Under The Purple Sky
Part 1
One more day left. That was the thought that ran through Joe Cartwright's head as he and his older brothers, Adam and Hoss, rode down the dirt streets on their horses. Along with their father Ben, they were here on business, buying horses from a rancher who lived on the outskirts of town.
Wadesville was the closest place from the ranch for miles around. For the past six days, the Cartwrights had been staying at the rancher's home, since he had insisted that they bunk at his place. Only twice, including now, had they entered this small town, which was a one-hour horseback ride to. The first time was yesterday morning, when Ben had offered to pick up some supplies for the rancher, getting them at the only general store there.
Today, Ben had headed off to the bank to get the money that would be used to buy the horses they had picked out. He had the money deposited there for safe keeping until he made his purchases. While he did that, his three sons headed to the saloon down the street for a quick drink, where he would meet them once he was done at the bank. When he arrived there, however, there was a long line, and Ben realized that it would be a little while longer before he would meet up with his sons.
The brothers soon reached the hitching post closest to the building with a sign that simply read in gold color, 'Saloon.' As they dismounted from their horses, a large cloud above began to cover the bright, early afternoon sun, casting a shadow over the small town.
Joe was the first to speak as they hitched up their horses. "On a warm day like this, there would be nothing better than a cold beer."
"That is if they serve cold beer, little brother," mentioned Hoss.
Joe sighed a little, realizing that Hoss might be right. The last time they were out of town for business, the saloon they had visited served beer that was so warm, it was as though it had been under the sun all day. Joe swallowed at the though, and he found himself hoping that this saloon wouldn't be a repeat of last time.
At least it wouldn't be summer time for another month.
One more day. Joe found himself thinking the same words he thought of just moments again. Then we'll be heading back.
The trip to Wadesville hasn't exactly been the most eventful since the Cartwright's arrival. One of the reasons the youngest Cartwright went on these trips was to explore the towns they were in. He liked to see what they had to offer, and to see, perhaps even meet, the young women who roamed those towns.
However, Wadesville offered very little to explore. The town only made up of a few blocks, small enough that Joe was quite sure that everyone there knew each other by name, let alone noticing any strangers who came by. The people barely even looked at the Cartwrights, hardly ever greeting them. And for Joe, any of the young, pretty girls he did see already seemed to be hitched with another man.
As a matter of fact, now that Joe thought about it, there seemed to be more men than women in the town.
"Let's try not to stay too long." Adam's deep voice broke through Joe's thoughts. "Just long enough to wait for Pa, have a beer or two, then head back."
As Adam talked, Joe sensed the boredom in his voice. He figured that his oldest brother was also not enjoying his time in this town. Joe wouldn't be surprised if he was right. Already, Hoss had expressed his eagerness to return to the Ponderosa.
"It's not like I appreciate ol' Hemming's hospitality," Hoss had said four nights ago, referring to the rancher they were buying horses from. "But dadburnit, he's a bad cook."
Joe had found himself smiling after hearing that. To Hoss, almost no one cooked a good meal as well as their cook, Hop Sing. The Cartwrights were all used to the Chinese man's culinary skills, so to try other people's cooking would sometimes catch them by surprise, mostly for the worst. Hemming wasn't that bad of a cook, in Joe's opinion, but he did miss Hop Sing's meals just as much as Hoss did.
It was funny… this was supposed to be a seven-day trip, yet Joe felt as though they were here for weeks.
Hoss' voice broke through Joe's thoughts this time. "Why the rush, big brother?" he asked, referring to Adam's last comment.
Joe decided to join in. "Yeah, older brother… why the rush? You weren't planning to meet a pretty gal behind our backs now, were you?" He smiled playfully, making his green eyes beam.
Adam stared at his brothers with his light brown eyes for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh. "Do you really want to spend any more time in this town than you want to?" He continued staring at his two brothers, and Joe noticed a hint of a smirk forming on his face. The youngest Cartwright found himself chuckling at this, realizing that he was right about his oldest brother's feelings about being here.
"Let's go have that beer already," said Hoss as he began walking towards the saloon. "I'm darn thirsty."
