FROM
Monette Bebow-Reinhard
Hop Sing gave the second helping of scrambled eggs
an extra pinch of pepper before scraping them onto the platter. These would
please Mr. Hoss just fine. He shuffled into the dining room where the boys
were feeding their early morning hunger, his neat Asian braid bouncing in
time to his step.
"What time did Pa leave?" Adam pushed egg into
a pile on his plate to scoop up on his fork.
"He gone two hours aleady." Hop Sing poured strong-smelling coffee into
Adam's cup. "You boys sleep late again."
"Oh, Hop Sing, don't get yer
britches in a bind, you sound like somebody's mama." Hoss grabbed the plate
of eggs before his brothers could move.
"Someone got to mother three not responsible boys.
Your Pa, he want new bunkhouse finish before he
come home."
"When's that?" Adam sat back and picked up his
coffee cup. As the eldest the mention of work a somber reflected expression
masked his often expressive dark features. This morning,
however, the snap in his eyes indicated that he thought more of being out
in the pleasant spring weather, no matter what the chore was.
"Probably right before you finish!" Joe said, laughing.
He was a bright and attractive 12-year-old and when he was teasing his brothers,
especially child-like.
"You hush up, young 'un, or we’ll give you all the
heavy lifting to do," Hoss said, chewing his biscuit with his words.
"Your Pa, he be home
before you know!" Hop Sing warned. "And you chew mouf
shut!" He poked Hoss on the shoulder before disappearing
into the kitchen.
Hoss looked chastised until he noticed his brother’s
plate. "Hey Adam, you gonna finish that biscuit?"
"No Hoss, you go ahead." Adam watched Joe push
his egg around, he hadn't developed a taste for the soft way Hop Sing cooked
them. The cook they had before the Chinaman believed in making sure everything
was not only dead but already gone to heaven before he served it. "So Joe,
think you can help out today instead of being a pest?" Adam felt more like
a second Pa to Joe than a brother, which tended to make their relationship
a bit strained. At times he thought Joe wasn’t as grown up as he should be
for 12. But Joe was spoiled, he supposed, by the three of them.
"I can do just about anything you can do, Adam. You wanna bet?"
"I know you think so, Joe, but we got some heavy
beams to lay today. If you'd rather go off riding---."
"Heck, I can ride anytime. I'd rather help you
fellas. You know how Hoss needs help from someone
quick on his feet."
"You know, Adam," Hoss finished chewing and got
to his feet. "I think Little Brother here is trying to tell me something.
Yup, I think he wants to show me just how quick on his feet he is."
Hoss lunged for Joe but Joe sprang out of his chair,
knocking it to the floor. Hoss fell over the chair and landed on the floor.
Adam laughed. "Guess he showed you, Hoss."
Hop Sing came out of the kitchen in a fret over
the noise, saw Joe dancing around the fallen Hoss,
shook his head with a few choice Chinese expressions and went back into the
kitchen.
"All right, little brother, since you've plum riled
me, I'm gonna really try now." Hoss leaped to his feet but Joe ran into the
study and leaped across the desk. As Hoss came around the desk Joe threw
Hoss's mother's picture at him and leaped over the top again.
Hoss juggled the picture and put it back down gently.
"Confound it, Little Joe! Now you done it!" He
ran back around the desk at Joe but Joe had the sword from the fireplace
and held it out, laughing as Hoss backed up.
"Come on, Hoss, come on. What you scared of?"
Adam got to his feet and cleared his throat. "All
right, Joe, none of that in the house. You know what Pa says."
"Yeah, but Pa's not here."
"No, but I am." Adam wrestled the sword away and
put it back. "Now if we're all done eating I suggest we put our high spirits
to good use on that bunkhouse."
Little Joe grinned at Hoss and Hoss couldn't help
but grin back.
Adam reached down for another beam from on top
of the partially finished roof. "Come on, Hoss, lift it a little higher."
"Here, I'll help!" Joe leaped up and gave the beam
in Hoss' hands a shove, the beam knocking Adam over backward as he tried
to get a hold on it. "Oh, sorry, Adam."
Adam hung on to the beam and scooted sideways to
get back on his knees. "Yeah, just be more careful next time." With a grunt
he pulled the beam into place. "All right, Hoss,
put Joe on your shoulders with that bucket of nails."
"Right. Got the bucket? Up you go, young 'un." With the
ease of an ox pulling an empty cart, Hoss hefted Joe and the bucket of nails
up on his shoulders. "Try not to squirm so much."
"But Hoss--!"
"Hush up, Joe and pay attention to Adam. When he asks for a nail---."
"Hoss, there's a---."
"Joe, confound it, for the last time... Yeoooowwwww!" Hoss jerked his arm down. Joe wobbled for a minute
and then he and the bucket of nails went flying.
Joe landed hard n the dirt and rolled several times
before laying still, nails raining down around him.
"Hoss, what’d you drop Joe for? See if he's all
right!"
"Joe, Joe!" Hoss bent down and shook Joe's shoulder
lightly. "Dadburnit, if you're hurt I'll never
forgive myself, not ever, ever..." Gently he rolled Joe over on his back.
Joe's eyes were shut but his face held back a busting
laugh.
"Confound it, Joe!"
"Is he all right?" Adam yelled down, and sat back
with a relieved frown as Little Joe's laugh finally busted out loud.
"Yeah, but he's lucky I don't tarnish his behind
for worrying me like that."
"Well, what'd you drop him for?"
"Oh, I got stung by something, a bee, maybe."
"A bee?" Adam looked around as though expecting to see
the culprit. "There's no bees around here this
time of year."
Still laughing so hard he might split his insides,
Joe held up a nail. Hoss looked at him puzzled, then
his face screwed up in anger. "Now you done it!
Now you are going to get just what I wanted to give you all your dadblasted life." Hoss lunged at Joe, but Joe took
off into the bunkhouse, hiding behind a half-finished wall.
