A Masquerade
Chapter 1
Resting in bed with his bride Kitty sleeping against his shoulder, Adam Cartwright decided that a honeymoon was like springtime. Snuggling down into the sheets, he inhaled the lavender scent of her hair. That blended with the aroma of roses because she had rolled their sheets in rose petals so that they would smell so wonderful for their first night together. His life had a new beginning. Although Kitty was experienced in business and had been by her father's side in travel and during intense negotiations, Kitty was inexperienced and still had quite romantic notions of how a relationship should be. He didn't mind though. It was refreshing to be reminded that someone could see the world as such a wonderful place. Their first time together had been an adventure as he had tried to be patient so as not to rush her while she had been eager to enjoy lovemaking. There had been a few tears, but the way she had kissed him at the end and pressed herself into his side, he knew that all had gone about as well as it could. He waited for her to wake wondering how she would react to finding herself with him, but he need not have worried. When she awoke, she smiled and made the most obvious of requests. When that was remedied, they returned to the bed and each other's arms. Snuggling back into his arms, she looked into his eyes.
"Good morning, my love. I think I'm going to enjoy being able to say that every morning."
"Perhaps not every morning. There will be times when I'll be gone."
"But I want to travel with you."
"And you will, but not to the timber camps. That's one place you are not going."
"Never?"
"Never." Seeing how disappointed she looked and remembering his promise that she could travel with him, he knew he had to explain. "Some timber camps have women and even families in them. Ours do not. A woman going into those camps would be very disruptive, and it could be dangerous. Men wouldn't be watching their work. They would be watching you. I have no idea what else could go wrong. If we ever do any cutting closer to the house, then you could go out for a visit during the day, but when I go out to the camps, it's always an overnight stay and often for a week or two."
"Where do you sleep when you go?"
"On a cot in the office. No curtains on the window and a pot bellied stove for heat. I sleep in my clothes to stay warm most times when I'm there."
"I suppose the food is beans and hard tack."
"No, we feed them well. They have hard work to do so they food is good as well as the pay."
"You and your family are so nice to the men who work for you."
"No, I think we're fair. We try to be fair in everything we do."
"That's a good goal, but what about when people aren't fair to you?"
"Then we do our best."
Snuggling in and letting her hands do some roaming, Kitty had a question. "Would you mind showing me some of your best again? I rather liked the last time."
"Aren't you hungry?"
"We can have breakfast after."
So they did. As they sat at the table in the little cottage they had borrowed for a few days, Adam tapped on the table in a rhythm that seemed more than random but didn't have a pattern that Kitty could discern.
"What is that you're doing?"
"Tapping on the table."
Rolling her eyes, she stared at him until he smiled.
"All right. I'm tapping out Morse code for practice. I'm trying to see if I remember all the letters."
"Do you?"
"Most of them. I forgot a few. The ones that aren't used much have longer code and I don't recall some of them."
"How does Morse code work? I mean, I've seen telegraph operators at work, but I've never understood how they can read what's coming through so quickly with all those little taps."
"It's not only the taps but the spaces too. The short taps are called dots. A pause between a tap is the same length as a tap. Three taps without a space is a dash."
"All right, I've got that."
"Letters have code based on how often they're used. E is used most so it's one dot. I is two dots. S is three dots."
"So K which isn't used so much would be longer."
"Yes, K is a dash, a dot, and a dash."
"Spell Kitty in Morse code for me."
"I would except I can't remember the code for Y."
"Teach me the ones you do know."
Leaning forward at the table, she had such an eager look that Adam couldn't deny her. They spent the morning then learning Morse code with Adam promising to find out the letters he didn't know and to review numbers too. He went over how to pause between letters, how to space out words, and how to end a sentence as well. By the time the honeymoon ended, they had a secret code they could use. They began to use short versions of words too in their code so they could communicate more quickly. Because tapping would be rather obvious and perhaps annoying, they often tapped the letters into each other's hands or on the other's arm communicating secretly even when standing with others.
When Adam and Kitty returned to the Ponderosa, Ben was happy to tell them that Joe and Jamie had fixed up Adam's room for them. Adam was a little leery of what his brothers might have done, but when he opened the door for Kitty, both were surprised and pleased at what they found. All of Adam's things were still there and undisturbed, but there were new and brighter window coverings that matched new bed coverings. A dressing table had been added as well as a new armoire that matched it. Standing in the hall behind them as they entered, Ben could tell they were happy with their gift.
"We ordered the furniture when we heard you were planning to live here during the week. There wasn't anything here suitable for a lady, so it's our gift to Kitty. Joe got Candy and Jamie to help him carry them up here and set it all up for you. If you want it moved in the room, they can do that for you."
Looking at Kitty who was admiring her new dressing table, Adam turned to his father with eyes glistening. "Thank you, Pa. This is wonderful as it is. You have made her feel welcome, and there's no greater gift than that." Pausing for a moment though, Adam gestured to the windows and the bed. "What about those?"
"Oh, those were sent by Jerome when he heard she would be sharing your room here. He asked us for measurements and ordered them. Of anyone here, he would know her taste best and he took into account where she would be living and with whom."
It was then that Adam saw that the pattern in the window coverings and bed cover was a classical design with Greek columns with ivy. He knew that they must have been very expensive. It was only then that Adam saw a table folded to the side against the wall.
"And that?"
"Also from us. We thought there would be times you might want to have meals together privately or have other things to do together where you might need a table. That table folds so that you can put it out of the way, but it is a full table when you pull it out. You have a chair with your desk and Kitty has one with her dressing table so we didn't think to crowd your room with another set of chairs."
"I don't know what to say. This is so much more than I ever expected."
Kitty came up to Ben then and kissed him on the cheek. She was so overcome with emotion, she could hardly say the words but managed a thank you anyway.
"It was our pleasure. Now you have a little time to put your things away. Lunch will be ready soon. Hop Sing wants to welcome you home too. Jamie and Joe were planning to be home for lunch because we were expecting you two today."
As expected, Hop Sing had made a lunch that was more of a banquet. Showing off his culinary skills, he had roasted vegetables and meats and had fresh bread and biscuits. It was almost more than any of them could eat if they thought to try everything that was there. Adam did his best to sample each item so he could offer appropriate praise, but when Hop Sing announced that there would be cake, Adam gave up.
"I can't eat this much. I'll weigh three hundred pounds if I eat like this."
There was a quiet moment at the table then as those words reminded the family of Hoss. Kitty wondered for a moment and then knew.
"You're all thinking about Hoss, aren't you? Why don't you tell me about him? I've heard some stories but I would like to know more."
It was if a dam had broken. For too long, they had avoided talking about Hoss thinking perhaps that doing so would bring back the pain. What they found though was that telling Kitty stories about Hoss brought back some of the joy that Hoss had been in their lives. When lunch finished hours later as a result of the great food, the dessert, but especially the storytelling, Ben took Kitty's hand.
"Now it's my turn to thank you. Talking about Hoss, telling stories, has been one of the best experiences I've had since we lost him. It has been like having him back. I hope you won't mind us telling more stories as we recall them."
"Mind? No, I loved it. It's my only chance to get to know him, and get to know all of you better in the process. Thank you for letting me into the family. I truly feel honored to hear these stories."
"We're pleased to have you in our family. Now, boys, it's too late to head out to work, and with all our talk, we never got to business, so how about a business meeting now?"