Agreeing with him, Joe and Adam began following Hoss. Pushing the swinging doors, they entered the saloon. It was an average sized place with about a dozen tables. The main bar was placed in the back, the lone bartender, a short dark-haired man, cleaning out one of the countless glass cups with a cloth.
The bartender looked up to see the Cartwrights walk in. He nodded to them, acknowledging their presence. "Three beers," Adam said to him as the three began to sit down.
Joe began to notice the saloon more. There was a piano, but no pianist. The only customers there were four men about four tables away talking amongst themselves, three card players in the opposite back corner, and the card dealer who was watching over the game.
"A bit quiet for a saloon," Hoss said after a few moments. "Even at this time back in Virginia City, it was more rowdy than this."
It was then that the bartender came over with their beers. He had heard Hoss' words as he was walking towards the table. "That's Wadesville for you," he said. "Maybe about every month or so, something interesting does happen, but it's mostly criminal trials."
"What keeps you here?" Adam asked curiously.
The bartender shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I like to think of this place as peaceful compare to many other places around this territory. By the way, if you gentlemen are expecting any of our saloon girls, I'm afraid that's going to have to wait until about five o'clock. We have two ladies working for us, Jeannie and Maureen, but neither of them are able to come in until that time."
Joe hadn't noticed until just now… there were no saloon girls in sight. That was a first for him. Even in other small towns, there was at least one girl lurking in even the only saloon there, so he found this very strange.
Then again, with the lack of customers at this hour, even on a Saturday, it was no surprise that Wadesville's only saloon girls didn't come in until the evening, when there is usually more business.
"What brings you here?" the bartender asked.
Joe smirked, knowing that the bartender was making conversation. Of course he would, he thought. He must get very bored at this hour.
"We just bought some horses from Hemming's ranch," Joe answered. "We've been here almost a week now, and we'll be leaving on Monday. We're from Virginia City."
"You're a long way from home," the bartender said. "My name is Chad. If you gentlemen would like more beer, let me know."
"Thank you," Adam said as he paid Chad for their current beer.
Suddenly, a loud shriek was heard from the back corner. The noise startled everyone the room, and the Cartwrights quickly turned their heads to look for the source of the noise. They found themselves staring once they realized that the shriek came from one of the card players. This gave Joe the chance to get a better look at the people at the card table.
The card dealer, an man who looked to be in his forties, wore a white shirt underneath a black vest, closed by it's buttons, and matching pants and shoes. He stared at the people around him with no emotion on his face. It was obvious that he had been dealing cards for quite a while.
The card players contained two men, both dressed in jeans and different colored plaid shirts, stared in disbelief at the fourth occupant of the table… a girl about Joe's age. A large smile played on her face as she began collecting the money that was on the table.
"It's about time I won this poker game!" she called out. "Guess today's my lucky day."
"Yeah," one of the men at the table said in annoyance. "It was only lucky." He began getting up from his chair.
The smile disappeared from the girl's face as the man began walking away. "Where are you going?" she said, sounding disappointed. "This is just beginning to be fun."
The man rolled his eyes. "Walking through the desert with no water is more fun than this." He soon reached the swinging doors and exited the saloon.
The girl shook her head before looking back at the other man. "Do you still want to play, Johnny?"
"Nah, I'm done for now," Johnny replied. "I just blew half my pay for the week, and I'm going to need the rest. Maybe next week." He then got up with his beer in hand, and walked over to the bar table.
Hoss turned his head to Chad. "Who is she?" he asked. It was a question that Chad was used to from all visitors. Few weren't used to a properly dressed girl in a place like this.
"That's Rachel Coddington," Chad said, keeping his voice low so that she didn't hear. "She comes in every Saturday around this time to play poker with anyone. I always keep an eye on her and make sure she leaves by mid-afternoon. After all, she is the mayor's daughter."
The Cartwrights looked up at Chad. "Does her father know she comes here?" Adam asked.
"He does," Chad answered. "He doesn't like it of course, but a busy man can't always stop her."
"I don't blame her for comin' here," Hoss said. "In a place like Wadesville, she must get bored half to death."
"She is kind of cute though, don't you think?" Joe suddenly said.
