THERE'S ALWAYS SOMETHING
By: Julie-Ann S.
**********************************************
The clock above the counter chimed
in the hour of one. Joe glanced up and
after noting the time, he then quickly scanned the mercantile to see if his
wayward brother had returned. Seeing
that he hadn't, Joe took a deep breath and continued his conversation. He had been distracted by the beautiful girl
he was talking to long enough to fail to notice that his brother had used it as
an opportunity to leave. By the time he
had realised that Adam was gone, it was too late for him to do anything about
it and so he had decided to stay put.
For the last thirty minutes or so he had been standing there listening
to and talking with the young lady.
During this time, his thoughts had frequently turned to his brother and
to Adam's real purpose for being here in town.
"Joe Cartwright? You haven't been listening to a word I've
been saying, have you?"
"Oh. Yeah.
Sure. Heard
every word you said, Leah."
Joe smiled charmingly.
Leah frowned. "Hmm. The way you were looking right now gave me
the impression that your mind was elsewhere."
Joe took her hand and lifted it
gently to his mouth. He kissed the back
of her hand as he glanced up at her.
Leah moaned softly. Joe kept her
hand in his while he let her know that she had his full attention.
She shook her head slowly. "I don't know how you do it, Joe. A girl can never stay mad at you for very
long."
"Believe me they can and they
have." He took hold of her other
hand and held them both. "I am
afraid that I have to go now but rest assured I'll come by the next time I'm in
town."
"Make sure that you
do." She smiled shyly at him.
Letting go of her hands, he tipped
his hat in farewell. As he walked outside
of the mercantile, he smiled to himself.
You've still got it Joe Cartwright, no matter what anybody says.
Standing on the sidewalk, he tried
to think of where Adam could have gone off to.
After looking to his left and then to his right, he faced forward. He began to watch what was happening in front
of him. His mind, was not paying
attention to what was going on in the street, it was still trying to figure out
the possible whereabouts of Adam.
The plan had been originally to
stick close by Adam so that he could find out what his brother's big secret
was. It had sounded perfectly alright to
him this morning, when he had found out that Adam was coming into town. He had wasted no time in promptly inviting
himself to join Adam on the trip. He smirked
as he remembered what Adam's reaction had been to his impromptu
invitation. By just looking at Adam's
face, he could tell that Adam wasn't pleased with the idea. He also knew that there was nothing much Adam
could about it without raising any more suspicions. Joe grinned.
Who said that he couldn't have a little fun along the way.
Trying to find out what the hell was
going on with Adam had been slow-going.
The thing that irritated Joe the most about all of this,
was the fact that Hoss knew about it and he didn't. Being left out of the loop, especially where
his brothers were concerned, was not the most pleasant
of feelings. Whatever it was that Adam
was hiding from the rest of the family, he was practically certain that Hoss
had found out something about it.
However, getting any information out of Hoss was virtually
impossible. Once Hoss gave his word to
keep quiet, nothing short of a death in the family would get him to say
anything.
Thinking back, Joe remembered, that
ever since Renee, he had made up his mind to find out what was going on, no
matter what. However, the task was
proving to be harder than he had originally thought it would be. It didn't help that Adam, on the surface, was
seen to be doing nothing out of the ordinary.
Even Adam's trip to
"Well...I see that you're ready
to go then."
Joe blinked and turned to his
left. Adam had suddenly appeared out of
nowhere. "Uh. I-I was just coming to look for you."
"It looks like I saved you the
trouble then." Adam grinned. He already had an inkling
as to why Joe was suddenly interest in spending more time with him. "How about we go and get some lunch
before we head home?"
Trying to hide that he was a little
bit disappointed at Adam's re-appearance and the fact that Adam had already had
done what he wanted to do in town today, Joe nodded. "Yeah. I could do with something to eat."
Adam smiled. He had seen the flicker of disappointment
that had crossed Joe's face, but he chose to ignore it. The two of them then began walking down the
street to a cafe that had a reputation for serving some of the best meals in
Virginia City. It was as they neared The
Silver Dollar, that their journey was suddenly halted.
A small crowd had gathered outside
the entrance of The Silver Dollar making it nearly impossible for them to get
by. Adam and Joe were just about to walk
around when the crowd suddenly dispersed.
A large man, wearing what looked like a permanent scowl on his face, was
making his way out of the saloon. He was
carrying another man over his shoulders.
Adam and Joe watched, as the large man purposely headed over to the
water trough, that was situated near the saloon. Upon reaching the trough, he promptly threw
the man that he was carrying, into it.
"If I eva
seen yer scrawny face agin,
you'll wish you neva bin
born." the
large man shouted to the man, who was now lying face down in the trough. He then made his way back inside the saloon.
Adam shook his head in
amazement. He was a mean one, that was for sure.
After making a mental note to keep eye on him in the future, Adam's
thoughts then began to wander as he thought about how Hoss would fare in a
fight against the large man. The large
man would definitely give Hoss a run for his money, no doubt about it. Turning to face Joe, Adam was surprised to find
that his brother had gone. Quickly
looking around, he finally saw Joe standing near the water trough watching the
dumped man get out.
Joe watched the man get slowly out
of the trough. When he had seen the
large man carry him out and although he couldn't see the man's face, Joe had
the feeling that he knew who it was. Now
he was absolutely positive.
"Candy?"
The man turned around to see who had
called his name. "Joe!"
Joe laughed and moved forward a
little. He took a good look at his old
friend and grinned. "Well, I see
things haven't changed much since I last saw you. Care to tell me what that was all
about?"
