The Cartwrights were awakened with a pounding on their heavy front door and shouting that the barn was on fire. After quickly throwing on clothes and pulling on boots, all four Cartwrights, the eight hands in the bunkhouse and Hop Sing, were passing buckets of water and slapping the straw and timbers with soaked towels to put out the spreading flames after first having rescued the terrified horses and the two panicked milk cows. And now, the four Cartwrights sat on their porch and looked at the remains of the barn, the sun beginning to rise through the skeletal remains. Part of the barn roof and the wall opposite the stalls were charred timbers. The two cows hadn't gone very far and one lowed, hoping to be milked, its bag heavy. The horses would soon be back looking for oats and their stalls.
"Hop Sing!" Hoss called out, "Dolly's singing you her love song. She wants to feel your hands on her teats!"
Adam smiled and Ben Cartwright just shook his head in amusement. Hop Sing came out the kitchen door and muttering in rapid Chinese, he went out to the cow, a tin pail in his hand. She walked slowly toward him, lowing piteously. Hop Sing held onto her halter and guided her to the far side of the porch where he could sit on the edge and milk her. The other cow, a red one, followed, the bell around her neck clanging.
"It could've been worse," Joe said as he sat back. "At least we didn't lose any stock."
"Yeah," Hoss said as he wiped some of the soot and sweat off his face with one sleeve of his long johns, "and we're the third ranch in two weeks to have a barn burnt and none of us ain't lost no stock 'cept for Wilkinson who lost that crazy filly that ran back into the barn. Ain't that a mite strange?"
"I think we need to have a meeting of the ranchers," Ben said. "Someone is targeting us, all the large ranchers—and we need to find out why and who."
"Hey, Adam," Joe said, "you haven't said anything yet. Something wrong with you? Usually we can't shut you up seeing s how you know everything."
"Very funny. No, I just…I'm going to the bunkhouse." Adam slowly rose from his chair. One pants leg was charred by a flame that came too close. Hoss had slapped it out with a wet towel when he saw the fabric catch. "I agree—not losing any stock is strange. I need to talk to Jance and find out what woke him."
"What're you thinkin', Adam?" Hoss asked.
"I'm not sure yet. Seems to be more harassment than an intent to destroy." Adam stepped out into the yard. "Hoss, why don't you go make some coffee? And, Pa, I'm going to let the hands rest today. We can check the herds ourselves."
"Speak for yourself, brother," Joe said. "I'm worn out!"
"That may be but get off your lazy ass and see if you can find the horses. They wouldn't have gone far."
Hoss laughed at Joe as Adam headed for the bunkhouse.
"Pa, you gonna let Adam tell me what to do?" Joe asked.
"What?' Ben looked up; he had been lost in thought.
"Adam told me to go look for the horses. Who's he to give orders?"
"That's a good idea," Ben said. "Why don't you do that? Put them in the corral. I'm going to make coffee." Ben left for the kitchen.
"Just because I'm the youngest…" Joe said.
"C'mon," Hoss said, standing and stretching, "I'll go with you and Pa and Hop Sing can make the coffee." The two brothers headed in the direction the horses had run with Joe calling out, "Here, horsie, horsie, horsie. Here, horsie, horsie, horsie."
~ 0 ~
Adam sat at the long, wooden table with the hands, drinking coffee out a thick-walled, white mug. The smell of baking biscuits and frying bacon filled the room.
"I swear someone wanted me awake—or one of us awake," Jance said. He held his mug in his hands, soot still on them.
Jance Taylor had related that he had been fast asleep, "and dreamin' about a woman—and I was on top of her too," when he was awakened by something. He lay on his bunk for a moment and then heard the banging on the window above his head. "That musta been what woke me up." Jance said he sat up and saw an eerie, red-orange glow in the night sky and heard chaos from the barn—horses screaming and the sound of hooves against boards and he knew. Fire.
Adam listened carefully. He had an idea about the barn burnings, one that he wasn't yet ready to share. He stood to go. "Thanks for the coffee and we appreciate that you battled to save the barn; thanks to those of you who brought out the stock. There'll be a bonus for all everyone at the end of the month and take the day off. We'll need to share pulling watch until the barn-burner is caught so catch up on your sleep."
"We hired on to work," Jance said, "and as for me, give us a hammer, nails and some boards and we'll start rebuilding the barn." The other men nodded to one another as they verbally concurred.
"All right,' Adam said. "Hoss and I will get some boards from the mill this morning. Hammers and nails- they'll be in the smithy. Let me eat breakfast first and I should have the boards here by noon." Adam was surprised that he felt such a wave of relief; things weren't as bad as they had seemed just a few minutes ago. The barn would be rebuilt in just a few days. Hopefully, it wouldn't be targeted again.
"Why don't you stay and have some biscuits and bacon?" Trey Hanson asked as he turned the slices in a fry pan.
"Smells good but I have too much to do. Thanks." Adam left but walked slowly. It was imperative that they find not just who was setting the barns on fire, but to Adam, it was equally important to find out why. The machinations of evil fascinated him—the workings of a mind that chose to do harm. Adam knew what it was like to want to strike back or even to make the first sally. He had learned that strategy during the war and realized that in many cases it was strategic to hit first—and hit hard. But this made no sense. Had those on the other ranches been intentionally wakened? That's what he needed to find out. And why?