Adam found himself rolling his eyes in amusement. It was almost typical to hear his brother say anything like that about any new girl they see.
"Chad!" Johnny called out. "Another beer!"
"If you three want more beer, let me know," Chad said before leaving to attend to Johnny.
Nearly at the same time, the Cartwrights sipped their beer. Not as cold as Joe hoped, but it was at least cool enough to make him grateful that it's not completely warm.
"Hey you three," Rachel's voice called out. Adam, Hoss, and Joe turned to where Rachel sat. She stared at them with her dark brown eyes. "Do you want to play?" she asked.
The Cartwrights gave Rachel a friendly smile. Adam spoke for the three of them. "No thanks," he replied.
"I'll play," a deep voice said from behind. A tall man with a brown beard walked casually over to the table Rachel was sitting at. He was one of the four men who were sitting a few tables away from the Cartwrights.
The smile returned on Rachel's face. "That's wonderful." She was just beginning to take out some of the money she had just collected from her last game. "Let's start playing before my new luck runs out."
"Under one condition," the man said, his voice suddenly void of emotion. This caused the Cartwrights to keep an eye on him, all three now getting a weird feeling about this stranger.
It was then that the clicking sound of a gun's hammer being pulled back was heard… three to be exact. The Cartwrights turned their heads, their eyes meeting the other three men in the room, all with their guns pointed at them.
"Take your guns out and put them on the table," one of them demanded. "And don't pull any tricks."
It wasn't the first time that the Cartwrights found themselves caught in a situation like this. It was almost a routine. Knowing that it was best to listen now and deal with them later, the Cartwrights slowly stood up, removing their guns from their holsters before placing them on the table.
"Now, get behind the bar," the same man demanded, and the three followed orders, their calm eyes never leaving him. He then looked over at Johnny and Chad, both who already had their hands up. Chad was already behind the bar, so he pointed his gun at Johnny. "You too." With hesitation, he followed the gunman's orders.
The tall stranger, obviously the leader, pulled his gun out and pointed it at Rachel. The fear was already etched on her face. "W… what do you want from us?" she asked, her voice quivering.
The stranger tipped his brown hat back a bit, revealing his hazel eyes. "Just like you, I want to play a game. A high stakes game." He stared at her more intently. "The bet is for your life."
It was a half hour before Ben was able to get out of the bank. With the large amount of cash placed safely away in his wallet, he stepped outside, feeling the afternoon sun on his face. He stretched his arms out a bit, feeling glad to be out of the bank.
Now he would meet his sons over at the saloon. He remembered hearing Adam asking a stranger where the place was located, and the man had said it was down at the end of the street on a corner. He looked over in that direction, seeing that the street ended not too far from here.
The sky above was partly cloudy. As Ben unhitched his horse Buck, a cloud had maneuvered over the bright sun, casting a shadow over Wadesville. Ben looked up at the sky, suddenly getting a little feeling that he couldn't explain. He had these feelings before, and was once told that it was something called 'fatherly instincts.'
Ben shrugged the feeling off, thinking he was being ridiculous. For all I know, he thought. Little Joe could be getting himself in trouble again in another poker game.
Ben began riding down the street on his horse. He was starting to think that he could be correct in his last thoughts. The silver-haired man began to expect himself to walk into the saloon and see at least Joe in a brawl. His youngest son seemed to find himself in more brawls than his brothers due to his short temper.
Even so, he knew that his youngest had a big heart. Ben knew that Joe loved his family, and would go as far putting himself in harms way to protect them. All four of them did.
As he got closer to the end of the street, Ben noticed a small crowd gathering around, staring over at a sight across the street. Ben looked at that direction, his eyes laying on a blue, two story building that read 'Saloon.' Nearby, he noticed his sons' horses tied at a hitching post. He was just beginning to ride over to that spot when someone walked near him.
"If you plan to get a drink at the saloon, you're going to have to wait," the person said. Ben gently pulled on the reins, whispering a 'whoa' to stop his horse from walking. He then looked at the person, a tall man dressed all in brown, except for a blue plaid shirt underneath his coat. A silver star badge with 'Sheriff' engraved on it was pinned on the left of that coat.