"And it's great to see you too,
Joe." Candy grinned. "That?
That was just a little misunderstanding, nothing else. Now tell me how is
everybody?"
"Everybody is just fine. When did you get back and when did you plan
on telling us?"
"Got into
town yesterday. I was planning on coming out tomorrow."
"I guess you're back for a
while then?"
"As you know that depends. So, you still breaking hearts all over
Joe grinned. "Of course."
"Well...I guess you'll have
some competition for a little while now."
Adam decided that he had been
watching the exchange between Joe and this Candy fellow for long enough. It seemed to Adam that Joe and Candy were
picking up from where they had previously left off. He was also a little bit perplexed by his
reaction in seeing the enthusiastic welcome that Joe had given Candy. He casually walked over to the two of them
and cleared his throat.
Candy turned in the direction of the
voice and folded his arms. "Seems we have company, Joe." Silently, he began to take stock of the
newcomer.
"Oh hell,
Adam.
Sorry...forgot all about you for a moment there, big brother." Joe winked at Adam. "Candy, this is my brother Adam. Adam this is Candy Canady, an old friend of the
family."
Adam and Candy immediately started
sizing each other up. Adam, for his
brother's sake, had made up his mind to be at least pleasant to Canady. He held out his hand, "Nice to meet you,
Candy. I have heard nothing but good
things about you."
Candy hesistantly
took Adam's hand and shook it. So this
was the long lost Cartwright. He wasn't
too sure what to make of Adam. During
his last stay at the Ponderosa he hadn't heard much about the oldest Cartwright
son and he wasn't certainly going to accept Adam Cartwright at face value. Only time would tell if Adam would be worthy
of his friendship.
Joe could sense that there was
already some tension between both Candy and Adam. He was confused as to the reason why. Deciding that he was going to have to do
something about it, Joe reminded Adam about lunch and invited Candy to join
them. Candy reluctantly agreed and the
three of them went off to the cafe.
**********************************************
Hoss wiped the sweat off his
brow. Tossing hay was sure hard
work. Dadblang that Joe for taking off
with Adam today and leaving him behind to do most of the work. He didn't mind so much Adam going off, 'cause
he knew that Adam had important stuff to do.
At least ol' Adam did his fair share of the
work when he didn't need to be elsewhere.
Joe, on the other hand, would just about use any excuse he could find to
get out doing work.
The only consolation that Hoss had
had up to this point in time was that it was getting close to supper time. Having already caught a whiff what Hop Sing
was cooking up for the evening meal had caused his mouth to water in expectation. Tossing
all of this hay was sure making him downright hungry and he was hoping that
there would be enough for at least two helpings. After standing there for a few moments, he
took a long slow breath and reluctantly returned to the task at hand.
A couple of minutes later, Hoss
abruptly stopped as he heard the sound of horses approaching. He frowned a little. There were three horses coming in and he
wondered who it could be. Turning around
just in time, he saw his two brothers approaching. He could see that they weren't alone and at
first, had a hard time seeing who the third fellow was. As they drew nearer, he then suddenly
realised who it was.
"Pa! Pa!
Come on out here real quick."
Hoss grinned, as he watched the three riders
pull in and get off their horses.
Walking up to Candy, Hoss grabbed him and gave him a huge bear hug.
"Ok, Hoss you can let me go
now." Candy managed to say, as Hoss
continued to hug him.
Letting go of Candy, Hoss stood
there grinning from ear to ear. "Candy, you ol' son of gun. How have you been?"
"I've been fine. At least you had the good courtesy to
ask." Candy smiled and firmly nodded once at Joe.
"Ok, Candy. I get your point." Joe smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back
of his neck with his hand.
At that moment, Ben came out of the
house to see what all the commotion was about.
When he saw Candy, he quickly made his way over to his former
foreman. Smiling Ben,
held out his hand in greeting and Candy eagerly took it. Ben then put his other hand over Candy's hand
and firmly shook hands.
"Candy. It's great to see you. How are you?"
"Like I told Hoss, I'm fine. Thanks for asking Mr. Cartwright." Candy quickly glanced at Joe, who just rolled
his eyes.
Letting go, Ben nodded. "It's been a while hasn't it? Well...how about coming inside and telling us
what you've been up to?" Ben looked
over and saw that a ranch hand was nearby.
"Frank, take care of the horses will you?"
Adam watched as his father, Hoss and
Joe escorted Candy inside. He
sighed. Seeing Frank approach him, he
solemnly told Frank that he would take care of his own horse. As he walked his horse towards the stable,
Adam tried to sort out his feelings. He
wasn't quite sure what to make of what he just witnessed. It was obvious that Canady was being treated
like a long lost member of the family.
His family hadn't been this pleased since he himself had returned home.
After taking care of his horse, Adam
was unsure of what he should do next. He
didn't feel like going in and watching his family interact with Canady. In fact, he was feeling a little bit put out and
maybe even a little resentful over the way his family was treating Canady. As he made his way out of the stable, he
decided that it would better to sit outside and wait for a while before going
on inside. After making his way to the
porch, he sat down on the wooden bench and closed his eyes. The best thing he could do right now was to
take time out to think over this whole situation before he did anything that he
would regret later on.
"Adam?"
Adam opened his eyes and saw his
father standing in front of him. He had
no idea how long he had been sitting there for.
"Pa...ahhh...I
was just taking some time out to enjoy the afternoon sun."
