week113




WANTED

"I don't believe it, I just don't believe it," said Adam, staring at
the wanted poster, depicting his two younger brothers. "I've only
been away a couple of days. How on earth did they manage to get
themselves in this mess? Pa is going to have my hide, when he hears
about this.  He'll call me every variation on irresponsible idiot
that he can think of, and he'll be right. What was I thinking of,
leaving those two on their own and heading out to
Reno, like I did?"

"It was a mercy call, Adam," said Ross, his best friend. "You had to
go when Connie sent you that message, like she did. You and she are
friends from way back and she needed your help. How were you to know
that your crazy brothers were gonna turn into bank robbers in such a
short space of time? In fact, how was anyone to know? Everyone,
including
Roy, is shocked. They all know that your family is one
of the most law abiding around these parts. But Mr Haggerty, at the
bank, is also well respected, and he swears that it was your
brothers that came in and robbed him. And since the robbery, neither
Joe or
Hoss have been seen, and so it does look mighty suspicious."


"Suspicious or not, I know that my brothers are not bank robbers,"
said Adam. "I haven't got a clue how I'm going to do it, but I am
going to find those boys and sort this out, preferably before Pa
gets back from his friend's wedding in
San Francisco. I'm heading
home, now, to pack up some supplies, and then I'm going to start
looking. And I sincerely hope that I find them before anyone else
does. People get mighty trigger happy when their life savings have
been stolen."

Adam checked in with Roy, who told him the same story as Ross had.
Joe and Hoss had ridden into town, walked into the bank and held it
up. They stashed $50,000 into their saddle bags, tied up Mr
Haggarty, the manager, and Miss Williams, the teller, and rode out,
calm as you like. Since then, it was like they had vanished without
a trace.
Roy had sent out a posse, but hadn't found any leads to
follow.

"I'll bring them back," promised Adam. "And then you'll have to take
down those posters and take back all the accusations you have made
against them, Roy. My brothers are not bank robbers, surely you must
know that? You have known Pa, Hoss and me since we first settled
here and Joe since he was born. You are like an uncle to that boy,
he's no thief."

"I agree with everything you are saying, Adam, but I have to act
when two people, who have also known your brothers for many years,
swear that it was them who robbed the bank. And the fact that the
boys have disappeared makes them look guilty, don't you think?"

"Well, it does seem suspicious, but it doesn't mean that they are
guilty. It could mean that they are being held somewhere, against
their will. Anyway, I'm not going to waste anymore time on
speculation, I am going to find my brothers."

With that, Adam rode out to the ranch to prepare for his trip. Hop
Sing was as mystified as Adam was, as to where Hoss and Joe were,
and wished him well in his search.

"You bring boys back before Mistah Cartlight get home, sort out all
this foolishment."

"I'll do my best, Hop Sing, don't worry," and Adam rode out of the
yard.


Several miles away, in one of the line shacks, Hoss and Joe were
struggling to break free of the ropes that were holding them
prisoner. When Adam failed to return from town, several days
previously, Hoss and Joe were not sure what to think. Their big
brother was only supposed to be attending a meeting, but he failed
to return by nightfall. Hoss and Joe had just begun eating supper,
when they heard the sound of a horse riding into the yard, at high
speed. Before they could get outside to see who it was, the person
had ridden away, but had left Adam's coat on the porch, with a note
pinned to it. The instructions were very clear and chilling. Hoss
and Joe were to rob the bank and then take the money out to the line
shack, or else Adam would be returned, in a coffin. If the sheriff
was informed, Adam would also be killed. The boys spent a sleepless
night, trying to decide what to do, but by the morning, they
realised that they had no choice but to do as the note told them to.

"We can't risk Adam's life by trying to outwit these guys," said
Joe. "They mean business. What's a few thousand dollars compared to
our brother's life?"

"You don't havta convince me, little brother," said Hoss. "Come on,
let's go. The quicker we deliver that money, the sooner we'll get
Adam home."

