FALSE WITNESS




 

By Julie Burns

 

 

CHAPTER ONE

 


As the wagon bumped along the road back towards the Ponderosa, Ben Cartwright looked down at his sixteen-year-old son, who was laying down beside him in a deep sleep. The sleep was not a natural one, however. It came as the result of the drug combination that Doc Martin had administered only a few hours ago. It was supposed to help Joe not feel any physical pain from the injuries he had sustained.

But what about the emotional and mental scars that had been left behind? What about them, Ben asked himself.  How long would they take to heal? Would they ever heal? Would his young son ever recover from the torment that he had suffered at the hands of Butch Thomas over the last month?

If he could turn back the hands of time over the last few weeks and foresee what would befall his youngest son, Ben would have taken the boy out of harms way. He would have simply packed up Joseph and one of his other sons, Adam or Hoss, if necessary, and made sure that Joe was safe in another town away from the dangers that lurked.

Ben caressed the boy's soft curls, but his son didn't respond to his touch. It was like a brick wall had been built between them, and it was getting harder and harder to reach in and find the real Little Joe.

The boy had changed so much over the past few weeks. He had been a confident young man full of energy and laughter who filled the house with love and joy.  Now the boy was sullen and withdrawn and spoke rarely unless asked a question, and even then it was a battle to get some sort of answer.

Ben swore to himself that he didn't care how long it took, but he and his eldest two sons would be there every minute of the day and night, if necessary, to bring the boy back from the brink and back into the safe and loving arms of his family.

"He alright back there, Pa?" Hoss asked, as he guided the wagon team as slowly as he could over the rough dirt road back to the Ponderosa.

"As well as can be expected I guess, Hoss," Ben replied in a voice that held no emotion at all.  "We will just have to see how he goes over the next couple of days. It is going to be a difficult time for us all."

 

 

Hoss nodded and turned his attention back to the wagon team. As they pulled up outside the ranch house, Adam came outside, followed by Hop Sing. Adam had ridden on ahead of the rest of his family to make sure that everything would be ready in time when Hoss and his father arrived back with Little Joe.

Adam looked at his father before attempting to take his younger brother out of the wagon.   He hadn't heard the tone of Ben's voice just a few hundred metres back, but he saw the tiredness etched on his father's face and the worry embedded deep into his father's brown eyes.  His father looked almost a broken man. The thing that allowed the man to go on lay beside him wrapped up in the blankets. Adam didn't want to contemplate how his father would have gone on if Joe had not come back home. He couldn't put into words himself how he would have felt.

 

One sixteen-year-old boy held the magical golden key to all their hearts and kept them all united.  Now, when this same boy had fallen along the way and looked to be heading away from his family, it was up to that family to make sure that the boy knew they all loved and needed him endlessly.

The dark thunderclouds above once again threatened to bring down the heavens in torrential rain. They needed to get the boy inside and into his bed before the rain started. The last thing he needed with all his injuries at the moment was to get sick. Hoss thought back a moment and thought that it had been raining a few days before this all started to happen as well. ‘Funny how history had a way of playing on your memory, wasn't it,’ he thought to himself.

"Take it easy, Adam," Ben said, knowing that his eldest son was already aware of Joe's injuries.   "We have to check that those stitches in his side are still in place when we get him settled upstairs. Heaven knew what that rough road had done to exasperate the pain and agony his son felt.

Ben managed to move the still sleeping Joe into a half-sitting position so that Adam could wrap his strong arms around the fragile boy and lift him out of the wagon. Ben could feel a little warmth emanating through the cotton shirt that Joe wore over the top of the heavy padding and bandages around his chest.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few spits of rain began to fall just as Adam made it to the porch with Joe nestled in his strong arms. The boy had lost so much weight from injury and stress over the last few weeks that he barely weighed anything, his brother noted with dismay. Ben picked up the tails of the blankets from behind Adam and followed his eldest son, as he carried Joe into the homestead.

Adam had made sure that Joe's room was already warm enough before the wagon had pulled up outside. He walked into the house and climbed the staircase carrying his precious burden that failed to make a single sound.

Adam laid his unconscious brother on the clean sheets, and made sure that he was resting comfortably on the pillows while his father started to take off his shoes and socks.

Hoss had volunteered to put the horses and the wagon away, but both Adam and Ben knew that it was eating the middle Cartwright up inside to see his younger brother like this. It went against the very grain of things in Hoss's eyes that this had happened to his brother. He hated the men who had done this to Joe. He hated the Judge who had put the boy through so much humiliation in front of everyone. He hated the justice system that put it’s sole trust in the opinions of a few witnesses.  He hated himself for being so angry.

Inside, Joe had not awoken as such, but he seemed to be having a battle against unseen demons again. The demons had probably been created from the memories of the real monsters that had stalked him and then caused him so much hurt and pain. Suffering and fear that he had hidden from his family. A deep gnawing fear that bit into the boy’s very soul and stole his spirit with it.

Ben sat on the edge of the bed, forgetting all about undressing the boy. For now, the only real important thing was to let the boy know that his family was right here with him and that he was loved.

Ben spoke softly to the boy, reminding him of how much his family had missed him and how proud they had been of him over the last few days. While Ben talked, Adam went about finishing the task of undressing the boy from his good clothes that he had worn to court. The jacket had been left back at Doc Martin's due to the damage caused to it. Ben had declared the garment beyond repair or salvage and could no longer bear to look upon it and see it stained with his youngest son's blood.

 

 

Adam unbuttoned Joe's trousers once the boots were removed, and had to keep his own anger in check as he saw the bruises and scratches that marred the boy's pale flesh. The trousers had been a little stubborn at first due to the thick bandages still adorning the boy's left shin.  The bandages would remain on for at least another month or two, Doc Martin informed them, before it could be removed and Joe be allowed to put full weight back on that leg.

Hoss had returned to the house, and now came into the bedroom, carrying the other reminders of Joe's injuries. He propped the two wooden crutches up against the wall in the far corner of the room. It was doubtful that the boy would be leaving his bed anytime soon in the next few days.

The crutches told the story that Joe needed more than his family's love and caring at the moment just to stand. The boy had stumbled a number of times while trying to manoeuvre back and forth from the witness stand. To Hoss and the rest of the family they only seemed to confirm their fears about how badly Little Joe had been hurt.

Joe was sleeping soundly upstairs and was probably due to stay that way for several more hours to come. After Adam had managed to get one of Ben's shirts over the boy's head and bandages, they tucked the blankets in around the boy. Adam and Hoss had bid their younger brother good-night and left their father to a more private time alone with his son.

Ben had continued to talk soothing words to his son as he slept. He caressed his face, then bent down and gently kissed the boy on his bruised cheek before leaving the room.

About an hour after the Cartwright’s had returned home the three eldest of them now sat downstairs in the living room. All three were lost in their own thoughts about the events that had taken place over the last month.

Ben's mind started to take him back to a time about a month ago when everything seemed to be going fine. If only he could go back there now.

About a month earlier:

”Come on, Hoss!” an excited Little Joe shouted as he descended the wooden staircase  two steps at a time. 


 

 

 

 

”Joseph, do you need to shout so loud this early in the morning?” Ben Cartwright said in mock annoyance as he watched the eagerness of his  youngest son.   He smiled to himself and hoped that the excitement inside Little Joe remained until the boy himself was an old grey man.  It was this excitement that kept rejuvenating the youth in all of them.  Even Hop Sing seemed to have an extra hop in his step these days just to keep up with the youngest member of the family.


”I wish you were this eager to get out of bed on the mornings I try and wake you up for school, short shanks,” Hoss said, as he calmly walked down the stairs whilst putting on his vest.

 

“School ain’t as exciting as this, Hoss,” Joe explained as he sat down at the table to join the rest of the family for breakfast.

”Are you sure that you have packed all you will need, Joseph?” Ben now asked, wanting to make sure that the two brothers had all the essentials needed with them for their expedition.   This was the first hunting trip that Joe was going on without his father, and therefore Ben was just that little bit more nervous.  He knew he could trust Hoss better than most people, but that security didn’t stop him worrying.

 

“Yeah, Pa,” Joe answered in an exasperated tone.  He knew that his father was worried about him and Hoss going off hunting on their own without their father or Adam to supervise.  He rolled his eyes a little at the over-caring he was getting.   “I’ve got three changes of clothes.  Hoss has already loaded all of the supplies including my rifle and the fishing poles,” he replied.

 

“And that’s another thing, young man,” Ben said, as he caught the tone in his son’s voice.  “You are only to use that rifle when Hoss is watching you and instructing you, is that understood?” he asked sternly.   Although Ben had bought the rifle himself about a year ago now, he didn’t like the idea of a young inexperienced person having full use of a deadly weapon.   Joe was sensible to a fault, but it was that impulsive nature and the frequent mistake to act first and ask questions later that made Ben more afraid than most father’s with their young sons and guns.

 

Over the past twelve months, under Ben’s and Adam’s careful guidance, the boy had shown a genuine aptitude at handling a rifle.  Ben had watched the boy shoot at targets more than 50 metres away and get a result that would make any adult proud.  

 

 

 

 

Ben had wondered whether Joe’s left-handedness would prove an obstacle at first but after only a few brief practice sessions, it had become obvious that the fact that Joe used his left hand was more of an advantage than a disadvantage. 

 

”Come here, Joseph, please?” Ben asked, as he sat down on the settee and indicated to his youngest son to join him.  “There are just a few things that I want you remember before you leave.”

Little Joe made a face as he knew what was about to come.  “Aw Pa, I already know what your going to say before you say it,” he said in an over exaggerated voice.  “Joseph, don’t ride too fast.  Joseph, listen to what your brother tells you.  Joseph, don’t wander off alone.  Joseph,……….”

 

“Joseph, don’t take that attitude with me,” Ben said in the same type of voice that his son had used. “Or you won’t be going anywhere at all, young man,” Ben said sternly without injecting too much anger into the words and put a dampener on the morning before it even began.

 

“I want you to have a good time and enjoy yourself, Little Joe, but I also want you to do as your brother Hoss asks and keep safe during your trip,” Ben said in a gentler voice.  “Don’t be in a rush to do anything. You have plenty of time.  Make sure you both come back in one piece and safe and sound.”

”I promise I will behave myself, Pa,” Joe replied.  “and have a good time with Hoss as well.”   Joe then raced off the settee and rechecked that he had everything that he wanted to take with him.   Whilst he was out with Cochise and made sure everything was tied on properly, Ben had a little heart to heart chat with Hoss as well as to what he expected of him and Little Joe this weekend.

 

“Everything should be fine, Pa,” Hoss said, trying to reassure his father that he would bring his youngest son back to him safe and sound.   “Its only two days out and only one night at that,  we should be back by about mid-afternoon on Sunday if everything goes smoothly enough.”

 

“Where are you planning to take your younger brother on this hunting expedition, Hoss?” Adam now asked.   He asked the question for two reasons.  One, for curiosity sake and the regret that he wasn’t joining his brother’s in a nice couple of days off from work on the ranch. 

 

 

 

 

Two, whilst he had no qualms about Hoss’s ability to handle most situations that might arise whilst they were out there alone, Adam was also only too well accustomed to his youngest brother’s whimsical nature and his often bad misjudgement about things. 

 

 Joe was a good kid most of the time, but he had the quirky ability to wrap almost anybody to his advantage and this was even more so for his brother Hoss.  Adam just secretly hoped that his larger brother would be able to see past the large emerald green puppy dog eyes and the irresistible smile that the kid flashed when he wanted to get his own way.  Only time would tell if he will see past that, Adam told himself.

 

“Probably as far as ‘Pine Valley’, Adam,” Hoss answered.   “Its not totally off the Ponderosa, but far enough away for the kid to enjoy the scenery and camp underneath the tall trees up there.  We can camp near one of the small streams up there and catch some small fish for supper if no other game is seen beforehand.”

 

Ben and Adam were both secretly pleased with Hoss’s choice of venue and knew that Hoss was right.  Although “Pine Valley” was in one of the far corners of the Ponderosa lands, it was more than half a day’s ride away and definitely far enough away to make a camping trip out of the expedition.   

 

”Come on, Hoss, or it will be dark before we even get there,” Joe shouted from the front porch as he tried to hurry his brother along.   Joe then mounted Cochise and held out the reins to Chubb for Hoss.   He grinned back at his father and other brother as they watched from the front doorway and then gave them a quick enthusiastic wave

before nudging Cochise forward.

 

Ben watched the two riders until he could no longer see them.  Many thoughts raced through his mind as he was reminded that this was Joe’s first hunting trip without him alongside.    He kept telling himself that everything would be fine, but deep down inside he couldn’t wait until Sunday afternoon again when he saw them arrive safely back in the yard at the house.

***********************************************************


 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER TWO

 

 

”What are we gonna do first, Hoss?” Joe asked, as he rode alongside his brother with a million different thoughts going through his mind.

”Whoa, wait until we at least get there, short shanks,” Hoss said, as he chuckled at his brother’s impetuous nature.   Joe was already to set off at the drop of a hat.  It was often up to his family to see that he didn’t stray from the straight and narrow whilst failing to see what was up ahead of him.

”When we get to ‘Pine Valley’, the first thing we will do is choose a camping spot near the stream for tonight.  Once we have unpacked everything and secured the supplies from the native wildlife, we can go out and have a look for what might be around.     Later towards the afternoon we can do a spot of fishing in the stream to catch us some supper,” Hoss explained what he had mapped out in his head for the remainder of the day.

 

Once they had reached the area where Hoss intended to make camp, Little Joe seemed to want to do everything in a hurry.   He started off at first by trying to set up the tent at first.  Unfortunately, he tried to set the tent up too close to the stream that bubbled along beside them.  It took a lot of persuasion from his big brother for Little Joe to believe that camping that close to the water was dangerous.  

 

Little Joe couldn’t see how such a little stream could possibly swell overnight and threaten to flood their camp area, but Hoss knew from experience and teachings that Pa and Adam had given him long ago that due to the rainfall they had had over the last couple of weeks, the risk was too great to take.

 

Little Joe settled to setting up the tent in an open spot just the other side of a large tree.  He had trouble trying to get the main pole to stand up straight.  On a couple of occasions, Hoss had watched the youngster struggle with the tent until there would be a slight cry for assistance underneath the massive folds of the tent fabric that engulfed

Joe once the pole started to bend and fall down inside.  

 

After about an hour of struggling between themselves the tent was finally declared fit for living in for the night.   Hoss hadn’t thought far enough ahead to see his brother’s small size being more of a disadvantage than he would have thought.

 

Joe had always been smaller than his brothers.  Hoss had always been there to help him along and would continue to do so.  But it was at times such as this, when two sets of hands were better than one, that Hoss realised he would have to take on most of the physical work himself.

 

The next step in the construction of their campsite was the fireplace in the middle.   Hoss explained to a curious Joe that they needed to keep the fire going not only for cooking and warmth during the night.  But the heat of the fire and the red flames would also act as a deterrent to any wild animals that might walk into their campsite by accident.    

 

The mention of wild animals seemed to enthral and scare Joe all at the same time.  He seemed anxious to see something as spectacular as a grizzly bear or a large moose, but the thought of running into such a dangerous animal out here all alone in the woods also made him a bit afraid.  He was really glad his big brother Hoss was with him to protect him against such things.

 

With the campsite completed as much as possible, Hoss decided that it was time to stop working and have some of that fun that he had been promising his brother all day.  He told Joe to get his rifle and that they would take a walk through the forest and see what they could find.   He looked up above and was mindful to keep an eye on

the sun and take stock of the time.  

 

Hoss knew that they would only be able to be out for just over an hour before they would need to start getting supper started.   Hopefully, an hour would be long enough to wear his Little brother out enough for the time being.  With the walk and the long ride from home this morning, both of them should enjoy a peaceful night’s sleep.

 

Joe kept his gaze skywards for the majority of the walk.   He was awed by the large trees and their canopy that darkened the forest floor.  It was hard to see where you were going sometimes and on two occasions, Joe had absentmindedly tripped over a protruding root that was unseen.  Both times he had just looked embarrassed rather than hurt and Hoss had ribbed him about watching where he was going.

 

After another five minutes through the tree line, Joe had almost tripped over something else hidden in the dirt.  He managed to side step this obstacle and was about to look at his brother for the returned snide remark.  Hoss however had a different look on his face this time.

 

 

 

Hoss wasn’t even laughing the slightest bit at what he saw his brother step over.  It wasn’t a tree root this time or a piece of fallen branch from higher in the tree.   This time the very sight of this metal object made Hoss’s temper flare and his inner calm to boil over.    He was looking at a rusty old steel trap that some tracker had carelessly left behind.  

 

“Step away from that thing, Little Joe,” Hoss asked in a calm but serious voice.  He picked up a large stick from the forest floor in an attempt to stop the potential injury to anybody else or any other living thing.  The fact that these things even existed went against everything that Hoss saw as good and right. 

 

 Hoss couldn’t bear the thought of any animal lying hurt or injured at anytime,  not even the ones that people often despised like wolves and foxes.  The fact that men laid these vicious things around so that some animal could be trapped in one and live out its last few minutes or hours of life in absolute agony didn’t sit very well with the big man at all.   

 

“What are you going to do, Hoss?” Joe asked in a quiet voice.  He knew his brother’s feelings when it came to injured animals.   

 

“It might look old and rusted, Little Joe, but I’m gonna make sure that this evil thing can’t hurt anything else ever again,” Hoss answered. “I’m gonna set the trap off so that no animal can get it’s leg caught in it and bleed to death or scream in agony as it bites off it’s own leg from the pain.”  At least when we go hunting, animals are killed properly and humanely.  There ain’t nothing worse or more dangerous than an injured animal.”

 

“Be careful, Hoss,” Joe said, as his brother moved closer to the trap with the stick held high in the air.

 

“Its alright Joe, I know what I’m doing.  I’m just going to release the jaws by sticking this big stick on the plate,” he explained.  The edge of the stick pushed the metal plate in the centre and the jaws snapped shut with a rusty sounding jerk.  “If an animal did get it’s leg caught in something as rusty as that, then the animal would probably die more from infection to the wound than from getting caught in it at all.”    

 

Hoss then walked over to the trap and lifted it from it’s position buried in the leaves and the dirt on the ground.  He swung the trap around as hard as he could and then released it, allowing it to sail through the air and then break into a few big rusty pieces as it landed hard in the dirt over 30 metres away.   Hoss was at least a little relieved that the trap wouldn’t be able to inflict any more pain.

 

“Come on, Joe, let’s go back to camp and get supper started,” Hoss said in a glum voice.  Having to deal with something like that had taken the spring out of his step suddenly, and he didn’t feel much like going for a walk any further now.

 

 Joe was a bit on edge when they returned to their camp site.   Joe had rarely seen his brother so mad about anything.  Hoss was always the calm and rational one.  He  was the one ready to hear the other side of the story before judging a man.  This was the brother who forgave others’ mistakes more easily.  

 

Although his brother had appeared deadly calm this afternoon when talking about the metal trap they had seen.  Deep down, Joe knew that his brother was like a smoking volcano ready to explode when he knew there was an animal that had deliberately been injured or left to suffer.

 

Although Joe knew that Hoss would never show that kind of anger towards him or any other human being, the whole episode still made Joe uneasy, and he made a point of it to tiptoe around his brother for the rest of the afternoon until his brother’s mood had improved.

 

It didn’t appear that Joe would have to wait too long for this to happen, though.  By supper time, Hoss’s mood seemed to be much improved as they both talked idly about everything whilst Hoss prepared their evening meal of beans and bacon and coffee.   

 

The sun was beginning to melt into the horizon, but the temperature remained warm due to the humidity.   There was still the potential for a storm and rain later on in the night so they would have to be vigilant in case they had to shift camp during the night.

 

“What do you think about me dropping out of school, Hoss?” Joe asked.  The question seemed to come out of the middle of nowhere.  It had been a subject that had been on Little Joe’s mind for the last couple of months.  Every time Joe brought the subject up around the dinner table, it only ended in an argument between Ben and his youngest son.  

 

The tension between them over the subject  was so thick at times that you could cut it with a knife.   Joe made it more than obvious that he didn’t see any point to continuing his education.   He had told his father that he wanted  to work with the rest of the ranch hands.   He had proved over the last twelve months that he was more than capable of carrying out any of the work that was expected of his older brothers.

 

 

 

Ben, on the other hand, was just as adamant that Joe would not be dropping out of school until he was finished with his education.    Ben expected Joe to learn as much as possible during his school years, no matter how physically capable his youngest son thought he was. 

 

Hoss and Adam felt that they were in the middle of this continuous argument.  Neither of them wanted to take sides, and that was again how the subject remained tonight as Joe asked his brother the question.

 

“Well, Joe,” Hoss began uneasily, trying to pick his words carefully so as to explain what he thought his brother should do without setting of that infamous Joe Cartwright temper, “I think you should try and learn as much as possible from school.”

 

“Your just like Pa,” Joe retorted back as he had expected Hoss would be his one true ally.  “After all, it was you that dropped out when you were my age,” Joe accused his brother. 

 

“Yes, that’s true, Little Joe, but it was different in my case,” Hoss said, trying to explain why he had been allowed to finish school early. “In my case school work wasn’t meant for me.  No matter how hard I tried, I just never seemed to fit in.  The kids were all much younger and much smaller than me.  I seemed out of place.

 

Some of the ranch hands talked to Pa and told him how much they needed my help with the stock and after a time my work around the yard just outweighed the time I spent at school.  But its different with you, Little Joe”

 

“How’s it different?” Joe asked his brother with a touch of jealousy in his voice “School work doesn’t exactly suit me either, but every time I try and talk to Pa about leaving to help out at the ranch, he just yells until we both get angry and stop talking to each other.  I don’t want it to be that way, Hoss.  I just want him to understand my point of view and listen to what I want for a change.”  The anger had now been replaced by tears, and Joe turned his face away in embarrassment at having revealed too many of his feelings out loud.

 

Hoss moved closer to his little brother and put a comforting arm around him.   “I’m sure if you just wait your time, Joe, Pa will listen and understand.  You gotta understand, though, that schooling is real important.   Let’s talk about something else tonight, huh?”   

 

 

 

 

Joe tried to get himself under control and cursed himself inwardly for having revealed more than he had wanted to tonight.   “Sorry, Hoss,” he said through the sniffles.  “Didn’t meant to sound like such a spoiled brat,” he added.

 

“We are used to it, Little Joe,” Hoss said with a laugh and quickly dived back to the fire and dinner before the playful punch that Joe had released could find it’s mark.  

 

For the rest of the night, whilst eating their meagre meal, Hoss and Joe talked about many different things.  It was at times like these that Joe felt most at ease.  Maybe that was why he had decided to talk to Hoss about his schooling. 

 

When he was with Hoss, he felt like he could talk about anything and his brother would listen without jumping in at the wrong moment like Pa and Adam often did.  

