My Brother, My Enemy
Chapter Six
DISCLAIMER: Oh, gee, um... what are the odds of me owning Bonanza? I'll tell you--zero.
"Hoss, where are they? And I expect a straight answer this time," Ben demanded.
Hoss gulped. He didn't know what to do. After all, he knew what his brothers were doing, but he didn't exactly know where they were doing it. And if he told, the hard feelings between Adam and Little Joe would probably spread to include him, too.
"Well…" Hoss stalled.
"Hoss?" Ben looked directly at his middle son. Hoss chanced a peek at his father's face. He didn't like what he saw and looked down again.
"I… don' really know where they are, Pa," Hoss said at last.
Ben sighed. It seemed that, lately, his sons were reluctant to tell him anything.
"You must know something, Hoss, otherwise you wouldn't be afraid to tell me," Ben observed. Hoss gave a defeated sighed and, once again, was forced to talk.
He told Ben everything.
-
The first thing Adam thought about as soon as he was underwater was that he was cold. He knew that he would have to do some fast searching if he was going to get himself and his brother back to the surface alive.
Adam opened his eyes a crack and looked around, forcing his brain to concentrate on finding Joe and not the coldness of the water. It wasn't easy, but Adam tried and was soon rewarded with the sight of an unconscious Joe sinking rapidly to the bottom of the lake.
Praying that Joe would be alright, Adam dove down after him. As he neared his brother, Adam found himself thinking of all the times—good and bad—that he and Little Joe had shared. There was the time when Adam had left for college. Joe had clung to him tightly and begged him not to go, but Adam left anyway. A very long four years later, Joe had clung to him again, this time with the joy and relief that his oldest brother was back. And then, the day when Joe had run away. The whole family had gone crazy looking for him, but it was Adam who had discovered Joe hiding in one of the abandoned mines and persuaded the scared little boy to come home.
It was these thoughts that gave Adam the strength to grab his brother around the waist and pull him quickly up to the surface.
Gasping for breath, Adam finally dragged his half-frozen, exhausted body, along with his brother's, to firm land. The little black dog was there, waiting for their return.
And so were Pa and Hoss.
After Hoss had spilled the beans, Ben had ordered that they go out and search for the two missing family members. He also made it quite plain to Hoss that they were all going to be in very, very big trouble, especially Joe. Adam would get into the least trouble, since he hadn't wanted the boys to keep the pup in the first place. AndHoss wouldbe in the middle somewhere for deciding to give the pup to Joe as a present. All in all, it wasn't unusual for the punishments to be spread out this way.
The two remaining Cartwrights set out in search of Adam and Joe, leaving their uneaten lunches and a very annoyed Hop Sing at the house.
Both Adam and Joe had left very clear tracks in the dirt, so it wasn't too hard to find them. But they weren't prepared for the sight that awaited them.
There was Adam, hauling himself and a limp Little Joe out of the icy waters of Lake Tahoe. The obvious question of "What the heck are those two doing in there" was pushed aside for the moment.
Ben's first thought was of Joe, who hadn't moved since Adam pulled him out of the water. It was quite unusual for the energetic youngest Cartwright to be so still for so long, and Ben was worried that he might be… no. He didn't dare say it, let alone think it.
"What happened?" he said instead.
"That's kind of a long story, Pa," Adam muttered.
"Yes, and I've heard it," replied Ben. Indicating the fuzzy black dog that was nuzzling Joe's cheek, he added, "I take it that this is the trouble-maker who started this mess?"
Adam gave Hoss a look and said yes.
Finally, Hoss voiced what had been on everyone's minds: "Is Joe… alive?" he asked.
"Yeah," Adam said, still holding Joe protectively. He looked down to reassure himself that his brother was still breathing. The boy's chest was still rising and falling steadily.
"We'd better get him home," said Ben in a somewhat calmer tone. He knelt next to Joe, scooped the boy into his strong arms and carried him back to his horse. After placing the still-unconscious Joe into the saddle, Ben mounted Buck as well and turned the horse's head for home. And, after a lengthy argument between Hoss and Adam, the two agreed that Adam would ride Chub and that Hoss would walk, since it wasn't very far to the house and, according to an only half-jesting Adam, he needed the exercise anyway.
