her ridicule.
Toby
pushed Rachel’s hand away from the minister and began yelling at her.
“You
can’t marry him, he don’t love ya…I’m the one what loves ya!” he bellowed at
the top of his lungs. “Ya gonna marry me,
not him!” he pointed his finger at Adam, and began shaking it under Adam’s
nose. Adam pulled his head back as far
out of the man’s reach as possible.
Rachel
started laughing. The sound was
hauntingly vicious as she stepped up to Toby and drove her finger deeply into
his chest.
“Marry
you! Why, you’re nothing but a drunken
tramp. Don’t you remember where I found
you? Down in some back alley tavern, so
drunk you didn’t even know your own name and you think I’d ever marry
you!” Again her laughter pierced the
air.
Toby,
furious, his body trembling in anger, stepped back from the beautiful
Rachel.
“Don’t
laugh at me!” he bellowed in a deep voice as he swung out his hand and slapped
her pretty face.
Stunned,
Rachel tumbled backwards. “Kill him Walt…KILL
HIM!” Rachel shrieked at the top of her
lungs.
Walt
quickly stepped over Joe’s head and pointed his gun at Toby. Toby fired at the same time as Walt. His bullet struck Walt in the center of the
chest. Walt’s gun went off as he
crumbled to the ground just a short distance from where Joe was buried.
Rachel
screamed out in anger and with fists flying, she charged at Toby, hitting him
repeatedly in the face, the chest, on the arms, anywhere that her balled up
fists could do damage.
Ben
started forward, shouting. “Drop your gun!” he said several times.
Roy
and Hoss, the two men with them, all came out of the bushes. Rachel was hysterical and well beyond knowing
what was happening as she continued with her assault on Toby.
Toby wrenched free of the fraying fists and turned, gun pointed, in
Ben’s direction.
“Drop
it!” Ben ordered as Hoss grabbed Rachel from behind and pinned her arms to her
sides. She kicked at him and tried
twisting her body to free herself, but Hoss held on tightly.
“Last
warning Mister, drop your gun!”
Toby
never batted an eye, but instead raised his gun as if to fire. When Ben saw the unspoken
signal, and he fired his gun.
Toby fired as well, missing Ben by a foot as he balled himself up and
dropped to the ground, dead.
Rachel
screamed again, sounding something akin to a wounded animal. She stomped the heel of her boot down onto
Hoss’ foot, causing the big man to release his hands and grab at his aching
toe. Rachel snatched Toby’s gun from the
ground and turned it to Adam. The look
in her eyes caused Adam to tremble and he drew back against the tree, all the
while knowing that there was no way he could protect himself from her assault.
“Don’t
do this Rachel!” Adam said.
“If
I can’t have you, neither will any other woman!” Rachel raised the pistol and cocked the
trigger.
“Rachel
don’t…”
A
gun fired and for a fraction of a second, the world stopped spinning and all
was silent. And then the beautiful
Rachel Stanrick, once the love of Adam Cartwright’s life, fell limply into the
dirt.
All
eyes turned to Roy, who had fired his gun to save the life of his best friend’s
son.
“She’s
dead,”
It
took Adam, Hoss and their father nearly two hours to dig the dirt away from
Joe’s body. Ben had washed the boy’s
blistered face and given him a cool drink from his canteen. Joe’s lips were parched and cracked, his eyes
red and irritated by the dirt particles that had gotten into them.
“We’ve
almost got his arms free,” muttered Adam as he slung a handful of dirt over his
shoulder. “Easy Joe, it won’t be long
now, buddy,” Adam said.
He
glanced at his brother and smiled though Joe was in no shape to see, for he had
kept his eyes closed the entire time to prevent more dirt from getting into his
eyes.
“I
think I can pull his arms out now,” Hoss said as he leaned over the hole and
took a hold of Joe’s left arm. Gently he
tugged upward. Joe cried out as if in
pain and instantly Hoss stopped trying to free the arm from the dirt.
“What’s
wrong, son?” Ben questioned, giving Adam and Hoss a worried look.
“My…hands…tied,”
groaned Joe. “Hurts…bad…Pa…”
“Tied!”
squawked Adam in disbelief. He looked at
his father with a painful expression on his face. “She practically buried the boy alive and she
left his hands tied behind his back?
What kind of a woman was she, anyway!” he demanded.
“I’m
sorry Joe…I’d never have thought that she would dare to come back and do this
to you. Can you ever forgive me?” Adam
brushed his fingers through his brother’s thick curls.
“Just…get
me out…please…you promised Adam…”
“Alright,
Joe, just hang on.”
Adam
glanced at his father and then went to digging with a fervor that Ben had never
seen before. Within minutes, Adam had
dug down enough that he could reach into the hole and untie his brother’s
hands. When he had pulled the rope away,
Adam clasped Joe’s arms gently within his hands and taking special care so as
not to hurt his brother, Adam raised Joe’s arms upward.
