The Mistake
By:
Happyfish and Puddleglum
Rating:
PG-13
Note: Puddleglum and I wrote this story back and forth (without knowing in advance what the other was writing) with the help of Adam's Girl Rachel and the support of all our PAX friends! It was originally supposed to be a Round Robin story, but eventually PG and I were the only ones to keep up on it! I hope you all enjoy reading it; I know we had fun writing!
Summary:
An adventure,
comedy, and romance about the Cartwrights. It features all of them, but focuses
mainly on Adam and Joe.
Disclaimer:
We do not own any of the Cartwrights, Hop Sing, Roy Coffee, or Doctor Martin.
The rest, however, were spawned from our crazy imagination!!
PART 1
“Aww, man,” Hoss grated as he glanced at his empty
dessert plate on the table. He had only gotten up for a moment to put another
piece of wood in the fireplace, and on his return his slice of apple pie
was missing! He searched the faces of his family, each stifling a snicker,
to discover the culprit. Ben’s eyes danced with joy at his son, Joe’s face
was turning red to keep from guffawing, and Adam held a somber but laughing
gaze.
Hoss demanded, “Alright, who took my pie?”
Joe
couldn’t hold on to his laughter any longer. As he doubled over and rolled
onto the floor, he gasped, “You asked for it, big brother; never leave a
helpless piece of pie in front of three hungry men!”
“Alright, that’s enough,” said Ben with a laugh
as he took the other plate with the pie on it out of Adam’s lap and handed
it to Hoss. “You know Hoss needs his strength for the day ahead.”
“Thanks, Pa” said Hoss as he eagerly gulped down
the pie. “Now maybe I can handle what you have planned for me today.”
Adam
looked up in silent question. “What do you have planned for Hoss today, Pa,”
he asked.
Surprised his eldest son didn’t know, Ben smiled
and explained. Well, tried to explain, that is.
Before he could get a word out of his mouth, Hoss said,
“Yeah, pa, I’d like to know that, too,” and he offered Joe his arm to pull
up off the floor. “You’ve been saying for days how big a job it is, but I
ain’t heard nuthin’
about what I’m actually supposed to do.”
“Oh, let me tell him, Pa; I’ve had to keep quiet
about it for too long now already,” said Joe, with a big grin spreading across
his face.
“That’s why I’m surprised that Adam didn’t know,”
answered Ben, “I was sure you would have said something to him by now!”
“No, he hasn’t,” said Adam. “So what is all the
secrecy about?”
“Well, it has to do with Sara Bell Crawford. But
I’ll let Joe explain the rest,” answered Ben.
Joe
gave a mischievous, cocked grin before using his brother’s arm to hoist himself
off the floor. “I’m sure you know Miss Sara Bell,” Joe began.
Hoss nodded, his face contorting at the thought
of the awkward young lady.
Seeing his brother’s acknowledgement, Joe continued,
fighting not to laugh. “She’s been havin’ some
trouble out at her place while her brother is gone, and Pa an’ I elected
you to help her out!”
“No,
pa, anything but that,” yowled Hoss, as he saw them all start to laugh. “Why,
she’s been after me since she was just knee high to a grasshopper. She thinks
she LOVES me!”
“Well, perhaps she does,” Adam said with a grin.
“And this could be your chance to find out how you really feel about her.”
“I already know that,” groaned Hoss, “Why don’t
one of you go and see how YOU feel about her.”
“Sorry, Hoss,” answered Pa, “but there are some
mighty big chores that need doing and I can only afford to send one of you
over. It’s supposed to be just for the day, but I told her she could keep
you longer if she needs to.”
“Keep him longer!” chortled
Little Joe in a whisper as he elbowed Adam on the arm. “Why, we may not see
him again for a month of Sundays!”
“Little Joe, dadburn
it, one more word out of you and I...” Hoss started saying as he grabbed
for his younger brother, but Joe ducked under his arm just in time and headed
for the door. “Better get going, Hoss, she’s waitin’
for you. Oh, and it’s been nice knowing you!” Joe called out as he closed
the door.
“We’d better be on our way too, son,” Ben said
to Adam as he also headed for the door.
“Just be your usual charming, handsome self,” said
Adam to Hoss as he followed Ben to the door, “and I’m sure you’ll do just
fine!”
And suddenly Hoss found himself
alone in the house.
“Dadburnit,” Hoss repeated as he stared at the door
from which his brothers and father had just exited. He sighed before reluctantly
leaving to go to Sara Bell’s house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once
again Hoss was staring at a door, only this one belonged to the dreaded woman
herself. She had heard his advancing footsteps, and flung open the door to
greet him. Hoss nearly choked at the sight of her.
Sara
Bell was as skinny as Hoss was fat. Tall, with long, gangly arms and legs,
she could hardly walk across the yard without tripping over her own two feet.
Her hair was the color of hay, with about the same texture, and Hoss had
never seen it fixed any other way than in two long, skinny braids. She was
wearing a shirt that probably belonged to her brother over pants that were
obviously his, too.
But it wasn’t that Miss Sara
Bell was an awful person, thought Hoss, or even ugly, if she had taken a
mind to fixin’ herself up, the problem was that
she acted like a lovesick puppy dog any time she was around him. And now,
here he was alone with her for at least one whole day!
“Oh,
Mister Cartwright,” Sara Bell giggled flirtatiously. “So
nice of you to volunteer to come out and help me for today.”
She half skipped/half walked
to where Hoss stood and tried to daintily grab Hoss’ hand and pull him towards
the house. Unfortunately, she was graced with balance even less than she
was beauty. She tripped on a loose porch step and into Hoss’ sturdy grasp.
Sara Bell turned her face up toward Hoss’ and blushed.
“Silly me,” she mumbled.
“I guess you might wonna fix that step for me,
while you’re here.” She made no attempt to move from Hoss’ grasp, but he
quickly lifted her back to her feet. Realizing her lack of manners, she blushed
again, a darker shade of crimson.
“Please come in,” she gestured
into the small house.
“Oh,
no ma’am, thank you but I had better get right to work,” Hoss said quickly
before she had a chance to grab his hand and pull him inside. “Pa said there
was a lot to be done, and I need to be back home
in time for supper.”
“Oh, but Mister Cartwright, where would my manners
be if I didn’t serve you a piece of the cake I just baked, hot from the oven?”
Sara Bell answered sweetly. “Besides, your pa said you could stay longer
if I needed you.”
Hoss gulped, removed his hat and stepped inside
the door, not missing how quickly Sara Bell closed (and locked) it. Hopefully,
locking it was just out of habit, he thought to himself.
Sara Bell led him down the hallway to the kitchen,
and Hoss did have to admit that the smell of fresh cake was tempting. If
he could just eat it quickly and get outside again!
It had been three hours,
and Hoss was still inside at the mercy of Sara Bell. After declining a forth
piece of cake (which was actually pretty good---Hoss figured that God blessed
her with good cooking skills after neglecting her appearance), Hoss attempted
to go to work on the falling apart house.
