Ben's eyes rested on Fairchild, his expression suddenly unreadable. "David. How - interesting - to find you here."

Fairchild met his gaze blankly, then dropped his eyes and studied the planks at his feet. "'M not David," he muttered.

Roy summoned a smile. "That's right, Ben - this here's - er - David Fairchild's brother - what did you say your name was agin, son?"

"Duncan," Fairchild looked up at that, peering more intently at Ben. "You Ben Cartwright?"

Ben's brows snapped together. "You know I am! You worked for me for - " he broke off at the sight of Roy shaking his head vigorously behind Duncan's back. He met Roy's eyes for a moment, then cleared his throat carefully. "I - didn't realize David and Amelia had a brother." His tone was politely skeptical.

"Seems nobody did, Ben," Roy continued forcefully. "Well, 'cept maybe their Ma and Pa, o' course. Now, Da - er - Duncan - here is helpin' me out with somethin', so I'm gonna take him over here and have a word with him while yer boys have a word or two with you. Right, boys?"

Hoss and Joe looked helplessly at Roy and then at each other.

Ben watched their expressions, his eyes narrowing. "Yes, I would like that. Seeing as I was pretty sure my boys were out on the range today, not in town. What are you doing here, boys? Anything special? Anything wrong?"

Hoss tried to smile, failed. "Uh - Pa, Joe an me was jest - well, we was…" He looked to Joe for help.

Joe shifted his shoulders. "Well, we were - I was just lookin' for Hoss, Pa…" Hoss glared at him and he made a face. "I mean…um…I got into a fight with Da - with Fairchild, Pa. That's why we're here."

"I see." Ben appraised their faces keenly. "Well, that would certainly explain what you were doing with Roy, but not what you were doing in town. Care to enlighten me?"

Hoss fingered the ring in his vest pocket. "Pa - we was…" he sighed. "Pa, we had some questions about Adam's death. We didn't want to bother you none with it, but - well - we jest wanted ta check it out."

"Oh." Ben's voice softened. "I've been - I've been thinking a lot about that, too."

Joe looked relieved to have it out in the open. "We were just gonna take a ride over to the Fairchild place with Roy. Check a few things out."

"Hm." Ben folded his arms over his chest. "So Roy is finally going to check out Fairchild. Is there some new evidence?" He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice. "And what is this about this man being David Fairchild's brother? I would swear that's David Fairchild!"

Hoss grimaced. "I know, Pa, but - well - when you talk to him fer a bit, he don't sound too much like David. Don't know if his story is true or if he's jest off his rocker, but I figger we gotta check it out."

Ben looked over his shoulder again, realized he was staring and quickly turned back. "Well, it's uncanny. What is his story anyway?"

Joe looked at Hoss. Hoss looked at Joe. Hoss stuffed his hands in his pockets. "It's - it's pretty far fetched, Pa. We'll letcha know if it pans out."

Ben's face changed subtly. "Well, that's decent of you. Is there something about my son's death you don't think I have a right to know about?"

Hoss ducked his head and peeped at Joe. Joe made a face. "Pa - um - now, this is probably crazy, you understand - probably just tryin' ta throw us off the track…" Ben waited, unmoving. Joe steeled himself. "Dav - er - this - fella. Is tryin' to tell us…tell us that Adam's…" he stuttered to a stop, looked desperately to Hoss for support.

"Still alive, Pa," Hoss finished in a rush. "He's sayin'…"

Ben's eyes widened and for a moment he seemed to rock on his feet. Hoss reached out hastily to make a grab for him. "Gosh durn it, Pa! This is why we din't wanna say nothin' till we knew fer shur! You okay?"

Ben shook him off, his jaw hardening to granite. "You - you were going to keep this from me?"

Joe blinked at his tone. "Just - just till we knew for sure, Pa - we didn't want to…" he trailed off at the sight of Ben's face.

Ben turned away from both of them, staring down the street, his breath catching unevenly. Pa, I was waiting for you to find me! Where were you? "That's all I've been thinking about…" he choked, "…hearing him everywhere, trying to accept - how long have you known?"

"Jest a little bit now, Pa - heck we don't really know nothin' yet - this guy don't seem all that reliable. We jest…we jest figgered…I don't know, Pa - I've been havin' some trouble feelin' like he's really gone, too…even after burian' him, an' I always figgered - somehow, I always figgered I'd know when it was real. An…an I don't."

Ben pinched his fingers into his eyes. "I thought I was losing my mind. I thought - all these days we could have been looking…why on earth didn't you tell me you felt that way too? Why did you let me go on thinking I was crazy? We could have been…you should never keep anything like this from me! For God's sake - he's my son!"

Joe swallowed and looked at Hoss. Something about Hoss's expression pounded at his heart and he groped for the right words. "Pa," he broke in hesitantly. "Pa, we had a body and all Adam's things. That's what we knew - all we really knew. It's all we really know now."

