Paul jumped down from the wagon. He'd finished examining the bodies, and verified that their hearts had been removed. He was certain they had been murdered by the same person who had killed the baby and Laura. Hoss was waiting for him at the top of the garden, and, as the two men headed back into the house, Paul told him what he'd found.
Ben, Adam, and Joe were waiting for them in the great room. As Adam and Paul shared their discoveries, Dandan and Peggy made their way downstairs. Ben saw them, and said, "I think Hop Sing has some cookies in the kitchen, gentlemen."
Surprised by the sudden change of subject, Paul turned and saw Peggy and the young Chinese woman on the stairs. He smiled and opened his arms, and Peggy ran to him. She climbed into his lap and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you, little one," he said. "You have no idea how much I needed that today."
"I shall bring you coffee and cookies, Mr. Cartwright," Dandan said, and she went to the kitchen. She was back in a few minutes with a tray. As she handed around coffee cups, Peggy picked up the plate of cookies and served them to each man. She stopped at Adam's side and waited until he tasted the cookie. "Mmm, these cookies are the best I've tasted, Peggy. Who made them?"
She giggled. "Dandan and I made them, Papa."
"You're getting to be a good little cook," Adam gave the child a hug.
There was a moan from the guest room, and Peggy peeped over Adam's shoulder to see who was in there.
"Uncle Roy was hurt last night, but he's going to be all right. He's staying here so we can take care of him," Adam answered her question before she could ask.
"May I help Hop Sing and Dandan with him?" she asked.
"You may when he's a little stronger," Adam said, "but you'll need to do just as they say."
Dandan turned to Adam. "Mr. Adam, I shall take Peggy for a walk now."
Adam passed Peggy to Ben, and stood up. "Dandan, I'd like to have a word with you in the kitchen, please."
The young woman followed him back to the kitchen. "Is something wrong, Mr. Adam?" She was anxious because the job was a good one. The Cartwrights were considerate employers who paid well, and she loved her little charge.
"I need you to keep close to the house. It would be best if you and Peggy didn't go out of the yard, and stayed far away from the garden." Dandan thought for a moment.
"Mr. Joe made a swing for Peggy and hung it near the porch. Could she play on it?"
"Yes, that would nice." They returned to the great room. Dandan motioned to Peggy, and the little girl kissed Ben on the cheek and left. Adam sat down with a sigh. He looked at Joe and smiled, "So you made Peggy a swing?"
Joe looked down at the floor. "You and Hoss made one for me when I was younger than she is now, and I remembered how much I enjoyed it playing on it."
"That was very thoughtful of you, Joe," Adam said. "Thank you."
There was a short silence, and then Paul spoke. "So, gentlemen, what's our next move? We have killer - one who's insane and possibly worshipping the devil? How do we catch him?"
Hoss said, "I think we need more help with it. I think we need to bring in Dave Clayton."
"Why Dave?" Ben asked.
"Pa, we've got proof we're fighting the devil - we need the Lord on our side. With all that Dave experienced as Sam Driscoll and all that he's done and seen since, his faith should be strong enough to face down the killer." Hoss replied.
"That's a good idea," Adam said. "We may need his skill with a gun, too."
Hoss shook his head. "Big brother, I think this is going to call for a different kind of skill."
Adam wasn't sure he agreed, but he didn't want to debate the value of faith over a fast accurate shot with anyone. He'd seen and experienced too many miracles in his life to doubt which one was the stronger.
Joe stood up. "I'll ride to town and get Dave. Should I tell him anything before he comes out here?"
"We want the killer to believe that Roy's dead," Ben mused. He came to a sudden decision. "We don't know who the killer is, but we do know it's someone familiar. It may be someone we see everyday. It's better not to tell him while you're in town, Joe. You don't know who might be listening."