Adam inched to the edge of the roof and jumped
down. "All right, that's enough, or we'll never get done. Hoss, you got to
realize Joe's just a kid, he hasn't learned any better than this, but you,
boy, you are full grown..." he slapped Hoss' big chest, "at least I hope so,
and you got to maintain your dignity even when dealing with children." Joe
crept up behind them. "Now Joe, he's got a lot of growing up to do. Why,
you and me, when we were almost 13 we were practically running this ranch
by ourselves, but not everyone is born to it like we were, and Joe here---."
"Wait a minute, Adam," Joe protested, his voice
squeaking. "It was just a little joke."
"Joe, there's a time for joking and a time for being
serious. Until you learn the difference between the two, you’ll be just a
kid." Adam grabbed hold of the roof to pull himself up again.
"I can do it, I promise!" Joe
scrambled to the ground and started gathering nails.
Adam winked at Hoss and climbed back up on the
roof. "Joe, throw me a couple of those nails, would you?"
"Sure, Adam!" With a dead-eye aim Joe tossed a
couple up, making an easy catch for his brother balancing on the roof.
"Hey," Hoss said, looking off over his shoulder.
"Someone's coming. Reckon it's Pa?"
"I hope not." Adam squatted on the beams but didn't
move to come back down. He recognized the small lean fellow riding toward
the yard as Jim Baker from the supply post over in Mormon Station. A feeling
of alarm rose in his chest. Coming from the southern end of the lake wasn't
just a pleasure ride. "Jim! What brings you this far north?"
"Adam!" Jim looked around before tracing the voice
to the roof. "I have a letter here for your Pa! Where is he?"
"He's out with the new drovers readying the herd
in the east section to move to new pasture. I can take the letter."
"No, sir! I'm sorry, Adam, but this here letter is from
Attorney Appleby in
Adam sighed. Jim was a good man but as cantankerous
as a mule. "All right then, we’ll tell Pa he has a letter waiting, just take
it back with you."
"Well, I’ll do that then, but I wouldn’t waste
no time if I was you. This letter’s already a
month old."
Adam watched Jim ride off. Over
a month old. Here it was 1854 and the west still wasn't catching up
to the east. He wondered what it would take to get progress out this way.
Times like this made him miss college back east.
Hoss came up to stand by the roof where Adam squatted. "What do you make of it, Adam?"
"Oh, you know Jim, any
little thing can set him off. I've never heard of Appleby, though. Don't
think he's Pa's lawyer."
"Reckon Pa's in trouble?"
"Possible." Adam frowned, and jumped from the roof
to the ground. "Well, you want to ride to Pa, or should I?"
"Let me!" Joe said, leaping up off the ground into
the air.
"Now, Joe...."
"Ah, let the young 'un go," Hoss said. "We'll get
more done anyhow." He rubbed his arm and leaned over to pick up another beam.
"Or we could just tell Pa about it when he gets back. It’s kept a month already,
would another week hurt much?"
"Come on, Adam, let me go!"
"Joe, you're too---."
"No, I'm not! Adam, you said yourself I can outride
anybody. And Hoss says I just get in the way around here."
Adam put a hand on Joe's shoulder, smiling sadly.
He knew how much the boy wanted to be as old as his older brothers but he
just wasn't. Not only that, but Joe tended to find more trouble to get into
than he and Hoss together. A natural talent, like
Pa says. "I just can't let you go out there alone, you see? Doesn't matter
how fast you can ride. A bullet can outrun a horse."
"Oh now, Adam, Joe will just be on the Ponderosa,
an hour's ride."
"Yeah, Adam, just an hour. And Adam, you said yourself, haven't been no Indians on the Ponderosa anymore."
"Haven't been any. And Indians are the least of my concern." Adam
squinted down at Hoss. "You think he'll be okay?"
Hoss looked up at the sky as though judging the
weather. No sign of rain. "Yeah. After all, he'll
be with Pa on the way back. Two hours, Adam, and we'll have this thing darn
near finished."
"Is this bunkhouse all you can think about?"
"I just don't want Hop Sing to get mad. Sometimes
he burns food when he’s mad."
Adam looked around for Joe but the boy was gone.
"Joe? Joe!" Adam turned to the barn when Joe came tearing out on top of his
horse.
"See you when I get back, Adam!" Joe yelled as
he rode out of the yard.
"Joe, get back here! Joe!" Adam ran to the edge
of the yard but there was no catching the boy. "Joe! Be careful!" He watched
for several minutes until he could no longer see or hear his brother. The
nagging inside him told him to run off and catch him no matter how long it
took. He looked back at the unfinished bunkhouse and convinced himself that
Joe was more grownup than he seemed, and threw himself back into the work,
listening but not always hearing Hoss’s reassurances.
"Hey, Adam," Hoss squinted up at the early afternoon
sun. "After I get this beam nailed in place, what say we holler to Hop Sing
to cook us a couple thick roast pork sandwiches with a huge helping of fried
taters."
"Doggone if it ain't past your lunchtime, boy. How
are you managing?"
"Oh, I ain't dead yet. But I'm close. And we're
pret near done with this anyhow. Guess Hop Sing didn’t want to bother us with no lunch,
but there’s only so long I kin last.”
"We made good progress with Joe gone." Adam squinted
into the sun, judging the time. "Do you suppose they'll be coming along soon?"
"Well," Hoss sat back, calculating with his good
instinct for distance. "The herd should be up in the northeast corner of
our land by now, north of
"So if he did leave and come back with Joe right
off..."
"Then they'd be here. Unless
they went right to Mormon Station. And you know Pa can never get out
of there without a debate with that Reese feller."
Adam and Hoss sat in quiet contemplation studying
their work on the bunkhouse.
"You don't reckon nothing could have happened to
him, Adam, do you?" Hoss asked quietly.
"Of course not."
Hoss took a deep breath. "What about Indians?"
Hoss looked at his hands clenched together on his lap, hunger forgotten.
"Don't like to think about
it, do you.
Well," Adam cleared his throat. "Except for the Paiutes and Washoe who
we've always been on good terms with, the only ones who would cause us trouble
would be the Bannocks, and I don't see why they'd come down from the mountains,
do you? They may have even gone back to
Hoss didn't answer. Adam
knew that the attempts to calm Hoss's ill feelings over his mother's tragic
and untimely death by Indian arrow he and Pa had made were pretty feeble.
