Fervently Do We Pray
Book 4 of A HOUSE UNITED series
By Sarah Hendess
Ponderosa Ranch
Nevada Territory
1863
Josie did not immediately tell her family back East of her decision to stay permanently in Nevada. Seeing as how no one would expect her to return until the war was over, she decided there was no need to stir the pot just yet. She expected her parents would accept her decision, but she knew Aunt Rachel would not. Josie did not care one way or the other about Aunt Rachel's opinion, but she did not want her mother to have to bear Rachel's rage. Ben and her cousins, however, were overjoyed when Josie told them at breakfast one morning in early January that she did not intend to return to Washington when the war was over and asked if she could stay on the Ponderosa. Little Joe let out a whoop that shook the windows, and Hoss grabbed her by the waist and swung her around. Adam grinned so broadly he thought his face would split.
"Josephine, that's wonderful!" Ben exclaimed. "Of course you can stay! Remember me telling you that I didn't know how we ever got along without you?"
Josie blushed. "I didn't want to presume."
"You didn't presume anything," Adam interjected. "Besides, in a couple of months, you're going to have the prettiest clinic anyone's ever seen."
Josie grinned. She was so excited over her clinic she thought she might burst, and she prayed every night for the snow to stop so Adam could begin construction.
But the snow continued despite Josie's fervent prayers. By mid-January, it was so deep that Josie did not dare try to ride into town for work. She attempted walking out to the barn one morning to check on Scout, but halfway there she got stuck in snow up to her waist and had to holler for help. Hoss was more than happy to pull her free, but not before he had a good laugh. Even Pip was unhappy. Every time he came into the house from a brief sojourn outside to relieve himself, his belly and scruffy beard were coated in tiny snowballs.
One morning toward the end of January, Ben and Hoss stepped onto the porch, looked up at the clear, blue sky and decided they would have a break in the snowfall, at least until that evening.
"Think I'll go into town and pick us up a few more groceries," Hoss said.
"Good idea," Ben agreed. "I'm gonna ride up into the high country and check my traps. Probably nothing in them with all this snow, but at least it'll get me out of the house."
"Don't be out too late, Pa," Hoss advised. "I expect it'll start snowin' again tonight."
Ben nodded and went back inside to see if anyone wanted to go with him.
"No thanks, Pa," Adam said when Ben asked. "It's colder than a polar bear's nose out there. Besides, I was going to catch up on some of our inventory."
"Me either, Pa," Little Joe said. "I'm just gonna stay inside where it's nice and warm."
Ben rolled his eyes and turned toward Josie, who was just emerging from the kitchen. "How about it, Josie?" he asked. "Want to go for a ride with your old uncle?"
Josie raised a cup of tea and the copy of "Les Misérables" she had swiped from Adam's room and smiled apologetically. "No thanks," she said. "I'm all set. But you should take Pip with you. He could use a good run."
Ben glanced over at the enormous hound, who had topped out at 160 pounds and was now snoring next to the fire. "What do you say, Pip? Wanna go with me?" he asked.
The dog's head snapped up at the sound of his name, and he bounced to his feet and trotted over to Ben, where he sat down and waited to have his ears scratched. Ben obliged. "At least someone is excited to go with me," he muttered. "I'll be back by suppertime," he told Adam, Josie, and Little Joe, who all nodded. "Come on, Pip. Let's go!"
Ben and Pip trudged through the snow to the barn, where Ben saddled up Buck and swung into the saddle. As they headed away from the house, Ben thought perhaps his children had the right idea about staying in the house today. The temperature was below freezing, and Ben was glad he had brought the scarf Josie had given him for Christmas. By the time he and Pip reached the first of his traps two hours later, Ben wished he had stayed home. He was half-frozen, and as he had expected, the traps were empty, and the fresh snow revealed no tracks.
"Come on, Pip," he said resignedly to the dog. "Let's go home and have some hot coffee."
Pip wagged happily at Ben but then stiffened and let out a low growl. Ben saw the hair on the dog's shoulders and the back of his neck was standing on end.
"What's wrong, boy?" he asked. Then he heard it: another growl from the ridge above him, but not a dog's growl. This was a higher, snarling sound. Ben snapped his head around and spotted a tawny mountain lion poised to pounce from the ridge above him. Ben let go of the reins and reached for his rifle, but Buck had spotted the cat, too, and reared up in fright. Holding onto neither the reins nor his saddle, Ben was thrown backward off his horse and landed heavily on a large rock underneath the snow. Something popped in his left shoulder, and Ben bellowed in pain even as the wind was knocked from him. Startled a second time by his owner's howl, Buck whinnied frantically and bolted away.
"No," Ben gasped. His shoulder was screaming in pain, and his entire left side felt like he was being stabbed with a dozen knives; he knew he had broken ribs. But there was nothing he could do except watch his horse run off without him. Another loud snarl from the ridge brought his attention back to the mountain lion, and Ben pulled his revolver from its holster and fired a shot in that direction. It went wide but was enough to scare the animal off. The recoil from the shot, however, reverberated through Ben's body, and he nearly blacked out from the pain. He bit his lower lip until he tasted blood and fought to remain conscious.
Pip raced over to Ben and whined at him. Ben looked up at the hound. "We're in trouble, boy," he gasped between stabs of pain. Ben knew he could not possibly walk home – he was at least fifteen miles from the house, and he could hardly breathe – but he could not stay here on the trail, either, unless he wanted to freeze to death. There were a few small caves less than a mile away, which Ben knew would give him the best chance at survival until the boys and Josie could come after him. Grabbing hold of Pip with his right hand, Ben hauled himself to his feet and bit his lip again as the pain once more threatened to make him pass out. Slowly, Ben began his long walk through the deep snow to the caves, leaning heavily on Josie's giant wolfhound for support.
Back at the house, Adam, Josie, and Little Joe passed a pleasant morning. Little Joe coaxed Josie away from her book, and the two of them engaged in several fiercely competitive rounds of checkers. When Adam finished updating the ranch's inventory, he pulled up a chair and gave so much unsolicited advice to both Josie and Little Joe that they yelled at him to go away. Hoss returned from town in midafternoon, and he and Adam set about trying to build a house using an entire deck of playing cards. Bored with checkers, Josie and Little Joe sauntered over to the table to annoy Adam.
