In the original episode:

After the cattle drive is completed, Ben, Hoss and Joe are heading home with Candy and Billy when they decide to take a short cut through the high country. They are arrested for trespassing, Billy is murdered in the saddle and they are found guilty by the Judge. All four of them are then sentenced to hard labour in the man's gold mine.

Fear No Evil

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. That fateful decision to ride home through the high country had seemed like such a good idea all those weeks ago. He had lost track of just how many days it had been. It was always that moment that came back to haunt his dreams each night as Ben tried to find a comfortable spot on the bare dirt. It was closely followed by the sight of young Billy, lying sprawled on the ground as his lifeblood soaked into another patch of bare dirt. He should have stayed on the road they had first come on and all of them would be safely home by now.

Ben found his thoughts wandering dangerously as he stared at his hands on the edge of the ore cart. He could have sworn those same hands had blood on them. Billy's death was on his head. One day, he vowed he would make it back to Virginia City to tell his lovely young fiancé that her man had not gotten cold feet and run off. He had been so eager to get home to her that it had cost him his life.

No!

He couldn't tell Sally that part. He could not cast guilt anywhere, but where it belonged, squarely on his shoulders.

"Pa, you doin' alright there?"

Ben jolted at the sound of Hoss' voice close to his ear and he realised his son was taking the bulk of the weight on the cart.

"Fine. Just fine, Son."

"Well them guards is lookin' right at us."

Ben caught the warning in his son's words and he straightened a little and pushed harder against the cart. It wouldn't do to draw any more attention than they already had. His son's size already attracted enough interest as the guards delighted in belittling Hoss at every opportunity. Ben was thankful for his son's reserved nature or he could have drawn far more trouble to them. Of course, that one time where the Judge had allowed Hoss to have at it with one of his men had served as a warning too. Even in leg irons and manacles, Hoss had bested the man and then been merciful where he could have snapped the man's back. It was that same mercy that caused the guards to continue to taunt him even now. Of course, they did it from behind the safety of their rifles like the cowards he knew them to be.

As they pushed the loaded ore cart towards the tipping point, Ben dared take a guarded look around to see where Joe was. They had passed Candy only a moment ago as he was chained to a section of men who were chipping away at the rock wall behind them. Ben felt panic rising in his chest as he realised he couldn't see his youngest son anywhere and hadn't laid eyes on him for quite some time. As if reading his father's anxious thoughts, Hoss lifted a single finger to point to his left.

"Joe's down there, Pa."

Ben let out a slow breath as he turned to look where Hoss was pointing. Joe was further down the ledge than he had been earlier, but he could tell by the way his sledgehammer was swinging that his son was just fine.

Well … as fine as an unlawfully detained prisoner in chains could be when he had no hope of reprieve or rescue.

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. That decision to ride home via his friend's ranch had seemed like such a good idea all those weeks ago.

He'd been all too eager to take his father up on his offer of a couple of days to himself after the long cattle drive. The hands had been given three days leave and he assumed most of their hard-earned pay would soon be spent in the local saloons on watered down whiskey, pretty girls and poker games. It wasn't that long ago that Joe would have been bucking to be allowed to stay with them, but he had other reasons for wanting to head home. A certain little redhead would be looking for someone else to escort her to Saturday night's dance if his brother didn't appear pretty soon.

Adam had smiled indulgently as Billy had expressed his own wish to get home as quickly as possible. He just didn't have the same sense of urgency, given he didn't have a pretty little thing waiting for him to make an honest woman out of her. Instead, as they'd sat by the campfire, he'd mentioned that it was only a half a day out of the way for him to call in and see his old friend on the way home. He didn't see the need to drag his family along with him or to delay Billy's reunion, so he'd said his goodbyes at the junction and ridden off alone.

Adam felt his jaw tighten as he rode into the empty yard again. Almost before he dismounted, Hop Sing came scurrying out onto the porch. The short-lived look of hope was quickly replaced by a scowl. Adam couldn't blame him. He felt the same way. He thought he'd found a lead into his family's disappearance and it had turned out to be another dead end.

