7

They were still washing the ink stains off their hands when Sgt. Loam arrived at the jail. Through the barred windows Thomas announced the column of cavalrymen that came with the sergeant. "Our three friends aren't there."

As Henry was down at the post office with the letters, his deputies had to field the demands of the sergeant. They accepted the orders for a prisoner transfer, walked Loam back to the cells and let him eyeball the prisoners, then told him that no one could be released without a signature from the sheriff, and the sheriff was off running an errand.

Loam was forced to wait. He stepped out onto the boardwalk and Adam and Thomas heard him order his men to dismount, stand at ease, and not leave the area.

"How hard did they have to ride to get here that fast." Thomas asked quietly.

"They were probably riding after us a few hours after we left Ruby. They have those pony express horses and skilled riders. The colonel could have ordered a column to head out in each direction, and once he had word from a sheriff that we'd been arrested, he'd send a messenger out to the column and recall the rest."

"You sure you were never in the army?"

Adam gave a lopsided smirk. "Positive. The War Between the States did a number on my family on more than one occasion. We took as little a role in it as possible."

"Sergeant Loam is coming back in." Thomas said from the window.

Adam watched the gap between the door and the jam, listening as Loam came in to demand to know the sheriff's whereabouts. He reiterated how important their orders were and how quickly they had to travel.

The deputies gave the same response, showing no particular love for the army. One even offered to show Loam and his men where a good livery could be found, suggesting they all take a break and have a beer down at the nearest watering hole. Loam snapped that he and his men were on duty, and stormed back out of the jail.

They heard the deputies chuckling before one of them stepped into the cell block. Adam blinked, then shot a look to Thomas, before glancing back at the grinning face of Sheriff Gill Henry. Adam managed a smile, despite the injuries to his face.

"Waiting for the sheriff, are we?" He asked, his voice low.

"Yeah." Henry said. "Funny thing. I went down to mail them letters and seem to have misplaced my badge. All I had left was this deputy badge, and it wouldn't be honest to sign them papers for the army men, without my badge of office, now would it?"

"You're walking a thin line." Adam said. This time Thomas' chuckle didn't bother him in the slightest.

"I'm a little too curious about that information you wanted Sheriff Coffey to look after. And I want to make sure the mail goes out today before anything else leaves the town."

Adam stuck his hand through the bar and Henry grasped it. "I'm more grateful than you can possibly know, She-deputy."

"You two just stay quiet back here. I'll stall as long as I can. I convinced Jimmy down the telegraph office to make like the line is down, in case any of them fellers want to wire the fort. I figure the best we can stall is 24-hours. If either one of you comes up with a bright new idea in that time, you let me know."

Henry went back out, leaving the jail and announcing that he was going to look for the sheriff. Adam eased himself down on his cot and closed his eyes to think. His thinking turned into sorely needed sleep that lasted a few hours. When he woke he found that Thomas had glommed onto the same idea, and at least one of the deputies was doing the same, leaned back in a chair in the front of the jail.

Food had been left for them, the plates balanced on the rectangular slot built into the cell door. Adam took his share and ate it, guessing from the cutlery that the food had been made by one of the deputies.

Thomas slept for another hour before coming awake with a start. Adam asked one of the deputies if they could reheat the food they'd brought for Thomas and they were brought two steaming cups of coffee in the meantime.

The cavalry column was quiet outside the jail and when Adam got to his feet to look out the window he found they had disappeared.

"Probably camped overnight outside of town." Thomas said, still wiping sleep from his eyes. When his food came the big man ate slowly. Adam wasn't sure if he was lost in thought, or reliving whatever dream he'd had before waking.

"Carson City State Prison...this place is heaven compared to there." Thomas said when the last bite of his food was gone. He sat back on the cot with his shoulders propped against the wall, sipping the last of his coffee. "Too many men crammed into the cells. Not enough food. Not enough blankets. If you're at the top of the food chain the little men nip at your heels like wolves going after a bull. So when a man makes an attempt on your life, you almost don't notice it. Everybody there is trying to get on top."

"You didn't know they'd sent someone to kill you?" Adam asked.

Thomas shook his head. "I caught on. A man came to visit me. Said he was the lead investigator of an insurance company back east. He said they had been looking into peculiar losses of property, and other matters, pertaining to World Wide. He talked long and hard about how he wanted me to be protected as a witness for his investigation. But then he disappeared.

When those paid-off prison guards took me out of Carson City, told me that I needed to kill you and your pa and I'd be set free, they bragged about how they got me out of the joint. You see, they made up a crime. An awful horrible crime that somebody wanted me to hang for back in Philadelphia. The crime came with a summons demanding that I appear in court for the trial."

"A prisoner transfer." Adam said.

"A transfer, all signed and legal. Trumped the prison sentence that the judge gave me, would have made the perfect excuse for how I got dead after I killed the two of you."