-
He felt awful; that was all Little Joe knew for certain. His chest hurt, his legs hurt, his head hurt… as a matter of fact, everything hurt. And he was freezing, too. He thought he heard voices from somewhere, but they sounded so far away, and they all blurred together. Trying to comprehend the speech just gave Joe a bigger headache, so he gave up and tried to relax.
That was impossible, too. Somebody kept whispering his name over and over again, and Joe felt a hand stroking his hair. Joe wanted to answer the person—whoever it was—but he was just so tired…
But Ben was a stubborn man and kept calling Joe's name until the boy's eyes fluttered open. Joe stared at him with curious hazel-green eyes.
"Pa?" Joe said softly. "What happened?"
"I was hoping you could tell me," replied Ben.
Joe started to explain, but Ben shushed him and said, "Not now, Joe. You just rest and you can tell us what happened later."
Joe was more than willing to comply, although he wondered why his father had woken him up just to tell him that. Maybe to make sure he was completely alright? Joe was just too tired to think anymore and fell asleep quickly.
When Joe woke up again, he was in his own bed and had his nightshirt on. No sooner had he sat up in bed when Adam popped into the room. He seemed surprised to see his brother awake.
There was an awkward pause as the two of them stared at each other. Finally, Adam broke the silence.
"Feeling any better?" he asked.
"Yeah," answered Joe. He suddenly looked down and added, "Adam… can I, um, talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure."
Adam sat down on the edge of the bed and waited for Joe to talk again.
For some reason, Joe found it hard to begin. He had been mad at Adam for so long now that he wasn't sure if he was ready to be on good terms with him yet. But he had delayed long enough, Joe decided, so he began.
For the next ten or fifteen minutes, Adam listened to his brother as he explained what had happened and why he had been out on the ice.
As soon as he had finished speaking, Joe paused for a moment and then added in a low voice, "I'm really, really sorry, Adam. I shouldn't have blamed you for anything until I heard your side of the story. I know it's a little late, but… I wanna listen now."
Adam couldn't believe that it was Joe who was apologizing to him. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Wasn't he himself the one who had started this mess?
"Joe, you're not the one who should be apologizing," Adam said slowly. "I should. This is my fault, isn't it? I never should have tricked you just to get those wolf pups out of the house. It was wrong; I guess I knew that all along but wasn't willing to admit it."
Another pause.
"What I'm trying to say here, Joe, is that I'm sorry for tricking you like that. Can you forgive me?"
Joe blinked. Since when did Adam ever say his was sorry for anything? Since now, apparently.
"Yeah," Joe agreed whole-heartedly. He held out his hand and Adam shook it, neither of them aware that their father was just outside the door and had heard the whole thing. And after hearing the tender conversation, Ben didn't have the heart to punish anybody.
Me: Sit tight, people, there's one more chapter left!
Dick: (sarcastically) Oh, great.
Me: (glaring) ANYWAY, about the incident with Joe running away to the mine... I made it up. I meant to write a story about it, but never got around to it.
Dick: She means she was too lazy to do it.
Me: (glaring even more) Hey, did Adam and Joe forgive me yet?
Dick: Heck no!
Me: Do they want me to let Joe live or don't they? Now do the replies!
Dick: Meanie.
Reviewer Replies
lgbabyblu-That's nothing, you should hear about some of the weird stuff Panamint does (I'd tell you, but it's not like she gives me a heck of a lot of space here). Anyway, yes, it does sound like McDonald's. Glad you liked it enough to compare it with that. ;-)
bonanza-fan-It'll be my pleasure! XD Any other little chores you'd like me to do?
pkw-Hm. Never thought of it that way, but it does work quite well what you say it like that, doesn't it? And, being the mean person she is, Panamint wouldn't tell me where the dog went. My guess is that he just ran off and was wandering aimlessly around the Ponderosa the whole time.