Chapter 7: Showdown

Ben sipped a glass of Brandy by the fireplace when Adam came back from feeding the horses. Mary, Joe and Hoss had already gone to bed.

"Pa, I was wondering…" Adam sat down on the settee and scratched the back of his neck. "What if Mary doesn't have any relatives or if they never show up?"

"t's only been a couple of weeks since Roy has started the search. Those things take time."

Adam took a deep breath. "I'm not saying that there is no chance anymore to find them… but there is the possibility that no-one will ever claim her."

Ben put his glass down. "Well… then I guess she is our responsibility." Adam stared silently into the fire. "Don't you think so?"

"Sure, I do. She has spunk and I like having her around… whenever she is not stealing guns, of course." He bit his lip. "I'm just not sure if this is the right place for her… with only men, you know."

"It will take some time getting used to for everybody… but for instance, if Hoss or Joe had been born a girl, nobody would think of sending them away."

Adam smiled, then started to chuckle because he imagined his two brothers with pigtails and in dresses. He told Ben about the picture in his head and both of them laughed.

"We'll just have to wait and see… but first we have to catch these frauds tomorrow."

"Sure, Pa. Good night."

"Night, Adam." Ben leaned back in his chair and watched his son walking upstairs. The thought of having a daughter seemed strange but at the same time evoked a feeling of great joy. Besides, he thought about re-marrying one day when the right woman came along and then it wouldn't be an all-men household. Ben closed his eyes, rested his head on the wing chair and fell asleep without noticing. Footsteps woke him up and he startled as he saw a white figure descending the stairs. Then he recognized Little Joe in his night-gown.

"Sorry, Pa… I didn't mean to wake you. I just need a drink of water."

Ben rubbed his face. "Sure, Joe."

When he came back from the kitchen, he stood in the middle of the room, sipping on the glass, and seemed to be lost to the world.

"Couldn't sleep?" Joe shook his head and Ben could tell that there was something on his mind. "Come sit down, son." Ben smiled and pointed at the settee.

"Tough day, huh?" Joe nodded and as Ben saw his tired, sad face, he stood up, sat down next to him and put his arm around him. Joe leaned his head against his father's chest and they sat there in silence, looking at the crackling fire.

"Pa?"

"Yes."

"After what I did… will you still teach me?"

Ben turned his head and tried to look at Joe's face. "Teach you what?"

"To handle a gun. Will you trust me enough to show me, like you did with Adam and like you promised Hoss?"

Ben's eyes widened. "What gives you that idea? Surely I trust you to handle a gun one day when you're old enough."

"You always say when someone acts reckless, for example with a horse, he shouldn't be allowed to have one."

Ben pressed his son's head to his chest. "You made a mistake today - we all do that sometimes - but that doesn't mean that it'll follow you around forever. I told you, you were forgiven, remember?"

"Are you still disappointed in me?"

Ben lifted his arm and pushed Joe away, so he could look him in the eyes. "Little Joe, I might be disappointed in your actions sometimes but I'm never disappointed in you. You're my son… and I love you."

A light grin appeared on his small face. "Love you too, Pa."

"Now you go to bed and worry about nothing except those extra chores that you're gonna get tomorrow.", he said with a smile and kissed him on the head.

Joe smiled tiredly and pushed himself off the settee. "Alright. Good night."

"Night, Joe."

oooOOOooo

The list of additional chores for Little Joe and Mary consisted mainly of cleaning every inch of the house and Ben intended it to be less of a punishment and more of a chance for the two of them to work together and get along. However, working on the list was not the priority on this day. Ben and Adam informed the Sheriff about what had happened and what they were planning to do and Roy Coffee agreed to deputize some men and await the two at a crossroad leading from the Ponderosa to Virginia City.

The full moon seemed like a giant lantern, when, shortly after midnight, Mary saw Frank and Charlie in the distance, riding towards her. Ben was hiding in the barn in case he needed to intervene and Adam watched from the window in the upper floor, informing Hoss and Joe, who were sitting on the bed behind him, about the occurrences.

"Where were you last week?", asked Frank.

"Uhm… Mr. Cartwright was downstairs, I couldn't leave the house without him seeing me. I'm sorry.", said Mary.

"You got somethin'?", asked Charlie.

"Yeah… we need to bribe a warden.", said Frank grinning.