 

About half an hour after the meal, Hoss had been talking idly when he looked down and wondered why his audience had been so quiet.  He soon saw the reason and chuckled to himself.  The boy had fallen asleep with his empty plate in hand.

 

Hoss moved silently and quickly, just in time to catch the tin plate as it dropped out of Joe’s sleep-limp hand and threatened to wake the slumbering boy with a clatter as it hit the dirt ground.  Joe had fallen asleep sitting against one of the supports for the tent.  

 

 Hoss put a large hand on Joe’s back and eased the sleeping boy to a laying down position underneath the primitive looking shelter.  He was fairly certain that Joe wouldn’t wake again before morning.  The ride, although not exceedingly long, had been long enough, and that encompassed with the walk earlier in the day, the boy was just plumb worn out.

 

Hoss went about cleaning up the dinner dishes and securing their supplies for the night and then settled himself down on the crude bed beside his brother.   Joe must have been tired, he told himself, because when he laid down, he saw that the boy had barely moved.  

 

Even the blankets that Hoss had secured around the sleeping figure were

more or less still in the same position.  His brother must have really been worn out.   “Night, little brother,” he whispered and closed his own eyes in sleep.

 

It was just before dawn the next morning when a strange noise awoke Joe from his deep sleep.   Hoss had been right about the boy’s tiredness.   He yawned widely as he sat up under their make shift tent and tried to figure out what had woken him up.  He looked over at his brother Hoss and groaned loudly when another large snoring sound escaped Hoss’s lips. 

 

At first he thought it must have been this sound that woke him up, but just as he was about to lay back down again and close his eyes, the noise he had heard earlier came again.  It was a low moaning sound.  Whatever it was, it wasn’t coming from Hoss this time. 

 

Joe thought it best that he get up and investigate.  Hoss was still asleep and he felt silly waking his brother up from a perfect sleep over hearing a strange noise in the dark.  Hoss would probably call him silly as well and tell him to go back to sleep anyway.

 

Joe got up silently and crept out of the tent.  He walked over and started to stoke the dying embers of the fire while he waited to hear the sound again.  He didn’t have to wait long.

 

The sound came again, and Joe tried to work out in which direction it was coming from.  After another low moan, Joe started heading down towards the stream.  He was certain that this was where the noise was coming from.

 

Joe neared the stream, but at first he couldn’t see anything that would have made such a low moaning sound.  Just as he was about to head back towards the camp site, he heard the noise again.  This time it was coming from his right.  He looked over and could see a dark shadow about 50 metres away near the water’s edge.

 

He was a bit apprehensive to approach the shadow until he could see clearly what it was, but finally he found his gut instinct telling himself that it might be somebody in trouble that needed his help.   He built up as much courage as possible and started to walk towards the large bulky shadow.

 

As he got closer, the moaning started getting more frequent.  He was about 10 metres away when suddenly he could see two beady eyes looking back at him through the half-lit sky.  He wasn’t sure what it was at first.  The sun wasn’t fully up yet, and there was only a dull hue over the mountains giving him any sort of view of the area.

 

 

 

He stopped where he was and waited until he could see more of the shape before approaching any closer.  Gradually his vision improved and he finally was able to see what it was.   He blinked twice to be sure that what he saw was real.   

 

When he looked again he could see the same thing again, and he started to smile as he looked back at a cute cuddly bear cub.   Joe guessed that the cub couldn’t be more than six months of age. Its fur was still very fluffy in places and long from his winter hibernation.  

 

The cub gave another low moan and Joe realised that it had been the bear cub making the noise the whole time.   The animal sounded as if it was in pain.  From where he was, Joe couldn’t see why the bear would be in pain.  He started to walk closer.  He had failed to note the possible danger that lurked out there.  If the bear was so young, where was it’s mother?  This question had yet to cross Joe’s curious mind.

 

As Joe reached  the bear cub, he could now see the reason why the animal was in pain.   The cub must have wandered away from it’s mother.  One of it’s rear paws was now snared in a similar trap partially submerged in the mud of the stream bank.   Joe could see the rusty jaws biting into the soft furred paw of the cub.   He quickly looked around for something nearby to help release the trap and the bear’s paw.  

 

Joe found a thick stick about a meter long.  He neared the cub and softly spoke to let the bear know that he didn’t mean it any harm.  He gingerly placed his hand on the bear’s soft fur coat in order to gain it’s confidence.   The bear seemed calm enough at the moment although in pain as it again moaned at the trap’s torment. 

 

Joe’s face was now a mask of concentration as he tried to remember what he had seen his brother do the afternoon before setting off that other rusty trap.  The problem was that the trap Hoss set off had been empty while this one still had an animal trapped in it’s jaws.

 

 Joe carefully placed the stick in the small gap that existed in the jaws and used all his might to try and pry the metal teeth apart.  Joe had been concentrating on the trap too much and failed to realise that once the jaws loosened their grip, they would cause more pain to the bear cub.  Although the cub was only half grown,  the claws on the end of it’s front and back paws were sharp enough to cut into the soft flesh of a human arm.

 

 

 

 

Joe let out a scream of pain of his own when he felt the bear cub’s paw scrape down the top of his right arm.   Even though Joe had a thick coat on, the claw easily cut into the thick material and then into the white skin of Joe’s arm.   The wound began to sting as it started to bleed through the overcoat.   Joe still remembered the bear, though, and saw that his efforts had worked enough to free the bear’s paw from the trap.

 

The bear was now sitting partly in the water while nursing the wound on his rear paw.   Joe was sitting on the grassy bank only a few metres from the trap nursing his own wound.   He tried to hold back the tears of pain as he touched the jagged cut and blood started to stain his fingers red.

 

Hoss, who had been asleep as his brother had left him, instantly awoke when he heard his little brother’s scream.   He sat up in a hurry and briefly looked over to see the bed beside him empty.  He dashed out of his tent to find his brother.   He heard the boy’s cries again and headed towards the stream a few metres away.

 

He could see his brother sitting on the grassy bank, holding onto his right arm and grimacing in pain.   He could also see the bear cub sitting in the water with the paw in his mouth.   

 

“Are you alright, punkin?” Hoss said with worry as he knelt down beside his brother and take a look at his injured arm.

 

“I was just trying to help him out, Hoss,” Joe said, as he bit on his lip to stop the tears.  He then proceeded to tell Hoss about what he had tried to do.  He pointed to the partly submerged trap and then to the bear cub that still nursed it’s injured paw in the water.  

 

Hoss soon realised about the cub’s mother, knowing that a cub that young wouldn’t be far from its mother.   This alerted Hoss even more to the danger that Joe could have been in.  Hoss hated to even contemplate what sort of danger Joe might have put himself in if the cub’s mother had come across his innocent attempts to free her baby.  Even the baby’s claws could have made a deeper wound than they had.  

 

Hoss took out his handkerchief and asked Joe to take off his overcoat so that he could look at the gash.  Joe obeyed but winced as he tried to remove the overcoat.  Some of the material had become stuck to the wound due to the bleed and stung a bit as it was pulled off the skin.

 

 

 

Hoss tried not to look worried for Joe’s sake as he glanced at the wound.  The bleeding had slowed down somewhat, but Hoss could see that the injury could use some medical attention. 

 

Hoss wrapped the material around the wound and told Joe to put his over coat back over the  top.  It would be a good six hours’ ride before they would be safely back at the ranch.   Being a wound from an animal, Hoss wanted to make sure it was clean and free from infection. 

 

Hoss helped Joe to stand up and they both headed back to the camp site.  Hoss hurried in heating some coffee and a few beans for breakfast, but neither he or Joe felt much like eating.  While Joe’s reason was more because of  the physical pain he felt, Hoss’s was more due to the worry about what he was going to tell his father when they got home.  

 

Hopefully Joe would let Hoss just tell Pa nice and quietly what had happened before Pa had a chance to get mad at him.  Hoss felt as though he had let both Joe and his father down.  He had promised to take care of Joe and now Joe was injured, although it hadn’t been entirely anybody’s fault.   He doubted Pa would see it that way.

 

Joe sipped at a cup of coffee, but the incident by the stream had shaken him a little.   He sat sullen and subdued until Hoss had gathered all of their belongings and supplies and told Joe that they were ready to start the journey home.  Joe didn’t want to start for home so early, but he knew that Hoss was worried and knew that he would have to help his brother explain what had happened to his father.

 

Half-way through the journey home, Joe dozed off in his saddle and Hoss was concerned about the boy falling out of the saddle in his sleep and injuring himself further.   He brought both mounts to a stop and very carefully transferred the sleeping Little Joe in front of him on his own horse.  Then he started Chubb on a slow walk again, leading Cochise behind him.

 

As Hoss neared the Ponderosa homestead, he felt the worry about his brother begin to lift from his shoulders.    He knew that Joe’s injury wasn’t life threatening, but he felt responsible, nonetheless.

 

Due to the slower ride home, the sun had begun to set a few hours ago leaving only a soft hue in the sky as Hoss rode his big horse Chubb into the yard, leading Cochise behind him.

 

Hoss looked down at his young brother who was snuggled up close to his large chest.  He hated to wake up the boy, but he needed to get down and stretch his weary body from the long ride in the saddle.

 

Over the last mile or two he had been rehearsing the lines in his head that he would say to his father to explain the little mishap that Joe had fallen prone to.

 

The bandage had managed to stay in place for most of the trip and was hidden from view at the moment under Joe's warm coat.

 

"Little Joe," Hoss said in a gentle voice as he nudged the boy awake enough to get off the horse. 

 

Hoss looked up to see his father and big brother Adam walking towards the pair of them.    Joe had seen the two of them as well and this put a spring into his step.

 

Little Joe ran and launched himself into his father's waiting arms and relished the warmth and security that only that embrace could offer.    

 

Almost immediately Joe was off into a tirade of words at an impossible speed.  He barely took a breath as he tried to fit the entire trip into one long unbroken sentence for his father and brother Adam.

 

"Slow down, Little Joe," Ben said gently as he put his hand on Joe's upper arms to try and get the boy to calm down some.

 

"OUCH!" Joe cried out as Ben's hand encircled the bandaged cut on his arm.  The wound had stopped bleeding, but it was still rather tender to the touch.  "That hurts, Pa," he admitted and pulled himself away from his father to rub at his arm.

 

Ben now frowned, firstly upon his youngest son as he heard the cry of pain escape his son's mouth,  secondly, at Hoss who suddenly found the ground at his feet very interesting.

 

It wasn't that he hadn't intended on telling his father about Joe's little encounter with the bear cub.  He was just hoping for a more opportune moment.

 

That chance had been just blown to pieces by Joe's sudden exclamation as Ben touched the sore arm.    Adam's expression changed as he leaned back with his arms folded in front of him waiting for his younger brother's explanation to their father.

 

 

 

“What happened to your arm, Joseph?” Ben asked, as he tried to grab a hold of his son gently so as not to hurt him.   Joe gulped a little as he looked back at Hoss and realised that he had blurted everything out before Hoss had a chance to smooth things over.

 

“Let’s go inside first, Pa,” Hoss said in a nervous voice as he gave a quick smile back to Joe to say that he understood.  “Joe’s real tired after our trip, Pa, he went to sleep in the saddle.  If we go inside, I’ll explain what happened and you can tend to Joe’s arm.”

 

“And just what happened out there for me to need to attend to Joe’s arm, Hoss?” Ben asked again, trying to get the answer he desired before they went inside.

 

Hoss took Joe by the arm and started to lead him into the house.  Ben and Adam were left to follow with a million questions on their minds.

 

Outside, the sky threatened with a storm as a result of the hot conditions throughout the day.  That, combined with the humidity and the cool breeze that now blew, would result in thunder and lightening before dawn.

 

Joe now sat on the settee and started to remove his overcoat.   It was only now under the lights of the house, that Ben and Adam noticed the torn fabric on the sleeve of the coat.   They could also see some blood stains on the coat as well.

 

“Oh, Joe,” Ben said, as he spotted the handkerchief wrapped around the wound.  “What happened, son?” he asked in gentler tones.   Adam had gone to get a basin, some water and a cloth to clean the wound.    Ben tried not to look worried as he finally got to see the cause of his youngest son’s discomfort.

 

“How does it look, Pa?” Hoss asked anxiously.   He wanted to know that his little brother was going to be alright.   Ben looked up and saw the concern on his middle son’s face, but he forced him to wait until Joe was settled before finding out exactly what happened. 

 

Although he knew Joseph was quite capable of telling him, Hoss would be less dramatic and wouldn’t leave out any vital bits of information during his explanation.   By the look of Joe’s tired eyes, it looked as though the boy was ready for bed anyway.

 

 

 

 

Ben moistened the corner of the cloth in the warm water from the basin and gently dabbed at the wounded area.  Joe turned his head away, biting his lip and trying not to let his tears fall as a result of the stinging sensation.   Ben tried to be as gentle as he could, but he also needed to check that the gash had no signs of infection.  He needed to make sure that all the dirt and cloth had been removed from the wound.

 

Ben would have liked Paul Martin to have a look at the wound as well, but he had seen the sky himself earlier and knew that there would be quite a downpour before dawn. The wound looked clean enough.   He would get Adam to see Paul in the morning when Adam went into Virginia City to place the bid on the new lumber

contract.

 

Ben dried the wound, and when he was satisfied that everything was in order, he wrapped a clean white bandage around the gash.   He looked down at his son and noted that the boy could barely keep his eyes open.  He was quite certain that the boy wasn’t suffering from any ill effects of shock or loss of blood or any other more serious ailment.  The long ride home had simply worn him out.  Completing the same distance in under two days also made for a long arduous journey for any rider.  

 

“Alright, young man, let’s get you settled in your own bed,” Ben said.   Joe barely opened his eyes to his father’s request and obeyed completely as he found himself being lifted off the couch by his father and carried up the stairs to his bed. 

 

Adam and Hoss followed, just to make sure that Joe was alright.   Ben laid the already sleeping boy on the bed, and then covered him with a light quilt.     He brushed the stray hair out of the boy’s eyes and gently kissed him on the temple before bidding him goodnight.

 

Ben gestured Adam and Hoss out of the room, and the three of them went downstairs, ready for Hoss to relay what had happened.

 

Hoss poured himself a cup of coffee from the kitchen, and then proceeded to tell Ben and Adam about finding the rusty old trap the day before.   Ben and Adam could both sense the hidden anger slowly starting to bubble to the surface as Hoss spoke in low tones about his dislike of such tools.    Hoss didn’t think it was the time or place to discuss what Joe had said about dropping out of school.   He would leave that for another day.  

 

 

 

 

Hoss told them about hearing Joe scream early this morning and then coming down to the stream to see him rescuing a bear cub from another trap in the mud.    Ben paled as Hoss told him about the threat the mother bear might have posed to his youngest son and was grateful that Joe was now safe and sound in his own bed.

 

Hoss retired soon after finishing his cup of coffee, leaving Ben and Adam to talk further about the lumber contract they needed to worry about tomorrow.

 

Outside, the gentle spots of rain started to fall and within a few minutes became heavy soaking rain with flashes of lightening that danced across the sky and rumbles of thunder as the clouds came together.

 

Adam was due to put in the bid for the lumber contract the next morning.  He had spent most of the day before Hoss and Joe returned pouring over the figures, adjusting them here and recalculating them here until he was utterly sick of looking at numbers.

 

There was a new mine opening up on the Comstock.   The owner was a very wealthy man by the name of Rowland Collins.  At the discussion meetings earlier in the week Collins made it abundantly cleared to all interested parties that whoever took on his lumber contract could expect a lot of work to deliver the large amounts of timber required for the mine.  On the other hand, the right bidder could also expect to

make a handsome profit at the end of the day.

 

It was just the sort of opportunity Adam saw as a great investment not only to the Ponderosa but also to extend the lumber mill they had running and to employ some more local men.    However, the Cartwrights knew that there was at least half a dozen other people interested in bidding and winning the contract.  They were unaware of the methods that some of them would implore to get their own way.

 

Adam was part the way through telling Ben about his bid, and the figures he had carefully worked out for the contract, when there was a huge flash of lightening outside followed by a very loud clap of thunder.

 

The thunder had been loud enough to wake Joe from his sleep, and Ben immediately got up from the table and ascended the stairs as he heard his son’s whimpers of fright.   It was no secret that Little Joe was afraid of storms.   It had been something that started when he was very young, even when Marie was still alive.

 

 

 

The Cartwright’s had assumed that given time the fear would gradually subside as the boy grew older and more accustomed to the noise.  This was not to be, though, and to this day, on stormy nights, Ben and Adam could be assured of spending at least some time during the night consoling the frightened lad until he finally went back to sleep.

 

 

***********************************************************

 

The next morning Hoss and Adam were seated at the breakfast table with their father as usual.  Hoss was just about to complete his morning ritual of waking his younger brother for school when Ben put a gentle restraining arm on his forearm, as Hoss got up from the table.

 

“I thought I’d let him stay home today, Hoss,” Ben said, as he lifted his coffee cup to his lips.  He could see the questioning glances from both sons over the rim of the cup, and knew that he would have to explain his reasons to them both.

 

“I want Paul to take a look at that wound, just to be on the safe side,” Ben said  “And besides, after such a long trip I figured your younger brother could use the extra sleep.   Those roads leading into the city are going to be very boggy today, and I don’t want him riding to school on his own in conditions such as that.   He might come off Cochise on the way to school and cause himself a more serious injury”.

 

Hoss and Adam gave each other looks that said everything.  Ben could try and explain his actions as much as he liked, but both of his older boys knew that keeping Little Joe home today from school today was just him showing his concern for the boy and basically being an old mother hen.

 

Hoss had to laugh to himself about the conversation he and Joe had had about him dropping out of school.   Apparently, all Joe needed to do was show a little blood and give his father that sad puppy dog look to win him over, and he would be allowed to stay home from school.    Hoss was fairly certain that if Joe acted the part well enough he would be able to have his way almost as often as he liked. 

 

There was just something Joe possessed that enabled him to wrap his father around his little finger any time he wanted to.   Unfortunately, Hoss knew all too well that there were other family members who often found themselves being persuaded by those same big green puppy dog eyes when it suited Joe.

 

 

 

“I’d better make a start, Pa,” Adam announced as he got up from the table.   “As you say, those roads into Virginia City could be pretty boggy today, and I only have an hour before the tender closes on that lumber contract.”

 

“Be sure that you see Paul Martin before you make your way home and tell him that I would like him to stop by when he can and take a look at your brother,” Ben reminded him.    “And you might drop by and give Joe’s apologies to Miss Jones this morning as well.   Tell her that Joe can collect whatever extra work he missed out on tomorrow.”

 

“I’ll be sure to tell her, Pa,” Adam said  “And I promise that I won’t leave before seeing Paul.”

 

Adam bid his good mornings to his family and made his way out to the barn and his mount, Sport.  He had carefully folded the bid documents and tucked them into his jacket pocket.    He was cutting it a bit fine by leaving the bid until the last minute, but he was confident enough that the Cartwright tender would win the valuable contract when all the bids were compared with each other.   The profit they could make would set the Ponderosa up nicely for the next few months and hopefully see them successfully through the difficult winter ahead.

 

While Adam was riding along the road to Virginia City, the other bidders for the lumber contract had started to gather outside the general store for the closing time.    Due to the size of the contract, there were only a few serious contenders able to supply the large amount of timber sought.    There was Mr Bill Scruggs, who had a forest of logging timber over forty miles away from the Ponderosa.    A second bid had been placed by Mr Abner Taylor.

 

The third bidder had sent a proxy to do his bidding for him.   The man himself wanted to remain out of the public eye as much as possible.   Butch Thomas was the man hired to be his right hand man.   Being that right hand man meant doing everything that his boss normally would have done.   Butch Thomas didn’t care who he worked for or what the work entailed.   So long as there was a healthy pay packet at the end of every month he would do as he was asked. 

 

In a few of the towns just outside of Virginia city the man had quickly gained a reputation as being a harsh man with a mean fist and a quick draw.  He had rarely been seen in Virginia City and that suited him just fine.  If he was unknown, he could blend into the crowd easier and hide his true dealings. 

 

Thomas knew that his boss Henry Williams wanted this lumber contract.  It was the only thing that Thomas had heard the man talk about over the last month.    Williams had made it clear that he wanted the contract no matter what.   He had warned Thomas about the Cartwright family and their influence over much of the Virginia City population.  

 

Thomas had yet to meet any of the so-called Cartwright’s, but from what he had been told, they were the only ones that posed a real threat to Williams winning the contract outright.   

 

When Collins had first demonstrated his interest in obtaining timber in the area, Williams had been quick to take the new mining entrepreneur aside and forcibly impress his offers to fulfil the mine’s needs.   Collins, however, had backed away from the bullish tactics of Williams and openly invited tenders from all over the area before making a final decision.

 

Thomas looked at his watch and noted that perhaps his boss had been wrong about the Cartwright’s being a threat to his contract.   There was but five minutes to go before the tender closed, and he hadn’t heard any mention of the Cartwright name this morning.   

 

Collin’s secretary, Mr Eugene Nelson, now stepped out onto the veranda and looked at his watch also.  “Well, gentlemen, it looks as though it is almost time to close the tender and start examining the bids,” Nelson said over the bridge of his spectacles.    “Before I say ‘tender closed’, is there any last minute bidders yet to place their documentation before me for determination?”

 

The sound of a galloping horse could be heard coming down the street  now at a great pace.   Adam Cartwright bolted off his roan mount Sport and dashed towards Mr Nelson with his papers held out in his hand.  By the time he reached the veranda, he was slightly out of breath from his dashed efforts to get there on time.

 

The roads had been even worse than Ben had suspected and Adam was glad that his father had opted  to keep Little Joe home today and not allow him to ride along such roads on his own.   There were large ruts all the way down the road and some dangerous foot holes in places that could see a horse and rider come to grief if they were not totally concentrating.

 

 

 

 

 

“Sorry I’m late, Mr Nelson, but the roads are very bad today after the storm last night,” Adam said in his deep baritone voice.   

 

Thomas had been standing furthest away from the crowd, and now peeked a look at the new contender from underneath the brim of his hat.  

 

“That’s alright, Mr Cartwright,  I was a little worried that you weren’t going to make it on time.  I’m sure that all your papers are in order, Adam.   Please give my regards to your father when you return home,” Nelson said, as he took the bid documents from Adam.

 

“Gentlemen, as you are probably aware, going over all of these papers is going to take more than one day.  My colleague and I will look at all your bids in turn and assess them according to merit.   If you would all return one week from today at this same place,  my associate, Mr Collins, will announce the successful winner of the contract.    I trust you have a pleasant day,” he added and then turned to walk back to their makeshift office behind the General Store.

 

Mr Williams isn’t going to like this very much, Thomas said to himself as he watched Adam Cartwright mount his horse again and ride off back down the street.   