"Careful now, Adam," Little Joe said as Adam slowly set the last card on top of the delicate structure. "Don't knock it over."
"Yeah," Josie added. "That would be terrible, undoing all Hoss's hard work like that."
Adam glared at them both and resumed placing his card. Just as he let it go and carefully drew away his hand, Josie poked him right under his ribcage. Adam emitted a sharp "Eep!" and jumped violently. His knees hit the underside of the table, and the card house collapsed, scattering playing cards all over the table and onto the floor. Everyone stared open-mouthed at the fallen structure for several moments before Adam and Hoss turned their heads slowly to Josie, who burst out laughing.
"We're gonna get you for that!" Adam shouted.
He and Hoss leapt from their seats and chased Josie around the table and into the living room. Josie screamed in mock terror as her cousins cornered her behind Ben's armchair. Adam dived behind the chair and snagged Josie around the waist.
"Quick, Hoss!" Adam hollered as he tightened his grip on his wriggling cousin. "Fill the bathtub!"
Cackling with delight, Hoss thundered up the stairs and started pumping water into the tub as fast as he could.
Josie shrieked with laughter as Adam flung her over his shoulder and carried her toward the stairs. "No!" she screamed.
"Oh, yes!" Adam countered. He mounted the stairs awkwardly as Josie struggled to free herself from his grasp.
"I got the tub filled, Adam!" Hoss called as he stepped out of the washroom. He grabbed Josie's wrists while Adam grabbed her ankles, and the two of them carried her into the washroom and dunked her, fully clothed, into the bathtub.
Josie hysterical laughter evolved into a shriek as she hit the water. "Hey!" she sputtered. "That's cold!"
"Well, I wasn't gonna waste hot water on someone who wrecked my card house," Hoss explained. Adam erupted in laughter.
Josie stuck her tongue out at both of them and dragged herself out of the frigid tub. She stood dripping on the floor, her sable hair hanging in wet strings all around her face. Still giggling, Adam graciously handed her a towel.
"Thanks," she said, snatching the towel from him and rubbing her hair. She tried to glare at Adam and Hoss, but she broke out in giggles, too. "Guess I deserved that," she admitted.
"You sure did," Adam agreed. "And so do you!" He spun around and grabbed Little Joe, who had snuck upstairs to watch the show. Hoss and Josie hopped out of the way as Adam tossed his little brother into the bathtub.
"What did I do?!" Little Joe shouted angrily as he hauled himself out of the tub. "I didn't knock down your cards!"
"Oh, cool off, Joe," Hoss said, and he pushed his younger brother back into the tub.
Josie and Little Joe changed into dry clothes and returned to the living room, where they called a truce with Adam and Hoss.
"Should probably think about startin' supper," Hoss observed, looking over at the clock on the dining room wall and nudging Little Joe. Hop Sing had taken a few weeks' vacation, so the Cartwrights had been taking turns cooking, and tonight was Joe's turn.
"Try not to burn it this time, would you?" Adam added.
Little Joe glared at him and stalked off toward the kitchen.
"Shouldn't Uncle Ben have been home by now?" Josie asked. It was only five p.m., but the day was already growing dark, and snow had begun to fall again.
"I'm sure Pa's all right," Adam assured her. "He probably went out farther than he planned to and decided to hole up in a line shack for the night."
Josie thought this sounded reasonable and put it out of her mind. But just as they cousins were finishing up supper – salt pork, beans, and biscuits that were overdone but not burned - they heard a horse gallop into the yard and whinny. Adam rose from his chair, opened the door, and peered out to see who had arrived. It was now fully dark and the snow was swirling heavily, but he immediately recognized the shape of his father's buckskin gelding.
"Who is it, Adam?" Hoss asked.
"It's Buck!" Adam cried in alarm. "Just Buck, without Pa!" He raced outside with his brothers and Josie hot on his heels.
In the light streaming from the house, Adam examined the horse. He could find no injuries, and his father's rifle and saddlebags were undisturbed.
"Do you think he got bushwhacked?" Josie asked. Images of Adam dragging a travois through the desert flashed through her mind, and she tried futilely to stop imagining something similar happening to Ben.
"No," Adam replied thoughtfully. "No, I don't think so. He wasn't carrying anything besides his lunch, and it's still here in his saddlebag. Besides, a robber wouldn't have let Buck come home to alert us."
"He must still have Pip with him," Josie added.
"We better go after him," Little Joe said and made to head for the barn to saddle up Cochise. Adam grabbed his arm.
"Joe, we can't go after him tonight," he said gently.
"Why not?" Little Joe demanded, his temper flaring. "Pa's lost in the snow somewhere! We have to find him!"
"I agree with you," Adam said, "but we can't go out there tonight. It's pitch-black and this snow is going to turn into a full-on blizzard within the next hour or so. Riding out now would be suicide, and we're no good to Pa dead."
"We can't just leave him out there! He could die!"
"Joe," Hoss intervened, "Adam's right. You know well as we do ain't no good goin' out in this storm. Pa's a tough old bird. I'm sure he's holed up somewhere safe for the night." He took hold of Buck's reins. "Now you three go on inside before you freeze. I'll take care of Buck." Hoss led the horse through the swirling snow to the barn, leaving Adam, Josie, and Little Joe with nothing to do but go back inside the house.
Little Joe kicked the sideboard in rage and frustration as he reentered the house. Adam and Josie shared a look but said nothing. Joe flung himself onto the settee and dropped his head into his hands. Wordlessly, Adam and Josie started to clean up the supper table. Adam's stomach churned, but he knew the others would take their cues from him, so he forced himself to act normally.
"Joe?" he queried. "Could you help us wash the dishes, please?"
Little Joe's head snapped up. "The dishes?!" he echoed incredulously. "Our father's out there freezing to death, and you're worried about the damn dishes?!"
Adam sighed. "Little Joe, I'm worried, too, but there's nothing we can do about it right now, so we might as well make productive use of the time."