Joe stood up and started for the door. He had a thought and turned to Ben, "Pa, what if it's a friend who's doing all - this?" He looked sick, and Ben knew he was remembering Ross Marquette, one of Adam's best friends. Ross had undergone a drastic personality change and become a thief and murderer. Adam had had to kill him in self defense, and it had taken him a long time to get past it.
"Then, Joseph, we do as we always do - we pray for him and we stop him from hurting the innocent."
Joe waited to see if Ben was going to say anything else, and then he turned and went to the barn.
"You think it is a friend, don't you, Pa?" Hoss asked.
"We've lived here a long time, son," Ben said. "We know nearly everyone who lives in and around Virginia City, and we get along with most of them. I think it's a strong possibility that we'll know the person."
...
Andy Reid and Jonathan Rogers were playing in the small barn behind the parsonage when Joe rode up. The boys came running out and greeted him. "Hey, Joe, come and play with us - I'm the sheriff and Jonathan's the robber, and I'm going to catch him."
Joe smiled down at them. "Thanks, boys, but I can't play today. Is Dave around, Andy?"
"Papa's in his study, but he's working on his sermon, and we're not supposed to bother him. Say, Joe, will you teach me to shoot? I asked Papa if he'd teach me, but he said he hoped to teach me better things than that," Andy said.
"Your Papa's right, Andy," Joe said. "He's got better things to teach you, and I hope that Virginia City becomes a place where you won't have to carry a gun."
He walked up to the house and knocked.
Andy and Jonathan went back to the barn. "He used to be a lot of fun," Andy told Jonathan, "but then he got to be a grown up. I'm sure not going to grow up."
"Me, either," said Jonathan as they went back to their answered the door with the baby in her arms. "Hello, Joe, come on in. Dave's working in his study. Do you want some coffee?"
"No, thank you, Lucy," Joe smiled at the pretty young woman, and chucked the baby under his chin. The baby cooed, and Lucy waved Joe to go on back. The study door was closed, and Joe knocked.
"Not now, Andy," he heard Dave answer.
"Dave, it's me, Joe Cartwright." He heard a chair being pushed back, and the door opened.
"I'm sorry, Joe, I thought Andy and Jonathan were - never mind, come on in." Dave stepped back and Joe came into his office. When they were seated, Dave leaned back in his chair and looked at Joe. The young man's eyes were troubled, and Dave knew he needed help.
"How are things at the Ponderosa?" Dave asked.
Joe hesitated. He knew what his father had said, but surely Dave would come better prepared if he know why he was needed. On the other hand...Joe made a decision to follow his father's instructions. "I need you to come out to the Ponderosa with me, Dave, and I can't tell you why."
"Do you need Dave Clayton the minister or Sam Driscoll the gunfighter?" Dave asked. He had tried to put his gun away, but had taken it out twice - once to save Lucy and Andy and a second time when Roy had asked him to ride along to the Ponderosa days earlier after Laura Cartwright had been killed. He knew Roy was man of courage and conviction, and something had shaken Roy to the very core. Roy hadn't been able to tell Dave what bothered him that evening, and he had put it down to a natural sadness over a young woman's death. Now it seemed the old lawman might have had a different reason.
"I need - we need Dave Clayton, the man of unshakeable faith who can face down something - someone evil," Joe said.
Dave stood up, and picked up his Bible. "Let me saddle Beauty and we'll go." He stopped to tell Lucy he was going out to the Ponderosa, and to kiss her, the baby, and Joy goodbye. Then he got his coat and hat, and went out to the barn. Andy and Jonathan were watching Joe saddle the big stallion. Dave kissed the top of Andy's head and ruffled Jonathan's hair. "Be good, boys," he said.
He and Joe mounted their horses and left.
...
"If anyone but you had told me this..." Dave shook his head. "A devil worshipper?" He looked again at Adam's translation of Roy's muttered phrases. "Are you sure you heard him right?"
There was a moan from the guest room, and Paul went in to check his patient. Dave stood up. "I'd like to see Roy, too." He went into the guest room, and watched as Paul felt Roy's forehead. "Still running a fever."