So the two boys rode into town, without telling a soul what they
were doing, robbed the bank, and headed out to the line shack. When
they got there, they found it was all a hoax and Adam wasn't being
held hostage, at all. Connie, an old school friend of Adam's, was
now married to a bank robber and she had lured Adam away from
Virginia City, by pretending that she was in trouble and needed his
help. A man who was also part of the gang, had waited in
Virginia
City
for Adam to arrive for his meeting and had handed him the note
from Connie. He'd assured Adam that he would ride out to the
Ponderosa and explain to his brothers where Adam had gone. In fact,
while Adam was at his meeting, he'd stolen Adam's coat from the back
of Sport, where Adam had tied it, and taken it with him, to the
ranch, as proof that Adam was a prisoner. By the time Adam had
ridden all the way to Connie's place, spent time trying to help her
with the crisis that she'd made up, and then ridden home, Hoss and
Joe were wanted men.

The robbers were at the line shack and they overpowered Hoss and
Joe, relieved them of the money and then left, after tying up the
boys.

It took them several hours, but eventually, Hoss and Joe managed to
break free, and they were heading for home, when Adam met up with
them.

"What on earth possessed you two to rob a bank?" demanded Adam,
angrily, but once Hoss and Joe filled him in on why they did it,
Adam calmed down.

"Okay, let's get into town, round up a posse, and get after that
money," said Adam.

"Remind me again why we were so anxious to get ole bossy boots here,
back," said Joe, to Hoss. "Oh yeah, I know, cos Pa would expect us
to look out for him."

"You were looking out for me?" said Adam, raising a quizzical
eyebrow. "May I remind you that it's you two who have spent the past
four hours tied up in a shack, not me."

"And may we remind you, that it was you who went running off to do
your Sir Galahad impression, leaving us thinking you'd been
kidnapped and forcing us into bank robbery to save your hide," said
Joe.

"And may I remind both of ya, if'n we don't head out after those
varmints, real soon, we're gonna be spending a long time behind
bars, fer a crime we didn't really commit," said Hoss. "Well, we did
commit it, but we sure didn't gain no benefit from it."

"Good point, Hoss," said Joe, and the brothers headed into town to
enlist the aid of Sheriff Roy Coffee and to round up a posse.

It took them several days, but they did manage to catch the real
criminals, retrieve the cash, and clear the names of Hoss and Joe,
before Ben returned.

As he stepped off the stage, Ben's boys were waiting to greet him.
Once the initial hugs and handshakes were out of the way, Ben asked
the question that they had all been dreading.

"Any problems arise while I've been away?"

"No sir," said Adam. "Things have run smooth as silk, haven't they
brothers?"

"Sure have," said Hoss, forcing a smile onto his face, as he wanted
Ben to think that all was well.

"Problems?" squeaked Joe. "What d'ya mean Pa? Like Hoss and me being
accused of bank robbery? Something like that?"

Ben laughed. "Well, not really like that. I just meant had there
been any problems on the ranch, that's all."

"Oh no, Pa, nothing at all," said Adam. "Things have been as dull as
ditchwater round here."

"Yeah, real dull," said Hoss.

"Well, will one of you please put my luggage in the buckboard and
then we can go and have a beer, before we go home," said Ben.

Hoss did so and they headed for the saloon. The boys were already
through the swing doors, when Ben caught sight of something that
made him stop in his tracks. Stuck on the side wall of Cass' store
was one of Hoss and Joe's wanted posters. The boys thought they had
removed them all, but this one had been missed.
Ben went to have a closer look and read it through, twice, before he
was sure he'd understood it.

Inside the saloon, the beers were on the bar and Adam, Hoss and Joe
were waiting on their father. All of a sudden the peace of the town
was shattered, as Ben appeared in the doorway of the saloon, poster
in hand, shouting at the top of his voice.

"BOYS, WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS ALL ABOUT?"

"You know something, fellas, I think I'm getting real homesick for
that lineshack ," said Joe. "How about the three of us going up
there for a few days, just till Pa calms down?"

"Best idea you've had in ages," said Adam.

"Sounds good, little brother," said Hoss, and the three boys headed
for the back door, Pa's voice ringing in their ears.

                                 THE END
Little Joe forever
Lynne

 

 

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