 

Adam had only travelled a few metres down the road when he saw the person he was looking for walking along the row of store fronts.      He hitched his horse at the nearest railing and went to speak to the silver-haired man known as Doctor Paul Martin.

 

Thomas had seen Adam meet with the middle-aged doctor and moved closer to the pair so as to try and over hear the conversation.    He knew very little about these Cartwright people, and much of what he had heard was by word of mouth only.  He needed to discover for himself what sort of men the Cartwrights were.  

 

The one known as Adam Cartwright certainly looked a good enough adversary.  Was the rest of the family the same?   Maybe Williams had taken on a family a bit more out of his league.  Maybe he would have to forget about this contract and look for another opportunity down the track.

 

It was only after hearing the conversation for a few minutes that Thomas began to gather information that might prove very useful.  

 

 

 

“Pa wanted to know if you could come out and take a look at Little Joe, Paul,” Adam said.  “He and Hoss returned from their hunting trip yesterday, but it seems Joe got clawed by a bear.  Its not too serious and Pa cleaned it out as best he could and kept Little Joe home from school today, but he wanted you to come and take a look and make sure that there was no risk of infection.   You know how Pa feels about his

youngest son,”  Adam added.

 

Paul Martin nodded his head in agreement.   If there was anything more stable in this world of uncertainty, it was the unconditional love of Ben Cartwright towards his sons and especially towards his youngest son Joseph.   It was no secret to Adam, Hoss or the rest of Virginia City that Ben looked out for the boy at every turn.   “I’ll just get my bag from my office, Adam, and I will get out there as I make my way to the Wilson farm.”

 

Thomas’s mind started filtering some of the information he was hearing.   Looking at Adam Cartwright, he guessed the man’s age to be about 27 or so.   But here he was talking about somebody else in the family who still attended school.   He had assumed, from the information given, that all the Cartwrights were grown men.  Listening to this conversation, it appeared that this was not the case.   Maybe there was some possible leverage here that might work to his boss’s advantage.  

 

Neither he or his boss were above such things as blackmail or physical force to obtain their objectives.  Williams normally just hired somebody else to do the dirty work for him.   Maybe there was a way to persuade the Cartwright’s to withdraw their bid from the tender with just the right amount of pressure and the right amount of threatening.

 

Thomas quickly withdrew from his current position in the shadows and walked down the alleyway in the opposite direction to avoid being seen.   He had to go back and tell Williams about the Cartwright’s putting in a bid, but maybe they could discuss an alternative way to win the contract back.

 

Adam mounted his horse again and started riding towards his last errand before returning to the Ponderosa.   He needed to get back and inform his father about the state of the road.   Hopefully with enough time left in the day, they could get a group of ranch hands together and do some repairs to the road before the afternoon was out.

 

***********************************************************

 

As Adam entered the house, he could hear his father’s voice echo throughout the room.  By the sound of things, his father was having trouble keeping an active 16 year-old boy entertained by himself.

 

“Joseph, will you please find something useful to do for the afternoon, or I will find some school work for you to do,” Ben threatened.    The morning had progressed relatively well due to the boy sleeping in until after 9.00am.    After a small breakfast, Joe had attempted to keep himself occupied by helping Hop Sing in the kitchen with his weekly baking.  

 

Hop Sing usually did a week’s worth of baking of  things such as bread, cakes and biscuits, that would see the whole family through until the end of the week.   If he did this, there only came the necessity to bake an occasional apple or apricot pie for dessert during the week.    Despite all of his culinary expertise, it was often the case that he ran out of pastries and sweet things early due to having to keep up with Hoss’s appetite.

 

Hop Sing didn’t mind cooking extra for his family.  It was exactly through these eyes that he saw the Cartwright family.  He had been there almost from the time Ben Cartwright arrived on the site of the yet to be Ponderosa.   He had seen the young men grow from young boys into mature and responsible adults.   

 

As for Little Joe, well, he would always have a special place in the little oriental man’s heart.   Hop Sing had been there when the little curly haired baby had demanded to greet the world three weeks early.   From the moment he saw the tiny infant, he had promised himself and the gurgling child in the crib that he would be there no matter what.  As the baby grew into a toddler and into a boy, those feelings only seemed to grow stronger until Hop Sing felt more protective than ever over the youngest member of the family.  

 

Nevertheless, all these feelings had been pushed to the limit this morning when Joe first walked into the kitchen and offered to help with the baking.   Within only an hour there was more flour and sugar on the kitchen floor and on Joe himself than in the mixing bowls.  

 

Ben had been busily working at his desk on some payroll figures when he heard the initial tirade of Cantonese followed by Little Joe running from the kitchen with Hop Sing close behind wielding a rolling pin.

 

“You tell little boy to keep out of kitchen or Hop Sing get mad.   Floor all white from split flour.   Little Joe too messy in Hop Sing’s kitchen.  Father keep boy busy or no supper fixed for tonight for anybody,” he said, as he stomped back towards his kitchen, still muttering some incoherent words.

 

“I was only trying to help, Pa,” Joe said giving his best innocent and hurt look to his father.   He had tried to mix the batter the way Hop Sing had showed him. It had looked so easy when he had seen it being done.  

 

Joe reached up and brushed some of the snow white flour from his curly brown hair and walked over closer to his father’s desk.   “I’m bored, Pa,” he finally admitted whilst sitting on the edge of the table.

 

“Don’t sit on the table, please, Joseph,” Ben said trying to keep his temper in check.   He knew that the boy meant well and didn’t want to hurt his feelings.  “How’s your arm feeling this morning?” Ben said, attempting to change the topic of conversation.

 

“Um, oh, its fine, Pa,” Joe answered too quickly.   Joe usually tried his best to hide how he was feeling physically.   He didn’t like being sick or injured, but the threats of getting a doctor were even worse to Little Joe, so he had  learnt over the years to hide his grimaces and keep his aches and pains to himself.

 

Joe knew it was pointless to ask his father about going outside, so he stretched himself out on the couch and tried to look as though he was reading one of Adam’s books.   Truth be known, Joe’s arm had begun to ache a little from all the mixing in Hop Sing’s kitchen.  

 

Ben was suddenly drawn away from his books and paperwork by the total silence of the room.    He got up from his desk and smiled tender-heartedly at the sight of his young son curled up on the settee, sound asleep.  

 

He couldn’t help but note how painfully much his son looked like Marie.  It was even more evident when those dark lashes closed over the boy’s emerald green eyes in slumber.    The boy looked no more than thirteen,  much younger than his actual age of sixteen. 

 

That was how Joe remained for over an hour before Adam came into the living room and heard his brother arguing with his father.

 

“How’d you go in town, son?” Ben enquired as he glanced up to see Adam walking in.

 

“Fine, Pa,” Adam replied  “Got the bid in just in the nick of time.   I think we should really well if we are lucky enough to win the contract.   I also ran into Doc Martin and asked him to come out,” he added and instantly knew he had gotten the expected scowl from Joe.    

 

Joe now sat on the couch, looking at the floor in a huff.    How things had turned against him so much in a day he couldn’t work out.    He had been yelled at and chased by Hop Sing with a rolling pin, he wasn’t allowed to do anything but look at the four internal walls of the house and now

 

Adam was telling him that Doc Martin was on his way as well.  Probably only to prod and poke him a bit and then tell his father that all he needed was rest.   Rest, in Joe’s opinion, was the last thing he needed right now. 

 

Adam could sense Joe’s unhappy mood at being cooped up in the house all morning, and he decided to help out both his brother and his father at the same time.  “Pa, that road going to Virginia City sure needs some repairing today.   There are lots of dangerous ruts and crevices since the storm last night.  I want to take a few of the ranch hands and fill in a few of those holes before somebody gets hurt.  It would only take somebody riding along that rode and not looking at where they were going to have a serious accident occur,”  Adam gave his father all the clues in the world to indicate that he actually meant his little brother. 

 

It was no secret that Joe rode his horse at neck breaking speed anytime his father wasn’t watching.   Joe would only need to race along the narrow stretch of dirt and have Cochise step into an unseen hole.   Both the horse and the rider could be seriously injured or killed.

 

Ben did get the meaning of his son’s suggestions.    “And I suppose you would like your younger brother to accompany you this afternoon as well, Adam?” he asked whilst looking in Joe’s direction.  Joe’s head quickly snapped up at hearing that he might be indeed rescued from his boredom.

 

“Could I really, Pa?” Joe said in his most innocent voice.    He gave a certain puppy dog look that all the other Cartwrights only knew so well, and both Adam and Ben rolled their eyes in mock disgust at the boy’s antics.

 

“I don’t really see why not,” Ben began,  “so long as you stick with Adam and do as you are told.   And after you have been seen to by Doc Martin,” he added and noted another scowl marring his son’s handsome face in an instant.   He and Adam chuckled out loud at Joe’s performance.

 

Waiting impatiently for another hour, Joe was soon being poked and prodded, like he had guessed, by the family’s physician and friend, Doctor Paul Martin.     

 

 

 

 

“I don’t think there’s too much to worry about, Ben,” Paul said, as he rewrapped the gash on Joe’s arm in a fresh bandage.  “The wound looks nasty, but its nice and clean and there is no sign of infection.   I think he should be right to return to school tomorrow although, it wouldn’t hurt for you to alert the teacher to the injury.   I wouldn’t suggest he play any rough games for a couple of days, and he shouldn’t be lifting anything too heavy.”

 

“Other than that he’s fit as a fiddle, Ben,” Paul said getting off the couch and preparing to leave again.

 

“Thanks for coming at such short notice, Paul,” Ben said, as he shook the doctor’s hand.   “I appreciate it.”

 

“Goodbye, Adam and Joe,” Paul said, as he exited the front door.    “Let me know if you need me again, Ben.”

 

Ben returned inside and noticed Adam getting ready to go back out and fix the road with the hands.  “You be careful, Joseph, and remember what the doctor said about heavy lifting.” 

 

“I’ll remember, Pa,” Joe said, a little exasperated.   He knew that his family meant well and cared for him, but sometimes he just wanted to be let alone to do things on his own. 

 

Adam and Joe spent a good three hours out on the road helping the hands to fill in some of the holes on the dirt road.    Joe had been restrained from doing too much by Adam and mostly watched as the men worked, but at least he was outdoors.  

 

A couple of times he had been able to shovel some dirt into the holes, but after only a few minutes, he discreetly put the tool down and rubbed at his aching arm.   He resumed his earlier position of watching from near the horses until they were ready to head for home.

 

That night the family settled at a fine table set for supper.  The topic of conversation changed a number of times from Hoss’s day with the stock to the progress of repairing the road.   Adam told Ben that he thought the road was now safe enough for Joe to go to school tomorrow.   

 

Adam had suggested that maybe somebody should ride with him in the morning, but Ben could see the temper flair in his son at this idea and calmly said that he was sure that Joe would be sensible and careful enough to ride on his own.    What he didn’t tell Joe was that he planned to be in Virginia City towards the end of the school day and see to the boy making it home safely.

 

After supper Joe and Hoss played three rounds of checkers before Ben announced that it was time for Joe to go to bed.   Joe grumbled at the time as he looked and noticed it was half an hour earlier than usual.   A quick look at his father’s stern, determined face told Joe he had better think again about arguing, and he reluctantly bid his older brothers goodnight before climbing the stairs.

 

Ben retired to his own bed about two hours later, but he made sure that his young son was sleeping soundly first.   He crept into the room as was the custom each night and turned down the lamp beside the bed.   The dim light now bathed Joe’s face in a soft golden light.   Ben couldn’t help but feel a lump rise to his throat as he watched his youngest sleep.    There were times such as these when the words to express how much he loved the boy just wouldn’t come out.   He gently stroked the boy’s cheek and closed the door as he left the room.

 

***********************************************************

 

The next morning saw Joe rushing around at the last minute, trying to get ready for school again.  He had gotten dressed and was trying to put his boots on at the breakfast table and still have enough time to finish his eggs before he had to leave.   

 

“Sorry, Pa, gotta go,” he said, as he raced out through the front door towards the barn.   He quickly saddled Cochise and was about to mount his horse and ride off when Adam appeared at the doorway to the barn with something in his hand.

 

“You forgot these, Joe,” Adam said, as he held up Joe’s school books.   He let Joe mount and then proceeded to tuck the books in the saddle bags.  He buckled up the strap on the bag and give his brother a quick wave as he started riding towards the school.  At this rate the boy would still be about 10 minutes late for school, but at least he would have something to learn from when he turned up there.

 

“Thanks,” was the reply and Joe rode out of sight.

 

Adam returned to the house and to the table, ready to discuss his day’s work with his father.

 

For whatever reason, this morning Joe heeded his father’s words about taking it slowly and carefully along the repaired road.  When asked a few weeks later, he would not be able to come up with a satisfactory answer to the question of why he didn’t race to school as normal.  

 

There were a lot of things about that particular morning that would remain in his memory for a long time to come.   There were a few things about that morning that he would never forget.

 

As Joe neared the halfway mark between the Ponderosa and Virginia City, he came upon a peculiar sight on the roadway.   He stopped his horse Cochise a few metres from the spot until he had worked out exactly what he was looking at.

 

It appeared that a man was laying in the middle of the road.   Who he was or why he was there, Joe didn’t know.   Normally he would have been riding too fast to stop and take note, but something told him that he should stop and check that the man didn’t need help or anything.  From the way it looked at the moment, the man could be hurt or dead because he wasn’t moving at all.

 

Over in the trees along the roadway,  two other figures watched  the young curly-haired man stop his horse and dismount.  The boy was craning his neck, trying to see if the man was moving or not.   He dropped the reins of his horse and started to walk a little closer to the man.     He was now at the man’s feet, and the man still showed no

signs of moving, and so he decided he best try and shake the man awake.

 

Just as he bent down and placed his hand on the man’s shoulder, the figure on the roadway moved.   He not only moved but Joe now found himself falling backwards and looking straight down the barrel of the man’s gun as the man rolled over and pulled himself into a sitting position.   The man wasn’t hurt or dead,  it was all a trick to get somebody to stop.    Unfortunately, Joe said to himself, he was that somebody.   

 

Joe had no gun with him and thus no means of defending himself if necessary.   “Look, mister, I just stopped to see if you were alright, that’s all,” he said nervously whilst still maintaining his sight on the gun pointed at him.

 

“Looks like this just ain’t your lucky day, kid,” the man said, as he now moved himself into a standing position while still pointing the gun at Joe.   He let out a whistle, and now Joe turned his head towards the two other men who appeared from behind the trees and started to walk towards him.   

 

 

 

 

 

It was now that Joe told himself to run.   He didn’t know who these men were or what they wanted, but he knew it couldn’t be good for him.  He hastily tried to get to his feet and take off at a run in the opposite direction.  If he could just make it back to Cochise, he would be safe.  He could mount Cochise and be far away from his would-be attackers in a matter of seconds.

 

The two men to Joe’s left saw him trying to make a run for it and get to his horse and immediately began to pursue him.     They couldn’t afford to let the kid get away.

 

Joe knew that he was too far away for his screams of help to be heard by his family but that didn’t stop him from trying to alert somebody to his situation.  He started yelling for somebody to help him and for the men to leave him alone as he ran.     

 

Due to the state of the road, it was an unseen rock that Joe tripped over while trying to get away that allowed the men to catch him.   Joe had come down painfully on his knees and was just starting to scramble to his feet again in desperation when he felt a pair of hands grab him around his chest and start dragging him backwards.

 

He was now scared and it made him try and scream louder for somebody to help him.   His cries of help were quickly cut off by one of the assailant’s placing a rough and calloused hand over the boy’s mouth and clamping it down tight.   

 

 Both of the men now started to drag the still struggling boy off the roadway out of sight behind the trees.   The third man tried to catch a hold of the reins of Cochise, and then led her behind the thicket of trees as well.

 

Joe struggled and struggled to get away from his attackers, but the men were just too strong, and no matter how hard he kicked and fought, their grip still remained vice like around his chest.    The hand over his mouth still remained firmly in place and Joe thought he would pass out from the lack of oxygen.

 

Joe now felt himself roughly pushed against the trunk of a tree and the men tried to get the upper hand and restrain him.    Joe was still trying to yell through the hand over his mouth.   He could see Cochise giving the third man a hard time and hoped that somehow his animal friend might find a way to help free him.  

 

 

 

Joe felt his wrists being bound together tightly by rough fibrous string out in front of him.    His ankles were next.   There was no way he could run anywhere now.   He was trapped.    It was now that the hand over his mouth was released briefly.  

 

Joe took this opportunity and tried to scream for help again.   He was quickly silenced by a savage slap across his face that stung from the force.   Joe now looked towards the face of the man in front of him and he could feel tears welling up in his eyes.

 

“If you scream again, I promise you worse than that,” the man said.   The voice was cold and hard and although barely above a whisper, something about it made Joe take note of what was being said to him.

 

“How we gonna get him away from here now, Butch?” one of the other men asked the leader standing in front of Joe.

 

“You just leave the thinking to me.  I’ve got this all figured out,” Thomas said.   “You two just make sure the horses are saddled and ready to go in a few minutes.  We have to get out of here quickly.  Somebody might be coming along here in a minute, and I want to be long gone before that happens.    This kid ain’t going nowhere, I assure you,” he added and looked directly at Joe as he said the words.    

 

“Who are you and what do you want with me?” Joe asked nervously. 

 

“Don’t ask too many questions, kid, and you might live through this,” Thomas answered.  “We just want your daddy to sit up and listen for a minute.   After he does what we tell him, you can go back to him.”   Somehow the words sounded very fake to Joe as he looked upon his captors.  They hardly looked like the kind to keep their

word. 

 

“And now my, little friend, its time for you to go to sleep for a while,” Thomas said  “And when you wake up, you will be in a nice new little place far, far from here.  Now hold still a minute, this stuff takes a minute to actually work,” he said, as Joe watched him pull a coloured handkerchief from his pants pocket.

 

The checkered cloth had a pungent smell to it that was unmistakeable:  ETHER.  Even though Joe was only sixteen, he had learnt enough from Doc Martin over the years to know what the stuff was and what it’s effects were when used on people.    It was now that Joe became even more afraid for his life and started to struggle against his bonds and captors once more.   

 

“That won’t do you any good, kid,” Thomas said with an evil chuckle as he started descending the cloth towards the boy’s face.   Joe tried to turn his head away in an attempt to avoid the intoxicating fumes.  

 

One of the other men grabbed Joe’s head by his curly hair and forced his face towards the cloth.    Thomas was now able to secure the cloth of Little Joe’s mouth and nose.   The kid had started to scream for help again, but the cries were now muffled by the cloth and barely audible for anybody to hear him.

 

Joe tried to hold in his breath in an attempt not to breath in the fumes.   His attempts failed, however, and as soon as Joe released the breath, the fumes began to invade his nostrils and sinuses.    He could feel his head beginning to swim from the drug and he began to feel very light-headed.   He told himself that he couldn’t afford to fall asleep while in the hands of these men.  They wanted to take him away from his family.  

 

Thomas became impatient at how long the drug was taking to work and pressed the cloth even firmer against the boy’s mouth and nose.   By now the kid’s struggles had become weaker and weaker.  Soon they ceased all together, and he felt Joe’s body go completely limp.   The boy’s knees began to buckle and he had to grab the kid around the chest again to prevent him collapsing to the ground.  The boy was now unconscious.  

 

Thomas held the cloth in place for a few more seconds before removing it.  He placed it back in his pocket, knowing that it might be necessary to dose the kid again along the way.   The ride to the shack was about six hours, and he had no idea how long the kid would be asleep.   He slapped the kid on the face a couple of times just to be sure that he was unconscious.

 

Joe was deeply under the effects of the Ether, and didn’t even stir at the slaps.   Thomas now secured a blindfold over Joe’s eyes and, then tied him face down over the front of his horse.   A blanket was placed over the top of the kid to avoid the possibility of him being seen as the men rode.  

 

Thomas now mounted his horse along with the other men.   Cochise was tethered to one of the low hanging branches of the trees. 

 

“Make sure that you tuck that note into his saddle somehow,” Thomas said to the third man before they started their journey.   The man did as he was told but decided that he would like to have Joe’s saddle bags as a souvenir.   He unbuckled the saddle bags with Joe’s initials on them and then tucked the rolled piece of paper in the front part of the saddle.   The trio now rode off down a different trail towards their hide-out with their hostage.

 

Joe’s family assumed that he had been at school today.  It wouldn’t be until much later in the day that they would discover the boy’s forced disappearance.   By that time the three men with their hostage would be almost at their intended destination. 

 

The trip turned out to be a long one for all.  Mostly because they had kept the pace up during the whole journey in fear that the boy would be discovered missing sooner rather than later.  They wanted to make sure that if any search party were looking for the kid, they had a sufficient head start.    

 

The small shack came into view, and the three men almost sighed relief at the sight.  They were lucky that their kidnap victim had remained under the effects the Ether for the entire trip. 

 

 Joe had made a few inaudible moans during the arduous ride, face down on the horse but the sound of the hooves racing along the dirt road muffled them to the extent that his assailants never even knew that the unconscious boy was making them.

 

The horses stopped out front of the shack and started breathing hard to slow down their heart rates and regain some of their lost energy.   Their masters wearily climbed down from their backs and walked forward to open the door to the abandoned dwelling. 

 

The front door swung open with a creak and revealed a sparsely furnished two-roomed shack.  It was obvious that not only had the place been abandoned a very long time ago but the infrequent visits during the year by squatting trappers had seen the little shack fall into a state of disrepair.  

 

There were a few hand-made rickety chairs, enough for all of the men.   They all looked like they were ready to fall apart as soon as someone sat on their unsteady frames.

 

There was a small pot belly stove in one corner of the larger room, but it was of no use as part of the chimney was missing from the top.   They wouldn’t be able to start a fire without suffocating themselves in all the smoke that would result. The floor was rock hard dirt that had been worn down with years of continual trampling over it. 

 

The men were now thankful that they had all brought along their bedrolls.  At least with their blankets and saddles they would be granted a little comfort from the cold that would permeate the floor during the cool nights.    

 

There was very small room to the left of the larger one.  It was probably used as a single bedroom when the shack was permanently occupied, but for now Butch Thomas surveyed the area and marked the room as a cell for his hostage.  At least with the kid in there, escape would be almost impossible without the three of them seeing his attempts to flee first.

 

The man had brought a few days supply of food and water with them.  They would just have to endure the rest of the primitive conditions for a few days until Cartwright came to the party and withdrew his bid for the lumber contract. 

 

Butch Thomas untied his saddle and bedroll from his horse first.  He set them up inside so that he would soon be able to get a few hours of sleep.  He knew that the next few days would be long and tedious until they got word from either Williams or Cartwright.  

 

Thomas had instructions that no matter what the probable outcome, he was to make sure that Cartwright was taught a lesson through his son.  Thomas had been told that he had to keep the kid alive until the ransom note was received, but other than that, Williams had put Thomas in complete charge.   He and Thomas had discussed that the way to hurt Ben Cartwright the most was through one of his treasured sons. 