"What's the matter, Sheriff?" Ben asked.
The Sheriff shifted his feet a little, slowly placing his hands on his hips. "There's a hold up in the saloon. Just started about twenty minutes ago. Unfortunately, there are a few hostages inside. I suggest you run along…"
Ben stopped listening to the sheriff as he continued speaking. He briefly looked at his surroundings, hoping that his sons were around. He frowned, feeling his heart sink when he couldn't find them. He had no doubt that Adam, Hoss, and Joe were amongst the hostages inside. In a town that they barely knew, where else could they have gone to?
Quickly, Ben dismounted from his horse. He then stared back at the Sheriff. "My sons are in there, and I am not leaving until they come out unharmed."
The Sheriff was just beginning to open his mouth to reply when another voice from behind him spoke. "Let him stay, Hansen."
Both Ben and Sheriff Hansen turned to the voice, noticing a man dressed in a semi-casual black jacket with matching slacks. Underneath his jacket was a gray, buttoned vest, which covered most of the white shirt underneath. He was perhaps a few years older than Ben with silver hair and a mustache. His dark eyes showed only worry.
The new stranger looked at Ben. "I am a father too, also worried about the safety of my child. My daughter is one of the hostages."
Ben nodded to him, understanding how the man was feeling right now. He then asked, "Does anyone have any idea why there's a hold up?" He then shook his head a little. "A saloon of all places?"
"We've only gathered a few information," Hansen stated. He looked over at the man with them. "This is Henry Coddington, the Mayor of Wadesville. We believe that the bandits are holding his daughter and the other hostages for ransom money. We also have one witness who was just getting near the saloon as the hold up began. He was only able to briefly look over the doors, not wanting to stick around of course. He had noticed Rachel in there, along with Chad, the bartender, and a friend of his named Johnny. He also noticed three other men, all with their hands in the air, but he said that he never saw them before. He was only able to describe one of them to me, a big man with a tall hat."
Hoss.
"My sons…" Ben whispered. He took a deep, slow breath as he turned his head towards the saloon. "How much do they want?"
"They haven't named their price yet," Henry said. "Hansen and I have only arrived here about ten minutes ago."
"I was only able to talk to one of the bandits briefly," Hansen said. "He only said that there was three other with him, and that they were currently negotiating their demands. He gave us the warning that if we tried anything, he would kill all the hostages. This is all we know at the moment. Right now, we wait for their demands before we decide on how to put an end to this."
Ben nodded, still staring over at the saloon. With the lives of his sons and three others at stake, he wished that he could quickly find a way to get them all out unharmed. One of the things he hated was to stand around and wait for something to happen., especially at a time like this.
Ben turned his head to Henry. "I'll help anyway I can."
"Thank you," Henry replied.
Ben turned back towards the saloon, knowing that the wait was going to be a dreadful one.
Back in the saloon, the four bandits had spread themselves out through the saloon. They had the Cartwrights, Chad, Johnny, and the card dealer tied up by their wrists, their hands behind them, and were all placed in a line leaning against the bar table. Rachel was tied up in a chair, and the bandits had placed her in the middle of the room.
The hostages had learned about fifteen minutes ago that the leader of the bandits was Nate Edwards, the tall man with the beard. Johnny had uttered his name before he was told by Nate to keep quiet before they killed him. The room had been silent since.
Nate was the only one standing by the windows, their curtains closed, but only one window slightly opened enough to hear anything outside. Two of his men stood on either side of the hostages by the bar. His third man stood next to Rachel. All four had their guns drawn out.
The silence seemed to go on for what seemed like an eternity before the bandit nearest to Rachel spoke. "Why didn't you tell them our demands yet?" he asked with a bit of irritation in his voice.
Nate sighed a bit. "We have plenty of time, Sam. There's no need to rush this just yet."
"You want my Pa's money! Why else would you be here?" Rachel yelled out in anger.
Sam found himself rolling his eyes. "Thank you for stating the obvious, Princess."
Rachel fumed over Sam's sarcastic reply. "With my status, you won't get away with any of this as easily as you think!"