That seemed agreeable to all so the three sons gathered around the desk as Ben sat in his chair. Kitty settled into a comfortable chair by the fire to read and listened to them talk when their voices were loud enough. Mostly it seemed to be ordinary ranch business so she wasn't concerned. None of them seemed overly concerned either when they finished talking later that afternoon. She asked Adam about the content of the conversation.
"Pa did surprise me with one thing. He wants to set up a steamship to cross Tahoe. It makes a lot of sense. We could move passengers and freight faster and cheaper than a stage line does across the mountains."
"Why did it surprise you then?"
Chuckling, Adam shook his head. "Usually I'm the one who comes up with the 'cockamamie' ideas and then Pa tries to find things wrong with them. I was in the other role today and couldn't find anything wrong with his idea. I guess I'm not cut out to be the critic."
"Oh, I think you could be if you wanted to do it."
Acting as if he was going to tickle her made her grab her sides in a protective gesture and back away. "No tickling in public."
Relenting then but with a grin that said private was going to be another matter, Adam told her about the rest of the meeting. "We're going to bid on some timber projects too as well as a road building project. That last one surprised me too, but I guess I have been gone some time and didn't realize all the other kinds of things we've worked on to get cash flow."
"Is cash flow a problem?"
"No usually. One good cattle drive can set us up for a year. However there's getting to be more competition in the market, and Joe says we've taken more losses due to weather and rustling than we can afford. So we've had to hire more men which is another drain on resources."
"I understand how more men can help against the rustling, but how could it help with weather?"
"We can move the herds from higher pastures to lower with threatening weather or to upper pastures when drought hits. We can also lay in more hay because we have more manpower. And we can keep our fences in good repair to avoid our cattle straying off."
"Do you have the resources to take on all of those projects then?"
"No, and that was part of the discussion. Which projects should we do or should we consider taking on a partner."
"My father would probably like to be considered a partner for the steamship project. He's invested in any number of transportation companies. I don't know that he would be interested in the others, but if he helped with that one, would that make the others more feasible for you and your family?"
"Possibly. That would be something for us to discuss. Let me talk to them about it before we broach the subject with your father."
"Of course."
By the next morning, Adam had given the whole set of ideas a great deal of thought. When the family decided to talk business, he had a scenario ready for them.
"If we're going to ship people and freight over Tahoe, we'll need a road from Virginia City and Carson City across the Ponderosa to the lake. We should control who uses that road by setting up our own freight company and stage. We can charge lower rates than anyone because we only need to profit once and can break even on the other. If we charge enough for the trip across the lake, we make our profit there. We can break even on the cost of transporting by road to the lake. That means only our wagons and stage would run on our road."
"Who would run this big operation? You?" Joe was looking decidedly perturbed.
"Actually, Joe, you're the one who knows horses so well and runs the horse operation here. Horses will be a big part of this so I thought you would run it."
That perked Joe up and made him start thinking positively about the proposal. Ben however had other concerns.
"I suggested adding one business enterprise to our slate. You're talking about three. Who's going to do all the bookwork for these? I don't have the time."
"No, I understand that, and whoever does it is going to need to make frequent trips to town too. I thought Jamie would be the one to handle the ledgers for the new businesses."
That meant that both brothers liked Adam's idea although Joe had another question.
"What are you going to be doing?"
"I'll handle the timber operations and the road building. I've never done any road building, but I've got the knowledge and the skills. I assume there are people here who have experience. We can get the job done."
There was one more concern that Ben had. "What about the ranch? Cattle are still are main source of money at this point. We're all going to be too busy to deal with them."
"We've got a great foreman. It's time he got more responsibility."
Joe jumped on board then. "C'mon, Pa, these are ideas we've been talking about since before Adam came back. Seems it might be time to start doing some of them."
Looking at three eager but nervous faces looking at him, Ben had to smile. "All right, let's show them what the Cartwrights can do."
Chapter 2
On Friday, Adam and Kitty packed their bags and headed for Carson City to spend the weekend with her father at his house. There they found that he had converted the upstairs into a suite for them in their absence. He must have been making plans for it well before their wedding to have it all completed in only a week.
"Everything was in storage waiting for your wedding. Then I had the workmen here on Monday ready to go. My bedroom is downstairs for my convenience so I have no need of any of the rooms upstairs. There is now a doorway between your bedroom and the one next to it. You have one for sleeping and one for a dressing room. That way if one is up before the other, there is no need to disturb the one sleeping. Or the opposite may be true in the evening although I doubt that." Jerome smiled a bit at his own attempt at humor but said no more seeing that his daughter was embarrassed. Adam only grinned slightly. The other bedroom has been converted into an office and sitting room. It will be more convenient and more private for you."
"Thank you, sir. That is very thoughtful of you. I want to thank you too for the draperies and bed coverings for our room on the Ponderosa."
"It's the least I could do. I know this is not the ideal living arrangement for a young couple and that you are doing it for me. I wanted to show my appreciation. I can't do much, but I can afford plenty."
"This accommodation here and on the Ponderosa is going to make it a lot more comfortable for us to live, and we won't be in such a hurry to have our own house."
Of course those were the words Jerome had prayed to hear. He knew Ben Cartwright was likely to be grateful too that the couple wouldn't be leaving their homes any time soon. They had talked briefly about what they might need to do to keep their beloved children close to them. Ben had lost years already with Adam and didn't want to lose any more. If he did, Jerome would lose his daughter's company too and would hate that. Bending to accommodate their desires was the way to keep them in Nevada so both were committed to doing so.
Friday night, Adam escorted Kitty to dinner and then they did make it an early evening spending some time visiting with Jerome before retiring for the night. Saturday was spent with the men hired to oversee Jerome's business interests and make sure that everyone was clear as to their responsibilities. There were some papers for Kitty to look over which she kept and said she would complete before she left on Monday morning. With Adam's advice and some discussion with Jerome, those decisions were made and the paperwork was completed. All was working smoothly. For some reason though, Adam felt ill at ease on the way back to the Ponderosa and when he arrived there, Joe's look told him there was trouble.
"What's going on?"
"Pa's upset. Someone else has announced plans to put a steamship on Lake Tahoe. It was all over town yesterday before we even had a chance to say anything about what we wanted to do."
"Who's got access to do something like that?"
"No one and that's why Pa's so upset. They want to use eminent domain to force a road through the Ponderosa so they can get to the lake for access. He really wants to know who told someone about our plans so they could jump in ahead of us."
"Who knew?"
"Pa, you, me, Jamie, Kitty, and anyone you told."
That got Adam's temper to rise. "I didn't tell anyone."
"Then how did the word get out?"
"I don't know, but you have no right to accuse me."
"We know that none of us said anything."
Knowing that this was going to escalate, Kitty intervened. She directed her remarks to Joe before Adam could say anything more. "I know you said there was a cash flow issue because of the wide variety of projects that you are involved in now. Does that mean you consulted with a banker about a project of this size?"
"Of course we did, but you know we wouldn't tell him exactly what we were doing. We only talked in vague terms not something so he could figure out what we were going to do."
"But how vague could you be and still get a loan? With the proximity to the lake, and the need to borrow money for a boat, it wouldn't take long for someone to figure out the whole plan."
