"Uncle Joe, Aunt Beth!" Felicity's voice was loud and scared, her voice along was enough for Joe to try and lift his head even if he only gasped in pain as the horse they had thrown him over jolted him. Even in the moonlight I could see where the blood had seeped from his shoulder, staining the shirt he wore, and no doubt staining the coat of the Mustang that carried him. Beth walked next to the horse, the rope around her wrist tied to the saddle of the mustang.
It was no more then an hour or two before they reached the camp, only about six hours total since Beth and Joe had left out from Adams. Something Beth made note of.
"Where is Grayson?" Beth's voice was low, worried, her eyes dart about the small camp falling in sync from Felicity who sat near the fire with a man she didn't recognize, her hands and ankles bound, and her black hair in tangles, finally her gaze drifted to the leader- Jeremiah sat on top of his horse, staring towards me and Joe. His gaze was cold, uncaring, the ice in his eyes was enough to chill her. His eyes were brown, a color that was to similar to her fathers, so similar but so different. Where Ben's brown eyes were warm and gentle, Jeremiahs were cold and uncaring. If not for his eyes, Jeremiah would look almost harmless, nothing less then a gentleman, perhaps even a sophisticated man, much like Adam or Jared.
"You Cartwrights really are a strange lot." Jeremiah replied instead, watching as Beth reached out to steady Joe when the horse came to a stop, her hold on him awkward due to the ropes around her own wrist. "You and Joseph are both out here risking your own necks for your brothers children... But you both have your own families to attend to now... You have a two year old child at home with the good doctor. And Joseph's own wife is currently pregnant."
"You sure know a lot about us mister, for you to be a stranger."
"I will admit I wasn't aware of yours or Joseph's families, the sweet child there however was more then happy to talk about all of you with Brix." Beth's eyes slowly slid back over to Felicity who was shaking like a leaf, a prominent frown on her face. The other thing she noticed was the busted lip and bruising along her cheek and around the child's eye.
"Better to have her talk to calm her, then for you to beat her to silence." The man- Brix spoke, his voice was gruff, almost showcasing his age. Much like Jeremiah his eyes were hard, but they weren't cold or cruel, more like they seemed harden by time. The hair on his face was a dark gray, his head completely bald, Beth suspected that had it been day the sun would have made it shine.
"Only a coward beats children." Joe spoke, his words cracked as he breathed them out through the pain he was in. He had managed to sit himself up, his face pale in the moonlight and his body shook from the strain.
Jeremiah didn't give a response to Joe's words, instead he continued to gaze towards the two older Cartwrights, as if he was studying them, finally he rode his horse up next to the mustang Joe laid across, he reached out grabbing hold of the back of Joe's shirt in a firm grasp, pulling him up from the horse, ignoring the pained grunt that fell from his lips. Still without a word he released his hold, letting Joe fall to ground between the mustang and the appaloosa he rode upon.
"Joe!" Beth said, hearing Felicity start to cry from her place near the fire as Jeremiah slipped off his horse, a knife in his hand. He knelt down next to Joe, pressing the tip of his knife into Joe's cheek as made eye contact with him.
"I would be careful how you spoke to me Joseph. As of right now your life is in my hands... Now I need the children in order to get what I desire from Adam, but I in no way need your sister. As of right now you are both above the snakes... But that can change."
"Jeremiah, you know as well as we that a Cartwright is worth his weight in money." The man who had been with Jeremiah spoke, Jamison if Beth and Joe recalled correctly. "From what I hear their old papa is rich himself, I'm sure we could get money for the two of these as well. If not... Then I still know plenty of places to catch a pretty penny for the two. A strong back and a pretty face is always on the market." Beth noted now that his accent was odd, heavy. "I'm sure the two of them alone would likely make up for the money mister Cartwright caused you to lose. Add it to what you will be getting from him for his children."
"Perhaps you will remain above the snakes then ehh Cartwright?" Jeremiah said after a moment, a smile crossing his features as he stood up, stepping away from Joe.
"What you are talking about is illegal within this country." Beth spoke up, staring at Jamison in an appalled manner. President Lincoln had abolished slavery eleven years ago.
"Just because a thing has been made illegal, doesn't mean it stopped existing." Jamison replied smugly. "You see Cartwright, your brother lost us a good bit of money thanks to the little broad he up and married."
"Jamison" Jeremiah's voice came across as a warning, effectively silencing Jamison, whom grumbled incoherently as he turned away. But he had spoken enough to spike the curiosity of both Joe and Beth, and sow a seed of doubt into their minds. How had Adam or Alice either one ever have an association to these men? Jeremiah called himself an old friend of Adams, and some how Adam caused them to loose money due to Alice. Something just didn't piece together right.