Ben nodded his head in
understanding. "I guess our
reaction to Candy coming back was a bit of a surprise to you?"
"I guess you could say
that."
Sitting down next to Adam, Ben
placed his hand on his oldest son's shoulder.
Even though it was good to see Candy, to Ben it was even better that
Adam was back home for good. "You
know son, I think you won't mind Candy so much once you get know him."
Adam turned his head to face his
father and half-smiled. "
Ben gave Adam a sympathetic
smile. He could on some level understand
what Adam must be thinking and feeling at this point in time. Knowing that it would be best to let Adam
sort things out for himself, he gently patted Adam on
the back and got up. "You coming inside now?"
Adam sighed and nodded reluctantly
"Yeah. I'm coming in
now." Getting up, he paused for a
moment to collect himself, before following his father
inside.
**********************************************
"I must say the one thing that
I did miss was Hop Sing's cooking. He's still the best cook this side of
Hop Sing smiled in return and then
went back to clearing the dishes from the table. Dinner that night had been a rather lively
affair. Ben, Joe and Hoss had been
filling Candy in on what that they had been up to in the last year or so since
he had left. Candy had also told them
about a few of his adventures. Everybody
had been enjoying themselves, that is except for the
one person, who at this point in time was feeling a little bit left out of the
reunion that was currently taking place.
Adam, for most of the meal, had
chosen to sit quietly and listen to the conversation. On the odd occassion
he had smiled and even laughed a little at something someone had said but in
general, had made no real effort to participate in the dinner time
conversation. From what he could see,
Candy Canady seemed to be alright but for some reason he still couldn't find
himself warming up to the man. He needed
to learn more about Canady and the relationship he had with his family before
doing anything.
Ben placed down his glass and leaned
back in his chair. "So Candy, as
far as I can gather, no-one has asked you this question yet, so I guess the
honour falls to me. I hope don't mind me
asking but is your visit one of a permanent nature or are you just passing
through?"
Candy knew that this question was
coming and now the time had come to say something. Quickly glancing around the table, he smiled. "Well, Mr. Cartwright. I was thinking of staying on for a time but
for how long I can't say. I was hoping
to come and work for you while I was here."
"You're always welcome here,
Candy. I don't need to tell you that
there has always been a job and place for you here. I have to say that it is nice to have you
back with us. You were greatly missed by
everybody here." Ben grinned. "I expect the arrangement will be the
same as before?"
Candy nodded. It was nice to hear that he had been missed
by everybody at the Ponderosa. Well,
that wasn't exactly right. Candy looked
across the table. He had no idea what the
oldest Cartwright son was thinking - his face gave nothing away. Coming to the conclusion that he couldn't
care less what Adam Cartwright thought about him, his face returned to Ben. "Yes, Mr. Cartwright. The same as before. I still want to reserve the right to leave
whenever I want to."
"Then it's settled." Ben got up from his chair and took his glass
in his hand. Raising his glass into the
air, he smiled broadly. "Welcome
home, Candy."
Joe and Hoss joined their father in
toasting Candy's return. Adam, however,
made no real attempt to do so. In fact
he didn't want to. All Adam could think
of at that point, was that there would be another person that he'd have to be
careful around. Canady was no ordinary
ranch hand. He could see that. The man would be a frequent guest inside the
house. It was already hard enough
keeping things from his family, without adding the extra burden of making sure
that a complete stranger didn't find out that he was up to something more than
just helping his father run the ranch.
Deep down he knew that there were other reasons as to why he didn't like
this turn of events and but that was the one that was foremost in his mind.
Adam's flat out refusal to toast
Candy's return had been noticed by all those who were present at the
table. Ben was now even more worried
about how Adam was reacting to Candy.
This was causing him more concern than Adam's frequent and mysterious
trips into
Hoss shrugged his shoulders
slightly. He had long ago given up
trying to work out how and why Adam reacted to things the way he did. He had an idea that Adam's refusal had in some
way, something to do with that legal job of his. Other than that he had no clue as to why Adam
was acting the way he was. Hoss had
noticed that Adam's years away from home had changed him in some ways. That job of his had and was still playing a
big part in that change. He reckoned
that Adam must of decided to play it safe for the time
being. The looks on Pa's and Joe's
faces, however, were giving Hoss a great deal more to think about.
Joe glared at Adam. Damn his brother for being so downright
rude. He didn't like it one bit especially
since that rudeness was being directed at Candy. It was great seeing his best friend again
after all this time. He was also happy
and pleased that Candy had decided to stay on for a while. He could tell Pa and Hoss felt the same way
he did. The fact that Adam didn't seem
to share the sentiment, irked him. To be
honest, it was also very confusing. Just
then another thought hit him. If Adam
didn't like this, he certainly wouldn't like was coming next. Frowning, he wondered if he should broach the
subject right now or perhaps wait and see if someone else was going to say
something about it first. He was kind of
hoping that Pa would do it. Yes, on
second thoughts, Pa should do it. It
would be better coming from him and then maybe Adam wouldn't feel so put out
any more than he already was. Diverting
his eyes from Adam he smiled apologetically at Candy.
After a few minutes of silence, Ben
decided that it was time to say something.
He too had realised that Candy's sleeping arrangements would not go down
well with Adam and now was debating as to when would be the best time to
mention it. Looking at Adam, he knew
that it was best to get it over and done with as soon as possible. Standing up, he motioned to the others to
come and join him in front of the fireplace.