Sam's patience suddenly grew thin. Before Rachel had time to say anything else, the bandit pulled back at's Rachel's dark hair, his tight grip causing her to let out a small yelp.
"You're status will be 'dead' if you don't shut you mouth!" Sam yelled out.
Silence filled the room for a moment as Nate turned to the scene in the middle of the room. He briefly stared at Sam with no emotions in his eyes. Sam slowly let go of Rachel's hair soon after.
Nate moved his eyes to Rachel then, his eyes turning into curiosity. "Let me ask you something… what's a gal like you doing in a place like this?"
Rachel glared at him. "It's none of your business."
Already without patience, Sam grabbed Rachel's hair again, this time pulling back harder, causing her to shriek. He then placed the barrel of his gun to her head. A terrified look appeared on Rachel's face upon feeling the cold metal against her temple.
"I said to keep your mouth shut!"
Behind them, the men were furious by the way Sam was treating Rachel, but it was Joe's nose that was flaring. "Leave her alone!" he suddenly demanded as though it was instinct.
Immediately, the other two bandits pointed their guns at Joe. Joe looked up at the two men, his lips now in a tight line.
"Leave him be," Nate said to them. The two men to drew their guns away from him. He then looked at Sam. "Let her go. The last thing we need for you to do is kill her."
Sam's nose flared in anger for a moment. He looked down at Rachel, the fear still written on her face. He then obeyed order, released his grip on her, and pulling the gun away. Nate knew that after that experience, Rachel wouldn't be talking, at least for a while.
"It's time to get business going," Nate suddenly announced. Everyone in the room watched as he pulled up the shade that covered the only open window.
"Sheriff!" Nate called out. A brief pause lingered before they heard another man's voice from outside call back in reply.
"We're ready to list our demands!" Nate looked back at the other three bandits as though he was giving them one last chance to list what they want before he made his announcement. When none of them said anything, Nate turned his head back to the window.
"We're listening!" they heard the Sheriff say.
Nate continued. "We want a wagon with a horse, and a twenty-four hour head start. We also want money from Coddington in exchange for the hostages' lives!"
"How much?" Sheriff Hansen asked.
There was a brief pause before Nate answered. "Five hundred thousand!"
The eyes of all the hostages' widened in shock over the amount asked, and Rachel herself looked as though she was about to faint. The Cartwrights had heard of ransoms for ten thousand, thirty thousand, even only two thousand, but five hundred thousand?
The realization dawned in on every hostage in the room. For the bandits to want this much money, they had very good reason to do so, a reason they may most likely never find out even if they were saved after this was over.
"That's preposterous!" they heard another man yell out.
Nate continued, ignoring the other voice. "You have until sunset to meet our demands! If they are not met by then, all the hostages in the room will be dead!" He then moved away from the window, pulling the shade down.
Sunset was about four hours away, and the hostages all wondered in their minds if the demands would be met in time.
Sam and the other two bandits seemed to be amused and delighted by the situation upon looking in their eyes, as Adam noticed. He then looked over at Nate and saw something different. Nate's face seemed to look worn and tired, and Adam swore that there was even a hint of anger. For someone who may receive a hefty amount of money today, Nate didn't look as delighted as the other three.
It became obvious to Adam then that there was something different about Nate. It was as though this situation involved more than just money for him…
'Five hundred thousand dollars?!' Ben thought in shock. It was indeed a lot of money, and he knew just by looking at Henry Coddington's pale face that he thought the same thing.
After some silence, Henry managed to swallow a lump that suddenly developed in his throat. "This is absurd."
"Do you even have that kind of money, Mr. Coddington?" Sheriff Hansen asked.
Henry took a deep, slow breath before turning his head to Hansen and Ben. "I do… it's almost every penny I have… sure, I'll have some left over if I hand it over, but it's not enough for me to run this town." His eyebrows arched. "… It's well known here in Wadesville that my daughter goes to play cards in the saloon every Saturday. These bandits… they have to have known that she was here when they could've done this any time of the week. Someone had to have tipped them, telling them how much money I had in my name. It could've been anyone, but that's not important right now… not until Rachel is safe."