Before Joe could respond, Ben was there. "Joe, they're right." Because he had heard Adam's voice as well as Joe's, he had come outside to be part of what he expected to be a heated discussion. However in listening to Kitty and then to Adam's comments, he had realized they were correct. If any word of the project had gotten out, it was probably due to the fact that there was no way to be vague enough about such a project. Discussion at the bank among the officers there had likely led to the general idea of what they planned to do. Unfortunately one of those bank officers must have been unethical enough to tell an investor of the idea and now they had competition.
"We still have the advantage. They have to go to court to prove eminent domain is necessary. We have the concept of our own freight line and stage service. If we can get all of our projects underway, there will be no way for them to win an eminent domain case in court."
"Son, that's probably true, but you're overlooking one obstacle. We went to the bank because we don't have the funds to start all of these projects at once."
Adam and Joe were quiet at that. Jamie had been silent for the whole discussion. It was Kitty who spoke again.
"I did bring up the possibility of my father investing in a steamboat service across the lake. He likes the idea. If he invests in it and financed that part of these projects, could you afford to do the other ones?"
The first smile was from Adam, but soon the others joined him. If Jerome financed the biggest and most expensive part of the project, they could manage the other parts. Ben smiled perhaps more than he had since the conception of the steamship idea.
"If your father wanted to invest some and finance the rest, we could do the other three. They're labor intensive or use resources we have on the ranch."
"Papa Ben, I think you need to go talk with my father then. I'll need to sign the final papers so I could go with you."
"Will your father be more comfortable with the idea is Adam is there too?"
"Yes, I think he will."
"Then we should all go. I'll pitch the idea, and the three of you can discuss it. If he agrees, I'm sure we can arrive at a mutually acceptable course of action." Turning to his younger sons, Ben was apologetic. "I'm sorry to leave you two with all the work."
"That's all right, Pa. If we get this all moving forward, we're all right with it."
Jamie had spoken quickly, and Joe looked at him and rolled his eyes.
"Easy for him to say. He doesn't have to take over three jobs when both of you leave. But he is right. If you get this moving forward, things will be better all around."
"Joe, it might be time to start handing over some of those responsibilities to Candy as we discussed. Negotiate a fair salary for the increase in his duties. We'll talk about that when we get back."
As Ben went to pack, Adam went to his room to get additional items for their extended stay in Carson City. Hop Sing packed a lunch for them, and soon the three of them headed out. As they drove away, Candy walked up to Joe.
"I thought I heard my name mentioned earlier."
"It was. We need to talk."
Although Candy looked a bit nervous, Joe and Jamie were smiling so he relaxed some. When they invited him inside for coffee, he relaxed more but then they told him what they planned. He wasn't sure about taking on such a large undertaking.
"That means I'm committed to staying here."
"Don't you want to stay here?"
"Well, I hadn't thought about that much, I guess."
"You left once and you came back. This is as much your home as anywhere else in the world. Why would you want to leave?"
"Even Adam left and he's part of the family."
"He came back too."
Joe and Candy sat staring at each other for a short time until Jamie decided he had an idea to get the two men to move forward in their bargaining.
"How about if we work in some time off for Candy to travel if he wants to do that. You know, like Adam has said he wants to be able to travel in the winter months some years?"
"All right, we can do that. Any year you feel the urge to leave, you can have three months in the winter to go anywhere you want as long as you're back by spring roundup. How's that?"
Candy didn't want to give in too easily. "All right, but what if I get married?"
"Sheesh, you don't even have a lady you're seeing regularly."
"You didn't either until a couple of months ago."
"So what do you want if you get married?"
"A place of my own."
"We can have Adam build you a house."
"No, I mean I want some land and a house and I want to own it."
"You get married and I'm sure we can get Pa to agree to that."
"Then I guess we have a deal."
In Carson City, it took a bit longer for Ben to convince Jerome to work out a deal because he wanted to know all the details of the project. It took quite a bit of time to lay out the whole plan and show him the maps and statistics on freight hauling between the Comstock and California. By then, Jerome was tired and needed to rest before they could work out a legal document to cement their partnership. It was clear that they were going to be spending the night. It meant that things were less hurried when they got to the legal terminology, and it was then that Jerome dropped a bombshell on them.
"It's too bad we can't simply deliver Kitty's trust fund now. It would resolve all of these matters immediately."
"My trust fund? What trust fund?"
"When your mother passed, her family created a trust fund for you."
"Why didn't anyone ever tell me?"
"There are conditions on it."
"How old do I have to be to get it?"
"It's not age exactly although that was part of it. That no longer matters. Her family is a bit, shall we say, conservative in their social practices. They never approved of how I let my wife have a say in family matters or even that I allowed her to discuss business with me."
"Allowed? I would say you couldn't stop her."
"That's part of what attracted me to your mother. I didn't want a mousy little woman sitting at home waiting for me nor did I want an aloof woman holding teas for other snobbish women to attend. I wanted a more vibrant woman. However, her family didn't approve of her ways and had hoped a husband would 'tame' her behaviors and make her 'settle down' as they thought she needed to do. In their minds, a proper husband would do that for a wife. So they set up your trust fund that you will receive it when you are married." Kitty grinned at that. "And have a child."
That brought a frown. She and Adam had discussed children but he was older and they weren't so sure about having children or if they could. Adam had said it was up to God. Certainly she wouldn't be able to have a child in time to help the family in this crisis. It was cruelly disappointing to find that she had the resources to do so and that they were out of reach.
"How much is it?"
"Fifty thousand dollars was the amount when I was told about it. It was invested so it could be much larger by now."
Wrapping his arm around Kitty, Adam pulled her close. "We can handle this without your trust fund. Someday maybe we can do something else if you get it." She knew what he meant by the 'if' he had interjected in there. Then he changed the subject to get away from what could be an emotional issue. "Pa, you haven't mentioned the names of the men we're competing against. Who are they?"
"Poole and Associates."
Adam and Jerome grimaced at that. Ben frowned.
"I almost hate to ask why you two reacted that way."
"They have a reputation for not following the rules when it comes to competition. We need to watch our backs on this one. Jerome, you should hire someone for security here at the house."
"Thank you for your concern, Adam, but I already have someone. The men you see working here are armed. They do double duty. I might suggest that for my daughter's safety and yours, you might consider hiring someone though."
That went against everything the Cartwrights had ever done, but Adam knew Jerome was correct. He needed to protect his wife, and he couldn't do it alone.
Chapter 3
Later, discussion between Ben and Adam centered on the issue of a bodyguard for Kitty and by extension for Adam. Kitty was surprised that Adam wanted to hire someone, and Ben was opposed to the idea.
"Who would you get? A stranger? How do you know you could trust that person any more than someone who could be hired to do harm to you?"
"Pa, I'd go through a reputable agency. There are ways to check people out."
"Oh, there are, but if you don't know someone, truly know them, no amount of checking them out is going to be enough. I don't like the idea of you putting your life in the hands of a stranger."
"I won't be putting my life in the hands of a stranger. I'll have another set of eyes and ears watching out for us. I'm still capable of taking care of myself and my wife, but I have to sleep and I can't see around corners or behind my back."
"That's what family is for."
"Oh, and do you want to send Jamie or Little Joe with me wherever I go?"
"Well, I hardly think that's necessary."