Joe
pinched his lips together to keep from crying out in pain. But the agony was etched into every line on
Joe’s young face. When he could stand it no longer, Joe’s body went limp
against his father who had been cradling the upper portion of his son’s torso
in a protective manner.
“He’s
out cold, boys. Get to digging, let’s
get him out of here before he wakes up,” suggested Ben.
Hoss
took over for Adam. They had to toss
aside the shovels and were now digging with their hands. It took another hour before they had loosened
the dirt enough around Joe’s feet to be able to pull him from his dirt
prison. Several times during the course
of digging, Joe would wake up, cry out when in pain and then sink again into
the world of obscurity.
“Let’s
get him inside so that we can wash off this dirt and see how badly he’s hurt,”
Ben ordered.
He
slipped his hands beneath Joe’s body and started to lift him up. He was about halfway to standing when Adam
slipped his hands under his father’s.
Ben stopped, looking into Adam’s face.
“Please,
Pa…let me carry him?” Adam asked in a low voice that trembled. “It’s my fault…”
“No
Adam, it’s not your fault. But you carry
your brother, if you like,” Ben offered his son a smile of encouragement and
moved his hands, allowing Adam to carry his younger brother into the old cabin.
Inside,
he placed Joe carefully on the cot. “Bring me some water and see if you can
find some soap and a towel. I want to
bathe him off,” Adam said.
Hoss
looked questioningly at his father. Ben
nodded his head at Hoss, who hurried to collect the soap and water. Ben built up the fire in the old stove and
set the water on to heat. When he
glanced over to the corner of the room, he could see that Adam had already
stripped Joe of his shirt and was now tugging on his boots.
“Need
some help?” Ben called.
“No,”
Adam said sharply.
Ben
noted the sharp edge to his son’s tone of voice but he let it pass. He knew that Adam blamed himself for what happened
to his brother, even though the guilt was certainly unjustified. Adam had no way of knowing just how vile that
Rachel had become or that she would come back and seek revenge for the things
that happened in the past that he or Joe had had no control over. Ben studied his eldest son’s face. It would take time for his son to recover
from his hurt, no doubt much longer than it would take his younger son to
recover from his injuries.
Ben
saw that Joe had opened his eyes. He was
having trouble focusing, but Ben noticed that when Joe raised his hand, it went
straight to his brother’s face and touched Adam’s cheek. Adam had clasped Joe’s smaller hand in his
and was holding it to his lips. Ben
could hear the soft mumbled words coming from the cot on the other side of the
room, but he had no idea what the two brothers were saying to one another.
Ben
stuck his finger into the water to test the temperature. It was warm enough now for a comfortable
bath. He turned to tell Adam and then
stopped, staring in awe.
Joe
had raised up into a near sitting position and had
folded his arms about his brother’s neck.
Adam in turn had entwined his own long arms about his brother’s body and
the two clung to each other as if they had just found one another after a long
separation.
Ben
felt the dark eyes of his oldest son, turn and look his way. A smile carved his son’s handsome son’s face
in to a ray of sunshine, and then Adam winked at his father. Ben felt his heart lurch and nodding his head
he exited the cabin.
The
minister, Roy and his two men had left earlier with the bodies and Mace, who
had been left in the shed tied up. Hoss
had stabled their horses and seen that they had been watered and then had given
them some grain.
Ben
pulled up an old rickety chair and sat down.
He’d give Adam and Joe their time together. He had no doubt that they had a lot to talk
about, obviously Adam would do most of the talking, at least for now, until Joe
felt up to it. And he need not worry
that his youngest would lack for care, for Adam could be nearly as bad as his
father when it came to mothering the youngest member of the family.
Ben
smiled. The sun was beginning to set and
the evening sky was ablaze with the heat from the sun. Tomorrow would be another hot day, and a long
day, for they would be returning home.
Doc Martin would be called to the house to give Joe a thorough
examination. Ben would make sure that
his friend, the physician would look Joe over from the top of his head to the
bottom of his feet…he’d settle for nothing less than a complete recovery.
Time
slipped by and before Ben, having been absorbed in his pondering had just
realized the sun had set and the day had faded into night. He rose from the old cane back chair and
slipped back inside. His eyes went
straight to the corner where Joe lay sleeping.
He
eased himself over to the edge of the cot.
Adam was dozing in a chair; Hoss lay on a pile of soft blankets in front
of the fireplace, snoring softly.
Funny,
sighed Ben, he had not even been aware when Hoss had slipped inside. Ben glanced down at Joe and was surprised to
see that the boy had opened his eyes.
Ben
smiled when Joe placed a single finger over his lips and motioned for Ben not
to wake Adam.
“He’s
had a long day…and night,” whispered Joe.
Ben
nodded his head in agreement. “So have
you. How do you feel, son?”
“I’m
fine, Pa… just a little stiff…but honest…I’m okay…now,” he said, looking at his
brother, Adam.
“Wanna
know what he told me, Pa?” Joe whispered softly.
