Len looked down at the unmoving body of the youngest Cartwright. He hated the boy and everything he represented. His own direful life had caused this man to look on and allow hatred to fester in his very soul. Joe Cartwright was everything and had everything that he didn't have growing up and he hated him for it. He had taken the middle son under his wing and had helped him cope with the difficulties that came with his large size but all the time had continued to watch and hate the youngest Cartwright. He was the complete opposite to his brother but had a close bond with his brother that Len didn't understand and was jealous of. He had tried to cause a rift between the two brothers but was unsuccessful; their bond was too strong. This just made Len hate the youngest Cartwright even more.
Len was so possessed with hatred that his grip on reality had disappeared. Time had no meaning as he continued to search the house for anything useful to take with him. Ammunition, another rifle, food and some of Hoss's clothes were gathered by Len. Every time he walked down the stairs, the safe called out to him. He needed to open the safe to satisfy his greed. The oldest Cartwright was his only hope now so he decided to reverse the roles; instead of the youngest fearing he'd hurt his father for the combination, he would threaten to hurt the youngest in front of the father and get the combination from him.
He dragged Joe into Ben's room. He was awake and was horrified to see his son treated so badly. Len looked at the owner of the Ponderosa and laughed. "I know you never really liked me...that you only kept me on cause I helped Hoss. I've watched you give this...this kid everything he ever wanted and more..." Len kicked Joe with such force that his body moved across the floor. Ben gasped at the action.
"What do you want?" Ben asked and could barely keep the venomous tone out of his voice, not wanting to be the cause of anymore harm towards his son.
"I want what's owed to me...for putting up with your son and YOU!...I want money and one other thing but that can wait. How much money is in the safe?"
"I couldn't tell you. My son Adam has been looking after that side of things. The combination is 3,3,7." Ben told Len hoping he would leave Little Joe alone and take what's in the safe.
Len grabbed Joe by the hair and dragged him out of the room. Ben looked on horrified to see his son treated this way, especially when he was still recovering from his injuries. He could see blood showing through the bandages on his side and knew that the wound had opened up. Ben yelled, "You've got what you want, leave my son alone!" Len laughed at the father taking great pleasure in taunting him.
Ben looked around the room and tried to think of a way to get out of the bed. 'Then what?' he thought, he was helpless. His despair heightened when he heard his youngest son scream and the taunting laugh of Len. Ben prayed that his son would forgive him for not protecting him. Tears pooled in his eyes but he blinked them away. He has to be strong for his son and not allow him to see him wallowing in despair. He threw the covers of his bed back and rolled off the bed as quietly and carefully as he could.
Len opened the safe and only found two hundred dollars in it. He pulled Joe up by his hair, lifting him off his feet to bring him level to his face. Joe opened his eyes and saw anger and animosity looking back at him. He tried to not show any fear and his defiance earned him a knee to his stomach. Joe cried out as he was dropped to the floor. His body shook and he was finding it hard to breathe.
Len dragged Joe back to Ben's room. He halted abruptly when he entered the room. The bed was empty and the oldest Cartwright was nowhere to be seen. He continued to drag Joe across the floor and dropped him parallel to the bed. Joe was panting, each breath causing searing pain through his body. He turned his head towards the bed. Two chocolate brown eyes looked back at him. Joe thought he was hallucinating but his father smiled at him and brought his fingers up to his mouth telling Joe to keep quiet.
Len checked the kitchen but only Hop Sing was in there, still tied up on the floor. Len didn't acknowledge him, stepping over him like he was nothing. He then went out the side door and scanned the yard. 'How far can a cripple get?' he asked himself. Giving up on looking for the father he made a decision, he had wasted too much time looking for the father, he would punish him by taking his son.
He went back into the main room and grabbed everything he had stolen from the Cartwrights. He put them on his horse and went into the barn to saddle another horse.
