Chapter 3

BA and Murdock were pushing their horses as fast as they dared, with night falling, pausing as they saw the lights of the campfires. "Everything looks peaceful," remarked BA until they heard the scream of a horse.

"That's Dandy…Face must be in danger!" yelled Murdock as he spurred his horse ahead with BA close behind. As they rode into the circle of wagons, they heard their kid cry out in terror and headed in that direction. They stopped in horror as they saw their little brother held by two men over a wagon tree. His britches were down, and they saw Robert Stevenson whipping him with a hickory rod.

Dandy was rearing and fighting to get free. Several men were holding him by the rope around his neck.

Murdock reacted before Stevenson could deliver the next lick by raising his revolver and firing. His bullet knocked the hickory rod from Stevenson's hand.

"What are you doing?" Shouted Murdock angrily.

"My job…now step aside while I finish his punishment!" Robert shouted as he moved to pick up the fallen hickory rod, only to have Murdock fire again. The bullet hit only inches from the rod.

"If you try and hit my little brother again and the next bullet will go through you!" Murdock said, threatening. That stopped Stevenson cold.

Murdock then turned his gaze to the men holding Mrs. B. "Let her go!" The men did just that, seeing the seriousness in Murdock's eyes, and once freed, she rushed to Face. The men who had been holding him down had quickly disappeared.

"What do you think you are doing?" yelled Frank Lynch as he approached Murdock. He was livid. "I could have you charged for interference in preventing my orders from being carried out! This boy had stolen property, and I judged him guilty. My representative, Robert Stevenson, passed his sentence of twelve licks when you butted in!"

"You and what army," replied Murdock as he saw BA aim his revolver at the man. "Mr. Hale gave you the authority to run this wagon train in his absence, but he did not give you the authority to beat my little brother. He would be appalled to learn that you allow this sadistic bastard beat a young boy while acting in his name!"

"I'm in charge!" Lynch said, only to be interrupted.

"Not any longer. I'm taking over. It seems you are not worthy of the job!" Bill Hawks rode up with Coop by his side. He and Coop had met on the trail coming into camp and, after hearing the gunshots, had rushed in. What they saw and heard made them sick.

"Harry, you and BA can lower your guns. Your brother needs your help. Hannibal and Maggie are on the way as fast as they can in the wagon.

BA and Murdock hurried to Face's side, and without a word, BA gently picked his little brother up. "Did they hurt you, Mama?"

"Physically, no, but it hurt to see this child so cruelly beaten. Thank goodness you two arrived before he was given all of the twelve licks he was sentenced to," she replied sadly. "As is, the three licks he was given are hurting him terribly."

While the combatants had dispersed, Bill turned his attention to Frank Lynch and Robert Stevenson. "Now I want to know what happened here and most especially while you allowed this man," pointing to Stevenson, "to take a hickory stick to that boy's backside?"

"Chris left me in charge to take care of this train and to handle any problems as I see fit. Well, after hearing and seeing evidence of theft by this boy, I judged him guilty of stealing and sentenced him to receive twelve licks as punishment…Robert was so kind as to volunteer. He has experience in handing out his whipping. I decided he should handle the boy's punishment!"

"Whose idea was it to have the boy receive his punishment on his bare backside?" asked Coop as he stared at Frank.

"I did. We felt it would make a lasting expression on the boy and should stop him from stealing." Frank replied grudgingly.

Bill stared at him with disbelief after his explanation. "You can't take it upon yourself to punish another man's son for anything, especially one so young as Face. You'll be lucky that Chris doesn't fire you on the spot, and you had better hope that Hannibal doesn't shoot either one of you for what you did to his son. Your actions terrified the boy! I know I would be hard-pressed not to do likewise if something like this happened to Barney."

He then looked around, "Where is Barney? I thought he would be here trying to save his friend."

"Bill…"

Bill looked around when his name was called to find Barney walking stiffly towards him. He turned without a word and slugged both Frank and Stevenson as he recognized the reason for Barney's walk. He kneeled at Barney's side and saw the swollen and red eyes.

"Did Lynch use that stick on you, Barney?"

Barney shook his head, "No, but Mr. Stevenson did after I told Mr. Lynch that he was mistaken about Face. I told him that Face was with me at the time of the robberies. I also tried to protect him. He had Mr. Stevenson give me six licks for talking back to him."