They had waited until Hoss was nine years old to tell him, but timing on
something like this was never right. Pa said Hoss would get over it, eventually.
Adam wasn't so sure. Hoss seemed even more morose than the last time they
talked about it, a couple of winters ago if he remembered right.
"Let's not borrow trouble and get this roof done
so we can eat!" Adam jumped down to the ground to pass more roofing up to
Hoss. Hoss rubbed his eyes with his big sweaty hand before taking up his hammering
again.
"Mr. Hoss! Mr. Adam! Take look outside!"
Hoss and Adam sprang up from the middle of lunch. Adam beat his oversized brother to the front door. Outside
he stopped short. Joe's horse was standing by the barn, without saddle or
bridle. Adam could barely feel his feet as he walked
to the brown and white Appaloosa mare. He stroked her nose as Hoss came up
behind him.
"Where's Joe?" When Adam didn't answer Hoss went
to the barn. "Joe? Hey, Joe!" He came back out
and stood with his hands on his hips. "Joe! No funning now, boy! Come on!
Joe?"
"He's not here, Hoss." Adam said, barely a whisper.
"He always takes perfect care of this horse. He wouldn't leave it standing
out here like this."
"Something's wrong then."
"Yeah, and we better get out there and find out
what." With his brows furled in angry determination, Adam strode to the barn.
Over his shoulder he added, "Tell Hop Sing what's going on, but don't stop
for gear. Hurry!"
Hoss had to gallop to catch up to Adam already riding
hard because he didn’t wait for Hoss to saddle up. "Are we going to get Pa
first?"
"No."
"What?"
"I said no."
"But, Adam---."
"Look, I know what Pa would say! I know how he'd
feel!" Adam choked back further emotion from his face. "We'll try to find
Joe ourselves first, save Pa from grief, if possible."
"If poss---.” Hoss shuddered. “Yeah." They rode on through the heavy pines, picking
their way carefully over the rocky ground, following as close as they could
the direction Joe must have taken. "Bet it was Indians."
"Oh, come on, Hoss!" Adam said sharply and Hoss
cringed, recognizing Adam’s "I feel ready to smack you, brother" voice. "Not
every danger comes from Indians. It could have been...a cougar." Adam covered his face with a trembling hand.
Hoss wiped a heavy arm across his own eyes, pulled
his horse up short and got down. Now was not the time to remind Adam that
cougars wouldn't unsaddle a horse. "Hey, Adam, let's make sure we're going
the right way."
Adam eyed Hoss with a clenched jaw. "Hoss, we know
this is the way he had to come. We keep going,
we'll run into signs showing what happened soon enough."
"Oh, right." Hoss got back on his horse, hiding
a sly smile. "Anything you say."
They rode on for a time, concentrating on keeping
the dust out of their lungs as they watched the trail closely to pick up
any signs. At times the trail took them on shortcuts through the hills where
the horses would complain about the climb with snorts and grunts, but mostly
they took the usual trail they had cleared through the Ponderosa. They both
believed that their land was a wondrous haven but knew it could turn into
hell in an instant on a shortcut of rocks around unexpected cliffs and fallen
trees.
"You know, Adam, you were right before when you
said not to borrow trouble."
"I know."
"You know Joe. He gets distracted easy, a rabbit
runs by and he gits down to chase it, or he decides
the horse is tired and he wants a bath in the river. So he takes off his
clothes and the horse's saddle and bridle and tries to get the horse to take
a bath with him only the horse has a better idea and runs---."
"Hoss?"
"What?"
"Tell me what you remember about Joe's ma."
"Joe's ma?"
"Yeah. I've been trying to remember her, and for some
reason I can't get her clear in my head. What do you remember?"
"Well, Adam, you were older than me---."
"I know that."
Hoss waited but Adam didn't say anything further.
He thought to himself for a minute, then cleared
his throat. "I reckon I was about seven when Joe was born and Pa said it
was only a year after that when she was thrown from that horse. We had already
been living in that small house Pa built for her, remember how small it was?
But we weren’t old enough to help Pa as much as he needed." Adam nodded.
"I remember one time thinking Pa looked happier than I'd ever seen him. Mostly
what I remember is the way she smelled, like as if I was standing in a field
full of flowers and I couldn't figure out which flower had the best smell,
but they were all good. And she liked to laugh,
do you remember that, Adam? She had a great laugh and found everything funny.
Whenever I heard her laugh, I would think to myself, yeah, that's why Pa
married her. I'da married her myself."
"Every time Joe laughs I catch myself remembering
that much. Her laugh."
They pulled the horses up short at the edge of a shallow stream and let them
drink a minute. "Do you remember the day she died?"
Hoss could tell talking about Joe’s mom was paining
Adam, but talking was what Adam needed or he wouldn’t be doing it. "You go
ahead, Adam, that part’s a little fuzzy to me."
Adam took a deep breath. "You were off fishing.
Pa sent me to get you. But not til after...he
came into the house with her in his arms. I only stared at him, at Pa's face.
And I knew that it happened again. Just as I knew...."
"Knew what, Adam?"
Adam shook his head. "Pa laid her down and he was
crying, I could see it, but I could only stand there staring. He told me
to get you but I couldn't move. He took off her bonnet and held her close
again and I didn't feel anything. That cousin of hers from back in
"But Adam, you were probably in shock or something---."
"No, Hoss, that wasn't it."
They rounded a corner and Hoss pulled his horse
up short. "Adam, look!"
Pinned to a tree by an arrow was Joe's hat.
"Indians," was all Hoss could say.
Adam jumped down from his horse and ran to the
tree. He grabbed hold of the arrow and pulled hard, jerking the wooden shaft
loose from the stone tip still stuck in the tree. Adam threw the shaft down
and jerked the hat from the tree, the brim ripping where it had been pierced.
Adam turned the hat back and forth in his hands. He looked up in the direction
of the mountains, his face unreadable.
Hoss nodded at the hat. "Any
blood on it?"