 

 Thomas had assured Williams that although he wouldn’t kill the boy, he would want to make sure that the boy never forgot the name of Butch Thomas.  He wanted the boy to fear his very presence no matter where he was.   He would become the kid’s ultimate nightmare.  One that was real and came back to haunt the boy time and time again, even once the kid was back with his family. 

 

Of course there would be the physical injuries to remind the boy as well.    He intended to deliver a few so-called ”bumps and bruises” to Little Joe, but after a time they would heal and the kid would eventually forget that he had ever been under the control of Butch Thomas. 

 

What Thomas intended to inflict on the boy mentally was a lifetime of torture and torment that would scarcely leave the boy alone.  He wanted to make sure that the kid would never ever forget.

 

Butch Thomas walked out to his horse for a second time and pulled the blanket from the limp form, still bound over the front part of the horse.   The boy was still unconscious. Thomas was mentally kicking himself, thinking that he had overdone things with the ether and the kid would already be dead before he could have some fun with him.  

 

He was brought back to reality with the small groans that escaped the boy’s cracked lips as he hauled Joe’s body from the horse and dumped him unceremoniously on the hard dirt floor of the smaller room inside the shack.

 

It looked as though the kid might prove  to be a tougher nut to crack than he first gave the kid credit for.   The kid might turn out to be a challenge after all.  He would just have to wait and see, he told himself, and grinned devilishly at the thought of the days ahead.

 

Thomas didn’t bother to remove the blindfold from Little Joe’s eyes.   He looked at the crumpled form laying on the hard dirt floor.   The kid didn’t move or make any sounds.   It was enough to assume that the kid would continue to sleep for a few more hours.   Enough time for the weary kidnappers to get some shut-eye of their own. 

 

Thomas closed the door to the small room and went about laying down on his bedroll.   He didn’t bother to spare their hostage a blanket for warmth.   He only had one, and he wasn’t about to give it up for any kid, no matter what the kid might be worth, money-wise. 

 

Thomas now closed his eyes and drifted off into a dreamless sleep.  The other two men were already asleep in their own bedrolls.   The little shack was completely silent once again.

 

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CHAPTER THREE

 

 

Ben Cartwright had filled his day with a few menial chores around the ranch.  It was about 2.00 pm and after lunch that he rode into Virginia City.   He had a few odd errands to run before he would conveniently turn up at his son’s school in time to accompany him home.   

 

Although his boy was now sixteen years old, the incident with the bear on the camping trip reminded Ben of just how vulnerable his youngest son could be at times. 

 

When he finally collected the mail at the post office, Ben looked at his watch and saw that he had a spare ten minutes before Joe would be finished with school.   He told himself that this would be the perfect opportunity to sneak up on the boy and see first hand how he was performing in Miss Abigail’s class.   

 

He was reminded about the constant stream of arguments that he and Joe seemed to be having lately about him leaving school early to work on the ranch with his brothers.  

 

Ben was firm, though, and told Joe that he would not be leaving school for another year no matter what.   He secretly wished that the boy would follow in Adam’s footsteps and show some interest in attending college. He knew that Joe had demonstrated on more than one occasion that he had no intentions whatsoever of attending college.  

 

Partly that was because Joe feared leaving his family and familiarity behind.  Joe would be lost in the big city and Ben would feel like a piece of his soul had been taken away if Joe left the Ponderosa even for a short time.   No, Joe’s home was with his family on the Ponderosa and always would be.  

 

Ben tethered Buck at the hitching rail outside the school.  He briefly glanced at the stalls where the children kept their horses during class.  He was a bit disturbed when he didn’t see the familiar black and white pinto amongst the other animals.    He started to wonder if school had been let out early, and Joe had started off towards home on his own. 

 

As Ben neared the front door to the school room, he could hear the deep, even voice of the school teacher, Miss Abigail Jones, as the children recited their multiplication table.    This information told him that school had not been let out early for the day.  

 

Where was Joe, he asked himself secretly.   He started to imagine all sorts of reasons why Joe wouldn’t be at school.   He told himself that he would be delivering a severe lecture and possibly a tanning to go with it if one son had defied his wishes and actually skipped school today.

 

Ben’s train of thought was interrupted by Miss Jones greeting him at the door.  All the children giggled at the door as they saw the school teacher making conversation with the eligible Cartwright.  It was not secret in Virginia City that Abigail Jones was a spinster on the hunt for a husband.  A fine, upstanding and wealthy citizen, like Ben Cartwright, who was also a widower, would be an excellent choice.

 

“Good afternoon, Mr Cartwright,” Miss Jones said to Ben.  “I trust that Joseph is feeling a little better today.  I suspect you have come to collect his day’s work instead of Adam today?”

 

“Isn’t Joseph here?” Ben said, asking the most obvious question, already knowing the answer as well.

 

“I sorry, Mr Cartwright, I don’t understand,” Miss Jones said, a little perplexed.   “Adam came by yesterday and told me that Joseph had a minor accident whilst camping and wouldn’t be attending yesterday.  When Joseph didn’t turn up this morning, I just assumed that he still wasn’t feeling the best and you had decided to keep him home another day.”

 

“Miss Jones, Joseph left for school this morning like any other day,” Ben said, trying to hide the worry and anxiety starting to build up inside him.  “You say you haven’t seen him all day?” he enquired.

 

“No, Mr Cartwright, I haven’t.  I trust everything is alright and Joseph hasn’t done anything foolish,” she said, avoiding mentioning Joe’s sometimes flippant attitude towards his schooling.  It was no secret to her, either, that Joe wished to be working with his father and brothers rather than sitting in a classroom all day.

 

“I’m sure it is, Miss Jones,”  Ben said, as he prepared to go and start looking for his wayward son.  “Don’t worry, Joseph will be here first thing in the morning, and I will make sure that he catches up the lessons he had missed for the last two days.  Good day, Miss Jones,” he said and turned and quickly mounted Buck to head for home.

 

 

 

 

 

Ben tried not to think the worst of his son as he tried to work out why Joe hadn’t attended school today.   Maybe there was an explanation for his absence.   He was always ready to give his sons the benefit of the doubt, but he also knew that if he found that Joseph had lied to him, the boy would be on the receiving end of some sort of punishment. 

 

Ben failed to note that the closer he got to the house, the quicker his pace.  Something deep inside him told him that his son had not deliberately disobeyed him.   A feeling of dread started to settle in the pit of Ben’s stomach.

 

Adam and Hoss had been working on their chores when they heard the sound of pounding hooves approaching the ranch yard.  Both of them expected it to be their younger brother.    They were both surprised when they turned and saw their father gallop into the yard aboard Buck.  

 

They had seen their father continually chastise their younger brother for running into the yard at such a pace.   All of them remembered too well the day Joe’s mother Marie had been killed.  Why was Pa running into the yard at such frightening speed?

 

“What’s wrong, Pa?” Adam asked, as he and Hoss walked over to their father as he dismounted from his horse.  Buck was lathered with sweat, and they could tell that the horse had been running for some time.   Something was wrong. 

 

“Have either of you seen your younger brother today?” Ben demanded while he tried to catch his own breath. Adam looked at Hoss and both of them shook their heads at one another. 

 

“No, neither of us has seen him since breakfast, Pa,” Adam answered for the both of them.  “Why, what’s wrong?” he asked, as he felt the worry and concern radiating from his father.

 

“I just came from the school,” Ben paused whilst he tried to scan his older boys’ reaction “Joe never turned up there today,” he then added.  “His horse wasn’t in the stalls when I went past, either.   I don’t think he even got there this morning,” he said, trying to convey his concern as calmly as possible.

 

“Where would he have gone, Pa?” Hoss now asked.   Ben could sense that Hoss was instantly worried about his younger brother.   Hoss wouldn’t even have thought about the boy missing school.  He just wanted to protect his baby brother and make sure he went through life alright.

 

Ben was taken aback by Adam’s reaction, though.  He knew that Adam was normally the first to dismiss the boy’s actions as careless and self-destructive.  Ben fully expected Adam to come out saying that this sounded exactly like something Joe would do.  It certainly wasn’t the first time that the boy hadn’t turned up at school. 

 

This time, however, there was immediate concern in Adam’s reaction which made Ben’s own worry divide and multiply.  “Has anybody seen him today?” Adam said, as he logically tried to work out where the missing boy might have gone.

 

“I haven’t had the chance to talk to anybody yet.   Maybe that’s where we should start first,” Ben said, secretly praising his eldest son’s ability to be calm at the time of a crisis.  It was always Adam who steered this family through difficult times and it looked as though this might be another such time. 

 

“Let’s get saddled up and go back into town and ask around if anybody has seen him today,” Ben instructed.   “Hoss, you better saddle me one of the other horses.   Buck’s about done in for today from that ride home.” Hoss gave a simple nod and headed into the barn to saddle a horse for his Pa and his own horse Chubb.  

 

Within twenty minutes the three of them were mounted on their respective horses and started down the road towards Virginia City.  All three of them rode in silence at first.  They were lost in their own thoughts about what might have happened to Joe.  

 

Ben felt a little uncomfortable on the unfamiliar horse.  The animal moved well enough, although not as smoothly at his own horse Buck.   The animal shied away from a few of the remaining ruts in the road, and it took most of Ben’s concentration to control the nervous animal as they travelled.   The rest of his concentration was directed towards his youngest son and his whereabouts.

 

Adam’s horse Sport was closest to the line of trees as they made their way towards the city.  They had made some basic plans about splitting up when they got to town to cut down the time frame and speak to as many people as possible who might have seen Joe this morning on his way to school.

 

They were almost at the point where Joe had been taken from when Adam’s horse began to slow down and act strangely.   Adam tried to talk to the horse calmly but still Sport moved one way and then the other.  Ben and Hoss slowed their own horses down to try and assist Adam.  

 

“What’s wrong with him, Adam?” Hoss asked, as Adam still struggled to get Sport to behave.

 

“I don’t know, Hoss,” Adam said, as he shortened the reins and tried to get the horse to stop his strange behaviour.

 

It was only then that they all heard a familiar whinny from underneath the line of trees to Adam’s right.   Sport gave a reply, and it was only then that all three of them realised why Adam’s horse Sport had started to act up as they rode past this particular spot.

 

Ben’s hopes soared that they had found his son Joseph, and all of them quickly rode towards the tree line.

 

When they neared the tree, Adam was the first to spot Joe’s horse Cochise.   The pinto again gave a whinny as Sport and Chubb approached.   The horses had been stable mates for a long time, hence the whinnying when they where near each other.

 

Adam dismounted and walked over to the black and white painted horse.   He was quickly glancing about, trying to see any signs of the rider who had perhaps fallen and failed to make it to school today for that reason.   His theory was quickly falling apart as neither of them could find any sign of Joe in the nearby area.

 

Cochise appeared to be unhurt. The horse seemed very calm and relaxed.  Its breathing was normal and not laboured, indicating that the horse had been tethered to the tree for a long time.   If the horse had been here for some time as things suggested, where was Joe?

 

“Where can Joe be?” Ben asked out loud as he too began to scan the nearby road and area behind the trees, hopeful of finding his son, maybe hurt from a fall of his horse, but finding him nonetheless.  Still he couldn’t see the boy, and his hopes quickly waned and were replaced by fear once again.

 

“Something don’t add up, Pa,” Hoss now said to Ben, voicing his concern.  “Joe would never leave Cochise unattended for this length of time.”   Joe was careless at times but not this careless with Cochise.

 

Adam had walked around to the opposite side of Cochise to scan the area in the other direction for a sign of his missing brother.   He had moved his hand along the horse’s rump towards her head whilst he walked, and it was only now that he spotted the rolled up piece of paper jutting out from the front of the saddle.  

 

He seemed to be fixated to the spot for a few seconds as he tried to figure out what the piece of paper might mean to his brother’s whereabouts.   His own fears began multiplying increasingly and he nervously took the piece of paper out of its hiding place.

 

“Pa,” Adam said in almost a whisper as he shakily handed his father the piece of paper.  For just a moment, Adam’s deep brown eyes met his father’s.   Words weren’t needed to be said, as they could each read the fear in the other man.

 

Ben nervously took the slip of paper from his eldest son.  For a few seconds all he was able to do was hold it in his hands and wonder what might be written on it.  Could it hold a clue to his son’s disappearance?

 

 Something about it told him that it held a much more sinister than a simple clue to Joe’s whereabouts.  He felt his heart pounding in his chest and the his heart suddenly weighted very heavy as he thought of his youngest son.

 

Ben could feel the eyes of both his sons looking at him. He knew that they wanted to see what was written on the piece of paper as well.  With hands as shaky as Adam’s, he began to unroll the note.

 

At first the handwriting was so messy that Ben started to think that the note might actually be written by his left-handed son.   Maybe Joe was in some trouble, but was able to write a note to his family to tell them where he was to come and help him.  

 

As Ben’s eyes read down the piece of paper, his heart began to constrict even more at the words he read and the threat that they held towards his youngest son.

 

Adam and Hoss wanted to shout at their father to read the note out loud.  But something about the older man’s pale complexion caused them to become worried about their father.  

 

Ben suddenly felt as though his legs were too weak to hold him up, and without warning he fell to the hard ground on his knees.   He still held the piece of paper but enough to read the contents.

 

 Somehow, he was trying to convince himself that what he was reading was a terrible hoax.   This couldn’t be happening to his son he told himself.   It was all a bad joke. 

 

 

 

Adam and Hoss had gasped out loud as they saw their father overcome with emotion and fall to his knees as the burden obviously became too much.   They were about to try and help their father stand up when they saw him gaze back up at them.  

 

They could see that their father was barely holding back his tears.   He handed the note to Adam and motioned that he read it out aloud. 

 

Adam looked at Hoss and then at his father.  The latter seemed to be gaining control of himself, but as Adam started to read the note, Ben put his head in his hands as the words echoed in his mind:

 

 

          ”BEN CARTWRIGHT,

       

WE HAVE YOUR  YOUNGEST SON.   IF YOU WANT TO SEE HIM ALIVE AGAIN,  YOU WILL WITHDRAW YOUR BID FOR THE LUMBER CONTRACT.  

 

ONCE YOUR BID IS WITHDRAWN, YOUR SON WILL BE RETURNED TO YOU AT A TIME OF OUR CHOOSING.

 

DON’T TRY AND INVOLVE THE LAW OR HE WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES. 

 

YOU HAVE 24 HOURS TO COMPLY WITH OUR DEMANDS.

 

YOU ARE BEING WATCHED AT ALL TIMES.    YOU WILL BE CONTACTED.”

 

         

The words were now echoing to Adam and Hoss as they were trying to contemplate what sort of danger their brother was in.   Adam’s thoughts were on the lumber contract.  He was trying to figure out who was desperate enough to get the contact. 

 

Who would stoop so low as to hold a boy’s life up against the profit to be gained by the felling of a forest of pine trees?  At the moment with his mind still a whirl from the note, he couldn’t put a face to anybody that he immediately thought might be involved.  

 

“If they hurt Little Joe,” Hoss said, as he tried to hold back the tide of anger within him,   “I’ll……….I’ll… I don’t know what I’ll do,” he said in exasperation.  He couldn’t find the words to match the anger he felt.

 

“I know how you feel, Hoss,” Adam said, putting a comforting hand on the big man’s shoulder. “We all feel that way right now,” he added, trying to justify the way his brother felt. 

 

In all honesty, no matter how much he denied it, he did feel that way, and probably a whole lot more.  He didn’t know what he would do if he came face to face with the men who held his baby brother.  The fact that men used something as precious as a human life, and a boy at that sickened him.   From the wording on the note it seemed that there was at least more than one person involved.

 

Ben was lost in thoughts about what might be happening to his young son at this very moment.   Suddenly his face of worry and pain turned to one of anger as his brown eyes darkened and he let the anger that they all felt show openly.   Adam and Hoss had rarely seen the flames of rage in their father’s deep brown eyes that they

saw now. 

 

It made them take a step back and truly fear for their father.  Ben had always taught his sons to avoid revenge and  retribution when it involved family.   He had taught them to turn the other cheek and let the law handle it, but right now Ben was having trouble finding comfort in his own teachings.  

 

“Come on, we’ve got a lot to discuss back home,” Ben said in a low and deadly voice.  He mounted his substitute horse and started to ride back towards the Ponderosa before Hoss and Adam had even swung into their saddles.

 

Once back at home, Ben walked over to his desk and leaned over the front of it whilst holding himself up.   At first he said nothing as his sons walked through the door prepared to listen to Ben’s plan about how to get Little Joe back.

 

Adam and Hoss sat on the chairs behind their father, waiting for him to say the first words of his plan.   They could see that Joe’s kidnapping deeply worried their father.   They all wanted to see the youngest member of the family back safe and sound.

 

 

 

“Whatever we decide to do, we have to keep the plans to ourselves,” Ben said, as he started the conversation.   It was only now that he turned around to face his two sons.   They both could see the pain and anguish written all over the man’s face.

 

“Adam, I want you to go to Mr Nelson and tell him that we are withdrawing our bid for the lumber contract,” Ben said.

 

“Do you think that’s the best move?” Adam asked without spelling out that he thought his father was giving up too quickly.  He knew how his father felt about Joe, but maybe there was a way to draw out the kidnappers and rescue Joe before they had to do anything hasty about the lumber contract.

 

“Yes,” Ben said curtly, expecting that his request would be taken seriously.  “I will word a carefully written letter to Mr Nelson,” Ben said, as he gave a particular look to Adam.

 

Hoss had not cottoned onto Ben’s idea about how to alert Joe’s kidnapping to Sheriff without alerting their intentions to Joe’s abductors.  If someone was watching them as the note suggested, they would have to be very careful about what they did out in the open for everybody to see.  They would have to conceal their plans in order to carry out their goals without putting Joe’s life in any further danger.

 

“Do you want me to write it, Pa?” Adam asked.

 

“Yes Adam, but I am going to tell you exactly what to say,” Ben said.   Hoss now knew how they planned to alert Roy Coffee.   Ben came over to the settee between his two eldest boys as they sat down to write the letter  that would look as if they were withdrawing their bid to the lumber contract as demanded. 

 

In addition to that, they would have carefully concealed lines in the letter that would alert Mr Nelson and his employer to the predicament the Cartwrights found themselves in.   The letter asked for Mr Nelson to secretly give the letter to Roy Coffee so that he could make careful note about Joe’s abduction.

 

The letter was strictly worded to tell Roy Coffee that he wasn’t to come out to the Ponderosa unless it was urgent.  They told Roy about the family being watched and about the consequences threatened towards Joe if the kidnappers thought the law was involved in some way.

 

 

 

Half an hour after they had arrived back home, Adam found himself back aboard Sport on the road to Virginia City.  At some point during the journey, he could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise.  He knew that his follower wasn’t far behind.

 

He just hoped that the plan they had worked out would help secure his brother’s safe release.  He just wished they had some sort of clue to the place where Joe was being held.  At the moment they had no idea.

 

When Adam arrived at Nelson’s makeshift office behind the General Store, he made sure that his actions were as deliberate as possible for his follower to see.  He wanted the man to think that they were doing everything they were told to do.  

 

Eugene Nelson looked up surprised to see Adam Cartwright walking into his office.  He hadn’t expected to see any of the contract bidders for another couple of days.

 

“Adam Cartwright,” Nelson greeted him as he got out of his chair and went to shake Adam’s outstretched hand.   He could see Adam’s deliberate actions and could see the younger man looking nervously about. 

 

He knew that something was wrong.  He didn’t know what, but experience told him that whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.  He told himself to play along with Adam for the time being, and he was sure that the younger man would reveal the true reason for his visit in due course.

 

“Just came  to give you this letter of withdrawal for the lumber contract, Mr Nelson,” Adam said in a normal but clear speaking voice.  A volume that everybody would have easily been able to hear.  

 

He had heard the door to the General Store open a few times since he walked in.  He tried not to look back and see if he saw anybody that might have information about his brother.  Out of the corner of his eye he could see a smallish figure lurking towards the back of the store, looking aimlessly at some of the products on the shelf.

 

“Are you sure you want to withdraw your bid?” Nelson asked, as he saw Adam’s expression.  The brown eyes told the man not to ask too many questions.

 

 

 

 

 

“Yes, I am sure, Mr Nelson.  Everything you need know is in that letter,” Adam said.  He briefly held Nelson’s gaze as the man tried to take the sealed envelope from his hand.  Something about Adam’s eyes told Nelson that whatever was wrong, he would find the answer by reading the letter.   

 

Nelson tried to keep up appearances by quickly glancing at the letter as though it were a short note to withdraw the bid.   Upon looking at the letter, he could see that there was much more detail to the letter, but he felt that he would need to read the remaining contents of the letter in the safety of his office, away from prying eyes.

 

Adam kept his meeting with Nelson as short as possible.  He could see from the man’s body language that Nelson understood the secondary nature to the letter.  He just hoped that Nelson wouldn’t take any longer than necessary to alert Roy to the family’s loss.

 

Adam now rode back to the Ponderosa while his mind remained on what might be happening to his younger brother.   He felt the company of his follower behind him until he was almost back at the ranch.   He didn’t  know exactly when the man stopped following him.  He was too afraid for Joe to look back and try and discover the direction of the man’s travel.

 

Back in Virginia City, Eugene Nelson had gone to his office and locked the door behind him.   He had seen a smallish man leave the store right after Adam and assumed that he must have been the reason for Adam’s secrecy and urgent behaviour.    He pulled out the folded letter again and now read the letter word for word very carefully.  

 

As the got further and further down the page his eyes widened at just how much trouble the Cartwrights were in and what a terrible danger Ben’s youngest son Joseph was in.   He made sure that he made note of all the things in the letter that he was supposed to see, especially the part about alerting the Sheriff but telling him that he must under no circumstances come out to the ranch.  

 

Nelson slipped the letter back into his pocket and calmly walked out the back door to his office and casually walked to the Sheriff’s office as though to make idle conversation.

 

Roy Coffee gave the man a brief greeting of hello as Nelson walked into his office.  He could see the man looking back and forth and all around as though somebody might be watching him.

 

“Can I help you there, fella?” Roy asked.   It was now that Nelson walked over to the middle-aged Sheriff and whispered into his ear that he needed to talk to him in private.

 

Nelson had been diligent enough to close the door to Roy’s jailhouse behind him as he walked in, and now he made sure that the door was locked.  He pulled out the folded letter from Ben Cartwright and gave it to the Sheriff to read.

 

Nelson remained silent as the Sheriff read the contents of the letter.  He,  too, grew more concerned the further down the page he read.   He found his throat constricting with emotion at the thought of Little Joe being held by people willing to hurt him.  

 

Joe had been coming in and out of his jailhouse since the man could remember.  The boy had been about six years old when he used to say a cheerful hello to the lawman.  Nowadays the visits were less frequent, but that didn’t stop Roy’s warm feelings towards the handsome young boy.  He had read the lines from Ben about him not going out to the Ponderosa. 