"Productive use of the time," Little Joe sneered. He leapt to his feet and marched over to Adam. "We could be making productive use of the time by going out there and looking for him!"
"Joe, we went through this already," Josie interjected. "Look outside! It's nearly whited out. You wouldn't be able to see your hand in front of your face, let alone signs of Uncle Ben. You'd just get frostbite – or worse – for your trouble."
"Sure," Joe huffed as he stepped into Josie's face, his nostrils flaring. "Take Adam's side. You always do."
"Hey, lay off of her!" Adam ordered, stepping between Josie and Little Joe. "If you're going to be intolerable, you can go up to your room."
Joe barked out an unfriendly, mocking laugh. "You gonna send me to my room, Big Brother?"
Adam puffed out his chest and straightened up to his full height so he looked down at Joe. "Yeah, I am."
"I'd sure like to see you try," Joe retorted, and he gave Adam a little push.
Adam pointed a warning finger at Little Joe. "Now watch yourself, Joe," he said coolly.
Josie stepped back and watched the tension mount between Joe and Adam. "Come on, fellas," she pleaded, but they ignored her. Joe pushed Adam again, and this time, Adam shoved back, sending Little Joe staggering backward. Joe's green eyes flashed dangerously, and he launched himself, fists flying, at Adam. The two men crashed to floor, each of them throwing punches with all his strength.
"Stop it!" Josie screamed, but her words went unheard.
Little Joe landed a hard left on Adam's jaw, splitting his brother's bottom lip. Adam responded with a right hook to Joe's nose, which sent up a spurt of blood. Little Joe fell backward onto the floor, and Josie took the opportunity to break up the fight.
"I said stop it!" she screeched as she wedged herself between Adam and Joe. Not wanting Josie to get hurt, Adam immediately backed off, but Little Joe was so angry he could hardly see. Not realizing Josie was between him and Adam, Little Joe flung his left fist forward again and cracked Josie hard in the right eye.
Josie cried out in surprise and pain and fell backward into Adam. They tumbled to the floor, Josie landing in Adam's lap, her hand clutching her eye. Little Joe stared in horror as he realized what he had just done.
"Josie?" he squeaked.
"Josie!" Adam bellowed. He pulled Josie's hand away from her face so he could see her eye, which was already swelling and turning an ugly shade of purple. Adam's gaze snapped up to Little Joe, who was standing over them, blood dripping from his nose onto the floorboards. "You no-good son of a bitch," Adam snarled as he stared at his brother, his eyes burning with malice.
"It was an accident-" Joe began, but Adam leapt to his feet and tackled him to the floor before he could finish. He landed on Joe's chest and began punching him in the face and head as hard as he could. Little Joe threw his arms up to protect his face and screamed that he was sorry, but Adam kept hitting him.
"ADAM!" Josie shrieked hysterically, having burst into tears both from the pain of Little Joe's punch and the agony of watching two of the people she loved most pummel each other. "Adam, stop! It was an accident! That's your little brother!"
The phrase "little brother" broke through Adam's rage, and he froze, his fist cocked for another blow. Horror crossed his face as he came to his senses. He leapt off of Joe and skittered backward on his hands and feet like a crab.
"Joe?" he said plaintively, but Little Joe ignored him. He curled up in a ball on the floor and clutched his still-bleeding nose.
Hoss came in from the barn just then and assessed the situation. It was plain that Adam and Little Joe had been fighting, but Hoss was mostly concerned about Josie, who sank into a dining-room chair and clutched her injured eye.
Hoss took a quick glance at Josie, decided the damage to her was not too bad, and moved over to Little Joe, who was still curled up in a ball on the floor. Ignoring the pain in her eye, Josie followed him and took a good look at Little Joe. His entire face was purple and swelling rapidly, and his nose still dripped blood. Hoss pressed his handkerchief to Joe's nose while Josie checked his pupils and asked if he felt nauseated. When Little Joe answered in the negative, Josie was satisfied that the damage, though ugly, was superficial.
"You won't be pretty for a while, but you'll live," she said and crossed the room to check on Adam, who was sitting on the floor near the settee. Apart from the split lip, he was fine.
"I hope you're happy," Josie seethed. "You're lucky you didn't break his nose."
"He hit you," Adam uttered lamely as he rose to his feet.
"It was my fault!" Josie insisted. "I shouldn't have gotten between you."
Chagrined, Adam muttered something about getting Josie some snow for her eye and hustled out the front door.
With Hoss's assistance, Little Joe rose painfully to his feet. "Josie," he said, taking a few stiff steps toward her. "I'm so, so sorry. I can't even tell you how sorry I am."
"I'm not the person you should be apologizing to," she said flatly, cocking her head in Adam's direction as he reentered the house. "This is killing him, too," she added quietly. "He just doesn't show it like you do." She went over to Adam, who pressed a snowball gently to her eye. She sat down on the settee and held the snow to her eye until it was melted and her face was numb from the cold.
Little Joe watched through swelling eyes as Adam handed Josie the snow, and a wave of guilt swept over him, not only for hurting Josie, but also for provoking Adam. His oldest brother had never done anything but look out for him, and Little Joe knew he should not have taken his anger and fear over their father's situation out on Adam. He wanted to apologize, but he was not quite ready to get that close to Adam again. Instead, he let Hoss apply some snow to his face to try to control the swelling.
The four cousins sat silently in the living room, everyone but Hoss nursing their wounds, and no one sure what to say. Finally, his lip no longer bleeding, Adam rose to wash the dishes that had started the conflict in the first place. Josie and Hoss followed to help him, but Little Joe stayed in the living room, his head throbbing from the punches he had taken. When they finished the dishes and went back into the living room, Adam announced he was going to bed.
"We leave at first light," he said and gazed around the room, his eyes coming to rest on Little Joe. "So you all better get to bed, too."
Everyone nodded and went upstairs, Little Joe making sure Hoss and Josie were between him and Adam. Hoss and Little Joe ducked into their bedrooms toward the front of the hall, but Adam escorted Josie to her door at the end. He turned up the hallway lamp and peered at Josie's eye, which fortunately, had not swollen all the way shut.