"No."
"So we don't have to..." Hoss swallowed hard, "look
for signs of a…burial?"
Adam looked at his brother sharply. "They didn't
kill him. This," he held the hat up, "was meant for us to find. We keep riding.
I think I know where they are." He glanced back over his shoulder. "That
stream back there widens a ways west. We’ll head that way now."
Ben rode into the yard as the day was getting on
near dusk. Even in the fading light he could see the progress on the bunkhouse.
He leaned against a new wall and walked inside. Still needed some finishing
on the inside but there was time, as long as it kept the rain out. He looked
up, at first wondering if the setting sun shining red through the gathering
of clouds was playing tricks with his eyes. It appeared there were two roof
slats not covered.
He put his hands on his hips as he stared. It would
only take them maybe another 15 minutes, no more, to finish this. Why on
earth had they stopped? It's not like the boys, especially Adam, to be this
irresponsible. Something like this he could see Joe doing, or even Hoss.
“Well, we’ll just get them right back out here, right now.”
Ben wondered, as he led his horse into the barn,
if Hop Sing might have taken ill. He tended to keep
his eyes on the boys quite closely when Ben wasn't around. A regular mother
hen the Chinaman had become, since being hired right out from the wagon almost
two years ago. But Adam generally didn’t need close
watching. Maybe Adam had to ride to
Inside the barn he stopped short. Joe's horse was
in the stall, but Adam's and Hoss's were gone. "Joseph!" he yelled when he
threw open the front door of the house. "Hop Sing!"
Hop Sing shuffled out of the kitchen, looking fearful
of the boss whose bark was always worse than his bite. "Hop Sing, where's
Joe, in his room? Joseph! Why haven't those other
two sons of mine finished that roof before taking off on a ride? Did you
even check their work before you let them run scallywagging
out of here?!"
"Mr. Cartlight," Hop
Sing said, so softly he got Ben's attention immediately. "Mr. Joe missing. Mr. Hoss and Mr. Adam, they go find
him. Not even pack supper."
"Missing?" Puzzled, Ben looked around, then slapped his hat against his thigh. "Confound it,
Hop Sing, make sense. How can he be missing, his horse is in the barn."
"Him sent to you with
message, but horse come back alone, no saddle."
"Oh no." Ben sat with shaky knees at the dining table.
Some of the hands had mentioned how a group of settlers hunting for food
were attacked by the Bannocks not too far off Ponderosa land. He knew when
he got the Bannocks to leave back when Adam was still at college that he
hadn't heard the last of them. From the sounds of it, they were hungry now,
and that made them dangerous. "Why in tarnation did Adam..." he caught himself, no time
for that now. "Hop Sing, you ride along and give me
a hand rounding up some men for a search party."
As they ran to the barn, a single thought played
over and over in his head. All three of his sons were in danger now. Adam,
with his
"Adam, how can we be sure we're going the right
way?"
"We can't. They ordinarily don't leave any signs
to follow. Except for that arrow in the tree, there's no sign that there's
been a hunting party around. We have to play our hunches."
"You said they meant for us to find Joe's hat.
How come?" Hoss glanced over his shoulder so often
Adam wondered if they were being followed. But he
didn’t ask Hoss to knock it off because he knew what made Hoss nervous.
"A warning, I suspect."
"A warning? That means Joe is still alive?”
"I think so."
Hoss waited, but getting words out of Adam these
last few hours was like pulling tics off a wild dog.
Finally Adam looked at him, his jaw set hard. "We
still have to get him out of there."
"But Adam, you're good with Indians, ain't ya? They'll listen to you because you know how to
talk with ‘em."
Adam pulled his horse up short, listening, smelling
the air, feeling his surroundings with every muscle and nerve. Hoss had seen
him like this maybe only once before, a sense like an animal coming over
when he feels such a deep sense of loss and guilt, and knew he had to do
something about it. Hoss supposed it was what made
Adam respect the Indians, the way they lived like animals themselves. He
could never voice that thought out loud though, because Adam would rag him
royal over calling them animals. But they killed his mother!
"Are we close, Adam?"
"Shhh," Adam alighted.
Hoss did the same and crept over to him. Adam led them off the path, through
what looked like it might have been a trail but was now practically overgrown.
They ducked low hanging branches and picked their way carefully over rocks
while the horses behind them tugged at their reins, anxious to get back on
the road where travel was easier.
"Adam, before, when you asked about Joe's ma, how
come you don't remember much?"
"I wouldn't let myself get close to her, because
I knew she was going to die."
"Aawww, how could you
know---."
Adam shushed him but too late. They were stopped
sudden by a dozen Bannock warriors. They seemed to
appear from nowhere but the ground below them. Six of them had their bows
pulled back, arrows quivering, others with lances ready, drawn back above
their shoulders. They were dressed simply, only the most painted wearing breastplates
with their leggings, the others bare chested. The most painted one was the only one not
holding a weapon ready. Adam glanced at Hoss, who didn’t seem able to breathe,
and looked back at this one who seemed to be a chief, then held up a hand
and took a step forward. The one closest to Adam sprang forward, pulling
first Adam's gun and then his brother's, and tossed them sideways at another
who picked them up and tucked them in his leather bag.
"We mean no harm," Adam said.
The chief stepped forward and held up both hands.
"If no harm, why bring weapons?" he asked in his own tongue.
Adam glanced at Hoss, wondering what was going through
his brother’s head. He was afraid, but he wanted to
save Joe, too. He didn’t want Hoss to know he could
only barely make out what the Bannock was saying.
"We mean only to keep ourselves from harm, not to
harm others. We look for our brother." He spoke Paiute, but hopefully they
would understand some of it.
Giving no indication of understanding, the one
who took their guns grabbed their horses' reins from them and shoved them
both forward. This language was clear enough.
Hoss knew Adam could handle this, had been with
Indians before, except maybe not at the point of an arrow. But for himself,
he was terrified. He was beginning to understand how his ma felt just before
she died. He wanted to ask Adam what they said but
was afraid one wrong move and they’d both be dead. And Joe, too. So he just kept walking, imitating Adam as best he could.
