Chapter 3

"Over here!" he screamed, waving his arms frantically and jumping up and down. His father and brothers quickly dismounted. Ben spotted Sam lying in the dirt and checked to see if he was alive. Relieved, he picked him up. Handing the boy to Hoss, he ordered, "Adam, go get the doctor. Hoss, get Sam back to the house." The older boys mounted and rode off swiftly.

Ben turned to his youngest. Joe stood stiffly, and tears continued to pour down his face. Ben was furious. He collected the guns and stuffed them into his saddlebags. He turned back to Joe. "C'mon," he barked. Joe stiffly walked to the horse and his father hefted him onto Buck's back. Then Ben mounted behind him and they started back.

As angry as his father was, feeling his body behind him was still a comfort to Little Joe. His body shook with sobs, and soon, Ben had one arm around him, as much to keep him from falling off the horse as to comfort him. They arrived at the house and Ben helped Joe down off the horse. He retrieved the guns and followed the boy inside. The guns were placed on the side table as Ben passed. The two walked upstairs and found that Hoss had laid Sam in Joe's bed. Ben looked the boy over thoroughly in the lamplight. Not finding any visible wounds, he turned to Joe.

"What happened, Joseph?" he demanded.

Joe began crying again. Ben sat down on the bed and waited. Joe felt Hoss' strong hands on his shoulders behind him. "I took a whiskey from your cabinet," Joe began and sobs overwhelmed him. When he was calmer, he continued. "We took the guns and we were trying to shoot the bottle. But I got it before Sam did and he said he was faster than me, and-"

"You two had a shootout?!" Ben's voice boomed in the tiny room.

Joe turned to his father with pleading eyes. "I didn't mean to, Pa, I tried to stop him, but he shot at me and it-it just happened!" His little face was soaked with tears.

Ben took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Sam doesn't have any gunshot wounds. So what happened to him?"

"The board hit him."

"Board? What board?"

"Part of the fence, Pa," Hoss explained. "I saw it was broken when we rode up."

Ben turned and looked closely at Sam's head. He felt a bump on the back of it. Ben stroked the child's head and willed himself to calm down. He turned back to Joe, who was leaning into Hoss, savoring the strong grip. "Joe, come here," he said softly.

Obediently, Joe moved close to his Pa. Ben put a hand on his cheek. "Are you all right, son?" Joe nodded as a new wave of tears streaked his cheeks. Ben searched every inch of Joe's body, to make sure he was uninjured. His fingers stopped on a hole in Joe's shirtsleeve. Abruptly, he grabbed his little boy and hugged him.

Adam and the doctor arrived, and they let the doctor alone with Sam. Ben looked at his older boys, his arm still draped over Joe. "Will one of you ride out to the Hinton place?"

"I'll go," Hoss volunteered. Adam sat down in a chair, glad he didn't have to ride out in the dark again.

Ben rubbed Joe's shoulder. "You should be getting to bed," he said.

"Can't I wait and see what the doctor says?"

"All right." Ben started downstairs. "I'll put some coffee on. It's going to be a long night."

Adam watched him descend the stairs and then held his arms open to Joe. The boy climbed into his lap gratefully. Adam held him. Even though he wanted to hear the whole story, he didn't want to upset his brother again. Adam rubbed Joe's back as he held him, and even though the boy had wanted to stay up, within minutes he was fast asleep. Adam carried him to their Pa's bed and tucked him in.

Ben met Adam in the hall with a steaming cup of coffee. As Adam drank the coffee, Ben relayed Joe's story. Adam felt a growing unease in his stomach as he listened.

"Pa," he said, "I'm afraid some of this may be my fault."

"What do you mean, son?"

"When I had Joe in town the other day, that was when Bevers and Connor had that shootout. Well, on the way home, Joe asked me why they did it, and I told him it was whiskey, and then he had a million questions about drinking..." Adam hung his head. "Oh, Pa, I was just trying to be honest, but I'm afraid I made it sound interesting to him."

Ben listened, then grunted understanding of what Adam had said. Ben sat down. "You know, son, I remember when you were younger, you experimented with drinking yourself."

"Well, Pa, I wasn't ten!"

"No, but you didn't have an older brother that you idolized, either." Ben set his coffee on his knee. "Don't blame yourself for this, Adam. Joe is growing up. He knows right from wrong, and he made his own choice. He just made a terrible mistake this time."

The doctor emerged from the bedroom. The two men looked at him expectantly. "He'll be fine," the man announced. "Just a bad bump on the head, and I suspect, a bit of a hangover. Are his parents here?"

"Hoss went out after them, they should be here anytime."

"I'll stick around until then," Doc Martin announced.

"I'll get you some coffee," Ben said.