"Coop, take him to Mrs. B and see if she can spare some salve for his sore backside while I try to salvage this situation."

As soon as Coop and Barney walked away, Frank said, "What did you do that for? Barney talked back to me, telling me lies to protect his friend. I had the right to correct him. Chris gave me the authority!"

"To correct him, yes…but not to beat him," Bill replied angrily. "You should have waited until Chris arrived to handle it And how do you know that what he said was a lie?"

"Robert's nephew found the stolen items on the boy, that was all the proof I needed," replied Lynch.

"So you take one boy's word over the word of Barney, who has worked for us for years. How do you know that it wasn't Benjamin, who was the thief and he planted the stolen items on the Smith boy to get him in trouble? You disgust me!"

And then, turning to Stevenson, he added,

"You might as well start packing up your wagon. You will be kicked off this train for trying to hurt that boy, or did you forget what Chris said earlier?"

"Now, wait for a minute, Hawks. I was following the orders of Frank, and you forget that the boy is a thief, caught with the stolen items in his possession. He just picked up where he left off when he ran away after stealing my sister's jewelry!" Stevenson stated plainly.

"That is where you're wrong. That boy was framed. He didn't steal anything before, just like he was framed tonight. How does it feel to know you beat an innocent boy?" Bill barked before turning to Frank to add,

"And you allowed it!"

"What are you talking about? He was caught two years ago with the brooch in his possession, and my nephew was a witness to it. Tonight, my nephew. searched him and found several of the stolen items on his person," argued Stevenson.

"It seems that when Hollis was moving some furniture in his mother's wagon to make room for the extra supplies, he had purchased a hidden drawer in a dresser opened revealing a bag with stolen jewelry that he identified as belonging to his mother, within it along with several pieces of coin. These were pieces of jewelry his mother reported stolen to the police just after Face ran away. Jewelry that Mrs. Ames swore that Face stole." Bill explained.

"That is why Chris sent me back early…to try and keep what just happened from happening. Fortunately, BA and Murdock arrived in time to stop that boy from receiving all of the licks you sentenced him to, but you two were successful in terrifying and hurting him. I hope you are proud of yourselves because I am disgusted with your actions!"

"You can't talk to me like that…I did what I thought was best for the train. The information I received indicated that the boy was guilty, and then finding some of the jewelry stolen this afternoon on him proved it to me. I was in my rights, as the temporary wagon master, to see that justice was done. Whether he was guilty this time doesn't mean that he wasn't deserving of the whipping he received tonight. I'm sure he has done things in the past that he got away with. At least tonight he received three licks for stealing!"

"I don't think that Chris is going to agree, and if I were you, I would leave now before any of that kid's family gets their hands on you! I'll make it easy on you...you're fired!"

"You can't fire me. Only Chris Hale can do that!" Argued Frank. "He gave the safety of the train over to me, and I did my duty to that kid and Barney. You have been allowing him to get away with talking back to his elders and playing pranks on passengers and staff alike. He deserved the whipping as well. He will mind me next time, I bet!"

"Get out of my sight before I do something I will regret later!" Bill yelled before turning his back on him.

Frank walked away, leaving Bill alone with Stevenson. "Who searched the boy?" Bill asked. He had an idea but wanted confirmation.

"My nephew…Benjamin…why?"

"Because he is your thief…tonight as well as two years ago."

"WHAT! You have got to be kidding. My nephew has no reason to STEAL!" shouted Stevenson angrily. His shout drew not only the attention of the thinning crowd but Minerva Ames and Benjamin as well.

Bill approached Benjamin Ames. "Your brother found your stash of stolen jewelry and money. We know you're the one guilty of the thefts this boy was framed for."

"What's going on…why are you talking to my son…you've got him scared to death!" Minerva Ames called out as she moved to her youngest.

"It was your son who is the thief. He was also the thief who framed Face for the thefts back home, too. His stash of stolen items and money was found in your wagon Mrs. Ames while it was being loaded with supplies. You owe Face and his family a huge apology and if anyone is due to be punished it is your son, Benjamin!" Bill told her bluntly.

"How do I know that…maybe the boy planted that in my wagon while we were away! And what were you doing snooping in my wagon, to begin with?"

