Anne Lightly glanced up from her washtub and raised a hand to shade her eyes from the sun. When she saw that the approaching rider was Ben Cartwright, she called to her husband from the barn. They both were waiting with their faces wreathed in smiles when Ben dismounted. Anne greeted him warmly and gave him a hug which was a little difficult to do in her pregnant condition but she managed it. Johnny shook Ben's hand heartily. "What do we owe the pleasure, Ben? Adam's okay, isn't he?"

"Oh, yes, yes, he's just fine although he's getting a little tired of being stuck in the house. Hop Sing has just about had to tie him to a chair to keep him still."

"As I know all too well!" Johnny exclaimed with a grin and Ben laughed upon remembering the weeks of restless recuperation that the lad had suffered at the Ponderosa during his paralysis. Hop Sing had been quite adamant with him as well.

The young couple invited Ben into the house for some refreshments and he gladly accepted. After Anne had provided cups of coffee and cake, she returned to her washing to allow the menfolk to talk. She had sensed an urgency about their friend that unsettled her and she wanted to give him time to explain to her husband. After some small talk, Ben gradually brought up the matter about which he had come calling.

"Johnny, I attended a meeting in Gold Hill earlier this morning that consisted of all the mine owners in the area. It seems that William Sharon is working on loaning money to many of them in order to keep their operations running but he's already had to foreclose on quite a few of them so far."

"What has that to do with me, Ben?"

Ben's eyes were troubled. "Sharon wanted to know quite a bit about your mine for some reason. I didn't tell him anything other than the bare essentials but his earnestness unsettled me. Do you know why he'd be so interested in a small mine that no one knows about as of yet?"

Johnny had turned slightly pale as Ben had talked and now he stood to stare out of the window at Anne humming as she scrubbed clothing. Ben was more worried than ever for the young man was obviously distraught.

"Johnny?"

The young man's shoulders drooped as he turned back to the table and slapped his thigh in agitation. He plunked down on the wooden chair before sighing loudly. "Ben, I made a mistake that I'm not sure how to get out of. I know now how foolish it was but at the time it seemed too good to resist."

Ben leaned forward. "What happened, Johnny? You...didn't borrow money from Sharon, did you?"

Ben's cautious expression turned to dismay as Johnny slowly nodded and began to speak, "Yes, Ben. About three months back, the mine was looking so promising but my funds were running low for the machinery and supply expenses. One day when I was in Virginia City, I ran into Sharon and he wanted to know how the mine was panning out. He had found out about it, I suppose, from the city records. Anyway, I was stupid enough to mention my need for money and he offered a contract that I was gullible enough to take."

"What was this contract? Does Adam know about it?"

"No, he doesn't. The contract stated that the needed money would be provided just as long as I paid it back with the mine's gold within two months. If I didn't have gold to prove his investment then he would...foreclose on my ranch. I...I told Adam that I had some savings set aside for the machinery and he accepted that at my word."

Ben stood to his feet and paced the floor. "But why! Why lie to him! Was it because he would have told you that it was stupid? I surely would of!"

Johnny sighed again and shifted in his chair uneasily under Ben's angry gaze. "Ben, you Cartwrights have been so good to Anne and me, especially Adam...but, I wanted to do something myself. Without the older brother figure looking over my shoulder and giving me advice. I guess I wasn't as ready as I thought though. With our first baby coming soon, I wanted to get the mine producing as soon as possible but then Adam was hurt...and well, it...spiraled down from there I guess. The last time I was in town, Sharon gave me my first notice of foreclosure."

"Why haven't you come to us for help if Sharon had begun to hound you? Why wait for so long? You know as well as I do, Johnny, that you're as close to a son and brother to us as you could get. We would have gladly helped you!"

"Ben, I was fixin' on asking you but...then there was all of the ruckus with Gaynes and Adam's girl and then he got shot and...well, I didn't want to bother you all but time moved more quickly then I could have imagined. Now...I don't know what to do, Ben. Sharon will foreclose within the next few weeks if he doesn't see gold."

They sat in silence before the young rancher stood to once more watch his wife busy scrubbing her laundry. This situation was worse than anything that Ben could have been worried over and he was hard-pressed to think of a ready solution. It pained him more to hear the happy notes of Anne's voice outside as she worked. What would this do to her if Johnny lost their livelihood that they had worked almost four years to build? At four thousand acres, the Running J wasn't very big but it was flourishing nonetheless. Even now, Ben could hear the sounds of prime cattle lowing in the meadows behind the farmhouse and the whinnies of stock horses out in the barn.

Ben sighed and stood to put his arm around the younger man's shoulders. "There is a way out of this, son. We just have to find it. Why don't you and Anne come out for dinner tonight? Then, afterwards, you and I can talk to Adam together if you wish. Would you like me to tell him first?"

Johnny shook his head minimally. "No, Ben. I got myself into this mess and I need to be the one to tell him. I only hope he doesn't kill me when he finds out."

Ben smiled despite the seriousness. "You know Adam, Johnny. He'll be upset at first but if any one can find a loop-hole in the contract, he can." The older man felt far from genuine humor, however. In fact, a bad mood was beginning to surface as he left for home a couple of hours later and it didn't bode well for whoever was waiting for him at the house.

I* * * * *I

Adam yawned and stretched out his good arm to relieve the ache in his wrist and fingers from writing all morning and all that afternoon in the ledgers. He sank back into his father's desk chair and rubbed his eyes. Despite his protests to the contrary, he was still having trouble with feeling tired a lot of the time and it irritated him. The bullet wound in his left shoulder was nearly healed enough for him to return to light work but, at the moment, he didn't know if he'd even be able to make it upstairs to bed, let alone sit a horse. He pinched his nose in a classic display of frustration and stared out at the empty living room. Everyone except Hop Sing was out and he was totally alone after what seemed like years of coddling in the past weeks. It was nice to relax without someone fussing over him every time he grimaced or moved slower than he normally would have. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes as he mused over the fact that no matter how much he loved his family, they could be a real pain in the butt sometimes. A soft chuckle rumbled from his chest at the thought. Gradually over the next few minutes, his dark head lulled to be propped up by his right hand and sleep stole him to its blissful comfort.

A half hour later, Hop Sing padded into Ben's office with a snack for his charge but instead he found Adam sound asleep. Papers were strewn in layers about the desk and a lone pencil lay in the valley of an open ledger book. The cook smiled fondly; it seemed not so long ago when a sixteen year old boy could be found slumped behind the desk late at night after having studied his school books to the point of exhaustion. How the time had flown...Hop Sing silently returned the tray to the kitchen and let the young man continue sleeping in peace. Adam never stirred and the house remained quiet except for his soft snoring.