"It could be with the Poole men involved. We know what they're capable of doing. Enough of their competitors have moved back east, retired, or simply disappeared for us to be careful. They don't play fair, and they certainly don't rule out violence or the threat of it."
"This project of ours can't be big enough to draw that much attention from them, can it?"
"It could if it's part of a bigger plan that they have. We don't know what they have in mind. Perhaps they want to move in on the Comstock or Nevada in general. We have no way of knowing."
Looking at Adam and seeing the worry he showed, Ben grew uneasy. "You think they may be after the Ponderosa itself, don't you?"
"It's the richest prize here other than the silver mines and they're starting to be less valuable as other sources of silver have expanded."
"Do what you have to do then. You have to go to San Francisco to settle those deals for timber. Perhaps it would be best if Kitty didn't travel with you this time."
"No, I promised her she could travel with me, and nothing would alert them that we're on to them more than if we start changing our behavior. We need to act as we have always acted. Any changes we make have to be behind the scenes. Like this deal with Jerome, we can make arrangements that no one else has to know. I think perhaps inviting Barney Fuller out to the ranch might be a good idea."
"Barney!"
"Pa, he likes competition and he likes fighting you, but he likes money even more. He could work with us on this and make a lot of money. Fighting the Poole conglomerate could be the end of him too. Together, we can both survive and prosper. Separately, we're weaker."
"I suppose when you went to negotiate those timber contracts, you would be able to get a better deal if you could offer the timber from both of us. That is, if Barney is willing."
"Be persuasive, Pa. It could be the linchpin for the whole thing. I won't have to tell them in San Francisco. I only have to agree to meet deadlines with quantities. They may think those are to their advantage and that we won't be able to meet them. However if we're working together, we'll be able to do it. We'll have an advantage they don't know."
"Son, Hoss was right about you. He always said you were sneaky."
"I think he meant that in a good way, Pa."
They all shared a good laugh, and Kitty learned more about Hoss and about the family. When they packed that night, she and Adam packed more clothing intending to travel to San Francisco once Ben and Barney met. Adam had his more formal clothing on the Ponderosa so they would pack his clothing there.
As expected, Barney did come out to the Ponderosa for a meeting, and as expected, laughed when Ben proposed a partnership. However, he sobered up quickly when Ben began to explain about the Poole connection and what he and Adam thought might be the bigger plans of the shady conglomerate.
"Ben, it would be hard to get used to the idea of cooperating with you instead of trying to trick you."
"Trust me, Barney, I've had the same thoughts. However, I think we can possibly agree that Adam makes a good buffer. Perhaps he and someone you trust could work together as intermediaries for us? That way when we get to the point of butting heads, and you know we will, cooler heads can work on the issues and settle things."
"The foreman I have right now is like that. Makes me want to fire him every other day except I know he keeps me from doing something stupid more often than not. All right, I'll have to bring him out here too so we can work out the details. I suppose we ought to do that right away if Adam is heading off to those timber negotiations."
"Are you going?"
"I won't have to go now."
"It might be better if you did. Bid high enough that they won't take your bid. With us working together, Adam's bid ought to beat everyone. However if you're there and bidding, no one will guess that we're working together. As for our next meeting, how abut meeting at the Silver Spur Mine. We both own about a quarter interest in it. No one would be surprised to see us there in the office."
It took two days to hammer out a deal with Barney Fuller and to make arrangements for Adam and Kitty to travel to San Francisco. Adam sent a wire to some friends in the city asking discreetly for help in securing a bodyguard. He was sure they knew what he meant by the terms he used. When they arrived, he was relieved to find that he had been correct. There was a gentleman to see them as soon as they arrived at their hotel.
"Mister Adam Cartwright, your friend and lawyer, Arnold Carpenter sent me. My name is Eli Davis. Here is his card. Here is my identification as well. He said that you had a discreet matter you wished to discuss with me."
"Yes, I can meet you in the salon as soon as I get my wife settled in our room."
"Sir, under the circumstances, perhaps you would like to alert hotel security that she will be alone while we converse."
"Yes, thank you. I will do that."
A half hour later, Adam returned to the lobby and headed to the salon to meet with Eli and found him sitting with a glass of whisky in front of him. It appeared to be halfway gone. As Adam watched, Eli surreptitiously poured the contents into a small flask, capped it, and put it into his pocket.
"No need for it to go to waste, but I do not drink on the job."
"You're on the job now?"
"I am speaking to a client or a potential client so yes, I am. Now, from what I learned, and what I have found out, you are in need of our services. It appears that a certain business organization is very interested in you and desires to gain an advantage. They are well known to use any means possible."
"You already started checking into me?"
"I wanted to know whether my firm would consider you as a client. We do not accept everyone even if they come highly recommended."
"Did I pass the test?"
"There were some questions, but we found satisfactory answers. We prefer using standard legal means, but we understand those were not always available on the Nevada frontier and may still not always be adequate."
"I was interested in hiring a bodyguard, but you keep referring to 'we' as if there is a group involved."
"If you want one person to live with you and travel with you, that can be arranged, but for the same fee, we can work a team who will keep you and your wife under observation at all times, day and night and in every venue. Someone will be there when you travel as well but there will be no one intruding on your private time."
"How would we know who is on our side in any situation?"
"We can work out a code for that as needed."
It appealed to Adam not to have someone hovering when he wanted to be alone with his wife or when he wanted to have a private conversation with someone. The idea that there would be someone watching out for them day and night was appealing too. A single bodyguard would need to sleep and have to attend to other needs which could give their enemies openings. He realized he did already think of the Poole group as enemies.
"I'm rather new at this kind of thing, but I'm seeing the logic of your system. I'd like to talk it over with my wife and get back to you."
"We'll work it my way tonight then, and wait for your answer on your preference for tomorrow. How does that sound?"
"Very good. How will I let you know our decision?"
"In the morning, on the way to breakfast, I'll be seated in the lobby; tip your hat to me if you like my system. Ignore me if you want me to send a man to be your personal bodyguard. The fee is the same either way. Send the money to our office. You can send an itinerary of your plans to our office too. It is probably the best way to communicate with us generally. If you need one of us more quickly, tap your middle finger five times on your hat or tap five times against a wall."
"There's no negotiating on the fee?"
The man's look said there was not. Adam knew he was free to go to another agency if he didn't like the price. He nodded and stood to leave.
"Thank you. We're going to dinner tonight and then we'll come back here. It was a long trip and I have business to attend to tomorrow. My wife will be doing some shopping while I'm in business meetings."
With that, he was gone, and Eli smiled. Working for a man who was smart and principled made his work much easier to do. He didn't like the Poole group either and would rather like putting a few of their people behind bars if he could.
After briefing Kitty on what had transpired in the conversation with Eli Davis, Adam escorted her to dinner at one of his favorite restaurants. Greeted warmly by the owner, he got a nice table and was enjoying dinner but noticed his wife looked nervous and kept looking around. His intuition kicked in.
"Don't try to guess who's watching over us. You won't spot them if they're any good, and if you should be so lucky, what you're doing is alerting anyone who might mean to do us any harm that we have someone watching over us."
Getting a bit defensive, Kitty had a retort. "Well, they could think I was looking for them if they mean to do us harm as you say."
"And what reason would we have to think anyone would mean to do us harm? They haven't shown their hand yet. We've taken precautions based on their past performance not on anything they've done to us or threats that have been made. At this point, they're probably sizing us up to see if we deserve any special attention."