The walk was a blur, the brothers
side by side but not touching, not talking. They moved swiftly through thick
underbrush and low hanging pinion pine and then curved down a steep cliff,
at a faster pace than seemed humanely possible, ofttimes
stumbling but the Bannocks never faltered. They lost sight of most of their
captors and their horses. Three of the fiercest, their quivers filled heavy
with arrows, stuck close behind them. They kept moving in the direction the
Bannocks demanded, at times in harsh Indian tongue.
Every few minutes Adam glanced at Hoss. His big
brother, not yet 20 years old, was fighting to keep from crying. Pa should
have made him see the truth about his mother's death, should have tried harder.
Adam realized at that moment and with startling clarity that his pa, with
as much wisdom as he possessed, could still be wrong.
Adam recognized the area they were being taken,
the northwestern edge of the Ponderosa along the running stream. There wasn't
a lot of clear land here, pretty rough country yet, but the Bannocks made
the best use of it. On a few spots of level land lean-tos were thrown up
by covering the trees over them with stretches of hide. Adam
had named this rocky stream himself, The Elizabeth River, back when he first
got home from college. He thought it appropriate because his ma had given
him life but had such a small part of the rest of it -- the way he felt about
this stream bordering off this 'handle' of the Ponderosa from the rest of
Pa's land. It was part of the last piece of northern land that Pa acquired,
and when he explained to the Bannocks that he had purchased it but was not
chasing them off, they must have misunderstood because they had disappeared
up into the mountains. Now they were back, and Pa wouldn’t much care for
their request of company at the tip of a spear.
Their shelters were meant to be temporary, yet
the camp looked comfortable, as though they had settled in for a stay. Adam
and Hoss looked around the camp but could see no sign of Joe, except that
his saddle was tossed into a pile of brush, as though worthless.
They were pushed toward the largest lean-to, with
branches and leaves stretched between trees and large leather hides thrown
across for roofing, almost reaching the ground -- and Adam wondered quite
suddenly if Pa had been home to see they hadn't finished the bunkhouse.
Both Hoss and Adam were grabbed around the neck
before they reached the lean-to and turned to face the chief. Adam didn’t care about his own fate. Without Joe he wouldn't
want to go back. He figured Hoss felt the same way.
"Where's my brother?" he asked gently.
The chief looked sternly from one to the other.
Hoss drew himself up and looked the fierce one in the eyes, and Adam felt
a pride welling up for his brother's courage. When the chief gestured behind
Adam the brothers both turned, and from beneath the lean-to Joe was dragged,
leather around his eyes, hands tied behind him.
“Adam?” Joe said hesitantly, lip quivering.
Adam fought the urge to run and pull his brother
to him, so great was his relief. He glanced at Hoss and saw his brother's
eyes brimming with tears. The leather was removed from Joe's face.
"Adam! Hoss! Oh boy, I'm---." but his Indian guide
clamped both hands around Joe's face and pushed him forward to sit beside
the fire.
Adam felt Hoss at his side stifle a chuckle. Joe
had probably been chatting their ears off until
they gagged him. But the relief they both felt at seeing their little brother
quickly dissolved back into worry about getting out of here alive.
The chief signaled again with curt verbiage and
Adam and Hoss were quickly tied at the wrists, hands behind them. They too
were guided to sit across from the fire, far enough from Joe. Joe smiled
at them but only briefly when he saw they were now all in the same mess.
The time to talk, to bargain for their lives, had begun.
All Ben could find at the lateness of the hour,
besides Roy Coffee who was only too happy to ride along, was Fred Henderson
whose little spread was finally starting to produce some crops, Alvie, his top cattle man, and Bill Haskins, retired
Cavalry officer who wanted to start a horse ranch with a couple of puny Mustangs.
The other settlers were too scared and he couldn't force them.
Hop Sing had explained what he could, and Ben figured
out the rest. Joe took off to bring him a message, believing him in the northeast
corner, and disappeared before getting there. At least they had their direction.
Adam and Hoss left behind a trail showing that they too headed that way,
sometimes on the road, sometimes taking a shortcut. They moved as quickly
as they dared in the dark of a half moon over the hills. At times the slopes
got so rocky that Bill insisted they get off and walk, making Ben impatient.
"You don't worry now, Ben, we'll find your sons
and they'll be just fine,"
"Yeah, they’ll be fine," Ben muttered. "We don't
know what kind of mood the Indians are in."
"We haven't lost anyone yet to Indians in these
parts. Sure, that one bunch was attacked, but a couple fellas were wounded, that's all."
"
"Don't you worry, Ben," Bill said, his shoulders
erect, almost haughty. "If your sons are still alive, we'll get them from
those savages. And if not, those savages won't know what hit them."
"That's enough of that kind of talk, Bill,"
"But---."
"Ben doesn't take to having anyone called a savage,
Indians are people, same as you and me, they just happen to think different,
that's all."
Ben got down off his horse, ignoring the argument
behind him. He caught the slight gleam of a shiny, sap-coated stick that
was smooth and appeared to be laid on the trail deliberate. An arrow shaft, and the tip's been pulled off. He looked around
at the trees, but the darkness obliterated most signs of anything. He indicated the shaft to the others and they all joined
him in checking the tree trunks. Finally Ben saw the
tip still stuck in the tree. He tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge.
He took his hat off and pressed his cheek against the rough bark, there seemed
to be a small piece of material stuck under the tip. He couldn't place the
color, and wasn’t sure what the boys were wearing. If he could count on his
hunches, Adam and Hoss found the arrow in the tree and pulled out whatever
was stuck in it.
He joined the other riders and they followed his
lead. At this point his sons had taken a new direction,
and left him a trail to follow. He could only hope
to get there on time.