"That doesn't look too bad," he said. "You're gonna have a pretty good shiner for a few days, though."
Josie stared at him. She didn't say anything, but Adam could read her face. She was furious with him.
"I'm sorry I lost control," Adam said. "I know it was an accident, but in the moment, all I saw was someone hit you, and I lost my head."
"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Josie said, echoing her earlier statement to Little Joe.
"You're one of them," Adam said. "I think I scared you, and I'm sorry. I'll apologize to Joe tomorrow. It's probably better if we spend a few hours apart." He reached his arms out to Josie and looked at her hopefully. Josie gave him a half-smile, fell against his chest, and let him wrap his arms around her.
"You really think Uncle Ben's all right out there?" she asked softly as she bit back tears.
Adam paused for a moment to get his next words just right. "I think Hoss is right. Pa's a tough old bird. If anyone can make it out there, it's him. Besides, he's got Pip with him, remember?"
Josie nodded, kissed Adam's cheek, and went to bed, leaving Adam standing alone in the hallway. Averting his gaze from his father's empty bedroom, Adam turned toward his own room to get ready for bed.
Adam slept badly for only a couple hours before being awoken by the wind howling outside his window. He peered out, but the glass was coated in frost and snow. Knowing he would not get back to sleep, he pulled on his dressing gown and slippers and went downstairs, where he threw a couple logs onto the embers in the fireplace and went into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.
On his way back to the living room, he opened the front door and was blown back by a blast of icy wind and snow. As he and Josie had predicted, the snow had evolved into a raging blizzard, and Adam knew he had made the right decision in not setting out to search for Ben that night. The thought of his father out there in that storm, however, set his stomach churning again. Adam hoped he had encouraged Hoss, Josie, and Little Joe by telling them that Ben had probably decided to stay the night in a line shack, but he knew it wasn't true. Ben never would have stayed out in this weather knowing his family was waiting for him to return home, and he certainly would not have allowed his horse to run off without him. He closed the door and sat down heavily in his father's armchair and set his cup on the coffee table. He dropped his head into his hands as images of his father tirelessly combing the desert for him the previous summer flashed through his mind. The guilt was almost unbearable. Ben had searched through broiling heat for a week and a half to find him, and here he was, cowering next to the fire while his father was lost in a blizzard.
"I'm so sorry, Pa," he whispered as he rocked in his seat and clutched his hair. "You always told me first and foremost to keep the others safe. I'm just trying to keep them safe."
A creak from the top of the stairs broke his reverie, and Adam snapped his head up, hoping his eyes were not as red as he thought they must be. Little Joe stood at the top of the stairs, his face puffy and swollen. Standing there in his dressing gown and slippers, Little Joe looked much younger than his twenty years, and for a moment, all Adam saw was his brother as a little boy of five, begging him not to leave for college.
"Oh, sorry," Joe said, spotting Adam. "I didn't know anyone else was up." He turned to go back to his room.
"Joe," Adam said softly. "It's ok. Come on down." Their gazes met, and both brothers could see the regret in the other's eyes. Joe slowly descended the stairs and sat gingerly on the settee. Adam went into the kitchen and poured his brother a cup of coffee, which he set on the coffee table in front of Joe.
"Thanks," Joe said, taking a sip.
They sat in an uncomfortable silence for several minutes until they both broke out babbling at once.
"I'm so sorry-"
"No, you go ahead."
"No, you."
"No, really."
Amused smiles began to rise on both of their faces, and Adam held up a hand to silence Little Joe.
"I'm really sorry I went after you like that," Adam said. "I know you would never intentionally hit Josie. I saw her fall down hurt, and I lost control of myself. But I never should have beaten you like that."
"I'm sorry, too," Joe said. "The whole thing was my fault anyway. I shouldn't have pushed you in the first place. I just got so… so…" he trailed off in frustration, not sure how to express what he was feeling.
"It's ok, Joe," Adam said. "I'm scared, too."
Little Joe looked up in surprise. "You? Scared?" he said incredulously. "I didn't think anything scared you."
"Just something happening to someone I love," Adam admitted.
"Unless it's at your own hand, huh?" Little Joe gave Adam a wry smile.
Adam smiled back and reached over and tousled Joe's curls. He had always loved his baby brother's curly hair; it suited Joe's personality somehow, and Adam was glad it had not straightened as Joe had grown older.
"Well, what d'ya say, Older Brother?" Joe asked. "Shall we use this time productively?" He walked over to the gun rack and pulled down four rifles and some cleaning supplies. He handed Adam two of the rifles, and they set about cleaning the guns for the next morning's expedition.
When Josie and Hoss stumbled downstairs the next morning just before dawn, they found Adam and Little Joe asleep in the living room. Little Joe was stretched out on the settee, and Adam was slumped over in Ben's burgundy armchair. Each of them had a rifle resting in his lap and another on the floor nearby.
Hoss looked at Josie in alarm. "I didn't hear no shootin' last night, did you?" he asked.
Josie shook her head. "No," she replied, not taking her gaze off of Adam and Joe, "but a body would have been hard-pressed to hear anything at all over that wind." She walked over to the settee and looked down at Joe. His face looked even worse this morning. The bruises were now fully developed, and the blood had pooled in his face while he slept, making his cheeks puffier than Josie had thought possible. She looked over at Adam and saw that his lower lip was also purple and swollen. She shook her head and nudged Little Joe awake while Hoss poked Adam, who jumped.
"Saddle up, Older Brother," Hoss said. "Let's go find Pa."
The cousins choked down the last of the biscuits from the night before and loaded their saddlebags with enough food for several days. They brought two bedrolls apiece to protect against the cold, bundled up in coats, chaps, hats, gloves, and scarves, and set off through the deep snow.
They headed directly to Ben's trap lines in the high country. The morning was clear and sunny, but it took them three hours to ride into the mountains through the snow that had fallen overnight. As expected, the blizzard had blown away any tracks Ben had left the day before, and it took them several passes just to find the first of Ben's traps buried in the snow.
"Ok," Adam said, thinking aloud when Hoss finally spotted the first of the traps. "If I were Pa and got into trouble around here, where would I go?"