 

Roy knew why he must stay in town and put up a front, but it struck at everything that made him become a lawman and at his very own soul to know that people he cared deeply about were being threatened or hurt and he couldn’t lift a finger to do anything about it.    He told himself that he would keep an eye on every drifter and stranger in the town over the next day or so, just in case he could find out some information about Little Joe’s whereabouts.  

 

After that, he couldn’t promise himself that he wouldn’t go out to the Ponderosa and start a search party or posse.   For the moment, he would abide by his friend’s request and just keep his eyes open.

 

Back at the Ponderosa, Adam and Hoss were buckling on their gun belts and getting their horses ready to ride out and try and find some evidence that might lead them to their little brother.  Ben had argued about him going out as well until Adam had reminded him about all of them being watched.

 

Adam proposed that if just he and Hoss went out and then split up, at least Ben would be at home if any further notes came from the kidnappers or if they actually let Little Joe go.   Hopefully the man who had been following Adam had seen the transaction between him and Nelson and was now well on his way to telling his kidnapper friends that the bid was withdrawn, and they would be soon making arrangements to release Little Joe, unharmed. 

 

Something in the back of his mind told him that this wasn’t something to happen anytime soon, but he needed to hold onto the belief even if it was only for a little while.

 

Ben had finally and reluctantly agreed to stay at home in case there was further news about Joe.  He watched his eldest boys ride off with an even heavier heart, and he prayed that by morning he would have all of his sons back at home safe and sound. 

 

 

 

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CHAPTER FOUR

 

 

Back at the shack, the three men inside the larger room were just beginning to stir after three hours of solid, undisturbed sleep.    Thomas was the first to wake, and he stretched his tired and stiff muscles.  He needed a strong cup of black coffee, but even that luxury would be denied him and the others until they got a fire going outside the shack.  

 

He cursed out loud at the conditions he was forced to endure and promised that he would be demanding a bonus from Williams for his discomfort when he returned to collect the rest of his money.   He had demanded half of the money before he even took on the job, but now he knew that he should have asked for at least double before agreeing to staying in run-down lodgings such as these.

 

He had even played with the idea of asking the boy’s father for ransom money in addition to the contract withdrawal.   With the information he had been given about how much the Cartwright family was actually worth, the father would be surely glad to part with a few measly thousand dollars in return for his youngest son.   It wasn’t as if he didn’t have the money.  

 

Thomas could kill two birds with the same stone, collect his money and the proposed bonus from Williams, and also gain a few thousand extra from the boy’s father, unbeknown to his boss.   Williams didn’t have to know every detail of the boy’s return, Thomas told himself.   If he decided the boy was worth a little bit extra, then that was his business.

 

Thomas got up and went outside to start the fire needed for that cup of coffee.  He grumbled the entire way and ended up shouting at his two colleagues to get their lousy carcasses out of bed and earn their keep.

 

Inside the second room, Little Joe had been dragged from his deep sleep by Thomas’s shouting at the other two men.    At first he couldn’t work out why he could hear raised voices.  Maybe Pa and Adam were having one of their arguments downstairs.  

 

Then, all at once, the truth struck him full force as he tried to open he eyes and couldn’t.   The pain from his bound wrists and ankles had crept up him slowly at first and had been nothing more noticeable than dull aches when he was first brought to  the shack.

 

Joe felt the fear in him start to rise as he realised that the reason he couldn’t see was a blindfold was tied tightly over his eyes.  And the reason for the now stinging sensation in his wrists and the numbness in his ankles was the strong rope that bound him hand and foot.

 

Joe tried to force back the tears that started rolling down his face at his captivity.  He didn’t know where he was.   He could only remember the face of the man who had placed the ether-soaked cloth over his face when he was dragged off the road.  He could remember the man and his friends laughing at his plight as he desperately

struggled to get free of his assailants. 

 

After that he remembered nothing.   He felt a hard floor underneath him, and the coldness of the floor had begun to seep into his bones, making them ache even more.   But he didn’t know where the floor was or what it belonged to.   He had no idea if his family knew he had been taken or even how far away they might be or if they would even be able to rescue him.  

 

The thoughts of his helplessness just seemed to overwhelm him even more, and he fell into a deep state of depression at his situation.   Something about the man who had drugged him told Joe that no matter what promises the man made, he doubted that the man meant to return him to his family unharmed as he had said.

 

Joe was trying to get his bearings, but the blindfold over his eyes made him even more disorientated.   He started to rub his face back on forth on the hard dirt floor in an attempt to remove the blindfold.  

 

After what seemed like hours, Joe managed to push the material up further on his forehead, but he also rewarded himself with a number of scratches to his cheek and temple area due to the rubbing action on the dirt floor.

 

The cuts weren’t serious, but Joe could feel the small amount of blood running down his face and mixing with his tears.  The perspiration on his face made the scratches sting a little.

 

With the blindfold now displaced enough for him to see inside the room, Joe’s elation at being able to see was quickly dashed by the dim and barely lit room that he found himself in. 

 

The room was almost totally dark, just like it had been with his blindfold on.   Joe’s attention was quickly diverted to the doorway by the sound of the door opening and a narrow beam of light coming into the room.

 

The thing that made Joe almost jump out of his skin was the voice of the man that stood in the doorway and was now talking to him.   

 

“Glad to see your finally awake, kid,” Thomas said.   “Think its time to get you out here and explain a few things to you,” he added and roughly grabbed Joe by one arm and started dragging him towards the doorway into the other room.  

 

Joe tried to stand up to avoid the man’s actions from hurting him any further, but he couldn’t quite get his stance before feeling himself being dragged across the hard floor.    He just hoped that his pants were made out of tough enough material to hold up to the dragging action.  He dreaded to think about what the dragging might do if the skin on his upper legs was to come into contact with the hard ground and receive the same treatment.

 

Joe now found himself being thrown into one of the rickety chairs in the larger room.   He closed his eyes briefly as the light from a few lanterns shone into his eyes.    He opened them slowly and cautiously, allowing them to adjust to the harsh light.  

 

The boy was worried that he might be restrained to the chair, but for the time being it seemed that his captors were happy enough with his hands and ankles bound in front of him.   Joe looked around the room and knew that he needed to take in each and every inch of the room in order to put together an escape plan.

 

Thomas watched Joe for a few seconds and saw the boy’s gaze dart around the room trying to work out where he was.   He laughed heartily at first, but then delivered a hard slap to the boy’s face

 

“Don’t even think about trying to escape kid or you will regret it,” Thomas said only an inch from the boy’s face.

 

He could see the fright in the boy’s eyes and was pleased that his mere presence was enough to terrorise the boy into obedience.  “That’s right, boy.  You had better be afraid.    Be very afraid.  I am going to be your worst nightmare for the next twenty- four hours.   You only have to breath wrong and I will make you pay for your

disobedience.  Do you understand me, boy?” he snarled at Joe again.

 

Joe couldn’t find the words to speak as the tears ran down his face.   He simply nodded as he looked up at the man.

 

“What do you want with me?” Joe finally got the courage to ask.   His question was rewarded with a blow to his stomach that caused him to double over and almost pass out.  He struggled to get his breath back.

 

“I’ll ask the questions, boy.   You will not speak unless I give permission.  Is that understood?” Thomas said, as he yanked Joe’s head up by his curly hair.

 

“Yes,” Joe got out between sobs and was again given a blow to the stomach that threatened to spill him to the floor.  It was only the fact that Thomas was literally holding him upright in the chair that prevented this.

 

“You’re a slow learner, boy.  I told you not to talk until I gave you permission” Thomas repeated.  “You do as you are told and nothing else, boy.  What we want you for is not really your concern right now.   You just be a good boy and when your Pa does what I tell him, then maybe and only maybe, you’ll get to go back to him.  But if you try to escape or don’t do as you are told, then I can promise you a lot of pain and misery.”

 

Although Joe was scared of the man towering over him, it was the laughter from the man’s two friends that started to rile the infamous Joe Cartwright temper.   He wanted to know why he was being treated so harshly and unjustly.  He could feel the anger swelling beneath his skin.  He wanted to break free from his bounds and make a run for it.  Maybe, if he could just get a good head start, he could make it on foot.  He was known as a good runner at school.    He didn’t know how reliable his feet would be after being bound up for so long but they were his only asset to this point.

 

Thomas had his face turned away briefly from Joe as he joined in the laughter of his two friends at the captive in the chair.  Both of the other two men knew better than to take on Butch Thomas.   The man had earned himself a reputation, and they knew that crossing him would cause them to have a bullet with their names on it.  They had

been promised a large pay packet at the end of this little job.  All they had to do was to watch the kid for a couple of days until his father did what Thomas wanted him to do.  Then it would be all over and they could go about their business.

 

Thomas failed to see the tears dry up from Joe’s face and see anger quickly replace them.  The boy didn’t know exactly what he was going to do, but he figured that if he could just make it to the front door, he could make everything else up along the way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With Thomas’s face turned in the opposite direction, Joe saw his first opportunity to put his plan into action.   Joe silently brought his bound feet up as high as his bounds would allow and then, without warning, he unleashed his bound feet into the crotch of the man in front of him.   The trick actually worked and Joe was stunned into shock

for a brief second as he saw his captive almost double over at the pain to his groin area.   Joe quickly shook himself out of his trance and desperately tried to make it to the door and escape outside.   

 

Thomas had roared at the other two men to stop Joe’s escape while he stood with his hands protectively over his assets and waited for the pain to subside so that he could think straight.    Joe had almost made it to the door with a hopping motion when he felt himself being yanked roughly backwards by the two men in pursuit.   He tried

desperately to gain a hold on the handle of the door and hopefully turn it to allow his escape.  However, his attempts were in vain.   The fact that his hands were bound together made the gasping even harder, and he missed more than twice before being reefed backwards.  

 

Joe was thrown hard against the chair again, and he felt a couple of good swift kicks to his unprotected ribs for his troubles.   He moaned out loud at the pain that erupted through his entire chest as the boots came into contact.   The pain brought fresh tears to his eyes, and it was only now, as he looked back at Butch Thomas, that he became

truly afraid.  The man’s face had changed from one of sneering and mockery, when he was bullying Joe, to one of utter rage and colourless anger.   The man was beyond anger.  The other two men in the room feared that Thomas would kill the boy right there, and then and it would be all over before they could get their hands on any

money from the boy’s family.

 

Thomas picked the struggling boy up by the scruff of his shirt and held him at about an arm’s length from his own body.    Thomas pulled back his arm so that Joe could see what he intended to do.   Then, without warning and without any concern for the boy’s age, he let go his hardest punch into the boy’s stomach.   The boy doubled

over and thought that he would be sick.   He had barely time to raise his eyes and look back at Thomas when he felt the blows start to rain down on him.  They not only connected with his stomach this time but also with his ribs, chest and arms and anywhere Thomas could reach without letting him go.   After a few minutes it became obvious that the boy was unconscious due to the severity and frequency of the blows.

 

 

 

Thomas let the boy go, and Joe slumped unconscious in the chair, blood coming from a number of fresh cuts on his chest and arms.  There were already bruises starting to form from the man’s punches. 

 

Thomas looked down at the kid.  When the boy had kicked him, he had had a hard time trying to comprehend the boy’s bold moves.  He had thought he had scared the kid enough for him to be afraid.   Obviously his previous warnings hadn’t been enough.  Thomas assured himself and his young captive that the next time the kid was awake, he would truly come to fear him.

 

“Leave him where he is, but I want to know the minute he starts to come awake,” Thomas warned as he walked outside and tried to attend to his own pains.   He started to think of a way that would scare the kid next time he was awake.

 

***********************************************************

 

Little Joe took over an hour to awake from his unconscious state.    The longer he had to wait, the more impatient Thomas became.  He had tried to hasten the boy’s stirring by a few light kicks to the boy’s shins, but still the boy remained unconscious.

 

During this hour Thomas had devised himself a fear campaign that would ensure that the boy would truly know the meaning of the word “fear”.  

 

Little Joe came back to the world very slowly.    His first awareness was pain.   Every inch of him where he had been beaten by Thomas and his men seemed to ache.   Joe let out a few moans as he tried to move.  It was these  pitiful moans that alerted Thomas’s men to the boy’s coming to.

 

“Boss, I think he’s coming awake,” Frank Richards shouted outside as they continued to watch the kid struggle to move and heard him whimper with an occasional groan of pain.

 

Thomas walked into the room with loud and determined footsteps.  Without even bothering to check and see if the kid was indeed awake, he lifted Joe up by the front of his shirt and dumped him once again harshly into the chair from earlier.

 

Joe forced himself to open his eyes to see his assailant.   He immediately regretted it as he came face to face with the angry Butch Thomas.  He recoiled a little and tried to push himself further back into the chair as if trying to get out of the man’s reach.

 

“So you think you’re pretty clever, don’t you, kid?” Thomas spat at him.   “Well, I am going to make you regret the day you ever met me.    I don’t take nicely to anyone making fun of me.   I guess you need to learn a few lessons the hard way, boy.”

 

“Start making that noose, Danny,” Thomas said to the younger kidnapper in the room.  The young blond man scrambled into one of his saddlebags and pulled out a length of coarse rope and began fashioning a hangman’s loop on one end of it.  He made sure that he held it out in full view for the kid to see, just to scare him that little bit more.

 

Thomas looked at Joe watching the loop and could see the fear rising within the young man at what might happen.   He smiled to himself as he knew that he was gradually winning the upper hand.   “You think you’re afraid now, kid,” Thomas said, as he shook the kid roughly in the chair. 

 

He pulled the kid closer just to emphasize his next sentence.  “Trust me, you haven’t even begun to know what ‘afraid’ is yet, boy.    I want you to fear me more than any other man you have ever come across.  I want to become so much a part of your fear that you have nightmares about me when you sleep.   I want you to see my face when you’re awake in the middle of the night, screaming.   I will become such a part of your fear that after a while you won’t know the difference between what’s real and what’s not any more.”

 

Joe tried to divert his eyes from the man’s face as he spoke to him, but something prevented it.  The man’s words instilled fear that was so overwhelming.  He tried to struggle within the man’s grasp to get away, but he only succeeded  in receiving a few more forceful slaps to his face. 

 

Joe could no longer hide the tears that welled up in his eyes.   He just wanted to go home.  He wanted this all to be a bad dream and wake up soon in the safety of his own home, with his father’s arms wrapped securely around him and keeping him safe.    Another slap to his face alerted him to the fact that this was actually a bad dream, but a real one that he was living through every minute of.

 

“Its ready, Boss,” Danny Griffiths said, as he held up his handiwork for Thomas to approve. 

 

Joe could see that Griffiths had turned the coarse length of rope into a cruel-looking noose.  The hairs on the back of his neck began to rise at the thoughts of what may lay in store for him at the hands of this brutal man named Butch Thomas.

 

“Now, boy, we see if we can’t knock some of that fight out of you,”  Thomas said, as he now reached down towards Joe again and grabbed a fistful of his shirt.

 

Thomas now used his grip on Joe’s shirt to lift the struggling boy out of his chair into a standing position.   Joe tried to get his shirt free from the iron grip, but he didn’t have much of a chance with his ankles still lashed  together and his wrists tied together in front of him.

 

Joe had thought for some reason that Thomas intended to dish out a few more of the painful blows that he had incurred earlier, but his blood almost stopped frozen in his veins as he watched Danny throw the noose over the large supporting beam overhead.   The noose was now suspended over the beam from a long length of similar rope and was now just about Joe’s head.

 

Thomas now jerked the boy higher up again so that he was forced to stand on the seat of the chair.    He gave a few short slaps to the boy, as he continued to struggle and try and get away from the man.   Thomas held Little Joe with one hand and now snaked out with his other hand and grabbed a hold of the noose.    Joe knew what was coming and tried to shake his head back and forth to prevent the noose from being placed over his head, but Thomas let go of Joe’s shirt and proceeded to hold the boy’s head still by grasping a handful of his curly hair.  Once the rope was over his head, Thomas tightened the knot so that it rested painfully against the base of Joe’s slender young neck.

 

“NO, you can’t do this, please,……..,” Joe said, as he tried to plea for his life.  

 

“Oh, but I can, boy,” Thomas laughed as he noted the fear leeching out of every pore in the boy’s skin.  “What’s more, there will be no witnesses to even say who done it,” he added and then nodded his head towards Danny.

 

Danny now secured the end of the rope around another, smaller beam that made up one of the walls of the small shack.   As he tightened the rope, he could see the boy try and move his head in an attempt to release the choking loop from around his neck.   The boy was almost standing on tippee toes to avoid falling from the chair and hanging himself right then.

 

“Please, just let me go,” Joe said again in a pitiful-sounding voice as he fought to keep his emotions under control in front of such hardened criminals.  He knew now that Thomas was the sort of man that wouldn’t even bat an eyelid at killing of a boy his age.  

 

“Not sounding so tough now, are you?” Thomas spat at the boy.  He now moved away from the chair and went and stood towards the front door of the shack.   Danny and the other man now stood a little to the right of their boss against the front wall of the house.

 

“Now, boys, time for some shooting practice for the both of you,” Thomas announced, making sure that his young captive heard every word of this conversation.   “You can practice on the legs of that chair there,” he said, as he pointed to the chair that Joe was standing precariously on.

 

Joe could no longer hold back the tears that ran down openly over his cheeks at the thought of how unjustly he was being treated.  He had every reason to suspect that these men were about to cause him to fall from the chair, and then, depending on how well the noose was tied, he would die quick when the rope became taut and snapped his neck like a chicken bone.  If he was unlucky, and the rope wasn’t so tight, he would hang from the beam and the rope and slowly suffocate as the rope cut into his throat, cutting off his air supply.

 

Joe watched as the three men in the room drew their guns from their holsters.   All three of them made sure that the boy looked on as they pretended to check their weapons over for a few seconds before firing them.  All the waiting just made the injustice even more harder to bear and caused the fear inside Joe to grow infinitely.

 

“I’ll take the first shot,” Thomas said to everyone in the room, and then pointed the barrel of his gun at the front left leg of the wooden chair.    The sound of the gunshot in the room was deafening, as Thomas fired, and the three men watched with satisfaction as the wooden leg was splintered into a dozen pieces from the force of the bullet.

 

Joe was unable to see the bullet strike the chair leg, but he felt the chair become unstable and therefore had to adjust his standing position on the chair towards the back to stop the chair from toppling from the front towards the floor. He knew that he had to remain as still as possible, no matter what happened, because if he moved to much either side or to the front of the chair, it would fall.

 

The three men were laughing out loud and congratulating Thomas on his accurate shooting. 

 

“Now you, boys, I want you two to do it both together,” Thomas said “Make it quick for the young fella,” he said, as they watched the trembling and sobbing boy standing on the chair.

 

By now, Joe’s legs felt like jelly, and he didn’t know how long he would be able to remain upright from his fear.   It was sheer willpower that was holding him erect at this very moment and preventing his own demise.

 

Danny Griffiths and Robert Pierce now aimed their guns at the rear legs of the chair.   Even a bad shot would result in the chair collapsing from underneath its helpless young victim.   Once they were both set to fire, they looked back at Thomas and awaited his approval.

 

Thomas had not raised his gun again, nor put it back in the holster at his side.  He left it loose in his right hand and nodded to the others to fire at will.  He had a different idea up his sleeve about what was to happen.

 

Griffiths and Pierce both fired their weapons, and Joe felt the chair fall out from underneath him.  He could feel the rough coarse rope around his neck slowly suffocating him and restricting his airway.  Just as he thought blackness would close around him forever, he heard another gunshot coming from within the room.

 

Thomas had fired his own weapon a split second after the chair had collapsed and the noose became taut around the boy’s neck.  As the rope tightened, his bullet sliced through it just above Joe’s head.   Joe now found himself falling for a brief moment.  He never felt his body hit the hard ground due to fainting from the lack of air.

 

Joe’s body hit the ground with a soft thud, and the three men now gathered around the prone form lying unconscious on the floor at their feet.

 

“What do you want us to do with him now, Boss?” Pierce inquired.

 

“Haul him over to the corner of the room until he comes to.  Next time he’s awake I got a different game in mind,” Thomas said with an evil grin.

 

“In the meantime, I want you, Danny, to go into Virginia City and check out that Cartwright has done what he was told and withdrawn his bid from that contract,” Thomas now said.  “Make sure you don’t give yourself away,” he warned finally.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danny Griffiths nodded his head at Thomas’s words to indicate that he knew what was expected of him.  He went over towards his bed and grabbed the saddlebags he had stolen from Joe’s horse and walked out the door towards his horse.   He thanked himself lucky that he wasn’t going to be around to witness whatever Thomas had in mind next time for the kid.  

 

He knew better than to say anything and cross Thomas in the process, but something about what Thomas was doing to the kid’s mind just didn’t quite sit well with him.   He wasn’t a law-abiding man himself, but going out of one’s way to make someone’s life a misery wasn’t something he wanted  to be a part of.  Once this was all over, he promised himself that he would  go out on his own and start afresh somewhere down south of the border.

 

***********************************************************

 

Danny Griffiths made the long arduous ride into Virginia City whilst Joe was still unconscious on the floor of the old shack.  The other two men, Butch Thomas and Pierce, were now taking a catnap themselves whilst they waited for their young captive to awaken.  

 

As Danny rode into town, the words from his boss about keeping a low profile echoed in his mind, and he kept looking around, just to make sure that nobody was taking particular notice of him. 

 

For the next hour or so he spent his time sculling a few ales at the Bucket O’ Blood saloon.   He told himself that he needed to think up a story so that he could ask about the lumber contract.  He needed to find out whether or not Cartwright had taken heed of his youngest son’s abduction and withdrawn his bid as told.  

 

After three or four beers he had enough alcohol in him to give him a false sense of confidence in asking about the contract.  He started riding down the street on his way to the General Store and the small office behind it.    

 

About halfway down the street he spotted a local second-hand shop, which had a sign out front offering to pay good money for second-hand goods.   He looked down at his horse and spotted the saddlebags he had taken from Joe hours ago.   He really didn’t trust Thomas into getting his fair share for the kid’s return, so he told himself that if he was able to hock the saddlebags and make a few extra dollars on the side for himself, Thomas would be none the wiser.

 

 

 

He tied his horse to the hitching rail outside the store and grabbed the saddlebags from his horse before walking into the store.   Upon walking inside and allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkened room, he spotted an older man on the other side of the shop counter.    He went over to the man and dumped the saddlebags down on the wooden counter with a loud thud.

 

Roy Coffee, the Sheriff of Virginia City was out and about on one of his routine walks around the town, just making sure that everything was in order.  Truth be known, this day the subject that was most on his mind was the abduction of Little Joe Cartwright.  So far they had not been able to do anything about searching for the boy due to the threats made on the boy’s life if the law was involved.   Sheriff Coffee was also refraining from visiting his long-time friend Ben at the Ponderosa as an added precaution.  He was hoping that the walk around town today would clear his mind a little and help him come up with an idea to help.