Sara Bell had other plans
however, and Hoss was beginning to fall asleep listening to her countless
stories. Finally, he was aroused at his name being called out.
“Hoss?
Hoss, do you think that would be a good idea?”
“Wha...”
Hoss stammered. “Um, I don’t see nothin’ wrong with that atall.”
He smiled to himself at his quick recovery.
“Really,” Sara Bell squealed
in an almost indiscernibly high pitch.
Hoss winced and offered a
half-hearted smile. “Sure ma’am,” was his reply. Little did he know how difficult
that agreement was about to make his life.
Meanwhile,
back at the Ponderosa, Ben sat in his easy chair, leisurely reading his favorite
book. Adam watched his Pa for a moment before leaning back on the couch and
putting his hands behind his head.
“Hey,
Joe,” he said in an undertone to his brother, “Do you suppose Hoss is finished
fixing Miss Sara’s house yet?”
Joe
shrugged. “I dunno,” he said carelessly. I’m
just glad Pa didn’t make me do it.”
Adam grimaced. “Me, too.
I can’t see having her for a sister-in-law. You...”
Joe looked up quickly. “Adam, how dare you insinuate
that I would fall for her?”
Adam grinned. “I meant no harm. You rarely meet
a lady you don’t like, that’s all.”
“‘Lady’ being the operative word,” Joe retorted.
Ben looked up from his reading, obviously distracted.
“What are you boys talking about?”
Adam glanced sideways at Joe. “Pa, do you think
Hoss is okay? It’s been almost 4 hours since he left. Maybe we should ride
over and check up on him.”
Joe snickered. “Adam just wants to call on Sara
himself.”
Adam gave him a dark look that boded no good. “I
won’t even dignify that with a response.” Ben shook his head at both of them.
“Go ahead. But try to stay out of sight. You don’t want him to think you’re
interfering with his work.”
They rode in silence to Sara’s place, taking a
slight detour through the woods. Finally they reined their horses to a stop.
“That step is still broken,” Adam observed.
“Yeah, and the door is leaning at a crazy angle.
It doesn’t look like Hoss has done anything.”
“Speaking of Hoss,” Adam contemplated, “Where do
you suppose he is?”
“Should I sneak down and peek through the window?”
Joe asked.
Adam nodded slowly. “Yeah, go ahead. But sneak carefully.”
A short while later, Joe was
back. “Hoss is standing in the middle
of the living room floor, and he looks really sick!” he reported. “You don’t
suppose she poisoned him, do you?”
Hoss
was feeling sick, all right, but not from having been poisoned. He had just
discovered that he had agreed to take Sara Bell to the dance Saturday night,
and now she wanted to model two dresses for him to see which one he liked
best.
He knew he just HAD to think of some way to rectify
the mistake he had made, and never, ever let his brothers know about it,
or they would tease him for the rest of his life!
But how was he going to manage that without hurting
Sara Bell’s feelings?
“Here’s
the second dress, Mr. Cartwright,” Sara Bell giggled as she flounced down
the steps with a loud pink dress. It was about the most hideous thing Hoss
had ever seen. He was no lady, but the decorations of bows, frills, and ribbons
made him cringe.
“Listen, Miss Crawford, I--” Hoss started.
“Oh Hoss,” Sara interjected, “Please call me Sara.”
Noting the despondent look on Hoss’ face, she quickly added, “But...but if
that’s too informal for ya, then you can always
call me by my full first names, ‘Sara-Lee Bell’“.
Hoss ignored her gushing reply and continued. “Miss
Crawford...”
The girl’s face fell.
“I jus’ ‘membered that
I got some stuff to do on Saturday night.”
“What?!?” The lanky
girl seemed to explode, and she lunged at Hoss’ throat. “WHAT?!?”
By
this time Adam and Joe were both peeking in the window, trying to figure
out what the heck was going on. Unfortunately, they couldn’t hear what was
being said.
But it did look like Hoss
was in big trouble when the tall, lanky Sara-Lee Bell lunged at him, bows
and ribbons flying every which way!
“Should
we...” Joe began to ask Adam if they should come to Hoss’ aid, but Adam had
started to shake his head and grip his brother’s arm.
“No, Joe,” Adam stated. “Hoss
couldn’t be hurt if a full grown bull moose attacked him, much less that
skinny little Sara Bell. Wait for a few more minutes to see what happens.”
Joe agreed tersely, and both
brothers strained to hear words floating through the walls toward their waiting
ears.
Sara Bell was saying, “Hoss
Cartwright...I oughta....you dirty...”
Joe and Adam didn’t need
to hear the words in between to understand that the girl was furious.
Hoss just stood rigidly,
only using his strength to stop Sara-Lee Bell from physically harming him.
Psychologically, however, his conscience was getting the better of him, much
to his dismay.
“Miss Crawford, I didn’t
mean I couldn’t take you to the dance at all. I just meant that I might be
a little late pickin’ you up.”
Sara-Lee Bell stopped pounding
on Hoss at these words. “Why, Hoss,” she said sweetly, “I am so sorry I misunderstood.
I hope I didn’t hurt you!” and she fluttered her eyelashes at him.
“No, ma’am,” gulped Hoss.
“I’m just fine,” he said, not feeling fine at all. “Now about those chores...”
Adam
and Joe were outside the window sill, jaws dropping at the scene unfolding
before them. The voices of the two inside had dramatically quieted, and with
just a few simple words, Hoss seemed to squelch the woman’s anger at him.
After a couple more inaudible exchanges, Sara-Lee giggled at Hoss in delight,
pecked him on the cheek, and led him to the doorway.
“What do ya reckon she was yellin’
about,” Joe inquired of Adam.
Adam was still visibly in
shock, but quickly recovered, turned to face his brother, and quipped, “Probably
refused to marry her is all.” A smirk played at the corner of his full lips.
Joe, already unsteady on
his feet, fought to stay balanced, but the laughter overtook him and he toppled
over. A loud bang resonated at the side of the house where the youngest Cartwright
fell over. Hoss heard the commotion and quickly ran to find out what happened.
Fortunately,
Adam kept his wits about him and quickly dragged Joe into a nearby clump
of trees. By the time Hoss got around to the side of the house, the two were
nowhere to be seen.
“Musta been some kind
of animal,” Hoss said to Sara-Lee Bell, who had followed him outside. “Maybe a skunk.”
Adam had to cover Joe’s mouth to keep him from
giving them away again when he heard the word skunk. “Let’s get out of here,”
he whispered to Joe. “We have plenty of things to tease Hoss about when he
gets home.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It
was VERY late when Hoss rode up to the ranch house, and he was glad to see
that at least all the lights were off, so hopefully everyone was asleep.
The last thing he needed tonight was a lot of questions about how his day
had gone.