"What would make them give us some of that 'special attention' then?"
The sudden change in Adam's demeanor as all signs of teasing and lightness disappeared alerted Kitty that he was going to tell her something of the gravest import. "When I win those timber contracts, and undoubtedly I will, they won't like it. The odds are that they think they've stacked the deck in their favor, but we have an inside track with our holdings and working with Barney, which they don't know about yet. Our bid will be substantially lower than they expect."
"Can't they simply put in a lower bid than yours?"
"It's a sealed and silent bidding process. They tell you the expectations for the contract and you do your calculations and make them an offer. We all know the general outline of what they want before we ever get here. The dates will be more specific but the quantities are likely to be about what was advertised in the initial offering."
"What if they change those?"
"We make some additional calculations with that in mind to be ready. If it's too much though, it could mean that we can't bid except to bid for part of the contract instead of all of it. They'll do that sometimes too."
"It sounds very complicated."
"It can be, or it can go very quickly."
"I hope it goes very quickly."
"I hope so too. Now, enough talk here. Let's go back to the hotel and do any remaining talking in bed."
"Ooh, I like the sound of that."
That's what they did, but there wasn't much talking.
Chapter 4
The next morning, Adam walked through the lobby of the hotel with Kitty on his arm and tipped his hat to Eli who was reading the morning paper in the lobby. He agreed to the plan Eli had. It made more sense to him than a single bodyguard especially when they were in the city. He wasn't sure how it would work on the Ponderosa, but for now, it was the best plan. When they were ready to leave for home, he would have another conversation with Eli about how they would coordinate their protection in Virginia City.
After breakfast, Adam left for his meeting and Kitty went back to their room to relax and read before she set out later to do some shopping. It was another advantage to the system that they could both be protected when they separated like this. At the meeting, Adam was surprised to find only a few bidders. He was there as was Barney and representatives of the Poole conglomerate. There was one other bidder he did not recognize but assumed was a representative of one of the Sierra companies. He wondered where the others were and guessed they had been scared off by the participation of Poole. Most of the morning session was in getting what they already knew but making sure they had the specific information and that it was correct. After lunch, they got the exact quantities required and the dates by which they had to be delivered. The quantities were slightly larger than anticipated but not unreasonably so. There was little discussion except some slight verbal jabbing by Adam and Barney. The other men seemed disinclined to say anything. By the middle of the afternoon, the meeting was over with instructions to have sealed bids in by the end of the following day. As they left the room, the Poole men were quite obvious about their confidence in their superior position.
"There's no point in you other gentlemen, and I use that term loosely, bidding on this contract. You can only bid on a partial contract while we can bid the whole thing. You should realize you're beaten and go home."
Seeing Barney rise to the bait even though he wasn't going to bid seriously for even a partial contract, Adam had to smile.
"Listen, you mangy dog sent to do your master's bidding, I'll do what I please and I don't need someone's lackey telling me what to do. I've done these deals more times than you suckled at your mother's breast, and from the looks of things, that wasn't that long ago. Now, excuse me, I have a man's work to do. I don't have time to talk to boys."
As Barney talked, Adam's smile disappeared. He guessed that Barney had forgotten in his temper he was talking to Poole men. Outside, Adam looked for Barney and didn't see him. He wondered where he had gone so fast. He worried about him and knew he would continue to worry about him until he saw him again. There was nothing he could do about it, and he would have to wait and hope the man would be all right. Hopefully, a few insults wouldn't be enough to incite a violent response.
However when he got back to the hotel, Adam was in for a much bigger shock. Kitty was gone and there was a different woman in his rooms. She looked a lot like Kitty and she was wearing one of Kitty's dresses.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my wife's dress?"
"Keep your voice down or you'll ruin the whole thing."
Struggling to keep his emotions under control, Adam approached the woman and hissed into her face. "Tell me what's going on now or I'll drag you by your hair to the lobby and have the police called."
"I work for Eli. We have people all over the city working for various clients. One of them was in a gentleman's club and heard a plan to kidnap your wife. I'm taking her place so that if they try, they won't get her. The masquerade is for their benefit. Your wife is safely in another hotel three blocks from here. We have a man guarding her there."
"I do I know you're telling the truth?"
She handed him a letter addressed to him in Kitty's unmistakable handwriting. He read it and felt somewhat reassured.
"I want to see her."
"We'll arrange for that as soon as we can. For now, it won't work. You need to take me to dinner and then come back here to work on your calculations. When it's dark, we'll get you out of here and take you there if we can. We suspect something is going to happen this evening or tonight. I'll stay here in the room when they take you over to see her."
For the rest of the afternoon and evening, Adam had a difficult time concentrating. He did his best, but all he could do was worry about Kitty most of the time. After dinner, he did work on the calculations for the contract offer. Luckily, his preliminary work with his father and Barney had been extensive so he didn't have to do much. At about nine, there were five knocks on the door followed by one. The woman he was with, whom he had been told to address as Kitty so no one observing them would overhear anything amiss, answered the door. Eli was there.
"We going to get you to the hotel to see your wife. Wear this."
It was a heavy coat with a hood that would obscure Adam's identity. Once he put it on, Eli told the woman to stay put and then walked Adam down the back stairs and through alleys until they reached the back door of an old hotel.
"This was the best you could do for her?"
"We didn't want to be too obvious. Now she's on the second floor, first room, 2A. Knock five times and then twice. We'll be back to move you in the morning."
When Adam got to the room and did that, a man opened the door and pulled him inside quickly. Kitty rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him. He could feel her trembling and knew she had been terrified.
"It will be all right. We have people protecting us."
In his hurry to leave, Adam realized he had not taken his pistol with him. However the man guarding Kitty said he would be watching and left. Holding Kitty, he could feel her gradually relaxing, but he was still on high alert. She seemed to sense that and began to rub his back and leaned back to look at him.
"When I asked to travel with you, I had no idea it would be like this."
"It's never been like this before. Of course, we've never been up against anyone like the Poole organization before."
"So what do we do now?"
"About all we can do. We go to bed."
"Is that all you think about?"
"I was thinking we needed to get some rest, but if you had something else in mind, I'm willing to entertain other ideas."
It was the perfect way to get Adam to focus on something other than the difficulties they were having. He always wanted to please Kitty, and he certainly enjoyed making love to his wife. They hadn't been married long so each time in bed was still an adventure. Soon they were wrapped in each other's arms and enjoying the benefits of marriage when the door burst open and men crowded into the room.
"Get out of the bed, now, Cartwright!"
Shocked, Adam didn't move at first. He was upset and angry that men with guns were standing at his bed but even more so that they had seen his wife in the most intimate way. Although she had pulled a sheet around herself, they clearly had seen quite a bit and two were still leering at her. Adam stood. He didn't need to ask why they were there.
"You get out too, ma'am."
That was said more politely but as forcefully. Kitty stood but used the headboard to steady herself and then tapped on it as she stood there looking nervous and frightened.
Dash dot dot dot, pause, dot, long pause, dot, dash, dot, pause, dot, pause, dot, dash, pause, dash, dot dot, pause, dash, dot, dash, dash. Be ready. She stopped then and stared at the men for a moment. He worried about what she planned to do, but he wouldn't interfere with her plan. What she did however was so far from anything he expected that he nearly caused her plan to fail. She dropped the sheet she had around her and pirouetted for the men.