"There's some little caves just about a mile up this trail," Hoss remarked. "Some more over that way." He pointed south.
"That's where we'll look, then," Adam said. "Hoss, Joe, you two go check those caves to the south. Josie and I'll follow this trail. Three shots if you find any signs of a man or a dog. Remember, we're looking for Pip, too. He'll hear us before Pa will. We meet back here in three hours if no one finds anything. Agreed?" Everyone nodded, and the cousins split up.
Adam and Josie called for Ben and Pip as their horses picked their way up the trail. As they rode, Adam noticed Josie shivering, and he frowned. The temperature was below freezing, and he knew none of them could tolerate it for long before they would have to find shelter. But for now, they kept riding and calling out for Ben.
About a half mile along, they came around a bend, and Josie hollered for Pip again. This time she was rewarded with an answering bark. Josie would have recognized that deep, resounding voice anywhere. She shot Adam an excited glance.
"Pip!" she cried again.
Within seconds, the wolfhound came bounding through the snow toward them, barking excitedly, his wagging tail knocking the snow off of the bushes around him. Josie slid off of Scout and threw her arms wide in greeting. Pip leapt into her open arms, knocking Josie backward into the snow. He stood over her, tail still wagging furiously, and licked her face. Josie squealed with laughter.
"Cut it out, Pip!" she said, still laughing. "Your drool is going to freeze to my face!" She shoved the massive canine off of her and sat up as Adam drew his Remington and fired three shots into the air. "Come on, Pip!" Josie urged the dog as she remounted her Appaloosa. "Go find Ben!" The dog barked once more and bounded off the way he had come, with Adam and Josie following closely behind.
After less than a quarter mile, Pip veered off the trail into the trees. As they rode through the forest, Adam pointed out bent twigs and a broken branch.
"Someone came through here," he explained. Josie said nothing, afraid to jinx whatever luck they seemed to be having.
Only a few minutes passed before they came upon a sheer rock wall. Josie thumped her saddle in frustration, thinking Pip had brought them to a dead end. Adam, however, being much more familiar with this section of the Ponderosa, had jumped off of Sport and was now stumbling through the waist-deep snow.
"PA!" he hollered. "Pa, are you in there?!"
Josie saw that he was following Pip into a small opening in the rock face she had not spotted. She jumped down from Scout, grabbed her medical bag off her saddle, and followed Adam and Pip. She was nearly to the cave entrance when Adam turned around.
"Josie!" he called urgently. "Josie, he's in here!" He reached out and grabbed Josie's hand and pulled her the rest of the way through the snow and into the cave.
It was a shallow cave, no more than about twenty feet deep, and lying on the floor near the back was Ben Cartwright. Josie instantly knew they were too late. Her uncle was curled up in a ball on his right side, and the little bit of his face that Josie could see was a pale blue. She approached slowly, about to confirm the worst, when Ben blinked twice and looked up at her.
"Elizabeth?" he whispered weakly as a look of awe crossed his wan face.
"Oh my god!" Josie exclaimed. "You're alive!" From behind her, she heard Adam let loose another three shots into the air just outside the cave. Josie dropped to her knees and pushed on Ben's left shoulder and rolled him onto his back. Ben gasped in pain as his niece put pressure on his injured shoulder, and then he nearly bent double as the sharp intake of breath upset his broken ribs, bringing on the now-familiar stabbing pain through his chest. He screwed his eyes shut against the agony coursing through his body. Adam had made his way back into the cave by then, and he dropped to his knees next to Josie.
"Pa?" he asked tentatively. Ben's eyes fluttered at the sound of his eldest son's voice.
"Adam," Ben breathed, groping around with his good right hand until he found Adam's.
"Is he gonna be ok?" Adam asked, his voice thick with anxiety.
"I don't know," Josie answered truthfully. "It's a miracle he's still alive." Ben was in a bad way. Josie deduced he was in the advanced stages of hypothermia, and a quick examination revealed his left shoulder was dislocated and he had broken three ribs on his left side. She spotted his discarded chaps a few feet away and thanked God that he had been wearing them to keep his pants dry. He never would have survived the night in wet clothes.
"What can I do?" Adam inquired.
"Build a fire. We have to get him warm."
Josie ran out to Scout and grabbed both her bedrolls off her saddle and took them back into the cave. She unfurled the thick, woolen blankets and laid them both over her uncle. Adam took off in search of firewood, and Josie used the opportunity to perform a quick procedure bystanders typically found unpleasant. "Uncle Ben," she said gently. Ben's eyes fluttered open again. "I have to set your shoulder. I'm really sorry, but this is going to hurt like hell." Ben nodded feebly and closed his eyes again. Josie sat down on the cave floor facing Ben and, putting her foot in Ben's left armpit for leverage, she grabbed his left hand and wrist and pulled hard on his arm. Ben screamed in pain and sat bolt upright as his shoulder slipped back into place with a faint pop. The quick movement sent the stab of pain through his chest again, and he alternated clutching his side and his left shoulder with his right hand. His gasping slowed as the pain he had endured in his shoulder for the past twenty-four hours finally receded. He lay back down heavily.
Adam returned with a small bundle of firewood as Josie pulled off Ben's gloves and boots to check his hands and feet for frostbite. Miraculously, his fingers and toes were all right, though the tips of his ears were bright red. His pulse was also much too weak, and Josie knew they were running out of time.
"How is he?" Adam asked as he dumped the wood near the mouth of the cave.
"Bad. Hurry up with that fire."
Adam stacked the wood just inside the cave entrance so they would still have the cave's protection from the bitter wind but the fire would not smoke them out. He pulled a book of matches out of his pocket and got the kindling to catch in short order.
While Adam was fussing with the fire, Josie took off her gloves and placed her hands on her uncle's icy cheeks to warm him up a little.
"It's too cold, Elizabeth, you shouldn't be out here," Ben muttered.
Adam's head snapped around. "Did he just call you Elizabeth?" he asked.
"Yeah," Josie said grimly. "That's the second time."
"You do look just like her."
"I know, but the confusion is a bad sign. How's that fire coming?"