In front of a great fire they all sat, as the canopy
of night opened above them, dark rolling clouds slowly obscuring the bright
twinkling lights of heaven. The Cartwright brothers were surrounded by the
rest of the hunters, and it was time for council. The chief spoke in his
own tongue, although the few times Adam used English
over Paiute he felt the Indian could understand him. From what he could understand
they were unhappy, they wanted to go back to the free ways of their people
before the whites came, instead of being told where to go, what to hunt,
how to survive. The Bannock chief said he did not wish to kill, and his words
sounded like an apology in advance for having to kill them to get their land
back. He explained the ways of his people having -- and Adam got lost in
his words here, it sounded very philosophical though and he wished he knew
more of their language to converse on this level -- having to do with being
connected to the land, the land was everything to them and worth dying for. Adam knew they didn’t feel they owned the land – it was
more like the land owned them.
Then everyone was given a small piece of dried
meat to eat and a sip of water, and Adam was allowed to speak. With his limited
Indian tongue he explained how the land was meant for all people and that
they must together find a way to share without killing. Adam knew he could
not agree with the Indians without also agreeing that the Cartwrights did
not belong on the Ponderosa -- at the moment Adam was not so sure they did
belong here but he could not be disloyal to
So he tried to explain what Pa told him awhile
back, about how they would strive to preserve the beauty of the land against
the destruction of the whites, many more whites who were coming. They could
not stop the whites, but could protect the land and the Indians would always
be welcome to visit and as long as Cartwrights owned the land, they would
never be chased off. At this Adam ran out of words. He couldn’t speak their
tongue well enough to say all that he would have liked.
When he finished he took another sip of the water
that was offered and waited for them to talk further. They had communicated
well with only a few flaws, he felt, and now the Bannocks would decide either
to kill them or let them go. The chief turned to the one on his right, the
one who had taken their guns. He made a few quick hand gestures, and the
other nodded, turning his emotionless eyes on Adam. Adam tried to stare him
down but finally looked away. There was another option he hadn't thought
of. They might be holding them in trade for the land.
Adam didn't want Pa involved. This was his mess,
he let Joe ride out, and he wanted to come up with a way out of this himself.
They were taken to the largest lean-to to sleep,
their hands and feet well bound. Adam explained as best he could to Joe and
Hoss what had been said, how unhappy the Bannocks were because the Cartwrights
now believed all this land belonged to them.
"Are they going to kill us, Adam?" Joe asked. Throughout
the evening
Adam wished more than ever that he could hold his
brother close but they were all trussed up for the night. "I don't know, Joe.
I don't think they want to, or they would have without even discussing it.
Right now they're conferring among themselves what to do. I guess we just
wait."
"Yeah, liked dressed chickens ready for the kill,"
Hoss muttered.
"Well, I think they'll let us go. They weren't really
mean to me, Hoss. Although I didn't like having my eyes covered before they
took me to you. Is that another superstition of theirs, Adam?"
"Could be." Adam glanced at Hoss, lost in his own world. "Let's
try and sleep, and be glad at least they've given us shelter."
The three of them, each with their own thoughts,
looked up as thunder rolled through the skies above them.
Lighting flashed, setting the night afire for a
second over the desperate search party.
"If everyone's done eating, let's get moving."
Ben stood.
"Easy, Ben,"
"All right,
"Well, uh," Bill looked down, rubbing his chin.
"I'm retired now, you know, I was just in on the beginning of the Indian
trouble back east, I didn't see a whole lot of action---."
"
"But! I do seem to remember something a tracker told
me not too long ago. Indians never stray farther from their encampment than
the closest food source."
"So..." Alvie scratched
his head. "Are you suggesting we follow a deer?"
Bill rolled his eyes. "Noooo,
what I'm suggesting is they aren't far from where they live."
"The mountains?"
"Yes, and that's where they've taken the boys."
Bill folded his arms over his chest.
"I guess it's worth a try,"
Ben was already on his horse, and the horse was
pawing the ground. "That's fine. But for awhile we're going to keep in this
direction, so I can check a route I have in mind." Even if it wasn't the
way the Indians went, he might be able to catch up to Hoss and Adam, if they
managed to avoid capture. The other three got on their horses as thunder shook
the air around them. "I think they're still on my land and they want something
from me. And they can get it, because they have my son. Maybe all of them." Rain started falling in large intermittent
drops. "I'll understand if any of you wants to quit. This could get pretty
miserable." No one moved. "All right, let's go. This rain could be the curtain
that saves our lives."
Hoss wasn't sure if he fell asleep but a good earth-shaking
crack of thunder jarred him back alert. He looked over at Adam who was lying
still. "Adam? You asleep?" No answer. He crooked
his elbow and nudge Adam's arm. "You awake?"
“I think so. I don’t think
I’ve slept at all." Adam picked his head up. He could just about make out
Hoss's head hovering over him.
"Me neither. Why don't we try getting out of here?"
"Because we wouldn't get very far trussed up like
this and they know it."
"But Adam, we got to try something."
"Oh, pipe down, you'll wake Joe up." A sudden fear
washed through him. He rolled on his other side. "Joe? Joe!" He rolled again,
until he felt himself at the other edge of the lean-to, the rain pounding
on his feet and lower legs as it poured down. "Joe!" he yelled into the night.
"Adam?" Hoss's voice quivered.
"He's gone." Adam looked up and saw an outline
of a person standing over them. He could tell it wasn't Joe, even in the
dark.
The Indian spoke a few quick harsh syllables and
left again. Adam rolled back toward Hoss. Hoss could feel him shaking.
"Adam! What is it, what'd he say?"
Adam didn't answer right away. Hoss listened as
Adam fought to get his breathing calm and easy again. "Adam? They tell you
where Joe is?"
"He said...he said they killed him."
"What?" Hoss struggled to get to his feet but fell
over again. "Adam, you mean they plucked him right up from under us just
like...."
"Said if we don't give up the land you'll be next."
"But, but Adam, that's...that's..."
Adam stayed as close to his brother as he could
as Hoss's chest filled with great racking but quiet sobs. He felt his own
pain deeper than any tears could touch. He closed his eyes, fighting inside
to remain calm and rational. "Hoss...Hoss. I think it's a trick. I don't think
they did it."
"Oh, they did, they did, Adam. They're nothing but
animals. Well, go ahead!" Hoss screamed into the darkness. "Go ahead and
kill me too! Kill all of us! It's no good anymore, anyhow." He quieted. "Ah, dadburnit."