For the next hour, Candy and Ben
watched while Hoss and Joe played checkers.
All four of them were still actively conversing and joking with each
other throughout this time. Adam, on the
other hand, had chosen to read a book.
To the others it seemed that he was more interested in his latest book
of Shakespeare sonnets than making any attempts to join them.
The truth was,
that in fact Adam had been paying far more attention to what was going on
around him than what was in his book. He
saw his father glance at him occassionally, with a
worried look on his face. This indicated
to Adam that they were still holding something back from him. Adam felt sickened by the thought that his
father was unhappy with what was happening and he wished that he could do
something about it. The thought of
pretending to be pleased that Canady was staying just to make his family happy
was something that he was not prepared to do under any circumstances.
The grandfather clock chimed nine
and Ben lowered his head. Rubbing the
bridge of his nose with his forefinger, he closed his eyes. Now was the time to say something before
everybody turned in for the night.
Opening his eyes, he stood up.
"
Hoss and Joe looked straight at each
other and then quickly back to their father.
Hoss had already made up his mind that he was going to bed right now
before any of the fireworks started. He
knew what his father was about to say and he didn't want to be around just in
case Adam blew a fuse. Seeing Adam get
mad would just about keep him up all night with worry. It was a sight that he was not prepared to
see or to deal with for that matter. As
he began to make his move, his father spoke again.
"Candy." Ben took a slow, deep breath. "Candy, when you're ready you can just
take your things upstairs to your old room."
Adam raised an eyebrow, but keep quiet. His years
as a government agent had further taught him to keep his feelings and his
reactions down to the bare minimum. He
closed his book and got up. After saying
goodnight to everyone, he calmly walked upstairs to his room. Upon entering his room, he closed the door
firmly and then he slowly made his way over to the window. Placing both of his hands on either side of
it, he let go of all pretence. Staring
out into the night sky, he began trying to make sense of his reaction to
Canady. To say that he was upset to find
out that Canady had been granted a place in his home was an
understatement. He continued to keep staring
out of the window for some time as he tried to work out his feelings and what
he should do next.
Meanwhile downstairs, the others
were quite confused by the way Adam had reacted to this latest revelation. Ben wished his sons and Candy a good night. He walked up the stairs, as if he was
carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Stopping briefly at Adam's door, he
contemplated whether he should go in or not.
Deciding once again that it would be better to wait, he went on to his
room.
Hoss followed shortly after his
father, leaving Candy and Joe alone downstairs.
Joe told Candy that he was glad that he was back and then feeling that
it was his duty to apologise for Adam's behaviour, did so. Candy told Joe that everything was fine and that
he didn't expect to be welcomed with open arms by Adam. Joe half-smiled. He wished his friend a good night and then
made his way upstairs.
Candy watched Joe as he made his way
up. It was good to be back here. When Joe had disappeared from his sight, he
went outside to collect his gear.
Standing for a short time out on the porch, he thought about the way
things had gone that day. That Adam
Cartwright was certainly a man who kept all his cards to himself. He had the feeling that Adam was not exactly
pleased with his presence on the ranch and he couldn't blame him. Shaking his head, he picked up his gear and
made his way back inside. The only thing
Candy was sure about was that for Joe's sake he would be polite to Adam. Other than that he was not guaranteeing
anything.
**********************************************
"Everything looks fine over
here." Candy shouted. He turned his horse around to head back in
the direction that he had come from. He
and Joe had been out for the most part of the day checking the fence in the
east pasture. Some of the cows had
gotten out during the night and so Ben had sent them both to check out the
east, while Adam, Hoss and himself had gone out with some of the other ranch hands
to check the other pastures.
Joe meet
Candy about halfway and reported to his friend that nothing was amiss at his
end. As they rode together to the next fence, Joe's mind turned to the events
of the last few days.
Candy had been home for nearly a
week now. The state of affairs between Adam
and Candy had not improved much during that time. The two men rarely saw each during the day
except for breakfast and dinner. They
were polite to each other but that was about as far as it went. Joe had the feeling that it was for his sake
they had both separately come to the same conclusion. It didn't help matters much that Adam still
took his trips into Virginia City and on those days, he didn't bother coming
home until well into the night. Joe was
beginning to wish that his brother and his best friend would let everything
come out into the open so that they could resolve their differences. Something would have to give very soon in
order to break the apparent stalemate they were in.
Candy could tell that his friend was
thinking about something and he knew he wouldn't be surprise if it was about
the situation with Adam. Other than
being polite to Joe's brother, when they were in the company of others, he had
made no real effort in getting to know the aloof Cartwright. He was privately thankful that he didn't have
to the need to spend any time alone with Adam.
What an awkward situation that would be.
Deciding that it was time that Joe needed something else to think about,
Candy smiled. He knew what would get Joe
going.
"So. About this
dance on Friday night...have you thought about who you're going to take?"
Joe smiled. "Not really. Got my eye on a couple of
girls though."
"That I
wouldn't doubt." Candy grinned. "Well, when you decide which one you
want, just send the other one in my direction.
I'll have no trouble in helping her get over you."
Joe laughed. He knew what Candy was up to and he welcomed
the change of thought. It didn't last
for long though. Joe had made up his
mind to bridge the ever widening gap between Candy and Adam. Whether either one of them liked it or not it didn't matter.
He was going to try his hardest to at least to get them on better terms
with each other. The thought of having
to choose one over the other if the situation called for it in the future was not
something he wished to contemplate.