Hoss breathed a sigh of relief when he finally
reached the door to his bedroom. Now he could forget everything that had
gone wrong today for a few hours. But as he lit the oil lamp beside his bed,
he noticed something strange over in the corner of the room.
Crossing over to take a better look, he discovered
a tall stick figure wearing a pink dress covered in ribbons and frills and
bows! As his mind took it all in, he couldn’t for the life of him figure
out how anyone knew about this. Then suddenly it came to him; the noise he
had heard outside Sara-Lee Bell’s house--that was no skunk, but rather something
worse than a skunk! As he barreled into the hallway, his eyes were full of
rage.
Joe
had heard Hoss sneaking into the house, and had to fight to contain his laughter.
He anxiously awaited his brother’s reaction, holding his breath to hear better. He didn’t have to wait long. Hoss’ footsteps
were soon barreling down the hallway, and Joe’s laughter erupted.
Hoss narrowed his eyes. He knew that devilish laughter
anywhere.
“JOE!” Hoss lumbered into his younger brother’s
bedroom and pulled the boy out of bed by his foot. Joe landed in a heap on
the hard floor.
“I’m
gonna tan your hide good this time,” yelled Hoss
as he jumped onto the heap that was Joe. But Joe was too fast for him, managing
to roll to one side, pull the bedclothes over Hoss’ head, and sprint for
the door.
By the time Ben and Adam opened their doors, they
were just able to catch a glimpse of Little Joe heading down the stairs with
a pile of bedclothes right behind him. And as Joe and the bedclothes disappeared
around the corner, there came a terrible crashing sound that echoed into
the night.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve never seen Pa that angry in my entire life,
thought Adam as he stood at the door dressed in his Sunday best. He knew
he was expected, as a note had been sent and accepted. Not that he was happy
about it, but it was actually better than facing his father’s wrath, especially
since he had been the one who thought up the joke to pull on Hoss. Besides,
with Joe and Hoss now both laid up with broken
bones, it was up to Adam to finish the job. But he did wonder if his little
brothers had injured themselves on purpose.
His thoughts were interrupted, however, as the
door opened and he once again saw Sara-Lee Bell in her pink dress with ribbons,
frills and bows. Nothing about her had changed since he last saw her, not
even her hair, although he had been hopeful.
“Why, Mister Cartwright,” she said, batting her
eyelashes and swinging her hips from side to side. “It is so kind of you
to take Hoss’ place at the dance tonight. To tell you the truth, I only accepted
his invitation to be polite, because I have ALWAYS believed that it was you
and I who were destined to be together!”
And before Adam could even gulp, Sara-Lee Bell
pulled him into her house, shut the door...and locked it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Joe smiled at Hoss, lying tranquilly in the bed across
the room. They both had been placed in Hoss’ room together to keep one another
company. Joe’s leg was wrapped into a mummified state with bandages, as was
his arm, and Hoss reflected his image, only with a couple of broken ribs
to boot.
Hoss neglected to return the smile.
“What’s wrong, older brother,” Joe feigned innocence.
“Dadburnit, Little
Joe, this is all your fault. If’n you hadn’t a made me so darn angry we both might
not have broken bones right now.”
“What? You mean your bones really ARE broken,”
Joe stated slyly as he pulled the cloth wrap off his leg, and then repeated
it with his arm. “I’m so sorry, brother. Better luck next time! I’ll a...I’ll
see you later.” With an elfish snicker, Joe leaped up, snickering profusely,
and darted out of the room.
As soon as Hoss could find his voice again, he
yelled, “I’ll get ya back for this, ya dirty little rascal!”
Joe
stole out across the yard in a streak on Cochise’s back. He smirked at his
own cleverness. Pa and Adam thought he had a broken arm and leg, Hoss wouldn’t
bother him, and he was out to meet Helen Ferguson.
As he snuck to their secret meeting spot, he glanced
at a spot on a nearby tree that read JC and HF, surrounded by a carved heart.
He pulled a pocket watch from his green jacket coat. He was a few minutes
early, but that gave him time to pick a handful of the wild flowers for his
lovely lady. He set to work picking only the most delicate and vibrant flowers...the
ones he felt best represented his girlfriend, and, hopefully, soon-to-be fiancée.
As
he picked the flowers, his mind drifted back to the first time he had laid
eyes on Helen. She was so beautiful, he was sure that she had to be an angel,
and that he must have died and gone to heaven.
There had been other women in his life, of course,
but no one like Helen. It wasn’t just that she had outward beauty, which
of course she did, but there just seemed to be a glow that radiated from
her, and he was sure that it came from the beauty of her heart.
Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by the sound
of a rustling in the grass. Helen, he thought, starting to turn around to
greet her.
Then suddenly the world went black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back
at the ranch house, Hoss was furious. Not only did his younger brother cause
him to have broken bones, he got away scot-free. Prolly out with some filly,
Hoss thought in frustration. The only solace to the large man was that Adam
was taking his spot in his date to Sara-Lee Bell. Hoss smirked. He only hoped
Adam was enjoying himself.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam
definitely wasn’t. Although the offer had been to go to the social with Sara
Bell, the young girl hadn’t let him out her house yet. He kept suggesting
that they should hurry if they were to get to the dance on time, but each
time she dissuaded him, saying she’d rather talk to him.
Might
be better off, Adam mused. At least my friends wont
see her and me together, her with that HIDEOUS dress!
Finally
Sara Bell sidled over to Adam and put her long, twiggy arms around his neck,
Adam tried to pull away, but she held fast, pursed her lips, and moved to
kiss him. He panicked.
Adam
put his hands on her waist to push her away, but just then her older brother,
Duncan, entered the room. Both Adam and Sara Bell had been concentrating
so hard on what was going on between them (each concentrating in a different
way), that they had not heard Duncan unlock and open the door, nor had they
heard his heavy footsteps approaching down the hallway.
“ADAM CARTWRIGHT,” growled
“
“I
was just showing myself out,” Adam smiled innocently as he moved quickly
over to the door.
“You bet you were,”
“No, Dunckie,” Sara
Bell yowled. “I LOVE him!” With that she threw herself in the path of the
brawny fist, was punched unintentionally by her brother, and was rendered
unconscious. She fell into an overly exaggerated faint (as it seems the majority
of western women encounter), hand resting atop her brow, and sighed her way
into oblivion.
“Look what you made me do!” shouted
“Gladly,” sighed the relieved Adam, running
down the street towards the doctor’s office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By
the time Joe regained consciousness, dawn was approaching, and he was aware
of only two things, how much his head hurt, and how hard the ground was that
he was lying on, not the soft green grass where he had been picking flowers.
As he opened his eyes to try to look around, he
noticed that everything was blurry, and spinning around. He knew he had taken
a hard whack on the head, but why did his entire body hurt, as if he had
been in a terrible fight, and lost?
Did he dare to try to move, or was he better off
pretending to still be unconscious? If only he could get some idea of what
was going on around him!
Ignoring
the pain in his body, he groggily twisted his neck so as to see his surroundings.