"I didn't find the bag…your son Hollis did. It seems that when he was moving a dresser a hidden drawer was discovered and the bag was in it…a bag with the boy's initials on it. A bag that was recognized as the one you gave him as a present one Christmas, or so your son Hollis said!".

That deflated the older woman and she finally turned to her youngest and asked, "Why? Why would you steal? I gave you everything you needed!"

"But not everything I wanted! When I wanted a set of drawing pencils and paper, you said that Ames is not meant to be anything as common as an artist. That I had to be a banker or someone that would make the family look important. You never let me do anything fun because it would bring your standing in the community down. So, I took some of your old jewelry and pawned it so I could buy what I wanted. I hid everything in that dresser with the hidden drawer so you wouldn't find out," confessed the boy.

"So, what you said about the boy with my brooch was a lie?"

"Some of it was. I saw him pick up the brooch I stole but it had slipped out of my pocket and not his. I was going to just take it back and thank him for finding it, but then you came out and I was afraid that he might tell you that he saw it slip from my pocket, so I accused him of stealing it. That other part about the brooch falling from his pocket was a lie."

XXXXXX

Although it was quiet when Hannibal and Maggie drove up he could feel the tension in the air. Hannibal jumped from the wagon and approached Bill as he was standing with the Ames family.

"Where's my son?"

"They took him to Mrs. B's wagon. Hannibal, I won't lie to you…he's hysterical and in pain after being whipped by Stevenson. Fortunately, your friends got there in time to prevent Stevenson from giving him the twelve licks he was sentenced to. He also had to endure having the rest of the wagon train watch the whipping. I hope your wife will be able to give him something to ease his pain!"

"What happened?"

"He was being held down, with his britches down being whipped with a hickory rod for something he didn't do. Look I'll explain everything to you after the boy has been taken care of."

Hannibal nodded and hurried back to the wagon and they were gone. He pulled up next to Mrs. B's wagon a few minutes later. Maggie grabbed her medical bag and headed to the wagon. It nearly broke her heart to see him whimper and moan in terror and pain.

"Face…baby, I'm here. I'll have you fixed up in no time."

"MAMA," sobbed Face as Maggie sat next to him. She pulled out a syringe and partly filled it with laudanum, giving him a child's portion of the powerful painkiller. It was only a matter of a few minutes before Face's eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness. When she emerged from the wagon she was as emotionally exhausted as the rest of them.

"How is he?"

"He sleeping peacefully at the moment... Mrs. B is with him. I had to give him a small dose of laudanum to ease his pain. He's so sure that they are coming to whip him!"

Hannibal nodded before entering the wagon to check on his son. He had been terrified but what made him the angriest is knowing that if he left his son under the protection of a man he thought would protect him. How could he have been so wrong as not to sense the danger he was leaving the boy to face alone without him or his brothers there to protect him? He felt so guilty….guilty and mad at those responsible. He would have to get over the guilt but he was going to make sure that those that were responsible would be punished even if it was by his hand!

When Chris, Charlie, Hollis, and Gerald returned early the next morning you could have cut the tension with a knife. Hollis and Gerald drove their wagon to their spot and began to share the load with the other wagon. As soon as Hollis stepped down he was accosted by first his mother and then his uncle.

"Why did you show what was in that bag to Mr. Hale? You didn't have to say anything to him and only told me. I would have confronted Benjamin without causing him the embarrassment of being accused like a common criminal!". Mrs. Ames was livid.

"Yeah…do you know how much it hurt the family to be confronted like that. Your action brought down our standing in this wagon train!" Shouted Robert Stevenson.

"I did it because of the boy you have hounded and branded a thief and liar. He was innocent, Mother. He didn't steal that brooch or the necklace you accused him of after he ran away…I know this because I found the necklace in the bag…the bag with Benjamin's initials on it. The bag you gave Benjamin for his birthday last year. It's about time you face facts Mother, your perfect little boy is a thief!"

. Minerva Ames struck her oldest for his last statement and then horrified at what she had done, she began to cry. Hollis pulled her to him so she could cry on his shoulder. "It's okay, Mother. It's hard to take in but we will survive." He started to lead her back to her wagon so she could lie down when his uncle grabbed him by the arm.

"I'm not finished talking with you!"