Hoss shot Joe a grateful glance and seemed to get his breath back. "Joe's right, Pa. I knew what I felt - but I figgered it was - jest cause that's what I wanted. I didn't figger fer a minute it was really true. Still don't, ta be honest."

Ben continued to stare at the street, though it was a blurred haze in front of him. Pa, I was waiting…he swallowed painfully, turned to regard his younger two sons, his eyes traveling from one face to the next, strained and apologetic. He touched Hoss's arm lightly. "I know, son," he breathed after a minute. "I understand. I just…" He sucked in a breath. "I think we should have been talking to each other. Why weren't we talking to each other?"

Hoss shrugged, mustering a faint smile. "Hurt too much, I guess. Pa, we don't know if this is true - you unnerstand that, right? Prob'ly it's not."

Ben turned away again. Pa, I was waiting for you to find me…where were you? He shook his head a little, trying to clear it. "I don't know what I know anymore, Hoss."

Roy cleared his throat delicately from somewhere behind him. He had been tactfully holding off, letting them work things out among themselves. "Mr. Fairchild an' me have settled how we're handlin' things - you folks about ready to ride?"

Ben nodded mutely, his eyes drawn back to Fairchild's, who was staring at him as though he were some sort of circus attraction.

"You woulda done it, huh?"

Ben blinked. "Done…? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Paid. The ten thousand. You woulda, huh?"

Ben stared blankly. Hoss cleared his throat. "Dav - Dun - Mr. Fairchild was tellin' us as how they was askin' ten thousand ransom fer Adam."

Ben frowned. "I never received a ransom note. Instead, we…" he tapered to silence.

Fairchild nodded seriously, as though he were thinking hard. "Yeah, that's what they tell me. But if you had. You woulda paid, huh? Fer your boy."

Ben sighed tiredly. "Of course. What do you expect?"

Fairchild nodded again, his face thoughtful, and walked to his horse and swung into the saddle.

Roy rested his hand on the reins near the horse's bit. "Now, you remember what we talked about. You stay in sight. And, son, if this proves ta be some tall tale yer tellin', well, then, I don't envy you. I may just get busy and leave you alone in a room with these three, accidental like, if that's the case."

Fairchild eyed him, then the Cartwrights, then nodded.

Roy released his hold on the horse and glanced around at the Cartwrights, his face resolute. "Now, I want you all to remember - I'm the law here. That means you do what I say, as I say. One of ya even tries to step outta line and mess this up and I'll wing ya then arrest ya and I don't much care which one of ya it is. This may be a load o' bunk, but if it ain't I gotta think o' Adam and his safety first. Ya remember that. We clear?" He let his eyes travel from one to the other, and let them rest longest on Joe. Ben seemed almost unaware, Hoss anxious and compliant, so when even Joe nodded acquiescence, he went to mount his own horse. Joe and Ben were already in the saddle by then, but Hoss waited, holding Roy's horse for him. Roy raised his brows questioningly at him as he stood, stolidly clinging to the reins.

"Roy, I - " Hoss looked up at him, lowering his voice so no one else could hear. "I - just wanted ta thank ya, fer - jest thanks."

Roy smiled. "It's no problem, Hoss. It's my job. Besides, as someone who ain't too good with words pointed out to me, Adam was a right fine deputy ta me fer a time." He patted lightly at the horse's neck, his face suddenly sober. "Right good friend, too. C'mon - let's do this thing."

*

Duncan stiffened in the saddle as he approached the sad looking little ranch house. He had had such dreams for it. Fixing up the structure - maybe adding on a room or two - extending the kitchen for Amelia. Shoring up that sag in the roof. Adding a nice coat of whitewash. The land itself was promising, just left to run sorta wild. Be good property for horses. The kitchen garden could be something too, with a little better care.

He twitched his shoulders, feeling Sheriff Coffee's eyes on his back, even though he couldn't see him. Even more, he could feel three sets of Cartwright eyes. Boring into him. Hating him.

It was funny. When he and David and Amelia had talked about all this, the Cartwrights hadn't seemed like real people, exactly - just as sort of handy cash cows. They had money. The Fairchilds didn't. They had somehow kept the Fairchilds from making money…now that he thought about it, David hadn't been too clear about the ins and outs of that part of the story, but he sure seemed convinced of it. Anyway, the Cartwrights had more than enough money, and if they gave some of it to the Fairchilds, they could all have money and live happily ever after. Seemed simple enough. Nobody hurt, nobody losin' anything they couldn't do without anyway.