Ben nodded to him, agreeing with him over how important Henry's last sentence was. He and his sons have been in situations like this before, and he knew that he would go as far as giving up the Ponderosa. Ben had put his heart and soul on building that ranch, and if losing the Ponderosa meant saving the lives of his sons, then so be it.
As he looked on at the saloon, Ben heard Hansen order one of his deputies to bring water to Henry as he helped him sit down on the boardwalk. Ben's mind began to wander off from the present as he began to feel dread and worry for his sons.
Questions ran through his head… were his sons all right? Were any of them hurt? How long will this go on before it's over?
A while ago, Hansen had sent out another his deputies to retrieve a wagon and a horse, two of the demands from the bandits. Wadesville was quite a small town, and Ben wondered if even a spare horse was available at this very minute.
Hansen's voice cut in then. "Henry, I'm very sorry that your daughter got caught up in his situation. Unfortunately, you may have to give them money if we don't come up with a solid plan."
"I hope it doesn't come to that… that'll be the last resort," Henry sighed, his voice slightly shaking. He then looked up. "Ben? Have you figured any plans?"
Ben blinked a couple of times as he hadn't expect to be spoken to right away. He shook his head a little. "I wish I did, Henry." Ben then thought of something as he continued staring at the saloon. "Is there a backdoor to this place? Perhaps the deputies could go around back-"
"Unfortunately, it doesn't," Hansen replied. "The only way out is the front door."
Ben sighed before turning to Henry and Hansen. "I'd do anything to save my sons, even give up my ranch. I'm confident that we'll come up with something before the sun sets."
Hansen stared at Ben with interest. "A ranch? Where at?"
"Near Virginia City, Nevada Territory."
Hansen nodded. "What's a man like you doing out here in Wadesville."
Ben turned his head back towards the saloon, his worry for his sons back in his mind. "Business, but does that matter now?"
Silence fell between the three men afterwards.
In the saloon, the only noise present was the chatter between Sam and the other two bandits. The hostages in the room had learned that the other two were named Charlie and Tim. Nate continued staring at the window, his six shooter in hand, and seemed to more care about what was going on outside.
Sam, Charlie, and Tim had moved themselves to one of the tables right next to the tied-up Rachel, each one with a glass of beer in front of them. As they talked, their mood seemed cheerful for now.
For a while, the three discussed some of the saloon girls they met in the last town they've been in, mostly laughing over the stories they told. Eventually, Charlie changed the subject. "Say… with all the money that we're getting…" His eyes lit up as he grinned. "Heck, I wouldn't even know what to do with all that money!"
"Me neither," agreed Tim. "I'd probably buy myself enough beer to last me a year." He looked at Sam. "What about you, Sam? What are you gonna do with that money?"
Sam seemed to look thoughtfully at his beer for a moment before he smirked. "The idea of buy enough beer for a year sounds nice… but I would really like to get me one of those mail order brides." He then turned over to Rachel. "I'd like to get one as pretty as this one."
Sam reached his hand over to Rachel. He barely brushed his dirty fingers against her cheek before she quickly pulled away. The three bandits laughed at her reaction, and Rachel could only narrow her eyes at them with anger in retaliation.
Hoss' nose flared upon seeing this. He spoke only low enough so that only his brothers (each one on either side of him) heard him. "It disgusts me what a man will do just for money."
"And what they will do with it once they have their hands on it," Joe agreed. Briefly he looked at Rachel. Her tears from a while ago still stained her face, and he noted that she hadn't said a word since Sam had put his gun to her head.
Which reminded him… Nate, the leader of his pack, had been quiet most of this time, mainly looking out the window. 'For a man who's leading this whole thing, he sure doesn't speak much,' the youngest Cartwright thought.
Joe turned his head to his left toward his brothers. Hoss looked at him as well, and Joe noted Adam observing the scene in front of him. Next to Adam, he noticed Johnny, the other customer, and Earl, the card dealer, both also observing the scene. The two looked weary, but they seemed to do well in staying calm.