He had decided it was better off to see what was happening. For all he knew,
whoever did this to him could be long gone by now.
The first thing Joe noticed when the haze began
to clear was that he was in a cabin of some kind, lying on the floor. His
wrists were not bound, but rather his ankle had a chain on it, much like
one used on prisoners. This was attached to the wall of the cabin, and appeared
quite sturdy.
The second thing Joe realized was that he was beaten
and bruised all over his body. Who could have done this to me, and why, Joe
pondered.
“So...you’re awake,” a gruff voice murmured.
Joe lurched his head
in the direction of the voice to see a man, his back turned to Joe, sitting
on a chair. Joe had no recollection of ever seeing this man before.
“What do you want with me?” demanded Joe.
As
the man slowly turned around, Joe was shocked at the sight of his face. The
left half of it was so badly scared you could not even see where his eye
had been! Obviously, he had been badly burned at some point in his life.
“So,” said the man, “I can see that your reaction
to me is no different than everyone else’s. Shock, disgust,
dismay. Always the same.”
“What do you want with me?” Joe demanded again, trying to rise to
his feet but sinking down again from weakness. “And who are you?”
“You haven’t heard about me?” the man snarled.
“Why I thought your little girlfriend would have told you the whole story
by now. But, no matter, it will all be over soon, now that I have you for
bait!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Several
hours earlier, Helen had arrived in Joe’s designated meeting spot. At first,
she was rather irked that he was late, and then started to become concerned.
Picking up her long, flowing yellow skirt, she made her way to the spot where
her and Joe’s initials were carved. “Joe, where
are you?” she inquired of the initials. Receiving no answer, she glanced
around until her large hazel eyes rested on a note under a rock. She berated
herself for not realizing that if Joe couldn’t come, he would leave some
message for her.
Helen smiled her mischievous, cocked grin and picked
it up, unfolded it, and gasped. The message read:
Remember me, my dear Helen?
I have come back for you, like I promised. I have your friend here with me.
Meet me alone at the old pottery cabin north of the lake. I have missed you;
perhaps now we can catch up on old times.
See you REAL soon, P. Galligher
Helen’s jaw set in determination. No way was she
going to let Peter Galligher get the best of
her and poor Joe. Hatred streaked across her eyes as she thought of what
the man had put her through so many years prior. She would triumph, even
if it meant her very life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By
the time Adam arrived back at the Ponderosa ranch, it was very late, but
he had no intention of sneaking in quietly and allowing his brothers to continue
picturing him in their minds at the dance with Miss Sara Bell.
Going into Hoss’ room, Adam lit the oil lamp.
“Wha...who...where’s
that dadburn light coming from?” snorted Hoss
as he tried to turn his head to look at the door. “I just now got to sleep!”
“Sorry, brother, but I wanted to report on my evening
out,” laughed Adam at the sight of Hoss squirming around in the bed, all
twisted up in his nightshirt and covers. “We did not go to the dance, no
one saw me with her, and you won’t be seeing her for awhile, at least not
until her black eye heals!”
“You HIT Miss Sara Bell?” asked Hoss, with disbelief
in his voice.
“Of course not,” snapped Adam, unable to believe
Hoss would even think such a thing; must be the medicine he’s on, he thought,
as he continued.
“It’s a long story, but...” Adam’s voice trailed
off as he finally noticed Joe’s empty bed. “Where’s Joe?” he asked Hoss in
surprise.
“That goldang brother
of ours was fakin’ it all along,” said Hoss,
glad that he could finally tell someone. But as he was about to continue
his story, there came a loud banging downstairs at the front door.
“Who on earth could that be at this hour?” mused Adam, as he started out of the room.
“I don’t know,” mumbled Hoss. “But I hope it’s
someone here to tell us that Joe is in a heap of trouble!”
As
Adam opened the door, he was surprised to see Helen pacing anxiously outside.
“Adam,” she breathed a sigh of relief, “Joe is
in a heap of trouble!” With this, she related the story of how she was supposed
to meet Joe out in the field, but then found the note.
After Adam read the disturbing letter, he looked
up to ask Helen, “Who is this P. Galligher?”
“Peter Galligher,”
she sighed, furrowing her eyebrows in scorn of the name.
“He...well...we
used to be, ya know, TOGETHER,” she blushed at
Adam as she relayed the fact. “He started getting violent, and when I attempted
to leave him, we got in an awful fight. Somehow a lantern got knocked over,
and the whole house burst into flames. I was close to the door and able to
get about before any harm came to me, but unfortunately Pete was stuck in
there for a while. He had to go east for medical treatment from his burns,
but before he left, he vowed to get even with me. I’m afraid he puts sole
blame of the fire on me.” Helen looked up at Adam, face reflecting the fear
she felt. “Oh Adam,” she sighed as she ran to the man’s side, “You’ve just
gotta help Joe! I don’t know what that awful
Galligher might do to him.”
“Alright,” Adam replied. “You stay here with Hoss.”
“Oh no,” Helen countered. “I’m going with you.
I got Joe into this mess, and I’ve gotta help
get him out of this.”
Adam nodded reluctantly, gave Helen an uneasy, tight-lipped
smile, and said, “Okay. C’mon, let’s go. There isn’t much time.”
“Good luck, Adam, Helen,” Hoss called from the
top of the stairs grimly. He had crawled out to the stair landing, unnoticed
by Adam and Helen until now.
“Thank you Hoss,” Helen replied. She quickly exited
the house, Adam following immediately behind her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By
the time Helen and Adam started on their way, Joe was able to stand and get
a better look at his surroundings. The man who had brought him here had gone
outside before Joe could get anymore information from him, including his
name. But Joe could tell he was the most dangerous kind of predator there
was; a man with nothing to lose, and murder on his mind!
Joe found that his first assessment of the chain
was correct; strong and sturdy. He was not going to be able to get if off
him, or out of the wall. He next looked around for something he could use
for a weapon, anything that might help him disable the man when he came back
in. But there was nothing within his reach, and very little in the cabin
in general. Joe had a feeling that the man didn’t actually live here, but
was using it as part of his plan to hurt Helen.
And what about Helen? Joe thought. How could what had happened to the man
have anything to do with his dear, sweet, beautiful Helen? And what was the
man going to do to her? He just had to find a way out, and soon. But how?
“Excuse
me, sir,” Joe bellowed, and he was instantly reminded how thirsty he was
by his dry, scratchy throat.
The gruff man barreled into the cabin. “WHAT?”
Obvious to Joe, the man didn’t like being interrupted,
as he came inside, whip in hand, ready to thrash his prisoner. Joe immediately
put up his hands in defense.
“I’m sorry, mister. I just wanted to ask you a
question is all.” The man cautiously lowered his whip, so Joe continued.
“Why do you want to hurt Helen?”