Adam drank the last of his coffee then started beating the bars of the cell with his cup. Gill was quick to come back and Thomas and Adam hurriedly explained what needed to happen. Adam wrote the telegram and Gill ran off to have it wired, zigzagging around town a bit to lose his tail, before going into the telegraph office. The reply came within the hour. Another hour passed and Gill returned as Sheriff Gill Henry, with a request for a prisoner transfer ordered by the governor.

The argument between Sergeant Loam and Sheriff Henry lasted about ten minutes. Sheriff Henry insisted that he hadn't been told by any of his deputies that the army had arrived (which was true) and that he had received the order from the governor before seeing the transfer order from Sgt. Loam (which was also true.) A representative was being sent from Carson City to collect the two prisoners who were accused of stealing property from the Ponderosa. And since the sheriff could produce evidence of the theft right then and there, but Sergeant Loam couldn't seem to produce evidence of their crimes against the U.S. Army, it was the sheriff's duty to follow through with the transfer to Carson City first.

"If you fellas want to ride along with them, I suppose you might ask for permission. The telegraph is workin' again. You can wire the fort and let your colonel know you're just going to have to wait to get your hands on these boys."

By the next morning Sgt. Loam and his column of cavalry had left Austin, heading north. Adam and Thomas were given their 'stolen property' back and had the company of Sheriff Henry and a few of his deputies for a day and a half before they met up with Sheriff Roy Coffey and 'Deputy Joe Cartwright' on the road to Virginia City. Joe even signed the prisoner transfer paper, grinning the whole time.

They didn't waste time getting back to Virginia City. Adam promised that he would be back in town in no less than a day and Adam, Joe and Thomas returned to the Ponderosa late that night. Thomas insisted on going up to his line shack and they parted ways before Adam and Joe turned down the road to the main house. They took the final mile of their ride slowly and Adam was stuck the whole way answering questions.

Neither Cartwright was surprised to see the main house still a'light with lamps. Ben limped out onto the porch at the sound of the horses and Adam stepped down from Sport's saddle and into his father's arms. Ben held him there long enough to look over the damage, much of it reduced to colorful bruises and healing scabs. When he was satisfied that his son was whole, Ben let him look after his horse and went in to put his sons' supper back on the stove.

Adam, Joe and Ben sat at the table for a few hours talking. Most of the talk was Adam's third retelling of his trip north. Ben and Joe talked about their adventures in joint fatherhood, taking care of Wi-Jah. Ben mentioned having talked to a few families in town about taking Wi-Jah in.

"It's been a hard winter so far, and it looks like it will only get harder. As charming as she is, nobody wants an extra mouth to feed." Ben said.

Adam didn't respond. He'd shed more than a little blood for Wi-Jah's sake, and for her mother's sake, at a different time. His idea of what was best for the babe had shifted significantly while trying to track down her father. If the colonel proved stubborn, or foolish, enough to go after the infant, Adam didn't want Wi-Jah or her unsuspecting adoptive family to be put in danger.

That night, after Adam had taken a long bath, he slept fitfully. When Wi-Jah started crying at three in the morning, Adam went into Hoss' room and took over her care, rocking her as he headed down to the kitchen to warm a bottle. He sat in the warm kitchen, in the rocking chair that had been pulled in off the porch, holding Wi-Jah to his chest and telling her about her mother while she ate.

In just the short time he had been gone Wi-jah had grown. She was more alert now, her eyes latching on to things faster and staying there. She turned her head now in response to voices and had more strength in her neck, arms and legs. While he jostled her, the bottle and the burping cloth Adam discovered a ticklish spot. After he had burped her he sat her on his thigh, her back against his belly, and tested his theory. He got small smiles and the beginnings of laughter when he squeezed the tops of her knees.

He thought that when she was old enough to think about courting, that particular weakness would be problematic. He told Wi-Jah he would keep it a secret between them. Adam built up the fire in the main room, lay down on the settee with Wi-Jah stretched across his chest, and they both fell asleep.

When Ben came down that morning he was greeted by a sight that he would cherish for the rest of his life. His eldest and first born lay on the settee, one foot up, the other hanging off the edge. He had gone to bed in his usual pants and robe, with one addition. The sweetest baby on earth lay with her head pillowed on his right shoulder, tucked under the blanket that had once been big enough to wrap around Adam twice.

The sight brought joy to his heart, and Ben stood, frozen on the first landing of the staircase, unwilling to move. Much as he wanted marriage and families for his children, he knew his sons. His eldest had made many friends, courted many young ladies, and lost many loves. Without a mother, living in a man's house, Ben blamed himself for how stubbornly independent his boys were. He knew it would take an exceptional woman to tie Adam down. He also knew that an infant of the same gender was just as capable of settling his boy, simply because she needed him.

Despite what he had said to Roy Coffey, Ben still hadn't convinced himself that he had the right solution for Wi-Jah. In the interim he had loved having her in the house, and done his best not to start planning her future there on the Ponderosa. When Ben's leg began to ache more than his heart strings he descended the stairs the rest of the way and bent over Adam to wake him gently.

