Hello, it's me again. Sorry I've been posting so little lately, but summer seems even busier than the school year. This chapter heads on back to Philly so I hope that Sarah Victoria Cullen enjoys it. ;) Oh, I think that I should mention that about a year has passed since the last chapter, in the story I mean, so, despite the fact that Philly is still her usual, crazy self, Rose and Hoss' relationship has matured. (WARNING: This chapter contains some material that may not be suitable for children under the age of 13.)
Philly woke early in the morning, the sky was barely light. She pulled on her riding britches and grabbed her boots as she ran out the door. She ran down the stairs and once she reached the bottom, she hopped on one foot while trying to pull on a boot on the other foot. By time she made it to the front door she had successfully pulled the boot on and commenced to repeat the same process as she hopped down the porch and toward the barn. At the end of the porch she tripped and felt herself begin to fall. Philly looked where she was going to fall and saw the spike Hoss and Rose used for horseshoes. Philly closed her eyes and felt two strong arms support her weight.
When she opened her eyes again she found herself looking up at a young man, roughly her age, looking down at her with concern. For a second Philly smiled, but then she realized that she must look like a fool, for she was still clutching her one foot. She pushed herself away from the young man and tried to regain her composure, though her face was a bright scarlet. The young man couldn't help but chuckle to himself, which made Philly even more angry/embarrassed.
"Who are you? What are you doing on our land?" Philly demanded. The young man held his hands up and smiled.
"The name's Sam Kirby. Your brothers hired me yesterday. They never told me that had a cute sister." Sam said warmly. Philly's green eyes widened and she thrust her nose up in the air and marched to the barn. Halfway across she tripped over a feed bucket and tumbled to the ground. Before Sam could even move off of the porch to help her Philly was up and mumbling under her breathe. She kicked the bucket viciously and looked back at Sam, to see if he was watching. When she saw him laughing she stuck out her tongue at him and stormed into the barn. A few moments later Sam saw her come out mounted on her horse and she galloped out of view.
"Up kinda early, aren't you?" At Joe's voice Sam turned around and saw Joe standing not four feet behind him, his hand on his gun. Sam's eyes narrowed.
"Just ready to work." He said slowly. Joe motioned to where Philly had gone with his eyes.
"What were you two doing out here?" He asked. Sam became defensive.
"We weren't doin' anything. She tripped and I helped her. That's about the length of it." Sam declared. Joe's suspicion wasn't set aside, though.
"It didn't look like that from inside that window." Joe said through gritted teeth. Just as Joe tightened his grip on his gun, Adam came up behind him.
"What's goin' on here, Little Joe?" Adam asked. Joe turned around to face his brother.
"This man was trying to wrap his arms around Philly." Joe accused. Sam's short temper flared.
"That's a lie!" He declared. Joe turned back around and stuck his finger in Sam's face.
"Oh really? So why did I see you cradling my little sister in your arms when I walked downstairs? Why did she leap out of your arms and storm away?" Joe shot back. Adam placed hi hand on Joe's shoulder. His eyes were steady as he looked at Sam.
"Is this true Sam?" He asked. Sam shook his head.
"No, well, yes that did happen, but not like Joe made it out." Sam wiped the palms of his hands on his jeans. "She was falling and I caught her. If I hadn't she would have gotten hurt on that spike over there. And she got embarrassed and ran away. I wasn't trying anything."
Adam nodded and smiled.
"Alright. How about you go for a ride and cool down before you come in to work. Joe, I'm gonna need your help with the cattle today." With that Adam and Joe turned around and left Sam behind. Sam waited for a moment and then went to the barn.
Philly closed her eyes for a moment as she began to hear the early morning sounds of Virginia City. Her horse was exhausted, she had gotten the young stallion to gallop most the way there and now they both were grateful for the slow walk. As soon as her lids closed the fair face of Sam Kirby entered her mind. For a moment Philly remembered his corn colored hair and his sun-tanned face. His ice blue eyes that seemed to hold a smile entranced her. But as soon as she realized what she was doing, Philly actually slapped herself in the face and shook her head.
"Don't go turnin' into Rose." She told herself. She had hated it when Rose and Hoss had begun 'courting'. All Rose would talk about was Hoss' kind nature and his doe brown eyes. Philly already knew all that about her big brother and it didn't seem so amazing to her. She and her horse came over the hill and saw Virginia City laid out before them. Usually Philly would stop and look at the pretty sight for a few moments, but today her mind was preoccupied. She stopped at the General Store and bought a few cartridges and some more flour and sugar then left. Philly stopped and dropped a letter off to her pen pal in New York City and then rode out of town. She headed off in the opposite direction of the way she had come in, toward the empty fields that eventually lead to the Ponderosa. After about an hour of riding, Philly stopped and let her horse rest. She pet his black head and then unsaddled him. The two rested for a while, until Philly heard hoof beats coming closer. Quickly Philly began saddling the stallion and just as she saw the rider coming up she finished fastening and began to mount. But two strong hands grabbed her middle and pulled her back. Philly twisted around and saw a large man whose beard was about two weeks old. His blue eyes were cold and fiery at the same time. He smiled and whispered in her ear, pinning her arms against her sides.