"Well, I am to you Uncle Robert. You know, if you don't watch out Thomas could turn out to be just like Benjamin. He's your 'golden' child; in your eyes, he can do no wrong….just like Benjamin could do no wrong in my mother's but as you can see he did and he caused another boy to be accused and whipped. Benjamin needs to be punished for what he did. Will you cane him as you did to Face?" Hollis had heard what happened the night before as soon as they came to a stop a few minutes earlier.

The night had been a hard one for Face and his family. They took shifts in staying with him. He had been moved to Hannibal's and Maggie's wagon soon after Maggie had given him the laudanum. It was during Murdock's watch that Face had begun to whimper and sob. "It's okay Facey. I'm here and I won't leave you unprotected again," Murdock whispered in his ear as he comforted the boy. Eventually, hearing Murdock's voice penetrated the boy's nightmare and he opened his eyes.

"I didn't do it….I didn't do it…I didn't do it," he mumbled over and over again in the throes of his nightmare.

"You are safe, Facey. I won't let anyone hurt you," Murdock repeated over and over again until Face quieted down and began to sleep more peacefully.

XXXXXXXX

It was a weary Hannibal Smith who stumbled from his wagon the next morning seeking answers on how his son was abused while under the protection of the temporary wagon master, Frank Lynch.

The first person he approached was Mrs. B, Face's grandmother. "Mrs. B, what happened last night? When we left all was well and the kid was happy."

"Hannibal, after you and the others left he went off with Barney. I think he was going to help his friend with his chores and then about an hour later he comes running back with Stevenson and a crowd of angry people with him shouting that my grandson had stolen his last piece of jewelry. Mr. Lynch was there demanding that I turn the boy over to him. He had decided that as temporary wagon master he had the authority to punish him for his crime. Hannibal, Face was terrified. I tried to fight them, but I was overwhelmed by two of Stevenson's friends. I held him until he was pulled, screaming from my arms. They brought me along to witness his whipping. Lynch just laughed. He told me now I would see how punishment should be done.

Stevenson had this planned out. He had Dandy roped even before he came after the boy."

"Where was Barney? You said they went off together, surely he could vouch for the kid." Hannibal asked, wanting to know exactly what happened to his son.

"Barney went to Mr. Lynch and told him he was mistaken, Face had been with him the whole time helping him with his chores, but they wouldn't listen. Barney even tried to protect his friend, and Lynch had Stevenson give his six licks with the hickory stick for talking back. They were hard licks, Hannibal!"

"I know the kid didn't steal, so the items must have been in the possession of the one who searched him. Who was the one who searched him, Mrs. B?"

"Benjamin Ames, Stevenson's nephew!"

"So Benjamin is the guilty one, he probably pulled them out of his own pockets and made a show of them coming from Face so he would be blamed!"

"What are you going to do, Hannibal?"

"Have a long talk with Lynch and Stevenson on their abuse of Face!"

He found Chris Hale, Lynch, Barney, and Wooster around the campfire discussing just that when he walked up. Wooster was the first to notice him and quickly offered him a cup of coffee. Bill and Coop joined them a few minutes later.

"Thanks."

"How is Face?" Barney asked at once.

"He is sleeping peacefully watched by his mother and grandmother. He suffered from nightmares all night. Why don't you go and see him later, Barney? I know he will enjoy your visit." Hannibal replied kindly and then his eyes harden as he focused on Frank Lynch.

"Why didn't you protect him? He was under your care?" Hannibal was barely able to rein his anger in.

"Look Smith, as I was telling Chris earlier, I did what I thought best for this wagon train. It was only about an hour after you left that the thievery started and your kid was in the area at the time of the thefts. He had the reputation of being a thief and when searched he was found with some of the stolen items. I had to quell the storm of angry passengers and having the thief in hand felt that if I got their items back and punished the thief then the situation would calm down and it was beginning to when your men jumped in and stopped it. Your man fired at Robert Stevenson and threatened to shoot him if he tried to continue the whipping!"

Hannibal turned to Murdock, who had followed him, and said, "Thank you for all you did to protect Face last night from a vicious beating."

"I just wished that BA and I could have gotten here in time to stop Face from getting any of those licks," replied Murdock.

"I left my son in the custody of his grandmother. You should have turned him over to her and then he would have been safe from a sadist like Stevenson. As soon as I returned we would have gotten to the bottom of the problem."