“If
you’d like to share it with me, yes,” smiled Ben.
He
had moved to the other side of the little bed and had sat on the very
edge. “What did your brother tell you?”
“He
told me that he loved me,” Joe said in a thick voice and then swallow to wash
down the knot that had formed in his throat.
Ben
gently caressed the boy’s face and smiled.
“But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Sure
I did, but that wasn’t all he said to me,” answered Joe. “He told me that he used to wish that he had
been the youngest, but as he got older, and I got older, he was glad that he
wasn’t. He said that when you’re the
oldest, you have all this responsibility dumped on your shoulders, whether you
wanted it or not, and there were times that he
resented having to take those on. But then it dawned on him how important being
the first born really was. He said he
realized that shortly after my mother died.
He said that for the first time in his life, he felt as if he were
really needed. He understood then that
you needed him in a way that you’d never had to before, and that Hoss and
especially me, needed him as well. And
he got all choked up, but he said that he needed us just as badly as we needed
him. So he promised himself and us that
he’d do whatever it took to keep his family safe and together, if it meant
dying for one of us, then he’d do it, without
question.”
Ben
was absorbed in what his youngest son was revealing to him about his oldest son
and he marveled in the new found knowledge.
“Go
on, please,” Ben encouraged after Joe had changed positions in the little bed
and settled himself.
“Adam
said that everyday of his life, every morning when he first gets up, he has to make a decision on how he will live his life,
for that one day. This is what he told
me, he said, ‘Joe, I choose love, because no occasion justifies hatred, even
though for a while I thought I hated Rachel…but no injustice warrants
bitterness, so I’ll not have hard feelings toward her, for what she did to
us. She died, because of her wicked
ways, not because of anything that we did to her…she must have hated herself
more than what we ever could have.
And
everyday, I choose joy…I refuse the temptation to be cynical, I refuse to see
people as anything less than human beings created by God.
I
choose peace…I will forgive so that I can live in peace…though forgiveness is
something hard to do, Joe, but I try, because without forgiveness, our hearts
become hardened to the people and things around us…so remember that, the next
time someone gives you an apology.
And
I choose patience…though with you, it is sometimes hard pressed in coming.’
He
laughed, and that’s when he took my hand, Pa, and told me that he loved me.”
Joe
brushed his hand across the front of this face to wipe the tears that had filled
his eyes.
“He
said, ‘I choose kindness…I know that I have to be kind to the poor, for they
are alone, kind to the rich for they are afraid, and kind to the unkind, for
that’s how God treats us.
I
choose goodness,’ Pa, he said he’d rather go without a dollar before he’d take
a dishonest dollar.” Joe smiled up at
his father.
“That
sounds like something Adam would say…and do,” agreed Ben. “Anything else?”
“Yes
sir, he said that he’d choose faithfulness because that was the way to earn a
man’s trust. And he’s right about that,
“He
added gentleness to the list too. He
explained to me that nothing is ever won by force. And the last thing he told me that he chooses
is self-control.” Joe snickered softly.
“He
sure didn’t have too much of that today when he was being forced into marrying
that…woman.”
“Joe,
your brother Adam is a rare type of man, I’m very proud of him,
he’s everything that you just said…and then some.”
“I
know Pa, and I know that I’m lucky to have him for my brother. I know I grumble
and complain a lot about how he treats me, but I can understand why too,” Joe
grinned, “I’m not the easiest person to get along with at times, am I?”
“No,
sometimes you can be quite a challenge, for me and Adam,” laughed Ben.
“I’m
a lucky guy,
“How so, son?”
“Because I have you for my pa, Adam and Hoss for my brothers. Adam keeps me on the straight and narrow and
Hoss…well, Hoss just goes along for the ride, but like Adam, I know he’d give
up his life for me, if need be.”
Joe
smiled mischievously at his father, “But I doubt if he’d ever marry up with a
witch like that Rachel Stanrick, for any reason,” giggled Joe.
“I
wouldn’t be so sure about that Little Joe,” smiled Ben.
“Maybe
so, Pa…let’s just hope we never have to find out,” declared Joe.
Joe
yawned and rubbed his eyes.
“You
need to get some rest son, it’s late and tomorrow will be a long day.” Ben said as he pulled the blanket up around
Joe’s shoulders. He leaned down and
kissed the top of Joe’s sunburned forehead.
“I
was scared at first Pa, when she made me dig that hole and then tied my hands
and made me get down in it,” whispered Joe.
“But then later, when I saw Adam, I knew everything would be alright,
and that he’d get me out of that dirt pile before it was too late.”
“You
certainly put a lot of faith in your brother, young man.”
“It
really didn’t take too much…you see Pa, Adam made me a promise…and I knew he’d
keep it, he proved it when he told Rachel that he’d marry her if she’d let me
go. He was willing to live the rest of
his life with a woman whom he could never love just to save the life of a
brother that he swore to always love.
That’s love at it’s best, Pa…anyway you look at
it!”
THE
END
September
2003