Ben felt as though he was being suffocated. His heart had jumped into his throat when he heard the words, "we found a body". The ringing was growing louder in his ears, the rest of the world on hold as he took slow, steady steps while reaching for the hat and gun in his middle son's hands.

"Pa?" Joe quietly asked, putting a comforting hand on his stunned father's shoulder. Gaining no reaction from his father, Joe's hand dropped back to his side as his father walked out from under it. Turning to Hoss he hoped for some sort of guidance. Hoss was staring at the ground unable to look into the shocked expression on his father's face. Joe looked back to his father… someone had to take the situation in hand, "Pa? Maybe you ought to go inside. Let us take care of this."

Ben looked back towards Joe, then at Hoss and then at the items in Hoss' hands. Reaching them he let his hands rest on top, "No," he stated in a low, gruff voice. "I need to be with Adam. I need to…" and he broke into a sob as he grasped his son's items. The sobs turned bitter. "These can't be his, he was supposed to meet me… he was supposed to…"

The sound of approaching horses caused everyone to break from the somber moment and look with hopeful eyes as the group of riders arrived. Ben didn't even bother to wipe away the tears that ran down his sun worn face. He looked up to see Roy Coffey, Virginia City's Sheriff, along with his Deputy, and several other folks from town. They were being lead by a ranch hand. Roy immediately stopped his horse and dismounted when he saw the distress in his old friend's face.

"Ben, I came as soon as I heard. How did this happen?" the concerned Sheriff asked.

"Adam's dead," Ben blurted in a mournful voice.

"What?" Roy asked in disbelief. "What makes you say such a thing?"

Ben took the still smoking hat and gun from Hoss's outstretched hands and turning, showed them to Roy. They were difficult to see in the dimmed moonlight. Roy looked down at the items, then back into the face of Ben, searching for answers. "I don't understan', what does this prove?"

"They're Adam's," Joe stated softly.

"It's just a gun and hat…why they could be anybody's," Roy said in hopes of this being a misunderstanding. Ben just locked his eyes on the items, somehow hoping and praying that he was wrong. Roy scanned the faces of Ben's two other sons searching for additional information.

Joe looked to Hoss, who lowered his eyes in sorrow.

"I wish that was true," Hoss said somberly. He looked towards his father uncomfortably, then back at the Sheriff. "His initials are on the gun and the special bible verse… the one that Adam kept tucked in the brim of his hat… it's there."

Ben raised his head towards Hoss. He didn't know what Hoss was talking about. He handed the still-hot gun to Roy and, turning the hat over, he pulled away the softened leather, seeing a small piece of paper. He removed it from the brim, opened it, and read, "A good man is guided by his honesty, the evil man is destroyed by his dishonesty. - Proverbs 11:3". It had been the one that Ben had given to Adam when he was a young man. He felt dizzy as a sudden wave of nausea coursed through him. It WAS true, he thought as he crumpled up the piece of paper, Adam… his son…

Roy looked down at the gun he was now holding and turning it over. He saw the initials AC clearly engraved in the side of the pistol. His heart tightened. "So, someone planted them in the barn," Roy stated with conviction.

Everyone was quiet. The squeaking wheels of the buckboard as it exited the freshly charred barn caused all eyes to shift. On the back of it, a body covered by a blanket. No one dared move. Roy finally worked up the courage to go over and pull back the blanket. "Who would do such a thing?" he choked out.

Ben slowly looked over at the Sheriff. "David Fairchild."

"What?" Roy responded incredulously as he crossed over to stand beside his friend. "Now Ben, you're obviously upset, you don't need to be tossin' around no accusations. Especially if you aren't sure," Roy answered.

"I'm sure," Ben stated firmly. "He told me I'd be sorry for firing him."

Roy's eyes shifted from the men still sitting on the horses, then back to Ben. "Boys, I think you ought to take your father inside."

Hoss and Joe started toward their father but halted with his continued speech. "I want him found and punished for this crime, Roy. I want you to arrest him," Ben stated.

An awkward silence passed before Roy spoke. "I can't do that Ben. Besides, did you actually see him set fire to your barn?"

Ben narrowed his eyes in anger. He couldn't figure out why Roy wasn't cooperating with his request. He knew about David's threat towards Ben and his family. He walked over to Roy and stood face to face with him. "My son is dead and I want David Fairchild arrested for the crime. Is that so hard to understand?" his tone intensifying.

Roy shifted feet, exchanged glances with his Deputy, then back at Ben. "But I've already done it."

"What?" Ben asked with restrained frustration.

"Well, I don't know how to tell you this, but he's already locked up in my jail. Did it myself just before I came out here. He'd been causing trouble all night at the Bucket of Blood… Sam said so. He couldn't have been the one who set your fire."

Ben's eyes opened wide with surprise. He had been so sure it was David.


TBC
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