 

Roy was just about to walk past the door of the second-hand store when he heard a lot of shouting coming from inside.   He put his thoughts about the Cartwrights aside for a moment and went to see what all the yelling was about.

 

“How do I know that these belong to you?” the old man, Mr Perkins, said from behind the counter.  “You could have gotten them from anywhere.”

 

“What has it got to do whether or not they belong to me?” Griffiths now shouted back without seeing the Sheriff enter the store.   “All you gotta decide is what you’re gonna give me for them.   These here a fine quality.   Not many others around like them.”

 

“That’s what makes me question the ownership of them,” Perkins retorted after seeing the Sheriff standing there.  “That’s a fair question, don’t you think, Sheriff?” the old man now added as he indicated the lawman standing in the room, listening to the heated conversation.

 

Griffiths turned around at the mention of the word “sheriff” and could scarcely hide his sudden nervousness towards the new person in the room.   “Hi, Sheriff,” he said, as casually as possible whilst rubbing his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt in an attempt to hide his true intentions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Howdy, friend, Mr Perkins,” Roy said greeting each of them.  It was now that Roy quickly glanced at the saddlebags that the man was trying to sell.    It was now Roy’s turn to try and hide his gasp of shock.    He had seen those particular saddlebags a number of times before.   The fact that they had “JFC” carved into the right hand corner also gave away who they really belonged to.   Somehow, Roy knew that this man might be just the missing link they were looking for to find Little Joe.

 

Danny Griffiths was now just plain scared that he was going to be found out.  The Sheriff hadn’t indicated that he had any knowledge of the boy’s kidnapping, but that didn’t stop Danny from thinking the worst straight away.  Suddenly he found himself leaving unmistakable tracks without even realising it.  He could almost feel the walls closing in around him with the claustaphobic-like feeling that he was experiencing.  

 

“Listen, you gonna buy these bags or not?” Griffiths now said through gnashed teeth as he attempted to grab the old man by the front of his shirt.   He was panicking and he knew it, but he couldn’t help it. 

 

“That’s about enough,” Roy said, now grabbing a hold of Griffiths.   This attempt to assault the old man gave him enough cause to hold the man until he could figure out how to find out what he knew about Little Joe.

 

“You want to press charges against this here fellow, Mr Perkins?” Roy asked the elderly shop keeper.

 

“You bet, Sheriff.  I’m not having some ruffian walk in off the street and threaten me in my own place.  You just let me know when, and I will come and made a full statement,” Perkins said.   Secretly, inside, he was just glad to get out of the heated situation.   Had things gotten out of control without the Sheriff to step in, anything could have happened.

 

“I’m placing you under arrest for attempted assault and battery,” Roy said with his best official-sounding voice.

 

“You can’t do that,” Griffiths now spluttered as he attempted to remove Roy’s grip from his arm “This is just something you and this old geezer here cooked up.  You got nothin on me, Sheriff, and you know it” 

 

“We’ll just let you sober up a little first, and then decide the facts of the matter,” Roy said, as he detected the smell of alcohol on the man’s breath.    “You gonna come quietly or do I have to force you?”

 

 

 

 

“You got nothing on me, I said,” Griffiths repeated harshly.

 

“Let’s go,” Roy said, as he threw the saddlebags over his shoulder and now pulled his pistol from its holster and used it as a gentle persuader.  “Start moving.”

 

Griffiths reluctantly started walking towards the door, still pleading his innocence and unjust treatment.   He somehow needed to persuade the Sheriff that it was all a mistake and convince him to let him go so that he could get back to the shack before Thomas heard about his unfortunate run-in with the law.

 

Roy kept his gun pointed at Griffiths while they both made the short walk to the jailhouse.  Once inside, Danny was pushed into an empty cell and the door was locked behind him. 

 

“Now you just sit tight and sober up for a while,” Roy said  “I’ll be back to talk to you later about Mr Perkins,” he added.    In actual fact, Roy thought that he needed to get to the Ponderosa as quick as possible.   “My deputy will be back in a few minutes to keep an eye on you,” Sheriff Coffee warned Griffiths as he walked back out the front door towards his horse. 

 

Roy saddled his horse as quickly as possible, trying not to hurry too much.  He knew that he might have some valuable information about Little Joe sitting in his jail cell, but he needed to keep a cool head about this and take things easy until they had a little more to go on.

 

Roy mounted his horse and guided him down the street in the direction of the Ponderosa.  He knew that he was taking an awful risk if this man didn’t have any connection with Joe’s abduction.   As he rode, he tried to think of a plan to try and get the man to give himself away without even knowing it.

 

***********************************************************

 

The next time Little Joe started to come to, he was confused.   He had thought that he would be dead now.   If he was dead, why was he feeling so much pain in his arms and legs from the restraints that had been in place for so long?  The circulation in his limbs had been constricted now for over 24 hours and they were becoming numb from the constant ache.  

 

 

 

 

Finally, as he started to gather his thought, he realised that he must not have died like he had thought when he felt the chair go from underneath his feet.   The last feeling he had had was the tautness of the rope around his neck cutting of his oxygen so that he was gasping for breath to feed his starving lungs.   Now, as he coughed, he felt the harshness of his throat as a result of the rope as it had cut into his neck.    He tried to put his other thoughts together as in his mind he watched Griffiths and Pierce point their weapons at the chair he was standing on and casually fire at the legs.

 

He didn’t have to long to think about what had just happened, though as the pain in his limbs caused him to moan out loud.   Joe heard footsteps approach him and he tried to feign unconsciousness once again to avoid whatever punishment awaited him when he awoke. 

 

His feeble attempted failed, though, as he felt his hurting body hurled into an upright position again, and he came face to face with his tormentor, Butch Thomas.

 

“I guess we’ll just have to try something a little different this time, huh, kid?” Thomas said, as he blew a plume of cigar smoke into Little Joe’s face, causing the boy to cough.   His lungs and throat had already begun to burn, and the smoke seemed to irritate them even more.

 

“Why don’t you just kill me?” Joe croaked out through his sore throat and burning lungs.  His head hung limp on top of his shoulder as his neck muscles no longer had the strength to hold it up.    

 

“That would be no fun at all, kid,” Thomas said with a laugh as he heard the boy’s weak pleas.  “Besides, I got a new game for you to play.  This time you have a five to one chance,” he said with a sarcastic grin to match his words.

 

Thomas hauled Joe over towards a second rickety chair in the room.  The other still lay in pieces in one of the corners of the room as a reminder of how close Joe had come to death last time.   Joe didn’t have the strength or even the courage to put up any sort of struggle this time.  He allowed himself to be forcibly moved wherever his captors wanted.

 

Pierce stood back against the wall as before, not wanting to get involved with this particular game at all.  There was something evil and sinister about this that made his blood run cold at the very thought of the outcome.  In fact, he wanted very little part of this game. 

 

 

 

Joe was now sitting in the chair with no real interest in what was about to happen to him.   He just wanted these men to leave him the hell alone.    The tears welled up in his eyes again, and he inwardly scolded himself for being such a big baby in front of Thomas and Pierce again.

 

He heard Thomas pull his pistol from his holster again and thought that the man might actually take his words and shoot him right now.   The next sound puzzled him, though, as he heard Thomas first spin the barrel of the weapon and then one by one allow the bullets to fall from each individual chamber to the hard floor.   They all landed with a metal sounding click at they hit the floor, and Joe’s mind counted every single one of them as they fell:    One . . . Two . . . Three . . . Four . . . Five . . .

a little bit of a pause and a bit more of a shake from Thomas’s hand  Six.  Six bullets had fallen out from the chamber.   

 

Little Joe now looked up at the man and wondered why he had emptied the chambers if he meant to use the gun to kill him.  It didn’t make sense at the moment.    

 

Thomas could see the questions written all over Joe’s face, so he made sure that the boy could clearly see his next few hand movements. 

 

Thomas now pulled the last remaining chairs in the room to within two feet from Little Joe.   He sat down first and then bent down slightly, just enough so that he could reach the floor where the scattered bullets now lay.  He carefully picked up one of the bullets.  He dusted it of with his shirt, and then, ever so slowly, pushed it back into one of the chambers of his empty pistol.     Once the bullet was in place, he reset the weapon and began spinning the barrel at random intervals.

 

It was only now, upon seeing the lone bullet loaded into the gun that Joe realised that Thomas meant to play a crude game of Russian roulette.  He had never seen the game played before, but he basically knew how the game worked.  He had heard stories from the ranch hands about such a game being held in the back streets of some of the larger cities where people were bought cheap and life meant nothing.

 

Thomas looked up with a gleam in his eyes.  He could see that the boy had the general jist of what the game was all about.    “Like I said, kid, you have a five to one chance,” he started to explain to the tense boy in front of him.

 

“I’ll spin the barrel first and fire.  If the chamber is empty, you live.   If not, then we won’t have to worry about you having a turn then, will we.  If you live, then you’ll get to spin the chamber once.  And so on and so forth until your luck decides to win out.”

 

“Shall we get started?” Thomas asked his captive.

 

“Do I have a choice?” Joe accused him with some of his anger from earlier returning.

 

“I’m afraid not,” Thomas said.  Joe had no time to give a smart reply as he felt the barrel of the weapon forced roughly against his left temple.  He could feel the cold hard steel against his skin.  It was almost as if the throb in his temple matched the beating of his heart.  He had all sorts of thoughts coming at him at once.    It was almost getting too loud to think.   When Joe heard the spin of the barrel, though, all thoughts seemed to instantly disappear.   He swallowed hard despite his raw throat as he realised that his life could be ending right hear and now.

 

Thomas put his hand on the trigger, but he wanted his victim to sweat just that little bit more.  Every movement he made was as slow as he could make it.   He wanted the whole process drawn out for as long as possible.   As the barrel spun, Joe’s mind was trying to hear if the chambers were hollow or not as they went past.   He thought that he had counted four empty ones, but he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure.

 

Thomas started to squeeze the trigger ever so gently with his index finger.   Joe was trying to look sideways to see the gun, but his vision wouldn’t quite allow for that angle.    He felt his pulse become more rapid, and his palms became more sweaty with each passing second.

 

“Say your prayers, kid,” Thomas said “This might be the last time you take a breath,” he said, as he pushed the barrel of the gun harder against Joe’s temple.

 

Joe didn’t know how much time had passed from Thomas finally managed to fully squeeze the trigger.  He did know, however, that for that fleeting minute, his own heart beat actually stopped from the fear that ran through him like a raging river.  Joe was waiting for that final rushing sound that would indicate that Thomas’s spin had been wrong.

 

“Click,” the weapon said, as the chamber came up hollow.    There had been no bullet this time.

 

Thomas smiled as he heard the sound and watched the boy’s face turn from one of absolute terror to one of deathly white.  The boy looked as though he was ready to pass out any second. The kid had won this time, but Thomas had a plan up his sleeve for the next round.  

 

“I guess you lucked out this time, kid,” Thomas said in a calm voice.   “Let’s see if it is as good this time.  I want you to spin the barrel this time.”

 

Joe was almost too busy getting his lungs breathing again after the last attempt to heed the man’s words.  It wasn’t until he felt the barrel of the gun being painfully forced against his head that he heard Thomas’s threats to spin the barrel himself this time.

 

Joe didn’t want to do this, but he knew he had very little choice.  He reached up to the gun with his hands still tied together.  Even that effort was painful as his tired muscles protested at the movement.

 

With a shaking hand, his fingertips only just touched the barrel of Thomas’s gun.   The first attempt they missed making the barrel spin.    Thomas now barked a second and final warning at Joe, and the boy once again painfully reached up to the barrel of the gun.  At least this time he was able to get the barrel to spin some.  It wasn’t a very determined effort, and he didn’t have much faith that he had avoided his own execution.

 

Joe closed his eyes this time as he hands fell back limply into his lap and he waited for Thomas to put him out of his misery and squeeze the trigger again.  He knew that he lacked the courage and strength to pull the trigger himself, no matter what threats Thomas made to him.

 

Joe could feel the wetness of his own tears as they slid down his face once more.   He was hurting and tired and didn’t really have any thoughts.  He tried to fill his mind with his family one last time in case this really was the last time.  He tried to see his brothers, but due to the pounding in his head their images seemed distant and far away in his mind.   He desperately tried to see his father’s face one last time. 

 

He didn’t know if he would have the chance to say goodbye in real life, so he had to try and say it now.    But his father’s image although closer seemed little more than a shadow to him at the moment.    

 

He saw a stronger image in his mind, but that scared him even more into thinking these maybe were his last few minutes on this earth.  He could make out the image of his mother, Marie.  She was very close to him, and she was whispering soft encouraging words to him.  Maybe this was the way it was meant to be.   Maybe she was here to take him away from all of this torment and pain.

 

 

 

Butch Thomas could see that Joe had his eyes closed at the moment.  He took this opportunity to put his alternative idea into place.   He really had no real need to keep the kid alive, but he would have to wait until he got the word from Danny about the lumber contract.  When Griffiths got back, they could depart the dismal run-down shack and do away with the kid then.  For now, his only real intentions were to scare the boy.

 

Thomas motioned for Pierce to give him his gun.   Pierce walked over silently and handed the gun to him, wondering what Thomas intended to do with it.  Thomas now had two weapons in his hands.  One was still seemingly playing the game and was pressed firmly against the boy’s left temple.  The other one he put in his left hand and brought back over his shoulder behind the boy’s head.

 

Thomas once again took his time squeezing the trigger, but this time he stopped just at the last minute before the chamber clicked into place.   The boy seemed to be dreaming and lost in his own misery long enough not to notice what was going on around him.   As the chamber locked into place, Thomas brought the butt of the second weapon down onto the back of Little Joe’s unprotected head.    

 

Joe wasn’t sure what he heard, but there was a bright flash of light in his head and then a deafening sound that seemed to be getting louder and louder.   It was only a second later that he fell unconscious in the chair from the blow.  There was a small laceration to the back of his head with some bleeding, but not enough to get overly concerned about.

 

Pierce inwardly sighed in relief as he saw his boss strike the boy unconscious rather than shoot him.    “You sure had him fooled, Boss,” he said with a false grin.  “What you gonna do with him now?” he asked.

 

“Nothing for now.   Wait for that fool Griffiths to get back from Virginia City, and then we get the boy’s daddy to deliver a few extra dollars nearby and then scoot before anybody suspects a thing.” Thomas explained.   “Throw him in that backroom for a while and be sure to put a cup of water in there for when he wakes up later.  We don’t want the kid dying on us before we get our hands on the money.”

 

Pierce did as he was told and unceremoniously threw Little Joe’s limp body over his broad shoulders like a sack of grain.   He was a little bit more gentle when laying the kid down in the room out of the sight of Thomas.   He went back into the main living room and found an unused tin cup. 

 

 

He filled the cup from one of the canteens nearby and set it down beside the unconscious youth and then locked the door behind him.   The kid would be caught before he could make any escape out the door.  And the shape the kid was in right now, it didn’t look as though he would be moving about in a hurry, anyway.

 

Thomas and Pierce didn’t expect Griffiths to get back from Virginia City much before morning, so they both decided to roll themselves up in their bedrolls and get some sleep.  There wasn’t much else to do around there.

 

***********************************************************

 

Back at the Ponderosa, Sheriff Roy Coffee was hitching his horse to the railing outside the house.   He walked up to the front door and knocked.  His thoughts were on what the family what might think when they saw him.

 

Inside, Ben and his boys were all sitting down in the living room trying to think of somewhere else to search for the missing Cartwright.  Adam and Hoss had taken off in opposite directions earlier this morning, but had come back without any clues.  The cloud of depression had started to descend upon them all.

 

Adam got up to the knock at the door.  They all wondered who could have been calling to the house so late in the day.   He opened the door, but could scarcely hold back his gasp of shock at who the visitor actually was.

 

“Sheriff Coffee,” he said aloud to warn his father and brother of who exactly was knocking at the door.   He didn’t really need to, though, as Ben had gotten up shortly after Adam, also curious as to who was at the front door.

 

“Roy, you can’t be here.  Somebody might be watching you,” Ben said in alarm as he hurriedly yanked the lawman into the house.  He had taken a brief second to look around out in the yard to see if he could see anybody watching.   He assumed, though, that if somebody was watching, they were probably well hidden out of sight.

 

After Roy had regained his balance, he was quick to dispel the fears of the three eldest Cartwrights. “Hold your horses, Ben.  You know I wouldn’t  come out here unless I had a good reason.  I know I took an awful risk with Little Joe’s life when I rode out here this evening, but I believe I have just arrested somebody who might be able to give us some information on where they are holding Joe.”

 

Ben stood back looking at Roy for a minute, trying to decide if his explanation was good enough.  “Sorry, Roy, I’m just at my wits end as to how to get Joseph back safe,” Ben now said, as his shoulders once again slumped with exhaustion from the long sleepless night and worry that had plagued them all.

 

“I know you are, Ben, I can see you are all a little worse for wear.  If you just sit down and let me explain, I think we might have the first signs of a breakthrough,” Roy said, as all of them moved to the living room to hear his story.   All of the Cartwrights as well as Roy knew that behind the kitchen door there was another silent audience member listening to everything that they said.  

 

“You better tell us, Roy, before we all burst,” Hoss said trying to put a little humour into the conversation.  Lord knows the house had been devoid of any kind of laughter or gaiety since Joe’s abduction.

 

“I was just walking down the main street of town when I heard an argument going on in Mr Perkins’s second-hand shop.   I went in and stood behind a youngish fella.  Looked like a stranger to these here parts.   Anyways, he was trying to sell some saddlebags to Mr Perkins.  Was asking a mighty high price for them, too,” Roy said, as he continued with his story.

 

Ben was getting a little impatient and wanted to know when the idea about rescuing his son was coming up.   “What’s so darn important about them saddlebags Roy, we need to find Joe,” Ben said, putting his hands to his head to ward off the headache he could feel coming on from all the stress.

 

“I’m coming to that, Ben,” Roy said calmly.  He could see that his old friend just wanted his youngest boy home again safe and sound.  “The saddlebags are important because I recognised who they belong to.   Down on the right bottom corner they had three initials carved into the leather.”  He knew, by the time he finished this part of the sentence, that he had everybody’s attention.  They all held their breath as they waited for the confirmation of their unspoken thoughts.

 

He looked at the three faces and knew that they all wanted to know the answer desperately.  “The initials were ‘J.F.C.’ he said and left it at that.  

 

“Where is this man now, Roy?” Ben demanded almost jumping out of his chair with anticipation.

 

“He’s in my jail cell at the moment, Ben,” Roy answered.

 

“Well, we will just go down there and beat him until he tells us what we want to know,” Hoss said determinedly.   He was more than ready to make this fellow talk and tell the family where his baby brother was being held against his will.

 

“No, Hoss, I think that’s exactly the opposite of what we want to do,”  Roy now said.  “Normally I wouldn’t hesitate in getting the man to speak, but if we scare him and he clams up he might never tell us where Little Joe is being held.  At the moment he is the only clue we have  to go on.”

 

“What do you propose we do then, Roy?” Adam asked, sensing that Roy had already thought of an idea before he came out to the house.

         

“If its alright with you, Ben, my idea is to go back into town and let this fella go-- “  That was all Roy could manage to get out before he was barraged by both Hoss and Ben.

 

“LET HIM GO!” they exclaimed, almost in unison with disbelief in their voices.    “How can you even think of letting him go Roy?” Hoss now shouted.

 

“Now wait just a cotton pickin’ minute, you two.  Hold on there, you two, before I leave you out of this rescue plan,” Roy said with a hint of a smirk.  He got the instant reaction he was looking for when both men stopped speaking and allowed him to explain his idea. 

 

“Like I was saying before I was interrupted,” Roy said with emphasis.

“If we let him go, then we can follow him back to the place where they are holding Joe,” he suggested.

 

“He might lead us to the rest of his gang,” Adam now said, as he worked out Roy’s plan in his own mind.  He had to admit that the idea was a pretty sharp one.   He just hoped that it worked out to their expectations.  Should anything go wrong, he feared that Joe would possibly be the one to feel the consequences.

 

“That’s my aim, Adam,” but the most important thing, of course, is that we find Little Joe and bring him home safe and sound,” Roy replied.

 

“My boys and I can be ready to ride in an hour, Roy,” Ben stated firmly.  He wanted to waste little time when he knew they could be out searching for his missing youngest son.

 

 

 

 

“I know you’re anxious to get going, Ben, but we have to give the fellow a little bit of a head start.   If we don’t, then we might make the mistake of letting him know that he is being followed.  He might not lead us to Little Joe at all after that.  I will head back into town now and let the fella go.   I will meet you and your boys outside my jailhouse at sun-up.  Hopefully, with the muddy roads, his tracks should be easy enough for Hoss to track,” Roy said, as he looked to the big man with pleading eyes. 

 

Anybody that was familiar with the Cartwright family knew that Hoss had this uncanny ability to hunt down almost anything or anybody even without much of a trail.  Roy was just hoping that the rain-soaked roads would aid in their search for the missing boy.   Heaven knew what condition the boy was being kept in.  He had been missing for two whole days now.

 

“I hope this idea of yours works, Roy,” Ben said, as the two men got up and shook hands.  Roy headed for the door.  “I truly hope so too, Ben,” he answered.

 

“See you at sunrise,” Ben added as he tried to work out in his head what they would need for the next day ahead.  Trying to put his mind to work on their supplies was the only way he could stop thinking about all of the things that might go wrong with Roy’s plan.  Everything seemed to hinge on somebody that they hadn’t even heard of or met yet.  He was putting his son’s life in the hands of a stranger, and  that didn’t sit very comfortably with him at the moment.  They had very little choice in the matter, however.

 

***********************************************************

 

Roy rode back into Virginia City to put the beginning of the risky plan into effect.  He too thought, like Ben, that everything came down to the man being currently being held in his cells to lead them to the missing boy.   He just hoped for Ben’s and Joe’s brothers’ sakes that Joe would be found safe and sound.   He couldn’t even contemplate how Ben would go on living without the one person who keep him young at heart.

 

The Sheriff tied his horse to the railing outside and walked into the jailhouse.   He could see his Deputy seated at the desk in the main part of the jailhouse.   The cells were on the other side of a closed door.   Roy took off his hat and placed it on the peg mounted on the wall for just that purpose.  He gave a curt nod to his Deputy and opened the door to the cells.

 

“How you doing, fella?” Roy asked trying to act as casually as he could.  Inside, his stomach was twisting and turning into huge knots about what he was about to do.

 

“How do you reckon I’m doing, cooped up in this God forsaken jail house of yours?” came the reply full of spite. 

