The sound of Little Joe riding into the front yard caused Ben and Hoss to look up from their dinner. Ben wrinkled his brow, then set his fork on his plate before wiping his mouth with his napkin. "Well, it's about time your younger brother got home."
It wasn't long before they heard the clank of the front door and the rustling of Joe as he stripped off his jacket and hat and hung them up. He crossed the room towards the stairs obviously not noticing his brother and father sitting at the dining room table.
"Good evening, Joseph," Ben called out calmly. "Aren't you going to join us for dinner?"
Joe stopped at the foot of the staircase, turning back around to exchange glances with his older brother who quickly dropped his eyes. "I'm sorry, Pa. I um, didn't know we'd be eating together tonight."
"Of course we are - of all nights," Ben responded.
Hoss picked at the pile of mashed potatoes sitting on his plate, a feeling of sadness washing through him.
Hop Sing entered from the kitchen with a plate piled high with fried chicken, mashed potatoes and some beans. "You eat, Missa Joseph, keep you strong and alert." The Chinese cook placed the food on the table in front of
the chair where Joe always sat.
Joe nodded as he made his way to the table, slowing as he passed the empty chair where his oldest brother had always sat. As soon as he sat down he began to devour his food like he hadn't eaten in days. Well, the truth of the matter was, he hadn't. With everything that had been going on none of them had been in the mood to eat much of anything.
"So," Ben started. "What were you doing in town?"
Joe's fork stopped on its path to his mouth. "Uh, nothin' much, Pa. Just checkin' on a few things. That's all." He quickly finished his bite.
"Well, what kind of things, may I ask?"
Hoss looked up with interest. He had a pretty good idea what Joe was checking on, but he wondered if he would tell their father. His younger brother had the look of a cat cornered.
Joe looked at Hoss who gave him a slight shake of his head, then he looked at his father who was looking at him waiting for his answer. "I was um…" He lowered his head and started to pick at his food. "A headstone."
Ben stiffened. "What did you say?"
"I was, um…" He raised his head and looked at his father. "I went into town to talk to Sylvester about…" He looked to Hoss then dropped his head, trying not to choke on the words. "About getting Adam a headstone." The room went quiet.
Ben picked up his glass of wine and took a long sip. Setting the glass back down he wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Thank you, Joseph," he responded gruffly. "That needed to be done."
Hoss watched as Joe tried to finish the rest of his dinner. He wasn't sure why his brother had chosen to say that; his father was right, it had needed to be done - but he knew that wasn't what Joe had gone to town for. It was obvious the guilt was weighing heavily on Joe as he picked at the rest of his food. Suddenly he stood up and pushed his plate away. "I have to see to Cochise," Joe stated as he left the table. "I'm sorry, Pa."
Hoss watched his youngest brother leave the room then slowly turned and looked at his father. There was a haunted sadness that lingered in his deep, dark-brown eyes. Hoss so badly wanted to say something that would bring them all comfort, but he couldn't think of anything. Instead he slowly turned and looked at the empty spot at the foot of the table. Please, Lord, don't let this family fall apart, he prayed.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
Joe aggressively brushed down his horse. He hadn't wanted to lie to his father, but he just couldn't tell him his real reason for being in town. His information would've only upset his father further.
"You keep that up, little brother, Cochise ain't gonna have any hair left." Hoss moved up next to the paint horse and leaned against her rear flank. "You um, okay?" Joe ignored his older brother and continued to brush his horse. "You didn't go into town about a headstone, did you, Joe?"
Joe's brushing motion slowed then picked back up again.
"Well, I've been thinkin' - 'bout what you said 'bout Amelia Fairchild and all," Hoss continued. "Did you come up with anything in town?"
Joe stopped what he was doing and stood up. "I thought you told me to leave it alone and worry about, Pa?"
Hoss straightened and walked over to a bale of hay. "I did." He dropped himself down onto it. "But when have you ever listened to me?"
Joe smiled as he dropped the brush and walked over towards his brother. "So, you'll help me?"
Hoss nodded. "But if this thing starts smellin' like a wild goose chase then we call it quits. Deal?"
Joe nodded. "And we agree to NOT say anything to Pa, unless we have some sort of solid information."
Hoss nodded. "Those visions of his are keeping him confused enough without us giving him any additional false hope.
Joe sat himself down beside his brother.
"Joe, you think there's somethin' to those dreams he keeps havin'?" Hoss questioned. "I mean, Hop Sing seems to think so. Says it's Adam tryin' to communicate with Pa."
Joe laughed. "It all sounds kind of crazy to me, but if it makes Pa feel better then Hop Sing can go right on telling him that."
"Yeah, but what if there is something to it," Hoss replied. "I mean, what if Adam really can communicate to Pa through his dreams. He could tell us who started that fire."
"That wouldn't be good enough to convict anyone," Joe answered. "Adam always said we needed cold hard facts to convict a man and that's what I plan on finding."
"Or woman, for that matter."
"What?" Joe asked.
Hoss wrinkled up his brow and pulled his knee up tighter to his chest. "Well, how do we know it wasn't Amelia that might have killed Adam."
Joe settled back digesting his brother's comment. "That's a good point, Hoss, but why would she show up at his funeral if she'd killed him."
Hoss scratched his head. "'Cause she's strange. I don't know, it was just a thought. You say that Adam was up in her room that night which makes her the last person to see him alive."
"Nope. Turns out Henry was." Joe interjected.
"Henry?"
"Henry saw Adam ride out of the livery that night," Joe answered. "Said Adam was in a real hurry."
"Well, he was late meeting, Pa, Joe," Hoss replied.
"Yeah, but you know how observant Henry is," Joe continued. "He said he thought Adam's clothes looked to be hanging off him and he couldn't control the horse very well."
"You think it was Amelia riding his horse?"
"No, I'm just saying it might not have been Adam." Joe finished.
"You're not making any sense," Hoss replied with frustration. "Then who was it? The Sheriff had David already locked up."
"Did he?" Joe questioned. "We don't know what time that was, just that David was already locked up by the time the fire would have started."
Hoss shook his head. "It all sounds so complicated."
"We need to talk to Roy and find out," Joe said softly. Brightening, he turned to Hoss. "You willing to ride to town with me tomorrow and see if we can find out some answers?"
"Sure would beat sittin' 'round here," Hoss answered as he stood up and stretched. "I think I'm going to go to bed and get some rest. It's been a long day."
"Yeah," Joe responded. "I'll be up in a minute."
"Alright. 'Night, Joe," Hoss replied as he walked towards the house. He stopped and turned back towards his brother. "Oh, and Joe?"
"Yeah?"
"Maybe we really ought to order that headstone, huh?"
Joe smiled. "Maybe. 'Night, Hoss."