He took Wi-Jah, and coaxed Adam to his feet and back up to his bed, before Ben changed and cleaned the infant and saw about her breakfast.

Adam slept til noon, ate lunch with his family, then headed back to Virginia City to check in with Roy, and see if any of the answers he'd been seeking had come in. He spent the day in town, going between the telegraph office and the jail, and making himself useful to the sheriff in the meantime.

A few wires had come in from points west of Fort Ruby. Each one said the same thing. No transfer had been requested for a Sergeant Mooney, no Sergeant Mooney had appeared, and no Sergeant Mooney was missing in action. It seemed that the man had disappeared off the face of the earth. When similar inquiries turned up the same for Susie Willow, Adam began to wonder where they had been buried, if at all, and whether or not those graves were marked.

The confirmation of Bobby Miller's war record came in just before the telegraph office closed for the supper hour. Everything that Murphy had told Adam was true. A young boy had enlisted with his father when Lincoln first called for men to defend the union. They had both served in the artillery. The father had been killed during training when a round misfired.

Private Alreed Miller had been in the cannoneer one position. When the round misfired he was supposed to wait for the bag to be pricked, and a new primer set, before a second attempt would be made to fire the round. Eager to beat the time of a second gun, Miller had driven the ram rod down the barrel, thinking that packing the powder and ball tighter would guarantee a successful second attempt. The impact of the ramrod had ignited the powder. The ball removed Miller's arm and broke three ribs in his chest, and Miller had died in a matter of hours.

His son, serving as powder monkey, remained with the crew, and served honorably through three years of the war before their gun was retired. Adam stayed in town until the telegraph operator had returned from his evening meal. He sent a single question back to the records office and the reply didn't come in until the following morning.

Adam had asked, "Any surviving kin for Bobby Miller?"

The reply, "None."

When he returned to the Ponderosa that afternoon Adam shared what he had learned with his father and brothers.

"The war starts. A father, with no wife or children but for a young daughter, is called to serve his country. He has no relatives to look after the girl and he can't leave her alone. What can he do, but take her with him? So he tells her to act like a boy, enlists with her at his side, and finds work to do that's as far away from the front lines as he can find.

And when her father dies, leaving her an orphan, in a man's world...what choice does she have? So she becomes Bobby Miller. She does the work she's been taught by the army, and she stays with the men who have become her family. When the war ends, she does what every other soldier does.

She goes west. Because she's earning a man's wage, and she has independence, and she's going with her friends. But...maybe...when she gets to Fort Ruby she's found out by the colonel. Maybe the colonel decides he likes her. Decides he's going to take advantage of her secret, take advantage of her, but if she says anything, or she tells anyone, she loses her veteran's pay, she's disgraced, or worse.

So she keeps her secret, she stays near her friends at the fort and works in a saloon until she can earn the money to get away. Or until they can all get away. And she has those clothes. She has that promise that someday Bobby Miller will be gone, and she'll be a young lady.

Then along comes Ruth. Another woman who, through her circumstances, has been forced to live in a way that defies the norm. I can see them becoming fast friends, sharing their struggles with one another. When Ruth became a target for the colonel, and when Suzie Willow couldn't protect her, Ruth protected herself. With poison. A poison that she passed on to Bobby before Ruth left.

When we first got to the fort the colonel looked half-dead. The heat in his office was boiling and he looked like he had syphilis. A few days later he seemed fine. That sounds like poison to me. Like somebody slipped something into his drink as pay back for going after a girl...maybe Bobby...maybe someone else. The man's paranoid already for the disgusting things he's been doing to the natives, and anyone else he can blackmail into cooperating. Adding an attempted poisoning or two, and then my arrival, asking about the very woman that he impregnated."

Adam fell silent for a moment, then put his hand up stalling Ben's sharp intake of breath. "When I talked to him about my theories, about Wi-Jah's father being a Shoshone, he said, "What white woman would willingly go to a redskin?""

"He sounds paranoid, bigoted certainly, and the connection Thomas found, makes him a suspect. But without willing witnesses…"

"That's why I sent the letter to Colonel Wilcox." Adam said. "If anyone would know how to start an investigation into what has been happening at Fort Ruby, I thought he'd be a good candidate."

"And in the meantime?"

Adam sat back in his chair and sighed. "In the meantime, I keep digging. Colonel Woodman was transferred west. He might have left some crimes behind him when he did. I've written a few letters asking for information about him, and hopefully I can get some...honest responses."

"You also owe the governor an explanation." Ben pointed out.

"That letter was sent before the wire." Adam said.

"Still, a trip to Carson City wouldn't be a bad idea. I have business to do there anyway, and would appreciate the company. Hoss and Joe can stay here to look after things, and at least one of you two should go up to the line cabin to check on Thomas. You might as well do the monthly supply run as well."

The argument over who would stay with Wi-Jah was brief. Joe won, and Hoss was elected to load the wagon in the morning and take it to each of the line cabins.