 

“Well now, I was going to tell  you about a change in events that might just see you walk out of here, but if you are going to be nothing by snarly, maybe you don’t want to hear what I’ve got to say,” Roy said, trying to bluff his way through the conversation.

 

There was silence from the prisoner himself but a look of doubtfulness and confusion was written all over Danny’s face as he wondered what the Sheriff was getting at.

 

Roy thought that the silence was a signal for him to continue with his explanation.   “Seems Mr Perkins, the man from the second-hand store, has had a change of heart all of a sudden and decided not to press any charges against you.  I can’t say as I am happy about it, but there don’t seem to be much else to be holding you in here on, so for the moment you are free to go.” Roy said officially.

 

“You’re kidding, right?” Danny said, trying to work out if the Sheriff was really telling him that he was free to go.

 

“No, I’m not, but you listen here young fella, I want you saddled and on your horse in less than fifteen minutes when I set you free from this cell, or otherwise I will find something to hold you on.  You understand me?” Roy said sternly.

 

“Yes, Sheriff, I understand,” Danny said.  Roy unlocked the cell door and swung it open for the former prisoner to walk out.   “Can I have my saddlebags back, Sheriff?” Danny asked.

 

“Get out of here!” was Roy’s response to the question.  He knew that if they did manage to find Little Joe, the rightful owner of the saddlebags would indeed be looking to have them back.

 

Danny did as he was told and quickly walked from the jail cell.   He could hear Roy’s warnings to be out within the hour as he walked down the street.  Although it was now in the dead of night, the horse that he had rode into town on was still hitched outside the saloon where he had enjoyed his beers before heading down the street to the second-hand store.

 

As he walked the horse out of town, he made sure that he rode directly past the jailhouse so as to alert the Sheriff to his doing what was asked of him.   He knew that there was a long ride ahead, but he was in no particular rush.  If all went well, he should be back to the shack before lunch time.  He had six hours to try and come up with an excuse for Butch Thomas to why he was so late in getting back.  He was confident that he would find something to tell him.

 

Griffiths was aware that he was being watched as he rode out of Virginia City.  He just was unaware how long the Sheriff kept his eyes on him and noted the direction of his travel.  It would only be two hours until Ben and his boys would turn up.  Hopefully that would be enough of a head start without losing track of him altogether.

 

***********************************************************

 

Back at the abandoned shack, Little Joe was beginning to regain consciousness after the pistol incident with Butch Thomas.  At first he wondered if he was dead and if this was what happened after death.  However, the pain that echoed in his head, however, soon brought him back down to earth and reminded him of his predicament.

 

If his body had hurt before, then it now was beyond hurting.   He tried to move slowly and in small increments, but even these minor movements caused great waves of pain to swirl around in his head.   The muscles in his legs and arms had not eased any, either, but at the moment, with the agonising pain that he felt in his head, the aches from his limbs paled into insignificance.   Each time he attempted to lift his head from the floor he was greeted by the feeling that his head was about to explode.  

 

It took almost half an hour for him to gather his thoughts enough through the pain to work out where he was.   He finally assumed that he was back in the room he had been dumped in when they first arrived.  He didn’t have the gag in his mouth his time.  At least that was a plus.  There weren’t too many things to be thankful for a the moment.  

 

The room was particularly dark, another thing that would have caused shivers to him in any other situation, but for the moment he knew that if he was to survive this terrible ordeal, he would need to forget all about his fear.    

 

His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and enabled him to make out the dark shadows within the room.   He could make out that there was very little, if any, furniture in the room.   He couldn’t see any light coming into the room that would suggest the presence of a window or such.    His hands were still tied together in front of him and his feet were also bound.   

 

With a monumental effort, he managed to pull his screaming muscles and body into a sitting position.  He was light-headed from the ferocious headache and had to allow the dizziness to pass before gathering his thoughts again.   He started to pull and tug at the ropes around his ankles.   They were tied very tight and he didn’t know if he had the strength to loosen them at all.

 

The pain he was feeling from both his head and body made him want to cry out; however he made sure that each moan and groan was suppressed by his clenched teeth and between his tongue and the roof of his mouth.  He knew that he couldn’t afford to alert the men in the other room to the fact that he was conscious again.  At one point he thought he heard one of them moving around.  He had held his breath for a good half a minute or so until he thought it was safe again to continue.

 

His fingers ached from his efforts to loosen the ropes and from the rough fibres of the rope rubbed painfully against the insides of his wrists, as he desperately tried to set his feet free.   If he could only get his feet untied, he might actually stand some sort of a chance to escape.  He doubted that he would be able to get very far with them still tied together.

 

After what seemed like hours, his efforts were rewarded by the ropes loosening enough for him to be able to pull each foot through.  He removed his shoes first, and then one at a time, he slipped them through the loop made in the rope.  Once free, he put his boots back on and started to work on the ropes on his hands.  Those ropes seemed a little easier to stretch, probably from his efforts to untie his feet, he assumed.

 

He rubbed at his very raw and chafed hands.  Some of the skin had worn away in parts where the ropes had been extremely tight.   He saw a cup of water just inside the room and crawled over to it.  He drank the first mouthful to moisten his dry and parched throat.   He used the vast majority of the water on his ankles and wrists to try and put some moisture back into the raw skin.  His ankles faired the best due to the long trousers he wore.   Hopefully, they wouldn’t slow him down any if he did manage to escape.

 

Escape was his next priority.  He knew that so far his luck had held out, and he had been able to get himself free before anybody came into the room.   He didn’t want to think about what might happen to him should one of the men from the other room walk in and find him free from his bonds. 

 

 

 

He started to look at the walls of the room he was locked away in and determine what they were made of.   The shack itself, from what little he had been able to observe, seemed to have been neglected and forgotten about over a long time.   Maybe the timbers in the walls were loose or rotten enough for him to create a means of escape.

 

Joe listened carefully for any signs of the men in the other room moving about and when he was satisfied that he was safe for the time being, he moved painfully and silently over to the farthest corner of the room.    He put his hands on the timber and tried to find if any of the nails were loose or missing.   He had thought about tapping on the timber to try and find a hollow spot, but dared not risk it for fear of being heard and caught.

 

Little Joe put both hands onto the bottom of one of the planks of timber that made up the wall.  He sat in front of it with his legs spread apart to act as a counterbalance.    With a few short jerks and tugs he tried breaking off the bottom part of the timber.   He was in luck due to the heaviness of the rain over the last few weeks, as the timber was still very sodden on the outside. 

 

To his relief and amazement, the timber broke off fairly easily and without much noise.  He moved along to the next plank of wood and repeated the same process.   He was equally pleased when he obtained the same result. 

 

Due to his slimness, it only needed four of the planks to be broken off at the bottom for a hole to be made large enough for Joe to slither through.   He had to get down on his belly and he was covered with mud by the time he reached the outside, but he managed to do it.    He had never felt such relief when he felt the stillness of the night upon him.   His rejoicing was short-lived, however, as he realised that he had little time to sit down and catch his breath.  

 

He needed to make sure that he ran and ran hard.  He needed to make sure that there was enough distance between him and his kidnappers when they discovered his escape.   He knew that it was only a matter of time before they checked on him and found the hole in the wall.  

 

He had little idea of the terrain he was about to go through and he had little clues to give him any sort of bearings as to where he was.   At the moment, the sky was still dark.   There was a small amount of lightening just on the horizon, signalling that the sun would make its appearance within the next hour or so.   

 

 

 

Without much more hesitation, Joe decided to follow the direction in which the sun would rise.  He knew that that meant he would be heading in an easterly direction.   At the moment he cared very little about what direction he was headed in; only he needed to get away and get away fast.

 

Joe started walking ………………………….

 

***********************************************************

 

At the jailhouse, Sheriff Roy Coffee was just loading the last of his supplies into the saddlesbags on his horse when he heard riders approaching from behind him.  He looked around and smiled as he saw the ominous-looking figure of Ben Cartwright, mounted on his horse Buck, followed by his two, also formidable looking sons Hoss and Adam on their mounts.   Neither of them looked in the mood for idle talk.  They all had one thing in mind, finding their missing Little Joe.

 

“Mornin’ Ben, mornin’ boys,” Roy greeted them cheerfully.  He got a nodded response from Adam and Hoss and a grunt of a hello from Ben.

 

“Ready to go, Roy?” Ben asked in a no-nonsense voice

 

“Yep, just as about ready as I’ll ever be,” Roy answered.  “I let him go about two hours ago, he headed west out of town.  Should be able to start following his tracks right away,” Roy said, as he now mounted his own horse.

 

“Let’s ride,” Ben announced and headed in the direction that Roy had stated.    Hoss lead the way and picked up Danny’s easy to follow trail almost immediately.  He leant over the horse as they went, followed by Ben, Adam and Roy.   There wasn’t much conversation while they rode, and the silence echoed as they continued on the trail.

 

After about two hours or so of travelling,  Hoss stopped his horse suddenly and started to look about the landscape.  He looked as though he was trying to get his bearings, but he was actually taking in the surroundings.  He had had an idea about where they were heading about twenty minutes earlier, but it was only after a few more miles and familiar looking landmarks that he was triumphantly able to announce his discovery out loud to the rest of the search party.

 

“What’s wrong, Hoss?” Ben asked, a little worried at Hoss’s sudden halt in progress.  Maybe his large son had lost the trail, or maybe they were headed in the wrong direction.

 

“I think I know where he’s headed,” Hoss said with a smile to his father and the others. 

 

“Are you sure, Hoss?” Adam asked with a little disbelief in his voice.  He didn’t doubt his younger brother’s tracking ability, but he himself was not familiar with the area that they were in.

 

“Yeah, Adam,  I thought I had seen some of these trees a while back, but I wanted to make sure before I said anything.  I didn’t want to give anybody false hopes or nothin’,” Hoss replied.

 

“Where is he headed, Hoss?” Ben now enquired, barely able to contain the anticipation.

 

“Well, I can’t be one hundred percent certain, Pa, but I think this roads leads up to Pine Valley.  You know, the place where Joe and me went camping just last week,” Hoss said.

 

“Well, let’s keep at it then, shall we?   Don’t want to lose too much time,” Roy said, as he noted the amount of time that was between them and Danny Griffiths.  They needed to be as close to the kidnappers as possible without being detected.   If they got too far behind, the kidnappers might very well move onto a different place altogether before the search party could rescue Little Joe.

 

Hoss and the others restarted down the current trail.  There was a renewed sense of hope now that they all had some sort of idea where they were headed.   They all just secretly hoped that Little Joe would be able to hold out until they could reach him.

 

***********************************************************

 

Danny Griffiths had been riding for about three hours when Little Joe was able to make his escape from the shack and from the cruel treatment of Butch Thomas.

 

Little Joe had headed off in the direction of the sun, but had tried to remain as close to the trees as possible to avoid being seen out in the open should Thomas and Pierce try to track him down.   He had been walking for about an hour when Hoss and the others figured out where they were headed.

 

 

 

 

 

Joe had not been travelling long enough to work out where he was yet.  All the trees looked the same to him as he forced his aching body to keep at a reasonable pace.   His head was nothing short of torturous and he found himself stopping a few times just to try and let the pain decrease slightly before starting out again.  

 

He had been fortunate about half an hour ago to come across a muddy pool of water.  He had gratefully wet his mouth with the murky-looking liquid, but had refrained from drinking too much for fear of upsetting his empty stomach.   He hadn’t eaten in almost two days and didn’t know how even water would react once consumed.  He couldn’t risk feeling sick on top of all the aches and pains he was already experiencing.   Vomiting would only serve to sap what little strength he had and hold him up further from his escape.

 

Joe kept walking for the next half an hour.  Each minute saw his gait slow and become more unstable due to the weakness in his muscles.  He seemed to be just willing himself to walk without really knowing why or where he was headed.  The throbbing pain in his head made it difficult to think straight.  

 

By now the sun was up and allowed him to see the terrain in which he was walking.   He had narrowly missed causing himself a nasty injury from a large tree root.    The mud on his clothes had now dried and caked in large patches on his shirt and pants.   His hair was limp and fell in his eyes, often making him push it back with his hand so that he could see where he was going.  

 

Now, as Joe walked, he could see that he was coming upon a small stream.  What he failed to note due to his confused state of mind was that it was the same stream that he had come across only days earlier when freeing his bear cub friend from the metal trap.

 

His steps were more deliberate now, and it took all of his strength just to put one foot in front of the other.   His energy was waning quickly, and he didn’t know how long he could successfully hope to remain on his feet.    He kept telling himself that Butch Thomas was only a short distance behind him and that if he dared stop, even for a moment to catch his breath, Thomas would catch up with him and he wouldn’t be able to escape again.

 

 

 

 

 

Joe could see that the stream was running as he stepped his foot into the shallow water.  He wasn’t thinking about what the temperature might be and almost pulled his foot out in shock at the coldness that enveloped his leg as his toes touched the wet surface.   The water was cold, not freezing but cold enough to bring him back a certain level of alertness.   He knew that he didn’t have much choice in avoiding the water.  The stream continued on in both directions for some time, and he lacked the strength to try and find a drier crossing place further up or downstream.

 

The briskness of the water made Joe’s skin come out in gooseflesh, as he took another two steps across the narrow stream.   Only three or four more steps and he would be on dry land again, he told himself.

 

He wrapped his hands around his chest tightly, trying to warm his body from the effects of the cold water.  He started to take the next step forward.

 

Joe’s booted foot came in contact with what he assumed to be the earthy and rocky bottom of the stream.  He was about to lift his foot and take the next step when he felt something grabbing at his ankle.   It only took a few more seconds for the pain to erupt in his ankle and travel the entire length of his leg to his hip bone.  

 

The pain was so sudden and ferocious that Little Joe now found himself face down on the muddy bank of the stream with his feet still in the water.    He lifted his head slightly from the ground.   He tried to turn around and look behind him at the watery surface, but he had to concentrate on gritting his teeth to hold back the scream that was on his tongue.  The water around his foot was now staining crimson and mixing with the brackish water of the stream.

 

Joe gathered the last of his waning strength and tried to pull on his ankle to set it free from its entrapment.   He could feel something sharp digging into the soft flesh, but his addled mind told him that his foot must be wedged between two rocks on the bottom of the stream bed. 

 

Joe would never remember hearing his heart-wrenching scream echo through the trees when he tried to set his foot free.   Underneath the surface of the water, there was a terrible tearing of flesh, followed by more blood.  Joe Cartwright fell unconscious where he lay partly submerged in the water. 

 

A hawk, perching in the canopy of the nearby trees, now screeched in fright at Joe’s scream and took off in flight up into the sky.  It was now the only sound to be heard as the youngest Cartwright lay oblivious to the world around him.

 

Later, when he would try to recall what he had felt at that moment, Joe would only be able to remember how cold the water was.  Little did he realise at the time that it was the coldness of the water that would save his life.

 

An old forgotten trapper’s metal jawed trap had dug into Joe’s ankle without mercy.    It had lain undisturbed and rusty in its watery grave, waiting for an unsuspecting animal or person. 

 

***********************************************************

 

Ben and the search party had not heard Joe’s cries of anguish at the pain left behind from the rusty trap hidden in the stream, but like his son, over the last hour or so, his heart had been growing heavier and heavier with  worry of finding his youngest son alive and safe.  

 

Their hearts had soared with Hoss’s recognition of the local landscape, and they had thought to be on the right track.  But now,  after miles and miles of nothing but trees and rocks, their earlier hope was waning with every stride of the horses.

 

Sheriff Roy Coffee had become increasingly worried over the last few miles, but he rode in silence, not wanting to unduly alarm the Cartwrights about what he feared might be happening.     He now made the decision that he couldn’t keep those fears from them any longer.  They would have to make a bold move or risk losing the trail left by Danny Griffiths.

 

Roy brought his horse to a pause again and seemed to be surveying the tracks left behind by Griffiths’s horse when Adam and Ben came up behind him.  Hoss had been travelling ahead of Roy and now turned around to see why the others had stopped.

 

“Ben, I think we have got trouble,” Roy said throwing caution to the wind and not sugar-coating the problem.

 

“What is it, Roy?” Ben asked with a little dread in his words.

 

“I think this fellow knows he is being followed,” Roy answered and pointed the tracks on the ground.  The long-serving lawman had noticed  over the last ten miles or so that Griffiths’s looked to be deliberately changing the gait of his horse constantly, altering the tracks that were left behind for the search party to follow.

 

 

 

“Do you think he’s on to us?” Adam now asked, worried that they would lose their hope of finding Little Joe.   “Yes, I do,” Roy replied.  “See those tracks?  He’s trying to make them so they can’t be followed,” he added. 

 

“What do you think we should do?” Ben asked, hoping that the suggestion wouldn’t be to lose any more time and allow Griffiths’s to get further ahead.  Ben didn’t want to waste any more time than necessary.  They didn’t even know how Joe had been treated up until now.  He could be desperately waiting for his family to come and find him right this minute.

 

Roy could see the anxiousness on Ben’s face, and he knew that his old friend did not want to wait things out.  He knew he had to come up with another solution to their sticky situation.  “I think we should split up,” Roy announced after thinking deeply for a few more seconds. 

 

“You and Hoss head in that direction, Ben,” Roy explained as he held out his hand and pointed in a northerly direction.   “Adam and I will keep going along this road.   That way he won’t be able to double back on us and get away.”

 

Ben looked further up the road that they had been travelling in and then looked in the direction that Roy had pointed to.  “Fine, Roy, but please be very careful.  Fire two shots in the air if you find anything,” he said, trying to stress the “anything” part. 

 

Adam had nodded his agreement to the alteration in plans and now watched in silence as his father and younger brother Hoss headed off in a different direction.    He knew that Roy meant for the pair of them to wait a little longer before proceeding.  Adam knew that Roy was doing his best not to upset Ben by wanting to delay their progress any further.

 

***********************************************************

 

Danny Griffiths was still a little way in front of Adam and the Sheriff, and although he couldn’t see anybody when he looked behind him,  the wind made the hair on the back of his neck stand up and his gut warned him that there was something out there.   He didn’t know what it was, but he spurred his horse into a gallop and picked up the pace dramatically.   It shouldn’t be too long now before he was back at the shack where Butch and Pierce were held up with the kid.

 

Roy and Adam tried to let as much time pass as possible before restarting their ride.   After only ten minutes, however, they both gave each other a certain look and quickly mounted their horses and started out again.  Although they had been trying to let Griffiths get a little further ahead, that same sense of warning made them start to canter their horses a little faster as well.

 

Griffiths could see the old shack in front of him.  He never thought that he would be glad to see such a run-down place.   As he got closer though, his curiosity started to rise again.   Something was wrong.    He dismounted and left the horse to wander loose for a minute in his haste to open the door and work out why the place was so eerily quiet.  Maybe they were all sleeping.

 

Griffiths turned the knob on the door, but got a very hollow-sounding reply as the door swung open and exposed the now vacant shack.    Thomas’s and Pierce’s horses had been tied up out back when he left, so he wasn’t overly concerned when he didn’t see the horses as he rode up.    His heart began racing now, however, when he couldn’t find anybody inside.

 

It had been about two hours after Joe’s escape that Butch Thomas and Robert Pierce discovered their little captive gone from his prison.   Thomas had roared with anger when he had spied the broken planks of wood in the corner of the room.   He had shouted and vowed to grab a hold of the kid when he found him and shake the living daylights

out of him.  

 

The two had made a quick and not very diligent search for the kid outside, but it soon became apparent that he had been gone for some time and that they weren’t likely to find him in a hurry.  They both had thought that he was too scared of Thomas and too injured to try something as daring as an escape.   Their minds started to wander now as to what might happen if the kid did make it back to civilisation and told people about the men who had kidnapped him.

 

Thomas wasn’t overly worried about being caught.  He was livid to think that a scrawny, bag of bones kid had gotten the best of him and escaped.  He was equally as sure, though, that the kid would be dead soon, anyway.   The kid was not likely to be able to walk the number of miles to find help with no food or water and very little sleep over the last two days.  

 

He told himself that he would hang low for a week or so, just until the dust about the kid’s death settled in Virginia City.  That way he could then just turn up in town and talk to Henry Williams about what happened without any fear of being blamed for the kid’s disappearance or death.

 

Robert Pierce, however, was just plain scared about being caught.  He didn’t have the cockiness that Thomas openly displayed, and he started to feel nervous about the mere mention of the kid being found dead along the roadway.  

 

Within twenty minutes, Pierce had his bedroll and few meagre possessions packed up and secured on his horse.   He rode away from Thomas, headed for New Mexico, telling himself that he would be better going someplace new like he wanted to.   He could make a new start and forget all about Butch Thomas and the Cartwright kid.

 

It wasn’t too long after Pierce that  Thomas himself rode out.   He didn’t even give Danny Griffiths another thought about returning from Virginia City. It made little difference now considering the lumber contract because his ace was now out of his grasp.   He promised himself a week of drinking and relaxing in Carson City before returning to collect the rest of his money from Henry Williams. 

 

After all, he had fulfilled his part of the deal and kept the kid as the bargaining chip as arranged.  It wasn’t his fault if the kid got away and then dropped dead out in the woods.   The money still rightfully belonged to him.  He was just damned mad that the kid had gotten the better of him.

 

Griffiths had lost track of time whilst standing in the doorway, trying to figure out where his two partners had gotten to with their hostage.  He heard a noise behind him and assumed it to be one of them.  He was badly mistaken as he felt himself driven up against the wall of the shack by a large fist.

 

“Where is my little brother?” a very ominous-looking Adam Cartwright demanded.   He held Griffiths with his left hand and held his right out in a clenched fist as a warning of what was to come should he be given the wrong answer.

 

“Now, now, Adam” Roy said, as he tried to prevent the eldest Cartwright from doing something he might regret later.  ”I know you’re worried about Little Joe, but we have to do things properly,” he said and then turned back towards the cringing Griffiths.

 

“Mister, you got about thirty seconds to tell us where Little Joe Cartwright is before I let this man do what he is threatening,” Roy now growled at the man.   Adam couldn’t help but smirk at Roy’s remark.    

 

“I don’t know where the kid is, honest, Mister,” Danny said in a meek voice.  “I just got here before you and the place was empty.”

 

“Where are your friends?” Roy asked, trying to get some information on the other kidnappers.  “I would be better for you if you co-operate.  The judge might decide to go easier on you,” Roy said, guessing that the man had just unwittingly dobbed himself into being involved in Little Joe’s abduction.

 

“Judge, what judge?  You haven’t got anything on me, Sheriff.  You said I was free to go back in Virginia City.   You said that the old guy had dropped the charges,” Griffiths said, a little sarcasm creeping into his voice.

 

“That’s what I said about Mr Perkins alright.  I don’t believe I said anything about you being in trouble over a kid.  Now what kid would you be talking about?” Roy asked, still acting dumb.    He could see another smile creep over Adam’s lips as he realised what game the Sheriff was playing.

