Chapter Eight
A/N I've had to put my computer in the shop, so I don't have any more chapters written yet and am having to post this at the library. (Thank goodness I had the chapter backed up on USB disc!) As soon as I get the computer out of the shop, I WILL finish.
~oOo~
"What?" Ben felt the blood drain from his face as he quickly sat down in his chair. He had come in from the barn to find shock waves going through him as he witnessed Adam suspended in the air almost to the ceiling; his legs, head and arms hanging down while his body was in a U shape and his eyes were closed. The thin layer of fog like matter was wrapped around him. The moment Ben walked into the house, whatever was keeping Adam suspended like that lowered him gently down and laid him on the couch and the fog disappeared. Ben had tried to arouse him, but failed. Only when he yelled for Hop Sing did Adam open his eyes and stop him.
Adam, who now sat on the couch, wished he hadn't felt compelled to tell his father everything. Only, as he had thought on it he realized that whether or not he liked it, Ben was right; he had to know…especially after seeing what he had.
"You heard me." Adam said slowly as he sat up straight. "Doctor Martin does not know how often I've gone a bit pale…I never told him that part. I had other things to do besides have a doctor poking at me." Adam paused knowing that Ben would be unhappy about the revelation as he, Ben, had not said a thing about it either assuming his oldest son had done that. Adam then said quietly, "I didn't know what was causing them and neither did Abigail. For that matter, it's like she told me the first time I saw her on the Ponderosa, she doesn't know how we got connected." Adam paused realizing he'd used the word 'doesn't' which was, after the visit she'd received, was no longer true. He took a deep breath and continued, "That is until her mother and mine appeared unto to her and told her everything."
Adam stood up and walked over to the empty fireplace. "Apparently spirits or 'ghosts' aren't supposed to touch you, let alone embrace you. Though, with her mind on making sure her murderer and the men who mocked her were kept in that hotel, no other spirit could get her to hear them to tell her that. If she had known, she'd simply have approached me like she would a brother and talked to me without every allowing us to touch." Adam shrugged his shoulders and said, "She had no idea that my actions would release her captives, nor did she realize that we'd, somehow, made a connection until later. Also, until the talk with her mother and mine, she didn't know that the connection we'd made was dangerous to me. As it is now, it wouldn't matter if we touched each other or not, as the connection has already been made." Adam held up his hand before his father could say anything negative about Abigail, which it looked like he was going to do. "How many times have you or I, or anyone else not listened to someone?"
"And hanging you up in the air like she did?" While Ben had to admit Adam was right when it came to people's listening skills at times, he didn't like seeing Adam hang in the air; it had been more than unsettling.
Adam turned up the palms of his hand and answered, "I can't explain what I don't understand and neither can Abigail; she's only doing what she was told to do by her mother and mine. However," Adam said as he looked down at his hands and then back at his father, "We know this much, the spells that I'm having, I mean, the times my skin goes pale have to be stopped. If they're not…" Adam stood up and put his hands on his hips, giving his father a look that said…' Well you get the picture; do I really have to finish that sentence?'
Ben felt fear grip his heart. Dealing with men like Tyler Matthews he was used to. However, things like spirits and fogs that wrapped themselves around people were out of his league. "How soon will you know if it, whatever she did, worked?" He wasn't prepared to lose Adam. For that matter, he wasn't ready to bury any of his sons.
"According to my mother, I shouldn't have allowed you to touch me. THat is, unless I was doing this procedure after every time we were talked to each other. Somehow it keeps things in order." Adam could hear Abigail's voice, but not see her face as she'd had him close his eyes the moment the fog first closed in around him. "I'll have to treat you twice right now. After that, you can expect this once before we actually talk and once afterwards." Abigail's frustration could be heard in her voice. "I know what to do; I just don't get how it helps no matter what they say. Still, mother never lied to me, and she says it's the only chance we have. Your mother says the same thing. So…I can't stand by and not do my best to save your life. I mean, you shouldn't have to die just because you were willing to help me. Just be prepared, some of it will feel so good you won't want me to stop while parts you'll want to scream. Do that only if absolutely necessary. I mean, we don't want just anybody to come running do we?" She then proceeded to do what she'd been told to, while Adam gasped as a portion of the fog started rolling through his entire being, from head to foot while the other part stayed wrapped around him. He could feel himself slowly being lifted up into the air and the 'treatment' began to intensify. Once more, he found out Abigail was not one to lie.
When Adam didn't answer him, Ben grew alarmed. "Do you know already that it won't?" he asked as he leaned forward. One look at his son's lips which were still a tad bit off in color and Ben was afraid he knew the answer.
He wasn't surprised by the question as he had not explained 'the treatment plan' yet. "It's like taking medicine, Pa. You have to take more than one pill. But," Adam hurried to change the subject as he heard horses approaching, "We've got other things to worry about right now. It sounds like Hoss and Little Joe are home. Let's hope they have some helpful news."
Ben nodded as he fought to keep his composure as he looked upon his oldest. The sooner they got Mr. Matthews taken care of, the sooner this Abigail could move on, and the sooner he and his sons could get back to the normal every day things.
~oOo~
Mr. Matthews once again walked around on Ponderosa land while he looked at the map in his hands. He was growing more and more impatient. He was sure he had the right map; still, he was finding nothing. It didn't help that any time he began walking around he felt as if he was being watched. More than once he thought about the young woman that had been known as Abigail Hunter, and more than once he pushed the thought aside. After all, Adam Cartwright had gotten her to release everyone in the motel and everyone had moved on. This being the case, he began to think Adam had to be watching him somehow. But, if that was so, why didn't he approach him? After all, he, Tyler, was on the Cartwright's land.
In all reality, Tyler Matthews had two people watching him. One was a friend of the Cartwright's, who had they had pulled in to keep tabs on their "friend". The other one, the one that Mr. Matthews did not consider a possibility, was indeed Abigail. While she and Adam were to meet in the same hidden grove in a few hours, she had wanted to make sure Mr. Matthews had not left the area. It was all she could do not to trick him back into the mine and trap him there. As it was, it was only her promise to Adam that kept her from doing so. However, it did not stop her from making a very solemn vow. "If you ever lay a finger on Adam or any of his family, I will make you pay!" She spoke the words in a low, firm tone….and the hair on the back of Tyler Matthew's neck stood straight up, causing him to move his search elsewhere in the hopes of getting rid of the uneasy feeling that had just come over him.
