Chap 3

Ben Cartwright hated to not have the story straightaway, but even he couldn't ignore the four pairs of wide blue eyes that stared up at him fearfully. After talking to Hop Sing he commanded that good hot broth be brewed for their young guests. He showed them the guest room and gave Ash a moment to set the children to bed.

Ash had expected that the two would have a million questions and detain her, but they fell asleep almost immediately, not even waiting up for the food. Slowly she looked over their sleeping forms, side by side- more clean and warm and comfortable in weeks, despite injuries. An almost maternal feeling overtook her and she gently pulled the covers up to their chins. Eben would never let her touch him when he was awake- she ruffled his hair and smiled when he sleepily pushed her away and dozed on. She straightened up, turning to look at the mirror.

Mud. Nothing but pure old fashioned dirt. The dry spell wasn't prepared for the sudden rain and now everything was probably flooded. Were these people cattle farmers? She was willing to bet that it would be an overwhelming job, trying to move all those cattle to better grazing, what with all the mud. Reaching up, she pulled her cap off, letting her hair fall down again. It was only slightly past her chin- and as curly as a pig's tail. Still, anyone could tell with the way it framed her face that she was a girl. She didn't look nearly as feminine with her hair up. So that's the way it would stay. Seeing the girl in the oval mirror above the washstand… seeing those dark green eyes… made a lump of fear jump into her throat.

There were four men out there. If they knew she was a woman… what would they do to her? Benji, or the great Banbino as they called him, had taught her how to fight and get scrappy when she was barely old enough to balance on two feet. She might be able to take on those two fellows… Adam and Joe. But the other two… the man who had looked over Eben and that huge fellow… there was no way she could take them on in a fight if they knew what they were doing. No way, no how.

'You're jumping to conclusions,' she told herself, feeling her pulse start to speed up. 'They just helped Eben… gave you food and shelter when you appeared on their doorstep was welcome as a couple of drowned rats. The least you can do is give them the benefit of a doub-'

A knock at the door made her jump.

"W-who is it?" she said quickly, nearly forgetting to throw her pitch lower.

The voice was a new one- a bit muffled through the door.

"'Sits me, Hoss. Hop Sing cooked up some soup- he set you up a plate and says you should git out here and it."

For a moment she was at a loss (Since when had the words Hop and Sing become nouns?) but still she grabbed up her hat and slammed it on her head, tucking her hair up into it. A quick look in the mirror said that she was passable and she flung open the door to run out and instead ran straight into the poor messenger who was still standing there.

"Whoa… pardon me, lil fella." He said cheerfully, with a smile. She noticed a small gap in his front teeth. "Now, we'll see about that soup, eh?"

The others who were sitting in front of the fireplace, looking as though they were having a very quiet conversation (about their visitors, no doubt) all jumped up. Seeing the place at the table she carefully pulled out the chair and sat as the other men gathered around and sat down, looking at her carefully. Ash forced herself to remain calm and carefully reached out to take the spoon, congratulating herself that her hand did not shake. She took a sip and decided that the two-verb-named man was a saint. Fighting the embarrassing urge to drool she took another spoonful.

Mr. Cartwright cleared his throat. "Now… you said your name was Ash O'Brian?"

Ash swallowed. "Yes sir, that's right. Those in there are my step siblings- Catherine and Eben Carter."

Ben Cartwright nodded. "Yes. And what was it you were saying before… about someone being after you?"

She had said no such thing- only that she thought there might be, based on the predicament. Her mind drew a blank. What should she say? What shouldn't she say? Could they be trusted? They had helped Eben, true… but that didn't mean they were-

"It's… rather a long story." She said slowly, dawdling for time.

It didn't work, the eldest boy- Adam looked at her in a knowing manner, his hands folded casually as he stated calmly, "I think we've got the time."

Ash sighed. Where to begin…

"We were on a wagon train, headed west." She said finally. It was just like some of the women from her bunk used to tell her- a good actress don't lie- least not completely. She puts as much truth in 'er stories as she kin so's that the act is nat-ral.

"…my folks, the twins. The train was filled with stragglers- we left at a pretty bad time of year, dangerously close to the snows when only people who don't have anything to loose take the chance." She took another sip of her soup. Lies wouldn't hurt as much as this story did.

"Naturally we all were sick. Cold weather. Then there was a cholera epidemic. Some trains went ahead to try to avoid the sickness. But for those of us left behind…" she froze a moment, her gaze drifting past the faces of the men at the table. "You'd wake up in the morning and not know who was alive yet and who wasn't. It was hell… my parents both came down with it." She looked back at the men at the table her voice careful and controlled. "They begged me to go ahead with the twins like the other trains had done to get away from the sickness. We weren't going to but they kept getting worse. Finally there was no denying that they were dying and that if we stayed we would die too." Now came the fabrications...

"When my step father died he owed… a lot of debts to different people." She said, careful to meet their eyes just so. "I think he had some arrangement worked out for when he arrived here. In any case, the men who went ahead of us and survived the epidemic are apparently the ones he owed money to. I thought that by coming out here I could try to find where he worked and settle his debts. It would be the least I could do- and then the twins and I could live in peace. But apparently these men had other plans…." She took a deep swallow from the glass and almost gagged. A brandy shifter. They'd given her brandy of all things!