"Ready!" Adam replied. He dashed to the back of the cave and awkwardly half-carried-half-dragged his father close to the fire. Ben smiled weakly as the warmth hit him, and Adam moved in close to the flames, too. Josie was about to instruct Adam to lay next to his father to help warm him up, but just then, Pip trotted over and lay down at Ben's side farthest from the fire and snuggled up close.
"I think we just discovered how Pa survived the night," Adam said in amazement.
"Good boy, Pip!" Josie praised. She grabbed the two wool blankets and laid them over both Ben and Pip and tucked them in tightly.
When Hoss and Little Joe arrived a few minutes later, Little Joe let out a strangled sob and dropped to his knees next to his father.
"Pa!" he cried, tears spilling from his green eyes onto his father's blankets. Ben's eyes remained closed, and Joe reached out to shake his father's shoulders, but Adam grabbed him.
"He's hurt, Joe," Adam said. "Dislocated his shoulder and broke a few ribs. He won't thank you for shaking him."
"Will he be ok?" Joe whimpered.
"It's hard to say," Josie admitted. "Hypothermia is tricky. Hoss, did you bring any coffee?"
Hoss nodded and started brewing a pot. When the coffee was ready, Hoss propped Ben up, and Josie carefully poured some of the hot liquid into his mouth. She managed to get about half the cup into him before Ben began shivering too violently to swallow any more.
"Josie?" Little Joe asked in alarm as he watched his father tremble.
"This is good, actually," Josie said. "It means he's warming up."
Hoss carefully laid his father back down, and Pip snuggled back up to him. Within a few minutes, Ben's shivering slowed a bit, and he pulled one gloved hand out from under the blankets and scratched Pip's head.
"Good dog," he whispered. "Good boy."
Josie looked hopefully up at Adam and then back down at her patient. "Uncle Ben?" she said.
Ben's eyes blinked open slowly, and he gazed up at Josie.
"Elizab- Josie!" he corrected himself.
"Hey, there you are," Josie said, smiling down at him.
"What happened to your eye?"
All four cousins snickered. In her concern over her uncle, Josie had completely forgotten about her own injury.
"It's nothing, Uncle Ben," Josie said. "Joe and I just had a little collision. It was my fault, really."
Ben turned his head and squinted his eyes at his youngest son, taking in Joe's bruised and swollen face. "That must have been some collision," he wheezed, clutching his injured ribs.
"Try not to move," Josie instructed. "You've got three broken ribs, and I just put your shoulder back into place about an hour ago." Ben nodded and closed his eyes again.
"Wanna go home," he said.
"We'll go soon," Josie promised. "Finish off this coffee Hoss made, and then we'll go home."
Hoss and Little Joe helped Ben finish his coffee while Adam pulled Josie aside.
"It's a long ride home," Adam said. "Is it a good idea to make him do it already?"
"No, not especially," Josie answered. "But it's better than making him spend another night out here. Do you think Sport can carry you both through this snow?"
"At least part of the way," Adam said, "but it would make more sense to put him on Scout and have you double up with Joe since you two are the smallest."
"He can't sit his own horse," Josie replied. "Besides, he needs someone to share body heat with."
"Ok, I'll take him. Hoss and I can always trade horses if Sport gets too tired."
Their plan set, Adam and Josie returned to the cave to ready Ben for the long ride home. Hoss and Little Joe pulled off Ben's coat, shirt, and thermal top so Josie could bind up his ribs. Ben grimaced and lost what little color he had regained as Josie cinched the bandages tightly around his chest.
"I'm sorry it has to be so tight," Josie said apologetically. "I know it's painful." Josie wished she could give her uncle some morphine, but it would make him too groggy for the long ride home. Instead, she used her scarf to fashion a sling for Ben's left arm to keep his shoulder still and then turned to Adam. "Keep him as steady as you can on the way home," she directed. "And keep him awake."
Adam nodded. "Let's go," he said. "We can't wait any longer if we intend to make it home before dark."
Hoss picked Ben up and carried him out of the cave to where Sport stood waiting. Adam swung up behind the saddle and reached down for Ben as Hoss lifted him up and settled him in Adam's saddle. Josie handed Adam a couple of blankets, which he wrapped around his father's shoulders. Then he reached his arms around Ben and picked up Sport's reins. Hoss, Little Joe, and Josie mounted up as well, and they set off slowly for home.
Adam had to work hard to keep Ben awake on the ride home. Ben leaned back against his son's chest and tried to nod off. He was feeling cold again – the sensation had faded overnight – and he thought if he could just sleep until they got home the journey would be so much more tolerable.
"Stay awake, Pa," Adam ordered as his father's head lolled against his chest for at least the twelfth time.
"So tired," Ben muttered.
"I know the feeling," Adam said, thinking back to his Christmas in Boston. "Hey, Pa," he said brightly, "how about you and I stay home from now on when the weather's bad? We don't seem to have much luck outdoors apart from pleasant spring days."
Ben let out half of a weak chuckle and winced as the motion disturbed his ribs. "Good idea, son," he gasped. "I'm sure Hoss and Joe won't mind doing all the work from now on."
"What's that?" Hoss asked, sidling up to Adam and Ben.
"Oh, nothing," Adam replied.
Josie rode closely alongside Sport so she could keep an eye on Ben. She, too, was worried about how often Adam had to rouse him, but there was little she could do. When they finally reached the house four hours later, Ben was barely conscious, and his pulse was weak again. Hoss pulled him down from Sport and rushed him inside.
"Put him on the floor next to the fireplace," Josie directed. "It's the warmest spot in the house. Joe, go heat some water for tea. Adam, take care of the horses." The brothers ran off like obedient soldiers. Josie laid several blankets down on the rug in front of the fireplace, and Hoss laid Ben gently on top of them before throwing several logs onto the fire. "Pip!" Josie called, and the dog ambled over and lay down next to Ben on his side facing away from the fire. "Get his coat and shirt off him," Josie ordered Hoss as she darted upstairs. She grabbed all the blankets off of her uncle's bed and dragged them downstairs, where she tucked them tightly around Ben and Pip. Josie pulled Ben's hat off his head and checked his ears again. They were still red, but fortunately did not seem any worse than they had been in the cave.