Ben reached for his son's hand and told him to hide. Joe was reluctant to leave his father but understood his reasons for wanting him to hide. Hiding would delay Len further and hopefully long enough to get caught by Hoss or Adam. Both brothers were due back for lunch.
Joe tried to rise but the movement was too painful. All the blood from his face drained until he was as white as a ghost. His head spun and the room started to shrink. "I can't Pa...I'm sorry..." Joe's eyes rolled back, showing only the whites of his eyes. Ben grabbed his son and dragged him under the bed. He heard the front door open and hoped that Len had left but he heard it open again.
Ben looked back to where his son had been laying and saw a pool of blood. There was also a trail of blood leading to under the bed. After manoeuvring himself around Joe he pulled a blanket from the bed and used it to wipe away the trail of blood. He could hear footsteps and the front door being open again. He hurried his actions and wiped away all traces of the trail of blood. He then rolled back under the bed. He positioned himself closest to the end of the bed by pushing Joe further under. He roughly folded the blanket and held it against his son's side.
Joe groaned as pain assaulted his senses. He heard the soothing voice of his father in his ear. Joe tried to open his eyes but was only able to lift his eyelids slightly. He could see his father's face, but couldn't understand why they were surrounded by darkness. Ben could see confusion on his son's face.
"You're under the bed with me son." Ben whispered in Joe's ear. "Try to be quiet Son." Joe nodded and let his eyes slowly close. Being this close to his father gave him the strength to withstand the pain that radiated through his body. He held onto his father's hand tightly, not caring if he appeared scared. He just wanted it all to end; his body was hurting so much. He needed to cough but knew that would give away their hiding place. He lifted his hand and held it tightly across his mouth and coughed, almost choking, but was able to keep the sound of the cough within the confines of under the bed. Ben lifted some of the blanket and put it in Joe's hand to hold over his mouth. This allowed him cough harder, the sound absorbed by the blanket. Unfortunately it left blood on his face. The contrast of the blood on his pale face was ghostly.
Len walked back into the room and saw that nothing but a pool of blood remained where he had left the youngest Cartwright. He yelled animating his frustration, "Cartwright! When I get my hands on you...you'll be one sorry..." Len stopped abruptly because he heard a horse. He quickly ran into the kitchen and peeked through the side door by opening it slightly.
Hoss rode into the yard and sniffed the air, trying to discover what was cooking for lunch. He frowned when no tantalizing aromas met his nose. He paid more attention to the horses that were tied to the hitching posts.
Hoss could see Adams new rifle on one of the horses. Looking closer, he could also see that Joe's saddle was on one of the ranch's work horses. Rope had been tied to one of the stirrups. Hoss wasn't sure what to do next. He was worried he was being watched so he refrained from going for his gun. He decided to casually head towards the barn. He would make his way around the back of the house and hopefully take the intruder by surprise.
Len watched Hoss head for the barn. When Hoss disappeared inside, he carefully opened the side door and slowly made his way over to the barn. When he peered in he couldn't see Hoss anywhere. He swore under his breath. "Where do these Cartwright's keep disappearing?" Len whispered. Frustration was making his anger boil to the surface. He searched the barn and came up empty. He knew that he should leave but common sense did not prevail. He walked back towards the house to search for the youngest Cartwright. Torturing Ben by taking his youngest son was his priority. His hatred for Joe blinding his ability to see that staying was risking him getting caught and the fact that Hoss was somewhere didn't stop his actions either.
Len re-entered the house and looked around the room. It's magnificence made his jealousy worse. Seeing Joe sitting in the room comfortably in his mind made him growl out his frustrations. 'Where could that kid be?' he thought and then something suddenly occurred to him. He ran back into Ben's room and looked at the blood on the floor. There should be a blood trail he thought to himself and searched the floor for evidence of blood. When he was unable to find even a drop of blood he wanted to yell at the top of his voice his frustrations, but knew that would alert Hoss. Len's malicious smile spread across his face when he heard the sound of creaking floor boards.