The man scowled, then
pointed at his face. “She did THIS to me. I want her to feel the pain I have
to feel, not only physically, but every time someone shudders when they see
my face. When she gets what’s coming to her, she’ll wish she’d never met
me.” His face contorting into a wild look, the man eyed up Joe. “She’ll wish
she’d never met you, too.” He cackled an evil laugh before turning on his
heel, leaving Joe shocked and dismayed behind him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Adam and Helen neared their destination, Adam
considered how best to handle the situation. Obviously, this Galligher fellow would be watching for Helen, and
he had told her to come alone. Adam wished she hadn’t come at all, because
he didn’t like the risk she was taking. But he knew that she was in love
with Joe, and arguing with her about coming would have just wasted time.
Perhaps he should have awakened his father, but
that would have taken time, too, and if this man was as dangerous as Helen
said he was, time might be something that was running out for his little
brother.
Suddenly Adam reigned in his horse, indicating
to Helen to do the same. “This is as far as we dare take the horses,” he
said grimly. “We’ll go the rest of the way on foot to keep from being heard
or seen.”
As they dismounted, Adam could tell by the position
of the sun that it was about mid-morning. How long had Joe been here already,
he wondered, and what kind of shape would they find him in? He said a silent
prayer that they would at least find Joe still among the living.
Helen grabbed onto Adam’s arm. “Perhaps I should
show myself to Peter, in order to get him out in the open,” she offered,
with only a hint of fright in her voice.
“No,” said Adam adamantly. “Let’s see what we can
find out first without him knowing anyone is here. Follow me, and do exactly
as I tell you.”
And with that they started walking quietly through
the woods towards the cabin.
As
they came nearer, a lone shadow was able to be distinguished by the side
of the cabin. It was impossible to be sure who the long shadow belonged to,
but it was moving about impatiently. The first thing that came to Helen’s
mind was if she could get a clear shot at the man or not. Truth be told,
she was petrified of the man...she knew what he could do. He had beat her several times before she made her desperate
escape. He had even once come after her with a knife, and she had a scar
to prove it. Helen wanted to be rid of him, and glanced at the gun in Adam’s
holster. It would be no good to her, she finally realized. Pete Galligher was too far away, to be shot at from this
range.
Adam was eyeing up the situation thoughtfully.
The man was guarding the only doorway to the small shack, and appeared to
be scanning the area in expectancy. A single window adorned the side of the
house the man was guarding, so looking in to see if Joe was alright wasn’t
an option. Joe, how do you get yourself into these
messes, Adam thought in frustration. I swear---if I get that boy outa this mess alive, I’m gonna make sure he has a
bone or two broken for good to make sure he doesn’t go anywhere for awhile!
Helen’s voice interrupted Adam’s thoughts. “Adam?
I better go and get Peter to come out to me. Maybe then you can kill him.”
Adam turned to look at the girl next to him in
shock. “Helen, we’re not gonna kill him unless he tries to kill one of us
first!”
“You don’t know what this man is capable of, Adam,”
Helen warned.
Adam tried to squelch her fear of the man unsuccessfully,
“I’m sure he’s not as bad as you think, Helen, at least not bad enough to
kill on the spot without so much as a reason.”
Helen’s hazel eyes brimmed with tears as she gripped
Adam’s arm. “Not bad? Look at what he did to me, Adam,” she growled, hiking
up her dandelion yellow skirt. Adam looked away as a jagged scar showed itself
up the length of her thigh. “He didn’t think twice when he did this! Please,
let me go talk to him. Ambush him and knock him over the head if you must,
but please let me help get Joe out.”
Adam sighed with trepidation. “Okay,” he mumbled.
“But give me a minute to get to that edge of bushes right there, where I
can sneak up behind him.” Helen nodded with apprehension. “And, Helen? Be careful.”
Helen managed a smile as she crinkled her lightly
freckled nose with a fear beyond mortal words.
Inside
the cabin, Joe was becoming more desperate with each passing moment. Not
knowing what the man actually had in mind for Helen, or for him either, made
it difficult to come up with any plan of action. He felt helpless, and it
was not a feeling he was used to or liked.
Just then he heard a voice outside the cabin, saying,
“Alright, Pete, I’m here. Now take me to Joe.”
Recognizing the voice, Joe called out, “HELEN!
GET AWAY FROM HERE AS FAST AS YOU CAN!”
Startled, Helen turned her head toward the cabin,
while at the same moment Peter grabbed her around the waist and dragged her
through the cabin door!
Adam was FURIOUS with himself for not reacting
in time to stop what had happened. Why did I ever allow Helen to go to that
man? If anything happens to her I will NEVER forgive myself! he thought angrily. But at least he knew Joe was alive,
having heard him call out.
Slowly Adam made his way to the window, which presented
him with a grim picture of what was happening inside. There was Joe, chained
somehow by the leg, and looking like he had been almost beaten to a pulp.
And there was Peter Gallagher, standing near the middle of the room, with
his arm still around Helen’s waist, and a gun pointed at her head!
Just then Adam was aware of movement behind him.
Gun already drawn, he jerked around, only to hear a familiar, and welcome,
voice.
“It’s me, Adam, it’s
Pa,” Ben whispered. “Hoss told me what happened and where I could find you.”
“I’m glad you came,” whispered Adam back in a strained
voice. “I’m going to need all the help I can get here!”
Unaware
of people outside, Peter held the gun steady to Helen’s head as she shook
in fright. Joe strained against the chain unsuccessfully, all the while calling
Helen’s name. Pete cocked the gun and watched Helen squirm, than laughed
as he pulled it away.
“I could shoot you right now, but I wont. It seems too decent a death for you. Look at
what you did to me, Helen,” the man said as he pulled her face toward him
so she could see the gruesome burn scars across his face. “I want you to
feel what it is like to be ashamed of who you are, and to have others scorn
you because of circumstances beyond your control.”
Helen tried desperately to worm away from the solid
grip, but this just made Pete angrier. He backhanded her cheek with a resounding
thud, and she stopped squirming and complied to
his grip. Slowly, Pete gathered both of her wrists in one of his meaty hands,
and stated, “I heard this fella of yours is pretty
popular around these parts. Wonder how people would react to find out you
just stood by and watched him get killed.”
Peter lowered the gun to aim at Joe, who looked
around for a way to avoid getting shot. The chain attached to the wall was
too short to give him a chance to run. Even if he did miss the first bullet,
the second or third would certainly find him. Terrified, but with a brave
facade, Joe turned to face the doom that surely awaited him.
“No, please don’t do that,” Helen begged. She kicked
and fought to loosen herself from her captor’s grasp, or deter his aim, but
he was too strong and she too weak. “You want ME, not him!”
Although it took less than two seconds, the moment
seemed to freeze: Joe, defiantly glaring down the killer; Helen, fighting
to save the man she loved; and Galligher, smiling
in a sick enjoyment at what was about to happen.
As
he slowly lowered his gun, Gallagher laughed an evil laugh. “Naw, shootin’ you is too
easy, and death wouldn’t come slowly enough! What I mean to do with the two
of you wont be easily forgotten, or the scars
easily hidden.”