"Are you gonna be a good girl, or a bad girl?" He said. His hot, sticky breath on Philly ear made her want to be sick. She kicked back and hit her attacker's thigh, but he didn't even flinch. "Bad girl, huh?" He laughed. Then he called for someone named Bud. Another big man, bigger than the one already holding her, came out of the shadows. Philly realized that this was the man she had seen riding up. Bud came up to her and twisted her head around, her chin pinched in between his fingers. Philly looked up at his face and saw his high, Indian looking features, stretch as he smiled. He pulled a coin from his pocket and flipped it, then asked his friend to call it.
The man holding Philly said heads, the coin had landed on heads. Fear filled Philly's entire being as she realized there was no one who was going to save her. As a last resort she began to squirm and scream and kick, but Bud grabbed her legs until the other man had her on the ground, straddling her.
Sam heard one short scream and then it was cut off. He recognized it as a woman's scream and he and his horse galloped across the fields. Another scream told him where he wanted to go. Within a half-hour of galloping and on and off screams, Sam found what he was looking for. He saw two big men hunched around a woman lying on the ground. One was messing with his pants and the other was messing with the girl's...britches. Sam's eyes widened when he recognized the britches and the horse tied off to the side. Without thinking, Sam pulled his gun and shot into the trees. The bigger of the two men looked up and scrabbled for his gun. As soon as he got it in his hand and aimed it, Sam shot him twice in the chest. He reloaded and killed the other as well.
Once they were both dead, Sam rode down the small hill and leapt off his horse. He kneeled down beside Philly, whose eyes were closed and had sweat beading on her forehead. Sam awkwardly fixed her britches and her shirt then picked her up in his arms. Her eyes opened and she hugged him, tears streaming down her face.
"Are you alright?" Sam asked, though he knew that it was a stupid question. She obviously was very frightened.
"I can walk." She said and Sam put her down. She doubled over and was sick for a minute. Sam pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and let Philly wipe her mouth.
"Here, get up on my horse." He said. Philly looked back at her own horse and began to walk over to him, but Sam steered her to his own. "No, we'll come back and get him later, I promise."
Sam rode into the Ponderosa and carefully helped Philly down. Sam, wanting to get Philly help quick, picked her up and ran up to the house. He opened the door and walked into the living room.
"Ben! Adam! Hoss! Little Joe!" He called trying for at least one of the many Cartwright boys. Ben came in from the kitchen and stopped in his tracks when he saw Sam holding his little girl.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ben said, venom in his voice. Sam explained the situation and Ben took his daughter from Sam. He helped her to stand up and asked to explain.
"I'm so sorry, Daddy." She cried. She just couldn't bring herself to say the words. "I-I...they...Oh, Daddy!" She collapsed into tears and Sam felt completely helpless as he watched Ben Cartwright try and help his daughter. Then an idea came to him.
"Mr. Cartwright, do you want me to fetch a doctor?" Sam asked. Ben shook his head.
"No, I want you to get Little Joe to fetch a doctor. Bring Hoss and Adam here." Sam nodded and did as he was told.
Adam paced the floor and Hoss was in a fit. Never had Philly seen Hoss so angry. Rose sat next to her and was holding her hand and petting her hair. The last thing Philly wanted to do was be touched right now, but she didn't want Rose to just feel helpless. Adam turned to Sam.
"And you said that you killed both men?" He asked. Ben had gone to get the sheriff. Sam nodded from where he stood in the corner of the room.
"I would've gotten there faster if her screams had been..." Sam paused; he realized Philly was listening intently. "...A little more consistent." The door opened and the doctor came in, followed by Little Joe. The doctor walked over to Philly and asked her if he could examine her upstairs. Philly couldn't make herself look him in the eye. Again the door opened and this time Ben came in. The doctor looked up at Ben, then back to Philly.
"You can have someone in the room with you, if that makes you feel more comfortable." He said. Philly nodded.
"Daddy? Could you...?" Ben nodded in answer. The Philly turned to look at Sam. "Sam Kirby. Would you please?" She asked, a begging tone in her voice. Sam seemed surprised, as did everyone else in the room.
"S-sure." Sam said.
Two months later, the doctor confirmed Philly's worst fear. She was pregnant. Sam had been right by her side when she found out. Since he had redeemed himself in the eyes of the Cartwright family, he had helped Philly through every step of the way.
Okay, this chapter was a little intense, and I apologize for that, but I wanted to have Philly go through some major test, and we'll soon see how well she does.