I do not own Bonanza or any of the original Cartwright characters.

For the Love of a Brother

Chapter Seven

A cool breeze blew the Cartwright's front yard as Little Joe and Ben stood on the porch, while Carolyn rocked in chair behind them knitting. Dr. Martin and his assistant had chased them out of the house telling all of them to get at least half hour of fresh air. They didn't know why; it's not like their minds were doing anything but thinking about Adam and Hoss' and being by their bed sides, watching, praying and waiting for any signs of improvement.

Little Joe hadn't meant to, but before he knew it he'd spoken the one thought that had haunted him since he, Roy and the other men had brought his brothers home. "They wouldn't be up there if I'd just stayed at the cabin. You know, Adam, Hoss and the others arrived at the line shack a mere forty five minutes after we left. That is, the time he gave me when I asked him tells me it was only that short amount of time. " If only he had known they were so close, he'd never had taken Carolyn and fled.

Ben shook his head as he put his hand on Little Joe's shoulder. "You did what you had to do. There was no way for you to know they were heading your way. Don't blame yourself for this…" he paused; his voice trembled slightly as he fought to keep his composure. He had to; for the sake of his youngest he had too. Ben felt his heart breaking at the mere thought of the other possibility, but it had to be voice and Little Joe needed to let go of the guilt he was carrying, "don't blame yourself if…if we lose one, or both. And I don't even want to think about what could have happened if you had stayed and been discovered. It's not your fault."

Little Joe swallowed hard and rested his hand on his father's arm for a moment, and then turned around. "It's been thirty minutes; I'm goin' inside." He wasn't surprised when his father followed him.

Dr. Martin was just coming down the stairs when the Cartwrights walked through the door. "Paul?" Ben wasn't sure what to make of the solemn look up on his friend's face, and that made him nervous. It might not have been so concerning, but Jack, the man's assistant, was still upstairs.

Paul wanted to tell this family everything would be all right, but that was something that he could not guarantee any of his patients. "Hoss is asking for you, but Ben," the man paused then shook his head, "Keep it short. His fever might not be what it was, but it's still on the high side. He's not out of the woods yet."

The fact that Hoss was even awake, gave Ben and his family a sense of hope they'd not had for days. Ben searched the man's face and cautiously asked, "What about Adam?" When he left Adam's room his son's fever, though not as high as Hoss' had been, was still on the high side and he wasn't moving muscle.

"I don't know, Ben. He's in a bad way. Jack's with him right now. All we can do is hope and pray." Paul made his way to the door. Once he was gone, Ben and Little Joe practically flew up the stairs. Ben went to see Hoss and Little Joe made his way into Adam's room.

Hoss was still looking pale as Ben sat beside his bed. "Good to see you awake, son. Paul said you wanted to see me, but I don't think you should try to talk right now. You're still in need of rest." He didn't want him to push it, not yet anyway.

"Where's Little Joe? Carolyn, better yet, what happened? Where's Adam?" Hoss kept his eyes on his father.

Ben rubbed his palms together and did his best not to lie to his son, though he chose his words carefully. He didn't want to risk worrying Hoss in his condition. "Everyone is home, Hoss. Adam's lying down and sleeping. I suggest you do the same." He wiped the perspiration off his son's forehead as Hoss closed his eyes and mumbled something incoherent before slipping into sleep once more.

0000

Jack was just finishing changing the cloth bandages on Adam when the youngest Cartwright walked in. Little Joe waited until the man had left before he sat beside Adam's bed, took his brother's warm unresponsive hand in his and let his mind again turn to past events.

The sun was beating down upon the rocks, as Little Joe scooped the water from the pond up into his palms and brought the water up to his mouth. He dared not bend down to get the drink, as he did not know if Simon would "get lucky" and realize where they had indeed gone. He began plotting an alternative route home, one his adversary might not be aware of.

Carolyn, who had been studying her husband's face, in between glances of their surroundings, asked, "You think they'll change their mind and come this way?" She hated the idea, if only they'd found more bullets in that blasted room. It would have been so much better and would have made her feel a whole lot more secure.

"I don't know." Little Joe answered, "but we are going to do something. When we left that place it's not like I had time to gather any food." He knew they'd have to have that or grow weak from hunger. He was shocked when Carolyn started grinning and chuckling. He watched in amazement as she pulled out a ton of beef jerky out from her skirt pockets.

"I got them from that storage room when we first went in. I thought you saw me, but I guess you didn't." She was beaming at the fact she'd "saved the day". Right or wrong, she loved it. Maybe, it was that man versus women thing. Who knew? She didn't; she just took the time to enjoy the fact that she had been of help rather than helpless.

While the two ate on a bit of the jerky, Adam and Hoss were pushing their horses northward, along with Roy and Jason. Adam and his middle brother didn't know exactly where they'd find Little Joe, but they surmised, correctly, water would be a prime need and have a lot to do with Joe's decision when it came to the path he'd follow.

Everything would have been just fine, but James had finally calmed down enough to remember the storage room and he too had turned the sky blue with his language. Pushing his horse hard, he'd arrived back just in time to hide himself and hear everything Adam and Hoss were telling the other men. The moment the men were gone, James was both kicking himself and heading off in the direction Simon had chosen to follow. Once he'd found him, the two had raced back to the hut, to see if Tyler had gotten it into his head to return early. While he hadn't, he did arrive within minutes after they had. It didn't take long for the three to agree they also had to head north; that is, only after Simon assured them he knew a route other than the one James had seen the search party take.