With that, he took a firm grip of Helen’s wrists
in one hand, and, reaching in his pocket with the other, pulled out a vial
full of liquid.
“Look,” said Joe urgently, “do anything you want
to with me, but let the girl go. What happened between you and her was an
accident. If you want to show how tough you are, then deal with a man, not
a lady.”
“SHUT UP!” yelled Gallagher. “I will do what I
plan to do, and BOTH of you will suffer the consequences! Do you see this
bottle I have here?” he asked, holding it up to the light. “This here liquid
will do as much damage to the skin as fire will, and it only takes a few
drops to do the job.”
ACID! The word raced through Joe’s mind. Was he
planning on using it on both of them, or did he have other plans as well?
I must keep him talking, Joe thought. It will give me more time to think
of what to do. Why on earth had Helen come alone? If only his family knew
what was happening!
Adam
and Ben had been watching everything inside from the grimy window. They thought
of charging in and surprising Galligher, but
both knew how risky that was. Helen was in front of Galligher,
and he could easily use her as a shield against any passing bullets. They
had to wait for the right opportunity to storm in.
Currently, a weary Joe was chattering at Galligher with urgency. Neither Adam nor Ben could
see the vial which the man held.
Inside, however, Galligher
had put the gun to the side, and was opening the liquid, about to pour it
onto Helen’s squirming hand. In desperation, she kicked Galligher, and the vial jiggled just enough to spout
a drop of the liquid on the man’s hand. He yelped in surprise, and Helen
ran for the gun. Galligher saw her actions and
ran to Joe, shielding himself behind the chained man.
As Helen twirled around, gun in hand, she saw Galligher holding Joe in an inescapable grasp. Joe
gripped Galligher’s arm, which was holding him
across his chest and neck, and the vial was being brandished as a weapon
over Little Joe’s face.
“Put down the gun, Helen,” Galligher instructed the girl.
Helen considered shooting Galligher’s
hand, but she didn’t trust her aim. Joe’s face was right behind it, and if
she shot Galligher’s hand, the bullet could go
right through it!
“Put the gun down or this pretty face o’ his aint gonna be pretty no
more.”
Joe tried to tell Helen with his eyes just to shoot
the man. He’s gonna do it to me and you if you put the gun down, Helen, so
just shoot him and save yourself!
Helen saw Joe trying to tell her something. She
knew he wanted her to shoot Galligher, no matter
the consequences to him. Helen had no idea how exactly she knew this, but
she did. She struggled between her own wish to remain unharmed and the hopes
that Adam would come in soon and rescue them.
“Galligher,” she asked,
“Will you promise not to hurt Joe, only me?”
“Just give me the gun, Helen,” Galligher replied.
Slowly, Helen shook her head. “No”.
Outside, Adam and Ben waited with apprehension.
They had finally seen the vial, and knew it must contain something awful
to make Galligher scream when it got put on his
hand, and to make Helen want to put down the gun, which, although she wavered
several times, still hadn’t done. Father and son held their breath. They
couldn’t do anything yet. When had everything turned into such a big mistake?
As
Helen continued to hesitate, Joe squirmed around as best he could to try
to give her a better shot at Galligher. As he
did this, he knocked Galligher off balance, causing
him to drop the vial, and the acid spilled onto the floor.
“YOU WON’T WIN!” screamed Galligher
as he let go of Joe and lunged toward Helen. She fired the gun just as he
reached her, but only managed to graze him on the shoulder. As their bodies
hit, they fell to the floor, knocking over the oil lamp on the table. The
lamp landed between them and Joe, hitting the acid that had streaked across
the floor and causing an eruption of flames.
Just then, Adam kicked open the cabin door and
Ben rushed in. “JOSEPH!” he yelled as he saw the fire racing toward his son.
In the meantime, Galligher
had regained possession of his gun and pulled Helen to her feet. “Drop your
guns!” he yelled at Ben and Adam, pointing the gun once again at Helen.
The two men immediately did as they were told,
realizing the urgency of getting to Joe.
Galligher kicked the guns aside, and pulled Helen out the door.
“You’ll never see her again, Cartwright,” he yelled, and the two figures
disappeared around the side of the cabin!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Helen
fought the loathsome grasp that held onto her. “Joe! Joe!” she called. She
had seen the fire heading toward the youngest Cartwright before Galligher herded her outside. He threw her onto the
horse’s back and was on behind her within seconds.
Blood was seeping from his shoulder wound onto her. Helen was utterly disgusted
and tried to throw herself from the horse.
“STOP IT,” Galligher
yelled. The last thing Helen remembered before blacking out was the butt
of a gun coming toward her temple.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Inside
the cabin, Joe searched for a way out of the flames. He was trapped. He could
see the smoky figures of his father and brother through the growing fire.
His thoughts, however, were for Helen.
“Pa,” he yelled, “go
get Helen! That man’s gonna kill her!”
His father called out something to him, and he
heard Adam calling his name with instructions to follow. He couldn’t concentrate
on what they were saying. The smoke was filling up his lungs, and he coughed
uncontrollably. His body was already weak from the beating he had encountered,
so he was slowly loosing consciousness from the lack of air and that heat
that caused sweat to flood down his face. So this is how I’m gonna die, Joe
thought. God, kill me if you have to, but save Helen! This was his last desperate
plea before he passed out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Adam
and Ben watched helplessly as Joe collapsed from the other side of the flames.
How could they possibly reach him in time?
Ben was frantic, and he called his son’s name forlornly.
“JOE!”
Adam tried to keep his cool, but the stress was
wearing on him! How could he get to his Little Brother before the flames
did? There was only about one or two seconds before the fire would engulf
Joe!
Suddenly,
Adam remembered seeing a barrel of water sitting on the porch by the front
door. As he ran to it, he quickly jerked off his jacket, dipped it in the
water and covered his head with it. As he ran back inside he scooped up his
gun from the floor and headed towards Joe. Bending over the still figure,
Adam shot the lock off the chain holding Joe, and dragged him to the door,
where Ben helped lift him outside.
“Joe, can you hear me?” beseeched Ben as he bent
over Joe’s limp body, now lying on the ground outside the cabin. “Can you
hear me? Please, wake up, son,” Ben continued as he massaged Joe’s chest,
hoping to force some air into his lungs. Adam stood by helplessly, coughing
from the smoke he had inhaled.
Suddenly Joe’s body gave a jerk and he started
coughing violently, trying to inhale fresh air at the same time. He raised up on one arm, Ben pounding on his back. After
what seemed like hours, the coughing ceased, and Joe was able to sit up without
aid.
“Helen,” was the first words out of his mouth,
spoken in a gasp. “Where is she?”
“Don’t worry, son, we’ll get her back,” answered
Ben with obvious relief in his voice. “They can’t have made it far yet.”
Joe got onto his hands and knees, and then stumbled
onto his feet. “A horse,” he tried to scream. “Get me a horse!”