"Candy. I think there's something I should tell you
about my brother Adam."
Stopping his horse, Candy
frowned. What on earth was Joe trying to
do now? Obviously Joe had gotten it in
his mind to sort out his and Adam's problems.
He didn't like it but because Joe was a friend he would listen to
whatever he had to say.
Joe got off his horse and waited for
Candy to do the same. After Candy had
dismounted, Joe began telling Candy about Adam's behaviour since he had
returned home. Joe also told him about
Renee and his suspicions ever since then.
All the while Candy nodded and slowly took in what Joe was saying.
"Hmmm. So, do you
think your brother is doing something illegal?"
Joe shook his head vigourously.
"No. That's one thing I'm
sure about. Hoss knows something and I
know he wouldn't let Adam do anything that wasn't on the level. You know Hoss, if he knew that you doing
something that was wrong, he'd be the first to try and get you back on the
straight and narrow."
Candy nodded. "Yeah, you got that right. Adam sounds like the type to keep things to
himself."
"Yep. He's always
been that way. Still, I've tried
everything I could think of to find out what his big secret is."
"Obviously you haven't tried
everything. Maybe there's other ways to
try to find out what's going on."
"Well I'm damned if I know what
they are." Joe shrugged his shoulders.
"There's one thing that I do know for sure and that is that I won't
rest until I find out what it is."
Candy went over and patted his
friend on the back. "Just make sure
you don't get hurt in the process.
Besides maybe it's better not knowing."
"Maybe." Joe half-smiled.
"I've haven't done much investigating since you've returned. Hopefully Adam's been lulled into thinking
that I've given up. That's one thing he
may be grateful to you about."
Candy raised his eyebrows. "If Adam is grateful to me about
anything I would be the last one to know."
"Hmm. I'm just
telling you now, so you won't be surprised and think I've gone mad. I have no intentions of letting up on
Adam. I'm going to find out what my big
brother is up to, even if it takes me the rest of life."
Candy slowly shook his head. He could see that Joe was set upon this task
and silently wished him the best of luck with it. Joe would be facing an uphill battle and with
Adam Cartwright in control, it would be a long one.
**********************************************
Friday night was bright and
clear. The moon was shining brilliantly,
creating an atmosphere of hope and happiness for those who were attending the
dance in the
Adam slowly looked around the dance
hall. The place had been decorated very
nicely and he could see that the supper table was full of delicious food and
drink. Adam grinned as he noted that
Hoss had already come to that conclusion and was even now at the table sampling
a few of the delicacies on offer. His
father was on the dance floor dancing with one of the ladies that he was
acquainted with. Even Candy was making
headway with a young girl that he had met only a few minutes ago. Adam smiled.
At least Joe would be occupied tonight.
He hoped to get the chance to slip away later on and meet up with one of
his contacts here in town.
Leaning against the wall and folding
his arms, he continued to watch the night's proceedings. Joe's interest in him had suddenly picked up
again in the last day or so. He had been
hoping that Candy's appearance would be enough to distract Joe and keep him out
of his way. Originally, it had seemed
that way and Adam was beginning to think of Candy as a godsend. For nearly a week, he had been able to go
about his business without having Joe annoy him or follow him into town. He loved Joe dearly but it was getting on his
nerves that Joe had somehow gotten it into his mind to find out what he was
really doing here.
Adam sighed. He needed to go and get something to
drink. Seeing that there was a lovely
lady making her way to the table, he grinned.
There was no time like the present to start getting acquainted with some
of the more eligible ladies about town.
Ever since
When Adam got the table he went to
Hoss' side and nudged him a little.
"You know Hoss, you could leave something
for the rest of us."
Hoss grinned. "You know I can't go without at least tryin' everythin' once."
Adam laughed. "Yeah I know
Hoss." Quickly looking around he
espied a young lady who was obviously staring in their direction. "Hey!
I think you've got an admirer."
Adam whispered.
Hoss stood up straight, looking
confused. "Me? Where?"
Adam pointed her out to Hoss. Hoss straightened his tie and smiled. "Here, mind this for me." Giving his plate to Adam, he winked and made
his way over to the lady.
"Well...at least you could
leave something for the rest of us."
Adam turned to see the lady he had
noticed before standing next to him. He
smiled sheepishly and began engaging her in conversation.
**********************************************
Candy smiled weakly at the man. He was still trying to work out how he ended
up here in the first place. The night
had been going along very well until this had happened. That
"I told ya
that if I eva saw yer
scrawny face agin you'd be sorry."
"Hey! Now look here, Jake. How was I suppose to
know that you would turn up somewhere as respectable as the local dance."
Jake glared down at Candy. He had had just about all he could take from
the pipsqueak and it was beginning to show.
He grunted and returned to talking to his companion.
Rolling his eyes, Candy once again
went back to trying to work out a way out this predicament. Being tied to the chair didn't help much and
the only way out seemed to be either through the door or out the window. He winced as he felt a sharp pain in the back
of his head. He had been knocked down
and practically dragged all the way here.
Poor
"Ok. Here's what we're goin'
to do now." Jake placed a hand on
Candy's shoulder.
"Look Jake. How about I just give back your initial stake
and we'll can call it even."
Jake shook his head. "Nah. I want all of it and I mean to get all of
it. If yer
hadn't of cheated we wouldn't be havin' this
conversation."
"I cheated?" Candy said, increduously.
"I just bet you at your own game.
You were cheating long before I got involved."
"Hmm...that
don't matter now. What matters is that I
want all of the money - now!"