Little Joe emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later bearing a kettle of boiling water. Josie dug a small sachet of powdered willow bark from her medical bag and plunked it in the water to steep. When it was ready, Hoss lifted Ben into a sitting position while Josie raised a cup of tea to his lips. Ben took two sips and turned his head away.
"Ugh!" he protested faintly. "Tastes terrible!"
"Seems to be a common sentiment in this family," Josie remarked. "Come on, Uncle Ben, drink it up. It'll warm you up and help with the pain."
Ben drank the rest of the tea but not without making the same wrinkled-nose grimace that Adam always made when confronted by willow bark tea. The tea revived Ben a bit, so Josie sent Hoss into the kitchen to heat some broth and make sandwiches for everyone. By the time Adam came in from bedding down the horses, there was a tower of sandwiches on a plate on the coffee table next to a large pot of coffee. Ravenous, Adam grabbed a sandwich and crammed half of it in his mouth at once.
"How's Pa?" he mumbled around the cold roast beef.
Ben glanced up from the floor where Josie was spooning broth into his mouth as Hoss propped him up.
"Cold," he wheezed. "But still alive."
Adam sat down next to Hoss, Josie, and Ben. The warmth from the fire at his back felt heavenly, and Adam suddenly realized how very tired he was.
"Where's Joe?" he asked, noticing his little brother was not in the room.
"I sent him upstairs to take a hot bath," Josie said. "He's pretty sore."
"Yeah, what in the world happened to that boy?" Ben asked, remembering the state of his youngest son's face.
Adam sighed. "He and I got into it last night, and when Josie tried to break it up, Little Joe hit her. It was an accident; he didn't realize she was right there. He feels terrible about it, but when I saw him hit her, I lost my head and went after him pretty bad." He looked away in embarrassment.
"What were you fighting about?" Ben asked.
Adam was too ashamed to answer. How could he tell his father that he had made the deliberate decision to leave him stranded in a blizzard overnight?
Josie cast a sidelong look at Adam and answered for him. "Joe was upset that Adam wouldn't let him go out looking for you last night. It was already dark and snowing hard when Buck came home, and Adam was worried we'd get lost in the storm."
"Adam was absolutely right," Ben said as firmly as he could without drawing a full breath. Adam still would not look at him, so Ben reached out and laid his good hand on Adam's arm. "Son," he said gently. Adam looked over at him, his eyes filled with remorse.
"Pa, I'm so sorry!" Adam blurted. "I'm so sorry I left you out there last night. After the way you came after me last summer, I-"
"Adam," Ben interrupted. "That was different. We could see where we were going. All four of you could have gotten lost and frozen to death out there last night. You did just what I've always told you to: you kept your brothers – and Josie – safe. And I couldn't be more proud of you." Adam nodded and blinked back tears. "Now, Josephine," Ben said, turning to his niece. "May I please sleep?"
Josie smiled. "Yes," she said. "I'll get you a pillow from your room." Ben was asleep before Josie returned with the pillow, which she slipped under his head. "So far, so good," she said to Adam, Hoss, and Joe, who had just returned downstairs from his bath. "He'll probably be feverish for a day or so, but it's encouraging that he can hold a conversation. As long as he doesn't develop pneumonia, I think he'll be all right."
The brothers nodded, and Adam moved to sit on the settee, where he pulled off his boots. "You three go to bed," he said. "I'll sit up with Pa in case he needs anything."
"I'll sit with you," Josie said. "Just in case."
"Yeah, me, too," Little Joe said.
All eyes turned to Hoss.
"Well, I ain't goin' upstairs alone!" he exclaimed. "That hallway's downright spooky after dark."
They all laughed, and Josie collapsed onto the settee next to Adam. She pulled off her boots and lay down, resting her head in Adam's lap. Hoss grabbed one of the many blankets that had materialized all over the living room and covered Josie up.
"Thanks," she said, already drowsy.
Hoss slouched in Ben's armchair, and Little Joe took the blue armchair, propping his feet up on the coffee table.
"Joseph, get your feet off the table," Ben muttered from his pallet on the floor.
Joe looked at his siblings in disbelief, but then sighed and lay down on the floor between Pip and the coffee table instead. The entire family was asleep within minutes.
Sometime in the night, Adam fell forward off the settee and onto the floor, where he woke the next morning to find Josie's hand dangling off the settee and resting on his face. He batted it aside and sat up, striking his forehead on the edge of the coffee table in the process. His yelp of pain woke Josie, who peered down at him.
"What are you doing down there, silly?" she asked, her eyes dancing with amusement.
"I don't know," Adam said, rubbing his forehead. "I have no memory of landing here."
Josie giggled and got up to check on Ben. As she had expected, he was now running a fever, but his pulse and breathing were both strong and steady. She looked over at Adam.
"While I'm grateful that the Cartwrights appear to have a tolerance for extreme weather, I do wish you all would stop testing it out," she said.
Adam grinned sheepishly. "I'll make breakfast," he replied.
The smell of bacon and eggs cooking woke Ben, Hoss, and Little Joe, and by the time Adam put the food on the table, Ben was sitting up unassisted in impatient anticipation of a hot meal. Rather than making Ben get up to sit at the table, Adam and Hoss delivered loaded plates of food to the living room, where the family had an impromptu picnic on the floor. Adam had even fried up some extra bacon just for Pip, who downed it so quickly Josie was certain he had not bothered to chew. She was pleased, however, when Ben sent Little Joe to refill his plate for him.
After breakfast, Ben related the story of how he had ended up injured in the cave.
"Bit strange for a cougar to be out in this weather, ain't it?" Little Joe asked.
"Must have been hungry," Hoss said.
"In any event, he didn't get lunch that day," Ben said. "Now if the good doctor has no objections, I'd like to go to bed."
Adam and Hoss helped Ben upstairs to his bedroom and into bed. Josie and Little Joe followed them with all of the blankets Josie had dragged to the living room the night before. As Ben lowered himself stiffly into bed, he caught a glimpse out his window of the sun glinting off the thick coat of fresh snow blanketing the ground outside.