"All right, if he won't be paying me the one hundred dollars he promised, what are you offering?"
"What? Huh? Listen, you're his wife so why would he be paying you anything?"
"I'm not his wife. If I was his wife, would we be meeting in a place like this? He's rich enough to stay in a lot better place than this. He paid me to come here with him, or rather he was going to pay me, but now you ruined that. So how much will you pay me? I can do things to earn a lot of money. I could show you."
The three men were confused. The one with the pistol aimed at Adam turned slightly to the other two. "Go down to the carriage and ask him what he wants us to do. Tell him what she said. If she's not the wife, then what should we do? I'll wait here and you two get an answer."
When the two men left closing the door behind them, Adam looked at the man with the pistol trained on his belly. He glanced down at his pants on the floor.
"Can I at least put on my pants?"
At that point, the man showed his inexperience. Anyone who knew much about such situations would know that it would be better to keep a man naked because it made him feel more vulnerable. This one didn't seem to know that.
"Sure, go ahead."
Reaching down, Adam grabbed the pant leg of his trousers and then used it like a whip swinging it up and around the man's gun arm even as he lunged forward and slammed his fist into the man's chin. He hit him again when he went down to make sure he was out. Then he turned to Kitty.
"Grab your clothes and go in the dressing room. Fast!"
Gathering up his clothing and the pistol, he followed her there after he opened the door to the room and left it ajar. He left the door to the dressing room open too but didn't bring a lamp in nor light the one there. He whispered to Kitty to dress quickly and skip the shoes for the time being. When he heard footsteps approaching, he pushed her deep into the shadows behind him and kept the pistol trained on the dressing room door as he listened.
"Damn, they got away. It musta been a trick."
"Yeah, it was his wife. They fooled us."
"What'll we do now?"
"Grab Herb and drag him out. We'll hafta ask the boss what to do. He's gonna be mightily mad at us."
"Not us. Herb's the one done it wrong."
"That's right. Herb may not ever wake up. Let's take him down there for his just rewards."
The sounds of dragging could be heard and then the door closed. Adam and Kitty waited for a long time but there were no more sounds. Eventually Adam got up and got a pillow and a blanket from the bed and brought it to the dressing room. He never put out the lamp in the room nor lit the lamp in the dressing room. Anyone watching the room would not see a change. He did wonder what had happened to Eli's man who had supposedly been guarding the room but guessed that he would wait until daylight for that answer.
Chapter 5
As the night dragged on and Kitty fell asleep against his chest, Adam stayed alert with a lot on his mind. He wondered if Eli could be trusted or if this was some giant conspiracy against him. The reason he worried about that was he had left all of his calculations in his room. Anyone there could see them and know what he had intended to bid. In the condition he would be in after such a night, he would find it difficult to finish his proposal and get it to the company on time. All of that weighed heavily on his mind. There was only one interruption in his thinking and that was when the door to the room opened an hour or so after they had taken refuge in the dressing room. His name was called once and then the door was closed. It was dawn before that was repeated only the second time he recognized the voice and the man didn't leave but approached the dressing room door. Raising the pistol to about a man's chest height, Adam waited for him to appear as Kitty stirred beside him. Eli appeared in the doorway and raised his hands when he saw the pistol.
"I didn't know you were armed, but you are resourceful. I guess I should have expected it."
"Friend or foe? That's what I don't know."
"Friend, but I could understand why you wouldn't necessarily believe that. I brought a friend, or I guess you might dispute that definition."
Barney Fuller appeared behind Eli then. He looked like he had been beaten but not too severely.
"Your friends pulled my bacon out of the fire last night. I'm not sure why they were there, but I have to thank all of you. Apparently the Poole men don't handle insults very well."
"We didn't know if you would go to Mister Fuller for help so we went to find out and found him being 'punished' for his comments to the Poole representatives. Those men are in jail now. The police are questioning them. They will not be gentle."
"How did you know to come here?"
"We had been notified by the hotel that our man was found gravely wounded. It was only a short time ago that he came out of surgery and told us that he didn't think you had ever left the room. He was laying out in the hall playing dead so they wouldn't stick him again, but he saw who went in and out of the room. Good trick that. From what we can tell, Poole's men are all over the city looking for you. Two of them are wanted by the police now based on what our man was able to tell them. Another Poole man was found dead in the harbor a short time ago."
Guessing who that could be, Adam didn't feel bad about it at all. "Who betrayed us?"
With a dark look, Eli answered in a menacing voice. "We're still looking into that. There will be no charge for our services to this point of course. Something went very wrong, and we need to find out who in our ranks is working for Poole. I have a suspicion, and I wish I was wrong."
"What about my papers?"
"I went back to get them and took them with me last night when I realized you had left them behind. If Georgiane was kidnapped as Kitty, they would have taken your papers. It was a mistake to leave them there so I rectified it."
"Who knew where we were?"
"The man who brought Kitty here and was wounded, me, Georgiane, and one man who was watching her. The four of us planned it so we were the only ones who knew." Seeing Adam's look, he nodded. "Yes, they're being watched. One of them is masquerading as one of us but is working for Poole."
"I have a question for you. Are you providing protection services for any of the other men who would likely bid on a timber contract?"
Trying to appear noncommittal, Eli shrugged.
"Then find out who was responsible for the protection of the men who did not attend that meeting yesterday. They were scared off somehow so your protection didn't work. I doubt they didn't show up simply because Poole was bidding."
Frowning and obviously embarrassed, Eli blew out a breath and then exasperated, admitted what he was thinking. "At this point, I don't know how I can safely get you two to the meeting."
"Three. I'm not going anywhere without Kitty today."
"It doesn't matter. I don't know how to do it. My most trusted operatives are under suspicion and possibly others are working for the other side too."
"Can you get us to the Bank of California?"
"It's just down the street so that I can do."
"When do they open?"
Looking at Kitty, Adam started to smile. She had a plan and he had a fair idea of what it was. Soon the ragtag bunch was walking in the doors of the Bank of California where Jerome was a major shareholder and member of the Board of Directors. Looking as they did, they got some slightly disapproving looks until they were identified. Then they were ushered into an office and the door was closed. Their clothing was brought from the hotel and Adam and Barney were able to shave. All three were able to use the water closet in the president's office to freshen up. Some of the men who worked for Jerome in the city showed up in their carriages to give them a ride to their meeting. They brought their personal bodyguards along. The guards at the bank made sure they got to the carriages safely. Police were there too watching the crowd for any sign of trouble. Poole's thugs watched helplessly as their task was impossible to perform.
As expected, Adam's bid won and Barney's was rejected. The Poole representatives were shocked to see both Adam and Barney show up of course, and then even more shocked when the Poole bid was rejected as well. Adam walked out of the meeting with the Poole men right behind him.
"You won't live to enjoy the results of that win, Cartwright. You probably won't live long enough to ride out of the city."
"Barney, did that man just threaten me?"
"I think he did, Adam. Why, yes, I'm sure he did. It would only be self-defense for you to do whatever you have to do to protect yourself against such a threat."
"There are two of us and one of you."
