I do NOT own Bonanza or any of the original Cartwright characters.
Star's Hope
Chapter Ten
Star slipped out the front door and ran through the mud puddles the rainstorm had left behind in its path. She love playing in any puddle, but mud puddles were the best! When she heard footsteps coming, young Star whirled around. She grinned from ear to ear as she saw Hoss heading her way. The young girl squealed in delight and ran towards her giant of a brother.
Hoss laughed and quickly caught his young sister up in his arms. Sure, he got muddy too, but who cared? He'd been muddy before; he'd be muddy again. Course, he glanced towards the house. "I think your ma ain't gonna take kindly to you," he said as his eye brows turned down a bit, along with his mouth, "takin' an extra 'bath' out here. I think I best get ya cleaned up befer she and Pa get back from town." The two had had to make an unexpected trip to Virginia City and were due back soon.
Out of the blue, Star told Hoss, "Ma going to give me a baby sister." Hoss chuckled as he carried her inside and up the stairs, but not before asking Hop Sing to warm up some bath water. Meanwhile Ben and Brooke had begun their journey home.
Ben kept his eyes open as they traveled down the road. He'd have preferred to wait to make this trip; after all, it was still quite muddy. Okay, not so much that getting stuck was a huge possibility; still, any possibility made him nervous. If it hadn't been for the fact that the sheriff had shown up and told them that Old Man Hopkins was on his deathbed and begging someone to go get his old friend Ben and 'that good lookin' wife of his', they would have just stayed home.
When a movement off to his right caught his eye, Ben stiffened and lowered his right hand and slipped his gun out of its holster; he wanted to be ready if someone was going to cause them problem. His actions put Brooke on the alert, and she looked around. Before she could say anything, Mr. Mitchell stepped out from the bushes. Ben kept his hand on his pistol, which was lying next to him. Jason Mitchell could not see it.
"What do you want?" Ben kept his voice level. He no more trusted the man at that moment as he had the day before, or the day before that. The fact that the man seemed on the nervous side did help Ben's thinking to change. The sooner they got rid of Mr. Mitchell the better.
"A harmless rabbit spooked my horse back there and he threw me off," Jason motioned behind him, "I was just heading home." He pointed off in the distance. Now Ben knew the man had been up to something. Sure the Mitchell place lay on the other side of the Ponderosa, but there was also a road that led to it in the direction Mr. Mitchell claimed to have been thrown. Still, he wasn't going to let himself sink to the level the man beside him insisted on living.
"Hop in the back of the wagon. We'll give you a lift to the road that leads out to your home." Ben tilted his head towards the back of the wagon. Jason climbed in and sat near the back of the wagon. Ben headed down the road once more.
Ben slid his gun back into his holster. Inwardly, he sighed. Why was it that so many men knew how to do nothing, but go around making it necessary for good men to make sure they had a way to defend themselves and the ones they loved? It was all so unnecessary; too bad the ones causing problems for everyone else didn't choose simply to grow up!
Jason kept an eye on Ben and Brooke as the wagon rolled along. He also kept an eye up ahead. He grinned as he saw the friends he'd talk to in Carson the week before heading towards them. He was going to be rid of that halfbreed soon.
Ben stopped the wagon for the second time. He looked upon the tall, thin strangers before him. He couldn't help wonder who they were, and what they were doing on Ponderosa land. "May I help you?" Ben asked.
"Yes, you can," The second man shocked both Ben and Brooke when he whipped out his pistol, "Drop your weapons and get off out of the wagon! You too!" He waved his gun towards Jason. Jason kept his poker face on as threw down his pistol and climbed out of the wagon.
"What do you want?" Ben demanded as he automatically pulled Brooke to his side after throwing down his gun. The men did not answer as the one who had did the speaking walked behind Jason, took his wallet out of this back pocket and knocked him out with the bunt of his gun. Jason had instructed his friends to make sure they knocked him out before they took care of business. He figured it would take suspicion off of him.
Fear ran through Ben, not because he didn't want to lose any money but because of what the men might do to Brooke. "I can give you more money than what I have on me, if you just come to my house with me, much more." He kept his eyes on the man and his arm around his wife.
Jeffery, the younger of the two, looked from Jason to Ben. The man had paid them very little for this job. He waited too long to answer though. His friend had moved and was standing inches away from Ben. "I don't think so." Before Ben could say anything, Scott had him knocked out cold and had hold of Brooke.