"I'm not about to listen to a woman, much less a black woman when I knew what my duty was. With his father not around I took on the responsibility of a father and judged him guilty and sentenced him to twelve licks. Stevenson was given the job since he has had experience in dealing out punishment to the orphans in his care."

It took all of the control he had not to strike Frank down after the remarks he made about Mrs. B. "That wasn't your call, Frank. I left Mrs. B in charge of Face and she was the only one available that had the authority to punish him!" Shouted Hannibal!

"And you got it wrong about Stevenson…Robert is a respected member of this wagon train. He was the Director of the Orphanage in Shelbyville, Indiana. He has spent most of his adult life caring for orphans. He has had the experience in taking care of their wants and when needed their discipline." Frank explained. "He was best suited for the job of punishing our young thief."

"Face wasn't the thief…and you gave the man, who terrorized him repeatedly while he lived at that orphanage, the job of punishing him!. Didn't you see the terror he was experiencing?"

"Well, at the time, all the evidence pointed at your son, so I was within my right as temporary wagon master to keep the peace…so your kid got a few licks; I'm sure the brat deserved a whipping at another time in his life and managed to avoid it. Anyhow, why are you so angry? Your men prevented my judgment from being completely carried out!"

The words were barely out of his mouth when Hannibal exploded and took Frank down with one blow. He would have added to it except for the quick actions of Bill and Coop who grabbed him to hold him back.

Frank got slowly to his feet with his hand to his jaw where Hannibal had struck him. "I demand that he be charged with assault and be thrown off the train! He attacked me for no reason. I just told him what happened, there was no reason for him to strike me!"

"No reason? Are you blind to the fact that you allowed his son to be terrorized and beaten when all you had to do is turn him over to his grandmother until his father's return?" Coop asked sharply.

"Or that you wave all the boy's terror and pain as he probably deserved it at another time in his life and you were just correcting the error?" Bill said with disgust. "You should be thankful that he didn't just shoot you like I wanted to do when you had Barney beaten with that hickory stick."

Frank turned to Chris and demanded, "well, what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to ask that you gather your belongings and leave my train. You are fired!"

"FIRED! But my father…"

"I gave you a job because of my friendship with your father. It was your job to keep it and after last night I don't want a man in charge that has no compassion towards those who depend on him to protect them like you didn't with the Smith boy. Since that happened I have been getting conflicting reports on how you have been handling incidents on the wagon train. I've heard that you have been using your power to convince those in dispute to either compromise or leave the wagon train at once. And, last night many tried to stop you from beating Barney or Face only to be told to go back to their wagons or pack to leave at once. They are so ashamed of themselves for not standing up to you and stopping the beatings, but they had families to think of. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"You hired me and gave me the job of settling disputes between the passengers and that is what I did. You didn't seem to mind how I did it only that it was done. And, for last night you gave me charge of the wagon train. As I have said before I did as I thought best. Those people who tried to stop me were going against my rulings so I threatened them and it worked. They cared more for their own families than the fate of a couple of brats…." and once again found himself on the ground holding his eye this time from the blow Murdock gave him as he heard his beloved little brother referred to being a brat.

"Face wasn't at fault like you punished him for and if you say one more thing against him I'll give you a matching black eye!"

"Mr. Lynch, if I were you I would go before Face's other brother comes by and breaks your jaw for your treatment of his little brother," suggested Charlie Wooster.

"Okay, I'll go but you haven't heard the last from me. I'll make you all pay for your treatment of me today!" and with that, Frank started gathering his possessions, mounted his horse, and rode away.

As soon as Lynch was gone Hannibal was released. "Mr. Hale although Lynch approved it, he wasn't the one that tried to hurt, my son. What are you going to do about Robert Stevenson?" Hannibal asked.

"I'm sorry Colonel Smith but since Frank was in charge and approved the punishment that Stevenson was about to carry out, I can't order him or his family to leave. I have done all I can when I fired Frank, and I ask that you don't take matters into your own hands no matter how tempting it is."

"I'll make you the same promise that my son made to me earlier, I won't go looking for trouble. But if he starts it you can be sure that I will be finishing it!"

"Just try to contain yourself, and that goes for the rest of your family as well."

Hannibal only nodded as he and Murdock walked back to their wagons.