"What?"
"I didn't get to tell him I love him."
"He knows, Hoss."
"No, he's dead! They killed him, just like they
did my ma."
"Listen Hoss, I want to tell you something, something
I never shared before, even with
"I always thought you seemed a little funny around
her."
"Because my ma died, and then your ma died, and
I said to myself, no, I don't want to go through that again. So I wouldn't,
I didn't accept her as my ma. So when she died, it didn't hurt as much."
"But Adam, you couldn't know she was gonna---."
"No, there's no way I could know she'd die for sure,
she could've lived another 30 years but it wouldn't have mattered. Not once
I made my mind up. Somehow I just knew Pa was gonna lose her too. When it
happened, it felt for a little time like I put the snake under her horse myself,
or whatever it was that got her thrown."
"Adam! That’s just pure foolishness!"
"I know it is. But when
you’re 15 you have foolish thoughts." He clenched his jaw. "Pa hasn't lost
Joe, and he's not going to."
Hoss took a shaky breath. "Adam? Then you felt bad
too, when my ma was killed?"
"You may not believe this, but I felt worse than
you ever could when she died, because she was the only ma I remembered. I
was 5 when Pa told me how my ma died, and do you know that I felt guilty
over it? I felt like I had killed my ma myself, sure as we're sitting here
now, I did it. It was my fault she died, because I was born. And Pa tried
to make me understand it wasn't my fault, but it was your ma who finally
made me accept it. She became my ma in my eyes, Hoss,
no one could have been more loving to me than she was."
"But you don't hate Indians for killing her."
Adam paused to rub his aching head. "No, Pa taught
me it’s wrong to hate someone for trying to protect what they believe is theirs,
and that we cannot condemn an entire people for what a few have done. Did Pa tell you about the day she died?" He waited until
Hoss shook his head. "One of our men, our trail guide, actually, committed
a brutal act of murder against one of their people. They
wanted him, they wanted their just vengeance, but Pa felt we owed it to him
to protect him."
"But my ma was---."
"Your ma..." Adam's eyes closed briefly in pain.
"Ma was not staying put safe with the other women. She insisted on helping
the men. She died because she was helping, Hoss, trying to keep us safe.
She died protecting us. And because she died, that
fellow gave himself over to the Indians. And they
killed him, and went away."
"I don't remember Pa telling me this. I suppose
he may have, only I didn't listen." Hoss looked
over at Adam who seemed out of breath and ready to fall over. "So you steered
clear of Joe’s ma because you figured she was going to die too." He shuddered.
"The reason Joe and I don't always get along, I
guess. I should have loved his ma more."
"Oh, but you love Joe just
fine, Adam, anyone can see that. If anything, the guilt you feel over his ma makes
you love him more, not less."
Adam got to his knees, then
eased himself back to get on his feet.
Hoss felt him rise. "You going
somewhere?"
"I thought I'd try." Adam squatted back down and
sat, then turned until he found Hoss' back with his bound feet. "See if you
can find an end of this leather strapping. I got it wet in the rain and I
think it's loosened up."
Hoss felt the tips of Adam's feet with the fingers
of his hands bound behind him. "Come in a little closer." He fumbled with
the strapping, feeling awkward with his hands behind him, and he couldn't
ask Adam if he was getting close to finding it because it was too dark to
see. "Oh, I think I got it, I..." he gave an excited jerk and it pulled right
out of his fingers. When he found it again he was more careful, wiggling it
and then working his fingers to the knot, where he loosened it even more.
"Ok, Hoss, just a minute, I think I can..."
Hoss felt Adam shifting around behind him, and
then he heard a clunk.
"I got a boot off, Hoss. If I can get the... other..."
he grunted, twisting.
The other boot went clunk. "Now I can work the strapping
off." After a quiet struggle Adam stood on unbound and unbooted feet behind Hoss.
"Hoss, I'm going to look for Joe. You stay put.
Get some sleep."
"Wait, you can't walk around in the dark woods in
the rain without boots and your hands tied behind you. Come here, I'll try
to untie your hands too."
"No time for that."
"At least let me try to get your boots back on---.”
"I'll find Joe and be right back."
"Adam, you can't---.” But Hoss was alone, both brothers
gone somewhere out in the pouring rain, surrounded by Indians. He never felt
so miserable in all his life.
Ben pulled the party up short. "Up ahead there's
a stream. Indians will generally camp by water, so we're going to approach
the stream as though they're there." The rain had long since sagged their hats, making visibility poor but Ben seemed
not to notice. "Let's separate so we're not taking the stream all in the
same place. If there's nothing we'll meet at the bank."
"And if there is sumpten?"
Alvie asked quietly, spitting the rain out of
his mouth.
"Then...we meet back at this spot."
"Ben, that's all well and good,"
Ben paused, then reached back and pulled out the
shaft of the arrow from his saddlebag. He secured it in the branches of the
tree right over his head with the feathered tip hanging slightly. "Now we
will."
Silently the four of them split up.
Ben caught sight of the encampment on the other
side of the stream. Although it took all the strength he had not to go in
right away and find his sons, he couldn't leave the other three to end up
captured. He waited for an eternity back at the tree while each of the others
returned after seeing signs as well, stretched out along the stream. They
tied their horses and made their way back down, skirting as far left as they
could, with
Once they had secured themselves in a concave behind
some rocks Ben indicated behind him. "Look around behind us, Roy, make sure they aren't hiding over here as well."
He watched the camp but couldn't see anyone moving.
He heard muffled voices coming from behind one of the shelters, but not enough
to make out the language.
His boys were over on the other side somewhere.
He could make out, just barely, the blaze on Adam's chestnut horse tied down
stream. If only he knew they were still alive. He turned to Alvie.
"Here, take my gun, I'm going over."
"Ben! Over here!"
...and saw Joe tied to a tree.
"Pa!" Joe squirmed with the gag off, anxious to
be freed.
"Shush and hold still," Ben said, untying him quickly.