"Well I haven't got it on me
right now. If you want I can go and get
it for you."
Jake just glared even more at
him. "We'll get it soon
enough. Soon as we finish teachin' yer a lesson yer won't ferget."
Candy gulped as he waited for Jake
to deal out his punishment.
**********************************************
Adam took a deep breath. Time he set his plan into motion. If he let Jake teach a lesson to Candy, he
would never hear the end of it from Joe.
Besides it wouldn't be right to let Candy get hurt just because they
didn't get along with each other.
The paper thin walls in this old building, that was located in a disreputable part of
Deciding that the element of
surprise was all that he had in his favour, Adam kicked down the door. Quickly rushing into the room, Adam stood
there with his gun pointed at Jake and his friend.
"Good evening gentlemen. Sorry to break up this party but I have a
prior engagement with the fellow you have tied up."
Candy frowned. What was going on? When he had seen the door come crashing down,
he had been relieved. He didn't mind
that it was Adam Cartwright who come his rescue he was just glad that he had
been saved before anything drastic had occurred. However, what Adam had just said was
confusing the hell out of him.
Jake growled. "Whaddya
mean?"
Adam smirked. "I mean he's mine. When I've finished with him you can have
what's left."
"Nah we've got him now. Besides one of the two us
could take yer down before yer
even get a shot out."
"You're right but I've taken that
into account. So then, I'll make you a
deal. I'll double whatever it is that he
owes you if you let me have him now."
"How do we know that yer on the level and not tryin'
to trick us?"
"Look. Even before you could grab me, I might to manage
to get one shot out. So, either one of
you could be injured or dead."
Pointing to Candy, Adam continued.
"Besides we would have a witness and the gunshot could be heard by
someone."
Candy vigourously
nodded his head. "You know, he's
got a point there. No doubt there's
already a bunch of people out there looking for me. The girl I was with would've told them
already about you two jumping me."
"You know he's right,
Jake." Jake's partner was beginning
to not relish the thought of being either shot or found with Candy when the
search party came looking.
"Ok, Duffy. I get the point." Jake snarled.
"Ok, mister yer can have him. By the time yer
finished untying him that search party will down on yer
like a pack of wolves."
Adam raised an eyebrow. Now he was confused by the turn of
events. He hadn't expected them to give
up so easily. Maybe they were more brawn
than brains after all.
Duffy was the first to exit the
room, with Jake following close behind.
Just as he was going through the door, he turned back and pointed his
finger at Candy. "Don't worry we
haven't finished with yer yet." He then continued on his way.
After placing his gun back in the
holster, he watched the retreating backs of Jake and Duffy, Adam shook his head
slowly. Something just wasn't right
about this whole thing. Jake and Duffy
were up to something. He was sure of it
but he couldn't determine what it was.
"Well...are you going just keep standing there or are you going to untie me?"
"Oh. Sorry."
Adam walked over to Candy and began to untie him.
"How did you know where to find
me?"
"Let's just say I have a way of
finding out things." Adam wasn't
about to tell Candy how he found out where he was. It was just pure coincidence that the contact
that he had met with a short time ago had been able to tell him about Jake's
and Duffy's plans for Candy.
Candy stood up, shaking the ropes
off his feet. "So what do we do
now/"
"We leave I
suppose."
"Exactly the thought I had in
mind." Candy started walking out
the door.
Adam grabbed Candy by arm. "We're not going out that way. I have a feeling Jake and Duffy will be
waiting for us down there." He
directed Candy to the window.
"We're going out through here."
Candy blinked. "Aww
c'mon. There's got to be a better
way than this. We two stories up and we
don't have enough rope."
"Well, I'm going this way. You can take your chances going out through
the front door but you won't make it much further than the corner of the
building."
Adam went over to the window and
began prising it open. It was proving
hard to budge. He turned to see Candy
standing there, deep in thought. Adam
rolled his eyes and went back to the task at hand.
Candy knew that Adam had a
point. Reluctantly, he walked over and
began helping Adam open the window.
Eventually the window became unstuck and they were able to open it with
little effort. Candy took a few steps
back as Adam stuck his head out and looked around. It was still there. Silently he thanked God for giving him the
wisdom to think of a back-up plan.
Before Candy could stop him, Adam
climbed out of the window. Surely Adam
wasn't going to jump down two stories, and hope for the best. Surely not. He didn't relish the thought of what Joe
would do to him if his brother got hurt on account of him. For some reason though, he found it hard to
move. Maybe it was because if he looked
out of the window he would probably end up seeing Adam lying there in a heap of
broken bones.
"Well? Are you coming down or not?"
Going over to the window, he poked
his head out. Candy was surprised to see
Adam had survived the drop. He turned
his head to the right and it was then that he saw a ladder leaning against the
building. He felt like slapping his
forehead. What the hell was the matter
with him tonight? As he made his way
out, he made a vow never to mention this lapse in sanity to anyone.
Carefully making his way down the
ladder, Candy's thoughts turned to how Adam had managed to find him in such a
short time. Maybe Joe's suspicions about
his brother had something in them after all.
Adam Cartwright was definitely proving that there was more to him than
what met the eye.
**********************************************
"There's one of them right
now." Adam whispered as he pointed
out the movement across the street to Candy.
"And there's other." Candy replied, pointing a litte
further up the street.