"It's pretty when you're not stranded in it," he grumbled as Little Joe stoked the fire in the bedroom's small fireplace.
"It sure is," Josie mused. Her face lit up as an idea struck her. "Hey, Adam! You wanna build a snowman with me?"
The four Cartwright men stared at her incredulously.
"We spend all day yesterday riding around miserable in that snow, and she wants to go play in it," Little Joe muttered, shaking his head.
"No thanks, Josie," Adam said. "I think I'll stay in here with Pa and drink coffee. Lots and lots of hot coffee."
Josie turned a disappointed face to Hoss.
"Aw, Josie," he began. "You know I love buildin' snowmen, but it's awfully cold out there, and-" He cut off as Josie poked out her lower lip to look a little bit sadder. "Oh, all right," he said. "Get your coat on. Let's go build us a snowman!"
Josie cheered and took off downstairs. Hoss followed a moment later, leaving Adam and Little Joe sitting with Ben in his bedroom.
The snow was wet and heavy – perfect for snowman construction – and Hoss and Josie quickly rolled a base level for their snowman that rose to Hoss's waist. Several minutes later, Josie had to sit on Hoss's shoulders to lift the head onto the snowman because it was too high for Hoss to reach alone. Their laughter and happy shouts carried upwards into Ben's bedroom, where Adam and Little Joe watched through the window.
"They're having entirely too much fun out there," Little Joe opined.
"Yeah," Adam agreed. "We should do something about that." The brothers shot each other wicked grins. "We'll be back, Pa!" Adam shouted as he and Little Joe darted from their father's bedroom and down the hall to the stairs. Pip dithered for a moment, looking back and forth between Ben and the now-empty doorway.
"Go on, boy," Ben encouraged him. "I'm ok."
Pip yipped happily and followed Adam and Joe down the stairs.
Outside, Josie and Hoss were putting the finishing touches on the largest snowman the Nevada Territory had ever seen; it was more than nine feet tall and wider than Hoss. Josie had brought a carrot from the kitchen, which she stuck to the snowman's face for a nose, and Hoss poked some branches in the sides for arms. A few rocks they had dug out from under the snow served well as eyes, and they used some pebbles to create a smiling mouth. For a finishing touch, Josie swiped Hoss's tall hat from his head and jumped up and plunked it on the snowman's head.
"I'd say that's a pretty good snowman," Josie said as she admired their work.
"Me, too!" Hoss agreed. "Let's make him a wife."
They were just beginning to roll a snowwoman foundation when a wild rebel yell erupted on the porch. Josie and Hoss whirled around to see Little Joe and Adam on the porch, their arms full of snowballs.
"We're under attack, Hoss!" Josie yelled. "Get down!"
Josie and Hoss hit the snow as Adam and Little Joe began pelting them with snowballs. Hoss and Josie crawled behind their snowman and started rolling snowballs as quickly as they could. Pip bounded through the snow to them and barked encouragingly. When they had a small pile, Hoss and Josie peeked out from opposite sides of the snowman and hurled snowballs toward the porch. Hoss knocked Adam's hat off his head, and Josie caught Little Joe squarely in the rear end when he turned around to grab another snowball. Joe responded with a snowball that knocked the nose off of the snowman.
"We got a wounded man here, Doc!" Hoss shouted.
Josie gallantly threw herself into the line of fire to grab the carrot and jam it back onto the snowman's face. Adam and Little Joe took advantage of the opportunity to bombard her with snowballs. She shrieked for help, and Hoss grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back behind the snowman.
The battle raged for a quarter of an hour, both sides keeping up a steady barrage of flying snow, and Pip running back and forth between the two, barking madly. Finally, frustrated by their lack of headway, Little Joe covered Adam while he raced in and stole Josie away from Hoss, slinging her over his shoulder and running back toward the porch.
"We've got your partner!" Adam called in his best outlaw voice. "Surrender, or she gets it!" He and Little Joe both aimed snowballs point-blank at Josie, whose scream of terror ended in uncontrollable giggles.
"All right!" Hoss hollered back. "All right, I give up! Just don't hurt the little lady!" He stepped out from behind the snowman with his hands up, and Adam and Little Joe turned their snowballs on him, both of them nailing him right in the face. Hoss charged the porch, grabbed Little Joe, and chunked him headfirst into the snow. He turned for Adam, who threw his hands up in surrender.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he gasped between gales of laughter. "I give up!"
Hoss laughed and threw an arm around Adam and one around Josie.
"Come on, you two," Josie said congenially. "Let's go inside and get warm. I'll make some hot chocolate."
Hoss tromped back over to Little Joe, who was still struggling to free himself from the snow, grabbed the younger man's feet, and pulled him free. He reclaimed his hat from the snowman and followed his brothers and cousin inside.
Upstairs, Ben was listening to the joyful shouts of his sons and niece and could not resist heaving himself out of bed to watch from his window. He tried not to laugh as Adam and Little Joe beaned Hoss with their snowballs – the motion disrupted his broken ribs and sent stabs of pain through his chest again. But smiling did not hurt, so Ben smiled broadly. Despite their fight two nights before, Adam and Little Joe were comrades again, and Ben's spirits lifted as he watched them work together to defeat Hoss and Josie. "As long as they have each other, they'll always be ok," he thought to himself. Hearing the younger Cartwrights coming back into the house, he hustled as quickly as he could back to bed. He did not want to be admonished for getting up.
When Josie came upstairs a few minutes later to change into dry clothes, her cheeks and nose rosy from the cold, she poked her head into Ben's room to check on him and found him resting comfortably, right where she had left him. She laid a hand on his forehead and was pleased that his fever had not risen.
"How's the pain?" she asked. "Would you like an opium pill?"
"No," Ben responded. "It's not too bad, as long as I hold still. And those pills make me fuzzy."
Josie smiled. "Ok. Would you like some hot chocolate?"
"That would be lovely."
Josie kissed Ben's forehead and skipped happily out of the room to change her clothes.
Ben smiled again as he watched her go. His shoulder and chest ached horribly and no matter how many logs the boys threw onto the fire, he was still cold despite his fever, but his family was together and happy. Nothing else mattered.