He pulled his trembling cold son to him, the moment worth an eternity of
wait. "You all right, boy? They didn't hurt you?"
"No, Pa, but they want your land. Adam says so."
"Where are Adam and Hoss?"
"Probably back at our lean-to. It's really neat
how they make those things, Pa, when we get home I
want--"
"Show me where, can you show me, Joe?"
"Yeah, Pa, I can find them!"
But when they got back to the edge of the stream
the other side was lined with Indians watching them, bows in position, arrows
drawn. Ben squinted, he knew how the night and the rain could be distorting,
but he couldn't see Hoss or Adam in their midst.
The one in the middle said something too muffled
for Ben to understand.
"I want my sons," he announced in their tongue
as loud and clear as he could.
Behind him Bill pulled his gun and Alvie did the same. Ben hoped
"I'll give you what you want if you return them
to me unharmed."
One who had no weapon stepped forward, both feet
into the stream. He was just close enough for
Ben to see the paint streaming down his face, like a ghoul in growing light
of morning.
"You would give up all your land
for your sons?" He said in good English.
Without hesitating Ben answered, "yes."
The chief nodded. "As I would."
When Joe stood next to his father several Bannocks
saw him and began talking angrily. One pulled out an arrow and loaded his
bow, but Bill fired, knocking him off his feet. Another Indian got an arrow
off, just missing Bill, and Alvie fired, his bullet wild.
"Stop shooting!" Ben yelled as he and Joe dropped
to the ground.
"Put your guns down!"
The Indian that had pouched Adam's gun pulled it
and began firing wildly.
Hoss scrambled to his feet. "Pa?" He hopped to
the side of the lean-to as gunfire was loud and agonizing in his ears. "Pa!"
Hoss shouted. "Stop shooting! Adam's out there somewhere! He's looking for
Joe!"
Ben leaned back and knocked the gun out of Alvie's hand, as
The Indians gathered back on the shore in silence.
The clouds weakened, allowing the morning to break through with a little
more strength. The Indians led their two wounded away, just flesh wounds
from what Ben could tell, and much to his relief.
Even so, chances were they would not release Hoss
now -- and Adam. Had they already killed him?
"Please, let my sons go! Anything you wish I will
give you!"
The chief turned back from the shore to stand in
the stream, facing Ben. His face was emotionless but Ben could see that pain
was etched deep below the surface. "This fight is only one of many. What
can you give us to stop it now?"
"Only the desire to try. We must do all we can to extend peace to each
other."
Several Bannocks sprang up along the stream with
Hoss was in their midst.
"I am sorry for the foolishness of my people,"
Ben said in their tongue. "You want land, I must
first see all my sons." Ben gestured to Joe and Hoss. "I must see three.
Unharmed."
"Here, Pa!" Ben looked downstream. Adam staggered
up the rocky stream, hands still bound behind him, face scraped and shirt
torn from ragged encounters with the pinyon pine. Ben ran to him. "Pa, I haven't found Joe yet, but he's
still alive, I know he's still alive, I'll find him, I promise..." he tripped
and fell to his knees in the rocky stream. Ben pulled him up and Joe untied
his hands.
"It's okay, Adam, Joe's
right here."
Adam looked up at Joe and laughed. With his hands
freed he touched Joe's face and then pulled his brother to him. "I knew, I knew you were okay. Pa, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I
let him go off alone."
"It's all right, Adam. You stay here with Joe. I'll
get Hoss. I'll give them whatever they want to let us go---."
"No!" Adam got to his feet, wincing. "I will finish
this." He ignored Ben's protests and staggered over to the shore, allowing
the Indians to grab him and pull him and Hoss away.
"Pa! They were so brave, coming for me. I didn't
mean to get them in trouble, Pa, honest."
"I know, son." Ben felt an odd queasiness allowing
Adam to go back to the Indians. But he was right, he must finish this or never be able to face
the memory or the mistake again. Ben sat with Joe on the shore, the other
men nodding off behind them, and they waited, as the sun finally broke the
horizon and sent the clouds flying.
Within the hour, with Joe asleep on his lap, Ben
saw a flurry of activity he couldn't believe. The Indians were breaking camp.
They filled their canoes and packed their horses and moved downstream, leaving
Hoss and Adam sitting in the midst of what was now just half bent trees and
scattered sticks over rock and nothing more.
Ben gently handed Joe over to
"You're both all right?"
"I had to negotiate, Pa," Adam said wearily. He
crawled to the stream and washed his face, wincing where the cold water hit
the scraps of tree bark on his cheek and neck when he had fallen. He pulled off his torn socks to soak his cut up feet in
the cold water.
"What did you give them?"
When Adam didn't answer, Hoss indicated the stream.
He was holding Adam's boots, waiting for the chance to help his brother stand.
"You gave them the
Adam sat backward on the shore suddenly, sobbing.
Ben went to him and pulled him close.
"Your ma would be very proud of you right now, son."
He looked over at Hoss, who was staring down river in the direction the Bannocks
went. He realized the hell Hoss must have gone through, knowing how he felt
about Indians. "Hoss, your ma---."
Hoss turned back. "It's
okay, Pa. Adam told me. It's okay you never did,
because I might not have believed you anyhow." He pointed down stream. "They
taught me to believe. They didn't kill Joe."
"Hoss, your ma would be very proud of you, too."
Joe came over and hugged his brothers. "I’m sorry,
Adam. I never shoulda---."
"Don’t...." Adam said. "It’s all right."
"Come on, you three vagabonds, let’s go home."
Adam’s horse was brought to him, and his brothers
helped him up. He struggled to sit upright, feeling
the exhaustion in both body and mind. "Pa?” He licked
his lips, his voice barely above a whisper. “Did...Little Joe’s ma...know?
How hard it was for me? That I was afraid…to lose another ma? I never should
have---."
"We both knew, son, that
it was hard for you to love again. And we understood. She loved you anyway,
Adam, more than you could ever know."
Hoss looked at Adam and then at Joe. "I think he
knows,
"Come on," Ben waited until his three sons were
mounted, Joe in front of Hoss, before mounting himself. "Let's go home. This
is Indian country now."