The man said nothing more as Adam hit him. He probably said nothing more for quite a few days after that too as his jaw was most likely broken by the blow he took that laid him out on the floor. The other man swung at Adam and that meant Adam could defend himself with him too. He used the man's momentum and propelled him into a wall where he fell in a heap on the floor. The clerk there smiled and told them they could go as he would take care of removing the trash. Those two men had come in every day and treated him as dirt so he didn't mind at all returning the favor. He dragged each one to the door and unceremoniously pushed them outside to lay on the steps where their drivers could retrieve them. Adam guessed that Poole would have something perhaps even worse for them too because of their failure. His hand hurt, and Kitty wrapped her handkerchief around it.
"You're probably going to have to see a doctor for that to get it splinted."
"It felt good at the time, but it hurts like hell now."
"We'll have to trust my father's friends to get us to a safe place now."
"I'd like to talk to Georgiane again."
Shocked, Kitty looked at Adam as if he had lost his senses. "She may have been the one who betrayed us."
"Yes, I think she did. Now that I think about it, she had a strange look about her, but it wasn't a guilty look. It was more a look of regret. I think something is wrong, and I'd like to talk to her."
"Well, if we see Eli again, you can ask him about that."
"I'm sure we'll see him again and probably soon. Now, let's see what kind of plan your father's friends have managed to concoct."
"Why do we have to hide now? You got the contract."
"Retribution. They don't like to lose. There are also a few of their people in custody, but if we're gone, there are no witnesses against those men either. Barney is in as much danger as we are. The three of us need to make our statements to the authorities and have them witnessed so that there will be no questions about their authenticity. Then we'll be safer but there will still be that element of revenge unless we can take down Poole himself."
"That's not likely." Except Kitty saw the look Adam had and wondered what he was thinking. She knew he was furious about what had happened in that hotel room. He wasn't going to say anything, but it burned inside of him. Until he got some retribution for that, he wasn't going to be satisfied. "Adam, please don't do anything dangerous."
"I don't plan to, but I want to bring him down. He has to have made a mistake here somewhere. Everyone does. We did. The problem is locating the mistake."
It was then that Kitty remembered Georgiane and Adam's wish to speak with her. "You think that woman who was impersonating me may be the mistake, don't you?"
"I have this feeling that something wasn't right there. Yes, I do. I want to talk with her. If we're going to get at Poole, she may hold the key."
"You really want to get at Poole, don't you?"
"After what they did, don't you?"
"We've not really talked about what happened."
"Now is not the time to do that either. Later we can talk."
Adam's stiff posture and tight voice betrayed his feelings about what had happened and how he felt about it as clearly as if he had said it. However what Kitty still didn't know was whether he was mad at her for what she had done or if the anger was directed solely at Poole for orchestrating what had happened. All she could hope was that he understood that she had done what she could to try to save their lives because she thought those men might have been there to kill them. However, she wasn't sure now that was what they were after. They might have been planning something quite different, and she was too inexperienced at this type of thing to know what it was. She was quiet as they were led to carriages and left.
"You don't have to worry about me."
"What?"
"You're afraid of what I'm thinking. I'm telling you that you don't have to worry."
In the darkness of the carriage, Kitty wasn't sure how to take those words at first because she couldn't see Adam's expression. The sound of his voice was gentle though, and then he pulled her close the kissed her softly so she knew. Tears flowed then as relief and the remnants of the fear and worry were released.
"Don't cry. I'm so sorry that I've brought you into such danger. I had no idea it would be like this. You were so brave. I should have told you that sooner. I was so upset that I let that affect me and didn't pay attention as much as I should have to how you were feeling."
"You had to protect us, and you did. I felt safe once you had a gun and we hid in that dressing room. Somehow as soon as we were there, I knew you would keep me safe."
"I wish I had felt such confidence."
"It's over now, though, isn't it? Nothing like that is going to happen again, is it?"
"I hope not. We need to talk with Eli though and see if he's learned anything."
That meeting took place that evening in a large estate in a new section of town. One of Jerome's friends had built a new home and hadn't yet moved in. He told Adam and Kitty they could use it for a few days. Eli had men stationed there to protect them and met with them inside. He listened to Adam's thoughts about Georgiane and agreed with him that it deserved an investigation.
"Nothing else has given us a lead so I'm willing to let you have a go at her. I'll have one of the men bring her here. You can question her and see if you can get her to talk. She's not telling us anything."
After Eli relayed those instructions, he ate dinner with Adam and Kitty. They had ordered food from a restaurant and had other things delivered in the name of the man who owned the house. Adam planned to reimburse him, but this way no one knew that they were in the house. When Georgiane arrived a short time after dinner was completed, she was no longer the well-coifed and well-dressed young woman she had been. Clearly she had been under pressure all day and showed it. Ill at ease in this new setting, she seemed to wonder what was going to happen to her. Well versed in poker playing, Adam tried a bluff.
"If you're worried about us killing you, you don't need to be concerned. We're more concerned that Poole will have you killed after we turn you over to the police. We know what you did and we'll give the police the complete report. When Poole finds out you're in jail though, that could mean he'll want to eliminate you. It's happened to other, ah, shall we say associates of his who have been arrested."
Georgiane had become noticeably more pale as she listened to Adam talk. She still said nothing though. Eli watched impassively but was thinking that Adam was a great interrogator. He already had her wondering what he was going to say next manipulating her like a marionette.
"Now, the police would likely be more interested in someone bigger than you if you had someone bigger to offer up. We're mostly interested in Poole though. If you could tell us something to help us get Poole, then we'd be inclined to forget what we have on you. Now you seem a fairly decent woman. We're guessing Poole forced you into this somehow. If we can help you, we will, but you have to help us too."
"I can't help you."
"Can't or won't?"
"Can't."
"Perhaps if you tell us why you can't, we could change that into a can."
"He has my sister. You can't change that."
"How does he have your sister?"
"I don't know. He has her somewhere, and he said he would put her in a crib if I didn't do what he said."
Flabbergasted at that, Eli almost interrupted but stopped himself. Adam had gotten her talking when they had tried all day and failed. He needed to let him continue.
"What kind of proof did he ever give you that he had your sister?"
"He had some of her personal things. He showed me."
"He showed you, not one of his men, but him?"
"Yes, he was the one. He was the one who told me what I had to do. He got me to get into his carriage and then he showed me my sister's things and told me what he wanted from me."
"If we can get your sister away from him, would you testify against him?"
"In a heartbeat. He's a monster."
Turning to Eli, Adam had a question. "Some of the Poole men are in jail. Do you think the authorities would be willing to make a deal?"
"I think I know what you mean, and yes, to get Poole, they would."
"I'd like to be there when they bring him down."
"That can be arranged."
Chapter 6
Three days later, Adam and Kitty stood with Barney Fuller and Eli Davis outside the offices of Poole and Associates as a phalanx of police officers entered the building and then brought Poole and his lieutenants out under arrest. He was red-faced and shouting obscenities at the police and complaining loudly about what he was going to do to them. They ignored all of that and shoved him unceremoniously into the back of a paddy wagon like any common criminal. The crowd that had gathered to watch dissipated once the paddy wagon pulled away. Adam turned to Eli.
"The trial should be quick with Georgiane and her sister testifying as well as some of the Poole people turning on him to save their own necks."
"Yes, anyone not guilty of murder is being offered leniency in return for testimony. Now that he's been arrested, there likely will be even more stepping forward to take that offer rather than an arrest and jail time."