Ben glanced at Adam. “I’m on my way to where we
left the horses,” Adam replied to Ben’s unspoken request.
As
Adam was sprinting in the direction of the animals, Joe looked deep into
his father’s eyes. “Pa,” he said, “he wants to kill her! That man wants to
kill my sweet Helen!”
Ben merely nodded in silent recognition.
The moment Adam returned with the horses, Joe jumped
on the back of the one that Helen had rode in on. It was a small animal,
but known to be one of the fastest in the area. Joe sent the horse into a
steady gait, and Adam, on Sport, and Ben, and Buck, were
not far behind.
All three of the present Cartwrights understood
that time was against them, but luckily Galligher
had been riding double with Helen, so that alone would slow him down some.
But who knew what the insane kidnapper could do!
After several minutes, Joe saw the figure of Galligher on a horse, clutching tightly to a limp
Helen. His stomach lurched, and he began to close the gap between them.
Ben and Adam both hoarsely whispered Joe’s name.
If Joe ran toward the criminal, they would be risking Helen’s life. A surprise
attack was their only hope.
Joe stopped Helen’s horse and turned to see what
could be so important to want him to stop right now.
“Joe,” Adam instructed, “you ride straight up behind
Galligher, I’ll go around to the left, and Pa
to the right. We’ll try to cut him off that way.”
Grimly Joe nodded, and the three went their separate
directions.
But
before any of them could get close enough to do anything, Galligher jumped off his horse, pulling Helen’s seemingly
lifeless body with him, and got down behind a section of boulders.
“I know you’re there, Cartwright,” he yelled. “But
it’s too late; no one can help your Helen now!”
Anger surged through Joe at the thought that Helen
might really be dead. He leaped off his horse and went running towards the
boulders, with no thought to his own safety. He didn’t even have a gun!
“JOE,” yelled Adam, as he pulled his gun out of
its holster. “GET DOWN!”, and Adam fired at the place he had last seen Galligher. He then leaped off his horse and took cover
behind some tall, thick bushes.
At the same time, Ben drew his rifle out of its
pouch, jumping off his horse and taking cover also. He heard rifle fire being
directed towards Joe, and fired his rifle at the boulders, just as he saw
Joe go down.
Not knowing if Joe had been hit or not, Adam and
Ben stopped firing to see what would happen next. Looking out from their
hiding places, they saw a welcome sight!
Joe was crawling slowly and carefully towards the
largest boulder. No more shots were being fired at him, so he hoped that
he could move all the way unseen. Maybe Galligher
already thought that he was dead. But he knew he had to take the man by surprise;
with no weapon on him, Joe would have to rely on his hands and brain to bring
Galligher down. And neither part of him was working
as well as he wanted it to. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Behind
the boulder, Galligher had seen Joe fall. He
sneered happily at the sight, then shrank down
to Helen’s body. He shook her awake and then asked, “Ya see what you done, Helen? That boyfriend of yours
is dead! I hope you’re happy.”
Galligher,
the evil inside him seeping from his every pore, gripped the weakened girl
by the throat and began to strangle the very life out of her. Helen attempted
to scream and fight back, but already her body was being deprived of oxygen.
Black spots started to appear in her vision, but among them, the face of
Joe Cartwright appeared on the large rock above Galligher’s
head.
“Joe...” Helen sighed
the name. Galligher, stunned that the woman would
utter the man’s name, loosened his grip slightly and turned around, just
as Joe was flying down off the bolder onto the surprised criminal!
Joe
and Galligher rolled across the hard ground,
with Joe ending up on top of the larger man. Joe knew he had to take advantage
of this position quickly, so he began to pummel Galligher
in the face as hard and as fast as he could. Being stronger, however, Galligher pushed Joe off, rolling to one side and
jumping up on his feet. He then grabbed Joe by the collar and pulled him
up, smashing him in the stomach with his powerful fist. Joe crumpled to his
knees, but managed to grab the big man by the legs and, pulling forward,
caused Galligher to fall backwards. As Joe dove
onto Galligher once more, the two men rolled
down the hillside on the opposite side of the boulder from where Adam and
Ben were.
As soon as Joe had leaped over the boulder, Adam
and Ben headed in that direction, but they were quite a ways from it. As
they ran, they could hear the muffled sound of men engaged in battle, and
both knew that Joe was in no shape to handle Galligher
alone for long.
Just as they rounded the boulder, a shot rang out,
and they saw Helen holding a gun which was pointed at the two men, who were
both lying on the ground.
Helen
had shot at the ground, intending to miss, but just get the men’s attention.
It would have been impossible to decide who was who in the tangle of arms
and legs. Unfortunately, they had thrashed about right as Helen pulled the
trigger, and now, though it was obvious one of the men had been hit, it was
impossible to decipher who.
Helen stood with her mouth open in shock. If she
had killed her beloved Joe, than she would have to kill herself too, she
decided. She found herself gripping tighter to the barrel of the pistol and
beginning to tilt it toward herself, ready to do what needed to be done if
Joe wasn’t alive.
Adam and Ben ran to Joe’s side. Galligher was on top of him, and they both pulled
up on the man. He was dead. Joe, however, had been smothered by the larger
man. Under other circumstances, he would’ve jumped right back onto his feet,
but between the beating, the fire, and the one-on-one battle, he had collapsed
into unconsciousness.
Helen saw the limp body of the only man she had
truly loved before her, and gasped before putting the pistol to her head.
Adam happened to glance up at the distraught girl
as she had gasped, and jumped at the sight of her about to kill herself.
“Helen! Don’t!” Adam yelled in desperation.
Adam’s
voice managed to penetrate the thick fog in Helen’s brain, and she suddenly
realized the foolishness of what she was about to do. With a shaking hand,
she dropped the gun, then lowered her head into her hands and began to sob.
Adam gently put his arms around her, and said,
“It’s alright, Helen, everything’s all right. Joe is alive, just unconscious,
and Galligher is dead. He will never hurt you
or Joe again!”
Hearing those words, Helen leaned into Adam, sobbing
even harder, but now with relief, not sorrow!
PART 2
As soon as Helen was able
to see for herself that Joe was alive, she allowed Adam to take her home,
while Ben started out to the Ponderosa, holding Joe in front of him as they
shared the same horse.
After examining him, the doctor said Joe was lucky
to be alive, and ordered several days of bed rest so his body would have
time to mend, and Ben and Adam were making sure that he followed those orders!
But now, after 2 days in bed, Joe was restless,
and wanting to see Helen. Why was she taking so long to come see him? Adam
had assured him more than once that she was unharmed, except for a slight
headache from being knocked out, but Joe felt a desperate need to talk to
her.
As he lay in his bed staring at the ceiling, he
became aware of the sound of hoof beats outside his window. As he carefully
got out of bed to look, he heard the sound of his father greeting someone,
and then the welcome voice of his beloved Helen!