Both of them were crouching down
behind some crates that were situated in the alley outside of the building that
they had just been in. For about ten
minutes they had been silently watching and waiting for any sign to indicate as
to where Jake and Duffy were. Jake and
Duffy obviously still expected them to leave the building through the front
door and had conveniently positioned themselves across the street in order to
get a good clean shot at them as they walked out.
"I think they're starting to
wonder what's taking us so long to come out.
We'll have to do something now or we may lose the advantage we have over
them."
Candy nodded. "You're right. Got any ideas?"
"I have one but you may not
like it."
Candy let out a small groan. Great. This guy was just like his brother. Always making me do the
hard work. He sighed. There was nothing he could do about it now
but take it all in his stride.
"Here take this." Adam handed his gun over to Candy.
Candy took it from Adam, feeling a
bit confused at Adam's gesture.
"Ok. Now
what?"
"You take the one on the left
and I'll take the one on the right. You
can use the gun either to shoot him or knock him out. The choice is yours."
"What about you? What are you going to do with the other
one?"
"Don't worry. I'll think of something." Adam got up and made his way down the alley
to the opposite end.
Candy followed suit and instead of
turning right, as Adam had done, he went left.
Going around the building, he carefully made his way along the row of
buildings that lined the right hand side of the alley. He eventually came to another street. Looking to his right he could see that the
last building was located at the corner of an intersection.
Sticking his head around the corner
of the building at the end of the street, Candy could see the place where Jake
and Duffy were lying in wait for them.
He hoped that it was dark enough, so that he could have a decent chance
in making it across to the other side without being seen. Besides, it made perfect sense that Jake and
Duffy would be still watching the front of the building and not the other end
of the street. Taking a deep breath,
Candy ran quickly across the street.
When he had reached the other side,
Candy began making his way slowly and quietly up the street to where the man he
was after, was hiding. He was
half-hoping that it was Duffy and not Jake.
Jake was way too big for him to take down with just a quick hit on the
head. With Duffy out of the way, at
least Adam and him could both take Jake on. One man by himself wasn't going to cut it.
As he neared his prey, Candy wished
that Hoss was around to help. At least
Hoss would stand some chance with Jake.
There was nothing that could be done about that now. Candy kept on going until he was virtually on
top of the man he was after. Seeing that
it was Duffy, he felt relieved and now knew that he had a bit of chance.
Crouching down behind Duffy, he
cocked the gun he had in his hand. He
could see Duffy react slightly to the noise of the gun. Slowly Duffy turned around. Candy could see that Duffy was slightly
amazed to see that he was the man with the gun.
Candy smirked. In a just audible voice, he whispered,
"Ok. Drop the gun nice and easy.
Wouldn't want you to get hurt now, would we?"
Duffy slowly put down the rifle he
had been holding and raised his hands.
Candy knew that he had no choice now but to sit it out while he waited
to hear from Adam about the fate of Jake.
He hoped it wouldn't be much longer.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here."
Candy cringed as he heard the voice
from behind him. Jake! He stood up and slowly turned around "Hi
there. Nice night isn't it?"
Jake just scowled. He told Candy to drop his gun and then
shouted at Duffy to pick up both of the guns of the ground. Staring at Candy he smiled, "You shoulda bin more careful crossin'
the street."
Oh great! Here I was thinking that he wouldn't see
me. His mind then began racing. Where the hell was Adam? Adam should've taken Jake out by now. Damn, shouldn't have trusted Cartwright in
the first place.
Candy watched as Jake raised his gun
to take aim. He could see that Jake was
obviously enjoying himself and Candy began resigning himself to the envitable. Closing
his eyes, he waited for the fatal gun shot.
The next few minutes happened in a
blur for Candy. Initially, when he had heard
the gun fire, his immediate reaction had been that it was all over. He then suddenly realised that he hadn't been
hit. Looking down at his body, he
quickly checked his body to make sure that he wasn't dreaming. After doing this, he raised his head and
noticed that Jake had been tackled by Hoss.
Candy raised his eyebrows in surprise and continued to watch as Hoss
wrestled with Jake. Seeing
that Jake's gun lying on the ground, Candy, regained his senses and went over
to grab the gun.
After he picked up the gun, he
turned around to see that Adam had taken Duffy out the picture, obviously at
the same time as Hoss had taken care of Jake.
Adam was finishing off Duffy with a couple of quick punches to his face. Candy could see that Duffy's rifle and Adam's
gun was lying on the ground. Immediately
he went over and picked them both up.
Adam straightened as he looked down
at Duffy. Duffy was now curled up in a
ball and whimpering. Candy was standing
with his back turned to him and watching the fight between Hoss and Jake. He was holding all three guns, and slightly
shaking his head, Adam went over to him.
Tapping Candy on the shoulder, he smirked. "Sorry I was late. I ran into Hoss at the other end of the
alley. Apparently he was out looking for
you. So I enlisted his help."
"Good thing you did." Candy replied. "I don't think you could've taken Jake
on your own."
Adam just raised an eyebrow. He could see that Hoss was still having a
hard time getting Jake to surrender.
"I think we'd better go and help him."
"I think you're
right." Candy handed Adam his gun
back, as well as Jake's and kept the rifle for himself. The two of them walked over to where Hoss and
Jake were battling it out. When the two
men had separated, Candy nudged the barrel of the rifle into Jake's back.
"Ok Jake. The party's over."
Hoss stopped in his tracks and put
his hands his hips. "'Bout time you
two finished your yappin'. Couldn't you see I needed helpin'?'
"Sorry Hoss." Adam grinned.
"I thought you could take him without any problems."