A better audience could not be found. All the men exchanged glances with each other. There was a look of knowledge from the older of them, as though they were used to the stories of the trail. The younger members of the family had a more stricken look, more concerned with the horror of the story than the familiarity.

"Mister O'Brian," the big one- Hoss, said to her, his expression puzzled. "Do you mean to tell us that someone shot your little brother because of a debt of your father's?"

'No actually… they shot him because of a treasure my father buried on someone's else's property that may not even be legally ours…' Ash shook her head. "No… I believe that they were probably aiming for me. Or at least I hope they were…' 'Hope all you like. They were aiming for the boy, they aren't going to shoot you when they know you're the only person who knows where the thing is-'

"Well… if you give us your father's name, we might be able to help you." Ben looked at his eldest son in confirmation and the man shook his head. "We'll send a telegram to the judge and he can tell us what sort of debts your father owed-"

"I don't know that it would help," Ash interrupted quickly. "I'm not sure if they were legal or under the table."

Ben smiled. "Well it certainly wouldn't hurt to try. Perhaps if you were to meet up with these men you could explain your intentions to earn the money and pay the debts as well."

Ash slowly let out a breath of air. "Yes… perhaps…" There's no way I'm meeting with them again. I'll die first.

Joe snapped his fingers and nudged his brother's ribs. "Hey, I've got an idea! Ash," he turned to her, his eyes sparkling. "Have you got any experience ranching at all?"

Ash blinked. "I'm not sure what that has to do with anything," she said finally.

"Well, I think what little Joe's gett'n at is that we're mighty short on hands right now," Hoss looked at his brother for confirmation and continued, "Ain't much to be done right now, most of the planting has been withered up and now that the rain is back, those folks'll be busy trying to get their fields back in shape. With our cattle, we'll have plenty to do… and you'll be safe here. It's private territory."

Ash laughed out loud. She couldn't help it. "Sir, somehow I doubt that would stop these men." Ben opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. "Sir, if you want me to work here I'll do so for free to pay off for your hospitality tonight."

Ben shook his head again but she stood up. "Look, I have to do it. My father- my real father- once told me that a man needs to pay off his debts soon as he can. I know my step father's debts are not my own but those children in that room have a right to live their own lives without their Pa's mistakes hanging over them. I'm going to help them."

Four pairs of round eyes stared up at her. She realized how loud and forcefully she had spoken. Whoops. Slowly she sat back down, slightly embarrassed.

"I-I'm pretty good with horses and such…" she muttered. "Not cattle exactly but… larger animals. I guess I can learn pretty quick."

The men exchanged glances she couldn't interpret. "Well then, it's settled." Ben stood. "We'll go to town tomorrow to send the telegram and to make a report to Roy. He'll inform us if anyone suspicious comes into town."

Joe seemed to perk up at the mention of going to town. Ash swallowed. "Sir, if it's alright I'd really like to get to work. I…" she cleared her throat. "I don't want to stay too long… just in case those men were really aiming for the boy and not me- I'd hate for them to harm any innocents."

"Just as a general observation Pa, it's probably for the best that Asher not go riding into Virginia City." Adam pointed out. He looked at her with a suspicious knowing look. "Tomorrow Hoss and I can take him out to the southern pasture since he is so eager to work and all." He smirked slightly at the last few words, as if belittling what she knew about the subject.

Ben noticed the look too. "Well that's good. I wish a little of that perseverance would rub off on all of you." He stood up. "In the meantime, it's late. We should all be turning in." He looked at Ash again. "There's another cot we could set up in your room-"

"No, it's fine," she interrupted quickly. "They don't take up much room and I'm so tired I could sleep anywhere."

"Fine," Ben put a storng hand on her shoulder, clapping her so hard her knees buckled. He didn't seem to notice though. "In that case, goodnight."

The rest of the boys followed behind their father, saying goodnight as well. A minute later a Chinese man appeared and whisked away her bowl.

"You like?" he asked, cheerfully.

Ash looked up and smiled at him. "Yes, very much," she said. "Fei chang gan xie!"

The man looked taken aback for a moment. Then a big grin broke out across his wide face. "Speak Chinese?"

"Understand." She replied with a smile. "I understand it. There was a man from our… town…. that was Chinese and he used to teach the children Chinese phrases."

The man looked extremely please. "He smart man." He said with satisfaction. "Lil' Joe, he speak Chinese liddle bit too. I help raise him. Sometimes though, he say I talk too fast. He no understand toadly."

Something clicked in her mind. She smiled. "You're Hop sing?" she asked.

He nodded, seeming to move his entire body with his head. "I Hop Sing. You Ash? Like fireplace Ashes?"

She laughed. "Yes. Nice to meet you."

He nodded again, the grin even wider than before. "Yes yes… tank you. Now to bed! Need sleep!"

She stood up. "Yes. Thank you."

And suddenly she was standing on the other side of the door again, her hair down again, laying next to her step siblings. She had a job, she was on the Ponderosa, the same place where the object was supposedly… her brother and sister would be safe…

Her last thoughts before she slipped off was that somewhere in the dark, in the rain, those men were out there… and that if she were to see them again she would not be responsible for her actions.

They would never hurt her or her family ever again.

Reviews appreciated