Joe also heard another voice,
too, but wasn’t too worried about it. His Helen was here to see him. Joe
scurried back into bed and put on his most pitiful, puppy-dog face. Might
as well milk as much sympathy from his girlfriend as possible!
After waiting several minutes, Joe was becoming
frustrated. What was taking her so long?
Down stairs, Helen was introducing her best friend
Penny Green to the Cartwright family. Penny was young and vibrant, and all
of the men were taken aback by her beauty, but especially Adam. When he saw
her, his face flushed with excitement, and he found himself to be speechless.
Helen waited with apprehension. She hoped they
would be a perfect match, but only time would tell. After a few minutes of
watching the tentative conversation between Adam and Penny, Helen remembered
why she had come.
“I’ll be upstairs,” she told the family, and quickly
bounded up the stairs to see her beloved Joe.
After knocking on Joe’s bedroom
door, Helen heard a rather weak “Come in,” and as she opened the door she
was struck at how pitiful her Joe looked.
All banged up and bruised, propped up by numerous
pillows and with the bedclothes pulled up to his chin, her heart went out
to him, and she rushed to his side.
“Oh, Joseph, I am so sorry for what happened to
you. It was all my fault! How can I ever make
it up to you?” she said, with love in her voice.
“Oh, Helen,” Joe replied, shaking his head. “You
can’t be blamed for anything that happened; it was all the fault of a very
disturbed man, who apparently had problems even before he was burned. And
don’t you know that I would do anything for you, even die, if necessary?”
“Yes, I do know that now,” Helen replied. “But
there still must be something I can do to make you feel better.”
With that opening, Joe pointed to his left cheek
and said, “Well, if you insist, right here is a spot that isn’t sore. Maybe
you could give me a kiss there?”
So Helen leaned over and kissed his cheek.
Then Joe pointed to his right cheek, saying, “This
spot isn’t sore either,” and again Helen leaned over and kissed the spot
he indicated.
Then Joe pointed to his lips, but before he could
say a word, Helen kissed them, and the two young people embraced.
After a few minutes, however, Helen pulled away
and sat looking at Joe with a seriousness on her
face that Joe had never seen before, and it made him feel uneasy.
Finally she spoke. “Joe, there is something important
that I need to tell you.”
Joe glanced away from the
hazel eyes which seemed to penetrate his very soul. After a moment, he timidly
looked back into the unwavering stare.
“What is it, Helen?” he asked nervously.
“Well,” Helen started, “You’ve probably been wondering
why it’s taken me so long to visit you.”
Joe nodded, slowly.
“It seems...well...it seems that I have to go to
“Why? Why do you have to go, Helen?” he asked.
Tenderly, Helen kissed his hand to lessen the blow
of her reasons.
“Joe, you’re not gonna like this...”
“Heck with what I like or not, Helen,” Joe said,
becoming slightly irate. “Please tell me why you have to go!”
Helen lowered her head in embarrassment and shame.
“Alright,” she relented, “but you must promise to hear me out before you
say anything. It’s something I’ve just gotta do. Promise, Joe?” She attempted
to kiss his hand again, but he pulled away, his eyes demanding a reason.
Sadly, she stood up to pace the room as she told
Joe her reason for going.
“My best friend from back
east arrived yesterday for a visit,” she began cautiously. “She is actually
downstairs right now, getting acquainted with your family, especially Adam,”
and she winked when she added that last part. “Anyway, she brought some news
with her that I found distressful. When I lived in
“Robert had to travel there immediately, and once
there, found that he would have to stay for at least a year to clear up all
his father’s affairs. He asked me to wait for him, and I wanted to, but then
my family moved out West. He and I tried to keep in touch, but it was just
too hard at that great a distance, so we finally said our goodbyes.
“Robert has been back in
Joe, feeling upset and not
wanting to hear anymore, remarked sarcastically, “And just how many of your
former boyfriends are going to keep coming back into your life? First, Galligher, and now this Robertson fellow. Who’s
next?”
“Joe, please don’t be angry with me,” Helen pleaded,
coming to sit once again at his side. “I love you, you know that, but I feel
that I can’t continue planning my life without at least helping Robert to
be able to plan his life too. My friend, Penny, says there is a chance he
could recover completely from the malaria, but he needs nursing care, and
can’t afford it. Since Penny is interested in seeing what life is like out
here, she could stay with my folks and I could go to
As Joe looked into Helen eyes, which were begging
for understanding, he couldn’t stay angry any longer. “You are right, Helen,
I don’t like it,” he said, “but I do understand your reasons, and I admire
your desire to help your friend. Your caring spirit is one of the things
that first attracted me to you, so how can I attempt to squelch that now?”
“But,” he added, as this time he took Helen’s hand
in his and kissed it, “I must make sure that you know how much I love you,
too, and how much I already miss you.”
“I do, Joe,” said Helen as she laid her head on
his chest and he began to stroke her hair, “and I miss you already, too.
But thank you for believing in me, and my need to see this situation through.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Downstairs, Penny and Adam
were really hitting it off. She was instantly attracted to his dark seriousness,
and became intrigued with his every word.
Adam, in turn, was enjoying Penny’s company.
“Penny,” he looked deep into her eyes as he asked
her (by this point, Ben and Hoss had left to tend to other matters, seeing
as how their guest was being well entertained), “how long are you planning
on staying?”
Penny replied, “Well, I told you I was from
“Yes, you did.”
“Helen is going back there to care for her old boyfriend,
and---”
“ANOTHER one,” Adam asked, his eyebrows suspended
in surprise.
Penny had heard the story of Galligher’s recent
visit. Although she had never said it out loud, Penny was secretly embarrassed
of her best friend’s many boyfriends.
“Yes,” Penny said, “another
one. Helen’s been with a lot of guys before. She’s not a bad person, she
just falls in love too easy.”
“Sounds like Joe,” Adam muttered,
smiling slightly. Guess they’re better off for one another than they realize,
Adam surmised.
Penny didn’t hear the last
interjection Adam made, so she continued, “I’m not like that, though.” Color
began to rise in her cheeks. “I like to think things through before I do
them.”
Adam grinned, then asked, “Would you like to go to the Friday night
social with me?”
Penny smiled. She had been
hoping he’d ask. “Yes, I would LOVE to.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Joe and Helen
were still in one another’s embrace.
“Helen? When are you leaving,”
Joe inquired.
“First thing Saturday morning.”
Joe turned Helen’s face up
toward his. “Then will you go to the social with me Friday night?”
“I can’t stay out too late,
but yes. I’d be happy for you to be my escort, Joe Cartwright!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Helen and Penny made their
way back to
Then Helen asked Penny how
she liked the Cartwrights.
“Oh, they were very nice.
I felt sorry for Hoss, though, having to hobble around on crutches. He seemed
really sweet.”
“Alright, what I actually
meant was, how did you like Adam,” laughed Helen,
knowing Penny deliberately left him out.
“He was nice,” was all Penny
said.