Roy turned restlessly and called out for Mary, his wife. Dave knelt down by him, and taking the sick man's hand in his, began to pray, "O God of heavenly powers, by the might of your command you drive away from our bodies all sickness and all infirmity. Be present in your goodness with your servant, Roy Coffee, that his weakness may be banished and his strength restored; and that, his health being renewed, he may bless Your Holy Name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."
The other men had bowed their heads as Dave prayed for Roy, and echoed his "amen." Dave put Roy's hand under the covers, and stood up. He walked back out to the great room, and sat down.
"Who do you think it might be?" he asked Ben.
"I think it's someone we know and would never suspect. Mary Rogers and her children are the only newcomers to Virginia City in the past few months, but I can't see a woman committing this kind of crime. For one thing, she wouldn't have the strength." Ben spoke thoughtfully.
Adam had looked up at the mention of Mary's name. While he knew that they had to consider all possibilities, it bothered him that she would be thought a suspect. Their friendship was deepening and growing into something more.
"What I'd like to do is go back out to the grave on the shore of Lake Tahoe. Roy interrupted whatever the person was trying to do last night, so he may try again tonight. I think we have to consider, too, that he may have a partner, someone to help him in his activities," Ben said.
By late afternoon Roy still had not recovered consciousness. He had continued to call for Mary, but then he began repeating, "Pater noster...pater noster...qui erat...in coelis..." Dave heard the prayer for himself.
"Do you have any Latin, Dave?" Ben asked.
"Some - enough to agree with Adam's translation." He looked at Adam. "I'm sorry if I sounded as if I doubted your word - it's just a devil worshipper in Virginia City is so hard to believe."
"I understand, Dave." Adam said.
...
Mary Rogers put the last stitch in the hem of the dress she was making for Martha Spencer, tied a knot, and cut the thread. She stood up, shook the dress out, and held it up. A customer in the store saw it, and smiled. "That's very pretty - could you make something like that for me?"
"I can make you something that suits you. This color is not the best for you. With your olive complexion you need something different - you want people to notice you, not the dress."
The young woman smiled, and she and Mary went over to look at bolts of fabric. Mary pulled out several for her to consider, and took the dress she'd just finished to iron. She smoothed out the wrinkles and hung it up.
Her customer had chosen the fabric and style she wanted, and Mary took her measurements. They discussed price and the date the dress would be ready, and Mary walked her customer to the door. After the young woman left, Mary looked at her watch. It was late in the afternoon, and she wasn't likely to have another customer.
She wrapped the dress up to protect it from the town's dusty streets, and left her store to walk over to the mercantile. Martha would be happy to get the dress, she knew. She'd offered to keep Caroline that day so that Mary could work on it. Mary had laughed, "What an offer! You must really want it! Is it for something special?" she teased. "Do you and John have an occasion coming soon?"
Martha's eyes had sparkled. "We're expecting something wonderful for John."
The mercantile was closed. Mary peeped in the windows to see if she could spot John, but there was no sign of him. An old man, one of Virginia City's perpetual step sitters, pulled on the hem of her skirt. "Pardon me, ma'am, but the Spencers closed early this afternoon. I reckon they're at home."
Mary thanked the man and went down the street to the Spencer home. She cut through an alley to the back street where they lived. There was no sign of Caroline out playing in their yard. Mary knocked on the door, but no one answered. She went around to the barn, and saw that both horses were gone, although the wagon was still there.
Mary went to the back door and knocked. Once again, there was no answer, but the door was unlocked. She opened the door and went inside.
It was the odor she noticed first - the sickeningly sweet smell of rotten meat. Mary walked through the house calling, "Martha? Caroline?" There was no answer. She went into the kitchen. Bloody packages of meat lay on the counter.