But people had got hurt - how had that happened? That youngest Cartwright that kept pickin' fights looked like one big ball o' hurt. That big feller sorta made his head ache just to look at him he seemed so sorta creaking with hurt. That feller in the root cellar was about beyond hurt. And that Ben Cartwright looked about as hurt as a man could get and still be alive. Ten thousand dollars. He wondered what it was like to have a Pa that thought so much of ya that he was willin' ta turn over ten thousand dollars without even thinkin' about it. No matter how much money he had, that still seemed like kinda a big deal. He chewed on his lip. Now he was facin' a prison sentence unless the sheriff could swing it otherwise. Maybe he'd get a reward out of it, if he stayed free to spend it. But who knew who would stick to their word once Cartwright was safe? Maybe nobody. It had looked so much like life was finally gonna pay off big - now he'd be lucky if he got off with his freedom. That was the only thing he'd had before all this, but at least he'd had that. Serves you right, Duncan, he scolded himself mildly. You never were good at gamblin'. Shoulda stuck to what you know.

He dismounted and secured his horse to the shaky hitching rail. Well, easy come, easy go. One thing was for sure - he wasn't cut out for this racket. He felt downright unclean. Might be worth whatever happened just to be able to look himself in the face again.

He mounted the rickety steps slowly, wondering how exactly he was gonna do this thing. Would help to have a plan, and plans weren't his strong point.

"Where you been?"

Duncan jerked out of his reverie to see David standing in the kitchen, enjoying the company of his ever-present whiskey bottle. He averted his eyes. "Town," he mumbled. "You know that. Where's 'Melia?"

David snorted. "Down cellar with her sweetheart, where else. She's gotta work tonight so she's makin' what time she can." He cackled and shook his head. "So, what were ya doin' in town? Cause I gotta tell you - look more like you were out wrestlin' a steer." He reached out and flicked his fingers at Duncan's sleeve.

Duncan followed his eyes and saw the sleeve was torn away at the shoulder. In fact, now that he looked, he was covered with dust and his eye was aching. He brushed ineffectually at himself. "Got into another fight with that Cartwright kid." He looked up suddenly, staring hard at David. "Seems he thinks his brother is dead."

David's face changed subtly and he turned casually away. "Yeah?" He took a sip from his bottle. "Well, they never was too bright in that family."

"Maybe not," Duncan started to unbutton his shirt. "but it seems funny that he'd have an idea like that if they was tryin' to get together ransom."

David shrugged. "Maybe old man Cartwright ain't confided in his sons."

Duncan pulled off his shirt and scrunched it into a ball. "Yeah. Sure. I'm gonna change my shirt."

David watched him, his eyes calculating. "Ten thousand dollars'll buy a lotta shirts."

Duncan gave a short laugh. "Yeah." He stomped down the hall to the bedroom he shared with David, yanking his other shirt out of the wooden chest and sliding into it.

"You seem kinda out of sorts."

Duncan looked up to see David in the doorway. He pulled irritably at his buttons. "You got some need to watch me dress?"

David grinned around the mouth of the whiskey bottle. "Not 'specially. You just seem outta sorts. I'm worried about ya."

Duncan snorted. "I'll bet." He shoved his shirttail savagely into his waistband.

"Now, brother, you sound like you doubt me and my good intentions."

Duncan stepped closer. "Do I?" His voice was rising, but he couldn't seem to stop it. "Well, maybe I got reason - what do you think, David? I got reason to think that maybe you ain't bein' all together straight with me?"

David dropped the bottle and let it dangle from his hand. His eyes were hard and empty. "Why don't you tell me. Brother."

Duncan stood almost nose to nose with him. "Okay - I WILL tell ya - I talked to old man Cartwright and he don't know nothin' about no ransom. He ain't payin' ransom cause he thinks his son is dead. He woulda paid it too, David - all of it! So I don't know what your game is - "

He broke off at the explosion of glass shattering, stared at the remains of David's whiskey bottle in a small heap on the floor under the whiskey stained wall where David had smashed it. He blinked at David's face, suddenly a little wary.

David's eyes were burning. "You - TALKED with old man Cartwright?"

"Yeah," Duncan bounced on the balls of his feet, but didn't back off. "I was tryin' ta stay outta jail - tryin' ta tell him that nobody killed his son - tryin' ta keep us all out of a fix!"

"You stupid idiot!" David gnashed his teeth, his fists clenching and unclenching. "You ruined everything!" His face changed suddenly. "Wait a minute - if they think he's alive…" He whirled in the bedroom doorway, half ran to the kitchen, Duncan hard on his heels. He bent low at the kitchen window, trying to see. "You fool, I'll bet they followed you!"

"Of course they followed me! Damn it, it's over, David, can't you see that? If you had just played nice, if you had just let them give us the money, we could be out of here and a long ways away by now - "

"You stupid, stupid fool!" David's backhanded slap was so fast that Duncan didn't even see it coming, just felt it as it sent him reeling into the wall. "You yellow bellied coward! You ratted out your own family."

Duncan pushed himself away from the wall, not even trying to staunch the blood streaming from his nose. "Look who's talkin' about cowards?" he screamed. "Least I don't have to beat on women and helpless folk to make myself feel like a man!"

David jumped at him, so quickly and so unexpectedly that he didn't even have time to brace himself. They flew through the open kitchen door and onto the back porch, rolling across the weathered boards, through the weakened railing and into the muddy ground of the weed choked kitchen garden.