Mary felt her heartbeat going up but forced herself to stay calm. "Yeah, I got somethin'." She reached into her pant pocket and pulled out a roll of dollar bills.

Frank took it with gleaming eyes. "300 Dollars.", said Mary. "I got it when they left the safe open."

"Good. That'll help. See you next week."

Mary said goodbye and both men quickly mounted up and rode off.

"That was a bit strange.", said Frank after a while.

"What was?", frowned Charlie.

"She acted diff'rent today. Didn't even ask about her Pa and all."

"Don't know. All I care is we got 300 Dollars."

Frank pulled the reins, pulled out the money, unrolled the bills and lit a match. "See… they're marked."

"All rich people do that."

"Something is wrong here.", Frank looked around. "First, she don't show up, then she acts all strange and gives us marked money."

"She wouldn't tell them Cartwrights. You're imaginin' things!"

"Shut up! We're taking a detour. They're probably waiting somewhere in the bushes."

Adam saw from the upstairs window how the two dark figures suddenly turned their horses around and rode in the opposite direction of Roy Coffee and his men. He ran downstairs, followed by Hoss and Joe, grabbed his hat and gun belt and hurried to the barn, where he ran into Mary, who was on her way to the house to fetch him.

"They're gettin' away!", she shouted. Ben and her had seen the two through a crack in the barn wall. When the boys and Mary entered, Ben was already saddling the horses. "Hoss, you ride out to Roy and tell him to come to the east road, then you go back home. Adam, you come with me. Joe and Mary, you go inside and stay with Hop Sing."

Everybody did as they were told and Ben and Adam followed the small path as quietly as possible. "There.", whispered Adam and pointed at two horses without riders in the near distance.

"They're hiding somewhere. Take cover." Ben jumped off his horse, took Adam by the arm and together they hid behind a big rock.

"Give yourself up! There' s a posse looking for you, you wouldn't stand a chance!", shouted Ben but nobody answered.

After seconds of silence, Ben slowly left his cover to look for movements in the brush. In the next second, a shot was heard and fiery pain went through Ben's left upper arm. He grabbed the wound with his hand and let himself fall on the ground behind the rock, where Adam quickly took off his bandana and tied it around his father's arm.

"Just a flesh wound…", moaned Ben.

"What is keeping Roy?", hissed Adam while he tightened the knot.

It felt like an eternity had passed when Ben and Adam finally heard hooves clatter.

"Get down… they're here somewhere!", shouted Adam and Roy and his three deputies followed the warning.

"Ben, where did that shot come from?", asked Roy.

Breathing heavily, Ben told him where he had been standing when he was hit.

Roy pointed his gun in the direction where he thought the men were hiding and started to speak in a loud voice: "There are six men out here waiting for you. Now so far you have done nothing to end up at the end of a rope, however, if you take a shot at a law officer or one of his deputies I'll guarantee you, your hangman will be on the next stage! Now throw out your guns and come out with raised hands!"

Roy's eyes scanned the area and there was no movement and no sound. Suddenly he thought he heard someone whispering and then something moved in the brush. Everybody startled when a gun fell on the ground and a second one followed.

"We're coming out, don't shoot!", said Frank, whose head appeared suddenly from behind a small rock. He slowly stood up and walked a few steps towards Roy. Charlie followed soon after. Ben and Adam came out of their hiding spot and Frank saw that Ben was holding his arm. "We didn't want to hit anyone! It was only to scare you off.", he said with a trembling voice.

"You can tell that to a judge.", said Roy and tied up his and Charlie's hands.

"Ben, you better see Doc Martin.", said Roy after the men had been put on their horses and everybody was about to mount up.

"It's just a graze wound and I really want to go home.", sighed Ben. "I'll take care of it myself and I'll see the Doc in town tomorrow."

"Alright. Ben, Adam, please come to the office tomorrow for the testimony. And bring Mary.", Roy tipped his hat and rode off.

"Sure. Thanks a lot for your help."

"Has the bleeding stopped, Pa?", asked Adam concerned.

"I'll be alright. Let's get on home."

oooOOOooo

When Adam opened the front door, Hop Sing, Joe, Hoss and Mary jumped up from the table and gathered in the entrance.

"Pa! What happened? Should I get the doctor?", asked Hoss while Joe and Mary gazed at Ben's bloody arm.

