Chapter 2
Later that afternoon, Joe decided to go and visit their guest. As soon as he sat down next to the bed, the girl woke and gasped with pain.
Joe grabbed her hand "Take it easy. You're safe." Joe said soothingly.
The girl looked at Joe and started to get alarmed. "Who are you and where am I?"
Joe started to stroke her forehead. "My name is Joe Cartwright. You are on the Ponderosa, which belongs to my family. Do you remember what happened to you? And can you tell me about yourself."
The girl looked at the ceiling with tears started to run down her face. "Some people came up to the wagon and put a gun to my father's head, demanding money. But when my father refused, he shot him. My mother and I both screamed so he shot us as well, but not before he pulled my father off the wagon. My name is Jane, I'm 4 years old. We were heading towards Virginia City when we got stopped."
Joe picked her up from the bed held her. "It's OK. My family and I will take care of you. Do you have any family anywhere?"
Jane shook her head "I don't think so. But even if I did, I don't think anyone would want let live with them."
Joe knew what he wanted to do with Jane, but he knew that he'd to talk to his pa and brothers. So after placing Jane back in bed, he went downstairs to talk to them.
As soon as he walked downstairs, Ben knew that there was something on his youngest son's mind. "What's wrong? Is the girl, ok?"
Joe looked at his father and started to cry. "Pa, that little girl thinks that no one would want her. I want her to live with us, but I don't want to get her hopes up about having a place to live, until I talked to you."
Ben looked into his sons eyes and said. "I'll send word to Sherriff Coffee to see if she has any family anywhere around here."
Joe nodded. As much as he hated it, he knew that his father was right.
That night, they talked about the decision of adopting Jane.
"I told Joe that we'd make the final decision after I hear back from Sherriff Coffee."
Adam, and Hoss agreed. Just then they heard screaming from Jane's bedroom. Joe reached for the bedroom first and found Jane wide awake and shaking.
He walked over to the bed and began to stroke her forehead, "It's alright. You're safe. It was just a dream."
Jane climbed into Joe's lap and cried into his shirt. "I was so scared. I thought that the dream was real."
Joe rub her back soothingly, and then he laid her back down, kissed her forehead, and then he went back downstairs where he found his family alarmed. "She's fine. She just had a nightmare."
The Cartwrights went to bed, thinking about if Jane had any family left, and if they really are going to adopt her.