"I'm sorry, Hop Sing. That sheriff had the wrong people. It could have been them … but it wasn't." His voice dropped along with his head as he turned to walk his horse towards the barn. The fatigue he felt had settled into his bones weeks ago and he had become so accustomed to it that he barely noticed.

Hop Sing hadn't missed it though. The one Cartwright he could currently do anything for was dead on his feet. Weeks of riding back and forth over old ground had produced nothing new. Even though it seemed his family had vanished into thin air, Hop Sing knew that Adam would not quit until he found them or died trying. That was the part that worried him the most.

He silently laid supper out on the table and watched as Adam slid into the chair. His actions seemed almost detached from his thoughts as he reached for the potatoes. It was sheer stubbornness that made him eat, as he knew he needed to keep up his strength, but nothing tasted right. Hop Sing knew he didn't need to make a separate plate of each thing as he usually did for the whole family, but he could not put the habit aside. He would not indulge the fear that said he would never again lay a table for his family. He paused, as if checking to make sure that Adam actually would eat and not just stare at the plate. He was surprised when Adam waved at the chair across from him.

"Please … sit down and share some of this food with me."

Hop Sing was about to object that he had already eaten when he suddenly understood what wasn't being said. Even though he knew that Mistah Ben's eldest boy was normally quite content with solitude, he was not all right with this. He could see the ache in the tired eyes that watched as he hesitated. He nodded as he slipped into the kitchen to collect another plate and cutlery before settling himself across the table. Neither of them spoke much as they ate the meal, but each felt grateful to have the other there nonetheless. It somehow made the silence a little more bearable.

Ben watched as Hoss sat back on his haunches and shook his head. "He's gettin' worse, Pa."

For three days, Candy had gotten progressively sicker with some kind of fever. He'd tried telling them he was fine and could still work just as well as any of them, but they all knew better. He should have been resting, lying in the shade and drinking cool water. Instead he was swinging a rock pick and sweating out more than he was taking in. The alternative meant a possible flogging from the Judge's guards. Candy was shaking as he lay propped up against a log and he tried to wrap his arms around himself, but the shackles stopped him from doing so. His eyes had slipped closed as Hoss stepped away from him and beckoned his father and brother towards him.

"He can't take much more of this. We gotta do somethin' to get him to a doctor."

Joe frowned as he looked around his brother towards his friend. Candy was one of the toughest men he'd ever worked with and he could take most things in his stride. He was an army brat who'd had to grow up as a little kid and be a man well before his body got there. There was nothing soft or weak about him, so if Hoss said he was in trouble, he wasn't stretching things.

"My plan could still work." The urgency in his voice wasn't lost on either of them. They'd had this discussion already, several times. Each time, Ben had vetoed the plan as being too dangerous. Each time he had assured them that Adam would have raised every rider in the West to get out looking for them and he would come soon enough. All they had to do was bide their time and wait.

Except they had apparently run out of time.

Joe pointed towards his friend and lowered his voice. "I'm not going to sit here and watch Candy die!"

Ben opened his mouth to object and promptly closed it again. His son was right. He looked across at Hoss who was torn between caring for his friend and placing his brother in danger.

"I can do this, Pa! You know I can."

Ben frowned as he felt his son's hand on his forearm. Reluctantly, he agreed.

"We need some help if this is going to work. Spread the word."

Joe would have grinned at him under other circumstances as his father gave in to his idea. The solemn nod he got instead was enough to tell him what he didn't want to know. Joe wasn't half as confident as he said he was.

The next morning dawned grey as steady rain fell on the camp. The men were all so exhausted from the gruelling physical labour that many of them had slept right through it. The flimsy shelter that barely kept the sun off did little to keep the rain off and each of them was soaked before their day even started. Joe helped Candy to his feet and noted his friend's grip on his arm. The skin felt warm to the touch, but Candy forced himself to hold out his plate as the guard came along and slopped something onto it.