That explains the smell, she thought. As she moved around the room, looking for a clue as to the whereabouts of her daughter, she noticed one of the packages had come open. She looked - and looked again. It was a heart about the size of her fist - a human heart. Childhood tales of Bluebeard and Mr. Fox crowded into her mind.
Then she remembered the child for whom she'd made the shroud, and she had only one thought, Caroline!
Mary ran out the back door and down the alley to the sheriff's office. Clem had just finished his walk around town and was sitting down with a cup of coffee when she burst in, hair falling down and eyes wild. For a second he didn't recognize her.
"My daughter's missing! I think the Spencers have taken her!" she cried.
Clem stood up. He remembered his mother getting upset and his father would sit her down and say, "Now just calm down. Clara Lee, and let's talk this thing through."He decided to try it with Mrs. Rogers. He pulled a chair out, and tried to guide her to it.
"Now just have a seat, Mrs. Rogers, and we'll talk -"
Mary cut him off. "I need help to find my daughter. Martha Spencer offered to watch her today while I finished sewing a dress for her. I went to deliver the dress, and they weren't there! And Caroline wasn't there! Their horses are gone -"
Clem interrupted her and patted her on the shoulder. "Now, now, Mrs. Rogers, you're just upsetting yourself over nothing. The Spencers are fine people, and you have nothing to be concerned about if they're watching your girl. Caroline probably stopped to play on her way home, and the Spencers may have gone out for a little ride to enjoy the fall air. It's a pretty day, and we won't get too many more like it before winter sets in."
Mary felt like slapping the young man. "Where is Sheriff Coffee?"
"Well, ma'am, he isn't here right now. He went out to the Ponderosa to see Ben Cartwright, but I expect him back soon."
Worse than useless, Mary thought. She left his office and went home. They kept their horse and buggy in a small shed adjacent to their house. Mary quickly saddled Whickery, and mounted him. She rode him out of town at a gallop, people shouting at her as she rode too fast through the streets.
When they reached the Ponderosa, Whickery was in a lather. Mary tumbled out of her saddle, and ran to the door, beating on it. Hoss answered it and caught her as she fell into the room. "Where's the sheriff?" she demanded. She pushed past Hoss, and into the great room. Five men turned and looked at her in surprise. "I need Sheriff Coffee! Where is he?" Adam came forward and took her hand. "Mary, what's wrong?"
"I need Sheriff Coffee!" Her voice was shaking and her face was white.
Ben Cartwright answered her. "He's here, Mary, but he's been injured. What's wrong? What's happened?"
"My daughter, my Caroline - I think the Spencers took her!"
Adam led her to the settee and sat her down while Paul poured her a brandy and held it to her lips. She sipped, sputtered, and pushed it away. "I was making Martha a dress. She said she needed it soon for a special occasion and offered to keep Caroline for me while I finished it today. I took it over to the mercantile and it was closed. I walked over to their house, and no one was home and the horses were gone. I knocked on the back door, and when no one answered, I went in and called for Caroline and Martha. There was a smell," Mary shuddered as she remembered it. "It came from the kitchen, and I went back there. There were bloody packages on the counter - one had come open and it was a heart! I remembered the baby and Laura, and I realized..." He voice trembled, and she paused to get control of herself. "I ran to the sheriff's office, and Clem told me that Roy had come out here. He didn't tell me that Roy was hurt." She took a deep breath and stood up. "Well, if Roy can't help me - I have to find them."
Adam put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Mary, you've answered a very important question for us. Clem didn't tell you Roy was hurt because he didn't know. Whoever hurt him must believe he's either dead or too injured to be a threat."
"Caroline -" Mary breathed.
"We think we know where the Spencers will take Caroline, and we'll be able to capture them and save her, but we'll have to wait until tonight." Mary almost fainted at his words.
"My child is in the hands of killers and you want me to wait until tonight?" she was shocked.
"We don't know where they are now, Mary, but we believe we know where they're going to be," Ben said. He looked up as Hoss came back inside.
