Chapter 6: Revelations

Joe sat on his bed with his face in his hands, in disbelief that he let Mary talk him into breaking one of the main rules of the Cartwright household. He raised his head as he heard footsteps in the hallway. When the door opened, he stood up but kept his eyes on the floor.

"I'm really sorry, Pa."

Ben paced around the room. The silence tightened the knot in Joe's stomach even further and he wished for him to just start yelling and get it over with.

"What exactly happened this afternoon?"

Joe swallowed and told the entire story in detail. "Pa, if she hadn't teased me like that I would've never touched that gun, I swear it."

Ben placed himself in front of Joe. "I know that. But don't blame your recklessness on Mary." He paused and continued in a louder voice. "Joseph, this was just one of probably a few hundred times in your life where somebody will tempt or manipulate you into doing something. And by giving in every time like you did today, you will sooner or later end up broke, hurt, dead, or guilty of something that you never wanted to do. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"I see how Mary put you in a spot, but you could have simply called Hop Sing. You didn't have to go along and fool around with a deadly weapon you had no skills with whatsoever and deliberately disobey the rules! The number one safety rule as a matter of fact!"

Joe cringed as he looked up and saw the disappointment on Ben's face. "I didn't mean it."

"Not meaning it doesn't make you less responsible… which brings us to the consequences… come on." Ben put his hand on Joe's back, walked him to the chest in front of his bed and sat down. Joe didn't try to negotiate because he felt that he deserved what was coming. Ben took his wrist, pulled him face down over his knees and it did not take long until the uneasy feeling in Joe's chest and stomach moved to another part of his body. As soon as he was released, Joe jumped to his feet and winced as he put his hands on his backside.

With a stoic expression, Ben stood up and squeezed his son's shoulder. "Now that little sting is nothing compared to a bullet wound or the pain that I and your brothers would feel if something had happened to you or to Mary." Joe pressed his lips together and nodded. "You're forgiven and we can start fresh." Ben ruffled Joe's hair and left the room.

As he was standing in the hallway, Ben closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew how to deal with his sons, but he could not tell how Mary would react. It felt a bit like going swimming in a river, not knowing whether there were alligators in it.

Mary had heard what was going on in the room across the hall, but was convinced that she would not receive the same treatment, since Mr. Cartwright was not her father. She was lying in bed when she heard a knock on the door. Before she could answer, Ben entered and saw her stretching her arms and yawning.

He closed the door. "Mary, stand up, please."

She turned her head. "Huh? Why?" After looking at his face, she slowly crawled out of bed, mumbling alright, alright.

Ben walked towards her. "Do you realize what you did today, young lady?"

Mary took a deep breath. "I know I ain't to take your gun. Sorry, alright?! But I can handle it, my Pa showed me how!"

Ben inwardly counted to five. "You broke open a drawer and you stole from me. What has gotten into you, if I may ask?"

Mary looked around the room, then shrugged her shoulders. "Just felt like doing some target practice… and I would've put it back!"

"You just felt like doing some target practice, uh-hum… then you involved Joe in your scheme who had never handled a gun before!"

She put her hands on her hips and pulled a wry face. "Well, maybe you should've teached him."

Ben felt the blood rushing to his head. "Joe could have shot himself or you or other people coming by!"

Mary suddenly felt uneasy. "But… no… I was careful. Nobody was getting hurt."

"It was mostly luck that nothing happened!", shouted Ben.

Mary rolled her eyes and held up her hands defensively. "Won't do it again, alright?!"

"That's not enough. Mary, you're a part of this household and I'm beginning to think of you as part of the family." She felt a soft, gooey sensation spreading in her chest, however, the pleasant feeling vanished as soon as she heard the rest of what Ben had to say. "That means I'm going to treat you exactly as I would treat one of my boys. Now…" Ben lifted his thumb. "You broke open my drawer." He lifted his forefinger. "You disobeyed me." He lifted his middle finger. "You irresponsibly dragged Little Joe along." He lifted his ring finger. "And you fired a gun in an area that you were not familiar with, where people could have come by. Since this is the first time, I'll go easy on you with five per wrongdoing, which adds up to twenty."

Mary stared at Ben with big eyes. "Oh no, you don't! You're not my Pa!"

"But I am responsible for you as long as you're here.", he said softly and took a step in her direction, which made her back up. Then he picked up the chair by the bed, put it in a new position and sat down. "Mary, don't make this harder than it has to be. Come here." She did not move. Instead, she scrutinized the door and the window, pondering the best way to escape.

Ben slapped his thighs and stood up. "You stay away, you oaf! And keep your dirty horse crap hands to yourself!"

He pursed his lips. "Bad-mouthing me just earned you three more."

"I'll bite!" Mary reminded Ben of the fox that was once trapped in the barn, pressing its little body against the wall and baring its teeth.

"We can go up to 30, 40, 50… it's entirely up to you.", he said calmly, well aware that it was an empty threat.

Mary knew that the door would take too long to open and that jumping out of the window was no option either, so, in a swift movement, she slipped under the bed, which made Ben growl and Mary cough.

"Damn, it's dusty.", came a hushed voice from the floor.

"Young lady, come out of there now.", Ben said sternly.

"Only if'n you promise you'll leave me alone!"

"Mary, if you break the law you have to answer to the courts." As soon as the sentence had left Ben's mouth, he regretted his choice of words.

"The courts are a pile o' crap!" She coughed a couple of times.

Ben couldn't blame her for thinking this way, so he took a deep breath and sat down on the floor next to the bed. "Did you ever get a spanking from your Pa?"

She didn't answer. "Did you?", he insisted.

"Only cough once."

"Was it because you had put yourself in danger?"