"What about the two men who led them to where he was holding Georgiane's sister?"
"They're getting a full pardon in return for testifying truthfully. They've been talking almost nonstop since they found they could get that."
"I guess we won't be needing your services any longer."
"No, but there will be another one like Poole along at some point. I liked working with you so if you ever need my services, please call on me at any time."
"Thank you. We may do that if it should be necessary."
The next day, Adam and Kitty were getting ready to board the steamboat for the trip upriver when Adam heard a boy calling out that he had newspapers and there was big news. He bought a paper and opened it to find a banner headline saying that Poole was dead. The story underneath said he had been beaten to death in prison. Apparently he had hurt enough people that when they caught him in such a vulnerable position, they decided to take their revenge. So the danger truly was over.
When Adam and Kitty arrived home, the news was already there about the contracts because Barney had left before them. He however had wisely not mentioned anything about the troubles they had had with Poole and how that had developed and then ended. It was up to Adam and Kitty to tell that whole story first to Adam's family because they arrived first in Virginia City when they delivered the contracts for timber to Ben on the Ponderosa. "You know, I could tell that Barney wasn't telling us everything. I could tell he was holding back something, but with him, I thought it was something underhanded. Now I know he was being discreet, which is not a quality I thought he had."
"Pa, Barney worked well with us in San Francisco. Remember, he does like money. If we can show him that working together is a better deal than competing with us, he'll do a good job of it."
"I still don't trust him."
Laughing, Adam nodded. "Pa, I wouldn't expect you to do that. It will be good having someone watching him."
Even Ben had to smile at that. "Well, we need to sit down now and decide who's going to do what. There are a lot of projects to get done and we need to have someone in charge of each one directing it and reporting back to the others."
"Exactly what we thought, Pa. Adam and Jamie and I talked about that and figured that was about how we'd have to do it."
"Well, I suppose Adam will be the logical one to handle the timber camps."
"Pa, we already figured out most of the responsibilities." Joe looked to his brothers to make sure he ought to keep talking. They encouraged him with their looks to go ahead. "Adam is going to direct the road building project too. He's never done one, but as he said, he's the one with the skills and the knowledge needed and he'll work with men who've done it before and have experience. He's going to recruit some when he's over in Carson City. He'll form up a crew there."
"Well, it sounds like you have that all planned out. How about the freight line?"
"Oh, Jamie and I are going to set up a freight office and warehouse at the edge of town and then one at the lake. We're going to get bids on wagons too."
"Have you forgotten you need horses to pull those wagons?"
"Uh, no, Pa, don't you remember that I'm leaving tomorrow to buy some horses in Stockton. I should be back with them in a couple of weeks. Adam figures that in four months, the road should be nearly ready, and Jamie and I will have the office and warehouse started and bids in on wagons. If all goes well, the freight line could be ready to operate in a month or two after that."
"That's a lot faster than I expected."
"It could be two months or more if we run into weather delays."
"I don't know if we can have a boat by then. That's what, six months?"
"Not even a small boat?"
"Maybe a small one."
"We could start with that and expand when we get a bigger boat. It would probably be a good idea to have more than one boat anyway. But you won't need it in six months. It will be winter by then. We figure to kick off this new business in the spring."
"You all sound like you're going to be very busy. Who's going to be in charge of getting the boats?"
Joe grinned as Adam answered from where he sprawled in the blue chair. "Oh, I don't know. Who in this family knows something about boats, anyway? Joe, you know anyone? Jamie?"
Rolling his eyes, Ben turned to fix a mock glare on his eldest. "You could have simply asked if I would do that part of the project."
"I could have."
Jamie and Kitty were snickering, and Joe leaned toward them. "They're always like that. It's kind of funny isn't it when you get to understanding it."
"You've planned everything except a landing on the other side. What are we going to do when we get there?"
That's where Adam took over the conversation. "I did some checking on the way back. There is a small property we could buy, but it might be better to simply work out a partnership with a company on the other side. We won't be moving freight there or warehousing it. If we could find a company to work with us, they could profit and we would have a way of offloading our freight and passengers."
"Anyone in mind?"
"I don't know anyone there, but Kitty says that Jerome does. He's a partner on the boat part of this operation so how about if we let him work that part for us, or the two of you could go work something out. He's got the contacts and you will know our system."
"Perhaps you could come too."
"Maybe, but I don't think I want to leave Kitty alone."
"She could stay here."
"If Jerome is gone, he would likely expect her at his home."
It was clear that Adam wasn't pleased by that situation, and yet he wasn't ready to fight over it yet. Ben suspected though that it would be a point of contention eventually and hoped they could resolve it amicably. How Jerome reacted was going to be pivotal so Ben thought perhaps it would be a good idea if he started to cultivate more of a friendship with the man. He had a suggestion.
"Now that Jerome is feeling better, Kitty, why don't you invite him to come stay with us for a week. We can all get to know each other better."
"I'm sure he would like that." Even as she agreed with the proposal, Kitty wondered about it and later asked Adam what he thought might be the reason for it.
"Oh, I think there's a good chance Pa wants to explore some father issues with your father. The sooner we're living on the Ponderosa full time, the better as far as my father is concerned."
"You're going to be too busy to build a house for us anyway."
Pulling her into his arms until she yielded to his embrace and kissed, Adam made sure she knew she was the center of everything to him. "I will make time to build you a house as soon as you say you want one."
"Maybe in spring then, we should build our house."
"Spring?"
"Yes, I could tell my father that's the deadline. He needs to have others hired and safeguards in place by then because I'll be living on the Ponderosa full time."
"It's going to be difficult this winter to get to Carson City every weekend."
"Then I'll tell him I'll be living here and we'll get to Carson City when we can."
After a kiss so passionate, Kitty wasn't sure if they would talk again or go to bed, Adam whispered softly to her. "You are my everything. I love you so much."
"I love you so much as well."
"I have one request though. That dress that Georgiane was wearing when she was supposedly masquerading as you. I would like you to get rid of that dress."
"I understand. I'll burn it. I don't want to give it away and then see someone else wearing it either. We need to put that whole thing behind us."
"Yes, and look forward."
"Always."
The next morning, Adam informed his father of his plans to begin building a house in spring. As he expected, his father had numerous reasons why that wasn't a good plan. Although he listened respectfully to his father's objections, he didn't accept the argument and simply stated that he and Kitty had already reached a decision. Ben wasn't happy.
A few nights later, Ben had trouble falling asleep and decided to go get a warm drink to help. When he neared the top of the stairs, he heard voices and slowed his pace until he could look around and down into the great room. Kitty was sitting in Adam's lap in the red leather chair in front of the fireplace. Adam's shirt was open and her hand caressed his chest as they talked. His arm was around her and his other hand was sliding slowly up and down her leg from ankle to knee. Their faces were close together as they talked and smiled. It was an intimate scene and clearly the two had celebrated something as there were two empty glasses on the table.
Ben turned and walked back to his room knowing that it was time for Adam to have his own house. There were going to be even more changes on the Ponderosa and Ben knew he was simply going to have to learn to adjust to more new things happening. As long as the family was together though and all were happy, he could rest easy. He found sleep came easy once he slid back into his bed. In the morning, he planned to tell Adam he agreed with his plans. His last thought before falling asleep was that he ought to talk to Joe and find out if he had any new plans.
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