"Don't worry! It isn't as bad as it looks. Just get some wet towels, some dressing material and the whisky bottle.

Adam went for the bottle and Joe ran upstairs to get the rest. After sitting down at the table, Ben ripped his shirt sleeve off. Mary froze to the ground as she stared at the dried blood. Ben took a sip of whisky before using it to disinfect the wound and clenched his teeth, so that the immense sting wouldn't show on his face. "Mary, why don't you go and get me a glass of water, please." He didn't want her to witness his anguish.

"Are they behind bars now?", asked Hoss and Ben told him what had happened while Adam bandaged up his arm.

Early next morning, Ben, Adam and Mary entered the Sheriff's office and Roy told them that the two suspects deny all accusations. "They're saying Mary gave them the money voluntarily, because they knew her father and that this was all they ever took from her." Roy focused on Ben. "And concerning the bullet wound… they have identical gun calibers and they're blaming each other, so there is no way of saying who fired the shot. I'm sorry to say that, but I'm afraid you got no case… there is simply not enough evidence for a judge to even come here and set up a hearing. If you can't come up with anything else today, I'll have to let them go."

Mary gave Roy a fierce look, jumped up, opened the door to the cells and ran towards the two imprisoned men, yelling words that were usually only heard in saloons after the third round of liquor. Frank and Charlie stood up and came closer to the bars, laughing at her tantrum. When Ben, Adam and Roy stepped into the room, they were just in time to witness Mary bending her leg backwards and kicking Frank in the shin with full force. He screamed, contorted his face, reached down to his leg and jumped around the cell, cursing. Ben grabbed Mary's shoulder and pulled her back, while glaring at the two scoundrels.

Then he turned to his son. "Adam, take her outside… and Roy, is it alright if I talk to them in private?"

Roy frowned at Ben. "Alright…"

Mary protested, but Adam shoved her quickly through the door and Roy followed them.

"Look, gentlemen…", said Ben calmly. "Several of my ranch hands and my oldest son can identify you as cattle rustlers… and in this part of the country you can get hanged for that if you run into the wrong judge… and believe me, I have my ways to make sure that you will get that wrong kind of judge." Charlie suddenly looked at Ben with big eyes. "But I'm willing to make you a deal… you tell me where I find the pocket watch and the other items that you took and I won't press charges. So, it's your choice… the truth or the rope."

"It's buried under a tree behind the shack on Pine Hill.", yelled Charlie and was hit in the shoulder by Frank's fist.

"He's bluffing, you idiot!", screamed Frank, whereupon Ben left the cell room with a suppressed grin.

"Roy, I'll be back in an hour. Just keep them locked up until then." He stepped outside the Sheriff's office, leaving Roy behind puzzled.

"Adam, Mary, you ride back to the Ponderosa. I'll be home soon."

"What happened?", asked Adam.

"Just do as I say."

Adam shrugged his shoulders, heaved Mary on his horse and looked at Ben, as he rode off, leaving a cloud of dust.

oooOOOooo

Two hours later, Ben rode into the yard and dismounted carefully with one hand because his left arm was in a sling, when Mary and Joe ran up to him.

"Pa! Adam told us! Are they going free?!"

"What about my…?!, yelled Mary, but Ben shushed her and opened his saddle bag. Slowly, he pulled out a small, golden object and handed it to her.

Mary looked at her watch, rewound it a little and held it to her ear. "It's ticking! It's still ticking!" She carefully put it in her pocket, walked up to Ben, threw her hands around his waist and whispered thank you. Ben smiled and patted her back.

"Did you get the rest, too? And are they going to prison?", asked Joe with big eyes, just when Adam and Hoss strode over the yard and joined the gathering.

Ben took the saddle bag off his horse. "It's all in there… but they won't go to prison. There isn''t enough evidence. However, I tricked them into believing that I could get them hanged, so they told me where they hid our things."

"Well, at least we got it all back.", said Hoss.

"And they will never set foot in the area again. Roy told them that if he ever saw them in his jurisdiction, he would lock them up quicker than they could swallow a shot of whisky."

"What a loss…", smirked Adam. "How is your arm? What did the doctor say?"

"Doc Martin wasn't in his office. It still hurts, but it feels like it's healing. Now let's get some lunch."

Mary walked next to Ben and winced at the sight of him contorting his face as he pressed his hand against the spot where the bullet had grazed his flesh.