"I stayed away all day and half the night 'cause I was mad at him."

"You see, he did it because he couldn't stand the thought that something bad might happen to you, because you are important to him." Ben held out his hand. "Come on, enough dusting for today." Mary answered with more sneezing, however, a few moments later, Ben felt a small, cold hand in his. He carefully pulled her out and had to smirk at the sight. Mary's hair looked like there was grey wool woven in it and parts of her clothes had a grey covering as well. Holding on to her hand, he stood up.

"No, wait… I wanna get the dust off.", whined Mary to stall for time and ruffled through her hair.

I'll take care of that in a moment, thought Ben, sat down, tugged her to his right side and pulled her over his lap. After the first swat, Mary screamed unwarranted and kicked her feet. "If you want this to be over quickly, you'll have to keep still."

After a while, she stopped squirming and started protesting. "Ow! No! Don't… ow! Stop! Ow!" Towards the end, Mary sobbed loudly, so Ben decided to go easy on her. Suddenly, she started yelling: "I don't care how much you spank me! I'll kill the bastards anyway! I'll shoot them! Somehow!" He let go but she stayed over his lap, crying.

He stood her up and held her by the shoulders. "Mary, what are you saying?!"

"They said… they'd get my Pa out of prison… but they're just filthy lying bastards!", she hiccupped.

Ben looked in her watery eyes. "Who are they?"

She wiped her face and took a deep breath, before telling Ben about the encounter in town and the midnight meetings. Now it made sense why she kept asking those questions about rustlers and watchmen.

"They wanted money and silver and gold, so…" Mary looked nervously on the ground.

"So… what?"

"If'n I tell you, you'll give me another hiding... or put me back in that jail cell.", she whispered.

"Neither one, I promise."

"Well, I gave them some of your things… that broach, too." Mary looked at Ben and saw his eyes narrowing. "You promised!", she shouted.

"Go on…"

"… and…" She closed her eyes. "… when I had nothin' else…" Fresh tears ran down her cheeks. "I gave them… my golden watch." Mary put her hands over her face and cried silently, which made Ben's anger vanish. He took her in his arms and held her, his shoulder muffling her weeping.

"We'll find them.", he said determined and rubbed her back. When she stopped shaking, he let go of her and looked her in the eyes. "But from now on, we are in this together… no more foolishness like running around with a gun all by yourself, is that understood?" Mary nodded and wiped her eyes. "I think we owe the boys an explanation, especially Little Joe. Come on."

She followed him along the hallway as he knocked on Joe's door and asked him to come down. Ben motioned for Mary to sit down on the settee and she was thankful for the furniture's soft padding when she did. Then Ben opened the front door and called Adam and Hoss inside.

With a confused look, Joe walked downstairs and saw everybody sitting around the fireplace. "What is this all about?", he asked and Ben told him to sit down. There was room between Mary and Hoss on the settee, however Joe did not care to sit close to her, so he headed for the rim of the fireplace. Before he could sit down, Adam pulled a cushion from behind his back and put it on the stone, giving him a knowing look.

Ben cleared his throat and told the boys about the two con-men, which caused Mary to relive her experiences all over again. Joe saw her struggling with tears and after he had heard her story, he was not no longer angry at her.

"Sorry I got you into this…", she said to Joe after Ben was finished.

He gave her a light smile. "It's alright."

"And sorry I took your stuff… I thinked I could get my Pa back." Hoss pressed his lips together and patted her hand.

"Now does anybody have a suggestion how we should go about it?", said Ben.

"We should tell Sheriff Coffee…", said Hoss, but was interrupted by Adam.

"Even if he found them, it would be their word against Mary's. Unless he could find the stolen things."

"I reckon they come back tomorrow. They always showed up on Wednesday.", said Mary meekly.

"We'd have to set a trap… Mary could give them marked money and then the Sheriff would have to wait for them somewhere along the road.", suggested Adam.

"I'm not comfortable with Mary meeting up with them. If they sense that we're in on it, it could get extremely dangerous.", said Ben.

"I ain't scared, Mr. Cartwright! I can fool them!", she shouted and Ben gave her a concerned look. "I can't lose my Pa's watch!" Her voice was trembling and when Hoss saw tears coming to her eyes, he moved closer and put his hand on her shoulder.

Ben tapped his fingers on the armrest and looked Mary in the eyes. "Alright, you do it. I'm afraid it's the only way anyhow." She wiped away her tears and gave Ben a determined look. "I'll ride into town and tell Roy what we're trying to do."

"I'll come with you, I can give him a description.", said Adam.

"Then that's settled… let's get some work done before supper… which reminds me… Joseph and Mary, you'll have extra chores for the next weeks. I'll give you a list tomorrow morning.", said Ben and stood up.

On the way out, Hoss interrupted Joe's stride by grabbing his shoulder. "Little Joe, promise me you'll never do something so deadgummed stupid and dangerous again."

Joe heard the fear in his brother's voice and nodded quickly. "I promise."

Hoss patted his head and continued walking to the door. "Was it very bad?"

"What?"

"The talk with Pa."

"Pretty bad, yeah… but to see him so disappointed was worse."

"I know how that is.", nodded Hoss and was reminded of an incident from a couple of years ago. They went outside and started stacking fire wood when Mary walked up to them and asked if she could help. The boys gladly accepted the extra hand. When the pile was almost done, she held out her hand to Little Joe.

"Sorry again for bein' so mean and gettin' you into so much trouble… friends or something like that?"

Joe looked at her with big eyes, then smirked and shook her hand. "Friends or something like that."

I appreciate all your comments. I also want to say thank you to all the guest readers, who I cannot message and thank personally. :)