"Explain." Joe said firmly as he tried to push himself up from the ground, succeeding if only slowly.
"We'll have time for that later. For now how about we get the two of you settled in. Brix retrieve some bandages, we'll let them tend to his wound, no point in allowing him to bleed to death or die of an infection." Jeremiah said while turning away, walking off towards the lake, he paused momentarily to call over his shoulder "Let them clean up the girl as well, wouldn't want her to look less then presentable when Adam arrives."
"Wait." Beth said, drawing Jeremiah's attention to her. "This isn't the south side of Lake Tahoe."
He smiled at her, bringing his hands up in a drawn out clap. "Very good Cartwright. You are right this isn't where I instructed the brat to meet me with the money, but I didn't expect Adam to follow my rules. My plan was to send Jamison and Brix to the rendezvous in case my directions were followed. They would collect the money and then Brix would bring the oldest here to collect the girl. We would have given a new set of instructions to oldest on how they would be able to find the other son, once the the oldest and the girl were on their way home the three of us would have left, and Adam would have been able to come back for his other child while we got away. We have him over in a little nook we we found on a small island just a little off the shore of the lake here. It appears things will not be going as planned however, Adams only hope now is to bring the money we requested, then perhaps they can still all be happily reunited."
Adam paced the porch of his home, more anxious then ever. He still felt torn, scared to leave his oldest even if he was in safe hands with Hoss and Jared.
"You are certain he is out of the woods?" Adam asked, glancing over at Jared almost hesitantly, feeling a small rush of relief as Jared nodded his head in an affirmative manner.
"Yes Adam, though I will continue to monitor him while you are gone, head injuries can be tricky, but I'm certain that he is going to be just fine." Jared reassured, as he placed his medical bag down by the couch. "Hoss should be back any minuet with Annie and Curtis, if you and Ben wish to head on out. We'll be fine here until then." Jared added with a small reassuring smile. They had decided that it would be best to bring Annie to Adam's so she wasn't alone to worry about Joe. Jared had also promised Beth to pickup Curtis from there, and not to burden the woman with his care for the entire night. This was just simply easier accommodations for the time being.
Adam swallowed, staring at the door leading to the room Daniel was located, he didn't respond and hardly tore his gaze away even as Ben came up next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Son you don't have to leave him, me and Hoss ca-" Ben started only for Adam to shrug his hand off, his face set into an an angry determination.
"No. I'm going. Hoss and Jared will be here, and I've asked Samson and Jake to come out tonight and stay about the house. I don't think any of the men will come back here, b-"
"Adam! Ben!" Jake's voice could be heard outside, as the sound of hooves made their way onto the property, quickly the three men exited the house as Jake and Samson rode in, coming to stop. They had another horse they were leading- Cochise, Little Joe's horse. Adam felt his heart clench in his chest as the second horse today came into his yard without its rider upon his back.
"Where did you find him?" Ben's voice asked as he walked out to meet them, taking the reins from Samson's hand.
"On the trail, not sure if he was headed for the Ponderosa or for Little Joe's place." Samson responded, his head hanging in remorse as he watched Ben's face twist in fear, the angst settling in his eyes, causing the usual calm brown to look like a raging storm.
"They were expecting me to go against their demands." Adam said, anger clear in his voice, his hands shook as he turned around shoving a chair over as he did. "Dammit!" Adam shouted, both his fist connecting with the door, the bang echoing across the yard, cause the wood to shake upon the hinges that held it. The four other men were silent, all eyes upon Adam, as his shoulders begin to shake. HIs hands were still on the door, and he had leaned forward his forehead resting on the door between his hands. All he could think was it was his fault if something had happened to Joe or Beth, and it was on him if he never saw either Grayson or Felicity again.
Carefully Ben moved to approach him, pulling the younger man away from the door. "We'll bring them the money." Adam finally said as Ben managed to console him. "But I'll be damned if they survive to spend it." Adam jerked away from Ben, forcing his fears aside as he walked into the house, reappearing moments later with a bag, no doubtfully holding the money.
"Allow me to ride with you Adam, you may need the extra hand." Samson spoke up as he watched the young man strap the bag to Sport.
"Very well." Without another word Adam hoisted himself onto Sport, hardly waiting for Samson or Ben as he rode out the yard, veering away from the road instead following the same path Joe and Beth had set out on, for Joe's horse to arrive back as soon as it did clearly meant the man who had his children was not camped out at the south end of Lake Tahoe. They were much closer, at most a couple of hours.
This story should be wrapping up within the next few chapters!
I once again apologize for the longer then anticipated delayed update!