"Miss Mary, I put your horse up. You rode him pretty hard." Hoss reproved her.
"Mary's brought us some important information, Hoss," Ben said. "It seems the Spencers are the killers. They've taken Caroline."
Hoss's face flushed. "That poor little thing."
Hop Sing came in with a cup of tea for Mary. "Drink this tea, Mrs. Rogers."
She was ready to scream with frustration. "These monsters have my child, and you want me to be calm and drink tea? If you don't want to help me, fine - I'll go after my baby by myself." She turned to leave and found Dave Clayton blocking her way.
"Mary, we understand how you feel. You're going up against something - someone - unbelievably evil. Sit down and drink Hop Sing's tea. Rest and come with us tonight. You can save Caroline and help us stop the Spencers from hurting anyone else. If you leave now and try to find her on your own, you probably won't succeed in time, and you may put yourself in danger." She started to protest and he went on, "I know - you'd die for your child, but for now you must do something harder - wait for a few hours and work with us to save her and others."
She realized the truth of his words. She sat down on the settee and sipped the tea Hop Sing had brought her. He'd added a little hartshorn to it, and, after drinking it, she dozed off. Ben shifted her so that she was lying down. Hoss covered her with a blanket and put a pillow under her head. Then Ben, Hoss, and Joe sat down and began to clean their guns. Dave opened his Bible and read. Paul checked on Roy one more time, and then said goodbye to the Cartwrights and Dave.
"I need to check on my other patients, but I'll be available tonight if you need me." he told them. Ben thanked him, and the doctor left.
Adam went outside to Peggy's new swing where he found Dandan was pushing Peggy. He pushed her for a few minutes himself, and Hop Sing came out to call Dandan to help him in the kitchen. He continued to play with Peggy, and then took her inside. They went up the backstairs so that she wouldn't see the men in the great room or Mary sleeping on the settee.
When they got to Peggy's room, Adam sat down in the rocking chair while Peggy fetched her new book. "Read to me, Papa." She climbed up his lap and he opened the book to Cinderella, or The Glass Slipper. "Once there was a gentleman who married, for his second wife, the proudest and most haughty woman that was ever seen. She had, by a former husband, two daughters of her own, who were, indeed, exactly like her in all things. He had likewise, by another wife, a young daughter, but of unparalleled goodness and sweetness of temper, which she took from her mother, who was the best creature in the world..."
They read through the afternoon, and Adam finished the story..."She was taken to the young prince, dressed as she was. He thought she was more charming than before, and, a few days after, married her. Cinderella, who was no less good than beautiful, gave her two sisters lodgings in the palace, and that very same day matched them with two great lords of the court. Moral: Beauty in a woman is a rare treasure that will always be admired. Graciousness, however, is priceless and of even greater value. This is what Cinderella's godmother gave to her when she taught her to behave like a queen. Young women, in the winning of a heart, graciousness is more important than a beautiful hairdo. It is a true gift of the fairies. Without it nothing is possible; with it, one can do anything."
Peggy looked up at Adam. "Papa, do you think I have graciousness?"
Adam cuddled her. "Yes, my little princess, you have beauty and graciousness. You are as good as you are beautiful, and we love you very much."
Ben stepped into the room with a small pile of clothes over one arm. "Son, we're getting ready to leave in a few minutes."
He went downstairs and gently woke Mary. "We're getting ready to leave, dear. Here are some clothes and a pair of riding boots that belonged to my late wife. I think they might fit you." He led Mary upstairs to a guest room to change clothes. She slipped off her shirtwaist, skirt, and shoes, and dressed quickly in the divided skirt, boots, shirt, and jacket. She took her clothes downstairs, and Ben asked her, "Can you shoot, Mary?"
"Yes, I've been practicing with a rifle, but I didn't think to bring it with me."
"I have a rifle you can use, and Hoss has saddled one of our horses for you. Your horse is still tired." Mary thanked him, and followed him outside.