Joe then turned to his right, his green eyes on Chad the bartender. He noted the pale look on the chubby man's face, and a sheen of sweat covered his forehead. Joe would have to keep watch on him. He knew from the couple of hours that he's known Chad that he was a decent fellow, and knew that he only meant well. Even so, his nervousness may cause this situation to grow worse if he makes the wrong move.
"Try to stay calm," Joe told him.
Chad found himself barely swallowing. For a while, he found it hard to breathe normally. "It's funny… I've broken up brawls and kicked out many drunks… but here I am in a hold up and I'm as nervous as a hunted jackrabbit. I've never been in a hold up in all my life."
Chad's nervousness seemed to make him talk louder than he wanted. Sam, Charlie, and Tim had stopped their conversation, and even Nate had turned his attention to him.
Charlie pointed his gun at Chad. "Didn't we tell ya to keep ya mouth shut?"
"Leave him alone, Charlie," Nate said as he walked away from the window. "Why don't you go keep a look out for a while."
Charlie took a quick drink before standing up. "Fine," he replied as he walked over to where Nate had been.
Nate walked over to the hostages, stopping in front of Chad. Chad's breath seemed to shorten even more, unsure of what was about to happen next.
"Stand up and sit down at a table," Nate demanded. Without hesitation, Chad did as he was told. He got himself up, then moved over to the closest chair about two tables away from the other three bandits.
Nate went behind the bar table and grabbed one of the whiskey bottles. He then returned to the table where Chad was at before removing the cork on the bottle. "Drink some of this. It'll calm you down."
The other hostages were surprised by the gesture. They watched as Nate offered the whiskey to Chad, who took the bottle in his tied up hands. Once he got a hold of it, Nate let go, and Chad took a small swig before gently placing it down on the table.
"Well don't go wasting that now," Tim said. "We'd like to have some of that too."
Nate looked annoyed. "That beer you have is enough for now! We don't need you getting stinkin' drunk! Besides, I have a new plan."
Sam, Charlie, and Tim looked at Nate with interest. "What would that be?" asked Sam.
Nate looked at the hostages. "I don't think it's necessary to keep everyone here. I'm willing to let two of them go."
The three bandits stared at him in surprise. "You're kidding us, right?" asked Tim. "What's the point?"
"The point is that when we planned this, we were after one thing," he briefly looked at Rachel. "We never discussed what to do with any one else who gets involved, only to keep them hostage as well."
"I told you we should have talked about it before we did this," mentioned Sam.
Nate ignored him. "Here's what we'll do… we'll only release two hostages, and keep the others."
"If we're going to do that," said Tim. "Let's let the big guy loose." He stared at Hoss. "Who knows what he'll do if these guys somehow were able to get out of those ropes."
Hoss narrowed his blue eyes at the bandits. "You can untie me, but I ain't leaving without my brothers."
Nate turned his attention to him. "What's your name?" he asked.
"Hoss Cartwright." He nodded he head to each side as he continued speaking. "These are my brothers, Adam and Joe."
Nate rubbed his bearded chin with his fingers. "Cartwright… from the Ponderosa?"
Hoss nodded in reply. Nate only remembered the name because he had once stayed a night in Virginia City about a year ago. During his stay, he had mostly heard about the Cartwrights and their large ranch just nearby. Nate had forgotten all about it until now.
From there, Nate made his decision as he looked over at Johnny and Earl. "You two are free to go."
Johnny and Earl looked up in surprise. There was some relief in their faces, but at the same time, there seemed to also be some reluctance.
Nate quickly pointed a gun at them. "Go before I change my mind," he said as he pulled Earl up to his feet. Johnny got himself up as well. "I'm going to let you out with your hands tied. Let the sheriff cut them off for you when you get out."
Nate pushed the two forward until he was behind them. Charlie chuckled as he watched. "Consider yourselves lucky. If you had stayed, I'm sure you would be dead like the others once the sun sets."
His words were ignored. As the three passed Rachel, she looked up at Johnny. He returned the gesture, stopping just in front of her.
"Don't worry, Rachel," he said to her. "Everything will be fine."
"Get moving," Nate demanded, his gun on Johnny's back. The young man followed orders, and the three walked towards the double doors.
To be continued...