"Hmm. Next time,
just you remember that I'm only one man and that I can't do everythin'
by myself."
"I'll remember,
Hoss." Adam then took a long, slow
look at the two men lying on the ground.
Duffy was still whimpering and Candy was holding Jake at gunpoint. It occurred to Adam, that Candy was now
enjoying himself immensely. "Time we took these two down to the
sheriff and let everybody know that Candy is safe."
Hoss and Candy nodded. The three of them then began the task of
escorting Jake and Duffy down to the sheriff's office.
**********************************************
As Candy stepped out of the
sheriff's office, he could see that Hoss and Adam were still waiting for
him. He had just finished telling
Sheriff Foster his side of the story and was greatly relieved to find out that
he wouldn't have to be a witness in the upcoming trial due to the fact that
Jake and Duffy were already wanted men and that they already had plenty of people
lining up to testify.
Casually, he made his way to Hoss,
who was standing just outside the office.
Candy smiled. "Thanks
Hoss."
Hoss smiled sheepishly. "Nothin' to thank me
for, Candy. You know you can
always count on me to help ya when you need it."
Candy grinned. "Glad to know that." He looked across the street at Adam, who was
leaning against a hitching rail, with his arms folded. "Wait here. I need to talk to your brother."
Hoss gave Candy a gentle nudge and
sent him off in Adam's direction. When
Candy reached Adam, he held out his hand.
"Thanks."
Adam took Candy's hand and shook it
in return. "Thanks isn't necessary. Glad
to be of assistance."
"All the same I liked to say
thanks anyway." Candy knew that he
owed Adam one. "Hope I can return
the favour sometime." The sooner,
the better, he thought.
"How about
we just leave it at that." Adam paused.
"Now about this situation we're in at the moment. Got any ideas?"
Candy thought for a moment. "How about we just be
friendly acquaintances and let things happen as they happen."
"Sounds
goods to me." Adam glanced over to Hoss. Motioning with his hand, he indicated to Hoss
to come over and join them. "You
know something. I've noticed that you
and Joe have the same two weaknesses."
"Really? What are
they?"
"Poker and
girls.
Either one or both of them will eventually be your undoing."
Candy laughed. "You know you might just be onto
something there. All I can say in
response is that it would be one helluva way to
go."
Adam laughed. It was at this point that Hoss reached Adam
and Candy. After glancing to his right,
a worried look suddenly appeared on Hoss' face.
"Oh Lordy. Here comes Joe."
Adam and Candy looked to see that
Joe was indeed coming down the street. Joe
looked like he was in bit of a hurry.
Candy took a long deep breath.
"He's going to have a million questions."
Hoss and Adam glanced sideways at
each other and answered in unison, "We know."
Joe, as he made his way down the
street, continued to keep a firm eye on his brothers and Candy. When the deputy had found him and told him
that Candy was fine, Joe was glad. He
had been out searching for his best friend ever since
When the deputy explained to him,
that Candy had appeared at the office with his brothers and the two men who had
kidnapped him in tow, he was surprised to say the least. His surprise came mainly from the fact that
Adam was with Candy and Hoss. He was now
itching to find out what had happened.
"Hey Joe. How you doin'?" Hoss called in a cheerful voice as Joe came
up to them.
"Enough of
the small talk, Hoss. What happened?"
In a half serious tone, Candy spoke
up. "Well, I was kidnapped. Then I was rescued. Then we caught the two men who kidnapped me. And then we brought them here."
Hoss nodded. "Sounds
'bout right to me. How 'bout you, Adam?"
"That's the way I remember
it."
Joe was flabbergasted. "You're not going to tell me are
you?"
Adam smirked. "Not this time, little
brother." After seeing Hoss and
Candy nod their heads in agreement, he continued. "How about we get back and enjoy what's
left of the dance."
Candy and Hoss readily agreed to
Adam's proposition and began to move off.
As Hoss and Candy passed Joe, they each gave Joe a sympathetic pat on
the shoulder. Joe could feel the
frustration starting to build up inside of him.
Then just as Adam was walking past
him, Joe abruptly grabbed his brother's arm.
"You know this isn't going to stop me."
Turning to face Joe, Adam after
placing both of his hands on his youngest brother's shoulders, gave a him a lop-sided smile.
"I know and I wouldn't have it any other way."
It took a couple of seconds for Joe
to comprehend what his brother had just said.
He then laughed. Adam knew the
score where he was concerned. It was
good to know that Adam didn't mind one bit that he was going keep on trying
until he got some answers. "Have I
told you, that's it's been damn good to have you back home."
At Joe's statement, Adam could feel
a weight lift off him. He now realised
that he had been waiting for Joe to say something about him coming home to
stay. Letting go of Joe's shoulders, he
just stood back and lowered his head. He
took a little time to take it in.
Raising his head, he replied, "Thanks Joe. I needed to hear that."
Joe nodded his head in
acknowledgement. Not caring that Adam
may not like it, Joe went up to his brother and gave
him a quick hug. With his mischief
gleaming in his eyes, he smiled.
"Now how about telling me what you've been up to all these years."
Adam laughed heartily. "Maybe one day, but
not today. Let's get
going." He started walking off.
Joe grinned and before going
himself, he took time to watch his older brother. Then, after quickly catching up to Adam, he
placed his arm around Adam's shoulders.
"I had to at least give it a try."
Adam patted Joe on the back. Laughing, they both continued to make their
way back to the dance hall.
THE END
October 2003