 

“Kid, did I say kid?” Griffiths now said trying to change his story halfway through.  He knew that he had incriminated himself. 

 

“You don’t have to say anything to me at all, mister,” Roy now calmly said.  “Those saddlebags you tried to sell back in Virginia City give me all the proof I need.  Those bags belong to Little Joe.  The only way you would have them was if you took them from Joe.  I think you know more about Joe’s disappearance than you’re telling us.”

 

“Adam, would you kindly escort  this man to his horse.  Make sure his hands are secured behind his back, too.   I believe you and me have a prisoner to escort back to Virginia City,” Roy said.  

 

“I want to look around before we head back, Roy,” Adam said, as he started to glance around the run-down shack.   Roy now took a grip on Griffiths to prevent him getting away.  This allowed Adam to make sure that the place was deserted.  Adam was now feeling a little helpless.  He had expected to find Joe and his kidnappers upon finding Griffiths, but now, as he looked around the empty rooms, he didn’t know where to start looking for his missing brother.  What was he going to tell his father?

 

Adam could see the missing boards in the room Joe had been kept in.   They meant little to him because he failed to realise that the broken bits of timber signalled the escape route of Little Joe.   Adam lightly kicked the pieces of broken wood and left the room to got back to the front of the shack.

 

“If I were you, I wouldn’t worry about looking for your brother in here,” Griffiths said with a laugh.  “If I were you, I would be looking for a hole outside that he’s buried in,” he scorned.    Adam calmly walked over to the man and without warning struck him hard in the stomach with his fist.  Roy did not bother to stop Adam inflicting the blow.  He secretly wished he could have given Griffiths one himself for making a comment like that about someone he cared for.

 

Adam and Roy were soon mounted and ready to start the journey back to Virginia City with their unwilling prisoner when they heard two distinct gunshots fired into the air.  This was the one signal that they had been praying to hear since starting the search.

 

Adam gave a quick look that held the question towards the Sheriff.  Roy smiled briefly and knew that he would be making the journey back with Griffiths alone.    “Go on,” Roy said simply and watched as Adam kicked his horse into a gallop and rode towards the sound of the gunshots.   Adam didn’t know how far away his father and brother were when they fired the shots, but he could only hope that they had found Little Joe.

 

***********************************************************

 

As luck would turn out for  Ben and Hoss, the trail that they had chosen almost by accident would lead them in the same direction that Hoss and Joe had travelled from Pine Valley.

 

Hoss had suspected as much quite some time ago and voiced his thoughts to the others, but now that he and his father were separated from Adam and the Sheriff, he started voice his recognition of the local area again.

 

“This is the same road that Joe and me came on when we went camping last week, I’m sure of it,” Hoss announced to Ben.  These few words were the first spoken between the two men for quite a few miles.  Both were lost deep in thought about whether they were making the right decision to take this different trail.

 

“Maybe we are headed in the wrong direction, then,” Ben said.   “Why would Joe be way out here again?   We don’t have the slightest idea that this is the right way to be going.  We could be getting further and further away from Joe,” Ben said with frustration starting to creep into his voice.

 

“Don’t worry, Pa, we’ll find him soon,” Hoss said trying to give Ben some sort of hope to cling to.  Deep down he had  the same fears as his father, though.

 

“Hey Pa, this is were we were camped that night,” Hoss said, as they reached the bottom of a hill.  He knew that over the other side there was the small stream that had run beside their campsite.  It had also been the same stream that the little bear cub had fallen victim to that long-forgotten metal trap hidden on the muddy edge of the bank.

 

Hoss and Ben then rode up the slight slope in the road and were about to ride down the other side when they suddenly stopped on the crest of the hill and tried to take in the sight that lay before them.

 

Ben was certain that his heart stopped beating when he spotted the pathetic and thin-looking creature lying partly in the water of the stream and partly on the muddy bank.   He willed his body to move so as to get as quick as he could, but his muscles wouldn’t obey his brain.   He scarcely recognized the pale unconscious form of his youngest son that lay unmoving.   He even opened his mouth to try and shout the boy’s name, but the sound of his voice was taken away with the air from his lungs. 

 

Hoss had stood frozen to the spot much as his father was.  Now he fought hard to hold back the tears he felt welling up in his eyes as he looked upon the sight of his brother lying in the stream.   When he finally came to his senses and just before he made the desperate dash to catch up with his father, Hoss took his pistol from its holster and fired the two important signalling shots into the sky to alert the Sheriff and Adam that they had found Little Joe.   He couldn’t be sure now how far away Adam was, but he knew that they would all be needed to help get their brother home safe.

 

Ben had already started to run, and he jumped slightly at the sound of the gun going off.  It only delayed his pace for a short second as he ran towards Little Joe.

 

Ben reached his fallen son and suddenly found his voice and began whispering the boy’s name in vain to try and get a response from him.  As he tried to rouse the unconscious boy, his eyes were scanning over his body, trying to see any visible signs of injury.   The boy looked painfully thin and had his shirt was now torn almost to shreds.  

 

The thing that worried Ben mostly, apart from the unconsciousness, was the coldness of  Joe’s skin.  Whilst it was only his feet submerged in the water, his whole body trembled as Ben lay a gentle hand on his back.  The flesh was cold to the touch.

 

 

 

“Is he alright, Pa?” Hoss said knowing full well that his question sounded stupid even before he uttering it.

 

“I don’t know, Hoss,” Ben answered softly whilst continuing to check his son over for signs of injury.  “He’s just so darned cold.  Go and get your bedroll Hoss, quick.  We have to get him out of this water and get him warmed up.   His skin is freezing cold.”

 

Hoss turned and raced back to his horse for the warm blankets, tied to the back of Chubb.   While Hoss went back to the horses, Ben tried to pull his unconscious son out of the cold water of the stream.  This was when the problems really began.

 

Ben, unaware of the trap that encircled his son’s ankle below the water line, gently placed his hands underneath Joe’s arms and with short deliberate tugs, tried to drag his sodden son from the muddy water.  

 

Up until now, Joe had been completely oblivious to his father and brother’s presence.    As soon as his father tried to pull him from the water, though, the jaws of the metal trap bit deeper into his ankle, causing him to awaken to a semi-conscious state and scream hideously at the pain that plagued his body.

 

Ben immediately stopped at the sound of his son’s scream.  He knew that he was hurting the boy.  He tried to calm the boy and now stepped into the cold water himself and tried to lift the boy out without hurting him further.  

 

He tried to put his hands underneath the boy’s knees and shoulders and lift him out, but as soon as he pulled the boy more than a few inches, the chain that held the trap to the bottom of the stream became taut. 

 

Once again the jaws bit into the softened flesh of Joe’s ankle and caused fresh bleeding and pain.   Joe screamed out in agony again as fire and ice seemed to coarse through his veins.  Ice from the coldness of the water.  Red hot pain from the trap around his leg.

 

At least now Ben could see the hidden reason to his son’s torture.  It failed to bring him any relief from worry, though.   Ben could see upon closer inspection that the trap was old and rusty, and knew that it would take some effort to remove it from the boy’s leg.  Whichever way they tried to do it, he doubted that it would be possible to remove it without causing his son unbelievable pain.

 

By now Hoss had returned with the blankets, but upon hearing his brother’s pitiful screams of agony, he dumped them onto the muddy bank of the stream and entered the water to try and help his father.

 

“He’s got some sort of trap around his ankle,” Ben now informed Hoss.  Hoss immediately groaned as his thoughts went back to this same stream only a week earlier when it had been the bear cub who had fallen victim to one of  these vicious tools.  

 

Hoss and Ben now traded places so that Hoss could get a better look at the trap.  He, too, could see the corrosion of the metal.   He went to try and find a large stick to help release the trap.   Ben was now holding his youngest boy as best he could from the muddy bank.   As he held the boy, he rubbed his arms and chest, trying to get some warmth back into him.  The boy was just too cold.

 

Hoss had been heading back into the water with the stick when Ben and Hoss both heard another rider approaching the stream from the opposite direction.  For a few seconds the stranger was too far away for them to see who it was, and they immediately became apprehensive about someone else coming closer.   Ben gave a large sigh of relief, though, when he could finally make out the black-clad figure of his eldest son Adam on his horse Sport.

 

Hoss smiled briefly at the sight of his brother as well, but then firmly set his mind to the task at hand:  releasing his brother from his iron shackle.

 

Upon seeing his father and brother in the stream, Adam pulled his horse to a sudden stop and bolted towards them with worry and concern etched all over his face.  His gaze became fixated on the slim figure, shrouded by his father’s embrace, and his heart almost stopped beating for a few seconds.

 

Ben could see the fear and dread on his son’s face as Adam walked forward and gently pushed back one of the mud-caked curls from the unconscious boy’s forehead.  “How long has he been here?” Adam asked in a barely audible whisper.

 

“I don’t know, son, Hoss and I just found him a few minutes ago ourselves.  He has a trap around his ankle.  Hoss is working on getting it off now.  This water is so cold…” Ben answered.  

 

 

 

 

“I’ll help Hoss,” Adam said knowing that he would be more help to his brother that way.  He, too, just wanted to hold the boy and tell him that everything was going to be alright, but that luxury was afforded to their father at present.   Ben nodded at Adam’s statement as he continued to rub the cold flesh of his son’s arms and chest.

 

The trap turned out to be harder to remove than they first thought.  Joe had made a few moans of pain through the whole procedure, but the exhaustion, combined with the cold and the pain, caused him to revert mostly back to his earlier state of unconsciousness.

 

“Ah, finally!” Hoss exclaimed as he managed to slip the thin stick between the metal jaws of the trap and release their grip on Joe’s ankle.  Once the jaws were loosened however, the horrible-looking puncture marks began bleeding again.    Adam now held his brother’s leg and tried to use the boy’s sodden trousers to help compress the wound and slow the flow of blood. 

 

On Ben’s orders, they now carefully carried the unconscious youth between the three of them and headed up the muddy bank. Hoss immediately grabbed one of the blankets around his brother’s shivering body, the other he passed to Adam. 

 

Adam proceeded to tear a large strip from this one and use it as a bandage to tightly wrap the torn leg.  Unfortunately, any repairs to the leg or to any other part of Joe’s body would have to wait until they could get him back to the Ponderosa and into the expert physician’s hands of Paul Martin.

 

Ben wondered whether they should wait a while and allow Joe to get some rest before starting to head back the way they came.   A few more moans of pain and shivers from Joe, however, quickly convinced him that they needed to get the boy to medical help as soon as possible.  They already had quite a few hours of riding ahead, just to complicate matters even more.

 

Adam gave his father one of the blankets from his own bedroll and proceeded to wrap the first around Little Joe.   Adam held his brother’s frail form while his father mounted Buck.  He then passed the boy to his father, who wrapped him as tightly into his embrace as possible.  He hoped that his own body heat would help the boy over the next few of hours on the ride home.

 

 

 

 

“Hoss, I want you to go as fast as you can and get Doc Martin to meet us back at the Ponderosa.   If you see Roy along the way, tell him about finding Joe and that we will need to talk to him as soon as Joe is able to.  Go quickly, son,” he emphasised.

 

Hoss briefly walked over to his father while mounted on Chubb and looked down at his sleeping brother.  “You just hold on there, punkin,” he said.  “Ol’ Hoss is going to get the doctor for you, and he will fix you up good as new, ya hear?”   Hoss quickly tried to smile at his father and older brother and then turned his horse around and galloped off in the direction of Virginia City.

 

“You alright with him, Pa?” Adam asked not knowing what other words of comfort to say to his father at a time like this.  It was obvious to all of them that Little Joe’s condition was serious if not life-threatening.  They just had to get him home and pray that lots of rest and good food would see the usually full of life kid bounce back to his normal self.

 

“I’ll be fine, Adam,” Ben said gently as he looked back down at the child nestled in his coat.  “Let’s get him home,” he said and started Buck into a  slow walk.  At the moment that was all he was willing to risk.  Hopefully they would be able to pick up the pace as they got closer to home.

 

Ben’s thoughts were interrupted by the meek sound of his son’s voice coming back at him.   He only barely caught the words and asked the boy to repeat what he said.   Little Joe’s eyes were once again closed, but he repeated the sentence, “You ……….. finally ………… found me,” he whispered and was then lost to sleep again.

 

***********************************************************

 

With Hoss now riding hard towards Virginia City, Adam and Ben were left to carry  their precious burden back home.   They knew that time was a critical factor in the boy’s chances of survival.  At one point during the long arduous and slow trek through the landscape, Adam had pondered the idea of stopping to make a fire to try and warm the still unconscious youth.   

 

Whilst Ben thought that the warmth was needed, he also realised that it was medical treatment was so desperately needed and they were still some way from the homestead.   

 

 

 

 

 

A few times Ben had paused his ride and readjusted the sleeping bundle tucked under his coat.  Joe never seemed to feel his touch or hear the soothing words of comfort whispered in his ear as they rode.   Adam rode in front of Ben and Joe, trying to get his mind away from the worry and concern that he felt at the moment. 

 

After about four hours of never-ending road, Adam and Ben started to recognize the outskirts of the Ponderosa.  They now could follow the road with their hearts filled with a little relief at finally reaching their destination.

 

“Adam, you go on and get things ready at the house for Joe,” Ben now said, suggesting that Adam ride on ahead.   “Tell Hop Sing what has happened and how we found him.  Tell him we will need plenty of blankets and towels, bandages and anything else that you can  think of.  Make sure you get that fire going in the living room and in Joe’s room please” 

 

The words seemed to tumble out of his mouth all at once and tangle together into incoherent sentences.   Adam’s and his father’s eyes met briefly and seemed to make sense out of all the chaos.   Adam nodded his head slightly, signalling his agreement, and now started for home at a faster pace.

 

“Not far to go now, son, just a little way and you’re home, boy,” Ben whispered to Joe.    “You’ll soon be safe and warm in your own bed,” he said to his sleeping son.  He knew he could manage the ‘warm’ part easily enough.   The ‘safe’ part was going to be slightly more difficult to achieve.  There was no doubt in Ben’s mind that his son would be scared and unsure for the next few days until he was back in familiar surroundings and the love and understanding of his family.

 

***********************************************************

 

Back at the Ponderosa homestead, Adam arrived in the yard and was very pleased to see the buggy of the local doctor outside the front porch.   He hitched his horse up to a rail outside and was quick to get inside, wanting to talk to Paul about his brother.

 

Hoss and Paul Martin both looked up as Adam walked into the room.  “Hey, Adam,” came the greeting from Hoss.  

 

“Glad to see you home safe, Adam,” Paul said a little bit more formally and stepped forward to shake Adam’s hand.  The doctor knew that there would be little else on the Cartwrights minds at the moment except for Joseph.

 

“Have you told the Doctor here what happened, Hoss?” Adam now asked his younger brother.  “Hop Sing, you will need to have a few things ready for when Pa arrives home with Joe,” Adam said now, addressing the little oriental man coming out of the kitchen into the living room.

 

“No time stop talk to Mr Adam.  Get things ready for boy when get home,” Hop Sing said obviously not hearing Adam’s request.  It seemed though that Hop Sing had everything already under control as he carried a basin laden with bandages and a few small bottles up the stairs towards Joe’s room.  Hop Sing probably already had a good idea what would be needed, and Adam was sure that Paul would have everything he needed with him in his black medical bag.

 

The three men now stood anxiously in the living room, too nervous to sit down, while they waited for Ben and Joe to arrive back home.  There was no conversation as the worry was evident on their faces.  Even Doctor Paul Martin showed his concern about Joe’s condition. He had yet to see the boy, but from all accounts from Hoss, the boy was in a very bad way when he was found in the stream.  Joseph was almost like a son to him as well and he knew that anything happening to the youngest Cartwright would affect him just as badly as the family itself.

 

They continued to wait.  The only sound in the room was Hop Sing trudging up and down the staircase to Joe’s room.  For the last four or five trips, he had been carrying a bucket of hot water in each hand.  Hoss and Hop Sing had manoeuvred a metal bathtub into the room when Hoss first arrived home.   From Hoss’s description, the boy was covered in mud from lying so long in the stream.  He would need to be cleaned before Paul could even start his examination of the boy.  It was assumed that the hot water would also help to warm the boy, too.

 

Just when it all seemed that the waiting was too much of a burden to Hoss, there was the sound of hooves on the ground outside.  All three men raced to the front door to greet the approaching rider. 

 

They all met a very tired-looking Ben sitting on top of Buck whilst holding onto Joe.  Joe stilled looked to be unconscious and that greatly worried the Doctor.  He was told that the boy has been unconscious when they had found him partly submerged in the stream.  That had been well over four hours ago. 

 

“Adam, you take Joe from your father and Hoss you help Ben inside to a cup of hot coffee,” Doc Martin said, now making sure that all of the Cartwrights were going to be alright.

 

Adam’s gaze became fixated on the limp form of his youngest brother against his father’s chest.  The boy looked no older than twelve rather than the energetic youth of sixteen he had greeted at the breakfast table a week or so ago.   The boy’s complexion was very pale in contrast to the dark shirt his father wore underneath his tan leather vest.  He pulled himself out of his trance-like state and now raised his arms, ready to take the boy inside.

 

Ben knew that his arms had become numb over the last hour or so from holding onto his son, so it was with a little relief that he allowed Adam to take Joe from his saddle.  Adam made sure that there was one strong arm around the boy’s shoulders, and another under his knees.  He would need to be careful of the leg wound as they made their way inside and up the staircase.

 

For some unknown reason, Adam felt himself hold the boy tightly to his chest as he carried him inside.   He knew that the boy was unaware of his family, but Adam needed to feel the boy just to make sure that the image he saw was real. 

 

There had been many thoughts of fear and worry that had run through his mind over the last two days.  He had lain awake after Hoss and his father had retired after another long day of searching, telling himself that they would find Joe safe and well again.  As that week had drawn on, it had become harder and harder to convince himself of this fact.  

 

Hoss had helped his father from Buck and let one of the hands put the animal in the barn for the night.  Ben had stood in the one spot for a few minutes and tried in vain at many stages to stretch some of the aches and kinks out of his sore muscles.  They had become stiff from being in the same position for so long.  Afterwards, Ben strode purposefully into the house wanting to know the condition of his youngest son. 

 

Hop Sing had placed the cup of coffee on the table at Doc Martin’s suggestion, but now, with more important things on his mind, Ben walked right passed it, fully expecting it to get cold before he would return to drink it.

 

Doc Martin had already begun to help Hoss and Adam undress Little Joe just as Ben approached the doorway to the room.  “What can I do, Paul?” Ben asked knowing how stupid the question sounded even before he asked it.

 

 

 

 

“I want you to take care of yourself first, Ben Cartwright,” Doc Martin answered sternly.  “I know you are more concerned about Little Joe than yourself at the moment, but the room’s already crowded with the three of us, for the time being.  By the time you get yourself cleaned up, we should be finished the bath so that I can begin the proper examination of his injuries.  That’s probably when I am going to need you the most, Ben,” Doc Martin said.

 

Paul was expecting a full-fledged argument with the patriarch of the Cartwright family and although he could see worry and concern etched on his old friend’s face,  he could also see the signs of fatigue and submission.

 

“Alright, Paul, you win, for a short while.  I will get myself cleaned up a little, but after that I will be right back ready to help you with my son whether you or him both want it.” Ben replied in his most serious voice.  

 

Adam, Hoss and Paul all watched Ben turn from the room and saw his slumped posture as he walked slowly back to his own room for a few minutes.  All knew that his shoulders were weighed down heavily with worry, fear and guilt about his son as well as with fatigue from the trip.

 

Now Paul quickly snapped back to his task at hand, knowing that there was another Cartwright who needed his help more at the moment.  Hop Sing had come in and filled the copper bathtub up with warm water.  He had then gone about laying some heavier sheets on top of Joe’s bed so that they could be easily taken away once Joe’s filthy rags had been removed.  

 

Hoss held his little brother in a slightly upright position from behind as Adam and Doc teamed up to help with the mattered bits of cloth.  They had to be careful not to cause any more injury to the already gravely ill boy before them.

 

First the two last remaining buttons on the shirt were undone, and Adam very carefully started to peel back the fabric from his brother’s chest.  He sighed secretly in relief when he was able to see the chest slowly inflate and deflate from Joe’s deep breathing action. 

 

Both Adam and Paul held back there gasps of shock at the extent of the bruising on the boy’s upper body.   There were dark purple bruises all over the rib cage, some which had not fully formed yet.   They looked angry and overlapped each other in places, signalling the severity of the beating that Joe had been the recipient of.  

 

 

Hoss was unable to compose himself quite as well and his eyes filled with rage when he saw the punishment that had been inflicted upon his younger brother.  He swore to both his brother and himself that he would make the men responsible pay.

 

Paul reminded both Adam and Hoss that they needed to put their personal feelings aside about what had happened to Joe so that they could help heal his injuries.  He knew it was difficult for both brothers to do just this, but Joe couldn’t afford to be exposed to the elements anymore than was absolutely necessary.   The boy had already shown signs of illness due to lying in the cold water of the stream for so long in addition to the long, windy ride home on his father’s horse.

 

With Joe’s trousers, Paul though it best if they cut the legs back to the knee length before trying to pull them off.  Some of the fabric had become imbedded in the wound on his right leg and when Paul had tried to gently probe the area to remove the dirt and debris, the pain had been bad enough to bring Joe from the deep dark depths of unconsciousness to just under the surface of waking.  Hoss found that he had to adjust and tighten his grip on his younger brother so that he wouldn’t thrash about from the pain and hurt himself further.

 

Paul now took a knife that Hop Sing had provided and slit the legs of the trousers just above the knee.  They were able to remove the shortened pants over the injured area without causing Joe too much discomfort.  Paul suggested that they might be able to remove the dirt and debris a little bit better with the aid of the water in the tub.

 

They all had wondered about Joe’s reaction to modesty, but soon put that aside and told themselves that Joe would just have to put up with a little embarrassment until they finished the bathing of his body.  Joe was still unconscious, despite the probing and removing of clothes, and they just hoped that that would last until they finished what they had to do.

 

Doc Martin checked the temperature of the water one last time and now motioned for Adam and Hoss to carefully pick up their inert brother’s body and place it in the water.  He reminded them to be extra gentle and watch out for the boy’s injuries and also for the boy waking suddenly from being immersed in the water and thrashing about, causing more pain to himself.

 

Adam now moved to the head of the bed and placed one arm underneath Joe’s slim back and wrapped the other securely but gently around his chest.  Hoss placed both arms underneath Little Joe’s knees and now lifted the slight weight from the bed with Adam.

 

Both Adam and Hoss shuffled together across the short distance to the copper tub with Joe in their arms.  Very slowly they now lowered his body into the warm water, continuing to support him the whole time for fear of his head slipping under the water.   They had been a little disappointed not to see the reaction that Doc Martin had alerted

them to earlier.  There brother made no such attempt to thrash about, there was not even a twitch to signal that he might be coming awake.