As the man moved down the line, Joe nudged at Candy's side. "I'm gettin' you out of here today, buddy. Last time you'll have to eat this."

Candy turned towards him as Joe's eyes lit up. They'd discussed the plan over and over and refined the details for days, but he'd been unsure if they were ever going to be ready to put it into action. He knew the plan hinged on Joe's ability to outrun the Judge's dogs and guards. That and the fact that his father still balked at letting Joe put himself in such danger.

Something had changed and he wasn't sure what that was.

The same chilling rain was running down the back of Adam's slicker as he pulled his horse into the yard of his friend's ranch. The guilt still rose up to greet him, as he knew he should have been with his family instead of visiting a friend. Maybe if he'd been with them, he could have done something. It was an accusation that swirled in his thoughts each night as he tried to sleep.

As he tied his horse off to the hitching post, he heard the door unlatch and boots on the wooden porch.

"Any news yet?" The worry in James' voice matched his own thoughts and he looked up to see his friend watching him intently.

"Nothing! It's like the ground opened up and swallowed them."

"Well I might have something that could help. Come on in and get dried off. Nessie has some coffee on the stove and she'll rustle up some grub for you."

Adam soon found his hands clenched around the coffee mug as James relayed what he had discovered since they had last seen each other.

"After the last time you rode through looking for them, we got to thinking. If your family didn't ride back the way they came, then maybe they took the high country pass. It's about four or five days faster, but it's rough country. Most folks don't go that way since you'd never get a loaded wagon up there and it takes a sturdy rider to pick their way through."

Adam had already stopped there once as he backtracked, looking for his family. He'd since sent through a couple of telegrams, but nothing had turned up. Sheriff Coffee had sent out wires everywhere he could and Adam had sent hands out looking as well. Everything had drawn a blank and nobody had seen anyone matching the descriptions he'd sent out, until that sheriff had wired back saying he'd had a possible sighting. Adam had ridden there as fast as he dared push his horse only to find another dead end. He felt hope rising for the first time in weeks as James suggested an idea that finally made sense.

"They were all on horseback with just one pack horse. No wagons. Billy was in a surefire hurry to get back for his wedding and Pa might have considered this high country trail. It's worth checking out!"

"Now just hold your horses there. There's more."

Adam frowned as James' voice took on a serious tone. He recognised the warning for what it was, but had no idea why until James began to explain. His wild tale of the number of folks who had gone missing in recent times in the high country seemed like some kind of precursor to one of Hoss or Joe's ridiculous campfire stories. He would have dismissed it as local gossip, if not for the fact it suddenly rang true.

"Now as I've been asking around, there's a bunch of wild theories with everything from a man-eating bear to a rustlers' hideout up there. So whatever's going on up there in them hills, you're gonna need another gun with you."

Adam watched as James' wife, Nessie, had gone as still as a rock and almost burned the eggs she was cooking. She was just barely showing, but they'd told him about the baby when he first came to visit. Nessie needed her husband right there and not traipsing through the hills looking for man-eating bears. Or worse. He watched helplessly as she slid a plate of well-cooked eggs towards him and quickly turned back to the stove, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Thanks," he commented to her back as Nessie continued to clean up as if they weren't there.

'I can't ask you to come with me, James. You've got responsibilities here."

"You don't need to ask. I'm offering. Besides, I should have done this the first time you rode in here looking for them."

"I figured then they'd just run into some trouble and I'd find them soon enough. I didn't think that … that it would be this long."

James watched as his friend slumped a little lower in the chair. He knew how close Adam was to his family and almost two months of no news would be killing him.

"Nessie's gonna put together some travel rations for us and we'll be heading off as soon as you've had some sleep." He stood up as he spoke and kissed the top of his wife's head, as if making peace with her.

Adam was about to object when James pointed towards the bedroom.

"Sleep! I ain't gonna catch you when you fall right out that saddle and a few more hours ain't gonna matter much."

For some reason he couldn't define, Adam almost shuddered at the thought that maybe a few hours would matter. He rose from the table and followed his friend across the room. Sleep would be good.