I do NOT own Bonanza or any of the original Cartwright characters.
*Even with the situation that is in my family right now, I've been able to find time to write. I appreciate your encouraging words, makes me glad I didn't toss the idea for 'Long Road Back' out.
Acceptance
Chapter Seven
Ben had rode Buck home as fast as he dared. After hearing about the trouble the ranchers were having, and not knowing the ones causing problems in town had been caught, he wanted nothing more to know that his sons were all right. Opening the door, Ben hurried inside his home.
Hoss and Little Joe looked up from the table. The surprise they felt at seeing their father home early wasn't something they tried to hide. "Is everythin' all right, Pa?" Little Joe put down his fork.
"Where's Adam?" Ben asked as he looked around the living room and glanced up at the stairs. Before he answered his youngest son's question, he had to know Adam was okay too.
Little Joe told him what they had found, what had happened in town, leaving off the fact Adam had known about the fences before Ben left, and then nodded towards the stairs. "He came in and went straight up to his room," he said with concern in his voice, "He didn't even eat supper." Ben didn't like that. He threw his hat down upon the credenza and hurried up the stairs.
Adam's door was closed, so Ben knocked. "Adam!" He did his best to keep any fear out of his voice.
"It's not locked." Adam's reply sent a wave of relief over Ben. He'd been half afraid the trouble Little Joe had spoken of had pushed his oldest back a step. He opened the door and stepped inside.
Adam was standing by the open window with his hand resting on the window pane. He did not turn his head nor speak a word as his pa shut the door behind him. Ben walked over and joined him by the window. "Little Joe told me what you found while I was gone and what happened in town, sounds like I missed a bit of excitement."
Adam, who had tensed up when he heard his father's voice, relaxed, grateful his younger brother had not spilled the beans on him. "You did." Adam recalled the comment Roy had made to him after he'd put the two thieves into their cell. 'Actually, Adam, things have been quiet at the other ranches for a couple of days. Until you came in, I thought maybe the trouble had stopped. If these men are lying, reckon we best start searching the Ponderosa first.' Adam repeated what Roy had told him. "I was going to tell Hoss and Little Joe if you weren't home by tomorrow morning." Also, knowing his father would question his ability to continue handling himself if it should slip out that he had foreknowledge of the trouble on their land, he figured he'd best spill the beans on himself. "I knew before you left we had trouble coming." Adam turned to look at his father, not surprised to see the look of shock that came upon his father's face. "Let me explain." Adam went on to tell his father why he'd done what he did. "Maybe, I should have told you, but you would have stayed behind on my account, and that business had to be taken care of." His eyes dared his father to deny a fact they both knew to be true.
A part of Ben was upset Adam had chosen to leave him out, but his son had a point. He had been very protective of Adam since he'd been able to get out from behind "that wall"; they all had. He sighed and shook his head. "You're right," he admitted, "Reckon, you're not the only one still healing. How have you been?" He realized he added the question out of his own need for reassurance.
If his father could admit to that, Adam figured he could admit to the attacks he was still having. "I did get more than one punch in and made it somewhere private before 'it' hit full force." Adam chuckled as he finished admitting to what else had happened in town, as he remembered Tara's words and repeated them word for word, "One day at a time, right?" He gave his father a smile. The small gesture, the smile, went a long ways in getting his father to relax.
Ben grinned from ear to ear. "Reckon, you've hit the nail on the head with that one son." He then folded his arms and shook his head. "Questions now are, if those men in Roy's jail cell aren't the ones causing the ranchers problems, who is and why are they doin' it?"
While Ben and Adam discussed the possibilities, another father and son sat in a rundown shack two miles out of town. "We have to have supplies!" Bert Kyle, a white haired gentleman wanted by the law for land fraud and illegal mining, slammed his fist down on the table that sat in front of him. "Bryce was supposed to get us some more, and you were supposed to pick them up in the middle of the night last night, but no," he yelled angrily, "that idiot has to go get thrown in jail, along with that stupid cousin of his!"
"So, I go get them myself! Thanks to the supplies he got us in the past, I do have some money on me!" His son, Carson, yelled back. "And don't start hollerin' 'bout how I can afford to be seen! I ain't the one who's got their face on a wanted poster! No one will think anythin' of it!" As Carson was sure of it, he stood his ground and stared his father down.
"Fine! Reckon, I can't argue with ya! Just get the supplies and get back here fast. That mine that sits on the Cartwright's place has gold in it just beggin' to be took out!" Mr. Kyle started putting his jacket on.
"What if they catch us going into that mine? We almost got caught last time, what with that big fellar passing by seconds after we went in." Carson didn't like this; it didn't seem to bother his father, almost being caught that is.
"Don't worry about that," the older man grinned, "It's like I told ya befer, every one of the ranches we've hit had somethin' on their land we could use. All we have ta do is make sure the Cartwrights are kept too busy ta bother us. It's worked on all the other ranches, ain't it? It will on the Ponderosa too! Now get those supplies!" Bert flew out the door without another word.
